A former Madisonian created a free online music sharing service that works with local artists by collaborating with local libraries.
Former fellow at the Madison Public Library, and self-described “musicologist,” Kelly Hiser and her team work with libraries around the country to highlight musical culture in their communities through her Madison-based company, Rabble.
Rabble, named in part because the word is used to describe a group of butterflies, represents the cluster of things, like music, that could be collected and brought together in a variety of different ways, Hiser said.
She said Rabble works to facilitate libraries to sign contracts with local musicians, changing up the “traditional” ways in which libraries collect and share content.
“We are allowing direct relationships with local musicians, giving them a way to highlight local communities that they are embedded in,” Hiser said.
Rabble’s beginnings came from Hiser’s work at the Madison Public Library. In the midst of working on her doctoral dissertation this past year, Hiser’s public humanities fellowship at the Madison Public Library allowed her to work on different digital publishing projects.
One of the projects she worked on as a fellow was called Yahara, a digital platform that enables library cardholders to stream and download the works of local musicians for free.
Yahara’s platform, developed with the help of another local digitizing company, Murfie Music, led the way to creating the spin-off idea for the new company, Rabble. Hiser co-founded Rabble with Preston Austin, co-founder of Murfie Music, as well as Yahara’s architect, Matt Wheeler.
Though she recently moved to Massachusetts, Hiser still keeps in close contact with her team and clients at Rabble. She said her relocation has not impacted any of Rabble’s current projects and goals.
Hiser frequently visits Madison in order to meet with clients and colleagues face-to-face, as well as connects with them online when she’s away in Massachusetts.
“We, as a team, are constantly meeting and connecting online, and we find this useful as most of our clients are scattered around the country, so we can connect with them online as well,” she said.
Rabble is currently working in partnership with Edmonton Public Library in Canada to build a platform that would allow them to contact artists online and share music, as well as collect other materials related to their musical communities, Hiser said.
In addition, Hiser said Rabble is also working to finalize deals with two large libraries in the country they hope to partner with in the coming months. Though the names of the libraries could not be released because the deals are not yet finalized, Hiser said she has high hopes about the coming projects.
“We are really excited about both of those projects, and have our fingers crossed everything will go smoothly in the next coming months,” Hiser said.
In addition to being busy with the upcoming finalization of projects and signing contracts with libraries, Hiser will be taking temporary leave from her busy work schedule as she is expecting another exciting addition to her life this July — a new baby.
