1. An act of musical satiation; fulfillment; gratification.
Since the birth of Spotify all manner of community based web environments have been set up to gratify that undying urge to please other people with music you have generously sculpted into something called a playlist. We love them all, of course. However, there is one we love a little bit more than others (can we say that? - we just did) and its called Spotisfaction.
Spotisfaction is not so much a Spotify social networking site as a community driven spotify-music-wiki. A community of slightly eccentric but very knowledgeable music connoisseurs, we might add. Free of playlists created by corporate brands, it brings together in true web 3.0 style the collective wisdom of the people in a lovely kaleidoscope of news, reviews, articles and of course Spotisfaction playlists. All this combined with that slightly militant “we wont sell your stuff” attitude that we love from bloggers.
Anyways, do check it out - and why not submit your own news and reviews of your favourite independent bands while your at it?
There are some interesting new services popping up surrounding the live circuit, one of these is Songkick.
From a gig goer perspective, Songkick is an online service that keeps you updated about upcoming concerts. Via the Songkick “Tracker” you can search for your favourite artists, venues and festivals and by tracking them keep updated on who is playing, where and when. You can even track your friends and know which gigs they intend to hit up, as well as the city you live in to keep informed about all the upcoming gigs going on there. You will be notified when new gigs are announced, and see a calender of all the concerts going on the coming weekend and in the future. One great feature is that as a gig goer you can upload photos and videos for the events you have attended, add reviews and even build a gigogprahy of past concerts and festivals you have been to.
Now, as an artist, band or promoter this service clearly has many benefits. It is straightforward to add your own events to Songkick and as yet you cannot create your own special artist profiles - just adding your concerts into the database will make it trackable to people using the service. If you are looking for a good way to coordinate your concerts with fans, attract new people, get reviews and raves about your gig and also have a place to for you our your fans collect videos and photos of you being a rockstar - then Songkick is a great place to do this.
The era of the mega hit is gone - niche is the new mainstream. Find your niche and rule it - or better, create one and own it. In this interesting discussion with Ariel Hyatt of Cyber PR, Derek Siverstalks about an important feature of the online music environment vital to understand if one is to make headway marketing music online.
Today we post an article we recently submitted to Music Nomad, a great directory of resources for independent and unsigned artists. It concerns how to submit your music to Podcasts!
Podcasts are yet another example of the great new online channels available to musicians to promote their music and develop their fan base. For those living under a rock, a Podcast is an internet audio show delivered to listeners, who can listen online or download it to their PC, mobile phone or MP3 player. Listeners can also subscribe to particular shows and receive new shows as they are made available. One can consider Podcasts the internet’s answer to traditional radio, except better in many ways. Better because they are more accessible to independents, far less costly, they are global, exist for every genre and always after new music! To get your music played on podcasts, you will first need to make your tracks available for podcasters to find, and then contact them and let them know you are interested in getting your music played on their show. This mini-guide should hopefully give you some idea of how to do this.
First things first, get your tracks ready for listing!
Almost all podcasts require music to be submitted in MP3 format, so convert your music files to MP3 if necessary. Most podcasts will not use a bit rate in excess of 128kbps, so you can be comfortable using this bit rate. Recording quality is important, so make sure you submit the best recording that you can get your hands on.
Then a good idea would be to add ID3 tags. These are little bits of information (or metadata) about a track that you can attach to an MP3 file. This is not compulsory, but enables you to package your MP3 in a more attractive way. There are numerous ways which you can add ID3 tags, but the easiest way is to edit them in Widows Media Player or iTunes. Right click on the name of your track, and chose the “advanced tag editor” (“Get Info” in iTunes). You will now be able to add information to your MP3, such as the track name, artist name, cover art etc. In the “notes” field you also have the chance of added your MySpace, email address etc.
