Dotted Music» Features

Dotted Music Wishes You A Merry Christmas!

Andrew Apanov — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 11:42:06 +0000

It’s that time of year again. Festive, snowy and white, Christmas is upon us. Here at Dotted Music, we value the music in Christmas. From timeless Christmas crooners like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, to Mr Christmas contemporary, Michael Bublé, music enjoys an indispensible role in the way we celebrate the festivities.

Image credit: Megson

If we are indebted (and we are) to anyone for the blog’s success in 2011, it is to you, the faithful reader.

We’d like to thank you for your continuing interest, devotion, and feedback this year.

The outstanding moment in our year was marked by the unprecedented success of Chris Purifoy’s Defining The Music Industry Crisis, which garnered 340 shares on social-networking site, Facebook, with a further 140 tweets on Twitter.

We look to expand our online profile in 2012. This calendar year we have worked towards building our presence on both Facebook and Twitter. We have achieved our short term goals, but we fully intend on expanding still further: if you enjoyed reading Dotted Music in 2011, you are going to love what we have in store for you in 2012.

From the Dotted Music Team,

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Keep the music in your festivities.

Why Direct 2 Fan?

Andrew Apanov — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:48:56 +0000

Here’s a cool crowdsourced video we received from MIDEM reps. Features Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, solo artist Zoe Keating, manager Emily White and more artists, managers and experts talking on why direct-to-fan is the way forward. Below are the timecodes for each person (the original list is available here), watch the YouTube video blow.

Artists

Ed O’Brien, Radiohead: The key relationship is the one between the band and the people who like that band. And we have this wonderful means to achieve that now: through the web.
00:21 Zoe Keating, solo artist: It’s probably the only way an experimental artist like me could succeed. Becasue there is nobody between me and the fans, the only decisions are artistic ones.
00:57 Gold Motel (Greta Morgan & Dan Duszynski): As music lovers, we all know how much you appreciate it when you get to meet somebody you love. So now we’re actually in a band, it’s nice to be able to reach out that way whenever somebody is interested.
01:19 Michelle Phelan, Carosel: I like to have quite a personal relationship with fans. I do talk to them, I respond to every message. People seem to want a very authentic experience; I’m happy to do that. My (personal) Facebook page is open to everybody.
01:40 Sydney Wayser, solo artist: More and more artists are going to be figuring out what they want to say and how they want to present it to their fans, and I’m just excited to see what everyone comes up with!

Managers

02:25 Emily Gonneau, Unicum Music (OK Go (EU), Carosel, Emilie Chick): It’s about time artists took centre stage of the music business. So many artists have been empowered by D2F to decide what, when and how they want express themselves, so that we their partners can just focus on serving that vision and getting the job done.
02:56 Emily White, Whitesmith Entertainment (Brendan Benson, Gold Motel, Sydney Wayser, Urge Overkill): D2F is crucial, as the number one way to get music from the artists to the fans. So instead of relying on expensive radio promo teams or publicists… we can email fans, and ask for a tweet or a like for free tracks. That way we retain their info and they keep coming back, hopefully for the artist’s entire career.

Experts

03:30 Sam McGregor, Good Lizard Media: D2F allows artists to customise their retail model directly and specifically to their own fans, which means that experience is better suited to them, leading to a longer-lasting and more profitable relationship.
03:52 David Riley, Good Lizard Media: D2F is more then just another revenue model for artists. It’s a model that both engages and develops fanbase at the same time. So you can give products to a fanbase that actually want to buy them; and by doing so creating a greater connection between artists and their fans. That way artists build a cottage industry rather than just selling one CD through a retailer.
04:19 Martin Frascogna, DIY Artist lawyer: Fans don’t necessarily need the old marketing plan that is designed to permeate the masses. D2F has not only allowed artists to bypass any old system of conformity; it allows them to organically develop a business plan that taps into their needs, and their fans’ needs as well.

To learn how you can come to MIDEM 2012 for just €295 as an artist here.

What’s That Square In Your Stocking?

