How are you guys finding the indie scene in Toronto, both from the perspective of a being a part of is as well as from the perspective of a fan?
Mark: It’s cool, Steve and I were talking about it earlier today, it’s like the music industry right now is kind of at this state where it’s not failing, it’s just not as big as it was and it’s kind of changing. So bands are being able to do it themselves. They’ve got the luxury of doing that. Bands can now just record and put out albums, make their own merch and run their own show.

In terms of being an indie band, what sort of do-it-yourself or guerrilla style production have you guys done?
Mark: The way we’re doing our record, we’re really lucky. There’s this studio in London called The OIART which is a recording school. They needed bands to record, so we went down there, and we were able to get a bunch of free sessions. So our rhythm tracks are all being done at this studio, and the rest of it is going to be done in a barn. We’re not paying much money to do it, we we’re lucky enough to stumble upon this. We’re kind of throwing our record together.
Kevin: We’re producing it too. I’ve done other recordings in other bands, this guy Greg Dawson sort of produces all the stuff he records. It’s a different sort of thing because producers always have this kind of stamp. They know what works and that’s what they want it to sound like. I’ve found that by doing it ourselves, it’s a different thing because we can kind of just be as weird and quirky as we want.

As far as events go, The Cosmic Eye is playing with two of other bands, Sound One and Glory Glory Man United, at Rancho Relaxo on June 30th. Click here for the Facebook event page.

For more from The Cosmic Eye, check them out on MySpace, Twitter and their website.

Technorati Tags: cosmic, Euphonic, eye, indie, interview, jack, Manifesto, music, podcast, recording, Sound, Studio, wilson

Before you really get into this post, you might want to go make yourself a tinfoil hat.

Companero Jack here. With my newfound role as an investigative journalist I have been tasked by our fearless leader, James Pew, to shed a little bit of light on a terrifying aspect of music and pop culture. By writing this article and exposing the shadowy powers that be, I’m putting myself in grave danger. You, faithful reader, might find your own life in peril as well just for reading this.

Who am I kidding? Nobody’s coming to get you.

We had a workshop last week, the purpose of which was to try and familiarize ourselves with approaching prospective talent to try and bring into the studio. Fairly straightforward. We broke into two groups, one of which was productive, and one of which devolved into a discussion of secret societies, occult symbolism and Jay-Z.

The song that was brought up in the discussion was ‘Run This Town’ by Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West.

I’m going to preface this by saying that I’m a skeptic and a believer of the idea that if a person is looking for patterns or symbolism, they will see them. That said, on we go.

The song and video are apparently loaded with occult symbolism and messages from the Illuminati, the secret order of powerful people that supposedly run the world. Just for the sake of simplicity, pretend I threw the words “supposedly” or “apparently” in each of the following points.

1. The lit torch handed to Rihanna can be associated with Satan and the idea of illumination. The Illuminati are dedicated to the “coming forth of the conquering light.”
2. The lyrics, specifically those of the chorus refer to a coming of a New Order that will rule the world or “run this town.”
3. The rioting mob, dressed in guerilla-style clothes, seems to be set to overthrow the current order and “run this town,” which contrasts with the glamourous lyrics of the song. It could be implied that they are set to overthrow something more philosophical.
4. Jay-Z asks the listener to “pledge their allegiance” to a new leader and wear black in his honour.
5. Jay-Z states “I gave Doug a grip,” which could refer to a secret Freemason handshake, called a grip.

I’ll skip going through all of the lyrics of the song, because they could all potentially have some insane hidden meaning. Something else of note that is recurring in Jay-Z’s videos is the Rocafella hand sign, the diamond.

James had a decent point about how rappers have all this money, yet rarely give back to their communities. There’s an Illuminati idea of becoming a “god: through your own means. To me, this is a metaphor for the accumulation of wealth and power, which also signifies some greed. Therefore, they’re too greedy to give back to their stuggling communities.

On the other hand, as Shawn so cleverly observed, if these shadowy figures are running the music industry, why is it doing so poorly?

Or do they just want us to think the industry is suffering?

Technorati Tags: conspiracy, Euphonic, gaga, hip hop, illuminati, jack, jay-z, lady, Manifesto, recording, secret, society, Sound, Studio, symbolism, wilson

Companero Jack the Interview Master here, with a sort-of-new segment for you.

I know you all love the interviews that I’ve been doing. In addition to them, I’m going to occasionally be doing short interviews with whatever indie artists happen to come into the studio. I have three of them recorded already, its just a matter of getting them posted. The first three are likely going to be a little rough because they were pretty much sprung on me as I walking into the studio. “You’re interviewing [band name].” So after a couple, I’ll have some set questions and they’ll likely flow a little bit better,

As always, I’ll be posing the full audio, which, by the way, is now all available on iTunes (I’m so legit now).

This first interview, which is actually the second that I did, was with two members of Hibou, Tracey and Sergio.

Credit to Melissa Moffat for the Photography.

Upcoming Shows:

NXNE Showcase
June 18 / Harlem Lounge, 67 Richmond East
Live Interview from Hyatt Regency Hotel on Indielove Radio at 1:30 pm.
Showcase at 1:00 am.

Caribana
July 31 or August 1 / Yonge & Dundas Square
Check listings for exact date and time.

Church Street Fetish Fair
August 15 / Church-Wellesley Village

Slack’s (formerly Slack Alice)
August 19 / 562 Church Street

For more about Hibou and to hear some of their music, click on the links below.

Website: www.hiboumusic.com
Twitter: twitter.com/hiboumusic
Myspace: www.myspace.com/hiboumusic
CD available at Soundscapes

Technorati Tags: Euphonic, hibou, indie, interview, jack, Manifesto, music, podcast, recording, Sound, Studio, wilson

Companero Jack here, oddly enough, with an interview that I didn’t do. This was an email interview conducted by James with Music Business 4 Artists founder, Terry Kerr.

What is Music Business 4 Artists?
MB4A is an organization featuring a music business course and digital music events dedicated to empowering artists with the knowledge to succeed in the industry.

Can you tell us more about yourself and what inspired you to create Music Business 4 Artists?
I started off as a musician playing the live music scene in Toronto in various bands. Got into live event promotion in the rave scene in the 90s and was fortunate to be discovered by Bob Ezrin who became my mentor. I’ve managed artists, engineered, programmed and produced music, worked in A&R and music publishing and have lectured extensively on the ever changing music industry.

In 2006 I was recording a record at Metalworks studio and inquired about the recording arts Institute they had recently founded which led to designing and teaching several courses for their EBM (entertainment business management) program while I continued to work in the industry.

I recognized a need to educate artists and bands who couldn’t afford 20K plus in tuition but who would benefit immensely from an education in copyright, publishing, social media, marketing, digital distribution, etc. So I created the MB4A course specifically for them. It’s a crash course in music business and will save artists the trial and error process which is costly both in time and money.

How has your combined background as both music business teacher and music industry player helped you in structuring the MB4A seminars?
As a young artist trying to make sense of the business side of music I encountered a lot of misinformation about copyright, publishing, marketing, promotion, etc. I’ve structured the MB4A course to dispel the common myths and provide a foundation of knowledge upon which artists can build their careers.

Often times what you learn in the class room and what applies IRL (in real life) are worlds apart. I always made a concerted effort to provide my students with the IRL knowledge that would enable them to gain ground and create success in the market. In doing so I was able to recognize the concepts, materials and information that would take them to the next level.

The socialization of media has afforded artists unprecedented methods of marketing, promotion and distribution and allows for a Direct 2 Fan approach that when executed with empathy and respect enables artists to create a market for their music. In decades past this required massive investments of time and money, today the gates are wide open.

Can you tell us more about the people on the panels at the premier Music Business 4 Artists event this July 7th & 8th at the Gibson Showroom in Toronto?
The Digital Music Panel will be on July 8th and features really great people doing some amazing stuff in the industry.

Greg Nisbet founder of Mediazoic is an entrepreneur who has created a digital music streaming service that is quite revolutionary allowing people to embed the Mediazoic application in their social networking profiles and then broadcast what they’re listening to at any given time. The potential for this technology is unlimited and presents a new model for artists to get paid because they make public performance royalties from each broadcaster. Very innovative.

Justin Erdeman is the Digital Marketing Strategist for Universal Music Group whom I had the pleasure of working with on the Young Artists for Haiti – ‘Wavin’ Flag’ session. He handles the digital strategy for Universal’s talent and is at the forefront of mobile, social media, fan engagement and cost effective strategies that yield results.

Simon Plashkes is a digital strategist for Isobar and is absolutely brilliant. He manages Daniel Lanois’ digital presence and has a talent for simplifying/enhancing complex strategies to maximize results. He cuts through the noise and easily identifies the truth which is a rare and valuable gift.

James Pew is the president of Euphonics Sound and has created an innovative business model for musicians by completely ignoring the status quo and giving artists what they need to launch their careers. He is progressive and prolific and driven to create positive change in the industry.

Brad Powell is the founder and Chief Inspiration Officer of Microfundo and is pioneering the latest mashup, music + microfinance. “Microfundo’s inspiration comes in part from the highly successful online microfinancing organization Kiva which lets ordinary people microfinance entrepreneurs from developing countries. Kiva has loaned over $100 million in it’s first three years and currently is financing $1.5 million each week. As Microfundo grows our musicians will be able to fund their music projects enabling them to sustain themselves as artists.”

What’s next for MB4A?
MB4A will launch its course later in the year while hosting Digital Music Events in Toronto, Vancouver, Nashville and Los Angeles.

For your viewing pleasure, here’s the first part of a video interview between James and Terry. All seven  parts are available on the Euphonic Sound YouTube Channel.

MB4A is another great resource for up-and-coming and indie musicians. For more info about MB4A you can check out their website, Facebook page or Twitter feed. If you’re interested in attending any of the seminars or events, take a look at the Events page of the website.

Technorati Tags: 4, artists, brad powell, business, erdeman, Euphonic, for, greg, independent, indie, interview, james, justin, kerr, Manifesto, mediazoic, microfundo, music, nisbit, pew, recording, simon plashkes, Sound, Studio, terry

Hey all, Companeros Connor and Phil here bringing you the word on Open Window. First of all,

What is Open Window?

Open Window is a collaborative initiative helping advance indie artists through an open framework. It is a combination of open source music and open brand development (through Open Artist Development groups found only in the online Euphonic Community).

The aim of Open Window is to provide a new avenue for the development of participating Studio 2.0 artists. We aim to build a community of musical creators, visual artists, and new music business innovators contributing to the musical works and brand development of each artist.

Through Indabamusic.com, Kompoz.com, Aviary.com, or by booking free time at Euphonic Sound Recording Studio, fans can contribute musical parts, remix and collaborate on their favorite songs. And by joining an artist’s OAD group (open artist development), you get access to the artist’s internal documents, business plans, artwork, web content, video, and future plans – you participate in the artists decisions. You become part of the artist’s team.

Watch this video we made to learn how to join the Euphonic Sound Community, and the Open Window Artist Development Groups:

Studio 2.0 artist TroNic was the main focus this week, with his song Intro up for collaboration. Everything was removed from the mix of “Intro” (except vocals and drums), that we uploaded to the Open Window group on Indaba - the rest of the parts were added by Open Window collaborators.

Dozens of people joined the group, and the contributions started flying in. We were pleasantly surprised by the unique and unexpected direction that the Open Window collaborators took the song – totally different then the original version produced through Tronic’s Studio 2.0.

TroNic’s voice was manipulated by a vocoder – guitars, synths and organs were added, and every mix sounded completely different. We really couldn’t have hoped for a better launch for Open Window.

With people from our own crew, and even people half way around the world contributing, listening, mixing, and commenting, this first Open Window song was a resounding success, and we really look forward to the future of the Open Window initiative.

We’d like to encourage all our readers to check it out, especially if you’ve been a part of any collaborative projects before. [I hadn't prior to this and it was awesome! - Connor]

Earlier this week all the members of the Euphonic Team partook in a group mix of Tronic’s Open Window contributions. This was an experiment for us, as typically songs aren’t mixed by a group. Everyone had a chance at the reins provided they explained what they were doing and why. Take a listen to our final mix below,

Intro – Open Window Session 1 by James Pew

Next up we have Studio 2.0 artist Truth with his song Quit Delaying. We are really looking forward to hear what people throw down on this uptempo pop track. Once again, check it out at our Indaba Open Window group

Check out the original Studio 2.0 mastered version of “Intro,” along with the video produced by Euphonic Sound companero Emma,

Open Window links!

Open Window links on BWR
We have an Open Window Facebook Group
For more on Open Music check out Open Music Madness and The Official Launch of Open Window

Technorati Tags: Broken Window Records, Collaboration, Indabamusic, Music Culture, music think tank, Open Window, studio 2.0

Companero Jack again.

I love doing these interviews. They make me feel like a journalist and not just some douche with a laptop.

I did this one late last week, and finally got around to finishing the transcription. Euphonic had Toronto (edit: Sorry, Oshawa) rapper Mic Boogie come in to the studio to sit down and talk. Mic is one of the hosts of the indie hip-hop showcase Roc da Mic, and his second album is set to drop sometime this summer. As always, the audio from the interview is posted right below this, and a track and a video are available at the bottom of the page.

What are your influences, and how did you first get into hip-hop
I got into hip-hop literally back in the early ‘80s through my older sister. She was 6 years older than me. She babysat me all the time and everywhere she brought me, he friends were hanging out, and they were all into breakdancing. So I got the early influence from when I was 7, 8 or 9 years old, ’79-81, in those years, so it was like the very first days of hip-hop. Grandmaster Flash, the Furious Five, groups like that, so it’s been a long time.

You’ve got an album coming out, so do you have any news, events or promotions that you want to talk about?
Yeah, my second album is coming out – we’re aiming for this summer. We’re just trying to pick a date. The first single is coming out in the next couple weeks, we actually just released it to radio so it’s just a matter of time to get word back from them. But the new album is called Mr. Boogie, my first album was called That’s Me, released in 2008. It’s available on iTunes and through HMV.

How was the whole process?
It was interesting. It was my first album; it was my first time taking a crack at really getting anything played on commercial radio. We had a couple songs that were successful in the Halifax market, in Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg. I got played in Toronto, on Flow 95.3 and the college radio stations. It was good just to see the response around the rest of the country and pushing my stuff into the international market because I got a chance to go overseas and promote and do some shows. So yeah, it’s been interesting just getting it out there and seeing how people respond to me and what I’m giving.

Considering that you’re Toronto-based, how did you find the fan base if you go to the States or Europe?
I find that Canada in itself is really interesting because once you leave Toronto people really get into what’s going on as far as the Canadian scene. In the United States they just appreciate good music, so if you can get your stuff into any market down there, whether it’s in the South or New York and the Tristate area, or the West Coast, it’s always a good thing because as soon as people down there like your stuff, they support it right away. And recently, somebody hit me up online and said my stuff was getting played in South Africa and I had no idea. I’ve sent a lot of stuff out. You know, my stuff’s online, I’ve got the website and everything like that. We had three videos that were released from the first album. It’s amazing how far stuff goes when you’re not really paying attention.

And then something from South Africa pops up.
Exactly, and I’ve got a producer that wants to work with me from South Africa now, so it’s like, “Ok, yeah, definitely. Send me some stuff.” Obviously he had heard of me through hearing my stuff over there on the radio, so you never know. You really never know who’s listening, and with the internet and everything, it’s crazy

So with that, what sort of online promotion and stuff like that have you been doing?
The usual: MySpace, Facebook, stuff like that. I’ve got my own website, micboogiemusic.com. We use that to throw snippets of the album, the first album is on there. We’re getting ready to redo the site with the launch of the second album. And with the first single dropping, like I said, in the next couple weeks, we’ve got to get everything up to par and just get it ready.

You already sort of mentioned it, but talk about the hip-hop scene in Toronto.
It’s funny because I’ve seen it from, like, when I was going to the Concert Hall back in the ‘80s. The first concert that I ever went to was Run DMC, Public Enemy and EPMD. It was EPMD promoting their first album, Public Enemy for their second album, and Run DMC was obviously a classic group already at the time, but the scene was always there. They used to have battles, Monster Jams, New York against Toronto, and back then Toronto emcees and beat-boxers were holding their weight with New York guys, but then it just sort of fizzled. I think the reggae scene took over a lot in Toronto and hip-hop got pushed on the backburner in that sense. The younger generation is really into hip-hop now and it’s starting to grow. There’s a lot more opportunities for artists coming out, as far as independent.

I know I used this photo in the last Euphonic Sound blog post, but that’s just something that you’re going to have to deal with. It also looks like I could use a haircut…

How are you finding the fans, as far as hip-hop? I’ve heard both good things as well as bad.
For me, thankfully, it’s been mostly positive. You get some people who do their little thing and slam artists online anonymously. But I mean, I’ve been pretty accepts as far as the Toronto scene goes. It’s a little bit different because I’m not originally from Toronto, I’m originally from Oshawa. I was born out there, raised out there, lived out there pretty much my whole life. But I was always coming out here, so I got a really good idea of what the scene was like in Toronto and what people expect as far as when you’re up there and they don’t know your music when you’re performing. If you want people to really get into your stuff, you’ve got to come correct, especially if they’ve never heard you before. And the Toronto crown is really tough. If your stuff’s not banging, if it’s not hot, if the beat’s not banging, if you’re not coming across vocally or lyrically or whatnot, they’ll give you no live and they’ll let you know right away. That’s the one thing about Toronto: if you can get people to give you a little bit of respect here and get a little bit of a fan-base, it’s a good thing, it’s a positive. But the rest of the country’s not like that at all, because I’ve done shows out West and they love you, they just love music, they love the fact that somebody’s coming to their small town or city. Then you do a 15-minute or half-hour set, and at the end everyone is buying your CDs, and they’ve never heard of you before. Or they might have. In my case, I was getting played on MuchMusic, the videos Everybody’s Doing It and Good Look were getting played on Vibe. So I was getting some rotation like that, and my stuff was getting heard on Galaxie and satellite radio. They picked up 5 or 6 tracks form my album and had them in pretty much regular rotation. I was fortunate that way. For me, I just felt like I made music good enough that radio and the people that decide what gets played liked my stuff.

And you’re the MC for Roc da Mic?
Yeah, I’m one of the hosts for Roc da Mic every… I was going to say every Tuesday, then it switched to Thursday and right now everything’s up in the air. They’re trying to lock down a proper venue and whatnot. I’ve been doing that for just over a year. For me, I got into it because I wanted to just get comfortable being on stage when I’m not doing my own music or performing. It’s easy to do my stuff because I know it and I practice it. But you’re talking to a crowd and you have to engage people and entertain them for either 30 seconds or 2 minutes between songs, that’s really what people really need to perfect as far as their show. Obviously, you write your songs – you know them. Or you should anyways. But yeah, it was a good opportunity for me, it just kind of came up out of nowhere and I jumped on it and used it to promote my own stuff and to master my own craft as far as being a host or being someone that’s running a show. It’s been interesting and hopefully it keeps going.

