Record Union, and of course Hefner, would like to wish a merry Christmas to all those celebrating.

We at Record Union love to listen to all of the music which is being released on our service daily. We also admire those artists who have put in that extra effort to accompany their release with some impressive album artwork. So much so, that we thought we would post a few of our favourites here on the blog.

Many of us will have heard about the Twitter song, but the SEO song probably draws a blank. The “SEO song” is part of a campaign by the Creare Group to raise awareness about illegitimate and black hat Search Engine Optimisation techniques - and what better way to launch a campaign than with a little musical composition! Record Union is pleased to play our part in combating rogue SEO optimisers by distributing this song a few days ago, which will be available online in the coming weeks. The song is by Charlie & The Martyrs, and is accompanied by a rather fun video, which you can view below.

Greetings! today we thought we would post some fun end-of-week videos. Firstly, as the following clip demonstrates, you dont need to go to the music shop to purchase new instruments, no no. Next time you are in need of a flute, ocarina or trumpet (or pretty much any other wind instruments) - head down to your local grocers. The following video should get you started:

Now, not all of us are blessed with the superp rythmn of an experienced drummer, nor the nimble agility of a concert pianist. But this shouldn´t stop you from recording a little tune using both, as Lasse Gjertsen demonstrates:

For many, it is common knowledge the “music industry” is “evil”, cares as much for artists as a lion does a dying gazelle, and that record labels, especially the majors, are synonymous with the four horsemen – or may even be a direct machination of the unspoken one himself. Exploitative, manipulative, conniving, devious, deceiving – they are not to be trusted. And Record Contracts, well, if Record Labels embody the devil – then Record Contracts are that which chains an artists immortal soul to the netherworld. This is clearly an exaggeration, they can´t be that bad – I mean, they at least make artists rich and famous. Well, famous maybe – but rich? Is this another common sublimation which needs evaluation?

The above one sided polemic finds support in an excellent article written by a rather well respected and renowned veteran of the music industry. Except he, Steve Albini, likens the process of signing a major Record Deal, with “a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit”. On one side of the trench is a “faceless industry lackey holding a fountain pen” and the other, a collection of eager artists wanting to sign the contract. The lackey shouts “go” and the in they plunge, scrambling and fighting to reach the other side.
Now think what you will about the Label structure, but before you make up your mind, read this article!

The Problem With Music by Steve Albini

This article will give new insights into the traditional A&R structure, the Deal Signing process as well as factual evidence proving how many Record Deals just dont pay out. Read it! Espcially if you are one of those who measures success as synonymous with being signed by a major label.

Today we thought we would post a great shred that a member of the Record Union team found recently on YouTube. We have enjoying it all week. Hope you like it as much as we do!

Today, rather than an in depth exscursus into the mysterious and alluring new music environment, we thought we would entertain you with something out of the memorable concert moments archive. Now, Green Day concerts are always a bit of a riot, but during their set at Woodstock 1994 they took it to a new level. It had been raining, and as all festival veterans know, this means there is a lot of mud lying about. Woodstock, a festival promoting peace, turned into the biggest most riotous mudfight in history, with fans pelting the stage with great big hunks of glorious mud! Billie Joe tried to return fire, but needless to say, he was outnumbered. He summed the whole thing up beautifully when he said “This isn’t F—ing social peace, this is anarchy!” Here´s the full clip:

This clip is great! It also raises some interesting questions. If you think you can get away with stealing cars from your Toyota, the same rational lies behind stealing music. Just because you can get away with it, doesn’t make it any less wrong – or does it? What wrong with music being free? Ooooh, feels like a post about file sharing is brewing!

(click to enlarge)

Ok peeps, got a bit of a challenge here for you. There are at least 72 band names illustrated in this image. Have fun. We will release the image with all of them written out in one week…hopefully you won´t need that long. Anyone who emails us with them all before that time gets something. We have been having great fun with this at the office. Are those gorillaz?

Thank you virgin digital for creating this image.