Samuel Agini — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 01:53:48 +0000

According to the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI), stockings this Christmas will be filled with up to 20 million CDs.

Special Editions Win Prizes

It’s significant that the prediction relates to physical sales (unless stockings have gone digital), especially when bearing in mind last month’s big news about record-breaking digital album sales in 2011.

So what is keeping the cumbersome physical CD from being consigned to last year’s Christmas stocking? What keeps it relevant?

The answer, according to the BPI, is to be found in Deluxe and Special Edition CDs, which now account for one in ten physical album sales.

Is the answer to the CD’s continued relevance truly found in its packaging?

Special editions, for the most part, are pricier and heavier than their standard release equivalents; surely the contemporary consumer, so prone to illegal downloading and carrying hundreds of kilograms worth of CDs on an iPod, is more tech savvy than to actually buy a special edition album.

But it can’t even be the bonus tracks that tempt the consumer into splashing out on a special edition CD. Okay, okay, maybe just a bit; but we all know that it’s easier just to pay a nominal fee for them on iTunes or Amazon. It would seem that we’re developing peculiar habits – hoarding silver, shiny toys, and special edition CDs.

That’s not to mock special editions – one of my prized possessions is a special edition of AFI’s Sing the Sorrow, almost ubiquitously known as Clandestine – which are the best way for fans to get value for money in buying an album. After all, does anybody really want to spend hard-earned money on a CD with packaging limited to a cardboard sleeve?

If you read too much into the BPI’s recent press releases you’ll be excused for thinking that the phenomenon of special edition CDs is a recent one.

Fortunately for music, the idea was pushed at the Grammy’s as early as 1995, with a Grammy being given for the best special edition album every year.

BPI Chief Executive, Geoff Taylor, commenting on music as a gift, said, “Music is a thoughtful and personal gift to give or receive.

“CDs gift-wrapped and delivered to your door by the retailer make an ideal gift for Christmas whilst Deluxe and Special Editions of albums make a perfect present for die-hard music fans who want to get their hands on superbly packaged albums with bonus audio and video content and a wealth of memorabilia.”

According to the BPI, in the 12 months ending September 2011, one in ten CD sales of the Top 200 best-selling artist album titles have been deluxe and special Editions.

Long may an upward trend continue.

Samuel Agini is the Editor of Andrew Apanov’s Dotted Music.

10 Commandments Of Independent Music Making

Andrew Apanov — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:08:34 +0000

I have worked 9-5 in audio for 7 years (and sometimes 5 PM to 9 AM). When I studied recording engineering and production in 1996 at Fanshawe College in Canada, it was all about big studios, getting signed to a record label, and getting radio play. We learned to use magnetic tape, but we leaned toward digital. They taught me how to get clean sound through being methodical, but also to respect the crazy girl that tries anything and everything to make her mix radical.

But now I have a “real job” and I’m producing and marketing an album from home in my “free time.” It’s really reinventing the wheel since a big record deal and mainstream radio play are a longshot and physical stores are disappearing. So I thought I’d share with Dotted Music readers what I have learned over the last year from my own experience and from leaders and pioneers of this new internet music scene such as John Oszajca, Tunecore, Jango radio, Reverbnation, and Indie Bible. Here are my current 10 Commandments to reach the goal: Getting Known and Being Paid through the Internet.

X Thou shalt make of thyself a graven image
IX Thou shalt love thy fan base as thyself
VIII Thou shalt have thy songs mastered
VII Thous shalt focus thine efforts on the few most powerful websites
VI Thou shalt give away free stuff
V Thou shalt make a video
IV Thou shalt not put thy music on a streaming cloud without reading the fine silver print
III Thou shalt not neglect thy copyright
II Thou shalt not dishonour thy timetable
I Thou shalt GET it in WRITING

X. Image

Image credit: eatshitmotherfucker on Tumblr

Create your band image and do all your bio, design and photos to emphasize that. Be consistent. As Vanessa Carlton said, “Be Not Nobody.” Not everyone will like you, will they. Let them go… But some will love you! So be what you are, and do it HARD!

