SoundCtrl contributor Kira is an old school music nerd with a love for all things creative; always searching for music’s common ground. She has shared with us her top albums of 2013, and gives her prediction for 2014′s noteworthy upcoming releases. Feel free to drop her a tweet @shadowmelody1.

Chris Thile - Bach Sonatas and Partitas Volume 1, Nonesuch Records

Release Date: August 6, 2013

Not everyone fancies classical repertoire or is even necessarily familiar with Johann Sebastian Bach. If you fall into one or both of those categories, that’s cool. You can still get amazing enjoyment out of this record. You know why? Downright performance ability on the part of Chris Thile that leaves people pretty much speechless. Thile is a mandolinist (think violin tuning but played like a guitar) and his mastery of this instrument makes him able to go toe-to-toe with these sonatas and partitas and, well, play the pants off of them at speeds much faster, and with an accuracy more precise, than I have ever heard, even though they aren’t intended for the mandolin. (Full disclosure: I’m a violinist, have played some of these tracks myself.) Listen with you ear pressed to the speaker and you won’t hear a single misstep of a note. It’s a mesmerizing collection. Just cue up “Partita #1 in B Minor, Movement 4, Double 2” (track 8) and you will know instantly what I mean.

Anberlin - Devotion: Vital Special Edition, Universal Republic Records

Release Date: October 15, 2013

I’m cheating a little with this, since technically it’s a re-release of a 2012 record. That being said, the alt. rockers of Anberlin didn’t just slap on a new cover and call it a day. The reason this makes the cut as another pick is Devotion‘s ridiculous package: two full albums, one the re-release of 2012′s Vital with 3 new tracks and 4 B-sides, an album of purely remixes,and a live DVD of their acoustic show in Williamsburg from last year. Secondly, if you are in one of those moods where you just need solid rock with a kick that you can sink you teeth into, Anberlin is a band that can deliver. Lastly, the inclusion of the live DVD makes the icing on the cake. All to often, one’s exposure to a new band is either through a live show or studio record and listeners are left wondering how a band sounds on the flip side before they can get a full impression. Anberlin as a whole, and particularly lead singer, Stephen Christian, will impress new fans with Devotion’s strong studio recordings and then keep a matching performance quality when you hear the live tracks, surprising with their ability to balance a rock edge with acoustic restraint.

Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose, Warner Brothers Nashville

Release Date: March 5, 2013

Ashley Monroe is steadily working to gain traction among her longer established country peers. Like a Rose is her solo debut, which came out prior to the sophomore release for her other endeavor, country trio, Pistol Annies, comprised of Monroe, Miranda Lambert and Angaleena Presley. It is worth immediate praise to note that Monroe managed to juggle equivalent energy for the Pistol Annies’s second record and the launch of her first, something some artists struggle to accomplish. Monroe’s vocals have the character of a more traditional country sound, Southern twang and all–but she doesn’t pour it on senselessly. The abundance of expected instrumentation is another breath of fresh air and whether a person finds Like a Rose from a Pistol Annies fixation or by finding Monroe by chance, the woman shows she is capable of standing out with enough of her own identity to be a solo artist. She displays enough vocal star quality that Like a Rose won’t be limited to a forgettable playlist. 

This Old Ghost - Family Room, Unsigned

Release Date: January 22, 2013

This Old Ghost is a young group out of Peekskill, NY and after I gave this debut record a playthrough, it stayed on frequent repeat from January onward. A group self-described as “Folk & Roll,” TOG are just a well put-together group and Family Room is just a well put-together album. The band knows exactly who they are and their audio impression marks them as one-of-a-kind; from the incredibly distinctive vocal of Ian McGuinness to the occasional frontline inclusion of Karri Diomede’s flute. Still, it’s not hard to hear from where they draw their influences (spot-on with what they include in their Twitter mini-bio, I instantly thought of Band of Horses and Death Cab for Cutie) and this makes becoming a fan of their music effortless. Family Room hits a variety of song tempos and arrangement combinations, never to the listener’s boredom. Last, and perhaps one of the best aspects of Family Room is the crystalline production quality. Everything sounds clear on a professional level and compositional elements likes non-parallel harmony lines aren’t turned down or lost. If it’s in the band lineup, you hear it on the record–and for an independent group, that just goes to show the power of a well-done DIY effort.

Paramore - Paramore (Self-Titled), Fueled By Ramen

Release Date: April 5, 2013

Ah, the mainstream, radio-comfortable pick…of the many popular records that I came to own in 2013, this is one that would leave a plain void in parts of my year if I didn’t include it. Paramore, being the internationally recognized group they are, need no introduction. Even though the band doesn’t turn themselves completely inside out and keeps some level of familiarity in their stylings and in Hayley Williams’s signature vocal vibrancy, the album was just too diverse not to dive into and pick apart with enthusiasm.  The spectrum of instrumentation, tempos, influence nods, (No Doubt circa, “Push and Shove”) and track assembly showcase Paramore’s versatility. Some records stand out for quirk, some for production methods, some for theme. Paramore stands out for the exact quality I started with: it’s comfortable and fun. An album that came into a real and undeniable stride during the spring with the ubiquitous second single, “Still Into You,” much of Paramore’s extensive 17 track collective is straightforwardly upbeat and punchy. Toss together with Williams recognizable lead and playing it isn’t hard to do when you just want familiar, jammable, pop-rock.

Now that we’re officially into 2014, there are over 50 fresh weeks of “New Music Tuesdays” to get psyched about future releases and for the moment, I have my ears to the ground listening for further info on a new Adele record rumored to be completed this year, as well as the collaborative album, “Cheek to Cheek,” between Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett that was slated for release last year, but, had been pushed back.

The post Guest Post: Kira Grunenberg’s Top 5 Albums of 2013 appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Nicolas White, Editor-in-Chief at Rukkus.com

Where do you get concert tickets? Mull this over for a moment. It’s the kind of question that’s followed by a head scratch and a moment of hesitation, and then: “Well, I usually just…” but hold it right there. Has any convincing answer ever begun in that manner? Certainly not. So why does such a common question create such uncertainty?

It’s beyond comprehension that the most promising revenue source of the modern music industry (live music) also happens to be the least consumer-friendly. There’s no main forum like iTunes or Spotify to streamline the ticket buying experience, which leaves the disjointed, yet extremely lucrative market wide-open.

Consider this—more people are going to concerts than ever before; concert tours are the new LPs. Live music is booming and festivals are popping up like weeds across the U.S, as Woodstock is annually recreated in the desert of California and on a farm in Tennessee. But for ticket buying, the song remains the same.

It seems as though tickets are always purchased in a cloud of unknowing—you coordinate with friends last-minute, wait too long for prices to drop, buy on impulse, or even hear about your favorite artist playing after the show already happened. Quite frankly, it’s a nightmarish experience, and it hasn’t improved since the days of waiting on-line outside of a box office window.

Out of the depths of ticket buying inefficiencies rises a slew of ticket providers, not only on the primary market, but on the secondary market as well. While the primary space is still dominated by major players, the latter is becoming increasingly overpopulated. It’s gotten so confusing that most consumers don’t know the difference between a primary and secondary vendor, nevermind which one offers a better deal.

Despite its prevalence, there’s no rhyme or reason to this space, and fans are just as likely to find a good deal on one site and grossly overpay on another. With this inconvenience comes Rukkus, a company founded on the core goal to improve the fan experience, and shift the attention from ticket buying woes, to what’s most important―the music.

By partnering with dozens of primary and secondary market ticket sites, Rukkus possesses the largest ticket inventory on the web. Think: the Kayak.com of concert tickets. It’s a service built to give you the best deal, and get you closest to that guitar solo in the process, without the unnecessary hassle.

The truth is, there are great deals on tickets out there (many even fall below face value) but it’s far too time-consuming to scour the infinite places they’re found, and that’s where Rukkus comes in. The site provides a personalized experience based on the fan’s musical taste, and puts the focus back on the consumer, while others ignore them in favor of a bottom-line. Perhaps it’s because at the end of the day, Rukkus was built by live music fans, for live music fans.

Nicolas White is a writer for Rukkus, a revolutionary way to find the best deals on concert tickets. Visit www.rukkus.com to explore further.

The post Guest Post: A Solution to Concert Ticket Buying Woes appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Simon Brown, Publishing Manager at Lemoncake.com

When you hear a catchy tune or song on an advertisement, you rarely forget that product. Whether or not the product is something that interests you specifically, a track that plays into your emotions will make for a memorable ad. Carefully selected music attracts the audience and contributes to the entertainment factor, as well as ensuring an ad lives on in ones memory beyond its 30-second length. Tying music together with the narrative of an ad will help to create something truly special. If it is successful, viewers will be left humming the jingle, with the brand’s information and slogan well and truly drummed into their memories.

