Levi, the founder of SPRK MUSIC was born in Congo, Africa. He didn’t have the most “ordinary” start to life. Soon after being born he was abandoned by his mother. While his life didn’t look very promising and lacked many essentials. A wealthy diplomatic couple who at this time were looking to adopt happened to hear of his situation. In some sort of serendipitous event he was adopted by that very same couple. This only happens to the luckiest of babies and young children in Africa who are left to fend by themselves!
From there, his life took a 180 degree turn. He lived in several countries and by the age of 11 spoke five languages fluently. He was inspired by jazz music and artists his adoptive mother listened to such as Harry Belafonte, Fats Domino, Little Richard and Ray Charles. Levi began to wonder what it would be like to play music professionally, even though his father always reminded him that “music is not a proper career.” Nevertheless, he took on piano lessons at the unusually late age of 14 and showed much talent. Two years later he auditioned at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels and obtained a scholarship to continue his piano studies as their youngest-ever student.
He later continued his piano studies at the prestigious Royal College of Music in London where he also studied Composition for Screen. He was awarded an Outstanding Distinction for his final recital.
After graduation Levi dived into composition. He later connected with one of Britain’s most successful TV/media composers Paul Farrer, a multi award-winning composer with whom he is now best friends with. Levi has shadowed Paul and worked on several projects ranging from well-known TV shows, Disney Soundtracks to PlayStation games. Levi has also composed several soundtracks for short films in the US and consequently won a Best Music Prize.
Levi believes everyone should have that serendipitous moment, that 180-degree turn, that moment that changes a person’s life. With music, everything is possible and with this in mind – SPRK MUSIC was born.
Levi answers a few questions about SPRK MUSIC…
What is SPRK MUSIC
SPRK MUSIC is a social media and video streaming music community as well as a talent spotting platform for the music industry.
What made you want to start the project?
In todayʼs world every musician be it a vocalist, songwriter or instrumentalist is trying to get noticed and looking for that break to become a superstar – be it through TV or online exposure. Being a musician, and being described as a whiz- kid on the computer and mobile, I myself still found it difficult to promote myself online – whether it was it through YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or other social channels. The problem with these platforms is that they are too broad in the different industries and subjects covered. With so many videos being uploaded in the hundreds of different categories unrelated to music, itʼs getting harder and harder to find and spot genuine talent. I thought to myself – would it not be easier if musicians had a platform for themselves… with the ability to filter every specialty/instrument and genre on top of other demographic tags? Crazy… I know, but I went ahead and did it!
Another reason I came up with SPRK MUSIC, was to try and devise a way to make it easier for musicians not only for networking and finding people to collaborate with but also to increase their chances of getting discovered by important people in the industry. I’m talking about the decision makers and the people that make things happen. People like agents, managers, A&R, music executives, producers and so on.
What benefits does SPRK MUSIC give to musicians?
We are bringing the next era in music by combining video streaming (YouTube-like) and social media (Instagram-like) to create the perfect music platform. Musicians can upload videos and photos which other musicians and fans can comment and rate on. The big difference making this an absolute “must-have” tool for musicians is that weʼve also crafted a unique, specialized and focused speciality/instrument/genre filter feature which enables our users, musicians and music professionals to find talent in a more precise, faster and easier way. Musicians can now become the ‘highest trendingʼ in their own speciality and/or genre and also within other filters which can be used singly, or multiple filters can be selected. For example, users can see who the most trending vocalists are on the entire platform, or just the most trending pop – vocalist, jazz vocalist, country vocalist and so on. A vocalist could even just become the most trending in their city. The possibilities are endless. Musicians are now able to compete for the top spot as they would do in the real world and within their industry and stop having to compete with billions of videos unrelated to music.
Finding new musicians to collaborate with that specialize in a specific specialty/instrument and/or genre is so easy! Our filters extend to age, gender, location and ethnicity which means you can get even more granular results should you need it. Yes, there are a couple of microsites out there that filter a few instruments instruments and genres but firstly, they are not social media platforms which means they donʼt have the ability to audition the musicianʼs content and secondly, they donʼt have an extensive speciality/instrument and genre list that we have.
I have always looked at SPRK MUSIC as kind of an equivalent to LinkedIn, but for musicians – where artists are able to upload their videos and photos and show their music information / biography. The number of times I have heard singers come up to me and ask, “Levi, do you know any good hip hop producer I can work with” and a lot of the time I say “You need to find someone that makes music that gels with your style. A good producer for singer ‘A’ might not be a good fit for singer ‘B’.” I got pretty tired of people asking me so I decided, letʼs make this platform a reality.
SPRK MUSIC also helps musicians get found for project and endorsement deals as well as gigs, concerts and other work.
How does SPRK MUSIC help music professionals?
Labels, A&R, talent scouts, managers, agents, event organizers, promoters, clubs, societies and brands are always looking out for new up-and-coming talent. As well as being able to use our app, we have also created a talent dashboard that allows them to see and organize all the information they need to help them scout for talent. SPRK MUSIC makes searching for talented individuals, bands and groups easy for the industry professionals.
Collaborating on SPRK MUSIC!
I have always believed that musical collaboration, experimentation and self-directed projects on an entirely music-based platform would create more opportunities and therefore also attract a diversity of gifted aspiring musicians. Music collaboration is also one of the biggest creative forces driving music today. Musicians looking to project their talents onto a wider audience via collaboration is probably one of the best success strategies out there.
Imagine a singer-songwriter on SPRK MUSIC living in a small town, lingering over their unfinished song. They might want to find another local songwriter to help finish the song – or even a rapper – or better still, a producer. Itʼs so easy on SPRK MUSIC! Itʼs as easy as setting the filters to what youʼre looking for: audition their videos/pictures, and, if you like their vibe, just start chatting privately on our in-built messenger. We are always delighted to hear from people who have linked up on SPRK MUSIC and gone on to collaborate with others on their projects – so do email us and tell us your stories! (hello@sprkmusic.com)
To Finish…
Spread the good news of SPRK MUSIC, because the more musicians who know about it, the more powerful a tool it becomes.