Remember, the only way a journalist is going to want to do a story on you is if you HAVE a story, something unique. So define it and then play it up. And if you have snagged a radio interview, excellent! So have some predefined answers to work from, that cement your image to listeners.

Also, radio stations and record companies/distributors want a press kit. That will include a bio that is well-written and creates a mental image, 8×10 photo(s) and of course your CD with its album art and liner notes. Having all of this ready and shiny creates the image that you are professional and serious. Moreso, that you understand the industry you are entering and you want to help THEM do THEIR job. If they have your well-crafted 8×10 to pull out again later, then they’ll shudder each time (which is good), if you’re an evo death metal band, or if you were a fun-loving and upbeat dance band then look and be reminded “yeah, he was a riot.”

IX. Fan Base

Image credit: crsan on Flickr

Try to start dialogue with your fans on Twitter and Facebook. Ask them questions, demonstrate care about their lives. The most engaged fan will probably turn around and buy the interactive CD, buy the video boxed set, SHARE you, tell two friends. After all, they discovered you. On Jango internet radio, for example, if someone clicks to become a fan, the site lets you write individually to one fan, or do 2 mass emails a week. Make it personal and grateful, not just pushing your gigs or product. Reward them. Once I wrote some musical suggestions to singer on a big label. She didn’t write back. I would have liked that. I would have thought she was cool.

Speaking of Twitter, if someone follows you, you might want to follow them back. Check them out first of course. I tend not to follow anyone who tweets to their b*ches since that will be reflected on my page. If you follow back they say, hey she’s real, and maybe is even interested in me. You can always unfollow later.

VIII. Mastering

Image credit: bartku on Flickr

You’re good, youre studio’s good, your recordist is good. But you need to sound equivalent to what’s on the radio. A professional mastering engineer listens all day to new songs, shaving off the annoying peaks, increasing clarity, beefing up the bass, making your songs as loud as the world’s songs. No you don’t want to compromise or flatten your mix, but if each of your songs has the same deficiency, because of your speakers, the mastering engineer will pick it up. It doesn’t mean that anybody sucks. It just means that not all rectangular rooms and not all speakers and amps were created equal.

VII. Websites

VibeDeck

Commandment VII is probably the core commandment. Websites will help build your fan base. Twitter, Facebook, streaming radio, your videos on Youtube, Blogs. But choose maybe 3 or 4 to which you can commit to a schedule of adding content and interacting, while people’s attention is still intact. One writer commented that 4 times a day is too many tweets and one a month is too few. Have a good mix of promo and being personal with fans.

Yes, they’ll discover you on those public sites, but you need to SQUEEZE them to your PURCHASE page, perhaps to your band’s website. Consider that you got them there and they might lose interest quickly. So tell them “get my new single” or “share my player on your page” so that they’ll come to your money engine and act.

About your own personal band website: I was worried that I had to contact Moneris or somebody to give me credit processing on my page, and a web host that could set me up with adequate band width for viral downloads… and I was intimidated. Enter the WIDGET! No, not the Bruce Lee movie. The widget is enough computer code to paste into your html page so that the selling machine that someone else already created can be placed on your personal page AND handle downloads and payment! My band Max Jam is able to sell MP3s on Reverbnation, Bandcamp, Vibedeck, The Sixtyone, AmazonMP3, iTunes etc. etc.

Now, iTunes does reportedly 80% of internet music sales in the world. So you want to be there. To be there you must pay Tunecore to launch your music, and then they collectively keep 30% of your sales. Enter Vibedeck! They have decided that they will always host for free and will always pass 100%, of sales collected, straight to you through Paypal, without touching any money! When I regained consciousness…

I tried to embed just the player/selling engine on my page. Was only able so far to embed the whole Vibedeck artist page. In the interest of time, I instead embedded just my Reverbnation player (2 inches square) and created a link which opens Vibedeck/Max Jam into my own page’s lower frame when the visitor clicks “Buy MP3.” Here is my temporary website if you want to read the source code.