British retailer John Lewis’s marketing team is renowned for getting their advertisements exactly right, and their music choices for Christmas advertisements never fail to impress. In 2010, Ellie Goulding’s version of ‘Your Song’ complemented a heartwarming piece about sneaking presents past loved ones, attempting to giftwrap awkwardly shaped items, and hanging stockings out for pets. More recently, Gabrielle Aplin’s cover of ‘The Power of Love’ beautifully accompanied a snowman’s search for the perfect present, and also topped the Singles Chart. 2013 sees the return of Lily Allen covering Keane’s ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ in an emotionally charged ad titled ‘The Bear & The Hare’.

Whether it’s a gorilla smashing a drum kit to Phil Collins or a Pavarotti parody, memorable tunes are ideal in accompanying the visuals in ads. From iconic rock songs, to 70s anthems, or simply a price comparison site with a ridiculously irritating jingle, advertising music proves hugely influential time and time again.

So how do you choose the right music for your advert?

Deciding on an appropriate track for your advert can be challenging and time consuming, not forgetting the added expense and process of  using copyrighted tracks or new commissions. Check out a few of our simple steps to help you get ahead in finding the right track and making your advert a success.

1. Consider your audience: Who is the product aimed at? Ensuring the music appeals to the viewers will contribute to the advert’s success.

2. Choose a genre: By considering a variety of genres and subgenres, you are sure to find a style that best suits your advertisement.

3. Match the tempo: Coordinate a fast beat to a quick paced video, and make sure a more relaxed advert is complemented by a slower tempo.

4. Convey the mood: Whether its happiness or melancholy, choose music that evokes the same emotion as your advert.

5. Represent your product: Ensure the music is an audio portrayal of the video, so choose something intense for a serious product, and match chilled-out music to something lighthearted.

6. Coordinate with the video: Whether your advert is simple or elaborate, make sure the music maintains the structure and theme.

7. Finalize the advert: By taking the simple but key decisions above you should be closer to knowing the style and feel of music you wish to use – so go ahead, put it together and enjoy!

If choosing the right track is still proving to be challenging and costly, a music production library might be the right choice. Lemoncake.com is a new production music library and publisher featuring innovative search options to help find the perfect track for your advert. Unlike other production music libraries, the music is free at the point of use, removing frustrating financial restrictions.

What’s your favourite advertising music of all time? Get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

Simon Brown is the Publishing Manager at Lemoncake.com, a revolutionary music production library and publisher. Visit www.lemoncake.com to learn more about it. 

The post Guest Post: Choosing Music For Your Ads appeared first on SoundCtrl.

Flash forward a year when I attended a Hype Machine event that was hosted in conjunction with Sonos and was given two speakers and a bridge, which connects the speakers to a WiFi signal.  Setting it up, I realized that it’s not a plug-in-and-play type of speaker. You have to download the mobile or desktop app, connect the bridge to the router, plug in the speakers, and follow the app’s instructions for a simple installation.

 

The more effort you put in from the start, the smarter and easier the system can be, whether you place the speakers in separate rooms to play different music simultaneously, find your favorite radio stations to broadcast, or sync your various music accounts including Spotify, Hype Machine, or Pandora.

 

With my Sonos set up, I can easily shift between passive (radio or randomized music) or active (specific artist, album or playlist I’ve created) listening, which is very powerful. Plus there’s the bonus of being able to do this from my ease of my phone or computer.

The design aesthetic of the speakers is modern yet vintage, like something that could fit in THX 1138 or a fancy, expensive new gadget Don Draper might buy on Mad Men–it fits their brand and personality well.

All-in-all, Sonos is for the music junkies, people who can’t live without music or those who know the power music has in bringing people together.  Sonos is for those who engage in living room conversations with friends, queuing up a track by an obscure producer on Sonos via the Hype Machine application.

 

Nothing could replace Sonos’ immediacy and ease of use. If you have $200 to spare on a speaker and a bridge, you’ll find yourself ditching the ones you thought were good during freshman year of college.

David is a music and food obsessive.  He works Live Nation by day, but produces Backyard Brunch Sessions for fun and is a board member here at SoundCtrl.

The post Sonos: The Audiophile’s Dream appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Jesse Kirshbaum

Occasionally, it’s refreshing to attend an event outside your industry. You don’t assume the answers to the questions, you listen harder, you discover connections to your own world that you wouldn’t have previously thought about. So yesterday morning I strolled down to the West Village to check out the first Details Magazine Tech & Tastemakers Summit. If you don’t subscribe to Details, do.

The conference took place at a beautiful studio called Industria, located above a hot spot called Barbuto (again, if you haven’t eaten there, do). The crowd was a very stylish and well groomed group of bloggers & tastemakers. People were getting haircuts and shoe shines. I even got my Nike 360 cleaned .  They had a great spread of snacks and Grady’s Iced Brewed Coffee and the un-named DJ was playing upbeat, vibey music at a level great for the slightly bleary eyed, yet enthusiastic conversation.

The event was hosted by Max Lugavere who was skilled at moving the conversations along, adding insight and context where needed. I didn’t know many of the speakers as it was a very fashion-centric crowd, but I enjoyed the exchanges that discussed how the tech world and the fashion blogger scene were influencing each other (we see something similar in the music industry I think). Topics like Content x Commerce were discussed. Heard some interesting founders stories including one from Mashable’s Pete Cashmore.

The rather unpolished presentation ironically came from Conde Nast’s Raman Kia, but he also happened to be the speaker with the clearest insight and take a-ways. His Quickfire talk “What’s Now, What’s Next” touched on 6 trends shaping the digital ecosystem:

1) Images power the social web
2) Social Participation is very important and all content should be placed in places where people are most likely to participate
3) Simplicity has to power the call to action
4) Build things that are multi-media by nature
5) Use transmedia for story telling
6) Content should be spreadable by design

All in all, insightful and polished event… recommended the next time one of these rolls around. Check out photos below.

………………………………

The post Review of Details Tech & Tastemakers Summit appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By David Ponte, Co-Founder of Audiomack

There I was, sitting in the dark, in the way back, watching all of these innovative and game-changing music tech companies receive accolades and celebrate each other’s milestones. My company’s headquarters was only a few blocks away from the Gramercy Theatre where the FlashFWD Awards were being held, but it seemed like it could have been a continent away (or let’s say, New Jersey).

My name is David Ponte and I am the Co-Founder of Audiomack, a music distribution website specifically tailored to help artists showcase and distribute their music. The site was conceptualized by myself and the Co-Founder/CEO, Dave Macli. Both of us are hip-hop fans and digital advertising folks.

Most of the music tech companies being celebrated at FlashFWD received millions of dollars in funding, had large teams of talented engineers focusing multiple hours a day on perfecting the product offering, and proven venture-capitalists guiding the vision of the company. All of these qualities are considered ‘sexy’ by the majority.

Audiomack has absolutely none of that. In fact, when we were approached by investors who were ready to arm the company with hundreds of thousands of dollars and priceless connections, we turned them down. Not because we don’t want funding, (we do!) but because we have an “old fashioned” view on what a business should be; one that doesn’t align with what most VCs have in mind.

We grew Audiomack with the intent to create a great product that people would enjoy AND to do so in a way that allows our founders to profit from it. Too often startups lose focus on this goal.  They end up taking investment from VC’s who are only interested in finding the next Instagram.  This puts them in a position where there are only two outcomes: either sustain hockey stick growth and get acquired, or crash and burn when the money runs out.

So how does Audiomack plan on making more than we spend? We’re already there. In May we earned more than 3 times what we spent. Super sexy!

Since the core expertise of our founders is in advertising, we take advantage of the convergence of brands and media. Brands are looking for engaged audiences and we believe people are most engaged by the artists they listen to. Armed with the knowledge that revenue from albums and songs isn’t what it used to be, we want to bridge the gap between brand advertisers and the musicians who fans follow.

For example, Nas, one of the greatest MCs of all time, released a song on our site recently and it was in response to J Cole’s, ‘Let Nas Down’ song off his Born Sinner album. Over 100,000 people played this song within a few hours. You can read more about the back-story here.

There are many brands that would have chomped at the bit to be involved in what was a momentous moment in music in 2013. Although this was a unique circumstance, artists release songs and albums on Audiomack every minute. The audience is already there, engaged.

If the music is free, or sponsored by a brand, then the artist can be paid by the sponsor to release the music with the brands message attached. The artist is happy they got paid to make music. The fans are happy because they received the music for free, and the brands are happy they reached an engaged, targeted audience unobtrusively. Not to mention, the Audiomack team is happy because we know we have built a sustainable, scalable, and profitable business.