Anything memorable that sticks out?
Really just the support of the local scene, and independent artists coming out and supporting each other. I think that’s the main thing. There’s been a lot of good acts, there’s bad acts, but it’s the same thing as far as every week you’re getting a little taste of what there is in Toronto or the GTA in terms of independent music. I have a lot of artists form Roc da Mic on my second album just because I like their energy on stage and the way they engage the crown, the way they perform. It’s also given me a lot of opportunity to connect with the younger scene too and the people that are up-and-coming, even though I’m still up-and-coming, I guess I am older, so I have a little bit of a generation gap as far as what my ideal of hip-hop is and what their ideal of what hip-hop is might be. It’s good to be able to reconnect with people that are literally like 15 years younger than me but are dong the same that that I’m doing, and put out a song that’s relevant to both of our fan bases or to both of our peer groups.

So it’s an awesome way to make contacts and collaborate with whoever.
Yeah, the people that are out there doing what I’m doing, and who will hopefully push the music just as much as I will to the people that are buying their stuff or listening to it or downloading it.

And as for the United in Flow mixtape, event and whole promotion. What are your thoughts on that?
I think it’s a great thing. It’s too bad that it couldn’t be something that could be more frequent, but I guess this is the first one. You’ve got to get what you’re doing together and make sure it’s working properly, but the idea of it is great. I love doing local showcases or stuff for independent artists because you really get a sense of what people are trying to do as far as being original or doing something different. And again, I can find other people to work with as far as vocalists, lyricists, producers, djs or whatever. So for me, it’s two thumbs up. It’s a good thing for the scene and it’ll only help build what’s going on in Toronto, in Canada and just hip-hop in general.

We’ve been toying around with some ideas for it, to expand upon the idea maybe making it a yearly event or something.
You’ve got to start somewhere and find where your niche is and see what works and what doesn’t. But it’s a great idea and I support anything like that. I’m totally down for anybody that’s building hip-hop. Not just Canadian hip-hop, but hip-hop in general. Because I’m a fan, and I’ve always been a fan, and I still make the music as a fan because I’m hoping that people will hear my stuff and appreciate what I’ve gotten out of hip-hop and what I put back into it.

What’re you digging right now?
You know, it’s weird because I don’t listen to a lot of music because I’m doing shows a lot and hosting parties. But for me, just anything that gets my head moving and has good lyrics. I get stuck in listening to a lot of the old school stuff just because for me that’s just the Golden Era. When I’m out with friends we’ll usually pop in an old school CD or something or it’s on Backspin [the Sirius/XM classic rap channel]. I wouldn’t trade that in for anything. I can really get into a lot of the hip-hop that’s coming out now, in a sense of the stuff that’s for the younger generation even though I’m trying to connect with them myself. But I’m not going to make a song about a new dance crazy or something. I find it all interesting because my son’s 7 and he loves it all. So I hear it all through him and through my roommate’s son because they’re into breakdancing. I hear all that stuff; they play it all the time when they’re in the house. They want to hear all that. I’m a big fan of Jay-Z still. Guys like Ghostface Killah or Wu-Tang in general. My favourite from Wu-Tang is probably the Genuis, as far as just a lyricist. I like those guys because I relate to what they’re saying too, and it could be te age thing. But they don’t just rap about money or whatever. It’s a perspective on life, and it’s also a perspective form a grown man, for the most part, and that’s what I relate to.

I’m about the same way, where I’d rather listen to something classic than what’s going on right now.
Well that’s hip-hop. Now it’s more pop music and it’s become just as mainstream as Madonna was back in the ‘80s or ‘90s or Wham! Or any of those groups. There’s the “hip-pop” entity in itself, which is just that radio stuff, the autotune stuff and whatever. And I’m not hating on that, and you’ll find a little bit of it on my album, but it’s not me. I don’t get autotuned. I’m a rapper. That’s the thing I don’t get: when emcees do it. It doesn’t make sense to me.

It’s different when it’s an effect for one song, but when it’s a whole album…
Yeah, it’s become a whole genre now. Everybody does it. It’s taken over to the point where it’s hindered creativity with some of the younger generation coming up, because they think that’s what you have to do to get on. That you don’t have to actually be talented because you can just autotune it or melodyne it. But what happens is you do a live show and you can’t do that, and it doesn’t sound like that, and people lose interest really quick. For me, that’s where it goes back to the essence because back in the early ‘90s, emcees had to be emcees. They had to get on stage and just rip it because if you didn’t, you had to deal with it. You were booed off and your career was done. But it’s turned into such a big moneymaker that it’s all smoke and mirrors now. But I don’t know… I make the music I make because I love to do it and hopefully people connect with it and it just keeps going.

And that was that. Mic is a really cool guy. I wish I had known this before going into the interview, but Mic had a collaboration on one of his albums with none other than KRS-One. I wish I had gotten this story from him.

Mic stuck around and hung out at the studio for a little while, during which time, Emma and James recruited him as the official MC for the upcoming United in Flow event. It’s great to have someone with an established name to host. I’m sure he’ll kill it when October rolls around. He also did a freestyle as a United in Flow submission.

For more from Mic, be sure to check out his website, micboogiemusic.com, which has links to his music and media and all that good stuff. And, as promised, below is a link to download a song, ‘You Should.’ As tempting as it was to bootleg his albums, I think it would probably be for the best if I didn’t. I also figured I’d toss up one of his videos. Enjoy.

Click here to listen to ‘You Should’ by Mic Boogie.

Technorati Tags: boogie, Euphonic, flow, freestyle, hip hop, in, independent, interview, Manifesto, mic, music, rapper, recording, Sound, Studio, submission, toronto, united

Friendly competition and rivalry has a tendency to bring forth some amazing work from people. This is why I like rap battles so much. Take two emcees and let their creativity flow. In an arena setting, it’s (for the most part) all in fun. However from time to time, rappers and their egos hurt each other’s feelings, which results in some incredible music and hilarious, angry punchlines.

This first part is going to deal just with hip-hop, since diss tracks are relatively common in rap. For the non-rap kids, I plan on compiling another diss track list that isn’t genre specific. And be warned, youngsters: the videos most likely contain naughty words and much meanness.

I’m going to go ahead and thank Wikipedia for filling me in on some of the details regarding the stories.

The Bitch in Yoo – Common (vs. Ice Cube)
Likely one of Common’s best songs was a story about hip-hop called ‘I Used to Love H.E.R.’ The song was released in the early 90’s during the height of the East Coast vs. West Coast rivalry. Allegedly, Ice Cube didn’t take too kindly to the parts of the song that could be interpreted as implying that West Coast Gangsta rap was a factor contributing to the over-commercialization of hip-hop and was fueling its decline. After recording a few generic songs taking at at the East Coast, Ice Cube and his group, Westside Connection, mentioned Common by name in a song. The result was the following track released by Common, in which he absolutely rips Ice Cube to shreds.

Second Round K.O. – Canibus (vs. LL Cool J)
Despite not really making any waves in the past few years, while Canibus was in his prime he was generally held as one of the best battle rappers of the time. While he was still coming up with his career, Canibus collaborated with LL Cool J on the track ‘4, 3, 2, 1” from LL’s Phenomenon album. While recording, a line from Canibus that was apparently giving respect to LL was misconstrued as an insult, leading to LL’s verse basically being a scathing attack on Canibus. Following the release of “4, 3, 2, 1” as a single, Canibus released ‘Second Round K.O.” with the help of his then-producer Wyclef Jean and featuring a cameo by Mike Tyson. The Canibus/LL feud went on for a while until it just sort of fizzled away, but it’s been pretty firmly established that Canibus won.

Acknowledge – Masta Ace (vs. Boogie Man)
The story goes that underground emcee Boogie Man had accused Masta Ace of copying his style on a song. This eventually led to a battle at a Lyricist Lounge event, which apparently Masta Ace had lost. Sometime afterwards, Masta Ace released ‘Acknowledge’ which is hands-down my favourite diss track. The charm in it comes from the tone that Ace uses: not harsh or angry, just very calm and matter-of-fact.

How to Rob – 50 Cent (vs. Pretty much everybody)
I’m not at all a fan of 50 Cent, aside from maybe a few songs. Before he really gained his recognition (and got shot), 50 made a bit of a name for himself by releasing a song detailing how he was going to rob pretty much everybody important in the world of hip-hop. The song was in fun, but 50 still managed to get a few angry responses from the likes of Jay-Z, Big Pun, Ghostface and Kurupt.

Hit ‘Em Up – Tupac & the Outlawz (vs. Notoriou B.I.G.)
Before their respective coasts killed them, there was quite a lot of bad blood between Biggie and Tupac. This all started after Tupac was shot outside of a Bad Boy recording studio, after which Biggie released the aptly titled ‘Who Shot Ya?’ which Tupac took as Biggie basically saying “I did!” And thus, the East Coast/West Coast feud began. A few years later, the head figures are killed, and everyone realizes how stupid the whole thing was. Some absolutely vicious songs were released, one of which was ‘Hit ‘Em Up.’

You Don’t Really Want it, Ova Here & The Real Hip Hop – KRS-One (vs. Nelly)
I hate Nelly, and curiously enough, I love KRS-One. KRS has achieved such a legendary status that there’s not really anything negative that you can say about him. He got to that level by being amazing. He regularly speaks out about the over-commercialization of rap, and said something that Nelly took offense to, and thusly recorded a diss track towards KRS. KRS retaliated with a barrage songs towards Nelly. In his own words, “I can slap him around for days,” and he totally can. In one of those songs, he tells people not to buy Nelly’s album. Sucks to be Nelly.

I’m well aware that not everyone appreciates hip-hop as much as I do, so be sure to check back soon for Did I Hurt Your Feelings? Part 2: The Non-Rap Edition.

Technorati Tags: competition, diss, ego, Euphonic, hip hop, jack, Manifesto, music, recording, song, Sound, Studio, track, wilson

Companero Jack here.

What happens when you find yourself bored, or dare I say, jaded, with having the radio as your sole method of discovering new music?

Thankfully, in this age of Facebook and LOLcats, there are plenty of ways to use the internet to track down and discover music. I’m a huge music junkie, with my already massive library growing fairly steadily. The following is a list of methods I usually use to discover music, as well as an example of something that I’ve found with each method (and yes, it’s all hip-hop because that’s what I listen to).

Stumble-esque Sites
If you’re not familiar with StumbleUpon, it’s probably in your best interest to stay away. It is a fantastic time vacuum. Emma will attest. Based on categories that you choose, it gives you websites that you may be interested in, which you ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ to provide a more refined search. You can search StumbleUpon for music content, or use sites similar sites specific to music. I was recently shown StumbleAudio, and a quick Google search provided this roundup.

Found: The following is awesome mashup. Tom Caruana’s Wu-Tang vs. The Beatles: Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers.

Forums
As a denizen of the internet, I’m a member of a handful of forums. I’m most active in the forums at Something Awful, which cover pretty much every topic conceivable. From time to time I’ll venture into the music threads to see what people are talking about. Or, since SA has a real sense of community , there are occasionally music collaboration projects between members, or just members sharing their own music.

Found: N.A.S.A.’s The Spirit of Apollo and SA member Satellite High’s This Mic is a Pipe Bomb.

Social Media
Of course this has to be on the list. Blogs, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or whatever other social media you happen to frequent are filled with artists promoting their music. This is actually all that MySpace is good for anymore anyways.

Found: Crooked I’s Hip-Hop Weekly series. Crooked I’s freestyles have a pretty legendary status, and here he released one a week for a year through MySpace.

Podcasts
I find that podcasts don’t quite get the love that they deserve. I don’t know if it’s that people don’t want to sign up for iTunes accounts to download them, or don’t want to download an MP3 from whatever website and import it to whatever media application (which I absolutely hate doing). My personal favourite is the IndieFeed series of podcasts, which has separate podcasts for Alternative Modern Rock, Indie Pop, Hip-Hop, Elctronica, Dance and Blues. Each episode contains a new track from an indie artists and is updated every few days.

Found: I’ve found a ridiculous amount of music thanks to IndieFeed. I had no idea that Felt (Slug of Atmosphere and Murs) existed before IndieFeed, which is odd because they’re two of my favourite rappers.

Crews & Labels
I’m not sure how much this happens outside of hip-hop. Given rap’s collaborative nature, there’s a lot of songs with multiple emcees all from the same label or area, or from guys that just happen to be buddies. Take Wu-Tang for example. Not only do they have a standard cast of 9 main rappers, but also what seems like a few thousand friends that all make regular appearances. Sure, they’re not all good, but there’s always the off-chance that you’ll like someone.

Found: QN5 Music is one of my absolute favourite labels. I had initially heard of Tonedeff through a friend and grabbed his album Archetype. It featured a song with his group, Extended F@mm, which introduced me to PackFM, Substantial and Session.

Music Mapping
This is a cool one. There are a few sites like Gnod that take a few artists that you like and provide similar artists based on what other users have put in. Click the ‘Map’ link at the bottom of the suggestion for a visual representation of what you might be interested in. I’m going to include the “You May Also Like…” function from sites like Amazon or the iTunes Store in this category, because they’re both usually pretty accurate.

Found: I honestly can’t say that I’ve ever actually found anything new from Gnod. I rarely use it. However after putting in a few artists that I do like, the results were pretty accurate.

Streaming Radio
For those unfamiliar with sites like Last.fm or Janga, both are sites that create custom playlists based on what you input. Last.fm has an option to read your iTunes library and give you results based on what you already have. The more advanced features require a subscription, but just ignore it because this is the era of free everything. I used to use Pandora, which no longer works in Canada. We’re an industrious generation though, so there are ways around it.

Found: Back when it worked, I typed ‘Tonedeff’ into Pandora and it introduced me to Kev Brown.

Genius
Unique to iTunes, Genius creates a playlist form your library out of similar songs. This is obviously useless to you when you’re looking for new music. Open up the Genius Sidebar and you’re given a list of songs, albums and artists that, big surprise, you may also like. You can preview them in the sidebar, or click the links to purchase them.

Found: I swear, I’ve used this to discover new music, I just forget what.

YouTube
Youtube is underrated as a music player. Sure, the quality tends to suck and the comments are infuriatingly stupid, but just try to ignore that for a while. Open up a music video from an artist you like and checkout the sidebar. Pick a video at random and watch it. Users will create playlists of videos, which often produce something they like that you haven’t heard of. The YouTube main page will also give you recommendations based on what you’ve watched in the past, so make sure to take a look at it before you start surfing through videos of cats.

Found: I decided to watch Atmosphere music videos one day. The channel for Atmosphere’s label, Rhymesayers, had a link to the Brother Ali video below that I clicked on at random and loved.

And there you have it. Go find something cool.

Technorati Tags: Collaboration, discover, Euphonic, hip hop, Manifesto, mapping, media, music, podcast, recording, social, Sound, Studio, youtube

Music is the language of the soul. It’s the best way to express the way we think and the way we feel about something. Music is an art, and like every art it takes dedication and hard work to be able to make it. I believe this industry is among the toughest to break into in the world, in some countries more than others.

Since our early years and our childhoods,  we always follow some type of music. From kid’s music to the wonderful years where we discover ourselves and define our taste for what we will be following until the end of our days. I’m a rock-metal lover; the sound of a heavy dirty guitar gives me the goosebumps. Like me, there are millions of people that go crazy at the sound of a metal song.

I’m from Colombia but I’ve been living in Canada for the past six years. I’m 21 years old and like many others I’m trying to make it into the music business: something I think I could never attempt to do in my hometown. Having the chance to move to such a developed country like this one has given me the helped me realize how hard it is to live from your music in Colombia, where musicians are dedicated and extremely talented. I guess the biggest difference between Canada’s and Colombia’s music industries is the lack of opportunities for people to show what they can do. Canada has developed ways to help musicians to show their abilities with foundations like Factor, which helps independent artists with the recording of their albums. Foundations like Factor need to exist elsewhere in the world, especially where musicians lack the types opportunities that other countries can offer.

Colombia is a very diverse country in all aspects, including its musical culture. Almost every region of the country has its own distinct type and style of music. It is truly amazing to see how many different types of genres there are.

Vallenato:
This type of music comes from the north-west region of the country. There are only three basic instruments used: an accordion, a small drum held between the knees and a wooden ribbed stick, similar to sugar cane, accompanied by a fork that when rubbed together emits a scraping sound.

Llanera:
This genre is found in the eastern side of Colombia. String instruments are the base of the genre complete with a harp, a small pear-shaped chordophone, a small 4 string guitar known as a cuatro and shakers.

Cumbia:
Cumbia is from the northern region. The instruments used are the accordion, different types of drums and in some cases clarinets and trumpets.

Traditional:
This music comes from the coffee farms of the country and is simply uses guitars. Modern traditional music includes trumpets and bass.

Andina:
Andina music comes from the central region of the country. It’s played using guitars, wind instruments like flutes and in some cases a variety of string instruments like the cello.

These genres are just a sample of what can be found in Colombia. There are thousands of artist in the country and it is very difficult for them to make a living with their music. The big dream of being famous and internationally recognized is usually just that: a dream that only a few have been able to actually achieve. Artists like Shakira, Carlos Vives and Juanes are among the most well known Colombian artists in the latin music scene. All of them have won Grammy Awards, however only Shakira has made it to the biggest scene, the English market. This is a clear example of just how many people try to make it and how many actually do.

The rock scene is huge in Bogotá, with many international bands visiting the city every year. Groups like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Coldplay and Aerosmith have all developed a large Colombian fan base, as evident in their concert footage. It’s unbelievable just how many followers there are in a country with such a variety of other genres. There are also the thousands of bands that dream of being internationally recognized the same way, but again, for the moment that’s just a dream.

The Colombian government needs to start looking at rock music, and all Colombian music, with a different perspective, making it part of the country’s culture and tradition. Programs should be created to focus on the education and support of the art. Programs like providing public stages where youths can perform, or helping to find an affordable way to obtain instruments. The cost of a good guitar is fairly high for the average person, so if stores were to receive support or incentives from the government to sell instruments at reduced prices would make a huge impact on how people can start playing music. In terms of band promotion, as I said before, a foundation like Factor must be created to help the common artist record their albums in a professional way. This would really help the bands get some local recognition and, hopefully, international recognition

It’s difficult for me to understand why it is so difficult for Colombian rock bands to succeed in rock music, especially when we can clearly see how many bands come out of North America and Europe. What is stopping Colombian bands to get out there? It’s time for Colombian government to start supporting these artists so that they can get the recognition that they deserve. It’s time for more opportunities to be offered to so many musicians. It’s time for foundations like Factor to be created.

