Brooklyn's own Dollar Van Demos drives undiscovered artists down Flatbush Avenue on the road to stardom.

The year-old web series is a showcase of musical artists inside a Brooklyn dollar van with real passengers. The filmmakers call the results 'reality music videos' that are fresh, unpredictable and whole lot of fun.

The concept behind Dollar Van Demos requires some explanation.  First and most important: What is a dollar van? A dollar van is “share taxi,” which is an entrepreneurial response to a situation that's sadly common in major cities around the world: in neighborhoods under-served by mass transit, driver-operated commuter vans are needed to cheaply transport passengers to work, school and shopping along a specified route. This type of system is popular throughout many developing countries, where the locals have colorful names for the service: they're known as a Tap Tap (Haiti), Maxi Taxi (Trinidad & Tobago), Shekel Sherut (Israel), Combi (Mexico)– the list goes on.

Secondly, What's a demo? A demo is short for 'demonstration' which is to say a musical recording made for reference rather than for general release. Typically, a would-be performer will create a demo version in the hopes of landing a record deal so a more polished, fully-produced song can later be made. The music industry has a long history of new talent landing a lucrative recording or publishing contract based on their well-received demo.  

So in effect, Dollar Van Demos is the first impression an audience will get of a relatively unknown performer. The music video and subsequent sharing of the clip via social networks like Facebook and Twitter acts as a low-budget experiment for both the talent and viewer to realize if the artist's efforts deserve further attention. We
should also mention that this experience brings overwhelming sense of joy to the performer, the in-van audience and internet viewers alike. 

The show has triumphantly established itself as the 'go-to' place to discover up-and-coming talent with its winning formula of intimate performances in front of an unwitting yet accepting audience. This guarantees a fresh feeling to each music video clip. Also, since the show takes place on Flatbush Avenue (think of it as Brooklyn's 'Main Street' stretching from the East River to the Atlantic Ocean), we present to the viewers an authentic and positive portrait of the varied faces of the Borough.

DollarVanDemos