Call us old fashioned, but we like it that way.

The post Sustainable, Scaleable & Profitable Business: Guest Post from David Ponte, Co-Founder of Audiomack appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Jesse Kirshbaum, Co-Founder of SoundCtrl

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. I had a relaxing weekend in NYC and got a chance to really kick back and listen to all of the exciting new music coming out this month.

These new albums were all getting appropriate attention:

J. Cole – Born Sinner

Capital Cities – In A Tidal Way of Mystery

The-Dream – IV Play

Action Bronson & Harry Fraud – Saab Stories

The White Panda – Bearly Legal

Kanye West – Yeezus (yeah, no link… my guess is you’ve got it or you’ve heard it though)

Look, I’m not complaining. I love music as a fan… but as a business man and someone that cares very deeply about this industry there is something wrong here. I didn’t buy any of these albums. Sure, I’ll support them all one way or another (I alluded to it on Twitter on Friday), but the system as we know it is broken.

I don’t believe in paying for something just because. When something is available for free and everyone else is getting it for free, why pay for it?? And I understand why Panda’s album isn’t legal… or Barely Legal for that matter. But there should be a way for it to be at least cleared for commercial use in a manageable way. I digress and that’s a separate subject.

Anyway, definitely something I’m pondering and I’m sure you are all as well. I think this is an amazing time for access and creativity and I love that. Artists are making statements with their bodies of work but things definitely need to be reconfigured.

And we all know it!

In the meantime, we are only half way through June and the summer hasn’t even started yet. Whoa that Jay-Z announcement is pretty exciting too. Many more awesome releases to come.

5 tracks I’m loving this June are:

Pharrell – Happy

Capital Cities – Farah Fawcett Hair

Wale – Bad Remix featuring Rihanna

J. Cole – Villuminati

White Panda – Money for Party Rocking (LMFAO/Dire Straights)

The post “Bearly Legal” and other thoughts… appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By David Chaitt, SoundCtrl Board Member

Going to Ad Age Digital Conference, I had little or no understanding of photo app developer Aviary. Tobias Peggs, their CEO, was one of the most fun and informative speakers I’ve seen in a while. He gave the audience a full download on all things #mopho aka mobile photography, which is a term with which I admittedly wasn’t familiar.

Aviary powers the photo editing functionality for 3700 apps including Wallmart, Twitter, Flickr, Photobucket, and their own app. Their filters have been used on 3.5 Billion photos. Needless to say, they are experts at what they do. They know what #mophos want.

During his presentation, he also briefly alluded to a recent partnership with Atlantic Records for the launch of Portugal. The Man’s new record “Evil Friends”. All I gathered was that users could download a photo app powered by Aviary where special photo filters could allow users to create stickers inspired by the band.  Take a look at the Instagram photo stream to put a visual to what this exactly means.

To get a little more context and detail to what the partnership entailed, I reached out to Atlantic and was put in touch with their Director of Digital Marketing, Thanh Nguyen.  He had the following to add:

John Gourley, Portugal. The Man’s frontman, is also a visual artist. Along with his art collaborator, Austin Sellers (together known as The Fantastic The), Gourley designs all things visual for the band—album covers, photo illustrations, tour sets, and more.

The Evil Friends sticker pack with Aviary was a perfect partnership, as John was already creating images on his own by drawing on photos to correspond with the theme of the album, Evil Friends , and posting them on the band’s Instagram. Aviary’s technology allowed us to give fans a chance to create their own artwork inspired by John’s.

Because Portugal. The Man has always been so hands-on in all visual aspects of their music, a photo centric campaign just felt very natural for both the band and their fans.

Aviary has an amazing product with a large network of users, so they were the perfect partners for us. It’s often easy to have low quality photos/submissions when you’re running a UGC campaign, but with an app like Aviary and the Evil Friends sticker pack, a casual user can easily create their own images in line with the artist’s vision and aesthetic.

Whether you’re a fan of the band or not, it’s probably a good idea to download the app and try to think about how you can push the needle a little more to engage all the #mopho junkies out there.

The post Portugal. The Man are a bunch of #mophos appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Lindsay Gabler, @lndsygblr

Right outside of my hotel at SXSW in 2012 (and again in 2013) was a six-story-tall stage protruding out of a small parking lot with Doritos branding all over the back. As I turned the corner to get a better look, I don’t think I was ready for what I saw as the front of the stage…a massive vending machine. Yes, Snoop Dogg (and this year, LL Cool J) performed inside a giant Doritos vending machine. I had never been to SXSW before, but took a wild guess and didn’t think that this type of branding is what SXSW purists envisioned for the festival.

[Source: www.brownunited.com]

In this day and age an artist brand is more important than ever to open up doors and create greater opportunities for new revenue streams and brands are happily doling out checks to bring them on board to perform at festivals, be ambassadors and most recently ‘creative directors’.  Over the past several years, with the decline of the record business, I have read dozens of articles asking if brands are the new record labels. You can check out some of these articles here from 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2012. I say no. However, it is really very interesting that there is little to no discussion about the record label as a brand.

When I first began at Universal Music Group, social media was just bubbling over with MySpace and about to boil over with Facebook and Twitter. I soon stepped into the role of developing UMG’s social media strategy. One thing that I was told, and had to keep in mind while creating the framework, is that we were not a brand. Our artists are brands, but we are not. Since then, I have heard similar statements about record labels periodically and have had the same reaction every time…why not?

For me personally, the two record labels that became the biggest brands and still resonate today were/are Motown and Def Jam. Motown is its own genre of music and Def Jam is synonymous with Hip Hop. There are many labels who have attempted to maintain their once loved brand and stay relevant with new artists, but have fallen short in today’s ever changing industry. Long ago, in a land far, far away where you could walk into a store that only sold music, you could browse through shelves and shelves of vinyl, tapes, and CDs. If you did not know an artist, you could glance at the record label logo and be more inclined to trust them and buy the record or single because you liked the previous one or two artists they released. Record labels at one point in time were the music curators (alongside our favorite employee at the record stores). Now the fans seem to dictate who the record labels sign.

With the deterioration of the label as a trusted curator and the loss of record stores, streaming services have struggled with the curation and the recommendation piece of the puzzle as well. Most recently Jimmy Iovine spoke about his forthcoming music streaming service, Daisy, and said “There is a sea of music, an ocean of music and absolutely no curation for it.” Between brands creating content around lifestyles through music, streaming services refining their algorithm and radio still playing the same songs…do record labels have a voice? Overall there is no real affinity for any record label over another (aside from the more notable hip hop collectives today). The artist brand has become bigger, faster, and stronger than the record label brand which has put us in the position we find ourselves. The labels relinquished value when putting resources solely into the artist and stopped putting any back into themselves. And by value, I’m talking about focusing on building a lifestyle around the record label and creating an organic brand that resonates with music fans. By having a strong brand, artists gravitate towards the record labels for what they stand for and what they mean to the culture. Now many artists are taking the DIY approach. Ask your friend if they know what record label Adele is signed to.

We are now down to the three majors; Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. Who influences you the most when it comes to discovering new music?

The post What Does a Record Label Mean to You in 2013? appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By James Clark

There’s wide scale speculation about the new iPhone that’s about to hit the market. There’s talk of a bigger screen and better resolution, some speak of better battery time, while others are lamenting the obvious exclusion of the NFC. Music lovers on the other hand are wondering whether Apple’s newborn will have something to offer to them, as most iPhone sets in the past have. Apple has verily redefined the music experience on the go and virtually destroyed the need for standalone mp3 players, so expecting the iPhone 5 to have something interesting to offer to music junkies is only natural – and something interesting to offer the iPhone 5 launch most likely will, even if the iPhone 5 itself doesn’t.

Move aside Pandora

News from the grapevine suggests that Apple is in the process of building its own music streaming service, one which will stand up to, and if Apple has its way, knock Pandora out of the top spot. Their aim is to create customizable service which provides internet radio – the service is to be linked to the iTunes so that Apple fans can stay hooked as long as they want.

Getting on board

The tech giant is reportedly working its way into several record labels and bringing them on board with its plans. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that once Apple is done we could be looking at a whole new melodious experience on all Apple devices. The service will most likely stay restricted to iPads, iPods, and iPhones but there’s no telling what Apple might pull out of its magic hat later on for other users. Pandora’s stock fell as the news of Apple’s decision to jump into streaming online music broke – but that was to be expected.

Of course there are some party poopers who’re saying the September 12^th launch will have no mention of Apple’s new plans for their streaming service, while others are adamant that news will break right then and there. Whether or not Apple’s service will knock Pandora off the charts is something that remains to be seen, at this point all we know for certain is that Pandora’s bracing for a storm and Apple is building its own little musical army.

