A West Coast entrepreneur who cut his teeth in the real estate and mortgage business is trying to get a cable network devoted to independent, undiscovered music artists off the ground next year.
Music Plus TV, based in Hollywood, plans to launch a 24-hour live video streaming service June 15.
“It’s live Internet television over broadband,” said company co-founder Marc Cubas, who by next January is looking to roll out a linear cable channel, billing itself as the only “non-conglomerated” music network in the nation.
That 24/7 network would air independent short films, music videos, documentaries, concert footage, indie-artist interviews and original shows.
“It’s good music, they just don’t have a record deal,” Cubas said. “They’re actually performing out in the clubs. We can actually give them proper exposure.”
Cubas feel his network can go beyond what networks such as MTV2 and Fuse do with new independent artists.
“They’re just showcasing maybe five to six artists per month,” he said. “We have a roster of about 2,500 independent artists just in the L.A. area, in the California area.”
Programs Music Plus TV has in development include Alternative Angles, Unsigned, Fashion Forward, Urban Roots and In the Garage.
Cubas and his partner, MPTV co-founder Dennis Tzeng, are trying to get their service launched without any outside corporate backing.
“I’ve actually fronted all the money for this whole project,” Cubas said.
Music Plus TV, with a target audience ages 12 to 34, hopes to build consumer demand for its linear network via video streaming on the Web. Cubas hopes this would prompt cable operators to carry his network.
Cubas, who has served as president of Cal Sunshine Home Loans and America Venture Capital Group, has purchased a teleport uplink station. He’s also been forging alliances with venue owners, club promoters, small record labels, managers, booking agencies and artists.
“So many of these bands and artists have talent have talent and appeal that could be just as strong as mainstream artists, but they don’t have access,” Tzeng said in a prepared statement. “We’re here to provide that.”
On the Web, Music Plus TV will launch with six shows, and increase that number as time goes on. Cubas has bought a facility for his network that has 10,000 square feet in studio space and 5,000 in office space.
Already, 250,000 people have registered to Music Plus TV’s Web site, he added, and the service is accepting short film, music video and demo submissions.
