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10 Question with Siún Moriarty – Co-Founder of blankbar

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Blankbar is a platform that helps promotes artists of all kinds through their streaming service, pictured above is Siún Moriarty, the co-founder of blankbar 

10 Question with Siún Moriarty – Co-Founder of blankbar

By I Love Limerick Correspondent Jade Crowe

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Andrea Loriedo, Mobile App Development Consultant, Rohmie Vigurs, Head of Design and Mia Fleming, Digital Marketing Advisor for blankbar pictured above


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Blankbar is the up-and-coming streaming service that gives a voice to artists of all kinds. Blankbar aims to promote artists who may get lost in today’s world of online streaming. Blankbar strives to ensure that no artist and their hard work will be forgotten or fall behind on platforms.

We chatted with Siún Moriarty, co-founder of blankbar about this amazing initiative and her aspirations for it.

What inspired you to study law in college?

When I was doing my Leaving Cert back in 2015, I was unsure whether to study music in college or not as even though music was what I wanted to do. I have always had an interest in politics and law and when I saw that you could do Arts with conversion into Law in NUIG, I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to get a foundational knowledge of the law which could be used in whatever area I decided to go into.

As I had made my mind up to follow the music path in my last year in Galway, I took modules such as Intellectual Property and Media law. Galway will always have a very special place in my heart, and I met so many incredible people there who have got me where I am now.

Do you personally have a passion for music?

Absolutely! Music has been my everything for as long as I can remember. I don’t have a single member of my family on either side who isn’t vocal about their passion for music. It has been all around me, exposure to every genre. My mom would let me stay up and watch the live Glastonbury coverage with her every year and we would still be doing it now if it were on! Music is universal, it can make a person smile or cry in under 30 seconds and I think that’s incredible.

What was the inspiration behind creating blankbar and when was it created?

The idea for blankbar started about two years ago while I was still in college at NUIG. Finding and linking in with upcoming artists has always been the core of my passions and I noticed more and more that despite their talent, their audience wasn’t growing significantly on streaming platforms or on social media.

Technology has given musicians the tools to create, record and distribute their music to a global audience but, due to the huge number of artists who can take advantage of this, artists are getting lost in a sea of content. Streaming services are changing how we consume music, many smaller independent artists are falling to the bottom of the pile and getting paid very little for it.

People love discovering new music and we believe that giving these artists genuine exposure to listeners may be a solution to this problem. So, we decided to create a separate space, just for upcoming independent artists.

What does blankbar promote?

Blankbar aims to re-engage listeners in the music discovery process.

For the price of a pint, we have access to all the music in the world, which is amazing, but makes us as listeners forget the blood, sweat and tears that can go into making just one song. blankbar helps tackle this in a way that is easy to use and is a space for music lovers at all levels to find and support artists in a way that is quick, simple and fun.

How does blankbar help ordinary artists?

What is known as content-driven algorithms are increasingly used on most platforms we see today. These systems aim to filter out what is relevant to us by pushing things that are ‘popular’ to the front (I use this word lightly).

However, unless they have a significant amount of money to spend on marketing, PR or playlisting, it can be very hard to grow your audience. blankbar streamlines your connection as an artist to a global audience without having to worry about whether an algorithm is getting in the way and allows you to make a genuine connection with listeners.

Have you faced any challenges along the way?

Of course! But we always try to take the time to look a few steps ahead and predict any issues which lie ahead. This isn’t to say it’s plain sailing, but our teamwork so well together and are so passionate about the idea that whenever there is a pitfall, we re-group, learn from it and improve on it for next time. I started this process with zero knowledge of app development and now I can discuss with big names at meetings and conferences. Every day is a learning curve!

In your opinion, what has been the greatest accomplishment that blankbar has made?

We are expanding our current team of 4 and have just started the New Frontiers 2021 programme with the Hartnett Centre in LIT, which we are so excited about.

Is blankbar exclusively based nationally? If so, would you like to expand internationally?

blankbar is an Irish-based company but the app will be available internationally as we expand.

Where would you like to see blankbar going in the next five years?

Our goal is and will always be the same, we hope to see this platform utilise the power of the internet for good to help artists! I hope that we will continue to grow as a company, make a difference to the independent sector and the wider music industry and disrupt the way that we discover and consume music online.

And lastly, what do you love about Limerick?

Limerick is by miles one of my favourite places in the whole world and I am incredibly proud to be from here! The humour is second to none, the people are fantastic and Freda’s curry chips are my ultimate comfort food.

 

For more information on blankbar go HERE

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Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.