James Clark’s work revolves around tracking apps and software. His most recent stint in cell phone tracking has focused on iPhone spy. Clark’s readers follow this work to get the latest scoop on all things tracking.

The post Will the iPhone 5 launch pack a musical punch? appeared first on SoundCtrl.

The post Protect Your Ears: It’s all about the music! appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Mike Lamardo

User-oriented apps for music fans are blowing up more and more in the music tech world with the further developments in iOS-based products. Some of them have responded to the many needs and desires of fast-moving navigators, and others just haven’t seemed to live up to the match. It isn’t just the users that are quick to act, but also artists who consistently put out new material for the fans faster than they can get their hands on them.

If you find yourself unable to satisfy your musical appetite, and are constantly looking for something new to listen to (and I mean new!), then you might find yourself in luck with the recently released app called Sound Calendar.

Sound Calendar was developed by Australian-based Harmonic New Media, who is responsible for the creation of Australian-focused iPhone apps such as Your Local Greengrocer and 96fm.

What Sound Calendar does is take the music that exists on your iOS device (iTouch or iPhone), and lets you know of when the artists that you listen to are releasing new material.

All artists in your iTunes are automatically synched with Sound Calendar, and whenever you open up the app, Sound Calendar will immediately pick up on any updates that you might have made to your iTunes library.

Not only that, but in the Pandora fashion, it finds similar artists that match up to what you have and also let you know when their music is being released as well. If you rather not be told about similar artists and their releases, you have the option to disable this feature.

All in all, Sound Calendar gives you the opportunity to get ahead of the curve with new music possibly before anyone else does, (unless everyone else has Sound Calendar).

Don’t be mislead into thinking it’s simply a news feed app, because you can also preview and purchase the music that you are notified with via Sound Calendar as well.

Not everyone is willing to sift through the Apple iTunes store, which seems to be growing at an unimaginable rate everyday, so hopefully Sound Calendar will alleviate some of the stress that music consumers get about feeling behind with the times – even if they do have everything.

Sound Calendar is currently available in the iTunes store for $2.99.

As a musician and writer originally from New York, Mike currently contributes to a number of music industry blogs, offering his social critiques of music and culture on ZME Music, entertainment articles on DX3.net and even a blog about craft beer and the community on the Washington Times Communities blog. Mike currently resides in Raleigh, NC.

The post Web App-ening: Sound Calendar appeared first on SoundCtrl.

by Angus Thomas Paterson

This is Part 5 of a running series.

For Part 1: “Life After the Digital Disruption,” click here.
For Part 2: “Protecting the Future of Music,” click here.
For Part 3: “The Power of Independents” click here.
For Part 4: “Cultivating Cultural Capital” click here.

Listening to the Future

If dance music’s independents have proved adept at responding to shifting ground, all signs indicate they’ll need to continue to do so, as the industry framework continues to rapidly evolve. Producer Matt Thomas says he’s witnessed dramatic changes in just the past few years alone, when it comes to the value attached to artistic output.

“It’s reflective of the whole Facebook culture, that steady stream of activity running past your eyes all the time,” he says. “If you have a YouTube link, there’s no need to own 90 per cent of the music you’re hearing. There used to be a paradigm where you could make a fantastic tune, and rest on the laurels of that for a while. These days though, records have their day really quickly. There’s a living to be made in the studio, but you had better be prolific.”

Rae from FMC says the industry is still looking for a long-term solution in the digital era. His organization has championed industry-wide consultation that would see the traditionally underrepresented independent stakeholders given a louder voice, to help negotiate a policy solution to adjust business models and copyright laws to make more sense in the new environment. His central criticism of ACTA is that it was drawn up in the dark with a lack of transparency, with the likes of the RIAA allowed a disproportionate influence.

It’s part of a overall story of the larger end of town effectively trying to hit the net really hard with a big hammer. “The traditional industry trade organizations and lobby groups will put tons of cash and capital into trying to get the law to bend their way. This can have adverse repercussions on freedom of expression as well as development of future business models.”

The FMC asserts that at the end of the day, the ultimate goal should be to ensure artists are worth investing in. “As we rise from the ashes of Music Industry 1.0, it’ll have to be more artist centric. That’s the only way it’ll be sustainable. I sometimes question the real motives of the traditional players, because I don’t think they’re necessarily aligned with the artists at this point.”

“Again, to champion the independent sector, I feel I can paint with a broad brush and say historically they’ve been more supportive of artists, because they’re closer to the ground.”

The post SoundCtrl Series Part 5: Dance Music in the Era of Copyright Controversy appeared first on SoundCtrl.

by Angus Thomas Paterson

This is Part 3 of a running series.

For Part 1: “Life After the Digital Disruption,” click here.

For Part 2: “Protecting the Future of Music,” click here.

For Part 3: “The Power of Independents,” click here.

Cultivating Cultural Capital

Maintaining the connection between artists and their fans is of crucial importance to Ajunabeats, and it’s the focus of a number of ongoing marketing activities. The weekly Trance Around the World radio show represents the starting point for much of this; the radio show/podcast can be an effective tactic for many independent artists and labels, allowing them to speak directly with fans and showcase their music, though Trance Around the World would have to be one of the most successful. Currently, the show is syndicated across 237 FM radio stations worldwide, with an estimated listenership of 30 million.

Hosted by rotating members of the Above & Beyond trio every week, it often represents the first time the label’s music is unveiled to fans. Several years ago, Anjunabeats took the step of giving away the show as a free download via the podcast format in iTunes. Currently it’s ranked in the top 5 of the most popular music podcasts across the USA, Australia, and much of Europe.

Though the whole industry hasn’t come around to the idea of giving away music for free as a promotional tactic, though McGrath validates it as a legitimate sales driver. “Whenever your music goes out there, you hope listeners will form a certain connection with it, and come back and buy it at a later date. Fans become part of the Anjuna family, and want to own a part of it.”

The show represents the launching point for an array of other promotional activities and revenue streams. Social networking has been widely recognized as opening up a swathe of new ways that artists can connect with their fans, and unsurprisingly, Anjunabeats makes heavy use of Facebook and Twitter. Anjunabeats has nearly 100,000 likes on its Facebook page, with Above & Beyond close to a million, and they’re maintained as a place of ongoing activity, reflective of the fact that a constant presence is necessary to hold fans’ attention.

The label’s biggest annual campaign sees an extended 8-hour episode of Trance Around The World broadcast live from an international venue, to an audience of tens of millions; the 350th episode at the Hollywood Palladium saw the associated #TATW350 Twitter hashtag become the highest trending topic on the platform, while the 400th episode in Beirut in November last year saturated saw Twitter so heavily that #TATW400 was eventually removed several hours in.

All of this results in increased attention and sales for the label’s weekly single releases, and regular long-player albums, including Above & Beyond’s heavily promoted Group Therapy album from last year, and the annual Anjunabeats and Anjunabeats Worldwide compilations that showcase the label’s music in a mix CD format. In addition, there’s an array of branded merchandise that includes t-shirts, jumpers, posters, sweatbands and more.

However, as a reflection of McGrath’s assertion that live income is vital in the current climate, Above & Beyond and the rest of the label’s roster are often relentlessly touring the globe. Trance Around The World means Anjunabeats’ reach knows no global boundaries; last year Above & Beyond played more 140 shows across 40 different countries, typically with several other artists from the label in tow as support acts, and many of these shows took the form of one of their own branded Group Therapy events in support of the new album.

On top of this, Anjunabeats hosts branded Group Therapy stages at some of the world’s most successful festivals, including Tomorrowland in Belgium, Dance Valley in Holland, and Electric Zoo in New York, which sees them playing to crowds upwards of tens of thousands. Touring opportunities for the label’s other artists have also proved exhaustive, with one of the label’s star producers Mat Zo currently underway on a 30-date tour of the USA, for example.

Though if all of this appears lucrative, McGrath is also careful to emphasize that none of these opportunities comes easy for independent labels. “Gone are the days where you could just sign an artist with a bit of talent, build his name up a bit and put out a piece of vinyl with his name on it while he’s peaking, and then watch the cash roll in.”

Artists need to work harder to promote themselves, and this puts an otherwise talented artist, who might be less than social media savvy, at a distinct disadvantage. “Is it a good thing they’re lost or ignored because they don’t have enough Facebook followers, or they don’t want to tour, even though their music might be the best anyone has ever heard? I’m not entirely sure; but it’s kind of the way things are.”

These are the pros and cons of a restructured industry, and it again emphasizes the important role an independent label can play. “As a label, you need to learn to play that as best you can, and I guess that is one of the reasons why people do come to us.”

