Entrepreneur Raises Funds to Launch App

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Floshare, a Los Angeles-based technology startup, launched a fundraising project on Kickstarter to bring to market a music-sharing and discovery app that allows music artists and fans to socially interact with royalty-free, licensed music.

“The app, for both iOS and Android, is the first of its kind that gives music aficionados [and amateurs alike] worldwide a channel for sharing their talent and gaining exposure,” said Chris Clifford, Floshare founder and CEO.

“The Floshare model is simple: users pick a licensed beat, record for forty-five seconds (or less), and instantly share their creation.  Users interact with music through vocal recordings in whatever way they choose (singing, rapping, speaking, etc.), but what makes Floshare stand above all other apps and technology is that this interaction does not stop here.”

As a student at Loyola Marymount University, Clifford came up with the idea just last year after friends began freestyle rapping over beats and sharing them via voice memos and text messages, which seemed a bit archaic to Clifford.  Snapchat was also gaining popularity at the time as well, so Clifford originally set out to create “Snapchat for freestyle rap”, in which the freestyle rap creations sent would disappear after being opened by the recipient; however, the original concept for Floshare has changed quite a bit since the idea’s inception.

Floshare aims to be “SoundCloud for simple music interaction,” but will be more focused as a unique platform for young artists (of all music genres) to be heard and to interact with others and their music through vocal recordings. Floshare is social sound!

Floshare’s target market is Urban Music enthusiasts and DJs /Producers who have made hip-hop and rap the fastest growing music genre in the U.S., accounting for more than 10 percent of the estimated $16.5 billion in world-wide music sales in 2012, according to the London-based trade group, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. The Music app industry is $4.4 billion.  Floshare also plans to expand into other music genres shortly after the app’s release.

“We’ve always felt that while Vine, Instagram and Twitter provide unique platforms for users to share images, videos and ideas, there was no such platform for social music interaction…until now,” Clifford said.

Floshare’s page on Kickstarter.com aims to raise $20,000 by March 7 and is almost halfway to its goal (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1456080200/floshare-interactive-music-creation-for-ios-and-an). The site offers donors a variety of perks such as an invitation to the Floshare app pre-launch party at the world famous Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel’s Teddy’s Nightclub at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 6. The event will feature celebrities, rock stars, VIPs, and more. 20 VIP Tickets are available for $50 via the Floshare Kickstarter page while the event itself is free.

Other rewards include being featured as a producer or vocalist for 10 days while the donor’s recording would be featured at the top of the Floshare charts for one month.

Musician donors may also receive added exposure by featuring their talents on the Floshare app’s international version allowing music enthusiasts in England, Portugal, India, and elsewhere around the globe to listen to their music.

“Floshare is an ideal platform for producers and artists to promote their music and reach new audiences,” Clifford said.

“The more people like your tracks, the higher you’ll rise as an up and coming Floshare artist!”

To learn more, please visit www.floshareapp.com.