It’s time for rock music to be taken seriously in Colombia.

Companero Jaime.

Technorati Tags: colombia, culture, foundations, government, music, recognition, Rock, support

Companano Jack here. The brand new writer guy.

On the very first day that I came into the Euphonic Studio to meet with everyone, Emma basically tells me, “So since you’re new and neutral to everything, we’re going to have you interview TroNic.” Someone threw on one of his tracks and I typed up a few quick questions. I had originally just planned on recording my interview with him to save me from trying to make notes, but by the end of it I ended up with some great audio. TroNic’s an awesome guy, and it was really refreshing to sit down and talk hip-hop with someone new. Be sure to check out the audio interview below as well.

Describe what you do/try to do/want to do with your music?
I want to build some form of emotion with people. That it somehow just actually touches them and you actually get some feeling. And if I get a reaction out of it that’d even better. Mainly that, but to also help people. If they’re going through something, they can listen to one of my songs to help them through the day, or if they just want to go out to a party, they can get hype to my music. Or even if they’re at the club, they can have fun and listen to it.

So you have a nice mix of the club banger, and then a nice sensitive…
Exactly, because that’s what I think people are.  You live these different parts of life: you have fun, you’re depressed, you’re happy. So I think that comes out in my music.

How is it working with Euphonic?
Great. I call them La Famillia. They’re my family. They’re my studio family. I call everyone ‘bro’ or ’sister.’ That’s what Euphonic is to me.

Everyone asked me to have you explain what ‘Trizzy’ means.
Trizzy really just came from the whole Drake thing. One of my friends was just messing around like, “Yo! You sould be Trizzy TroNic because he’s Drizzy Drake and you guys are both in Toronto and you’re big!” So Trizzy is nothing really official, just a little play on words that I like to do. And it sounds cool.

So it’s your version of the Slim Shady/Eminem thing.
Exactly, exactly.

What are you working on currently? Album, events…
Right now we’re finishing up – we have like one more song to finish for the EP, the Unfinished Robot – and once that’s done, it’s going to be just heavy promotion. I’m going to try and get out and do a lot more shows, I just did a show the other day at Harlem that went really well. I just really want to get back on stage and spread my music, spread what this project is and then I’m actually already starting to work on the project after this right now.

Another album?
I’m going to release a mixtape. Free music, of just like, 20 songs so its just out there for people to listen to.

Just through the few podcasts that I listen to, I’ve been finding that a lot of guys are releasing free mixtapes and EPs.
That’s what it is, yeah. I think a lot of people are realizing that people want free music nowadays, and in order to sell music you have to prove to them first, that you can actually do what you want to do. So releasing free music is really important. I like  doing it too because if you’re able and you’re built to do this, and you’re able to release a lot of songs, why not do it? And I feel like I’m that type of person. I’ll record a whole leap of songs just for the sake of it, and just because I need to get it out of me. So why not just let them into that?

What do you think about the United in Flow contest?
That was another genius move. It’s really fun, ‘cause now you’re going to see a lot of artists who need this, and its going to bring them in because United in Flow is such a great idea, especially for the hip-hop community, in Toronto especially, because it’s not really that strong. So something like this, seeing people branch out and start something of our own, is something that’d going ot gave a real big effect.

I think there’s going to be some really cool music out of it, as well as some really jokey, fun stuff too.
That’s the other thing. That’d the fun to it too, because you never know. It’s always fun too, to see people mess around with it or whatever. It’s all love.

What are your influences, in general?
I think there’s a tie between Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill and Kanye West. I think those are my biggest influences. And it’s weird to me, something that really inspires me is photography. I like looking at pictures. You know how a picture says a thousand words? I see a thousand stories. I’m a person who loves to tell stories and it’s fun to me to look at a picture and somehow build a story in my mind of what’s going on in it.

What you’re feeling right now?
I’m listening mainly to a lot of underground and independent artists actually. Maybe I do it because of competition. I’ve been listening to this artist right now that I think is going to be insane, J. Cole.

I’ve been hearing him on a few tracks here and there lately.
Yeah, one of the Reflection Eternal songs, and on ‘A Star s Born’ on Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3. I remember listening to him when he just dropped ‘The Warm Up,’ his last mixtape. So I caught him as that album dropped and before he blew up. I remember when he was on Twitter and he had like 3,000 fans, and one day I went back on and it was like 15,000. But yeah, I listen to J. Cole a lot, I like this other artist named Wiz Khalifa, Currency…

What you’re hating?
Not really. If I don’t like it, I won’t listen. I avoid the radio, to be honest with you. I really don’t listen to it that much anymore. Everything I get is from blogs. You can just get it so easily nowadays. On the radio though, when I do listen to it, the music doesn’t sound as bad as it was a year or two ago.

It’s sort of starting to make an upswing, with guys like J. Cole hooking up with Jay-Z. I’m really stoaked for the new Reflection Eternal album.
They’re crazy too. Another big project that I’m looking forward to seeing is the Nas and Damien Marley album, Distant Relatives.

What are your thoughts on hip-hop music and culture in 2010?
A few years ago I was really in dismay. I went out and bought a “Hip-Hop is Dead” t-shirt. ‘Cause before, if you don’t know, I did a lot of production and I wasn’t really into rapping, and it wasn’t until a year or two ago I decided to get back on and start rapping again. So that was my phase of where I was like “I’m done with this. I’m just going to produce and whatever,” because I had nothing to feed off of. But now, I’m so happy. Especially with the whole underground thing, you can see that these artists who are on the internet and everything know how to work this game. Because I think nowadays, artists who do actually get signed early and try to build a career don’t make it. But these artists who are releasing mixtape after mixtape after mixtape… They’re getting 500,00 downloads before they even drop an album. Put a few of your songs on iTunes and make your money off shows. I’m like, “Wow, you guys are smart,” and no one really sees how they do it.

And then they get signed.
And they get these big deals too. It’s like, they demand, “No, you’re not giving me a million. You’re giving me six.”

Like Jay Electronica. He blew up off Twitter and MySpace.
And he just took over. That music to me is just great. They make good music. And you hear some of it slipping into the mainstream airwaves too. You’ve heard of this artist, B.O.B.? He was doing the same thing and all these songs just started making their way onto the radio and people were feeling it there because he had such a strong fanbase already.

And the last one, what do you think of the death of Guru?
Aw, man, it’s sad. I wasn’t a big, big Gang Starr fan, I’ll be honest, but every song that I heard from them though was hot. There’s no question about it. And he’s been a big influence and it’s really sad. I remember hearing about him going into cardiac arrest last month, and he was in a coma and he made it out and had surgery… DJ Premier went and said, “Yeah, he’s doing well, he’s doing fine. He should be okay,” and then I woke up the other day and heard that he was dead. It caught me by surprise. And then this whole thing about some letter going on, that he left some death letter beside his bed. There’s some scandal going on about it. So yeah, it’s pretty sad. Rest in peace to Guru.

I then got TroNic to freestyle over a beat I happened to have on my computer (the instrumental version of ‘Streets’ by the Cunninlynguists, for those who are interested). I’m hoping that this turns into a regular thing. I had a blast doing it.

For more information about TroNic, check out his website atroniclife.com.

Technorati Tags: audio, euphonic sound, hip hop, indie, interview, Music Culture, Social Media, tronic, United in Flow

Aviary.com states,

“Aviary is on a mission to make creation accessible to artists of all genres, from graphic design to audio editing. We’re a privately held company currently headquartered in Long Island, NY, with team members around the world. Our founders also created Worth1000.com, a talented community of 500,000 digital artists that participate in amazing daily contests.”

Aviary.com recently added an Audio Editor called Myna. Myna features a lot of the same things offered in professional audio editing software. You can upload files from your computer, browse their audio library or record something to be edited in Myna. It allows you to edit automation, pan/volume or create remixes of your favorite songs. Watch this Myna Tutorial. The effects in Myna are limited to a few filters, reverb, pitch shift and a few others that you can get bored of really quick. One of the problems of having the software online and not downloaded is that it doesn’t support other plug-ins or VST instruments that you might have on your computer already.

Myna
The good
- Free
- Nothing to download
- You keep all rights to your creation
- Mac or PC
- Forums for exchanging opinions

The Bad
- Not plug-in friendly
- Lacking a good mixer
- Sound Quality
- Effects are limited

There are many free audio editing programs online but that makes Myna so interesting is that Aviary.com is not only an online resource, it is a community. Once you create your account, you can add friends/ contacts, create groups and chat online. This makes it easy for your to collaborate with your friends. The site also has multiple forums where you can post your work and ask for help/ opinions and collaborate with other artists in the same field. (if you want to read more about online collaborations, read our Open Music article) There is a blog where the creators of Aviary.com walk you through how they made some of their works and sometimes respond to popular forum questions. They even have a tutorials page where you can watch videos of people creating works of art using the Aviary.com tools.

Aviary on Twitter
Aviary FAQ page
Aviary Tutorials
From the Creators of Aviary.com comes Worth100.com
Studio Manifesto Open Music Article

Technorati Tags: Audio Editing, Audio Editing Software, music community, Music Culture, Music Production, Online community, online music, open media, Open Music, studio manifesto

The Euphonic Sound crew headed out to the Grand Prix Kartways, in Downsview park in Toronto this past Saturday to judge the first night of Guitar Wars.

The bands competing were Shaun Sutter, Toke 2, 85 East and Our Lady of Bloodshed.
We want to help these independent artists grow and expand, so we’ve decided to give some criticism which we hope the artists will take with them throughout their careers.

Shaun Sutter

James

Shaun Sutter was first up. He had a sound that was easy to like. Melodic pop leaning toward the adult contemporary side of things. Shaun’s strong point is definitely his voice. Through out his set every song suited his voice perfectly, and his vocal execution was great. The biggest weakness of the set was the drummer that sat in. I think this was the first time this drummer played with Shaun – I don’t think they rehearsed previous to this show either. I think its a big mistake to have an unrehearsed musician sit in with you during a music competition – for this, and even though Shaun himself was quiet good, the act lost marks for musicianship (the drummer was all over the place clearly not knowing the form of the songs Shaun performed). Next time just play solo Shaun!

Toke 2 was a really cool band. These guys don’t sound like the typical bar band at all. I think they have a long way to go in developing their sound – but they are headed in the right direction. Notable mention to this bands guitarist – he had it all, great tone, great playing, and a unique unpredictable approach to each song. The weakness of the set to me was lead vocals. The singer actually is really good! The kind of singer I like – a little crazy, unpredictable, and creative in his vocal styling. However, there were a few missed notes and voice cracks that I think is a result of over singing. In any case this singer needs to learn better control of his voice – the best piece of advice would be for him to relax – No singer can pull off this type of ambitious vocalizing while straining the vocal chords. Learn how to hit those high notes without pushing – relax man!

85 East was my favorite act of the night simply because they form a complete picture of who they are. They have their sound, and their act, entirely together. These guys are a hard hitting heavy band with a rapper as front man. A little bit of Rage Against the Machine Influence but leaning more to the heavy side as opposed to the funky side. The confidence in delivery and the well rehearsed execution made these guys really stand out. I predict big things for this band!

Our Lady of Bloodshed was easily the most unpopular band of the evening. When they hit the stage with their abrasive death metal they virtually cleared the room. I am a fan of this genre and I thought these guys were great! The guitarists played quite a few awesome technical death metal riffs. The singer has it together as well – his death metal screams, vocal stylings and stage presence are bang on for the genre..maybe a little too bang on (he could use a little more originality to sound less like all of the other great death metal vocalists out there). But the biggest problem with this band is simply the fact that they do not fit at Guitar Wars…not the right gig for these guys. Stick to the metal shows and festivals and you guys will do great! Avoid shows where the audience members are not die hard metal heads.

Shawn either punching a racer or driving a car.

Shawn

Shaun Sutter is great with an acoustic guitar, and had interesting harmonies throughout each song (which was impressive since he was the only one singing). I was impressed at his timing and pitch.

• Stick to a solo act, as James mentioned.
• Move around a little more on stage.
• Play as many open mics as you can – you seem perfect for that kind of environment as opposed to a band competition.

Toke 2 gave a great performance and the light show absolutely complemented the feel of their music. They had a Pink Floyd meets Avenged Sevenfold’s “City of Evil” album. Melodic, intricate… very cool.

• Don’t open your set with the songs you used at Guitar Wars. They give off a false first impression. Open with one of your more epic songs to show who you really are.
• Minor pitch problems with the vocalist, but nothing some training can’t improve.
• More trippy guitar textures!

Toke 2 hitting the stage at Guitar Wars 2010

85 East has an amazing post-hardcore hiphop vibe that should be heard by fans of metal and hip hop alike. Keep an eye out for these guys in the very near future.

• Great mash-up of genres.
• Fantastic stage presence.
• Bass was very quiet at the show – more bass guitar next show.

Our Lady Of Bloodshed had amazing technical ability with their instruments, along with a cool style of hardcore metal. The one thing that would make your songs more interesting is more blast-beats. Songs were structured nicely.

• Awesome stage presence – not many fans there, but they rocked out the hardest.
• Great instrumentation from all members of the band.
• I agree with James – stick to the shows that suit your genre and you’ll grow exponentially.

This was only round one! Here are the other dates for the Guitar Wars qualifying rounds:
Sat, April 10
Fri, April 16
Fri, April 23
Sat, April 24
Fri, May 14
Fri, May 28
Fri, June 04
Sat, June 05

Come on out and see some awesome indie bands batteling it out…and don’t forget to say hi. The Euphonic Sound crew will be judging every show! …and posting reviews here on Studio Manifesto.

Technorati Tags: 2010, 85 East, Events, Guitar Wars, Our Lady Of Bloodshed, Shaun Sutter, Toke 2

What is Open Music?

Open Music is a concept which finds its roots in “open source” software. As the name implies, both of these philosophies promote access to the source materials of the end product. In the case of music, this is brought about by sharing the ’stems’ of the song. With access to the stems, users can easily choose what parts of the original song to keep and which to change. Initially Open Music was partly as a response to aggressive legal actions by the RIAA and the US government, and partly a proposed viable method of online distribution.

The initial Open Music proposal in 2003 was broken into five points:

1. Open File Sharing: users must be free to share files on their hard drives with each other.

2. Open File Formats: content must be distributed in MP3 and other formats with no DRM restrictions.

3. Open Membership: copyright holders must be able to freely register to receive payment.

4. Open Payment: users must be able to access the system using either credit cards or access cards purchasable anonymously in cash from retail stores.

5. Open Competition: there must be multiple such systems which can tie into each other’s file sharing databases. It must not be a monopoly through legal design.

from Open Music Model on wikipedia

These Open Music communities encourage fans to share their personalized and remixed songs, which is of benefit to the fans, but also the artists for exposure, and direct fan involvement.

This initial proposal was rejected because it did not address piracy. As the piracy war continued, ‘copyleft’ was coined and conceived. A play on copyright – typically used to restrict the end user from reproducing, adapting, or distributing copies of the author’s work – copyleft gives every user who receives a copy the right to reproduce, adapt, and distribute copies for non profit purposes, and requires the same rights be preserved in any derivative works.

For musicians, this is typically in the form of Creative Commons Licenses, which allow authors to indicate which rights they reserve and which are waived.

Creative Commons is a non-profit organization based in the US, although they have licenses compatible with the laws of many countries.

Here’s their FAQ which covers what their license protects, and here’s their guided license selector – you indicate what rights you want waived, and receive some html code to paste wherever you host your work.

The benefits of adopting an Open Music model:

An Open Music model benefits people at all levels of the music business, including labels.

Benefit to Artists:
It is in an artist’s own self interest to share their creations, regardless of monetary compensation. Sharing their creation in an open source for is beneficial to the artist because it’s rewarding to share creative efforts, and Open Music gives access to a larger audience.

By sharing their music under a creative commons license, artists enable others to use, vary, and build upon their work, while maintaining ownership of the original work and being credited in derivative works. This basically translates to free fan promoted advertising. Anyone who creates, adds to or remixes a song is likely to share that derivative work with others, benefiting the artist with word of mouth advertising, which is a very strong fan acquisition technique.

Open Music allows for the sharing of ideas, which advances the project more rapidly than a closed network. (bandmates, producer, graphic artist, etc.)

The primary benefit to fans is direct involvement in the creative process, interaction with the artist, and to some degree, with the success of the artist – although obviously the artist retains creative control. In the past, fans could only dream of interfacing with their favorite artist. Within an Open Music model, this is not only possible, but encouraged.

Is It Viable?

In short, yes. Check out this quote from OpenMusic.com

Much like the pioneers of open source software, it’s not going to be a walk in the park for the pioneers of an open music industry. However, if more giants like NIN can do this, then it will start making it easier for the rest of the industry to do so. If it continues to prove a viable model for musicians and record labels alike, even the dinosaurs of the industry will be forced to take notice

A cycle has been started that is hard to break–and it is one that I think many people are thankful for.

Art is meant to be shared, and to share is human. Many of the same principles that are applied to open source software can be applied to the entertainment industry as a whole. NIN still sells their music online and in stores and are still making a good profit. Their music is being shared more than it ever was and under the blessing of the creators. It can work. If more big guns can start doing this, then it’s only inevitable that the smaller ones can follow suit.

There is an established community however it currently remains mostly utilized by indie artists and has yet to be adopted by mainstream media. There are enough artists willing to adopt and Open Music model, however mainstream awareness hasn’t yet reached the tipping point.

“We consider this new opportunity to share our music and ideas with others, and for others to share our music and ideas with each other, to be good for us, good for society, and good for art.”

From Negativland. For more information, here’s a Brief History of Filesharing.

Some Open Music communities are:

Our very own Open Window Community on Indaba Music
Myna by Aviary (which offers a great Digital Audio Workstation with which to work on)
Indaba Music
OpenMusic.ca
OpenSonics by Squidoo
Open Music Media

Some Open Music Labels are:

MagnaTune
ThisIsOpenMusic.com
The Periodic Label

Technorati Tags: Copyright, Music Promotion, Music Sharing, Open Music

By: Connor

This post is the first of many about Social Networks, and how best to take advantage of them as an artist. Stay tuned over the coming weeks for more.

Twitter

Features:

Hashtags (#topic) @reply, direct reply (D handle), countless widgets etc.

Why you should use it:

It’s Twitter. Nearly everyone uses it. Go to where your fans are.

Tips for Use:

– Pick a username that is both memorable and related to your brand. Ideally something short, so that users @replying you don’t waste half their characters on your username. www.namechk.com should let you check the availability of your desired name across multiple social networks.

– Take the time to set up your profile. This includes Bio (for real, this is not the place for ‘hey buy my new album’). Also, don’t target your bio to a record exec, personalize it for your fans. This means no third person. Don’t type it in CAPS. Avoid using vague terms like ‘new solo artist,’ this says nothing.

