Manon Dave is an artist (producer/composer) on Record Union as well as a member of our A&R network. With the success of his releases so far he is currently in the process of producing an EP and album which will consists of his own instrumentals and feature vocals from various artists.

Some major names have already contributed to the album, including Pras (The Fugees), PJ Morton (India Arie, Musiq, Soulchild), A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) with more big names to follow. Manon sees a great opportunity to include one or more Record Union artists in this release as a way to demonstrate how the Internet can bring together established names and upcoming independent artists to appear on one great album.

If any of you would like to be involved in this project please to respond to this post with links to music, otherwise drop Manon an email here: manondave(at)gmail.com).

Nomy is a great example of the awesome possibilities that digital distribution and new innovative online services create for independent artists. Recording from his home studio and releasing via Record Union, Nomy has taken the world, and Spotify, by storm. His album “Song or Suicide” was earlier this year the 10 most played albums on Spotify. In this interview, we talk to Nomy about himself, his music and his recent success.

Today Spotify prepare to roll out the next generation of their platform to users around the world. Some call it the most important Spotify update since their launch in 2008, many just call it plain awesome. In this new version Spotify have gone all out and added a range of features which will further revolutionize how their users can share and experience music. Of particular note here is a range of social networking features which many have been yearning for, culminating in the dynamic new fully editable Spotify profile. Spotify will now also evolve into a music management platform, enabling you to import and manage files from your computer to create that penultimate playlist. We wont go into too many details as the information is all there on their blog, but lets just say there is something for everyone. We are particularly excited about the increased promotional potential this Spotify update will give artists and bands who have their music on the platform, and will follow with an analysis of these soon.

Nomy is the name of the Swedish artist releasing on Record Union who has collected over 8 million plays on Spotify to date. This is a phenomenal achievement. Creating his music from his modest home recording studio, Nomy is proof that DIY can mean success, and that one can succeed online without the help of industry professionals.

“Like most artists, I wanted others to bond with my music. But I wanted to do it my own way and in my own pace. I discovered early on how music had the opportunity to grow on the Internet and vice versa. With my modest home recording set up I create everything by myself. When Guitar, drums, bass, vocals and song are fed into my computer it becomes my music, my sound, shaped in my way” says Nomy.

So, how did he do it? Well, he met initial met success when he sent up his hit “Cocaine” to various music websites for free streaming and download. Word got out, listeners began sharing and the amount of downloads steadily increased while fans gathered at his official website. He also saw increased traffic elsewhere, such as on his MySpace, YouTube and Facebook. When his music got up on Spotify and other online services via Record Union, the response was quite simply nuts.

Nomy was quickly placed on top lists, both small and more established. For example, “Cocaine” played almost 2 million times on YouTube and he dominated the chart on www.allears.se with 10 different songs. Most notable to date is the placing of ”Song or Suicide” as the 50th most played album on Spotify, where since July 2009 has along with all his other songs collected over 8 million plays.

New Album “Disconnected” available now on Spotify Premium

Today his much anticipated new album titled “Disconnected” is available on Spotify premium. Nomy´s melodic influences spring from Skate, Metal and bands like Bad Religion, Danko Jones, In Flames and HIM among others. “Disconnected” contains songs with an acoustic feel and strong influences from country. It is an album with depth, power and striving.

Drum roll, please! Record Union are proud to present our very first video. It is intended to introduce new people to the service, and communicate what Record Union are all about. We would like to thank Jeremy Irons & The Ratgang Malibus for letting us use their music for the video. Enjoy!

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 Sivers talks about an important feature of the online music environment vital to understand if one is to make headway marketing music online.

A few members of the Record Union team were recently discussing some of the gigs they had been to the last few weeks, and an important marketing point came up which will serve as the basis of today’s advice. The point is that if you are playing live in front of an audience, make sure they leave knowing who they saw!

