That´s right folks, we here at Record Union are on the prowl for some kick ass .NET developers to join our  team.

Are you a .NET developer looking for a creative and challenging work environment? Do you want to be part of developing a market driven and innovative music service? Is both music and writing excellent code a passion? If so - we would love to hear from you.

See here for more info about what we are looking for and how to apply.

Yes, its a jungle out there. But how to become the king, or at least not get eaten? 10 experts approached by Hypebot outline some guiding points you should have in mind when considering your online music strategy.

Read it here: 10 Tips For Succeeding In Today’s Volatile Music Biz (via Hypebot)

Exciting news! Our friends at Spotify have made another nice addition to their music service. The Spotify play button enables you to create your own widgets from music and playlists on Spotify which  you can then embed on your website or blog . When people click to play the songs on the widget it will start playing their Spotify client right away.

This means that instead of clinking on a Spotify URL link the listener can access the music via a sleek little player which contains cover art and other info.

This neat little edition to the Spotify experience will make music even more portable and easy to enjoy - if Spotify is an important portal for you then you should be rushing to add a Play Button on all your online locations. Note though that that a listener needs to have Spotify installed to use the Player.

Click here to access the player generation page.

We are pleased to announce a collaboration with the website creation tool Bandzoogle. As of now we can offer all Record Union users a free 6 month trial.

Bandzoogle enables you to create a flexible and powerful band website, with no webdesign or programming skills required. Features include being able to set up your own music and merchandise store, sending email and SMS news blasts, building fan clubs and creating an online community for your fans. In addition Bandzoogle provide you with important analytic data about your visiting fans. For a detailed overview of the features on offer, see their features page.

How to use the offer

To get start with your 6 month trial, click here and then the “try it for free” - your free trial should automatically be extended to 6 months. Alternatively you can enter the promo code “recordunion” on the sign up page.

Need mastering for your tracks? Look no further. Record Union are proud to announce a partnership with Sage Audio - specialists in high fidelity online CD mastering and mixing services.

Sage Audio offer highly competitive per-track mastering rates, an efficient online submission process, quick turn around and professional results. You can view some samples of their work on their website.

We are also pleased to announce that due to our partnership with Sage Audio Record Union users are entitled to a 10% discount on all of Sage Audio´s services!

Claiming your discount - To use this exclusive offer head over to the Sage Audio website and enter “recordunion” as partner code when you sign up to get your discount - alternatively, enter this on the payment page.

We are really pleased to be working with Sage Audio and hope you will turn to them with your mastering needs. DIY mastering can be good if you know what your doing - but there is nothing like letting professional and experienced technicians give your songs that finishing touch.

Sage Audio is the first of a number of partnerships we will announce here on the blog - head to our new “Other Products & Services” page for more info.

One good example is the Amazon MP3 widget builder - this enables you to create customized music widgets containing music from the Amazon store and embed them directly on your website, blog or HTML supported page. This is a good option for showcasing your music from the Amazon store in a nice interactive way.

To create one of these widgets to embed on your own website click here and follow the instructions provided. You have quite a few opportunities to customize the widget so make sure you spend some time to find the size and outlook which suits you best.

Then its just to finish up and embed the code on your website. See below for one we made earlier!

Swedish phenomenon Rebstar has been on a lot of people’s radars since his single “Without You” (feat. Trey Songz) was released. The music video which racked up an impressive 3 million views on YouTube - along with its radio success worldwide - has solidified his position as an international artist.

Planning his anticipated new album release, the Swedish star sat down with several major record labels and shared his vision. Not too excited over their creative differences, Rebstar decided to put a halt to the meetings and take a rather nontraditional route. Embracing the internet and its many platforms, he decided to take matters into his own hands and release his album Bad Karma independently.

“Bad Karma is a full length album available digitally for free. You no longer need to feel guilty for downloading and not paying for music. I fully encourage everyone to download this album free of charge” - Rebstar explains.

An important part of this decision was the availability on all the major streaming services.

With promotional support from Spotify, Bad Karma is currently available exclusively on Spotify until its actual release date (March 12).

On release day, Bad Karma will be featured on some of the world’s highest ranking websites, with a sponsored download link provided by file-hosting giants Mediafire.

That´s right! Go to our new official Facebook page and click “like” to receive a 10% discount code which you can use on your next release. This is a limited time offer - first come, first served!

Via our Facebook page you can keep up to date with other promotions, competitions and news!

The Red bull music academy is a annual international music event where up and coming producers, singers, arrangers, DJs and musicians for two weeks get the opportunity to learn from top industry professionals.

This years academy is held in New York late September but leading up to the event there are workshop sessions in about 50 countries every year.

These workshops are a unique opportunity to learn about the the music industry, share ideas and be inspired by individuals who have managed to make their passion a career.

This week includes among four sessions in Sweden with artists such as techno legend Robert Hood, Marcus Price & Carli and Studio Barnhus attending and performing. If you have the opportunity to attend you are sure not to regret it.

There are plenty more date in cities around the world and all the dates and info you need to apply can be found on the RBMA website. See you there!

Right folks - time to get serious. Today´s topic: How high should you wear your guitar.

Should one have the guitar slung at ankle level in sheer punk defiance? Or should one have the guitar at chest level for optimal picking and solo performance. Should one in a post-modern defiance split with these old petty stereotypes and where the guitar however the hell takes ones fancies that day. Or should one do away with guitars altogether and by a Roland TB-303 Synthesizer, as Adam here at the office would have everyone do.

After heated debate which lead nowhere we decided to scour the internet for a definitive answer to his all important question.

Luckily we found an article which we wouldn’t say cleared things up - but at least informed the discussion somewhat. It doesn’t mention synths though - sorry Adam.

How high do you wear guitar, and why? Post your pics on our new Facebook page and if we like your styles we will send you a priceless limited edition Record Union T-Shirt.