- Have a link to your website in the website section, and by extension a link to your twitter profile on your website.

- Pick a background image, the default one is lame. Here’s a website with a few pre-made backgrounds. If you’re feeling more creative, here are a few links which can help you out:

- Create a Twitter background using Powerpoint

- A list of links to both inexpensive and free background textures

- A guide to the dimensions and relative location your background should be in

- Use a text color that is readable against your background. Fans shouldn’t have to highlight your bio/website/etc. to be able to read it.

Tweeting

- Don’t waste your time talking about how awesome the burrito you just ate was. In fact, above the text input box where it says:

What’s Happening?

Ignore that entirely. Instead, focus on Contributions, Content, and Conversation. This will help you establish a Connection with you fans. This doesn’t mean don’t be yourself, just turn ‘that burrito was awesome’ into something your fans can respond to. Create a discussion around how awesome that burrito was. “Burritos are better than burgers every time, there is nothing greater” will generate more discussion than “lol that was a good burrito ^_^”

- General rule of thumb, only mention your music in 1/10 tweets maximum (unless it’s appropriate in a conversation).

- Understand what Hashtags are, and use them. A hashtag looks something like this: #music. By adding this to a tweet, any user who searches for #music will find that tweet. If you’re a Toronto based rapper telling fans about a show this weekend, add #rap and #toronto to the tweet. You might get some surprise attendees.

- There is an etiquette surrounding tweets: If you are tweeting something that you found via another twitter user, add RT @theirusername before the content they tweeted. They will be notified that you mentioned them, and accomplish two things: 1) Let them know you thought what they tweeted was interesting. 2) Possibly spark their interest in you.

- Use lists. You can make lists public or private, I suggest a mix of both. Creating a private list of your fans that most frequently interact with you can let you focus more quickly on them if you’ve only got a limited amount of time to be tweeting. After all, they’re spending more time on you and will appreciate the reciprocation. Have a public list of other musicians/artists/sports commentators, whatever your interests may be. This lets your fans know who and what you find interesting, and connects you to them a little bit more.

- Do not make the mistake of assuming you know what your fans will respond to without having data to back it up. There are a bunch of free tools you can use to help out with this. Specifically twitter related, are:

bit.ly
Pros: Twitter friendly, no sidebars or ads, ability to see other people posting the link and how many clicks total a link has gotten from bit.ly, count of how many clicks you have in a week, shows referrers (what type of app a user clicked from) and shows location by country. Integrated into Tweetdeck (more on Tweetdeck in a bit)

Cons: Occasional glitches

and

su.pr.
Pros: Twitter friendly, automatically posts to StumbleUpon (many people love this and claim they get more clicks), suggests time you should post your links, ability to schedule posts for those times, beautiful charts and data about your clicks, sidebar actually on side and shows your other links with lots of posts.

This is tied directly to your Stumbleupon account, stay tuned for an upcoming post about Stumbleupon and other social bookmarking sites.

Watch out for:

Most importantly, consciously avoid spamming and constant self-promotion. Remember, Contributions, Content, and Conversation.

Now that you’re familiar with Twitter, check out some 3rd party applications that allow you to use twitter more easily than the web interface: Tweetdeck: This is what I use. It allows you to manage your Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and LinkedIn accounts. It automatically shortens links from a limited list of choices – the default is bit.ly. Columns allow you to organize your feeds, whether by lists, hashtags, mentions, etc. If you’re an iPhone user check out this Mashable article comparing 29 different iPhone twitter apps.

For more in-depth reading about Twitter, check out ‘The Musician’s Guide to Twitter‘ by James Pew

Technorati Tags: indie, Innovation, music, Music Promotion, New Music Economics, Social Media, social web, studio 2.0, Technology, twitter

by Andy Schichter

Everybody loves an overnight success story. It’s a dream that web entrepreneurs often have. You have a good idea, upload it, sit back and watch the site traffic crash your server. But is there really such a thing as an “overnight success”? The implication is almost insulting. It belittles the work behind the scenes. It minimizes the experiences that shape a good idea. SonicBids is one of those stories that demonstrate how the intersection of hard work and a great idea can result in outstanding success.

This web-based service bridges the gap between the musical and promotional community. Independent artists use SonicBids to find live gigs, licensing opportunities, songwriting contests, festivals, conferences, and strategic partnerships. Promoters use it to find the right band for their endeavors. In its first two years of existence, it didn’t generate a single dime. “It took a lot of time, a lot of work, a lot of faith, and a lot of nail-biting,” says Panos Panay, founder and CEO of the Boston-based company. Nine years later, it’s become the industry standard for promoters and artists to connect.

Growing up in Cyprus, Panay’s access to contemporary music was limited. He would often write letters to friends and family overseas to send him instruction books on Jazz guitar or the latest Bruce Springsteen album. He confesses that this scarcity of musical resources served as inspiration for wanting to help others with limited access. Coupled with the dot.com bubble in the late nineties, and being a booking agent himself, the timing was perfect for Panay to launch the company. “There was just this energy and buzz in the air that there was about to be this big change,” Panos recalls. “I wanted to be an instigator and a part of the change.”

He has always had a yearning for new information and with the Internet being the world’s greatest information platform, he knew he couldn’t miss out on any online opportunity. The Internet has created a new class of artists that he calls the Artistic Middle Class. “In 1999, I couldn’t have told you what that was because I had not considered that as a separate class of artists,” says Panay. “I saw all these people we were ignoring as an agency and really couldn’t take them on as clients. Where were these people going to get gigs?” He wondered why it was that you could do so much online – trade stocks, buy books – but there was nothing for bands and promoters to connect.

For many young entrepreneurs, finding the financial resources and technical expertise in launching an online business can be problematic. Panay acknowledged his technical deficiencies but he was able to stay focused on the big picture and what the company could be rather than getting mired in details. “I was getting quotes from all these people… $1 million, $1.5 million to do this. I had raised about $50,000 from friends and family and personal savings, and got my first investment out of this Indian restaurant in town. I took that money and out of sheer coincidence, I met this guy who ran a development company out of Bulgaria. They were significantly less expensive than if I had used developers here in Boston to build the original SonicBids. That was the site that took the company to a point where it was generating quite a lot of money and getting a lot of customers.”

Today SonicBids has a network of over 210,000 emerging bands and 19,000 promoters. Last year alone, 71,000 gigs were booked through the site. It’s not just gigs that SonicBids is servicing for artists anymore. They have developed innovative music marketing programs for a wide variety of national and international brands.

One of the more intriguing promotions they ran was a simultaneous live acoustic event at 700 GAP locations. To coincide with the date of GAP’s 40th anniversary, the ‘Born to Play’ campaign was originally designed for employee satisfaction. “They were going down the path where they wanted DJs, and frankly a pretty boring idea. We conceived the concept that it won’t be DJs; it will be live bands. It got them excited that it shouldn’t just be an employee retention tool, but you can leverage it to drive traffic and awareness among the social media world. They got a total of about 800 million media impressions out of this. We got the store managers of every store to select the band that would play. It accomplished the objectives they had and a lot more than what they thought they would get.” The event turned out to be the largest-ever simultaneous live acoustic music event. Performing bands would also get the chance to win an album produced by John Alagia, who has recorded the likes of the Dave Matthews Band and John Mayer.

Because so much content is available online for free, artists are looking at these strategic partnerships and sponsorships as sources of income. When it comes to establishing a relationship with a brand he says you need to ask yourself two questions “What are you seeking from this?” and “What do I bring to the table that’s compatible with where the business is?” He firmly believes that if you ask these questions over and over, you realize that the first thing you thought you were looking for is not really the thing you were looking for. “Maybe you think ‘I need money’ but what you really need is promotion or distribution. If it’s just money,” he adds, “maybe your bank is a better way to go about it. Start small… start incremental. Don’t shoot for Coke. Start for a small company in your city… And you have to feel good about it. It has to be a brand that’s consistent with your values.”

SonicBids is currently concentrating a lot of their efforts towards product development. Within the next few months the company will be rolling out new ways artists can connect and interact with promoters, to the way they search and find them, and to the way they’re matched with them.

“All you have is your belief in something,” says Panay. “It doesn’t matter how great your business plan is. And it doesn’t matter how much analysis of the market you do. None of that really matters. Do you believe in the integrity of your own idea or vision?” Panay’s vision was to create the perfect liaison for independent artists and promoters. Most people would agree that he has certainly accomplished that. However, Panay doesn’t see it that way. “I’m very much in startup mode as a business,” he says. That relentless desire (and humility) to constantly improve will propel him forward as he continues to break new ground in two highly competitive industries: the music business and the online world.

To hear the entire interview with Panos Panay, check it out below. It will be available on iTunes shortly. Subscribe to the Studio Manifesto Podcast for instant updates!

Technorati Tags: advice, brands, independent, interview, promotion, promotion tools, Social Media & Marketing, Sonicbids, sponsorship, strategic partnerships, web 2.0

by Duke

Before getting into a history of rap or Hip-Hop, I wanna distinguish between the two. As KRS-One put it at last year’s Rock the Bells, “Rap is what we do; Hip-Hop is what we live.” For those who don’t know: Rap is a collection of vocal styles; Hip-Hop is a culture.

It’s also worth pointing out that I know this history is incomplete. A real history of rap alone would take a big-ass book.

Nuff said.

Roots of Rap

Rap is said to have begun in New York – more specifically the South Bronx. I’ve heard stories from as far back as the 1930’s about guys in the Navy who rapped on their down-time. It began as a way for young people to pass the time by rhyming off each other. Eventually this became a kind of competitive sport. Rappers teamed up with DJs to get house parties amped up. The music that was popular at the time was called “Disco,” and the thing that would later be called “Hip-Hop Music” was rooted in running the fuck away from that. Funk and Jazz were the rule.

This new music gained traction and popularity over the course of the 1970s. Eventually, record labels began to show interest in mass-marketing rap. The rappers of the time thought that was crazy. To paraphrase one of them, “You can’t sell this shit. It’s just for parties. You’re crazy to try and put it on a record.” Whoever that guy was, there’s a reason we don’t remember him.

Sugar Hill Gang

The first rap group to break the pop charts with “Rapper’s Delight.” It was a funk-based loop with party lyrics that were written on the way to the studio. These guys apparently barely knew each other, but they came up with a 14-minute party anthem that not only gets sampled more than Mario Batali’s cooking, but still gets massive rotation at weddings all over the world.

They also had another minor hit (later sampled on Ice Cube’s “Check Yo Self”).

The 1980s

Hip Hop Culture’s rise continued. New York’s Rap scene exploded with the likes of Biz Markie, Slick Rick, KRS-One, Public Enemy and others.

Over on the West Coast, Los Angeles acts like Ice-T & NWA were garnering attention with their own distinctive sounds and not a small amount of controversy concerning lyrical content. In 1991 NWA would become the first band in history to receive a warning from the FBI to back off & shut the fuck up; the song in question was called “Fuck tha Police,” and called for the indiscriminate slaughter of LAPD officers. In fairness to the authors, the LAPD is the most hated police force in the free world for some good reasons (refer to Rodney King, the 1992 LA race riots, and police brutality in general).

On the other side of the social spectrum, a certain DJ/MC duo from Philadelphia were making their own waves. DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince achieved the coveted “crossover” status in 1986 by lacing funk-inspired beats with some of the dumbest, most hilarious rap lyrics ever written (and some wicked transformer scratches). People who had never heard of rap (or who had heard of it & written it off as a bad fad) suddenly started buying rap records. Jazzy & Prince became a kind of gateway drug for people who couldn’t take the hard stuff. It’s been railed against by haters of all stripes, but it’s still around…

During this decade of Reagan and Bush Sr, Hip-Hop solidified as a cultural presence with not only its own music, but attitude, politics, dance, art & mode of dress. Graffiti and breakdancing came into their own, fashion lurched awkwardly into styles inspired by clothing that was simply more practical for street hustlers.

This was all happening at the same time as the Hardcore explosion of machine-gun punk songs in Washington DC – a development that would soon have a palpable effect on the sound of Hip-Hop music.

More and more, the mainstream audience came to recognize the validity of the movement, and even to contribute to it. By this time the music (and with it the culture) had crept beyond the USA into Canada, Mexico and the UK. Public Enemy, Ice-T and others were selling out stadium shows worldwide, and it looked like the only way things could go was up.

The 90s

In the early 90s, Hip-Hop was in the throes of an identity crisis. Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav was in drug rehab, NWA was wracked by conflicting egos in the band, Ice-T was trying out his acting chops, and Vanilla Ice was topping charts the world over. Shit was ugly.

Enter NWA alumnus, Dr Dre. With 1992’s “The Chronic,” Dre took a shoestring budget, a couple of outdated keyboards, a Roland TR-808 and a bunch of guys from LA and dropped a Hydrogen Bomb on the music industry. “The Chronic” not only made him and Death Row Records rich beyond the dreams of avarice, but introduced the vocal lineup that would be ubiquitous throughout the decade – Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G, among others. The label would later sign Tupac Shakur (fresh outta jail, no less) & take Gangsta Rap to the mainstream.

This was the smooth, polished West Coast gangsta shit that took over for a long moment.

At the same time, an affiliation of rappers & producers with ethnic backgrounds ranging from Cuba to Latvia were breaking new ground by bringing together the West Coast flavor and the jagged, noisy ruckus dominating the East Coast. These were the “Soul Assassins,” led by Cypress Hill. The unsettling psychedelic beats, the bare-faced pragmatism of the lyrics and the bizarre vocal deliveries made them a mainstay of the culture, as they still are now. Let’s not forget the impact they also had on the Marijuana Legalization Movement either…

By now, Hip-Hop was being embraced by adherents to another culture – the Metalheads. First Anthrax arrived in the 80s with a Beastie Boys parody entitled “I’m the Man.” Soon afterwards an LA quartet would merge the sounds of England’s Black Sabbath and Washington DC’s Black Flag with rap lyrics inspired by socially conscious New York rappers like Chuck D and KRS-One. Rage Against the Machine took political rap to the next level. These guys had an agenda – revolution and true democracy. Zack de la Rocha’s lyrics uncover injustice in any form or geographic location – from the Pine Ridge Reservation in the USA to Saigon.

The two musical genres continued to blur the lines between them over the next few years. Anthrax revisited Public Enemy’s “Bring the Noize” as a vocal duet featuring Scott Ian and Chuck D.

The “Judgment Night” movie soundtrack brought rock bands together with rappers in some really unexpected ways – Booyah Tribe rhyming with Faith No More, Ice-T screaming with thrash band Slayer, and even Del the Funky Homosapien rapping over Dinosaur Jr. It was a landmark & a killer record. Years later, Cypress Hill would revisit the concept by joining with Sen Dog’s band SX-10 for a few songs on the “Skull & Bones” and “Stoned Raiders” albums.

We won’t talk about that other rap-metal band… You know which one. Here’s some Onyx & Biohazard instead.

Meantime on the East Coast, upstart producer Sean “Puffy” Combs was building the foundation of his own empire, Bad Boy Records. Everybody knows Biggie was the best thing that ever happened to him. Sadly, the worst thing that happened was Suge Knight’s psychopathic thuggery, which would rob both labels (and the world) of the two best emcees in the game at that time. The two had been friends until Suge’s tutelage brought out the worst in Tupac, leading to the most notorious beef (and double homicide) the game has seen to date.

Regional Differences

Not just the East-vs-West beef, which is ancient history (despite the lack of inquiry into who actually planned & committed the murders)… Stylistic differences can be traced by geography for the most part, although the evolution of these styles is much faster now. The world is getting smaller & collaboration over great distances is getting easier, but there are still differences in style from place to place.

The West-coast sound was defined by big beats with lots of bass tones & weed references and polish (a style that was bitten off & chewed to shit by the aptly named “Dirty South”). Lyrically the West has tended towards gangsta rap from various perspectives – from the Boss Player’s omniscience to the vigilance of the homeless street hustler. Politics has a place here, but it’s second place; even the political raps from Tupac leaned more towards social commentary than political discourse.

West Coast rap plays on a cool counterpoint. The music tends to conjure up images of slow & easy days in the desert sun, while the lyrics paint a portrait of a gilded warzone – diamond-studded generals and foot-soldiers with more money than Davie Crockett.

East coast rap & the music behind was generally unpolished, abrasive, socially conscious and politically motivated. Acts like Public Enemy, BDP/KRS-One, Onyx and Wu-Tang Clan defined the East-Coast sound with samples of music from the Civil Rights Movement & the Jazz Era (a.k.a. the “Harlem Renaissance”), combined with grimy vocals and gritty drum loops.

The “Dirty South” really launched with OutKast, Goodie Mob, Nappy Roots, Missy Elliott and the Neptunes, although the South’s first act to go 3X platinum was none other than 2-Live Crew (a Miami outfit that laced electro beats with rock n roll samples and some of the nastiest shit ever said by anyone anywhere). Their success owes less to inspired lyrics & solid beats, more to being banned in Broward County – a decision that was overturned in favor of 1st Amendment rights.

Later came the likes of Lil Wayne & the Cash Money Family, Lil John and Ludacris. The sound is defined by the blending of club-based dance music with the hard-hitting party beats of the West, along with the southern tradition of story-telling. It gave rise to the thing we know as “Crunk,” which need not be confused with the rest of Southern Hip-Hop (music or culture). Lyrics in the South aren’t just about “sippin on sizzurp” either, although you’d never know going by what you hear on radio; much of the lyricism relies on metaphor and simile, and the B-sides are often packed with biting social commentary.

One more thing… In the summer of 1998, a skinny, pill-popping white kid from Detroit wandered out of Dr Dre’s office and completely changed the way rap lyrics were delivered. Just thought that was worth mentioning.

Today

The culture – music, fashion, dance & art – has gone global in a big way. You not only hear Tupac and Wale played anywhere from Paris to Magadan. You also hear Siberian emcees praised by Russia’s Prime Minister Putin, see breaking crews from China, and hear about the underground rappers of Iran. Palestinian emcees spit about the impact of political oppression in their own lives, and Somali rappers chant on hope in the midst of chaos & murder. The world hasn’t just caught on; they bring new modes to the music & wisdom to the culture.

The biggest drawback to this fact is that the culture has also been hijacked by corporate interests who neither understand nor care about its roots or future. When this happens, the culture dies… generally. The cool thing about Hip-Hop is that it’s used to being hijacked and steered off track. Whenever this has happened before, there was always some little bastard somewhere who stuck to his guns, broke the rules and found their audience… who in turn are inspired to revitalize the real. The mainstream interpretation dies while the underground movement creeps up & takes over the spot. Examples of this range from Busta Rhymes, Eminem, Talib Kweli and Mos Def to the Roots, Kardinal Offishall, Sweatshop Union, Nas and the indefatigable KRS-One.