VI. Free Stuff!

Image credit: brendanmills on Flickr

Napster pioneered free stuff. Unfortunately. Now it’s expected. Yes, do give away a song, but I would do it as a reward for what you need: more fans, more exposure. I personally wouldn’t give away the song that I expect to gross the most money in sales, unless it’s to the hardcore fans that have true respect and have shown loyalty. You share stuff in order to reach more people, to foster gratitude, and once they know how cool you are, to attract them to the paid stuff and concerts. Saying “come and download my single for free” might bring lots of people to your page, so maybe make them earn the single by sharing your link or your player somewhere else.

Also, here’s a sort of Digital Copyright Management that I think I invented: If you’re giving away CDs to strangers, that you made from wave files, you’re basically giving away your master. No, no, no. Only for paying customers. Instead, use iTunes to convert to a 256 or 320 kbps MP3 file, then use iTunes AGAIN to convert that MP3 back to WAVE!! Now you can burn, basically, a 256 quality CD which sounds as good the net, probably quite good, but if they rip it to put it on torrents… ooo… what’s that nasty warbling? I heard of a DJ who lowers his mixes to about -50 dB on his CDs, so people can turn them up to hear them, but not enough to DJ with them! And if you now Normalize that, you’re going to be the proud heir of artifacts from heck.

V. Video

Image credit: sko11ie on Flickr

A music video is like a ribbon on a gift, or value-added packaging. It makes the music sound better than it is. Even if it’s just home-movie of your band playing the song through once, it’s more content to enjoy and to get to know the musicians and build your image (see commandment X). Yes, do a pro video if you can afford it, yes, submit it to MTV. But if you can’t, you can still do a great job with a high-end Nikon or Canon photo camera and a TRIPOD and free software. The critics are saying that even MTV is dying slowly.

When you put it on Youtube, make sure you fill out the tags, and make most of the tags for all of your videos identical, so that all of them come up together. There is another cool idea out there: do a cover and tag it to resemble the original hit singer. This could be your first big exposure on the coattails of someone who has guaranteed traffic.

As for editing programs, I have torn out more hair using Windows Movie Maker, but Cyberlink DVD PowerDirector rocks my world. It has effects, picture in picture, titles, the list goes on.

IV. Cloud

Soundcloud

I think “the cloud” is designed to steal revenue from CD sales and even iTunes. It’s more like “the smokescreen.” Apparently people want it. So you’ll consider putting your music there but: READ THE FINE PRINT. Do they say that they have the right to “copy, distribute, use your music in any medium existing now or in the future, without restriction, in perpetuity?” What do they mean? Is that what you want? You can’t remove it?

Should you click AGREE?? Maybe just not your hit, eh? And do read your options carefully, because you may be able to set your song as preview-only, or hidden except to invitees. This is the case on Soundcloud where technically you could create a private listening room to which you “invite” DJs or A&R reps but no one else can enter. Incidentally, those scary rights paraphrased above are from Soundcloud!

III. Copyright

Learn what forms of copyright you will own. Performance Rights (to broadcast, perform, or stream the composition), Mechanical Rights (to reproduce and sell copies of the master recording), Synchronization Rights (to grant a licence and be paid if someone uses the song in a radio ad or a movie).

You will only have performance right if you wrote the song, and you will only have all of it for sure if you get it in writing with your band who wrote what, and how much. Lyrics are 50%, music is 50%. The owner of mechanical rights and sync rights will be the person who paid to record the album, who recorded it, who bought or licenced the rights. But only one of those people, and only the one who made it clear. You should deposit your recordings with the U.S. Library of Congress to prove your copyright in composition and prior use, and register your songs with a collector of performance royalties, such as SOCAN in Canada, BMI in the U.S.

Collectors of mechanical royalties such as the CMRRA (Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency) and AMRA (American Mechanical Rights Agency) will police your physical master use if you register your work with them. Then if someone wants to reproduce your song on an anthology, for eg., they will have to negotiate the licence with CMRRA/AMRA if you’re in N.A.

