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November 15, 2013 Enter to win, One of 5 High-End Musical Instruments worth over $2000. Whether you’re a music lover, promoter, musician, singer, or just want to win a smoking hot instrument, the “MelodyFusion Band Gear Give-Away” gives you more chances to win! Visit www.MelodyFusion.Com. Join. Learn. Listen. Promote your music. Connect with local Musicians & Fans. ALL for FREE! It’s EASY & QUICK to register.
November 15, 2013 
Intro -
Continuing with our recent guides on promotion, this week we’re going to discuss the Artist Press Kit. Because every artist represents its own “brand”, it becomes necessary to package your brand in such a way that it is attractive to fans as well as potential investors from within the music industry, while showcasing your marketability and strengths. For successful artists, having a press kit available at any time is a must.
But what exactly is a press kit and why is it so important to have one?
Essentially a press kit is exactly what it sounds like: A group of documents which present the artist’s background, past shows, publishing achievements, current and future shows, as well as contact information. (Sounds kind of like a resume to me!)
Your image is your brand - you in a package - and is the key to selling venues and A&R representatives on the fact that you can make them money. Though this may all sound like a headache to put together, I assure you that you already have the majority of what you need! It won’t take long to format and compile, and like I always say, “you get out what you put in.”
Musicians Resources | tagged ATx, Austin, Central Texas, Tx, electronic press kit, epk, phosphene, phosphene productions, press kit, producer, production, texas November 13, 2013 FanUnite connects Artists, Fans, and Promoters to share their love of music. As a video-sharing social network, FanUnite helps music enthusiasts discover and share new artists with the music community.
November 10, 2013 http://talentmeetspotential.tumblr.com/
I have created a group on soundcloud where most of the featured songs come from. I had no idea that it would have 1600 submissions and almost 800 members after I haven’t posted for 2 months. The problem is I don’t have many followers - so if you could help spread the word so that I can provide a true platform for independent artists that deserve the exposure to get heard!
The soundcloud group can be found here - https://soundcloud.com/groups/indie-indie-indie
I better get to it - I will keep it updated regularly from now on!
November 8, 2013 Developed for the modern working drummer, KBrakes stop your kick drum from sliding. No matter where you are - on stage, in studio or garage - each anchor features 256 stopping points per side and locks your kick drum firmly in place. Capable of rotating a full 180°, KBrakes lay perfectly flat and can stay attached to your drum while being packed in its case. This unique design fits 99% of modern and vintage drum spurs and is “low profile”, making them blend with the rest of your kit. With a total of 512 stopping points, KBrakes is the most dynamic and powerful kick drum anchor in the world. Visit www.kbrakes.com/backit for more information.
Musical Instruments | tagged KBrakes, drummers, drums, independent musicians, kickdrum, kickstarter, music, musicians November 7, 2013 Music Licensing Quicksand: Common Pitfalls To Watch Out For After The Ink Dries
By Christopher Rucks | Music Dealers
You’ve signed your license agreements. You’ve licensed the song you were hoping for, within the budget you were working with. Your project airs and you’ve checked it off of your list. All is going according to plan. Nice job. But hold on a second. There are a few instances where you may not be done, instances that require more attention after the ink dries on the contract. And you want to have some knowledge about these situations beforehand so if they do pop up, you’re prepared for these post-license circumstances and know how to handle them. Let’s take a look at three items that can occur after the ink dries.
November 1, 2013
The young, Berlin-based digital distributor is not so young anymore. The 1st of November 2013 marks the start-up’s 5-year anniversary. While nowadays firmly rooted in the capital, recordJet was founded in 2008 in Dresden with the goal of offering musicians and bands a fair opportunity to sell their music digitally worldwide. “Back then, recordJet was formed due to lack of alternatives”, said Jorin Zschiesche, Captain of recordJet. “We wanted to sell our own musical project online and weren’t satisfied with other distributors’ offers – too high shares, loss of rights, restricted freedom, long-term contracts, lack of transparency. So what could be better than doing it yourself?”
November 1, 2013 mDNA is set to revolutionise the way we connect, communicate, share, like, comment and explore music from other mDNA strands and music we love. mDNA is an exciting project that has been in the works for the past 10 months. Through a web and smart phone application, mDNA will allow music fans to boost the exposure of independent and emerging artists and show in real-time the top trending tracks governed by the people.
October 31, 2013
I’m reaching out on behalf of my client the Jamaica Tourist Board (@VisitJamaicaNow) to invite everyone to a Twitter Chat this coming Monday, November 4 at 3 p.m. ET. The chat will focus on Jamaican music with hashtag #JamaicanMusic, and will be co-hosted by Shaggy (@DiRealShaggy).
I realize this is a bit outside the bounds of our normal travel-centric Twitter Chats, as the goal of this particular chat is to create a dialogue about Jamaican music, but travel and tourism will play a role as we plan to address music-themed attractions and landmarks on-island.
As an incentive during Monday’s hour-long chat, we’ll be giving away 20 iTunes gift cards, as well as a Jamaican gift pack to one lucky participant.
Hope to see you there!
