Music bloggers are the opinion formers of the digital age. They are individuals passionate about music who dedicate some of their time to writing reviews and articles about artists they like in order to reccomend them to their readership. Some, called MP3 boggers, focus on posting music for download and free circulation, while others are more journalistic. They are one of the great promotion channels available to aspiring indie musicians, as they are open to recieving music from anywhere. A good article written by a respected blogger has the potential to generate great exposure for you, and it has been proven that blog articles written about an album release can significantly increase the amount it is downloaded.This post should help you to understand how you can contact bloggers and hopfully to get an article posted about you.

Firstly: more on bloggers
•    Bloggers generally group around specific genres and sometimes affiliate themselves with certain scenes. So do your research! Take time to get to know which bloggers are keen on the kind of music you play.
•    Many blogs may want to post free samples of your music. So prepare a few promo tracks in MP3 format which you are happy to give away for free.

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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.

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Record Union has distributed our first album! But before you start rushing to the website to upload your own music, you should know that this was just a trial run! We needed to test that all the technical stuff is working, which it is! Wohoo!

So who was chosen for this journey into the previously unchartered realm of Record Union distribution? The band in question was none other than Motherpearl, a great rock outfit playing out of Gothenburg (Sweden). They have been creating quite a stir on their local circuit with their powerfull live performances and quality delivery. These guys are seriously talented, combining well thought out catchy rock riffs and energetic vocals with what can only be described as a groovy, funk vibe.  Their new album, “Long Time Comin” is already available on a few music shops (find them on Amazon here), and will be available for purchase on all partners, and all over the world, in about 4-6 weeks time.  We caught up with bass player of the band, Daniel Sjöstrand, to see how he feels about their new online release. We post the Q&A here for your reading pleasure.

Kind of cliché I know, but “Motherpearl” is an awesome name! what inspired it?

“Good question actually, and cliché indeed! (laugher)”

To be perfectly honest the name is a re-writing of the seashell-stuff ‘mother of pearl’. When the band got started we had just got our eyes on a guitar brand called “Warrior” that used exclusive materials, like mother of pearl, in their instruments. To us, mother of pearl was a sweet material and a little luxurious in a cool way

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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.

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So, what has Record Union been up these past weeks? Well, we are happy to say that we have secured some great new contracts with international Digital Service Providers. This has put some extra clout in the reach of our distribution, which we now estimate is around 95% of the global download market. Not bad eh? Other than this, we have eagerly been recruiting A&Rs around the world, and now have Record Union ambassadors representing us internationally. We have had great feedback from our A&Rs concerning our offer, and are sure that the A&R network will continue to flourish.  We have had a great response from artists too, who seem to really like the details of our offer. Other than this, we have been working like only possessed human beings can to get our service up and running. As we get closer to launching, members of the Record Union team have been discussing the phenomenon of the infinitely expanding “to do” list. You may have encountered this tendency yourself – what seems at first to be a simple “to do” on the list, on closer examination, becomes several “to dos” which in turn multiply exponentially, until the list takes on a life of its own. But after some things taking longer than anticipated, and new contracts to integrate into the platform, we are glad to say that the final hurdle is in sight. The website is looking great and it definitely won´t disappoint! Hefner, at least, is pleased with it. To keep updated with the latest news, feel free to subscribe to our newsletter or join our facebook group.

A little while back we wrote an article about the so called “music like water” debate. The idea behind “music like water” is that instead of paying a per unit price to purchase music, listeners instead pay a fixed price to stream music from an existing library. For some, this set up signals the future of the music consumption. For some, the reinstatement or a centralised distribution/consumption oligopoly.  However, these fears should be allayed, for there are some great streaming services now on the market, such as Spotify, Last FM , Deezer, Lala, Napster which are determined to keep their library open and diverse.

From a listener perspective, streaming services have some distinct up-sides. Subscription based services generally allow streaming of unlimited amounts of music until the subscription expires – this makes the music they listen to “feel free” even though the artists are earning money from their music. Advertising based services work in the same way, though you might have to put up with advertising in between songs or some banners here and there. This “feeling free” aspect is quite in tune with how many listeners would prefer to engage with music, and may well dissuade them from not paying for their music – which is great for artists. Though pay out structures vary between services, artists usually receive money based on the percentage of times their music has been played relative to total plays.

Streaming services provide a viable option to those who would like to listen to music for a fixed cost or don’t mind advertising. Streaming services which are similar to radio in that they decide what track comes next (e.g. Last FM) lend themselves well to music discovery, whereas click-to-play services (e.g. Spotify), allow people to chose exactly which track they want to play. All in all, providing the mechanism is in place to make sure artists receive their share from the revenues, and that streaming libraries remain open and accessible, streaming services provide a good balance to the per-unit structure many of us are accustomed to.

There has been much made of the new possibilities that the internet provides for artists and bands. Some have even gone so far as to say now musicians can pretty much “do it themselves”, that is, set up their own online business to market and sell their music successfully. It is an interesting idea, and it will be interesting to see how far an artist could develop going it alone.

It is undeniable that the internet provides a good marketplace for music. The yearly amount of digital downloads is growing exponentially, with more and more people purchasing their music online now than ever. It is quite inexpensive for an artist to sell music straight from their website (digital or otherwise), and services like Record Union are working hard to make sure that it is possible for any aspiring artist to distribute and sell their music on online music stores around the world.