Stay tuned to SoundCtrl.com for Part 5: “Listening to the Future”

The post SoundCtrl Series Part 4: Dance Music in the Era of Copyright Controversy appeared first on SoundCtrl.

by Angus Thomas Paterson

This is Part 3 of a running series.

For Part 1: “Life After the Digital Disruption,” click here.

For Part 2: “Protecting the Future of Music,” click here.

The Power of Independents

In the fragmented and sonically diverse world of club music, there are independent labels serving a widespread range of subcultures, each of them often connecting to a completely different and authentic audience.  That said, across the board, one of its big independent success stories is Anjunabeats, the label owned and A&R’ed by London DJ trio Above & Beyond, who were ranked last year in the top 5 of the world’s most successful club performer’s in DJ Mag’s influential ‘Top 100’ poll.

Anjunabeats specializes in cutting-edge music for the trance community, a sound characterized by its euphoric melodies and driving, room-filling energy. In 2005 Anjunadeep was born into a sub-label that runs concurrent with Anjunabeats, which itself developed into a hugely respected vehicle for the deeper, more groove-focused sounds of progressive and underground house.

Anjunabeats finds itself in an intriguing position, as it was established in early 2000, when physical distribution was the norm. The label was there to witness all the changes, and not only survived to tell the tale, but also thrived. Label manager Allan McGrath is responsible for coordinating and promoting its weekly releases, from a combined roster of more than 50 artists across the two labels, and he says there’s a positive story to tell.

Responding to Thomas’s tales of making a living largely from recorded income, McGrath says there are several artists across the Anjunabeats and Anjunadeep labels who have also chosen to focus their energies mostly on studio work. “They’re definitely in a much better place to do that if they’re with an established brand who can push the release in a certain way, and ensure that if the quality of the music is strong, then it will reach its full potential, rather than being lost on a smaller label, not being promoted properly or finding the audience that it deserves.”

However, it’s still far from the norm, and McGrath says most artists interested in a long term career would have to strongly consider the opportunities offered by live performances. “I would say definitely the model has undoubtedly, inevitably and probably irredeemably changed, to the point where live income needs to be the end game for 80 percent of artists in electronic music.”

Does he see it as a negative development? “Not personally, and not necessarily,” he says. However, there’s room to lament how quickly the business model has been shaken down. “You could argue that for a very long time, the value placed on music was unfeasible and excessive, especially in certain parts of the market,” he says. “But it’s a shame things have moved with such swiftness, and often without any kind of safety net or precautions, towards a model where music has lost its value. I do think it’s a shame music is viewed as ‘free’ by a lot of people.”

In the face of a decline in the value that consumers attach to music, Anjunabeats have adapted in a number of ways. McGrath says the market for physical products hasn’t completely vanished, though it has changed significantly. “It needs a lot of care and attention, so it looks like something you’d want to have on your mantelpiece or in your record collection. But there’s still a lot of people making high-quality, beautifully designed physical products.”

Looking to the digital realm, Apple’s iTunes platform remains the platform of choice for the industry’s major labels, and McGrath confirms it’s also a crucial tool for taking Anjunabeats to a wider audience, with the independents often showcased alongside the major label heavies. “It’s got a very editorial based storefront, and you can often find yourself on the homepage alongside artists like Adele, or whichever other commercial artist is being played heavily that week.”

There’s been concerns expressed over Apple gaining a chokehold on the industry; but dance music’s independents have leapfrogged this threat via several specialist digital platforms, the most important of which is Beatport, a site so ubiquitous its sales charts have become the de facto Billboard Hot 100 for dance music. It’s a quick, easy and cheap way for fans to purchase new music, and allows the labels plenty of flexibility in areas like price points and sound quality.

“For a label often putting out one or two releases a week, that’s predominantly club music and in a DJ environment, Beatport is of massive importance to us,” McGrath says. “Seeing as DJ sets are where our music tends to live, whether in a club or on the radio.”

Otherwise, McGrath says their own online shopfront is a hugely important vehicle for selling music to their fans. “It’s an amazing way of building a very close and lasting connection with our most loyal and dedicated. You can offer them the product first, they’re getting it from the heart of the label, and that’s what they’ve pledged their support to.”

Stay tuned to SoundCtrl.com for Part 4: “Cultivating Cultural Capital”

The post SoundCtrl Series Part 3: Dance Music in the Era of Copyright Controversy appeared first on SoundCtrl.

Life after the Digital Disruption

By Angus Thomas Paterson

Matt Thomas, better known to the dance music community for the past decade as King Unique, is getting stuck into a normal day’s work that is as far removed from the flights, hotels and nightclubs of a touring DJ’s lifestyle that you can get. He’s in what he describes as the “remote location” of a “dilapidated old coal mining village out in Wales”, which happens to be where his studio is located. Thomas says part of the appeal of coming out here to lay down his tracks is that he can make as much noise as he wants, and nobody complains. Surprisingly though, even though all the wider industry seems to be talking about is how you can’t make a living solely as a producer anymore, Thomas is finding himself more and more in this small Welsh town.

“The whole economic thing has hit the amount of gigs going around for everybody, so I’ve been back in the studio a lot more,” he says. “The non-stop DJ thing during 2007 and 2008 just wasn’t quite as much fun as really bedding into the studio. It feels like it’s 2001 again when we weren’t really doing any gigs, because the money in the studio was so incredible. We used to sit here and make records back to back, and doing that again, I’ve had a fantastic time.”

Like many others in the current climate, Thomas had been frantically chasing gigs in an effort to ensure his full-time existence in dance music would remain sustainable. “Funnily enough though, relaxing here and making records… if you’re on the right label, with the right releases and the right remixes, you can actually keep the body and the soul of it together in the studio.”

The positive story that Thomas tells is in stark contrast to the very loud message of wanton chaos we’ve been hearing from the major players in the music industry, including the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the major labels it represents, since the early days of what’s referred to as the ‘digital disruption’. It was a revolution, for better or worse, which began with the explosion in popularity of Napster’s pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing service in late 1999, popularising the notion of “sharing” MP3 files in a way that completely undermined traditional copyright laws, with no royalties paid to artists, labels or anyone else for that matter.

There’s little doubt the industry was utterly changed in the years that followed, but the digital distribution of music was finally legitimized on a major scale when Apple’s iTunes service established a cheap and easy way for the industry to sell music to consumers. However, the debate rages on over how to tackle ongoing challenges in the era of copyright controversy, with a canyon opening between the big industry players who want to restore a copyright-protected world, and those preaching the virtues of a more open internet.

The tension reached a boiling point in January when ACTA, the US-backed international treaty aiming for global consensus on copyright protection, was greeted with howls of derision from citizens, internet libertarians and parliaments alike. One of the main areas of contention was that ISPs would be held responsible for cracking down on piracy, potentially cutting off users who illegally share music. Protesters marched in several European capitals including London, Berlin, Helsinki, Paris and Vienna, before the bill eventually stalled in the European commission.

Not surprisingly, the RIAA was far from happy with how things played out, with chief executive Cary Sherman throwing a blistering tantrum in the New York Times. “Policy makers had recognized that music sales in the United States are less than half of what they were in 1999, when the file-sharing site Napster emerged, and that direct employment in the industry had fallen by more than half since then, to less than 10,000.”

Organizations like RIAA have repeatedly shown they are willing to exaggerate the economic costs and threat to jobs of piracy; but while they continue to bellow about the dark days ahead, the activity in the dance music sector tells a distinctly different story, and is much closer to the more positive account given by Thomas.

While it took several years for the dust to settle, with many long-established labels unable to adapt to the digital era, in the years that followed, a huge range of robust independent labels demonstrated they were able to adopt new business models, plug into new distribution pipelines, taken advantage of new promotional opportunities, and otherwise leverage opportunities never available to them before; largely due to the new possibilities of the digital era.

Stay tuned to SoundCtrl.com for Part 2: Protecting the Future of Music

The post SoundCtrl Series Part 1: Dance Music in the Era of Copyright Controversy appeared first on SoundCtrl.

by DeVon Harris

The escape route ran along the top of the connected rowhouses lining Baltimore Avenue. The plan was for any DJ or station staffer to climb into the attic and exit a hatch door that lead to the roof and then head westward across six roofs to a light green house, go down the rear stairway and knock on the door. The tenants of that house had an understanding with the heads of our station to let us in, and then out the front door, if we came knocking.

The year was 1997 and this was the escape plan we practiced at WPPR, West Philadelphia Pirate Radio, in case the FCC ever came knocking. We operated out of a nondescript house on the 4900 block of Baltimore Ave. A few local hippies ‘squatted’ in the abandoned house and somehow got the electricity turned on and turned it into not only a home, but a low-wattage radio station that broadcasted throughout a radius of about 20 miles. All of this was of course unsanctioned by the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission.