II. Timetable

Image credit: webbr on Flickr

Dude, if you’re going to create hype for your album, your album better be ready for paid download or shipping when you release it. If you’re going to get local radio play, your album better be on consignment in the local CD store the next day. If not, what did you just hype? Either leave yourself enough time for snags to occur, or scale back your goals when you realize that you’re behind. You are creating DEMAND, so you had better have the SUPPLY ready, or you just lost your chance.

You might find it easier to do one single at a time, therefore, which has the benefit of keeping the hype flowing. You might want to hold off on getting a review or interview until the 4th song of your 4-song EP is mastered (somewhat autobiographical :)

I. Get It In Writing

Image credit: mr.curtispope on Flickr

And the corrollary: get it in writing. Did I mention getting it in writing? This includes…

The Split: of what band member is responsible for what percentage of lyrics and what percentage of music composition.

The Deliverables: your manager or PR firm will do what for you, how often, for what total fee or percent of GROSS? or NET?

Usually you want it net, because you know the costs are going to come from your pocket.

Any licensing deal: where they’re going to use your song as a theme, or a background, make sure they’re going have the right to use it only for a defined period, only the length and number of times specified and only in that medium. Run like heck if the contract says they can use it “in any medium, existing now or in the future, and in perpetuity.”

I say get it in writing, but it should be proactive, so PUT IT in writing and get them to sign. Sure they might disagree, and sure you might renegotiate the split, but hey, at least you’re still TALKING, and you haven’t lost any money yet! If you feel guilty because you want to take the contract to a lawyer to have them read it over, then you must be Canadian. Take it to a lawyer. You can’t afford the $100 bucks visit, nor can you afford to give away the $100, 000 because you were sued for 50% copyright. But don’t take it to your cousin the labour lawyer, take it to an Entertainment Lawyer. Search online for one.

These ten commandments for independent music making were presented in a top-ten list format, not just to confuse the church, but moreso to focus attention on Commandment I, Get it in Writing. You can do all those things, but if it’s not in writing, all you have is 99% of the good will, while your bass player only has 1% of it :) In summary, if you know who you are, and what you are trying to sell, and when, then coordinate all of your media to support each other, you will have a reference point for fine tuning your plan, and you will maximize your success.

By Christopher Dicks, Recording engineer, Producer, Co-writer of Max Jam.

Being An Artist In The 21st Century

Andrew Apanov — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:40:29 +0000

I want to talk about art.

You, the artist, have been born into a cultural sludge I like to call the ‘post-noughties 21st Century’; critics everywhere call it a cultural oblivion – music is dead.

This all comes down to a simple misunderstanding about where the music world is headed.

The sludge is this gloop of all the music created now; there is more than ever. The way to avoid this gloop is not to stop making music or to upload your music to every social network available, indeed; social networks are not the answer either. The answer is developing an audience focused on YOU. In a world where attention is scarce, it is artists who have built something that intrigues, and who have the attention of an audience that will win.

This doesn’t happen with your average rainy tuesday afternoon music, it happens with the exceptional; through the chill, the slow, the heavy, the soft. As musicians reveal themselves through their art, so listeners make their love of the artist known through investing in their world – because it’s something they’ve come to associate with.

Image credit: ache.tumblr.com

Know that a record deal is zero now. You don’t NEED the established gatekeeper. You’re aiming for Oxford or Harvard when in reality you need neither right now. What you need is the drive to do what no-one else is. The only territory worth exploring as an artist is the area without the map – the place where you need to lead the way.

Art is about the new, the fresh, the exciting.

To be an artist becomes; why me? Waiting to be picked is effectively doing nothing at all. Novelists can’t afford to spend their lives waiting for a publisher to choose them anymore so they build an audience, collaborate with other writers and build connections globally.

Everyday should be a trial by fire exercise in seeing what works and what really doesn’t. Artists are really bad with rejection, because art is one of those things, that it hurts when you’re speared in the side. Know that being scared of rejection means you are doing something really close to the bone – something that matters to you, and that matters more than anything.

You innovate and change. There’s no such thing as failing. You don’t get ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than those guys over there. There is no better or worse in music, only ‘listened to’ and ‘not listened to’.