So the market is there, the capacity to distribute and sell is there, what of marketing music and getting new fans? The internet also ranks quite highly on this front as well. When it comes to developing new fans, social networks are a great way to get people talking about your music and joining your mailing list. There are many great services which are designed to introduce people to new music (such as Last FM and iLike). When it comes to getting people to gigs on the weekend, the internet has made this a lot more transparent. But can artists really “do it themselves”?

The question which arises is, do what themselves. Sure, it seems entirely possible for artists to make a nice little sum of money from selling their music online, play packed venues and achieve a level of respect and notoriety. If one believes “1000 true fans strategy” is realistic, then artists can make a nice salary.  But mega stardom? Platinum hits? Champagne baths? It is as yet unclear whether the internet can single handedly produce such “successes”, they require some very well tuned marketing machinery which its diversified and comparatively fragmented environment does not support.

However, you must agree, that If the internet can help more artists make a living doing what they love, this itself is a great achievement. It seems likely that the internet will have its own mega stars, but how they will materialise, or whether this will be achieved separately from the old record structure is hard to say. But at the end of the day, its always good music which will prevail, and the internet does give us access to a lot of this!

One of the fascinating things about music is the subjective process involved in forming listening tastes. It is fascinating the way that music helps to build a life narrative affecting how people make sense of their everyday experience. Music is, in a very real sense, a kind of philosophy. Bands and genres often form an almost tribal following, with clear examples of what genres a part of another tribe. These tribal followings have their own social codes, general frameworks for acting and certain forms of living which are associated with them.

Along this line of thinking, the artists who create music are in some sense philosophers. Ok, they don´t have long beards and write very long books, but they share something of the philosophers spirit. Through reflecting on their life experiences, or simply because of them, they compose an artefact which in some way transmits their vision of how things are; melody and rhythm acting like different shades of colour on a paintbrush, like words on a blank page. Whether it is a chirpy guitar riff, a dazzling drum beat or a soaring piano melody or the mournful lyrics of an ode; it communicates something to the listener. Though the emotional effect of music lacks the precision of verbal expression, it often speaks with much more clarity. Dancing is when the emotional truth of music translates into action. The origin of rhythm may well lie in the steady beat of the heart pumping our around our biological self; in this case, music shares and intimate relation with our very existence. We will finish this contemplative post with a quote:

“Music expresses that which can not be said and on

which it is impossible to be silent”

- Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

There has been talk recently about whether the internet is making the “hit” irrelevant. The manufacturing of the “hit” is associated with the times where major Record Labels had an impressive control over consumer behaviour. It was that elusive formula which guaranteed blockbusters, that formula which enabled their marketing departments to create and predict demand for music to an almost scientific certainty.

However, now the ideology of the hit seems to have lost it power. As the story goes, by the year 2000, a new autonomous realm largely outside the record industries control was beginning to take a toll on the hits effectiveness. This new realm was not based around the “cult of the mainstream”, could not be cracked by mass marketing strategies; this new realm was the internet. The internet is the “hits” worst nightmare. The internet has produced far more choice in what music is available. Consumers became less susceptive to the neatly packaged mass marketed mega bands, now able to exercise more freedom in what music they put on their play list. WIthin the internet developed a whole new culture, one of file sharing, ipods, bloggers, myspace, home recording, user recommendations, net hypes, podcasts…No longer satisfied with the limited music available through the tradition channels, music taste, and the identifying process involved, has become far more diversified. What was once the cult of the mainstream has now fragmented to a dazzling array of subgenres each with their own “micro-hits”. These days, the “top 40” has become irrelevant to the new generation of internet savy music fans, who actively engage with music in diverse ways; the cult of the mainstream has become the cult of the “niche”.

So does this signal the end of the “hit”? Yes, well, kind of…its hard to say. The internet music community is growing steadily, as is the digital download market, which is growing exponentially. For many, the authority of the traditional “hit” seems superfluous compared to the massive amount of choice the internet offers listeners. The “hit” will remain in some sense, but it seems likely that the mechanics helping to produce it will have changed to become more in line with the online environment.

Record Union´s expedition to the MIDEM music conference was a huge success! Everyone we spoke to were enthusiastic about our concept and especially our business model, which guarantees no upfront costs for artist wishing to distribute their music. This enthusiasm reinforced our belief that having no upfront costs will make our offer more attractive to artist, who realise that engaging in a digital distribution agreement with Record Union caries little risk and has the potential for great rewards. We put faith in our artists that their music will sell, and do not want to bog them down with payments before they have tasted the benefits of digital distribution.

During the conference, we secured oral agreements with half a dozen powerful music stores, which now puts the reach of our distribution to well over 95% of the global download market. This is a great achievement; for now we can confidently say we are one of the most, if not the most, powerful digital distributer on the market!

With approximately 8000 visitors at the conference, there was networking going on by the plenty. And as you can imagine, a mass exchange of business cards. What was particularly popular were the Record Union pens, which, whether taken for practical purposes or a reflecting a genuine interest in Record Union, now require a new order! What is especially encouraging for us of the new music generation is that online services dominated the conference, and there were many great ideas being developed by entrepreneurs all over the world. There was a shared feeling that the music industry is uncertain of where it is heading, which presents itself as a great opportunity to forge new ideas. One thing is certain, however, and this is that online services will play very important role in the new music environment.

Other than this, there were great live performances from a diverse range of artists showcasing their talent, and it was quite the party!