In another case of “Why didn’t I think of that?”, a Belgian record label that goes by the name of SonicAngel, identifies future stars by tracking trends on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Not only that, they also allow fans to invest in the artists’ success, with a six monthly return on their initial investment. Brilliant.

The simple idea of how music is distributed and popularised on social media today involves people tweeting, chatting or posting about their favourite bands. Bart Becks, former chief executive of a Belgium internet company and co founder of SonicAngel, explains that by turning that model on its head and scanning these platforms, the company actively selects artists that are generating hype.

But, unlike other fan funded websites, SonicAngel selects its artists before fans get a chance to chip in and help pay for them to launch an album. This allows them to choose the artist and and be selective about who the allow on to the platform. They do, however, have a separate platform that allows bands to upload tracks and attract votes from fans.

Through SonicAngel, fans can then buy shares for 10 euros each, and get a payout when the artist starts coining it.

Becks and Maurice Engelen (who is also the front man for electronic band, Lords of Acid) decided to set up a label after Engelen coached a contestant on Belgium’s version of X-Factor, who failed to get a record deal.

The Brussels-based label has already had three number one hits in Belgium in the past year, a number three and a number seven hit in France, with 20 artists currently being funded.

They are currently working on a model with the university of Ghent, and the Massachchusetts Institute of Technology that scans the entire web for top trending artists.

Up and coming artists, 1.

X Factor, 0.

[Source: timeslive]