Music is not a neutral exercise – some people will always be pissed off with everything.

There is a future to music, of course. Yours starts when the clock hand reaches the next minute; what are you going to start today?

Marco writes at behyped.com on the the new way of doing things. For the artists, entrepreneurs and creative geniuses of the digital generation who are exploiting the internet to start their own stuff.

Spotify – Right Or Wrong?

Andrew Apanov — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:41:16 +0000

Spotify is the latest music platform that delivers a multitude of various genres of music, and does so at a considerably low rate. In fact for the first six months of usage, your Spotify account can be used for free. While this doesn’t get you everything that a premium service has you can build playlists, and listen to as much music as you want at the click of a button. The two premium services that are offered at $4.99 and $9.99 respectively give you a little more, including no advertisements, and the ability to be able to have your music offline via your computer or mobile device. It seems as though they are charging next to nothing per play. in reality that is true, for instance recent reports have suggested that Lady Gaga received a laughable $167 dollars for one million plays. This leaves a big question in the air whether or not Spotify has the right business model.

A common thought on the view of Spotify is that is it great for the consumer, and bad for the artist. Valid point. Considering that record labels are getting about a third of a penny per play, leaving artists with even less. So for instance, every 15 tracks you play, which is an average track number for CD’s, is going to cost you around 5 cents. Well, when it is put like that it certainly seems like stealing. Great for the consumer, considering that an average CD usually runs about $12.99. So how can this not be labelled stealing from the artists.

Spotify iPhone app's Playlists screen

To take a deeper look into the music industry, you should start by looking at the numbers. Since the late 1990′s the music industry has fallen from a 45 billion dollar industry to a 12 billion dollar industry. This is largely due to the increase in piracy, and internet distribution of media – in this case, music. Therefore artists simply are not making as much money as they did. People don’t buy CD’s because distribution of music has been made so convenient. Even things like Pandora radio station give us another alternative to buying CD’s. Spotify is the latest alternative to buying music. And just like Pandora, you do not physically own the track with Spotify.

This brings the question of how much is each track play worth to an artist. Are artist entitled to make large sums of money because of their work? I think not. As a technicality an artist is only an employee of a Record Label. Very few artists make it big without being signed to a record company. If any artist choses to go independent, more than likely they will see less success then they ever would as a signed artist. Record companies are striking up deals with Spotify obviously because there are some profits to be made. The profits may be less than they like, but without Spotify or any other music service, songs will just be pirated. Piracy is wrong, and it is unfortunate that it exists, but the problem doesn’t necessarily have to do with piracy as much as it has to do with distribution.

Just because at one point in time the only way you could buy CD’s was to go to the local store and buy one, doesn’t mean that model will always be sustainable. The music industry was making record profits during this time. Music was harder to produce, and there was only a select few who had the opportunity. Now, during our internet age, music can be delivered to your computer over the span of just a few minutes, and there are many more opportunities for artists to be successful. You can buy professional recording equipment for under $500 dollars with Pro Tools. You can broadcast yourself on YouTube. You can distribute your music on Myspace. There are endless ways to get seen these days, and the costs to produce music have gone down considerably. Artists, more than anyone else are ignoring this. Just like any other business, you are not guaranteed to make “x” amount of dollars because you or someone else has in the past.

The record companies do understand this. That is why they are making deals to be a part of it. It may not be the most beneficial to the artists, but as an artist, you cannot expect to make a large sum of money off of a market that doesn’t exist. A CD that sold for 16 dollars at one point after creation, production, packaging, shipping, and finally retail markup does not equate in today’s standards. You want to send the CD directly to someones PC in minutes, with decreased production costs and charge the same $16? Um, I don’t think so.

The music industry should look at Spotify as essentially free advertisement, that you can actually make a little bit of money from. This is especially true for artists who are under the radar, and need exposure that can be done through direct pays or from word of mouth through Spotify’s social aspect. Artists need to think about the live performance at its rawest as their main income. There is no market to sell $16 CD’s anymore, so don’t expect to make hand over fist with each CD you release.

