IMC Story
I didn’t start IMC as a company or as some grand media project. In 2001, I had a radio show called Pop’N’rocK and I wanted to give independent artists some airtime.
Then I kept changing the format. FM became web radio. Web radio eventually gave way to a music blog. The blog became Indie Music Center. The tools changed, but the job stayed pretty much the same: listen, talk to artists and share music I genuinely care about.
There still isn’t a mysterious editorial department hiding behind IMC. It’s me, listening, writing, talking with artists and building the site.
I changed the format.
I kept the idea.
FM Radio
I start Pop’N’rocK on a local FM station. I play independent artists from different countries, interview them and sometimes bring them into the studio for live conversations.
Web Radio
I launch Pop’N’rocK Radio online and suddenly the show is no longer limited to one local frequency. At its peak, the station reaches more than 2 million listeners a month.
Independent Musician
I’m an independent musician too. I release two albums on CD under the name Kyle Laygue. Those songs later find a national audience through My Major Company. By 2010, I’ve written, composed, recorded, mixed and mastered more than 300 songs.
Music Blog
Pop’N’rocK radio’s website starts having a lot of written reviews on board. It becomes Music For Your Heart and writing about the music becomes my new way of promoting indie musicians.
Indie Music Center
I rename Music For Your Heart as Indie Music Center. I want one place where the reviews, artists, conversations and projects can live together instead of being scattered everywhere.
Podcasts · 1,000 Reviews
I launch the first IMC podcasts and pass 1,000 published reviews. Artists can now be heard, read and interviewed in several different formats on the same site.
Indie Music Magazine
I try Indie Music Magazine, a downloadable publication built from IMC stories. It’s an experiment, with selected artists presented in a format closer to a real magazine.
New Website · Artist Services
I move IMC onto its own independent website, add practical tools for artists, build an integrated submission platform and keep developing IMC Records for physical CD releases.
IMC
Story
I started with a microphone and a local FM show in 2001. Twenty-five years later, I’m still doing the same thing: finding artists I want other people to hear.
One idea.
Twenty-five years.
I didn’t start IMC as a company or as some grand media project. In 2001, I had a radio show called Pop’N’rocK and I wanted to give independent artists some airtime.
Then I kept changing the format. FM became web radio. Web radio eventually gave way to a music blog. The blog became Indie Music Center. The tools changed, but the job stayed pretty much the same: listen, talk to artists and share music I genuinely care about.
There still isn’t a mysterious editorial department hiding behind IMC. It’s me, listening, writing, talking with artists and building the site.
I changed the format.
I kept the idea.
Seven chapters, several names and a ridiculous number of songs later, I’m still here.
FM Radio
I start Pop’N’rocK on a local FM station. I play independent artists from different countries, interview them and sometimes bring them into the studio for live conversations.
Web Radio
I launch Pop’N’rocK Radio online and suddenly the show is no longer limited to one local frequency. At its peak, the station reaches more than 2 million listeners a month.
Independent Musician
I’m an independent musician too. I release two albums on CD under the name Kyle Laygue. Kyle was the surname my friends gave me because I was a huge fan of the Kyle XY series with Matt Dallas, and Laygue was my grand-father’s last name, he passed away in 1997. Those songs later find a national audience through the label My Major Company. By 2010, I’ve written, composed, recorded, mixed and mastered more than 300 songs.
Music Blog
Pop’N’rocK radio’s website starts having a lot of written reviews on board… So, naturally, it became Music For Your Heart and writing about the music instead of only broadcasting it was my new way of promoting indie musicians.
Indie Music Center
I rename Music For Your Heart as Indie Music Center. I want one place where the reviews, artists, conversations and projects can live together instead of being scattered everywhere.
Podcasts · 1,000 Reviews
I launch the first IMC podcasts and pass 1,000 published reviews. At that point, artists can be heard, read and interviewed in several different formats on the same site.
Indie Music Magazine
I try Indie Music Magazine, a downloadable publication built from IMC stories. It’s an experiment, but I like the idea of giving selected artists something that feels closer to a real magazine.
New Website · Artist Services
CD Releases · Integrated Submissions
I move IMC onto its own independent website, add practical tools for artists, build an integrated submission platform and keep developing IMC Records for physical CD releases. I also return to making my own music, while getting rid of the external platforms that had gradually become part of the furniture.
I always pictured a place.
When I came up with the name Indie Music Center in 2017, I imagined an actual digital place, almost a building, devoted to independent music.
In my head, artists had their own spaces. Other rooms were for music, conversations, live sessions and meeting people. It was probably a bit ambitious for what I could build at the time.
The new site finally lets me get much closer to that original idea: one place where I can bring the artists, the stories, the music and the practical tools together.
Want me to hear your music?
Send me your song, EP or album. I listen to everything myself.
No one else will ever get between your music and my ears.