By Kelvin Goh Wong

The Malaysian independent music scene has a new champion in the form of coffee chain outlet, Austin Chase.

Austin Chase will be holding a month-long promotion for two selected independent music artistes by selling their albums and EPs as well as allocating prime placement for these artistes for maximum exposure.

This unique distribution channel is the brainchild of Voize.my and Austin Chase, whose collaboration would build a new platform for new indie artistes to promote their music.

Founder and editor of Voize.my Siva Chandran said this unique tie-up with Austin Chase is going to change the face of indie music in Malaysia.

"The Indie music scene has long looked for creative ways of distributing their music, especially engaging street teams and retail outlets to help with the distributions" he added.

Voize.my and Austin Chase believe that with the changing trend of more and more young people converging at coffee outlets, making it a place for their social interaction, it becomes a perfect place to expose the independent music scene to new listeners.

To kick-off this joint project, Austin Chase began highlighting the first two Indie acts in their stores last week.

Iz, a former top 10 finalist of the "One in a Million" singing contest, now has his limited edition single, "Songs from a Gemini" propped up next to the self-titled debut album of the up and coming pop sensation, Amanda Imani, on Austin Chase counters nationwide.

"I am so honoured and grateful to be selected as one of the first two artistes associated with the international brand Austin Chase" Iz said at the launch.

Iz also added that this collaboration allows so many possibilities for independent artists as they do not usually have the services of a specialised marketing team, a perk enjoyed by mainstream artistes.

The chief executive officer of Chase Coffee Holding Thesan Salva said that Austin Chase did not start this initiative only to sell good coffee and music. This initiative is about building a lifestyle, one that revolves around good coffee, good music and giving back to the community.

Thesan noted that independent artistes who want to be featured can get in contact with Voize.my and they will be selected through a selection process conducted by both Voize.my and Austin Chase.

Thesan also said that besides prime placement, featured artistes will also enjoy airtime in Austin Chase stores throughout the day. This is to further promote and allow wider audiences to sample their music. This will hopefully lead up to a boom in the independent music scene.

He added that a small contribution from the sale and marketing of these albums and merchandise will be given to a charity home in support of music.

"We at Austin Chase hope that with this partnership, we are able to help and assist independent artistes in Malaysia and give them the support that they deserve" he said.