Spotify

With all of that being said, Spotify does have one downfall. For popular artists who are dominating the number of plays, they should receive a little bit more of the profits since it is because of them that Spotify is able to have a successful business. There is no reason that a band who has just gotten off the ground should be paid the same percentage, when comparing to artists like Lady Gaga who attract millions of plays. Without the big names, many people would not be signing up to listen. For the smaller bands, it is better to look at this as an opportunity to be seen.

Spotify has definitely been generating some controversy over the inexpensive, seemingly all inclusive service of music. It is ultimately better for the consumer, than it is for the artist – but a better alternative than piracy. The music industry isn’t what it once was. Consumers can now have music faster, cheaper, and in large quantities. This isn’t exactly what musicians want to hear, but that is the reality. The internet has made things easier, and more affordable. Music is not independent from this, and therefore Spotify has made attempt to fix the problem of distribution and theft. Some people may think this is stealing, but the Record companies are making deals with Spotify. The artists are employees of the Record companies. Right now Spotify has the best business model. Our technology driven business era may change that fast, but everyone needs to understand that the same technology driven era has created Spotify out of necessity.

This article was written by Thomas Randall. Thomas likes to blog on the internet about music, web design, and other various internet related topics. He knows what it takes to get some buzz on the internet and helps to provide the best white hat SEO services.

Guitar Hero And Music Industry: Friend Or Foe?

Samuel Agini — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:54:01 +0000

It is nigh on impossible to talk about music and videogames without mentioning rhythm music games. If you are at a loss as to what I’m talking about, the games I’m talking about are those like Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

Although not the first of its kind, Guitar Hero definitely rose to fame first in this genre of video game. Designed by Harmonix and published by RedOctane, the first incarnation of Guitar Hero released in 2005; since then there have been nine main games (not including expansions and portable editions) in the series, designed by various studios (Harmonix, Neversoft, Vicarious Visions), and published by different companies RedOctane, Activision). For those that don’t know, Guitar Hero puts a plastic guitar in the players’ hands and tasks them to hit the notes in songs displayed on the screen, by accurately pressing colour coded buttons when prompted on screen. In later editions a drum peripheral was added that effectively worked in the same way as the guitar, along with a microphone which tasked the singers to keep the pitch of their voices at the correct levels (despite being allowed some creative licence with the words we sing).

Rhythm gaming experience

Guitar Hero proved itself to be a lucrative and successful franchise; however, over-saturation of the market with numerous editions finally led to the downfall of the series which was put on ice in early 2011. Guitar Hero’s main competitor was Rock Band, first released in 2007, and designed by Harmonix (who had been acquired by MTV), and published by MTV. Rock Band released six main games between 2007 and 2009 and although its sales figures weren’t as great as its competitor, it was pegged by some as the better, more representative game.

The importance of these games, however, is the need for close relations to the industry. Between them, these games featured songs from a plethora of bands and artists including Avenged Sevenfold, The Beatles, Blink-182, Green Day, Linkin Park, Nickelback, Nirvana and many, many more. The genre of the songs ranged between Metal and Pop-Rock, but DJ Hero, another game published by Activision featuring a turn table peripheral, covered the Pop, Club and Hip-Hop genres. All this music needed to be legally licensed from the respective owners and so a cordial relationship between the worlds of music and gaming was necessary for these games to work.

Although the relationship between the two industries was generally both a positive and a lucrative one, there were some major incidents that show that things don’t always run smoothly. Gibson Guitars sued companies involved in the development of both Guitar Hero and Rock Band for violating patents linked to the likeness of their guitars being used for the game peripherals. Axl Rose filed a lawsuit against Activision for its use of Welcome To The Jungle in Guitar Hero Legends Of Rock and its association with former Guns N Roses guitarist Slash. There was also an issue over the use of Kurt Cobain’s likeness in Guitar Hero 5, when his widow Courtney Love threatened to sue. So, as is apparent, the relations between the two industries aren’t always peachy.

Rhythm action games, especially Guitar Hero and Rock Band are perfect examples of how music is an integral part of gaming and in this case allowing gamers who may not have any musical talent, experience a little of what it could be like to be a rock star.

