For Independent Artists

StageUp is built for independent artists

A tournament where your score is determined by real fan engagement — not ad spend, not label budget, not algorithm luck. Upload free, earn verified points, and compete for a prize pool funded directly by the fans who love your music.

Upload Your First Video Free

No credit card required.

Why artists choose StageUp

Six reasons that actually matter.

Free to Upload

Upload unlimited videos at no cost. No subscription, no paywall, no credit card. Your profile goes live within minutes of your first upload.

SEO Article Published on Google

Every artist on StageUp gets a Claude-generated, SEO-optimized article published on their profile page. Fans searching your name on Google find you — not just a social feed.

Transparent Scoring

You can see exactly why your rank changes. Every point source is logged: which video earned it, which action triggered it, and which verified user performed it.

Tips and Fan Subscriptions

Fans can tip you directly or become a paying subscriber at $5.45/month. You keep 85% of all tips. Fan subscription revenue funds your genre's prize pool — the more fans you earn, the bigger the pot you compete for.

Grand Slam Prize Eligibility

Reach 30,000 verified points and you enter the Grand Slam tier — the top of the leaderboard. The artist with the highest score in your genre at season end takes home the entire prize pool.

No Gatekeepers

You compete against artists in your own tier only. A newcomer in Qualifying never faces a Grand Slam artist. You earn your way up based on genuine fan connection, nothing else.

Get started in three steps

You can be live on StageUp in under five minutes.

Create a free account with your artist name, genre, and bio. Your public profile page goes live immediately.

Upload Your Video

Upload your first performance or music video. The upload wizard guides you through title, description, and genre tagging.

Share Your Referral Link

Every video gets a unique referral link. Share it on social media, Telegram, or anywhere your fans are. When a verified fan watches 30+ seconds, you earn 5 points per referral.

How referral links work

Every video you upload gets a unique referral URL — tied to you specifically. When you share that link and a verified fan clicks it and watches at least 30 seconds, you earn 5 points.

The link works on any platform: Telegram groups, Instagram bio, Twitter / X, WhatsApp, email newsletters, anywhere your audience already is. You control the distribution.

Our system flags IP clustering, short watches, and duplicate accounts. Fraudulent watches do not count and are removed if detected. This protects every artist on the platform from bot campaigns.

The verification gate

For any engagement to count toward your score, the fan performing it must first verify their identity via Telegram or email. Verification takes about 30 seconds.

This single requirement is the entire fraud prevention system. It means every point on the leaderboard represents a real, named human who chose to engage with your music. Your score is a genuine signal — not a number that can be purchased or gamed.

Unverified traffic is still logged. If a fan later verifies, their historical engagement retroactively counts. No one is locked out permanently.

Your fans are already out there.

Give them a reason to show up and be counted. Upload your first video free — no card, no contract, no algorithm deciding your fate.

Upload Your First Video Free