The leaders of WPPR, Pete Tridish (pronounced “petri dish”) and Bertha Venus, had notoriety from their appearances on CNN, NBC, etc. as voices for our rights to free speech and liberation of the airwaves as the property of Americans who should be able to communicate on them freely. It was a menagerie of wildly different perspectives speaking and playing music from the heart and exercising free speech. There were 35 DJs with shows like “Incarceration Nation,” directed at the “1.6 million legal slaves.” There was the Condom Lady who spoke about safe sex and drug use, Jah-Sun discussing revolutionary indigenous peoples around the world, and DJ Damage – a handsome local college kid who provided the latest college hip-hop & commentary.

WPPR doesn’t exist anymore. Almost no stations like it are around anymore. The Internet has made local – or global – distribution far more accessible and communities can go to blogs or online radio for localized content. In fact, a lot of former micro-broadcasters, like the popular East Village Radio, don’t even broadcast radio signal anymore and live only on the web.  It’s clearly not as romantic as ‘the good old days’ and often marginalizes the elderly or those that can’t afford or don’t use the Internet.

So where is the romance? In the early 1900s ham radio hobbyists hacked sophisticated (at the time) equipment to broadcast live to miniscule audiences. In the 60s and 70s, groups of individuals united under shared interests to build larger setups (in the UK they often existed in offshore ships) and at WPPR we broadcasted from a ramshackle house. Now, kids can use Ustream or YouTube at a moment’s notice.

Technology, fortunately, allows us to communicate to a larger audience, asynchronously, with less personal infrastructure. But there’s something to be said for the passion needed to lug turntables to a ‘squat’ weekly or actually physically going somewhere and interacting with all types of people you’d never meet yourself. There’s a sense of mystery and thrill in serendipitously scanning your radio dial and discovering a 60-year old woman comparing condom flavors or other wild stuff you’d never expect.

Truth be told, I wish kids today could have that experience we had. We’re certainly at the end of one era, and I can’t wait to see what is dreamt up to allow the romance to live on.

DeVon Harris (aka Devo Springsteen) is a Grammy-winning producer, songwriter, entrepreneur, and regular SoundCtrl contributor. DeVon is also a former consultant and founder of interactive video company, Ochre. You can follow him on Twitter @springsteezy

The post Pirate Radio: We Fought the FCC and Romance Won appeared first on SoundCtrl.

This is part-two of a two part post discussing payments to songwriters in the music industry. For part one, click here.

In my previous post I discussed the inequality concerning content creators and other parties in the music making and monetizing ecosystem. Due to technology shifts, among other things, the current system risks draining itself of talented contributors.

So what are the options? One, we should give serious thought to what Americans have done since the late 1800s and have one voice as content creators. Unionize. Lobby for a small percentage of the same revenue streams that labels, (and lawyers, managers, agents, etc.), collect on, that’s put into a pot & distributed accordingly, like performance right organizations.

Estimates of recent US touring and music-licensed merch revenues – primary tenets of the 360 deal – are pegged at well over $3 billion a year (over $3.07b & $115m, respectively). If a collective agreement could be made accruing just 2% of these revenues, (not including endorsements, appearances, acting, publishing, etc.), there would be an additional $60 million, (based on the most conservative of estimations), pumped into the foundational layer of the creative stack. Also, those seeking to make songwriting a career could ideally participate in pension-type funds and insurance plans – which do not exist now.

This may sound radical but isn’t unheard of – by a long shot. In 1896, the American Federation of Musicians formed as a voice for North American studio musicians. The AFM handles things like standardizing and enforcing royalties and payments, lobbying, and offers insurance and pension plans. And don’t get it twisted, these unions carry weight. For example, from 1942 to 1944, due to a dispute over royalty payments to artists, the AFM instituted a ban on musicians recording any commercial records for labels. This caused enough of an uproar that President Roosevelt had to write a letter to the AFM chief, asking that he lift the ban in the interest of ‘orderly government.’ The AFM didn’t budge. Within months each of the major labels acquiesced, agreeing to the royalties. Even today, major labels and artists can only use union musicians for their recordings. All sessions must be filed with the union, and pay is issued on a common and public sliding scale. Musicians can even go to www.sound-recording.org right now to see if they are owed money from the Sound Recording Special Payments Fund (a royalty fund established in 1965 through a collective bargaining agreement between the AFM and the recording industry).

Don't you want to wear one of these?

In addition to those for musicians, there are unions to protect actors, directors, (screen) writers, theater stagehands, and all types of layers of entertainment – but not composers or songwriters.

Let’s not fool ourselves. Unionizing is tough. It’s difficult to turn down potential payments (no matter how small) when your car note is due. Or your baby needs diapers. Sometimes I marvel at the strength of factory workers in the 1930s & 40s who sacrificed short-term comfort, and that of their families, for long-term fairness. I’m choosing to switch careers so I don’t know that I would be the first to stand up and give up this paycheck. But equality, and history, awaits those that do.

DeVon Harris (aka Devo Springsteen) is a Grammy-winning producer, songwriter and entrepreneur. DeVon is also a former consultant and founder of interactive video company, Ochre. You can follow him on Twitter @springsteezy

The post Trickle Down Economics 101 (or the Lack Thereof in the Music Industry) Part II: Unions appeared first on SoundCtrl.

I’ve produced many top artists and won a Grammy, so I like to think I’m somewhat accomplished in the area of music production. I also just graduated from business school, and if I had a nickel for every time a B-School student asked me why I was going to school, instead of rocking and rolling in the music biz, I’d have shiny Aston Martin sitting outside my apartment. This is the answer to their question:

Because of technology, the music industry is changing from all sides. It’s easier than ever to create content. Any teen can download a free production app and start making beats within minutes. Pre-recorded loops, at times, make production almost trivial (see Rihanna’s “Umbrella,”Usher’s “Love on the Dance Floor,” etc.).

Conversely, there are far fewer major label albums, (i.e. albums with recording budgets), released these days. There are reports called “Who’s Looking” lists, which represent all of the budget-allocated projects that labels have open and what kind of music they’re looking for from producers and writers. It says stuff like, “The Swagjackers – From the UK. Backstreet Boys meets Skrillex… Looking for big polysymphonic songs with rhythmic edge” or “MC Beezelbub – 3^rd album, needs song like a hip-hop ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’.” Eight years ago, this was a 12 to 15-page affair. Now it’s about 3 pages.

In a recent meeting, a record label head discussed giving me a recording budget to executive produce an entire album with a known artist that was less than what many top producers make for one song. He said, ”Producers are hard-up right now. You can get them for really good prices.” And he’s right. Piracy and increasingly fragmented listenership have resulted in albums having smaller recording budgets on average and releasing fewer promo singles.

So we have a decrease in demand, an increase in supply, within an overall shrinking industry… Not good. Many argue that any proliferation of music, even if unpaid, is good for the industry because more opportunities open up for artists. While no one has seen the $7 billion that’s disappeared in U.S. record sales since 1999 reappear as increased ticket sales, merchandise, etc., let’s assume there are a plethora of new opportunities. Shows, merchandise, endorsement opportunities, etc. do fortunately result in revenue opportunities for lawyers, agents, managers, staff, etc. The 360 deal, where labels participate in many of these streams, is their way of justifying the expense of financing and promoting the content and artists. Songwriters, who make the content, do not participate in these streams.

"We want in too!" – Songwriters

While artists, their support teams, and record labels are participating in the wide world of opportunities that go along with a record’s ubiquity, along with the whole ‘more people are listening to more music than ever’ argument, writers don’t benefit from that concept. It doesn’t take a Harvard Business School grad to realize that, under the current framework, music content makers are screwed.

If you want to retain the best talent you have to compensate them, if not well, at least fairly. Fairly implies equal treatment as others within a transaction. While the music business is changing daily, those creating the songs, the lifeblood of the model, must participating to some extent in the total circumference of reward. Otherwise you have great talent leaving the industry to do crazy things… like selling drugs… or getting finance degrees.

Coming up: Trickle Down Economics (Or the Lack Thereof) Part II

DeVon Harris (aka Devo Springsteen) is a Grammy-winning producer, songwriter and entrepreneur. DeVon is also a former consultant and founder of interactive video company, Ochre. You can follow him on Twitter @springsteezy

The post Trickle Down Economics 101 (or the Lack Thereof in the Music Industry) appeared first on SoundCtrl.

by Jesse Kirshbaum (Co-Founder, SoundCtrl / CEO, NUE Agency)

Back in June 2009 SoundCtrl had its beta launch – a great event that featured Eliot Arnow (RCRDLBL), Jeff Price (TuneCore), Nick Catchdubbs (Fool’s Gold), Omid Fatemi (Microsoft Zune), Jeff Tames (Cornerstone), and Chris Herche (E1) and then after having Wale, J.Cole, and Big Sean perform at Le Poission Rouge. I wish we could do that again and it makes me excited for our next event. The conversation was centered around the topic of “Digital Record Labels,” and since then, my constituents and I have been exploring label models and looking at ways to innovate.