It’s as though the music follows a trajectory that rises and falls like the tide… or like life in general. A real artist breaks out with some revolutionary shit that sends everybody back to the lab, and the imitators grab hold & ride it to death. This usually takes about 3 or 4 years. When the music has gone so far down into the pop machine that you think it’ll never come back, another hard-nosed grass-roots artist with reality and focus on his side burns it all down and rebuilds some shit. And the cycle continues.

Toronto

Here in Toronto, we import a lot of our talent… and then export it for some reason. Toronto rappers come from Somalia, St Vincent, Nigeria, Jamaica, Guyana… and sometimes even Canada. The cultural influence on our city is so varied it adds up to more than the sum of the parts. Kardi touched the tip of the iceberg with that line from Bacardi Slang: “You think we all Jamaican, but nope – many are Trinities… Bajans, Grenadians… Guyanese and ALL the West Indies combine to make the T-dot-O-dot one of a kind.”

After finding their Canadian fans, it quickly becomes apparent that you can’t make a living off Hip-Hop in Canada. This needs to change or everybody’s gonna jump ship the first chance they get (or die penniless and insane). Then we end up with atrocities like Kardi rapping alongside Akon. We want you to come home, man… but not if it means you gotta be broke like the rest of us. Like Toronto native Bishop was heard to lament, “Canada’s industry’s a joke/ I’m a rap star and still flat broke.” …or words to that effect.

This leads to a lack of leadership in the community; a Hip-Hop brain-drain.

How are we gonna solve this? This is one of things we wanna address through “United in Flow.” It starts with all of us, cuz it ends with all of us. It’s bigger than music and a mixtape; it’s about recognizing & fostering a culture of life that’s been quietly growing in our midst; it’s about reaching out to the youth and the elders to bring it all together. It’s also about letting people know Toronto is more than just grunge and reggaeton (no offense to artists there), that graffiti is more than just tagging (although tagging is a big part), that b-boys and b-girls do more than just stand around with their arms crossed, and rap is more than blunts, forties and bitches.

Above all, we trying to knock down Toronto’s status as the Screwface Capital – with more haters per capita than any other city.

Good news: Between new developments like Studio 2.0 and United in Flow, this is a very real possibility. We just gotta put in the work.

Peace, Love and Dope,

- Duke “Buzzy” Ellis

See also: Hip-Hop Timeline
and Wiki-Synopsis

Technorati Tags: hip hop, history, rap, studio 2.0, United in Flow

by Duke

As previously reported, we’re in high gear getting this event going. Heather has been in dialogue with a couple of sponsors who could really take this to the next level. It’s exciting and (speaking as a noob in the world of event planning and promotion) nerve-rattling. The experience of positive stress… and I think I like it.

Finding a venue is turning out to be easier than I thought. So far the Toronto Opera House and Berkeley Church have responded favorably, and there are others from whom I expect to hear soon. The former has a capacity of 850 heads & is fully staffed to meet our needs. That’s a lot more than the 300+ fans we’re aiming to draw, but it’s better to have the space & not need it than to need it & not have it.

This week Shawn & I shot a promo video a couple days ago with Emma – Euphonic Sound’s energetic new cadre – behind the camera. That’s to let artists know how to get in on performing at the event & on the mixtape, and it’ll be up real soon. It was fun to be in front of the camera again. Like riding a bike. Been a few years.

So much for the legwork.

This whole thing is also an exercise in categorical thinking. When you hear the word “success,” what comes to mind? When it comes to United in Flow, there are a few things to consider. Is success going to be judged by how many people show up? By how much money we raise? By the number of units we move? By how many people are wearing a United in Flow T-shirt the next day? By my reckoning it’s a matter of how much we raise for charity; the other categories serve that end.

But afterwards I’ll be looking everywhere to read up on or hear what people have to say about it after the fact. That’s how we’ll know if we’re doing it again next year; that’s how we’ll know it was a success.

Meantime, if you haven’t already gone over to the Euphonic Community and set up your profile, do it now! It’s the surest way to get the info you need to be a part of this thing.

That’s it for now. I’ll be back as soon as I’ve got more to say about it. Peace!

Technorati Tags: charity, hip hop, United in Flow

By James Pew

In case you missed it here is Open Your Mind To The Social Web Pt. 1

3. Who is the ME in Social Media?

At the end of January, media futurist Brian Solis published an insightful piece on his blog entitled Who is the ME in Social Media? Since Open Your Mind To The Social Web is a series aimed to orient the creative person and best enable them to deal with the emergent media of the social web, I thought Brian’s post is a valuable addition. The ideas presented delve into the contentious privacy issue, and I believe, thoroughly solve the overarching dilemma…

From Who Is Me In Social Media,

“As Erick Schonfeld observed in a public and online discussion with Andrew Keen on Twitter, “instead of making the private public, we will make the public private. When public is the default, you deliberately select what to keep private instead of the other way around.”

From Social Scientist Stowe Boyd,

“There is a countervailing trend away from privacy and secrecy and toward openness and transparency. . .And on the web, we have had several major steps forward in social tools that suggest at least the outlines of a complement, or opposite, to privacy and secrecy: publicy. The idea of publicy is no more than this: rather than concealing things, and limiting access to those explicitly invited, tools based on publicy default to things being open and with open access.”

From Laurent Haug’s post “Publicy”, the rebirth of privacy,

“Privacy is here and doing well. It is just different, and not something that is granted at birth anymore. You have to create it, using the tools that were supposedly taking it away from you. You used to have to build your public image, now you have to build the private one. It’s a small change if you know how to do it.”

4. Here are 5 Insightful TED Talks on Social Media

Here’s my favorite,

Technorati Tags: Brian Solis, Erick Schonfeld, Laurent Haug, Publicy, Social Media, Stowe Boyd, TED Talks

By: Doug Cheong

Taking Music to the App Store

The great thing about music on the web is that it is relatively new. This means that you have the opportunity to start new trends and to be the pioneers of new forms of distribution and marketing. Bringing your band to Apple’s IPhone application store (app store) is an example of how some artists are using the platform to their advantage. T-Pain did just that with the “I am T-Pain” app which allowed users to download a version of the Antares AutoTune Plug-in onto their IPhone. Now anyone can get the famous T-Pain sound for a small fee. They can even record their own songs onto the IPhone using the app and upload them to the web. Watch as T-Pain teaches recording artists Ludacris and Shawna how to use the “I am T-Pain” app on his IPhone.

Now even Indie artists are cashing in on the platform with Shinobi Ninja (an independent rock/rap group from Brooklyn) releasing their own IPhone App called; “Brooklyn to Babylon: Shinobi Ninja Attacks!” The Application is a game where users can chose their favorite Shinobi Ninja band member and battle their way through the streets in order to get to a club where they will “Rock Out”.  Hypebot.com posted this today;

“In what the band says is a first for music and gaming iPhone apps, “Shinobi Ninja Attacks” also leverages smartphone GPS tracking capability at concerts to locate and reward fans who have installed the app. A “lite” version is available free from the App Store and the fully loaded retail version sells for $3.99.Read More . . .

I think this is a great idea. Users can listen to the band’s music while playing a game and unlocking more of the bands content. Offering GPS tracking to reward fans is the icing on the cake. Shinobi Ninja gives added incentives for fans to attend their shows. It’s nice to see that independent artists are able to use the same resources as the big boys in order to get exposure.

Check out the I Am T-Pain website.

Check out Shinobi Ninja on myspace.com

Check out Shinobi Ninja on Twitter

Technorati Tags: App Store, indie, Indie Music, iphone, iphone app, music, Music app, Music Culture, Music Promotion, music technology

by Duke

Since the first post on United in Flow we got a lot of ducks lined up. For those just joining us, Euphonic Sound and Studio 2.0 are gearing up to launch “United in Flow: Celebrating the World of Hip-Hop” – a charity fundraiser and showcase for vocalists, dance crews, turntablists and visual artists in the GTA. It’s a massive undertaking, so I’m kind of resorting to crowdsourcing in a way.

Charity & Sponsors

Here’s the thing: We want to launch this event in October – with CDs, t-shirts and a venue – all for $20,000.00 give or take (not counting Euphonic Sound Studio’s contribution of time and resources).

Anybody with suggestions for sponsors or charitable beneficiaries, we want to hear from you yesterday. We have a charity in mind (an outfit dedicated to getting violence out of schools by encouraging youth to channel their energies into artistic expression via the 4 pillars of hip-hop culture), but the decision is a long way from final at this point. We’re still exploring the options.

In terms of sponsorship, we hope to find support with companies that have an understanding of hip-hop culture, and are both free from sweatshop/child labor and environmentally responsible. While corporate money seems to come in big drops when it comes, we want to focus on those sponsors who have found the strength in being small – owner-operated, agile and close to the street. That’s the kind of company we’d be proud to work beside. Know someone who fits that bill? Leave me a comment!

Venue

We’re still looking for a place to hold this event. We want to avoid the pitfalls of holding it in a bar or club; wouldn’t it be better to have a musical event in a place that’s geared less towards shouting over the music & more towards actually being part of the whole experience? Massey Hall and the Berkley Church are great, but pricy; after all, giving a whole bunch of money to the venue would take away from the money going to Unity… and that would defeat the purpose of doing this.

In a nutshell, I’m looking for a place in (or close to) central Toronto that holds 300+ people (liquor license optional). Suggestions? Leave me a comment!

Phase 1 – Planning

This is the first time most of us have done anything like this (or at least on this kind of scale). Consequently we’re glad to have Heather Garand on board; she has loads of experience in marketing and promotion, which has already proven invaluable in these the early stages of planning.

Launching the Contest

Some of the artists on this CD & event will be selected from outside our little circle; we want videos of vocal performances and dance crews in the GTA. We’ll have beats on the Euphonic website for downloading. Drop your flow on that and we’ll have a spot for you to upload it for consideration.

Spots will go fast, so get on it as soon as the beats are available!

We’ll announce the winners on the STM blog & through the Euphonic Community. Membership is essential to getting inside info on United in Flow. Go to the Euphonic Community and sign up now!

…and leave me a comment!

Technorati Tags: charity, dance, hip hop, rap, United in Flow

By Mike Skelton

A major way people are being exposed to new music is through games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Now, if you’re already a big name artist or an established act, you or your manager/publisher will be in a better position to negotiate a sync deal. But what if you’re an indie act that’s trying to find a higher level of exposure by having your song(s) in Rock Band. What are your options?

There are a couple of new ways of getting tunes on Rock Band that are definitely something to think about. I’ll start by saying what not to do. Don’t send your music directly to Harmonix (the developer of Rock Band) in hopes that they’ll like it and create a playable version of the song for the game. It’s essentially the same thing as sending a CD to a commercial radio station, “hoping” they like it, and maybe play it. Instead, you might want to consider the DIY or third-party options.

You can download the Reaper software ($60 US), which allows you to create the Rock Band track and is compatible with both a Mac and a PC. You will also need MAGMA software to transfer the file to a gaming system. However, this software only works on a PC, unless you use an emulator, and as of right now, you can only test your Rock Band track on the Xbox 360.

You also need to become a member of the Xbox Creators’ Club, which is a $99/year membership (don’t forget about the cost of the Rock Band game if you don’t already own it). Other concerns include having your track not make it past the review process as well as all the time that will be spent on learning how to use the software, creating the track, and testing the song. All time that could be spent on writing songs, rehearsing, networking, etc. For a more in-depth look on how to use the Reaper software, check out this article at createdigitalmusic.com.

A newer way of getting your music onto Rock Band is through Tunecore (Note: You must be a member of Tunecore to do this). For the cost of $999 (apparently a limited time deal as the price may go up to $2500), Tunecore, working with The Authority, will do all of the work for you and place your track onto the RBN online store. Artists receive a 30% royalty on tracks sold (max price for selling a track is $3) and are payed out quarterly. Tunecore is currently providing this service for free for one (random) band per month. Anyone interested at all should checkout Tunecore for the details such as what stem tracks are required and what the file types should be (16 bit, 44.1 kHz, etc.).

Anyone interested in either of these methods should consider whether it’s more suitable for the band to invest time or money. Spending $1000 as an indie act is no easy decision and it will take a lot of downloads to recoup that cost. Make sure you already have an existing fan base that will purchase your track(s) and as much as it has the potential to attract new fans, make sure you’re spending your time/money in the right way.

Technorati Tags: DIY, Mike Skelton, Reaper, rock band, tunecore, video games

by Duke

My first recording studio was comprised of a $100 Yamaha keyboard, a Roland 505 drum machine and two Sony boomboxes. It was all wired together with cannibalized walkman headphones – cut, pealed, twisted and wrapped up in electrical tape. A mummified fire hazard. Nothing was balanced, and the noise floor was unbelievably high.

It would have made H.R. Geiger proud, Tank & Dozer embarrassed, and any self-respecting audio engineer cringe. But to me it was a work of genius. For a while.

I’d nearly forgotten about it til today. It was brought back to mind by NPR Music’s little documentary on the boombox’s history:

Thanks to whitneymcn at Artists Paid for finding this one:

I’d forgotten how controversial these old monsters were. In the day of the iPod, smaller is better (anybody actually see the “I Spy” movie?). Back in the day of JVC and the Cadillac, “Bigger and Deffer” was the rule. It made a statement, and that statement was “Go big or go home.”

Too much noise in the street as it is? That’s why they were so loud – to bring that music through. How you gonna complain?

May the beast rest in peace.

Technorati Tags: blaster, boombox, ghetto, history, npr

This post is the first place we send new Studio 2.0 clients and new Euphonic Community interns to learn about the social web. We always share what we discover about the new music business, the social web, and all things related to direct-to-fan, the long tail and 1,000 true fans with our Studio Manifesto readers as well, so please recommend to us any sources on these topics that you may have found helpful, or any techniques you may be using to forward your musical brand on the social web.

The Social Media Connect portion of our Studio 2.0 service is designed to help artists find the right balance of social networks for their brand, as well as set them up with a socially dynamic home base website.

A big part of Social Media Connect is showing artists how to interact in the social web and aggregate those interactions (content) back to their website. The next developmental stage is building community around the brand (the music), through engaging and participating in social networks, identifying interest and communicating relevant information to “targeted” individuals.

I use the term “targeted” loosely because engagement and participation on the social web, even if you are after potential fans or customers, is not at all like aiming a gun at a target and shooting. This is the strategy that most indie bands take – blasting out thousands of banner ads or show invites, continually annoying random people that they don’t know.

The age of the social web is much more about knowing, interacting, and empowering people, and less about “targeting” people.

1. Social Media for Audience Development & Community Building

This is the first post by @Documentally recommended to Studio 2.0 artists, Interns, friends, readers, and fellow producers and musicians.

I haven’t seen a more comprehensive analysis of the components, strategy and mindset needed for effective use of the social web then this great post by @Documentally

Please read Social Media for Audience Development & Community Building – then come back and we will go through some key things to take away from @Documetally’s summary of social media for community and audience building.

In explaining social media @Documentally says,

If you’re using social media properly your audience is your community, social media is about communication, and community building.

And points out that,

This is Not a New Way of Communicating…This is just communication, through a different medium. It’s just talking. As you’d talk, laugh, and converse in real life, you do so online. Don’t try and view it as a different language, engage with it using your own. Be yourself.

So how do we communicate on the social web? Through the exchange of content (everything from emails and tweets to blogs, youtube videos, shared photos, streaming or down loadable audio, etc.)

@Documentally breaks content into three categories:

1. Front facing: Your website/blog
2. Realtime: status updates view twitter, facebook/myspace, friend feed, 12 seconds etc
3. Audio/video/images

@Documentally walks us through each of the above categories of content. There is much actionable advice here that should not go ignored. Notice an important trend or as @Documentally puts it – how the three areas of content “cross pollinate” – forming an integrated machine with a clear message and objective.

An interesting case study showing social web communication in action is included. The case study, designed for a small business works very well for a band – who should definitely be thinking about how to synchronize their communications like an effective small business would. Also very useful that @Documentally includes the social media actions taken when promoting an event.

This is a case study for a small company, with actions for an Artistic Director, and a General Manager/Administrator. The more people who are feeding content into your streams the better (though if more than 2 people tweet from an account, consider personal ones that are re-tweeted by a main one, or signing tweets with your initials)

Don’t worry if any of the terms so far referred to don’t mean anything to you – consult the glossary of social media terms at the end of the post. There is also a brilliant social media glossary of terms on Radical Trust

Social Media for Audience Development & Community Building has become the starting point for Studio 2.0 artists in 2010. This post breaks down the essentials and gives you actionable things to do to get you moving in the development of your presence on the social web.

The moment you have a community, you have participants, not observers. People. Not Bums on Seats.

Also check out this great guide @Documentally links to written by @hannahnicklin called Twitter for Arts Organisations

2. Web Strategist Jeremiah Owyang analyzes and explains the five eras of the The Social Web.

The Five Eras of the Social Web:

1) Era of Social Relationships: People connect to others and share

Currently we are at a mature stage in this era. If you are on facebook, Myspace, and/or Twitter, or other social platform – and have made “friends” and shared content, than you have already entered this era. Congrats!

2) Era of Social Functionality: Social networks become like operating system

We entered this era in approx. 2008. This is where social networks, as Jeremiah Owyang puts it, become like operating systems, in that third party developers can design applications to function with these social platforms. When this era reaches a more mature stage it will be easy and ubiquitous for bands to have custom built applications for facebook/Myspace or where ever or whatever platform happens to be popular. We are already seeing this with Apple’s app store and a myriad of indie bands offer custom apps for the iphone. Mobile Roadie can make your band a low cost iphone app.

3) Era of Social Colonization: Every experience can now be social

When every single website on the web becomes social (weather wanted or not). Platforms like Open ID and Facebook Connect already make this a reality. We are just beginning to move in the direction of this era – it won’t be long before you will be able to find out what your friends (and the rest of the world) think about virtually any product or service at the touch of a button.

4) Era of Social Context: Personalized and accurate content

Digital ID’s (that people always have with them) become more common in this era. The ID information is shared with whomever a person chooses, in exchange for a more personal experience. This puts relevant information about social web activity, tastes, purchasing habits, etc. into the hands of the makers of products and services. Meaning communications (advertising) becomes more relevant – less random and interruption based.

There is already a ton of information on the people you connect with on the social web. From facebook profiles to personal blogs people offer many details about themselves. If someone is constantly sharing punk music on blip.fm then that is a good indicator that they are a punk fan – who may just become a fan of your punk band too.

When a band sends a random show invite or free download to an unknown person there is no context. How does the band know the people being sent the message are even fans of music at all? Its important to recognize the relevancy of your message to the people you contact and connect with, otherwise you are playing the lottery. Keep your eyes open for platforms and applications that help you connect with like-minded people and gain access to relevant information about them. Without the info you won’t have context.

