CASH Music

"How will the music industry save itself?" That's a toughie. The better question would be “How can we use technology to help great artists make a living getting amazing music out into the world?"

It’s not that it's NOT about cash – we all need that. More precisely, it’s about CASH Music, a nonprofit organization building open-source services to benefit artists and music organizations. It develops technology tools and works directly with artists, managers, and labels to build custom projects. For example, direct-to-fan platforms allowed Deerhoof to post their sheet music online, while a digital toolkit offers artists everything from a streaming player to image boxes to create interaction with fans. The final 1.0 version of said tool kit, new membership plans, and a huge public push are coming soon – musically inclined readers, we suggest that you RSS this immediately.

The point, though, is the music. As CASH Music's Jesse von Doom puts it, "since we began, we've seen our artists earning salaries from their music, great bands getting back together, and young musicians going from demos to albums. We're working to make earning a living easier for musicians so they can continue making their art. Technology can be a barrier or a vehicle. We think the latter just sounds nicer."