Since NUE Agency‘s conception, we have developed a knack for artist development. With the engine that we were creating, we realize we can help accelerate growth for our clients beyond the traditional relationship of booking agency and artist.

In that vein, NUE Agency announced last week that we are becoming the first talent agency, that I know of, to start partnering with our artists and releasing their music digitally. Of course this won’t apply to many of our current clients, but we feel this is a new model that we are looking forward to exploring further as our platform grows.

We abided by the old laws written from the MCA/Lew Wasserman days and have created a separate company, but that doesn’t mean that we are thinking old school about this at all. We aren’t calling this a “record label,” rather a “partnership,” and our first release isn’t an “album” but a “project.” The way we structured this, without the in-house resources of the majors, is working collectively with many, many companies to build aveNUE Music Partnerships.

We are getting help and guidance from SoundCtrl board member and digital music expert, Chris Schlarb and DubShot Records.

Our first release, which drops today, is from a young group called, The Dean’s List. The album is called “Generation X.” If you feel inclined to support you can purchase it here.

In the coming weeks, I’ll walk you through our partnerships and strategy. This week, the first video “Youth” premiered on April 3 with the good people at VEVO.

The Dean’s List will be steadily touring this Spring and Summer. As our agency always has been in the past, we are very cognizant of their live brand strategy. A lot of aveNUE’s vision bases around touring as that is our competitive advantage and core competency, but we have really tried to go above and beyond in the digital realm creating partnerships with Verizon, Myspace, INgrooves, and GrooveShark, to name a few.

If you are in NYC, your chance to see them will be their album release event on May 2nd at Santo’s Party House, which if you know me, guarantees to be an epic party with great music. Tickets are available here, and you can also enter to win a pair through MyFreeConcert.

Tying in with the theme of this year’s Social Media Week conference, we strongly believe in the power of collaboration, so please let me know if you have any thoughts, feedback, or ideas. We are in the early stages of this venture but as we build it out, we hope to be able to count on support and love from the SoundCtrl community.

Jesse Kirshbaum is the co-founder of SoundCtrl and the CEO of booking agency NUE Agency in New York City.

The post Partnerships are the Future of Music Marketing appeared first on SoundCtrl.

Amongst the reflecting pools, sprawling lawns of frisbee players, and South Bay sunshine, Google Music Beta held a private event on their Mountain View, California campus this past Thursday. Performers included: indie rock critical darlings Clap Your Hand’s Say Yea, electro dance duo The Limousines, and alt country starlet Dawn Landes.

The regular concert series has been dubbed internally as CrittFest, named after the Crittendon Ave section of campus where the event was held. The free concerts are apparently organized to promote the highly anticipated music service internally amongst google employees, who made up the majority of attendees at the event.

The multi-colored Google bikes were available for anyone who wanted to take a joyride. A cruise around the perimeter would reveal the multiple food trucks, free beer tents, and a free t-shirt area. Although not much was revealed on the service, there were hints of what were to come. Although most of the music initiatives fall under the Android umbrella, there were flyers distributed that were tagged “+1 Music,” and a QR Code that lead to a password protected site. Could this +1 Music be associated with the launch of Google+ social networking site?

The MC for the event was Ted Kartzman, a long time bay area digital music ambassador, and head of the Google Music initiative. Ted comes from digital music service IODA, and was instrumental in the early development and success of rhapsody music. Long before the purchase and inevitable spoiling of the music service by media giant MTV, in a convoluted joint venture with telecom giant Verizon that never realized its full potential.

Ted recognized that there were a lot of developments happening right now, and that most of their efforts were in support of the android platform. However, the one thing that should be coming in the near future was the launch of an editorial site. Could this be an attempt to rival editorially driven blogs like Pitchfork, Stereogum, RS.com, and others?

Several beta accounts will be given to SoundCtrl board members and we will be allowed to get a sneak peek under the hood, and will hopefully have a better idea of what the service will consist of in the future. Through the rumors and gossip of the google music service, it was good to see an actual event and road map to launch. However, there are still many unanswered questions as to what the full scope of the service will be.

Stay tuned to SoundCtrl for more updates and lookout for the launch of the editorial site coming soon…

The post Guest Post: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Played Google Music Event appeared first on SoundCtrl.

It consists of 8 ‘master’ buttons (note up, note down, doublestop, triad, home, waveform, sustain, and layout), with bass lines and a ‘note matrix’. While it would of course help to know about music theory, you can still be introduced to new layouts, chords, and more from just toying around with the free version. But I learned that the app is not about the free version, it’s about the pro version. And it’s not about the iPhone version, it’s about the iPad version.

If you go into this app expecting to play piano, recording songs and more then you’re missing the point of this app. I made the mistake thinking it was a piano-playing type of music app with new sounds. But I learned it’s about the MIDI feature, and is to be used as a MIDI trigger, which is only available in the Pro version.

Basically, Soundprism is an envelope of built-in sounds and waveforms that give you a ‘visual trackpad’ that allow you to trigger sounds from your laptop’s sequencer, plugin, or VST. It supports Core MIDI or USB (iPad only). Being that I only had access to the free version, I can’t comment on the ‘effectiveness’ of the MIDI connection, delay, or experience.

As I said, it’s not an instrument, it’s a trigger – similar to a MIDI keyboard. What sets this apart though is the layout, which begins where a traditional keyboard ends. Imagine multiple keyboards stacked on top of each other tuned in 4ths, and the ability to play them one, two, or three notes at a time. But have fun trying to go from an Amajor chord to an Aminor chord, because the matrix isn’t laid out to work like that. For every downside of the note matrix, it’s also what makes SoundPrism unique when you’re in the studio.

The iPhone app feels a bit crammed, whereas the iPad app – based on pictures – seems to be much more intuitive and laid out with it’s landscape view, and also allows for MIDI transfers via USB, unlike the iPhone version.

The free version allows you to record your music as well as toy around with the sounds. To hear a quick sample, check out the quick song I recorded using the app. While recorded pieces are captured in the rare .m4r iTunes format, they sometimes become corrupt when sending via email. It would have been neat to have an option to save your pieces within the app itself (similar to T-Pain’s vocoder) and have a ‘recorded bank’ of your work or presets. Another downside was the ‘How To Play’ menu, which forces you to open up a browser webpage with the information (thereby leaving the app). It should really be a simple tutorial within the app itself, especially considering that the app needs to be wifi / usb / ad hoc with a sound library, because any interruption ruins the experience.

All that said, it’s a free app and therefore isn’t a risk to your wallet, but it doesn’t offer many desires unless you get the Pro version. If you want to play around with a few piano notes, kill some time, and make a few simple recordings, then check out the free version, but don’t expect too much. However, if you’re looking for a visual MIDI trigger, want to replace or add to your current MIDI trigger or keyboard, enjoy the built-in sounds, and don’t mind the limitations of the iOS devices hardware and size, then consider purchasing the Pro version.

Note: The website didn’t offer too much information regarding keymapping and other features, and also be cautious about using their built-in sounds for your published recordings (I’m not too sure what the license is for the pre-packaged sounds it creates, and couldn’t seem to find any info on it on their website. So make sure you use your own library and only use SoundPrism as a trigger.

Walt Ribeiro is the founder and chief arranger of For Orchestra and has previously written two SoundCtrl guest posts.

The post Guest Post: Soundprism App Review by Walt Ribeiro appeared first on SoundCtrl.

A good landing page

We’ve blogged about this in detail in the past so we’re not going to repeat ourselves. Just go here for the info. ReverbNation have just updated their Facebook app and added lots of easy-to-use functionality.

Well worth having a look.

Photos

The new Facebook layout allows you to customise which 5 photos you want to display on your page. There are some creative ways to hack this to lead your fans into different photos. Here’s a handy tutorial thanks to Ian from makeitinmusic.com:

Store

Facebook is first and foremost a way to connect with your fans. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use it to sell your music too. More and more artists and businesses in general are integrating stores into their pages. The best one out there for musicians is through Topspin Media. Topspin have just this week opened up their platform to all musicians (previously you had to be a agency/label like us in Amp, or have a large number of fans to gain access to the software). Integrating your Topspin products into your Facebook page is done with the click of a few buttons and has the professional eCommerce support you’d expect.