5) Era of Social Commerce: Communities define future products and services

“When communities start to look an act like companies and brands on their own.”

Imagine a band’s fan community playing a role in planning the tour, selecting art work for album covers and merchandise, sometimes creating the artwork, deciding where to get merchandise manufactured (based on what they are willing to pay for the end product) – or even tweaking the final mixes of the new single or correcting the lighting on the new fan produced video.

The era of social commerce sees a blurring of the lines between producers and consumers. Everyone becomes both.

Technorati Tags: communications, Documentally, Jeremiah Owyang, marketing, Social Media, social web

If you haven’t seen the first five parts of this discussion, here you go… Pt.1 Pt.2 Pt.3 Pt.4 Pt.5

Recently I had the chance to sit down and talk shop with Terry Kerr, Department head at the Nimbus School of Recording Arts. A school co-founded by legendary Canadian producer Bob Ezrin, GGGarth Richardson, Mike McCarty and Kevin Williams. This is part 6 of 6.

This is my favorite segment in this discussion. At times it may seem despairing the way Terry describes the mainstream music industry as in decline and “not hiring” young people seeking “careers” in the music business. But the hopefull message is much stronger, I think, in what Terry says is a “Brave New World in a good way.”

The opportunities for “careers” in the music biz are in creating your own opportunities, starting your own businesses, creating your own scene, in going DIY or (IDIY more accurately), in any case definitely NOT waiting or relying on anyone else to make things happen for you. More on this line in my post Thoughts on How To Ignore Everybody, and Shawn’s post 5 Key Points of “Ignore Everybody” for Musicians

Technorati Tags: audio education, Bob Ezrin, Farm Studio, nimbus, Terry Kerr

By James Pew

If you haven’t seen the first four parts of this discussion, here you go… Pt.1 Pt.2 Pt.3 Pt.4

Recently I had the chance to sit down and talk shop with Terry Kerr, Department head at the Nimbus School of Recording Arts. A school co-founded by legendary Canadian producer Bob Ezrin, GGGarth Richardson, Mike McCarty and Kevin Williams. This is part 5 of 6. Topics covered are everything from the album format vs. the singles format, Napster, the philosophy of Nimbus, the current climate of pro audio education, analog and digital audio tools.

Technorati Tags: audio education, GGGarth Richardson, James Pew, Napster, nimbus, recording, Terry Kerr

If you haven’t seen the first three parts of this discussion, here you go…New Music discussion with Terry Kerr and James Pew Pt.1
and here is New Music discussion with Terry Kerr and James Pew Pt.2
and here is New Music discussion with Terry Kerr and James Pew Pt.3

Recently I had the chance to sit down and talk shop with Terry Kerr, Department head at the Nimbus School of Recording Arts. A school co-founded by legendary Canadian producer Bob Ezrin, GGGarth Richardson, Mike McCarty and Kevin Williams. This is part 4 of 6. Topics covered are everything from the subtleties of permission marketing and general communications to newsletter subscribers, utilizing fan feedback, the “Brave New World” of fan involvement, Studio 2.0, blogging, Euphonic Sound online community, and Exploring the Possibilities of indie.

Here is Part Five of New Music Discussion with Terry Kerr and James Pew.

Technorati Tags: Bob Ezrin, indie marketing, James Pew, nimbus, Social Media, Terry Kerr

By James Pew

If you haven’t seen the first two parts of this discussion, here you go…New Music discussion with Terry Kerr and James Pew Pt.1
and here is New Music discussion with Terry Kerr and James Pew Pt.2

Recently I had the chance to sit down and talk shop with Terry Kerr, Department head at the Nimbus School of Recording Arts. A school co-founded by legendary Canadian producer Bob Ezrin, GGGarth Richardson, Mike McCarty and Kevin Williams. This is part 3 of 6. Topics covered are everything from the monetizing free, calling fans to action, the value of modern music, social networking vs. viral marketing, sponsorship opportunities for indies, targeted permission marketing, Seth Godin, Top Spin, and more.

Here is Part 4 of this new music discussion with Terry Kerr.

Technorati Tags: Bob Ezrin, euphonic sound, indie, James Pew, nimbus, Seth Godin, Terry Kerr, youtube

Here is another excerpt from my book Studio Manifesto: Exploring the Possibilities of Indie. As always please leave your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading.

“I wanna disconnect myself pull my brain stem out and unplug myself”- Henry Rollins

Disconnect from what? From everything you assume and take for granted – from culture itself.

“Stay ahead of the culture by creating the culture” – from the book Ignore Everybody by Hugh Macleod

Wipe your operating system clean and start from the beginning – but this time ignore the prevailing culture and find your individual. Create your own culture.

Being indie can mean a lot of things to many different people, among them the belief that indie means individual or independent from the normal. It is the individual person captivated by the notion of independence and the process of discovery involved in individualism. It is breaking free from a larger dominant collective that is the impetus of indie.

Why do we have indie artists? This question cannot be looked at seriously without first looking at the process that initiated what we’ve come to view as the basic human behavior of being an individual.

To the person engaged in cultural studies or studying the human and societal effects of media (technology), it is well known that before the appearance of two very powerful media man existed in a tribal state. Sometimes referred to as tribal sleep. The two media, or technologies, I’m referring to are the phonetic alphabet crossed with the mechanical process of printing. Typography.

The new medium of the book at first was a means of accelerating the tribal message of Christianity. The first repeatedly printed books were restricted to the Guttenberg bible. But soon this medium became the means by which individual man emerged. The Guttenberg printing press catalyzed the detribalization of man, ushering in the age of typographic man. This age created the separate individual, and the private point of view, among other powerful effects described later.

It was not long after Guttenberg that Edison came along with new electric media, disrupting things and returning us to our tribal roots.

The information age, which is based on electric media has been gradually retribalized since the appearance of the Edison’s light bulb and many other equally pervasive electric media that followed (telephone, radio, TV, internet). The explosive process started by the Guttenberg technology is reversed under the stress of electric technology.

Mechanical Age = Explosion
Electric Age = Implosion

In Marshall McLuhan’s 1962 book the Guttenberg Galaxy, he lays out the following framework based on his study of the human effects of media.

Up until 1450, society could be described as a blend of the following,

Pre-literate or Pre Guttenberg culture:

Oral Culture
Tribal
Active, Participator, Social
Balanced Senses
Community
Connected

From 1450 to 1900, people became individuals in an explosion of innovation.

Literate/Mechanical Culture:

Books are the dominant medium
The Eye is emphasized (senses not in balance)
Visual
Individualism
Detached
De-Tribalized

From 1900 to the present,

Post Literate/Electric Culture:

Books are no longer the dominant medium
Electronic Media
Senses in balance again
Simultaneous
Invlovement
Re-Tribalized Man
“Global Village”

Here is a great youtube video by roddy99 tracing the history of media.

From the most ubiquitous electric media since the light bulb, and more recent inclusive forms like social media, and even older inclusive forms of media (TV, Telegraph/Newspaper, Radio), they all tend to arrange us into societal patterns not unlike the ancient tribal structures of humankind. Involvement and participation on behalf of tribal members is key.

The difference now hinges on a crucial factor. Awareness, or awake-ness. Are we blindly being led back into tribal sleep? Or are we marching headfirst into a new tribalism fully aware of what’s happening? James Joyce best expressed this concept in the Irish Classic Finnegans Wake. Coded in the title is what Marshall McLuhan called the Finn cycle, or tribal cycle, occurring egan or again. But now the character of Finn is Wake, or awake. Finnegans Wake.

There was an old man named Michael Finnegan,
He grew whiskers on his chin-egan,
The wind came out and blew them in again,
Poor old Michael Finnegan, begin again.
There was an old man named Michael Finnegan
He went fishing with a pin-egan,
Caught a fish and dropped it in-egan,
Poor old Michael Finnegan, begin again.
There was an old man named Michael Finnegan,
Climbed a tree and barked his shin-egan,
Took off several yards of skin-egan,
Poor old Michael Finnegan, begin again.
There was an old man named Michael Finnegan,
He kicked up an awful din-egan,
Because they said he could not sing-egan,
Poor old Michael Finnegan, begin again.
There was an old man named Michael Finnegan,
He got fat and then got thin again,
Then he died and had to begin again,
Poor old Michael Finnegan

Traditional Irish Folk Song – Michael Finnegan

When you awaken to what you feel is an undesirable situation you are more likely to want to exercise your independence in a way that reorders the situation to fit your liking. At the heart of indie is awakening. To Do-it-yourself is to separate from the convention of do-only-what –you-are-told. To be indie is to recognize, and to some extent reject, the pattern of monotony that established order favors.

To be an indie artist is to fully understand the implications of indie. This awareness will help you build mankind’s road map so desperately needed in our process of collective awakening.

Many people alive today are quite happy ignoring, to the best of their abilities, the new inclusive tribal media. This person consciously decides to remain in the mechanical age, and he revolts at tribal electric man.

The opportunities for independence have compounded in the electric age and provide far more expansive forms of individualism. Take the blog for example. Its closest ancestor seems to be the book in that it allows the individual to express a private point of view. To the reader though, the book is a private experience. By contrast the blog allows the reader to react and express their private point of view, in what results in a tribal or communal dynamic of conversation and deconstruction amongst the readers/community members.

The indie artist retains individuality in spite of the pressures of greater human interrelations through the complex of digital networks and modern tribal communities. However, unlike the person who chooses to exist in the previous age, the artist must live in, and deal with, the present one.

“The artist is the man in any field, scientific or humanistic, who grasps the implications of his actions and of knew knowledge in his own time.” – Marshall McLuhan

Awareness allows the artist to, escape the full hyptnotic effect of electric media, and retain the most favorable qualities of his typographic ancestry, namely the formation of his individual. All of this while thriving in a re-tribalised creative culture.

Here is another roddy99 youtube video on the impact of the printing press:

Technorati Tags: artist, hugh macleod, ignore everybody, indie, James Pew, marshall mcluhan, media

By James Pew

Recently I had the chance to sit down and talk shop with Terry Kerr, Department head at the Nimbus School of Recording Arts. A school co-founded by legendary Canadian producer Bob Ezrin, GGGarth Richardson, Mike McCarty and Kevin Williams. This is part 2 of 6. Topics covered are everything from the economics of indie, Direct-to-Fan, Permission Marketing, Social Media, as well as the general state of the music industry and of educational institutions offering programs in music industry arts, music business management, and audio production.

Check out part one of this new music discussion with Terry Kerr. Also see, Thoughts From Terry Kerr – Dept. head at Bob Ezrin school

Here is Part Three of New Music Discussion with Terry Kerr and James Pew

Technorati Tags: Bob Ezrin, GGGarth Richardson, James Pew, Jenn Essiembre, Kevin Williams, Mike McCarty, Nimbus Recording Arts

By: Connor

Why listen to the top 25 pop songs of 2009 (according to billboard) when you can listen to DJ Earworm’s mashup of them? His 2009 mashup is the 3rd in what has become an annual tradition – scroll down for links to previous years. Check out the video below, it’s pretty cool even if you’re not big on pop.

Also check out his mashups for the top 25 hits of 2008 and 2007.

Technorati Tags: 2009, Billboard, DJ Earworm, Mashup, Top 25

by James Pew

In December Derek Sivers sent out an invitation via his email newsletter asking musicians if they would like a free copy of one of the many marketing books that he recommends to the readers of his blog. Derek’s idea was to send out copies of these books to interested musicians, who would in turn write their thoughts about the book on their own blog. And, of course much discussion and learning will follow.

The book I received form Derek is called Ignore Everybody: and 39 other keys to creativity. Written by Hugh Macleod artists & author of the awesome blog gaping void. It has cartoons! …most of the time!

I read Ignore Everybody in one sitting the day I received it. For a creative person, its like having your past re-read to you by someone without the emotional involvement, who has enough sense of the modern ethos and of the symptoms of the failing artistic endeavor of the common creative person. Who sheds light and empowers you to exceed any notion of expectation.

Although it is sometimes very tough to hear, it is imperative that the message in Ignore Everybody does not itself go ignored.

I have purchased three additional copies of this book that I’d like to give away. I also added a little inscription on the inside cover linking to this post, and asking the recipient to read the book and pass it on.

Two copies are for a couple creative people I know locally who I feel could really benefit from Ignore Everybody (I’ll keep you posted if that turns out to be the case). The third copy I will mail out to the first interested reader who emails me at james@euphoniccsound.com (Update: The last copy has been given away).

The message in Ignore Everybody is an indie artists only hope of successfully ignoring everybody and leading their own movement.

“The more original your idea is, the less good advice other people will be able to give you.” – Hugh MacLeod

This puts the artist in the position of leader. Relying on others to lead has become a thing of the past.

Another book on Derek’s list is Tribes by Seth Godin. The message is that “the market place now rewards (and embraces)” the leaders, or as Seth refers to them “heretics.”

“Heretics are the new leaders. The ones who challenge the status quo, who get out in front of their tribes, who create movements.” – Seth Godin

New media brings about new forms of human association. Today an artist must be a leader to her fans; there must be a movement and there must be a reason for people to care. Weather the idea or movement is big or small matters little. The artist is viewed by the tribe as tribal leader and is very much in demand by the tribe. This is the natural dynamic. The artist’s role is to cultivate this.

Thoughts on how to Ignore Everybody is being included in my book, the work-in-progress, Studio Manifesto: Exploring the Possibilities of Indie. Go here for the orientation. For regular readers this means the subject at hand is approached with the same reconsideration of Marshall McLuhan’s Media Theory as has been the other sections of Exploring the Possibilities of Indie. Just a warning to new readers…☺

Here are my thoughts on Hugh Macleod’s Ignore Everybody:

Since Marshall McLuhan’s time the global media environment has utterly wrapped all people into a mesh of constant electronic information – it is electronic media (telephone, telegraph, radio, television, photograph, movie, etc.) that give tribal cues defining our self-images and where we fit in the tribe. Weather it is the posture of the model in a magazine ad telling us what to wear and how to gesture, or the rock star on MTV showing us the rock star “way of life,” we have always seemed utterly paralyzed to act in any way different then the roles that have been pre-formed in the media environment.

However as we all know the newest electric media, the internet, has disrupted this pattern of mainstream media indiscriminately broadcasting to virtually all individuals, to a new segment where individuals narrow-cast to each other in both directions (and sideways too). From this we are seeing the formation of smaller tribes, or movements, entirely based on the strength of the new tribal leaders and their ideas.

McLuan was right when in 1960 he said electric media re-tribalizes man. With every news headline or episode of American Idol, North Americans are sharing in a collective tribal experience. But we have yet to succumb fully to a phenomenon, which seems to accompany the tribal order – that being tribal sleep.

It was the explosion side of the tribal cycle, the Guttenberg technology (printing press) of the 1500s that created the individual and woke us from a many centuries long tribal sleep. That phase was detribalization and is represented by everything from the previous mechanical age; assembly lines, factories, books, automobile, currency, economics, corporations with top down structure, etc.

Now it is electric technology that retribalizes man and could very well result in our being placed back into the somnambulistic state of tribal sleep.

The electric age represents an implosive re-tribalized phase. The ethos of today is about dismantling the mechanical age structures that separated people from one another. New digital media has brought back an ancient tribal situation to humankind. We are connected and involved with each other in ways lamented for by our ancestors from the industrial revolution. All notions leftover from the mechanical age will be clung too by people who will never understand what is happening, and shed by those who leap fully into the new age of Tribalism.

Hugh MacLeod’s book “Ignore Everybody” is about resisting tribal forces of sleep and conformity. A tough, but necessary, pill to swallow for many creative individuals.

Hugh’s message is to do things for the right reasons – not for any expectations or romantic notions you may have. Because things rarely, if ever, work out the way you plan them or expect them to. And because life simply isn’t fair and seems to take a morbid joy in crushing even the most passionately dedicated romantic.

Here is a sample:

“Your plan for getting your work out there has to be as original as the actual work, perhaps even more so. The work has to create a totally new market. There’s no point trying to do the same thing as 250,000 other young hopefuls, waiting for a miracle. All existing business models are wrong. Find a new one.”

In describing Hugh’s own artistic endeavor – drawing cartoons on the backs of business cards – he said, “There was no commercial incentive or larger agenda governing my actions. If I wanted to draw on the backs of business cards instead of a “proper” medium, I could.”

Hugh’s point is you can not be concerned with anything outside of the idea itself – will it make me money or famous? Will it get me girls? Or played on the radio? Forget all that stuff. If your goal is to write, record, and perform great songs then you must go “all in” in doing that. Forget about fame and money and sex and all the clichés that many aspiring musicians can’t seem to get over.

If you are creating art for these misguided reasons then the art becomes secondary, generic, and uninspiring. And it won’t be a pleasant experience for you. The notion of the tortured artists is a romantic one placed there by the media. Be real.

The scariest part is that people pick up on the level of love and authenticity that goes into your work, and you can be forgotten faster and more often, if you don’t create something that is uniquely yours, truly inspiring and free of all the insane and ridiculous notions of what an artist is supposed to be.

Here is another example of the “tough pill” nature of Ignore Everybody:

“If your business plan depends on suddenly being “discovered” by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.”

Or,

When your dreams become reality, they are no longer your dreams.

At times Hugh seems like he has crossed over to the dark side of cynicism, but then he says:

“Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in Kindergarten.”

And,

“The more you practice your craft, the less you confuse worldly rewards, and vice versa. Even if your path never makes any money or furthers your career, that’s still worth a ton.”

And, two of my favorites…

“The best way to get approval is not to need it.” And “Stay ahead of the culture by creating the culture.”

One idea that really struck a chord with me was the Sex & Cash Theory.

“The creative person basically has two kinds of jobs: One is the sexy, creative kind. Second is the kind that pays the bills. Some times the task at hand covers both bases, but not often.”

This is advice I could have used several years ago when I quit my day job to become a music industry mogul. It didn’t quite work out that way and needless to say the need to pay the bills (and to further seed my music business) forced me back into the demoralizing servitude of the “day job.” Years later I was able to quit the day job again, this time for good.

Now I spend my days (and nights) working on music at my business Euphonic Sound Recording Studio. But the Sex & Cash dynamic is a big part of the balance we seem to have struck at the studio. On the sex side of things is Studio 2.0, this is my idea, my movement, how I have become a leader and ignore everybody. Others have joined me and our business is a success.

Besides working with artists under Studio 2.0 I also spend a little time working on my own music – which I have zero expectations for. Having zero expectations is what makes it fulfilling to do. If your art is not fulfilling, then its forced.

With our Studio 2.0 approach we get to work with great artists like new folk singer/song writer Andrea Gauster, who we also represent on our label Broken Window Records or metal band Volition Aire. Its mostly sunshine and lolly pops and lots of love and creativity. ☺

But there always has to be the cash side of the sex & cash equation. I am definitely not creatively fulfilled by every artist I record – although, there are different types of fulfillment that go along with helping someone achieve their dream, doing a good job, and getting paid fairly for it.