We dont want you to start thinking we worship Stebe Albini, no no. But browsing a few of the clips of him on You Tube we found this one, and we thought it was well worth posting. In it, he advises artists and bands to handle and manage as much to do with their band as possible, as this leaves you in control to make the decisions which will have a large effect on how you develop your music. The “system”, by which he means the industry built up around providing services to bands (booking agents, tour managers, publicity people) is designed largely to support itself. A provocative clip, to be sure, and a somewhat prophetic one. 5 years ago maintaining control over your music through “DIY” management would be a harder feat that it is today. With all the new services popping daily to help artists and bands with not only managing their band (Bandize), but marketing it (social networking sites, music sharing platforms, reverbnation) and distributing their music, the tools and support for artists who which to “go it alone” have never been more available.
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!
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.
Greetings ladies, gentlemen, comrades and fellow humans. Just a quick post today to say that there is now a new “page” on the Record Union blog. This page is entitled “online promotion directory” and features a list of services which we think are useful for aspiring independent and unsigned artists which are looking to use the online environment to their advantage. We hope that this will help artists find out about new services which can help them expand their fan base and generate exposure for their music. It contains links to blogging services, podcasting services, tools to make your life easier, online marketing tools and links to online promotion advice. The directory will be updated whenever we find new service to add, and if you would like to recommend services to add to this directory, or think we have missed something out, please contact the Blog Team at dogblog@recordunion.com. We will also be writing more articles dealing with online promotion advice here on the Dog Blog, which you can find by clicking on the “promotion advice” categories section (on the right of your screen). Happy time!
The BBC technology page wrote an interesting article recently entitled “the net helps music sing new songs”. It is a great article outlining the many ways which the internet is changing music, and how musicians are utilizing the internet to empower themselves. Discussing the continuing role of major labels, the article points out that “Some would argue that with an international reach and incredibly low entry costs, that the internet itself is the newest “major” label”. This arguement is in fact quite strong, for the many of the key roles that a major record label performs (recording, distribution and marketing) the internet also performs, and with a greater volume of music. Technological developments within music recording and production, coupled with the international reach of the internet has made it easier for musicians to record and “release” their music globally. The internet can be seen as the new “major label” for it enables far more music than ever before to be shared on a global platform, while simultaneously putting this music in a close proximity to listeners who can discover and enjoy it.
Yes, it can! If your goal as an artist or band is to sign with a Record Label, then having a good online sales record will definitely increase your chances of securing a deal. Many Record Labels, especially the majors, are prone to calculating the risk involved with investing their resources into making an artist or band successful, which makes sense. Most labels aren’t going to throw money at a band which they don´t think has a chance of succeeding (i.e. making money). With this in mind, showing potential labels that you have been able to achieve a good amount of online sales will make you a more attractive prospect. In addition, having a good online following and a large mailing list will earn you brownie points too, as it shows that you have an existing fan base to build on.
The possibilities which have beeen ushered in by the digital music revolution has led many to believe that it is now possible to enjoy a successful career in music without signing to a Record Label, and this may well be true. But the online environment can just as well help artists looking to sign to a Record Label by giving them a platform from which they can develop their music.
The term “unsigned” has historically been used by the music business as an almost derogatory remark to denote artists and bands who haven’t yet signed to a label, be the label independent or major. Almost as if to say that the band isn’t “good enough” to be offered a record deal or that since they haven’t signed a deal, they have not yet reached “success”. There are a number of things wrong with this.
Firstly, there are many great bands and artists without record deals playing superb music on local scenes and circuits around the world. Playing smaller and more intimate gigs, they are the lifeblood of local scenes and perform a important cultural role. Moreover, the internet has served to make a lot more music open to discover by a lot more people, and we realise there is a wealth of talent out there untapped by record labels. Being signed to a label is by no means a necessary measure of an artist’s talent or their capacity to create great music.
Secondly, there are a number significant benefits to the independence associated with being unsigned, and it is possible to enjoy a successful career in music without signing to a Record Label.
