Remember when, back in 2014, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting a $750,000 grant for a historic collaboration, the Music X Project? Today, we’re revisiting this groundbreaking initiative that brought together five public media stations to create a national online music video showcase. This platform, featuring exclusive live performances from new and emerging bands, has transformed the music scene. Now, over a decade later, the founding stations – KCRW in Los Angeles, KTBG in Kansas City, KUTX in Austin, WFUV in New York City, and WXPN in Philadelphia – continue to be the first stop for pioneering , offering them a powerful platform and a deep connection with a music-loving audience.
What is the Music X Project?
Music X is a consortium of public media organizations from the country that film emerging and established playing live sets of music in studio and on location.
How Does Music X Work?
The live performance music videos – featuring local, national, and international – are aggregated on a national website and mobile app. Each member station also has its own locally branded and curated video channel, which can be shared with audiences over web, mobile, and social media platforms. Some content is even broadcast on local public television stations.
Members upload their in-studio performance videos into the Music X archive and then download from this exclusive database to populate their station’s video channel. The national website is a curated site showcasing the best videos from the country. The Wyncote and MacArthur Foundations have generously funded the content management system powering the video platform, Channel X.
“The number of stations participating will grow over time,” said Erik Langner, managing director of Public Media Company, the organization that is leading the strategic collaboration of Music X. “Together, partner stations will be submitting new videos on a weekly basis, helping music lovers and other stations discover local artists while attracting new and younger audiences to public media programming.”
Mike Henry, CEO of Paragon Media Strategies, is senior creative advisor and leading efforts to design the Music X audience experience. To find out more about the Music X Project and sign up for project updates, please visit www.themusicxproject.com.
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