Sometimes, to pay the bills we do commercial or educational music stuff too. Hugh Macleod’s other job as a copywriter provides the cash equation for him, similar to the scenario at Euphonic Sound. Sometimes we work with great artists and contribute artistically both as producers and musicians; sometimes we only engineer. Guess which one is more satisfying? And sometimes we get commissioned to compose and produce something for some other application, like music for corporate youtube videos, or for someones web site or web product. This balance allows us to “keep the lights on” so we can work on what we really love.

Final quote from Hugh MacLeods Ignore Everybody – “The only people who can change the world are the people who want to. And not everybody does.”

Do you?

Thanks to Derek Sivers for sending me a copy of Ignore Everybody. Check out the other great books recommended by Derek Sivers.

Technorati Tags: Derek Sivers, hugh macleod, ignore everybody, James Pew, marshall mcluhan, Seth Godin, tribes

by James Pew

Here is another excerpt from my book Studio Manifesto: Exploring the Possibilities of Indie. As always please leave your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading.

Looking at it from a technical point-of-view, the musician is like a musicologist. The word musicology “is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses”. “In the intermediate sense of musicology, it includes all relevant cultures and a range of musical forms, styles, genres and traditions. In the broad sense, it includes all musically relevant disciplines and all manifestations of music in all cultures.” –Wikepedia

How often do musicians consider music in this broad sense? The disciplined musician sees music in a very broad sense concerning herself with the things described above and much more. This is an interdisciplinary conception of an indie artist’s role.

The point here is to not let your specialty become your excuse. As in I’m not a technician I’m a musician. You don’t have to be a technician to think like one. You don’t have to, and probably shouldn’t think like a technician all the time anyway. Consider it the ability to turn on and off various disciplines, modes, or points of view. Like uploading an essential bebop for soloists plugin or a guerrilla marketing theory patch, or maybe an understanding acoustics script, or some other upgrade to your minds internal operating system. This can be done by independent artistic or intellectual pursuit. Work away at new things in a process similar, although less intensive then the one applied in your specialty.

If the trumpeter has already uploaded Miles Davis 4.0 to his minds operating system, there is no reason to think he can’t take a couple days and install Photoshop 8.0 – considering the amount of Photoshop work that goes along with being an indie artist today.

I’ve seen musicians use their specialty as an excuse for a multitude of problems – He’s not an amp tech so therefore not responsible, or even aware, of any maintenance his amp may require. She’s not a web designer so therefore not responsible for the lack of design quality or the poor public interest in her web presence.

An IDIY artist takes responsibility for everything related to their brand, or at least for those things that are approximately within their control. When things go wrong she takes immediate responsibility, turns it into a learning experience and starts working on the solution. There is no need to waste time and energy complaining that your Photoshop guy didn’t deliver fliers in time for the show. The Photoshop guy is not the source of the problem and not within your power to control. However, your decision to work with that Photoshop guy is – there is your responsibility. It ends there so move on. The solution lies in making new arrangement’s for future Photoshop work – so get going!

The theme of fragmentation and specialism is an important one that will be explored in much more detail in the coming chapters of Studio Manifesto: Exploring the Possibilities of Indie. Marshall McLuhan showed us that specialism is a product of the mechanical age. An age when people held specialist positions or jobs. In the electric age (information age) there are no jobs, there are only roles. The work of man has shifted to the gathering of information (knowledge) used to fulfill the demands of role.

Technorati Tags: indie, Inormation Age, James Pew, marshall mcluhan, miles davis, musicology, Photoshop

Collected by James Pew

1. Top Ten Internet Moments of 2009

2. Top Ten indie albums of 2009

3. Quick Before it Melts is Defining a Decade with Ten album picks from 2000 to 2009 (Still in progress)

4. Ten Tips that Every Musician Should Apply to Their Career

5. Top Ten Tips for Email Newsletters

6. Top Ten web trends to watch in 2010

7. Top Ten Mobile Social Apps

8. The Top Ten Most Important Tweets of 2009

9. The Ten Most disappointing albums of the Decade

10. Top Ten youtube videos of all time

Technorati Tags: indie, James Pew, mobile, music, Social Media, Top Ten, web

By James Pew

Recently I had the chance to sit down and talk shop with Terry Kerr, program director at the Nimbus School of Recording Arts. A school founded by legendary Canadian producer Bob Ezrin, GGGarth Richardson, Mike McCarty and Kevin Williams. This is part 1 of 6. Topics covered are everything from the economics of indie, Direct-to-Fan, Permission Marketing, Social Media, The Album Format, as well as the general state of the music industry and of educational institutions offering programs in music industry arts, music business management, and audio production.

Also check out this post Thoughts From Terry Kerr – Dept. head at Bob Ezrin school

Here is Part Two of New Music Discussion with Terry Kerr and James Pew

Technorati Tags: Bob Ezrin, euphonic sound, James Pew, nimbus, Terry Kerr

Here is another excerpt from my book Studio Manifesto: Exploring the Possibilities of Indie. As always please leave your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading.

“Even specialist learning in higher education proceeds by ignoring interrelationships; for such complex awareness slows down the achieving of expertness.” – Marshall Mcluhan

Great musicians do not ignore the interrelationship among the elements of a piece of music. A great musician arranges his part to compliment the parts of the other musicians in the band, she understands that the strength of her “parts,” and her role in the band, is dependent on a cohesive interrelationship of the other players.

It may be helpful to stop thinking of yourself only as a guitarist or drummer, or any other variety of specialist. You are an artist and a musician. Most forms of modern music deeply involve multiple disciplines; electronics, acoustics, sound engineering, instrument tech-ing, production, etc. Not to mention the different specialist functions of music itself; performance, composition, arrangement, etc.

“Interdisciplinary approaches typically focus on problems thought to be too complex or vast for adequate understanding with a single disciple.” – Wikepedia

I know from my experience working with young indie recording artists, that they often view the music industry as something too complex or vast to fully, or even adequately understand. And I’m sure they would agree that a single point of view makes big picture understanding even harder to attain. The tendency to approach things from a single discipline comes from the previous Guttenberg Age of man. And age of linearity, sequence and point of view. However, the modern age is interdisciplinary.

Not all people have adapted fully to this (we are still in the early years of a fairly young electric age). Many people alive today are quite happy living in the previous age. The artist though, must live in his present age. The artist, by McLuhian definition, must deal with the present. He is compelled to do so. The art he makes is an extension of this inner compulsion. The artist exemplifies the character of the modern age – an interdisciplinary approach is guaranteed in a modern artistic approach.

“The artist picks up the message of cultural and technological challenge decades before its transforming impact occurs. He then builds models or Noah’s arks for facing the change that is at hand.” – Marshall McLuhan

DIY or Do-It-Yourself does not by any means me Do-It-All-Yourself, however an interdisciplinary approach to all things related to your music, including non-music functions like promotions, booking, management, network marketing/social media is a must. Even though you may work with others who will facilitate certain specialist functions, like promotion, it is important that you view the specialist in this case as an extension of your will and capacity.

In this sense you take responsibility for the specialist. If the specialist fails, you step into his role and fulfill his function, until you find a new “specialist” to free you up for other functions.

The Medium is the Message

Any new medium, or technology, creates new environments, new situations for human association and human perception, which works upon the whole man, as well as the whole society.

In approx. 2004 new disruptive media, social media/web 2.0 (a concept based around information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design and collaboration – all tribal dynamics), seemed to “take hold,” and capture the imagination of many. Today it continues to shape 21st century art, economics, and technology, in what many people describe as a Brave New World. We are on the upswing of a cultural explosion! Artists are playing a leading role as innovators in this new hybrid economy and creative culture. The M.M. quote below is important because it expands the definition of who we typically think of as artist.

“The artist is the man in any field, scientific or humanistic, who grasps the implications of his actions and of knew knowledge in his own time.” – Marshall McLuhan

Artists taking things into their own hands and exercising greater control toward positive outcomes is the essence of IDIY (interdisciplinary do-it-yourself) of the present age. The corporate music industry would do well if it re-modeled its business around facilitating the new artist to fan relationships emerging today, instead of pushing an old business model on new social/economic mediums. As McLuhan shows us, the content of a new medium is always the old medium.

Its not surprising that the major labels are attempting to use new media to facilitate their old ways (the old content). However a new unexpected form has emerged, completely separate from the major label system, created by the artist and fan over social mediums, in an entirely new association of artist/fan. We have barely begun to see the cultural effect of this.

At the time of this writing the out look has never been more dire for the corporate music industry. However, the independent music industry has never looked better. Studio Manifesto aims to shed light on the engine of today’s indie recording artist. How he thrives artistically and economically in a world connected through digital social mediums is a key point of analysis in the coming pages.

“The artist is always engaged in writing a detailed history of the future because he is the only person aware of the nature of the present” – Marshall McLuhan

Technorati Tags: indie, interdisciplinary, James Pew, marshall mcluhan, web 2.0. social media

Yesterday I posted an excerpt from my new book, Studio Manifesto: Exploring the Possibilities of Indie, called The power of visualization in a new age of indie music. As I explained yesterday the book is one part “reconsideration” of Marshall McLuhan’s ground breaking media theory in the context of today’s social media movement, and one part indie musician survival guide.

One of the things I love about Marshall McLuhan’s books is his use of the Field, or mosaic approach. A mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces. The “image” we are creating here comes from the assemblage of various forms of data found in various places (spread out through a wide spectrum of disciplines or “schools of thought”).

The mosaic approach has somewhat of a randomness to it. McLuhan said, when referring to his own books, that it was not necessary to start at page one and read through sequentially to the last page. You can pick up any of McLuhan’s work and start at a random point in the middle if you choose. Later it will be shown that linear sequential ordering of thoughts or events is a product of our previous Guttenberg Age (the age of the of the printing press, “the book”).

In the spirit of the mosaic approach, I am presenting “random” sections of Studio Manifesto: Exploring the Possibilities of Indie. As always, please leave any feedback, criticism, or direction in the comments section. Thank you for reading!

The Friends & Family Factor

The friends and family factor says that your biggest fans will lie to you if it means not hurting your ego. You need objective discerning observers of all types to critique you. If you are not looking for criticism, then how else are you living up to your potential?

The woodshed cannot escape the tribal resonance of the electric age.

The priority is developing your craft. The artists of today can “handle” the input of others and use it to help uncover their own genuine unique sound. It is developing in segregated private compartments, what musicians call the “woodshed,” that often leads to a “sound alike” or a creative dead end.

Reject the Woodshed

Genuine constructive criticism can help you uncover the depths of your artistry. Invite the input of everyone who listens and make them a part of the process. This is the essence of the modern artist.
How big a part of the process you make your listeners doesn’t really matter, it is the stepping out from the woodshed that does.

Note: To effectively harvest useful feedback, it’s essential that your intentions and communication are clear, concise, and on time.

The psychology factor – sometimes called the reverb factor

The indie recording studio is a very interesting microcosm of strange psychological activity. Indie recording artists often use the services of an indie recording studio because they lack the skills, resources or interest to pull off a DIY recording.

In the spirit of experimentation, to be fair, they are sometimes inclined to pressure engineers to perform inappropriate engineering techniques or adjustments. It’s sort of like getting an examination from a medical doctor and telling the doctor how to give the diagnosis. Maybe that would work if you were a doctor yourself – but for the sake of the illustration, there is only one qualified doctor in the examining room.

When in the studio ask yourself how many sound engineers are in the room – and give weight to the quality of their input when engineering issues come up. Its also not uncommon for innovative artistic ideas to come from sound engineers, another good reason for being open to input.

When you produce someone else – you can be objective – when you produce or co-produce yourself it’s not so easy.

Musicians can be insecure about the quality of their studio performance – and sometimes want their part(s) to be turned down, buried in the mix, or otherwise smothered or “covered up” with reverb or some other effect.

Here are a few questions self-producing recording artists should ask during sessions:

1. Are you the only one present that likes or dislikes your performance? If everyone thinks you can do it better, than do it over. If everyone thinks it’s great than maybe leave it alone. If you really can’t live with it, do it over and get it right. But don’t suggest that it be hidden, masked, or fixed in the mix.

2. When asking for a specific engineering treatment – why does the song need it – is it complimenting or distracting from the featured musical parts.

3. What are the featured musical parts – Lead vocal in most pop music – You are not asking to bury or smear the lead vocal are you?

The best scenario is when the artist has faith and trust in the engineer and producer she is working with. A lot of stress can be lifted off the artists shoulders allowing her to focus on performance. The process can be made better if the artist & producer can work together refining and developing the artists performance.

Work with talented people, who you trust to share the engineering/production role – and your studio experiences will be far more rewarding.

Technorati Tags: criticism, indie, James Pew, marshall mcluhan, recording, woodshed

By James Pew



I’ve been away from writing posts on Studio Manifesto for a little awhile. And I have really enjoyed the coverage of new music happenings by Duke, Phil, Connor, and Skeleton – (all brilliant new music interns at Euphonic Sound) Check out our authors page to read posts from these new music bad asses.. I have been doing a lot of writing though, I’m working on a book called Studio Manifesto: Exploring the Possibilities of Indie, and I’ve decided to start posting sections of the book here on the Studio Manifesto Blog.



One aspect of the book is a consideration of Marshall McLuhan’s media theory applied to the culture and dynamics of the new music world. The books other main aspect functions as indie musician survival guide.



Since the book is still in writing/editing phase please leave your thoughts in the comments section, any help in shaping this work-in-progress will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.

The Vision Factor

The problem with vision is two-fold;



1) Without it you sell yourself short, and with too much of it, you oversell your abilities to pull off success.
2) If your perception of the world looks like the previous age (the age of the radio star, MTV, and music as a corporate commodity), then you may be visualizing things that are much to hard to actualize in the current age of the social web.



First lets deal with number 1. An example of lack of vision, is the common stance taken by indie artists on the need to record demonstrations, or demos, or their work, instead of a tangible finished, non-demonstration, piece of work. In no other art-form do we see demonstrations of what an artist could potentially do, under the right circumstances, in place of the artists actual work. In other words Stop Recording Demos! And Start Recording Songs!

When the artists recording goal is likened to an afterthought with tones of defeat and deflation all centered on the fact that the recording budget is low and the marketing/distribution budget is non-existent, he is effectively sabotaging and limiting the potential of the project.



An example of to much vision is the artist who hasn’t finished writing his first song – but is already planning the world tour, merchandising and a spin off clothing line. By all means think big. But don’t lose focus on the small steps that get overlooked when your head is in the clouds. If you are in the studio making a record put your energy into that.



And number 2 deals with forming a better understanding of emergent cultural practices (via the social web) and how they effect the musician.



This amazing age that we are living in just recently evolved to a stage where the independent artist is more empowered than ever before by unlimited access to the following:



Affordable quality sound & video production

Unlimited free or cheap access to network marketing & distribution channels via the internet.



A music industry rooted in the mediums of CDs, FM Radio, and TV (MTV era Broadcast Video), has been completely turned on its head, primarily because of the irritation coming from the new media…the internet, or more specifically the hybrid medium commonly referred to as the social web.



We either choose to view the empowerment of internet users (soon to be everyone without exception) to openly access musical works as unfair, devastating and tragic – or see it as a movement, driven by community (a natural behavior indicative of the re-tribalizing movement brought about by the most pervasive of electronic media), and the tribal ordering of all people on the planet into a global village.



Later chapters of this book will explore in greater detail the application of Marshall McLuhan’s media theory to the indie musicians conception of the world he makes music in. For now let me interject my personal belief that the current age is a much more desirable and exciting age to be living in then the previous. Specific reasons for thinking this will become clear later, but the fact remains that today we see an “uprising of the people” … it is a good thing when peoples level of involvement in culture increases.



The culture of mash up & remix, social media, blogger, youtube, user generated content, twitter etc, sees people being actively involved in culture through numerous democratized media. This empowerment is a new-age catalyzing cultural force without comparison, it is indeed a Brave New World.



The peoples movement rejects the establishment of Corporate entertainment elites.



At some point Western popular music became dull and commodified. When Radio was the dominant music medium, popular music was at an artistic high point. It can be argued that it was the appearance of video that uprooted the culture of popular music from this “renaissance period.” In any case, it is always the appearance of new mediums that effect the change. What Video is to radio, internet is to video. The MTV era where “Video killed the Radio Star,” is over. The problem is many indie musicians still have one foot (or sometimes both) in the previous age (the age of the radio star).



Tune your vision to the current age



The current age, of the social web, sees a new situation of human association. Virtually everyone on the planet connected together through digital media. In the current age, the artistic high point seems without reach. The sheer quantity of music openly available is one result of this cultural explosion (brought about by new media) that is bursting outwardly at a speed and trajectory we can barely comprehend.



The indicators of de-commodified music



Pre-mega corporate music or pre-commodified music has, and much of the top ranking modern pop music (still stuck in a MTV era Never-land) does not have these two characteristics:



1. An authentic viewpoint from a talented and unique artist(s). Their viewpoint felt real and was often based on real human experience. As opposed to a contrived view point that could not possibly have come from the artist themselves given obvious circumstances such as the artist being a young kid. These people haven’t had the time to develop, nurture, and hone their craft. Weather or not their viewpoint has anything to do with the truth or not, it just doesn’t feel real. In the past, artists, even if they happened to have been young, had an authentic view point coming from real human experience, and it felt real…felt like art. And often they got better with age – the mass audience had a connection to them as fans and observers of their development. Weather any of the artists of the mass marketed pop music, like the Mickey Mouse Club types, have experiences or not seems almost irrelevant when the majority of their music is designed to be sexually evocative or deal with adolescent and/or grossly immature subject matter – or my favorite, melodramatic emotional manipulations…does that stuff ever feel like art? Sure a lot of artistry goes into the production no one can deny that…but many would agree that the material and performer themselves are really not worth the trouble.



Corporate music production tends to homogenize the bands that comes through their doors – couple this with the fact that many of these bands are their because they are similar to a previous homogenized success. I used to argue with people that all rock bands do not sound the same – But the people I argued with were not fans of the music I loved, they hated it – the true fans had no trouble discerning the differences between the bands they loved – but present day it’s harder for me to make the argument and defend my beloved art form – weather you believe that popular rock music is homogenized or not – you must recognize that there are corporate forces at work who thirst for predictable result and return on investment. Their mantra is what worked in the past should work again. If every business completely reinvented itself every year than we’d have chaos, but this corporate business model does not work for the new age. It does not encourage or enable the contribution of quality artistic musical content for popular use. Down with the cookie cutter bands!



