Most of us probably get our favorite albums through downloads – whether it’s legally through a service like iTunes or illegally through torrents. It’s undeniable that the music industry has shifted and the precedent is no longer on record sales, but revenue generated through single downloads. Streaming services like Spotify and Rhapsody make it possible for people to not own a single record at all and in an oversaturated market where the major label isn’t as powerful as it used to be, it’s difficult for artists to stand out or have staying power.

With the changing industry comes a disconnect with fans. Sure we follow Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber on Twitter but what about the small guys — the people who don’t fill stadiums? What about all those albums we streamed a few times and never looked at again? A new social network called RockStar Motel aims to bridge the gap between artists and fans by allowing fans to make a difference in an artist’s career.

RockStar Motel was created by artist-turned-waiter-turned-techie Luca Sacchetti. Armed with $750,000 that he raised from friends and family and the help of Martin White, one of the original developers of Amazon’s database, Sacchetti aimed to create a social network that would benefit both artists and fans, instead of just allowing fans to stream content.

Sacchetti spoke to Scribbal about his intentions behind the network. He said:

The whole passion behind it was basically to change the foundation that’s been set for years of what the music business has been, how its treated artists and fans and how its been used to distribute and sell music. The idea was to dig it out and rebuilt it and have a new social platform [where] we can share and interact with music and bring artists and fans together in a way that’s never been done before.

RockStar Motel mimics the real-life music industry, but this time the fans get to be the label. If a fan finds a band they like on the service, they can “sign” the band and create a promo pack with write-ups, bios, pictures and music to share with their friends. Fans can rack up points and earn rewards by promoting a band they’ve signed, selling singles and generating new fans for the band by posting content to their feed or syndicating it with other social networks. Sacchetti explained to me that once you get enough points, you level up and become an Intern, then a Scout, then an A&R Representative and Mogul. The more you progress, the more your opinion matters — text in the content shared by A&R Representatives appears larger in your feed than text from those who are of a lower standing.

If you’re thinking this sounds like another Myspace or ReverbNation, which can leave fans clueless of where to find music and artists lost in a sea of other bands, you’re wrong. “They’re just streaming music. It doesn’t do anything for the artist or preserving the art of music or the musician,” Sacchetti tells me, referring to the myriad of music-listening services that have risen to popularity in the last year like Bandcamp and Spotify. He adds, “There’s a place for it, but I’m not interested in advancing technology — I’m interested in advancing the music business.”

While artists do have the ability to promote and distribute their music on the site like typical music-sharing social networks, they can have a deeper interaction with fans. RockStar Motel’s analytics will show each band exactly who their fans are and where they come from. Artists also have a team of fans who are alongside them, helping them get discovered.

Not everyone is interested in discovering new, independent bands which is why RockStar Motel simply levels the playing field for them. The social network has a wealth of major label artists (Sacchetti lists Gaga and U2 as some of the most popular) that fans can sign and its own music discovery platform with a library of over 12 million tracks.

RockStar Motel is currently in public beta. To try out the social network for yourself, visit RockStar Motel’s website.