Here is the story. There was an open mic at one of the local rock bars here in Stockholm and a band were playing who were seriously good. The crowd was engaged, the lead singer was doing all the right moves and they were quite honestly tearing the place apart. They played a great set, said their thanks and left the stage. However, at no point did they give their name. When they arrived, they said hello, began their opening song - when they closed they left with not so much as a hint at what they were called -let alone where people could find them online. Not only is this a real shame, but quite frankly, it is bad marketing. In desperation fellow gig goers were consulted, and yet again, a dead end - they didn’t know their name either.

So, please, if you are playing live do not make this mistake yourself - introduce the name of your band clearly, as many times as possible. Make it stick. A band who is good at this is Allout (pictured above) whose members include Record Union´s head designer. During gigs, Peter will scream variants of “Allout, Allout, we are Allout, dont forget it, Allout, no spaces, just Allout” before the opening song, in between songs, and even during songs - amusing the crowd but also providing a few memorable moments. People  wont forget their name in a hurry.

Furthermore, if you are getting a good vibes from the audience, why not drop some more information? A MySpace address, a quick note that people can find you on certain popular streaming services. If you are feeling ambitious, you can even print some cheap flyers to hand out at the end of the gig.

People love to talk about “this amazing band they say the other night” but how can they market you if they don´t know your name?

We are excited to announce that Record Union will now be collaborating with The Peoples Music Awards! Together we will work hard to create even more opportunities for independent artists around the world.

For those who don´t know about them, The Peoples Music Awards are the first and only global unsigned music award, and are dedicated to aiding the discovery of new independent music. Record Union are really impressed with the awards, and think it provides a great platform for aspiring independent musicians to grow their fan base and gain the recognition they deserve.

The way the awards works is that independent artists, bands and producers can upload their music on www.thepeoplesmusicawards.com, and the general public and a panel of music industry representatives can listen and vote on their favourites. There are various stages to the voting, but their music player and voting system makes this all very straightforward. The winners are announced in there swanky awards ceremony which is this year held in London, and is broadcast all over the world. Next year, we are excited to announce that the Record Union A&R network will be among those sitting on the judges panel.

If you are determined to achieve success in music, then The Peoples Music Awards may just be that extra push which you need. Signing up is free, so head over to their website and sign up now!

Today´s post will look at the lessons to be learned from the story of Making April, a band who are one of the major DIY promotion success stories. They managed on their own steam i.e. without a marketing department, to sell over 1000 singles a week on iTunes. So how on earth did they do it? Well, put simply: hard work, dedication and a plan. By approaching their task in a serious manner, setting goals and spreading their work load, the members were able to achieve what they thought they never could. To do it they exploited fully one thing the internet is superb for, reaching out to fans, and oh how they reached!

In an interview with Ariel Hyatt of Ariel Publicity, they spilled the beans and filled us in how they managed this impressive feat. You can read the full details on Ariel Publicity, but here are some of the key factors which contributed to their online promotion success.

Planning and setting goals: Every morning three band members would meet up in what they called the “War Room” to plan their daily efforts and set targets for what they wanted to accomplish. This planning and coordination was key to their success.

A solid Social Networking Strategy: Making April used MySpace to engage with and develop potential listeners and fans. The way they did this was to scope out similar sounding bands to who already had large friends list, and then contact their friends and encourage them to check their own matterial and leave a comment on their profile.

Getting personal: To develop the relationship with their myspace contacts, Makin April contacted all those who left a comment on their MySpace profile and thanked them personally. Importantly, they left their instant messenger details in their signature. Their IM contacts grew exponentially. They would sit, literally all day long, chatting away to fans and giving them information about the band. At this point they would send their fans free samples of their music, which they could share with their friends, giving even more people the chance to check out their tunes.

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Fantastic news! Crescendolls are the official winners of Jack Rocks Sweden 2009. They made it through three rounds of tough voting by a panel of respected judges to make it to the finals held in Stockholm last night. Four bands battled it out onstage in front of a select audience, but in the end it was Crescendolls who clinched it. Inside sources tell us that it was a close run thing between Crescendolls and Oholics, both bands currently distributing their music with Record Union. For you Swedish speakers, you can read more about Crescendolls and the Jack Rocks competition here.

Record Union would like to congratulate Crescendolls on this impressive feat, and wish them the best of success in their bright future.