Up-and-Coming Indie Musicians Get Added Exposure Via Double-Prong Retail and Radio Promotion

Indie musicians around the country are gaining new levels of exposure via a series of “Fresh Produce” samplers distributed for free at 70 CIMS (Coalition of Independent Music Stores) locations around the country and featured on mvyradio.com, the web’s most listened to Adult Alternative radio station. This is believed to be a first for independent promotion – where an artists receives both retail and radio exposure.

(PRWEB) December 29, 2005 -- 10,000 copies of the “Fresh Produce” series are produced several times a year to bring awareness to the promising music talent around. Artists receive a slot on the CD plus spotlight features on mvyradio.com for three months, giving them a chance to display their talents to music fans worldwide. The music styles range from Folk to Singer-Songwriter to Americana to Rock and feature artists who are serious about their craft.

One of the artists, Tim Fagan of Burbank, California – who appeared on “Fresh Produce 1” – was even hand-picked by John Mayer as the winner of his personal songwriting contest conducted through Esquire magazine. Fagan had this to say about the project: “The people behind Fresh Produce truly love music as much as the artists they promote. They're like your hippest friend - savoring the chance to hit you with the best new bands before anyone else has a clue. Every aspect of this compilation has been handled smoothly, and it's put me in front of a huge new audience of serious music fans." And, in turn, John Mayer had this to say about Tim Fagan: “Tim's vocal performance is delivered with heart but not hurt. When I heard Tim Fagan's song, I yelled out loud at the speakers, pleading with him not to drop the ball on his way to a touchdown.”

Barbara Dacey, Director of Worldwide Programming for mvyradio, went on to underscore the station’s thinking behind the CD samplers. “One of the hallmarks of our station is our embrace of promising new artists. Fresh Produce is an exciting new music venture, one that is as valuable to us as it is to the artists who participate.”

The next “Fresh Produce” is scheduled for a Spring ’06 release. The submission process for is open to anyone. An artist can simply submit their songs and press kits to give the station an idea of who they are and what they have to offer. If selected, the artists are given a chance to participate for a reasonable fee which gives them placement on 10,000 CDs, website and in-store promotion and airplay features on mvyradio. Each release is promoted for three months.

Ralph Jaccodine, a talent manager in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said, "As a manager I get bombarded with requests for my artists' songs to be on all sorts of compilations. I jumped at the opportunity to have Ellis Paul and Averi on the mvyradio’s, "Fresh Produce" project. I have been a 20+ year listener of this station and for my money it is one of the best around at supporting independent artists. Another reason for participating is to support the Coalition of Independent Music Stores. This organization is fighting the good fight every day by sticking up for independent music stores, artists... (and their managers). Joining forces with a station like mvyradio, combined with the CIMS was a great business/karmic move."

mvyradio.com is a heritage Adult Alternative station out of Martha’s Vineyard, having been on the air for 23 years and streaming to the world via the internet since 1998. Its worldwide audience has grown significantly in the last few years and it’s now ranked as one of the 15 most listened to online stations (Webcast Metrics, Dec. 2005) with more than 3 million tune-ins per year. Musically, the station features such artists as John Prine, Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison and R.E.M.

The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) is a group of some of the best independent music stores in America. CIMS was founded in 1995; its current membership is made up of 31 accounts that handle 70 stores in 24 states. Many of the accounts have been recognized by the music industry and their local communities for their outstanding dedication to customer service and developing artist support.

Artists wishing to participate in Fresh Produce can contact gary@mvyradio.com or visit www.mvyradio.com

For further information, please contact Gary Guthrie, Chief Marketing Officer, Aritaur Communications / mvyradio.com. Phone 859-215-2728.

Information about “Fresh Produce” and song samples can be had at http://www.mvyradio.com/downloads/fresh_produce/ . Artwork and logos are available at http://www.mvyradio.com/internal/release/directory/mvyradio_Press_Graphics.zip.

A list of artists/hometowns featured on “Fresh Produce, Vol. 1” follows:

Rebekah Jordan

Cleveland (now lives in Santa Monica, CA)

Tim Fagan

Honolulu (now lives in Burbank, CA)

Mary Beth Maziarz

Chicago (now lives in Park City, UT)

9 Red Sun

San Francisco, CA

Heather Waters

Chicago, IL (now lives in Los Angeles)

Tom Freund

New York City (now lives in Venice, CA)

Jeff Black

Kansas City (now lives in Nashville)

Carey Ott

Chicago, IL

Ellis Paul

Fort Kent, Maine (now lives in Boston, MA)

Kirsten Thien

Southern Maine (now lives in New York City)

Matthew Hebert

Northampton, MA

RobinElla

Maryville, TN (Knoxville, TN)

Meg Johnson Band

Woodstock, NY

Uncle Earl

Asheville, NC; Nashville, TN; Lyons, CO, Washington, DC; Santa Fe, NM

Jennifer Clarke

Delaplane, VA (now lives in Martha’s Vineyard)

Third Road Home

Westminster, CO

Yasmine White

Chapel Hill, NC

Averi

Boston, MA

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