2. The loudness war. This one is a little technical but very easy to understand – both the technical side – and the why record companies and even the artists themselves are motivated into loudness action – to the point that much modern pop music now only has one discernible dynamic – loud. Where pre-mega corporate production had more natural dynamic range – much less fatiguing on the listeners ears.

Technorati Tags: ebook, indie, James Pew, marshall mcluhan, New Music, social web

by Duke

Industry Canada and the CRTC don’t usually get a lot of positive press, and today isn’t going to help them any. They’re just doing their jobs of upholding the law of the land, and sometimes this carries with it the prospect of looking like you’re picking on the little guy.

Jayhaed Saade received a note from Industry Canada recently which orders him to shut down the DIY radio station he built in his home in Greely Ontario (a neighbourhood in Ottawa’s south end).

Saade says he’s been dreaming of running his own radio station since he was a little kid, and built it with equipment he bought off the internet. In the few days since he started broadcasting and taking any request that reaches his ear, his phone has been “ringing off the hook” with requests.

From cbc.ca:

“I play every request,” he said. “If you want to talk on air, I’ll let you talk on air — there’s no problem.”

Some listeners have reported being able to hear Saadé’s station from 20 kilometres away. In recent days, his phone has been ringing off the hook with requests for songs.

Canadian law – like that of pretty much any country – requires that you apply & pay for a license to broadcast and then wait around for it before acting. Failure to comply can result in fines of up to $5000.00 CDN and possible jail time.

Saade has since applied for the license, but so far refuses to shut down. From the Ottawa Citizen:

“The operator voluntarily complied with Industry Canada’s request to cease operation and pursue the required authorities in order to comply with the laws governing broadcasting in Canada,” spokeswoman Stéfanie Power wrote in an e-mail to the Citizen.

But last evening Jayhaed was still spinning tunes and taking calls from listeners who like his request line and Top 40/Dance mix. “I like doing it because it’s the only radio station that plays every request and lets everyone talk on air,” he said.

“My friends really like it.

Interesting side-note: Saade is 14 years old. This is the part where the government entities look like jerks. I wonder if he’ll be tried as an adult…

For more on this go to CBC.ca
See also Ottawa Citizen
and All Access Music

Technorati Tags: crtc, industry canada, Jayhaed Saade, radio

By: Connor

This post is all about organs. Not in any anatomical sense so much as the instrumental sense. The organ is one of my favorite instruments, probably because its awesome. Also it sounds cool and I like baroque music. So, perhaps I’m a little biased, but let me try to convince you.

First of all, organs are big. And big things are awesome. Here’s proof:

Now tell me that isn’t cool – not that I’m in favor of strip mining, but large machines are impressive regardless of intended use. I bet you’re at least curious what it is.

Moving on, organs can also be big and impressive:

The organ featured in the above video has over 17,000 pipes. Obviously it won’t play 17,000 different notes, the vast majority of the pipes reinforce the primary waveform through harmonic overtones, or contain different styles of sound generation (Reed vs Flue pipes)

Organists also play with their feet, regularly carrying out bass harmonies and occasionally melodies in the lower range of the instrument. Check out this video; the entire performance is awesome, but the bassline is especially cool. The organ she’s playing is a Hammond B3 organ, but she modified the keyboard to integrate MIDI and is using a sampled upright bass on the foot pedals.

Not only are organs large and awesome sounding, they are also works of art themselves, especially older ones.

The earliest organ was called the Hydraulis, and was invented in 3rd century BC by Ctesibius. Organs function by maintaining a constant air pressure in the wind chest, an airtight box shaped part of the organ that connects to and powers the pipes. The wind chest for this early organ consisted of a large chamber partly filled with water.

The wide mouth of a funnel-like extension from the wind chest was set in the top of the water; as air pressure in the wind chest fell, water rose in the funnel and compressed the air, thus keeping the air pressure constant. The hydraulis was used for public entertainments in ancient Rome and Byzantium.

Also around back then was the bellows organ, and it was this type that was revitalized in medieval europe. The bellows organ differed in that the air pressure in the wind chest was maintained by pumping a bellows, similar to stoking a fire or heating a forge. Most organists would pump the bellows themselves, however particularly influential or acclaimed ones could have a choirboy or apprentice pump it for them – kind of a pain, especially when practicing for 6+ hours a day.

Each region in 15th-18th century Europe developed their own style of organ building and playing, with the German style being particularly renowned. German organs were what Bach played, and wrote most of his organ works for. It wasn’t uncommon for an organ piece to be written with a specific organ in mind, as much of their sound was dictated by the acoustic qualities of the building – usually a church, and thusly differed greatly.

Johann Sebatian Bach is probably the most famously recalled organist of the baroque era, But his predecessor Dietrich Buxtehude was also pretty awesome, and influenced Bach a lot.

Oddly, Bach wasn’t regarded as a composer in his lifetime, but rather was renowned for his skills as an organist. His skills were widely desired across germany to assess the quality of newly constructed organs, tune them, and also play them. It wasn’t until after his death that his composed works experienced a rise in popularity that persists to this day.

Bach is also the most represented artist on the Voyager Golden Record, a phonograph record included in two Voyager missions on the off chance that another civilization intercepts them.

Here’s a link to my favorite organ composition by Bach: J.S.Bach G minor fugue (the great) BWV 542/2. “the great” in this case differentiates it from the potentially more known ‘Little’ Fugue in G Minor.

You can usually find arrangements (orchestral, guitar, string quartet, etc) of various compositions in the related links, they’re definitely worth checking out as well, especially since with the audio quality of youtube the organ can tend to blur a bit and be relatively indistinguishable at times.

Also, you can’t really have a post about organs and Bach without Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

Technorati Tags: Music History, Music Monday, The Organ

By Mike Skelton

TourSavant is a relatively new online music service that helps artists book tours in North America. If you are an artist or a manager that has touring in their future I suggest checking out what TourSavant has to offer.

Founded in 2008 by Paul Rogers (not Paul Rodgers of Bad Company/Queen), TourSavant’s services include an auto tour router using Google Maps, a loadable Mastercard that allows bands to get discounts at certain US gas stations and hotels (coming soon in 2010), a ranked and band rated venue database, a GigTonight service (receive texts when you have an night off and a venue in your area has an available slot), and more.

The basic service package costs $12.95 a month but you have to pay the first year’s costs up front. There is also a TS Pro package that costs $89/month for members and $169/month for non-members. Buying Pro gives you 24/7 access to experienced tour managers that will help you with any problems that arise on the road (and they will arise) as well as the ability to ask veteran managers, label heads, and lawyers questions about touring.

I recommend at least checking out this site if you are in or involved with a band that is booking its own tour. If you lack tour booking experience and are without a tour manager than TourSavant may be worth it.
Watch the video below for more detail on TourSavant’s features.

Technorati Tags: Mike Skelton, online, Paul Rogers, touring, TourSavant, virtual

By: Connor

Allow me to present one of my favorite groups: Futuristic Sex Robotz
They encourage you to pirate their music, which was available on their website as to do otherwise would be pretty hypocritical. How so, you ask? well, check out “Fuck The MPAA” As the title suggests, the song contains explicit lyrics: don’t play it for any 4 year olds, no matter how pissed off at the RIAA you may be.

Nerdcore is a genre of hip-hop that’s defined as “A sub-genre of hip hop music characterized by themes and subject matter considered to be of general interest to nerds, though it can appeal to others as well.” Further, Nerdcore used to be relatively unique in promoting free music and online distribution. As this is becoming increasingly more common and popular, it’s no longer so defining to the genre.

Unfortunately, Futuristic Sex Robotz have been inactive since early 2007 or so, and their website is now inactive. Further, being nerds – and therefore knowledgeable about computers and html and how search engines work – they’ve excluded it from crawlers and it can’t be accessed via the Wayback Machine either.

For more FSR, check out the two videos embedded below, The Positronic Pimp, a rap about the Star Trek character Data and Back To The Future, a rap about the titular movie. Alternately, browse around on Last.fm or google “Futuristic Sex Robots +torrent”
What you’re looking for is their album ‘Hotel Coral Essex.’ Here’s the track list:

1. Van on Fire
2. Welcome to the Internet
3. Back in the Day
4. Law & Order
5. ***** the MPAA
6. The Positronic Pimp
7. Hey, Ladies
8. WoW
9. Dishwasher
10. LiveJournal
11. Back to the Future
12. Don’t Make Us Kick Your Ass
13. Empornium
14. If I Ruled the World
15. Checking Out

Next up, MC Frontalot, another nerdcore artist. He’s widely credited with coining the term ‘nerdcore’ in 2000, although there were arists rapping about nerdy subjects prior to him. He gained fame through his victories on SongFight! where he was known for never losing a songfight – in the case of Romantic Cheapskate he rips on Songfight and its users, and still recieves 614 votes. The runner up? 28 votes.

He still tours , and in the nerdcore tradition his music is freely available in multiple formats on his website, although he’s not adverse to accepting your money in exchange for cool merch either. Check out his song as an example of entertaining ways to ask your fans to pay you.Charity Case

Finally, if any of this nerdcore talk tickles your fancy, check out Nerdcore Rising, a documentary style film about the Nerdcore movement

Futuristic Sex Robots – The Positronic Pimp

Futuristic Sex Robots – Back to the Future (Fan made Video)

Technorati Tags: Futuristic Sex Robotz, hip hop, MC Frontalot, Nerdcore, rap

By: Connor

Check out this video of Enrique Ugalde, also known as Soriah. He is known for his mastery of Tuvan Throat Singing, a style of singing where two or more pitches sound over a throaty drone. This music takes a bit of getting used to but once you’re accustomed to it, it sounds amazing.

The art of Tuvan throat singing is a style in which two or more pitches sound simultaneously over a fundamental pitch, producing a mesmerizing, even entrancing sound.

The history of Tuvan throat singing reaches very far back. Many of the male herders can throat sing, and women are beginning to practice the technique as well. The popularity of throat singing among Tuvans seems to have arisen as a result of geographic location and culture.

The open landscape of Tuva allows for the sounds to carry a great distance. Ethnomusicologists studying throat singing in these areas mark khoomei as an integral part in the ancient pastoral animism that is still practiced today.

Often, singers will travel far into the countryside looking for the right river, or will go up to the steppes of the mountainside to create the proper environment for throat-singing.

Technorati Tags: Enrique Ugalde, Overtone Singing, Soriah, Throat Singing, Tuvan

by Duke

Canadian Music Week 2010 is slated for March 10-14, and it looks like it’ll be a blast.

The list of speakers for the conference is awesome – a who’s who of everything we’ve been talking about here since I came on board. Oh wait… Lily Allen won’t be there. Oh well…

The other really interesting thing is this new one-day film festival, held at NFB Cinema, National Film Board of Canada, 150 John Street, Toronto on Saturday, March 14th. It’s the first time films (and their scores of course) will be a part of CMW. It’s free with a festival wristband, but if you only want to see the films (and the panels & interviews that go with them), you need only bring $10 for admission, a bit of scratch for food and your most comfortable pair of shoes.

The artist line-up has yet to be announced. Sadly, this does not mean you still have a few minutes left to apply; deadline was November 30th. Next year…?

Thanks to Atherton for the link-up.

Technorati Tags: canadian music week, cmw, national film board, nfb

By: Connor

For those of you wishing the holiday cheer had a little more wailing guitar solos and a little less crying babies sitting with Santa in the mall while their parents try unsuccessfully to calm them and a jazz arrangement of jingle bells plays in the background, your day is about to get better.

Allow me to present “We Wish You A Metal Christmas And A Headbanging New Year”, a compilation metal Christmas album that came my way last year. It’s hilariously tongue in cheek and features some decent musicians. I like ‘Silent Night’ the best. If you’re looking for a change of pace while decorating the tree this year, check it out.

There seems to be a Myspace page for the album, but its an eyesore and you’ll have to scroll down about 3/4ths of the way to shut off some auto-playing music. You’ve been warned.
Amazon.com

Technorati Tags: Christmas Music, Music Oddities, We Wish You A Metal Christmas

By: Connor

How can a band make $1,000,000 without a major label? It requires less to get the ball rolling than you might think. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, based in Brooklyn, NY and Philadelphia, PA, did just that after self-releasing their first album.

Thanks to favorable mentions on various MP3 Blogs and a “best new music” commendation from Pitchfork Media, demand for their album exceeded their initial run and the band was forced to press more CD’s to keep up with the demand. Rather than sign on with a major label, CD distribution was facilitated via a whole bunch of trips to the local post office. Since 2005, the band has sold more than 125,000 copies in the U.S. at shows and online.

The end result?
Each CD costs about 2$ in materials to press. The band sold them for 10$ a CD, a fairly acceptable price. $8 profit per CD and less than $10,000 to record and produce the album leaves them sitting on roughly $1,000,000 – not too shabby for a D. I. Y. release.

Comparatively, most artists only see $1 a CD maximum from a major label, with most not even seeing that.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah signed with Wichita Records in October 2005 to facilitate distribution in the UK, but remain unsigned in the U.S.

Why It’s Important:
Never before in music history has technology been advanced enough that the average musician can fill the role of producer, label, creative artist, and promoter from their own home. Mainstream exposure used to be limited to Ed Sullivan and the radio, which only played the most popular (read: major label backed) acts.

Now, thanks to the internet, The Long Tail, and social media, artists don’t need to depend on major labels for the exposure required to make a living. Niche markets that were ignored in the past can be addressed via MP3 pod-casting (amongst other options) and PayPal makes it simple for your fans to give you their money.

This is only the tip of the iceberg; with the increasing popularity and integration of social media and web 2.0 platforms, bands are not only selling CD’s online, but other merchandise and exclusive offers with great success.

Another more recent – and local – example is Andrea Gauster, who’s currently an artist with Broken Window Records. She’s taking advantage of Euphonic Sound’s Studio 2.0 offering, and was recently mentioned in a CBC Radio 3 podcast. Here’s what Euphonic Sound has to say about her newest single:

Released on November 8, a brand new Andrea Gauster single called “Christmas Without You”. This time producer James Pew contributes electric guitar, back up harmony vocals, and Hammond Organ. Bass arangement by Shawn Daley, performed by Freddy Gabrsek. You can hear it for free or download it for $0.99 at Andrea’s Bandcamp Artist Page

For more on the desirability of a major label and when (if ever) it’s a wise business move, check out Why do you still want a Major Label Deal so early into your career? by Shawn Daley.

Technorati Tags: Andrea Gauster, Broken Window Records, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, do it yourself, studio 2.0, The Long Tail

By: Connor

How I came across this video is too convoluted to recall, I think I started at drum tuning. However, before I saw this, my perception of accordions was limited to buccaneer music and ‘french’ music. (thank you, Amélie) After listening, I have a newfound respect for accordions, which in all honesty should have been there in the first place.

Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor – audio quality could be better, but hey, it’s YouTube.

If that didn’t convince you to accept accordions, maybe this video will. If you already think accordions are awesome, you’ll still like this.

Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumble Bee

Technorati Tags: Accordion, Amélie, Bach, classical, Music Monday, Speed Playing

By: Connor

Whether you’re a drummer or not, here’s a pretty cool video from Artists House Music featuring drummer John Toomey. In the video, he shows you how to play a beat in 6/8 time with 5 degrees of separation in it. Probably the coolest part is the separation he has in his left foot, playing one beat with his heel and another with the ball of his foot. Check it out below!

John Toomey is a professional drummer in Nashville. He has toured internationally, headlined Johnny Rabb’s Drummer League Showcase in 2008, and plays in various bands in the Southern United States. His current project is a band called Mannah out of Nashville. Toomey attended Loyola New Orleans pre-Katrina and moved to Nashville post-Katrina where he graduated from the Belmont College of Music with a degree in percussion.

Technorati Tags: Artists House Music, Drum Lesson, John Toomey

by Duke

Thank the gods for satire.

Turns out the story we ran about African leaders’ efforts to revive U2’s flagging popularity was – as I had hoped – just a joke. Bill Easterly left us a comment apologizing for any confusion he may have caused.

Sir, no apology is necessary. In this life, satire is the lifeblood of sanity.

Having said that, I hope Studio Manifesto readers will forgive me for misreading (and consequently misrepresenting) the situation.

Technorati Tags: Africa, Bill Easterly, U2

UPDATE: This article is satire…we weren’t sure at first, but its definitely a joke!!!

by Duke

This is the weirdest thing I’ve seen in a long time.

African leaders gathered to discuss solutions to a rising crisis. No, not the rampant spread of AIDS or the impending desertification of the entire continent. Something even worse.

What will happen to U2 without Africa’s help?

uh… What?

That’s right. Commission chair Nelson Mandela (back from the dead, if you believe anything GWB said) announced an action plan to save U2 from its own “low quality” music, which has “lost touch with its African roots.” This plan includes (but is presumably not limited to) the following key points:

1) Hire African consultants to analyze U2’s “poverty of music trap”

2) Prepare a Band-owned and Commission-approved Comprehensive U2 Reform Strategy Design (CURSD)

3) Undertake a rehabilitation tour of African capitals to field-test and ground-truth proposed reforms

4) Subject all songs to randomized experiments in which the effect on wellbeing of control and treatment groups is rigorously assessed.

I thought this was a joke. There’s still a chance that this is one of those “hoax” thingies, but author William Easterly is a respected Professor of Economics at New York University and Co-Director of NYU’s Development Research Institute. He’s also editor of Aid Watch blog, Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and Co-Editor of the Journal of Development Economics. The odds against this being a joke are enough to cause even the most reckless gambler to cringe in terror.

Africa definitely has bigger problems than saving Mandela’s favorite band from themselves. Surely the time and money could be put to better use. Seriously. The people of Africa would be better served with a free K’naan concert… As would anybody.

Read the article at Aidwatch

Technorati Tags: Africa, Mandela, U2

By: Philip Newman

Kyle Bylin writes about the changing of times, how both fans musicians, have adapted to these changes, and how they’re exploiting them.

The artists exploit them to keep fans interested, and the fans exploit them to keep interest with the artists. Its an amazing cycle.

As has been stated before, there’s much detail put into the fact that all of this involvement is required by artists today, to keep fans, and its hard work as well.

The key is: with popularity, comes more of a workload, but more of a payoff.

Its hard work, but its worth it in the end.

It used to be that if you worked really hard as an artist and garnered a large enough following through blood, sweat, and tears — that if you did these things, played enough shows, and were patient enough — a record label might sign you. And, if you were able to consistently make music that people loved and albums that sold millions of copies, you could make music for a living. The rest of the more mundane details and business arrangements would be taken care of by your label, and one day, if you were successful enough, you may never have to actually make music ever again. As counterintuitive as that seems, becoming a top tier artist meant that you could, in a sense, pursue other interests. But those dreams have come and gone faster than anyone wanted to anticipate.

From Hypebot

Technorati Tags: advice, broadband culture, fans, Hypebot, promotion, Social Media & Marketing