October 30, 2013 It often takes a student around 3-5 years to get together the basics of creating a competent music mix. Professional mix engineers tend to have 10 years of experience and the very best and most in demand mix engineers are often in their mid forties by the time they are turning away bookings. The fact is it takes a long time to learn how to mix audio properly.
mixing, music production October 30, 2013 This infographic provides killer ways to ensure you land that DJ residency in the club you want to play in and ignite the fire in your DJing or electronic music career
2013, Band Marketing, DIY Artist | tagged DDIY Artist Development, Electronic, dj, how to get gigs, music promotion October 26, 2013 I had the same dream as every other unsigned musician when the internet (supposedly) leveled the playing field. This is going to be great, I remember thinking. I can just do it on my own now! Who needs a label? All I have to do is put it out there, right? And so I did that. And that’s what we’ve all done for the past ten years at least, hoping for the best. But do you want to know a secret…do you want to know what happened?
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Nothing. That’s what happened, and I’m still pissed.
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Well, I guess I’m over it for the most part. But now the game has evolved into something even more elusive, like some online version of the emperor’s new clothes since nobody ever says anything. Because all you ever hear these days is that if you really want to be successful with your music career, or any other creative business venture for that matter, all you have to do is get more socially connected!
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So now that we’ve all been at it for a while, answer me this… are you on Myspark or Faceplant or Urube or Tweaker or Fumbler or Regurgitation Nation, or are ya’ selling on iPlumes or Prankora or Spot-a-fly or any of the other new ones you’re probably missing out on…Or maybe you should just start up a KicksHarder campaign…Oh, and by the way, how many friends ya’ got? Or likes do you have? Or are you trending lately? Or have you gone viral yet? And if not, that’s why nothing’s happening for ya’ friend, what do you expect?
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Well, nothing, since that’s what I’ve learned to expect after playing this game for the last decade. Because let’s be honest, we all know its bullshit for the most part. No matter what business you’re in, really. Ok, it does help a little.
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But what we all learn sooner or later is that the real common denominator for any artist to become successful is the same as it was before the internet made us think we could get around it, which is to have the capital and working relationships behind you to really get the word out. Then you go on Faceplant and all the rest, and…voila, it actually does work!
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And just to clear up any confusion. For anyone who still buys into the term “indie band” or “indie artist” as meaning any artist, or group of artists, who have become successful completely on their own - I hate to break it to you, but they didn’t. Because the truth is, if they had done it all on their own, you never would have heard of them.
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Case in point: Have you ever heard of the indie rock band, Broken Poets? They’re great, I think. They’ve been around for the last twelve years, too. I know. And in that time they’ve produced and promoted four full length records and three EPs completely on their own. They’ve also played a countless number of gigs, big and small, all over the East and West coasts. Well, that’s what I would consider a real indie band, wouldn’t you? But here’s why I know you’ve never heard of them; because they’ve never had the support of a major label, plain and simple. And it’s not for lack of trying either, because I know they’ve tried.
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Ok, it’s my band.
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But this is not to say I think the few big record labels left out there are evil because they never signed us. Or that any of the “indie labels” that are usually always affiliated somehow with these bigger labels are bad either. In fact, the way I look at it, if it weren’t for record labels in general I would have never heard the music that inspired me to become a musician in the first place. It’s a system that works, so I get it.
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But here’s the clincher. There are many independently run bands and artists still out here - you might call us the unknown indie artists. We’re the ones who just never fit into the framework of what these labels considered to be marketable - which is what the term “indie music” actually meant at first; as a way to describe all the artists and bands that were doing it on their own during those first waves of the internet.
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But since just the idea of a self sufficient artist via the web was a threat to the industry, the major labels made a brilliant move obviously. They simply got behind the bands they knew they could market, continued to call it “indie music” and packaged it for the masses; which is how the word “indie” became more associated with a certain lo-fi sound and appearance, rather than as an artist’s preference to remain independent. A very well financed and connected lo-fi sound and appearance, I might add.
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Again, nothing against record labels or even the artists they represent. Because as much as we all wish it was just about the music, the process of getting it out there always comes down to the business side whether we like it or not. And that’s why I can’t even blame those first few independently successful bands for teaming up with the status quo so fast. It was just a business decision that made sense I would imagine. And, ok, I’m just jealous I wasn’t one of them.
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But just remember the next time you hear that term indie music thrown around so easily, that a lot of us original misfits are still out here. Still producing and promoting our own work under the radar. Because we’re the ones with the scaled down versions of the labels I mentioned above, labels that work just as hard to put out good music year after year, but on a miniscule budget in comparison. Just imagine a label where the art vs. commerce debate gets resolved by default every time.
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And just speaking for myself, I’ve been producing my own work and doing things my own way for so long now, I plan to keep it this way. And, yes, even if that day comes when I finally make enough money to be considered by a label as marketable - well, it would just be a matter of unknown indie principle at that point.
Written by Tim McDonald
October 24, 2013 WaveDNA is excited to announce a significant upgrade to the full version of Liquid Rhythm beat generation software. The latest version includes powerful new MIDI sequencing and editing tools to create and remix drum patterns, achievable directly in Ableton Live clips via Max4Live, as a plug-in, or as a standalone application. WaveDNA has also released Liquid Rhythm Intro, a condensed version of Liquid Rhythm that will increase accessibility for electronic musicians, music producers, composers, and DJs. Liquid Rhythm Intro offers users the same great core features as Liquid Rhythm for a great price.
music production, music technology | tagged beat October 23, 2013 We know that in the grand scheme of things, you just want to close your eyes, feel the beat and let your body move to the music. Anything worn to an EDM festival should be loose, light and comfortable because you will be on the dance floor all day and all night long. With the strobe lights going, you will want to wear fun, bright colors that catch the light and let you stand out in the crowd. Looking sexy has never been easier with some of these favorite club wear apparel pieces.
festivals | tagged dance music, edm, festivals, music festival 