New musical voices online in Wales

Music and the Welsh go hand in hand, there’s no doubt about it, with distinguished and diverse artists and bands ranging from Tom Jones to Katherine Jenkins, from The Stereophonics to the Fron Male Voice Choir emerging from the valleys. Now 28-year-old Blackwood born Chris Maguire is thrusting Wales into the digital-music-download age with Altsounds.com: a Cardiff-based online music shareware website. Altsounds was founded two years ago and now boasts over half a million hits a day from 10,000 users internationally. It is fast becoming one of Wales’ most popular websites, and is the only site of its kind in the area with more than 200 acts online and uploading music. “Altsounds is an international alternative online music community,” states Maguire. “By ‘Alternative’ we mean…Alternative to the mainstream. It’s about having choice, both in music and where you go to hear it.”