Tunited.com is a new music lifestyle destination that merges a music retail site and social networking with its own vision for the future of online music.  It is the one-stop online environment for music makers, shakers, lovers and influencers launched in May 2010.  Tunited seek to bring change to the music industry and open the gates for Independent artists and bring choice and influence to the consumer.

Via ‘listener’ and ‘artist’ profiles, Tunited will encourage fans to stream and share the music they love with their friends and enable Independent artists to promote and sell the music they make directly to their fans.  There is also the online ‘Tunited’ magazine poised at the bleeding edge of music which will feature new band recommendations and reviews from fans and journalists as well as informed articles and industry news.

Think Drowned-In-Sound-meets-Myspace –meets- a-fairtrade-iTunes. Tunited is committed to revaluing music.

Tunited has a unique streaming model that will reward fan engagement.  Listeners will receive a stream bank of 50 free streams when they sign-up.  From there users can build up a bank of streaming credits when they download, buy merchandise or promote music they love.  Listeners can make playlists, recommend tracks, blog and review bands for the Tunited magazine. They can share music using their fandist widget and become a Tunited Tastemaker, enabling them to shape the music scene.  Tunited’s users will only have to pay for what they use and are rewarded for what they promote. What’s more streams can be cashed in for other cool stuff too, like vouchers to spend at your favourite high street fashion boutiques!

For artists, Tunited will empower them to take control of their own destiny and build their own brand.  As well as receiving more money for every download, getting paid for streaming and reaching more fans, there’s free music software, collaboration projects, their own personalised Tunited shop, music business guidance and tailored, cost-effective merchandise packages.  Artists can also find band members, rehearsal studios and gigs by talking to other musicians.  They can even song-swap and collaborate.  All music is chart eligible and a pool of A&Rs, producers and publishers will be on the site scouting for new rising talent and offering advice.  Tunited is committed to passing on as much as possible to artists. To demonstrate this, the site does not make any profit what-so-ever from any music downloaded on the site meaning that Tunited can afford to pay more through to the artist.

Tunited is the brainchild of Midge Ure of Ultravox and Live Aid fame.  Having grown frustrated with the difficulty new bands faced getting their music out there and the raw deal they received he looked to find a solution to aid and invest in new talent and provide music fans with more choice and influence in the way they consume music.  Midge Ure and his team have worked tirelessly on creating this innovative platform that has been well received by music lovers and the music and technology industry.

The independent music industry has long been underfunded and overlooked. When we were talking to Sir George Martin recently about Tunited he said:-“There is a lot of young untapped talent in our country, and this is the life-blood of creativity. Any process that encourages and develops that talent is vital for the future of good music.”

An opinion shared by Midge who says: “With Tunited, we’re not just opening doors for new artists – we’re blowing the doors right off, Italian Job-style! I’ve been incredibly lucky; I’ve been successful in the 38 years I’ve been in the industry,” Midge adds. “Now, I see it’s time for me to give something back to that industry and to the new emerging artists. Tunited will be the new music industry.”

Says Tunited MD Matt Stanley:  “There used to be things called independent record stores, remember those?  Talking to the guy behind the counter you’d find out what’s new and hot.  You could let him know what tracks you were excited about and be part of the conversation, the chatter.  One shop I went to in Soho had stickers on each CD with an “if you like this then you’ll also like” recommendation and a mark out of 10.  I could buy the same CD in HMV, but the environment helped validate my purchases and love of independence.  That is what we are trying to create at Tunited.  For artists we simply want to give them a better deal”.

Tunited’s tag line is make love share music; By creating an active connected community of independent artists and influential fans, Tunited’s community will discover and be the seminal successes of tomorrow.  A new model for the future, Tunited is the one-stop online destination where you can make music, love music and share music and feel good about doing it!

Excitement amongst the artist and fan community is already growing at a rapid rate with word of mouth alone driving sign-up to the pre-launch newsletter.  There has been strong industry support with PIAS, Ministry Of Sound, Essential, Beggars and Domino agreeing to have their artists on site for launch. Tunited is now open!

Tunited - Make Love Share Music
http://beta.tunited.com/