A while back I noticed what I thought was a discrepancy between Tap It FAME’s claims of expected growth and the actual number of users on the site. Tap It FAME is a new showcase for artists, divided into musicians, entertainers, models and visual artists, though musicians seem to be the primary focus to date, with various options for placing one’s work on line including digital music sales.

When I checked out the site about 3 weeks ago, there were less than a hundred participants, yet in Black Enterprise CEO Jonathon Alexander was claiming to be "on target to list 30,000 artists in his database by mid-2006."  I recently spoke with Alexander about this issue and about the development of the site.

Alexander pointed out that the site was still in beta (at that point) and that they were seeing a lot of interest from musicians who would be signing up in an upcoming stage of development. One of the ways they have been reaching out to musicians is through participation in panels and appearances at such gatherings as the Winter Music Conference and SXSW.

Tap It FAME also has a weekly radio show to give artists further exposure while spreading the word. Based on interest shown by artists to such outreach and his belief in Tap It FAME’s services, Alexander feels confident about their projections.

Part of this confidence comes from Alexander’s assertion that Tap It FAME has a more solid technical base than similar services and that the ease of use for purchasers would be exceptional. Once these systems have been fully tested the site will be opened to the general public.

Though I can’t really evaluate the tech angle, I’ll have to say that Jonathon Alexander and co. seem tuned in to artists’ needs and sensitive to such issues as regional diversity and helping ensure that models aren’t exploited. All in all I enjoyed our chat and look forward to seeing how artists respond to Tap It FAME’s services.