While having a store on your page is great, it can be hard to find on the new Facebook layout; now that tabs have been removed links to the different areas of your Facebook page are less prominently located under your profile picture. One way to get around this and get your product into the news feeds of your fans is to embed your product links into Slideshare presentations and post these as status updates. This method has the advantage of allowing 100% visual customisation and the launching of store links directly within the Facebook News Feed.

Audio

The best ways to post your songs to Facebook is not to use the Facebook Music Player. You’re much better off using third party sites like a ReverbNation landing page (above) for on-demand listens or, to highlight new music, simply post SoundCloud or YouTube links in your Facebook status. Here at Amp we love the portability and customisation that SoundCloud offers – it’s a great way not just to share your music, but also to distribute it and get fan feedback.

Link Sharing

Keeping your Facebook active with interesting content can sometimes prove a struggle – especially if you are going through a quiet period. One way to ensure you have things to post is to use link agregator tools that collect information based on your interests and connections and share these back with your social network. The best-known of these tools is probably Paper.li which creates a regular newspaper-style webpage of links and stories. Other examples can be found here, including the awesome (unfortunately iPad-only for now) Flipboard. It’s only a matter of time before a sophisticated ‘personalised magazine’ that integrates with your social networks like this becomes mainstream and cross-device.

These are just some of the things you should be thinking about when managing your Facebook page. Using the best applications, combined with an attractive layout and a consistent posting strategy will grow your connections.

Eilish Burke is a co-founder of Amp Music Marketing, where she helps musicians & labels make the most of all their online promotion. Get in touch, they’re always looking for exciting new projects.

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A stand out panel at SXSW 2011, Brands as the New Labels, found particular resonance this year.  Of course this isn’t exactly a new trend — big brands, particularly ones focused on the youth markets, have traditionally been responsible for helping to amplify the hottest new music.  Red Bull, Mountain Dew and Heineken are all great examples of brands that are winning by shifting dollars towards breaking acts, and experimenting with marketing campaigns and programs.

Gone are the days of artists hoping and praying for that major studio deal — which later they learn isn’t really that major. Instead they can take a paycheck from a brand and get pretty much the same thing as what they would get from your typical 360 deal offering.  In fact, brands are finding success with this new approach.  Green Label Sound, Mountain Dew’s exclusive label designed to “empower independent artist,” releases singles, videos and remixes by buzz bands: Matt & Kim, Neon Indian, Chromeo, Cool Kids and Theopolis London.  And, it appears that The Cool Kids prefer working with a brand: “Labels suck,” the Cool Kids’ Chuck Inglish says with a laugh. “What can they do that Pepsi can’t do? We had a good experience with Green Label Sound — we got more from that single than we got from our previous album. I was tired of the album sitting around and just wanted to get it out.”

After a recent trip to Red Bull Headquarters in Los Angeles, I think an artist might be better off signing with a brand anyway.  The offices are certainly more fun!  Last time I visited Warner Bros, I didn’t see a half pipe in the office, or days dedicated to office-wide ping-pong tournaments. Plus, these brands are better positioned to market talent, as they can put a hefty budget behind their efforts.  Red Bull produces several impressive signature events that drive tons of awareness online and IRL. And because the advertiser is also the label, they can be very strategic in their approach.  Talk about brand integration… this is the 2.0 world.

My other takeaway from SXSW 2011 was the realization that brand dollars don’t stop with the cultivating of new talent. Brands are positioning themselves as the new labels, no doubt, but they are also evolving into the content creators. There is, naturally, criticism of branded entertainment – it is necessarily the opposite of arms-length, unbiased reporting – but as the digital landscape has changed media integration, it has also increased consumer tolerance for brands looking for new ways to market. And if you want high quality content — whether that is music or print or video — someone needs to pay.  So, brands are stepping up as the new content publishers. They are still paying to be part of the story but now they are also experimenting with creating and distributing their own stories, too.  Case in point: media personality Shira Lazar covered the festival for Chevy, and Fuse TV’s Allison Hagendorf brought an inside look at SXSW for Nikon. (Full disclosure, my company IRL Productions produced the daily recap Nikon videos, included below.) Early tech-adopter brand PepsiCo is trying out this approach, as well, seeding blog posts and videos on their employee blog and Women’s Inspiration Network (WIN).  PepsiCo’s Jamie Stein did double-duty as host, generating a significant amount of video and blog content over the course of the festival.  Pepsi also ran a “Davos of Digital” series of web interviews leading up to SXSW.  (More disclosure: I work with Pepsi on many digital projects, though I did not work with them on these particular projects at SXSW.)

On a larger level, brands are making a point of generating content on social sites as well – not just twitter and facebook (a must by this point for most big brands), but taking advantage of new intimate-feeling platforms like Instagram (NBCNews) and Bntr (HowAboutWe, Zappos).  Brands are going everywhere their customers are, and might soon be.

So what does it all mean? Traditional media is rapidly changing across every industry. Many industries are still behind the times — music, book publishing, TV and cable – and getting up this new curve. Despite all the amazing innovation we have out there, it’s still anyone’s game on how to monetize. There are marketers everywhere taking risks and changing games – and new platforms to change them on.  A sign of the changing times are New York Subway platform advertisements, encouraging riders to scan this QR code, follow on Twitter and “friend” on Facebook. Even as short as six months ago, those messages weren’t as prominent.

At the March 2011 Shorty Awards, Foursquare Founder Dennis Crowley pointed out that he saw an ad on TV encouraging people to discover the song in the Old Navy ad using Shazam. The call-to-action is then obvious: Purchase on iTunes.  Old Navy, Apple, a digital startup and an emerging artist all working together as one? That’s some epic progress – over some pretty blurry lines.  Expect more of this going forward.

The post Syndicated Post: Why Brands Are The New Labels (And Publishers, And Producers…) by Emily Gannett appeared first on SoundCtrl.

The panelists were:

• Steven Masur, Esq., Senior Partner, MasurLaw
• Paul DeGooyer, Senior VP, Electronic Games / Music Programming, MTV
• Stacey Horricks, Music Supervisor / Producer, MassiveMusic New York
• Ed Razzano, VP of Film, TV & Catalog Marketing, BMG Chrysalis

As digital music is quickly shifting – both in the technology end (like iPads and smartphones) and in the distribution end (like Spotify and Pandora – the gaming industry is seen as being in a paradigm shift. Customer’s expectations aren’t what they were 5 years ago, the world is going mobile, video game consoles abilities are rapidly growing, music law is slowly trying to catch up, web 2.0 is a big part to success of games and music, and the creators and the publishers in the music industry are seeing new opportunities.

When Ed Razzano opened the discussion with “What’s the most interesting trend in games today?”, the panelists were quick to point out that not only will console gaming be something to pay attention to, but so will social gaming. Games like Tap Tap Revenge, Angry Birds, The Rock Band Network, and Farmville changed what a game could do, who it could reach, and how it could be monetized.

When the panel points out that music in games can range from being free (a loss leader) to a $20,000 buyout, to a low front end with backend points depending on a game’s success, the content shifted from trends to numbers.

According to panelist Steven Masur, there will be 20 billion digital sales by 2015 – which is very believable when taking recent trends into account. So how are these broken down?

Well, consider Ed Razzano’s belief that “Games might ship without music.” So you begin to wonder – what if Pandora becomes your soundtrack as you play games, or music in games become strictly in-app purchases, or we see more of the music we listen to on our phones dictating how the game reacts (like Song Summoner).

Consider Masur’s point that CD’s amounted to nearly 13 billion sales at its high point, the digital realm seems to be thriving at an unbelievable pace.

It’s a common misconception to assume digital means mobile. But as Paul DeGooyer was quick to point out, consoles are healthier than ever, and with add ons like Microsoft’s Kinect (which sold 8 million units in 60 days), music in games has a new market, and new ideas.

When the panelists opened up the room for question, many of NARIP’s members of publishers, bands, lawyers, and managers were interested in learning about ‘what were some of the horror stories?’. The worst case, we learned, is when a band doesn’t have full legal rights to the music, and fails to tell the publisher or music supervisor. As a result, projects get pushed back, and ultimately deals get turned down. We learned its best to speak with the Music Supervisor, and go through a ‘middle-man’. The reason for this is more than just about acting as a ‘filter’ for the videogame’s music supervisor. It’s also about copyright, because in the example above, it would be a nightmare to have a song in a game that later was found to not be fully owned, or that had to be pulled because the band didn’t reveal the song’s legal status.

The panel continued to touch upon fantastic content, and answered many questions regarding ‘who do we speak to?’ and ‘what negotiations do we have to work with?”

Walt Ribeiro is a music producer and entrepreneur who runs “For Orchestra”, which takes pop songs and recreates them for the orchestra including artists ranging from Pearl Jam to Lady Gaga. This is Walt’s second SoundCtrl blog post; you can read his first covering his trip to NAMM Expo.

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