Presskit.to Launches for Music Businesses

SoundCtrl November 04, 2013

By Brian Parker

In just a few years, the traditional, hard-copy artist presskit has transitioned to digital formats, and several companies have tried to streamline, universalize, and monetize the electronic press kit, or EPK. Boston-based Presskit.to has developed an efficient means of minimizing EPKs for artists, with a platform that allows the user to consolidate media, links, and information in a single place.

While this rigidity may be less practical for individual artists in the era of subliminal music marketing and the somewhat “organic” rise to success, Presskit.to is now offering the platform for music businesses to consolidate, promote, and share their managed artists with brands, booking agencies, and other industry contacts. Presskit.to is available as an online application and on iOS as well. Read More →

SoundTracking Launches Version 4.0 for iOS

SoundCtrl October 31, 2013

By Brian Parker

Earlier this year, we covered some of the updates to the FlashFWD award winning music discovery app SoundTracking. Today, after a year of impressive milestones and development, SoundTracking announced a new version of the app with brand new features, including a fresh user interface and a new “discover” section.

Soundtracking’s new UI is simplified and updated for iOS7 optimization, including updated navigation and new user tab bar, higher quality timeline photos, Brighter accent color themes, new fonts, and new icon action buttons. Top friends are also auto-suggested in search and tagging flows to improve efficiency.

Rather than relying upon just a scrolling stream of music moments, SoundTracking has introduced the humanized and friendly “Discover” section. The feature includes a variety of new discovery options for users who enjoy finding music from different angles.

• “Song Of The Day” – Each day, the editorial staff picks a new track from an emerging or popular artist that we think has an exciting sound, regardless of genre.

• Search – Find music and other fans simply by typing hashtags such as #nowplaying or #tbt. This allows people to discover music by evolving topics created by music fans, not just by standard genre categories.

• Trending – Changing by the minute, this feature shows what music moments are popular around the world among the SoundTracking community of music lovers.

• Nearby – Based upon our current location, this section shows you what’s popular in your local area and city. Learn about new music buzzing in your neighborhood and follow some fellow music lovers.

Since SoundTracking launched in 2011, over 40 million music moments have been shared in the SoundTracking community, with over 530 million views. Over 60% of users have tagged their music moment locations over 1 million times, using the location services powered by Foursquare API and Google Maps API.

You can download the new SoundTracking 4.0 on the iTunes app store.

Revolt: Against What Exactly?

SoundCtrl October 31, 2013

By Brian Parker

Sean “Diddy” Combs’s new music television network Revolt launched last week, as the hip-hop icon embarked to create the central platform for music discovery. Combs has frequently remarked on the state of the music industry, claiming that there is ”no one outlet that represents music,” comparing Revolt to CNN, ESPN, MTV, and the trump card of all media institutions, Fox News. Combs’s fascination with social media, to which he credits his introduction to the wildly successful TV shows Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones, extends to his intention to reach the millennial generation by using Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr as the network’s primary marketing channels.

Scores-To-Go With Sheet Music Direct for iPad

SoundCtrl October 30, 2013

By Brian Parker

In stark contrast to major record labels and publishers, the sheet music industry has for the last decade embraced the quick shift to digital media without confronting the issue of piracy. Due in part to the prevalence of the copy machine far before the internet’s rise to ubiquity, and possibly because of the niche supply and demand for scores, the sheet music industry has survived despite a declining market.

Taking cues from this format shift, Sheet Music Direct has launched a new iPad app that brings sheet music to your mobile tablet device with a a cloud-synced library. Sheet Music Direct is a joint venture between the UK-based Music Sales corporation and the US-based music publishing company Hal Leonard, two of the largest sheet music publishers in the world. Their joining forces means the Sheet Music Direct iPad app will feature their extensive catalogs of sheet music and scores, condensed in a well-designed interface.

Sheet Music Direct’s cloud-synced library allows the user to browse through their purchased scores, as well as create set lists for performances that feature several pieces. The score browser can be segmented by new and popular releases, instruments, and genre, and a tag feature supports a wish list function, so tagged scores can be purchased later.

The performance mode, which is surprisingly intuitive, supports tempo changes and transpositions for any score, making arrangements adaptable to each musician.

Sheet Music Direct for iPad represents a positive shift that supports musical literacy in an industry often flanked by uninventive and unmusical production and composition in the mainstream. The functionality of carrying several scores within a single device, without risking the loss of valuable music is efficient and economical. Hopefully the app will grow to offer note margins and uploads of personal compositions for serious students and composers.

[Interview] Grégoire Henrion, Co-Founder of Mindie

SoundCtrl October 21, 2013

Last week, the new micro-music video app Mindie was launched, creating a new platform for creating and sharing short videos set to song clips. Mindie steps into the mobile world with apps like Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, and the recently launched MixBit, but shifts the video focus to sharing and building communities through music. With an incredibly clean, full-screen interface, Mindie is easy to use and effortless to browse–pick a song from the iTunes database, record a video of short clips, and publish and share your new music video on Twitter, Facebook, and of course, Mindie.

We spoke to co-founder Grégoire Henrion about the concept, functionality, and future of Mindie, and why the app is creating its own space in the world of social media.

SoundCtrl: Can you tell us a bit about Mindie and where you’re from?

Grégoire Henrion: We’re based in Paris. We’re a little startup of four people working on Mindie, and we started working on it about two months ago. The parent company is called Ever.

SC: Do you have other projects under the Ever umbrella?

GH: Ever was a former project, it was our first app but we never really launched it. It was still in beta, then we decided to change the idea to make something simpler and based on music, so we came up Mindie.