Dundalk men Pete Rust and Dagan Fleming have teamed up to launch a new version of their music industry website Fanify.
The pair met during the pandemic and since then have been working hard together to turn their business idea into reality.
According to Fanify CEO, Pete who grew up in Old Muirhevna on the Dublin Road, music has been his life since he was a young boy.
“I attended Gael Scoil Dhun Dealgan where I was taught the fiddle by Gerry O’Connor. I went on to the Marist and did Applied Music in DkIT,” said the 31-year-old.
He also studied music technology and sound engineering in Pulse Recording College in Dublin.
“Music was very much the only thing I did growing up from about the age of 12 or 13. I’ve been playing guitar and writing my own songs since I was around 14,” he said.
“I’ve also done several Internet-based courses in digital marketing over the last seven or eight years to promote music.
“When Covid-19 hit I switched over to the digital side and we set up two You Tube channels called ‘Lock Up Orignal and Lock Up DJs.”
Pete and Dagan have recently raised €400,000 for their tech start up project, a website called Fanify.
It is a tool for musicians to help them automate promotional activities and help them build an online presence.
“The vast majority of musicians don’t have the time or inclination to spend marketing their music in order to bring it to a large fan base,” said Pete.
“They might put a lot of work in and eventually get their music on Spotify only to end up with 20 monthly listeners.
“They are left wondering where do they go from here. The answer is Fanify. We would say don’t’ waste your time, go back to playing music and let us market your work.”
Fanify Business Development Manager Dagan Fleming, aged 39, attended Bay Estate NS and Dundalk Grammar School and studied music technology and sound engineering in Temple Bar.
According to Dagan, Fanify will benefit the artist because it’s a global product and will save the musician a lot of time.
“On the website there is a dashboard and you can have that for social media content. It will be stream-lined and optimised and geared and tailored towards musicians,” said Dagan.
“In the middle of the pandemic we filmed a lot of local acts in the Teeling’s Distillery and we also produced the St Patrick’s Day video with Alvaro as I sit on the St Patrick’s Day Committee for the St Patrick’s Day parade.
“We have a long history of producing content locally. The only way artists in Ireland will survive and flourish is if they get support.”
Fanify has free features and it also operates a subscription service for US$14.99 per month. It is currently just in dollars but Pete and Dagan have plans to offer the service in different currencies over time.
For more information please visit Fanify.io.
