The Next Big Thing competition is now in full swing! With lots of new artists and jury members joining each day, things are starting to heat up.

Recently announced was more info about the much anticipated Spotify Award. This award is given to artists/bands when they reach 3000 points in the competition. One part of this prize involves a chance to get your music up on Spotify via Record Union for free, but the Next Big Thing are also working closely with Spotify and other partners to provide some unique promotional opportunities for those who receive the award. The details of these will be announced soon.

As everyone knows, Spotify is a powerfull promotion channel and it will be exciting to see the exposure which can be generated for independent artists partaking in The Next Big Thing. However, you got to be in it to win it! Find out more about The Next Big Thing and how to enter here.

Promoting your own music through playlists can be very effective - it is also quite fun. The trick is to create a top notch playlist featuring other (perhaps more established) artists/bands and then to whack a few of your own tunes in there. The other artists/bands featured in the playlist may be the primary draw, but your own songs will also be introduced to listeners. You don’t of course need to limit your playlist to music of a similar genre, you can be creative with the theme and name of your playlist.

There are many platforms to then share and spread them. If we are talking Spotify playlists then there is Sharemyplaylist.com, Spotify Playlists, Spotylist.com, Spotifyfriends.com to name just a few. Deezer, Lala and other on demand streaming services have their own communities built up around this. Beyond specific websites, playlist can be readily transferred over social networking mediums. Share the link with your friends and if it cuts the cream, your playlist should be passed around the social media bubble. To be honest, you can post the link to your playlist on pretty much any online medium, such as blogs, forums etc.

For extra exposure, why not enter your playlist in a competition? This, as artist/DJ Dr.Sounds (a.k.a Bodysurf) will no doubt tell you can be very effective. Dr Sounds entered his playlist in the Spread the joy competition and came second place, not only generating exposure for his own music but also winning a rather cool new smart phone. Nice work.

We are happy to feature playlists here on the blog, so if you have one you are particularly fond of, shoot it over to us and we will post it.

The “Next Big Thing” is gearing up to to be one of the biggest music competitions to hit Sweden in modern times. A music competition…with a twist. See, the Next Big Thing will not have a panel of “expert” music judges from the established music industry deciding who are the winners and losers. No no. In the Next Big Thing it is the fans and music fanatics who become the jury, and both fans and artists will have the chance to win some sweet sweet prizes. Even better is that this massive competition is targeted at unsigned artists.

Record Union have been selected as the official digital distributor of the competition and are firmly behind the concept. Not only does it offer aspiring artists and bands in Sweden a superb platform to increase their fanbase and promote their music to a new audience, but by putting the listeners at the forefront, it empowers fans and artists to a new level. Empowering artists and fans is what we are all about, too.

There are a crazy amounts of prizes on offer, festivals to play and cities to tour. If you are an independent and unsigned band in Sweden the Next Big Thing is an opportunity you don’t want to miss. Head over their website for more info on how to enter.

Tomorrow, the competition begins!

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.

Incredible news! Homegrown DIY success Nomy has now climbed to number 10 on the Spotify world toplist, making his album “Song or Suicide“ one of the most played albums on Spotify right now. And all of this for an unsigned artist who creates his music from his home recording Studio in Jönköping, Sweden. This is not just a success for Nomy, but for all of us who believe in what the the internet and digital music has to offer. For if anything demonstrates the hopes and possibilities of the digital music “revolution”, this surely does.

Nomy is history in the making, and Record Union are proud to be able to be a part of it.  We would like to congratulate Nomy on his phenomenal achievement, and hope that it will inspire more grass roots artists to spring forth and conquer!

“When you reach a certain point with your music which you never could imagine, Its hard to find words to say anything at all. I am overwhelmed. My Listeners and I have proven once and for all that we dont just want to be fed by major record labels. This is the payback for over 15 years of hard work. Its my biggest confirmation” - Nomy

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!

We are pleased to inform you that today 32 new releases from Record Union were added to the Spotify service. We have been extremely impressed by the amount of plays Record Union artists have been pulling in, and we are sure this batch will contribute to these. To find out if your release has been included in this update, check out this spreadsheet. If your release was included, time to go out to your fans a tell them the good news!

Dear ladies, gentlemen, friends, comrades and fellow human beings. Yesterday, another 60 tracks from Record Union artists were added to Spotify. This was a small update compared to the thousands of tracks added last week, but as usual we have put them into a little spreadsheet for you. From all of us here at Record Union, including of course Hefner, have a great weekend!