Dotted Music’s latest columnist – Alexander Goodenough – will discuss the relationship between the videogame industry and the music industry in his column. Alexander is a freelance writer whose interests range from videogames and films to music; he has experience in magazine-editing and graphic design.

What To Make Of The Spotify And Facebook Partnership

Andrew Apanov — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:54:03 +0000

Facebook marketing is no longer about the mere maintenance of your band’s Facebook page since Facebook’s release of Facebook Music and their announcement of f8 partnerships with Spotify, MOG, VEVO, Soundcloud, Turntable, and eleven others.

Until now, the reason behind signing up with Facebook has been to serve as a destination for your fans to keep up to date with the minute to minute happenings of your band and as a showcase for the mini battles that you’ve won. But Facebook’s f8 partnerships have opened up a whole new level of Facebook marketing, where offering your music through a Sonic Bids, Band Profile, or a non-partner Facebook App, despite the allure of the customizability, is no longer taking advantage of the social marketing “game” in Facebook.

Spotify on Facebook in ticker

If you’ve taken a look at the new Facebook ticker on the top right of the screen, you’ll notice your friend’s listening habits, courtesy of Spotify. Divert your eyes to the left navigation menu, below the category “APPS” and you’ll notice a permanent fixture titled, “Music.” Forget Pandora and Last.fm. Music has gone social – Facebook social.

Facebook's Music App

In theory, in a social world, users are inclined to listen to the music selected by their common denominator – namely their friends. You can see how Facebook Music has opened up an opportunity for listeners to be persuaded into listening to friend’s music tastes, instead of those of the automated machines that fuel Pandora and Last.fm.

But how this translates for musicians is that Spotify has gone from just another medium to publish your music, to THE medium for publishing your music. Prior to Facebook Music, unless you were spamming your friend’s walls with your music, you have the opportunity to capture the ears and attention of your listener’s friends.

Spotify’s Increasing User Base

Since the launch of Facebook music (and Spotify’s login changes that require a Facebook account to use the music service) according to Inside Facebook, Spotify has gained 1 million new monthly active Facebook users, up from their average of 3 million users per month. The increase in users makes it that much more necessary for your marketing arsenal.

How to get your music onto Spotify

If you’re looking to get your music up on Spotify, you can sign up for Tunecore’s music distribution service. But, as Information is Beautiful’s infographic, “How Much do Artists Earn Online“, shows, unless you’re seeing 4,053,110 plays per month of your Spotify tracks, which would earn you a minimum wage of $1,160 per month, don’t expect to be making a living using Spotify alone. Think of it as an investment into increasing your social presence.

Two Tips:

If you’re pitching your music to a particular blogger or journalist, sending them a link to your tracks on Spotify will guarantee that their network of friends will have access to your music, granted that the blogger or journalist does in fact listen to your music.
Create a custom Facebook landing page (using iFrames) that sends visitors to your Spotify tracks. As a result, upon their listening to your tracks, the news of your listener’s music choices – namely your music – will get published onto the listener’s wall and their friend’s tickers and music app.

Francis Bea is a New Yorker turned Chicago co-founder of Musefy.com (in development) and writes Musefy’s blog Musebox.

The Music Industry: Utilising Videogames

Lin — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:05:10 +0000

The importance of videogames to the music industry is often underplayed, seldom registered by fans of both industries. Much work goes into making a videogame into a final product ready for mass consumption, but some aspects are never really thought about when people are enjoying the result.

LA Noire: Soundtrack to Success Picture: IGN

Music and the role that it plays in everyone’s favourite pastime is one such aspect, and I will shine some light on the ideas behind the subtle link between these two mammoths of media.

A game’s soundtrack is integral to immersing the player in the world they find themselves in. It has many obvious uses – like a thunderous, empowering score during a huge battle sequence as the player frantically fights for survival and shoots for victory despite overwhelming odds.

But there are also subtleties at work – quiet, psychologically disturbing undertones – as a player slowly turns a corner not knowing what may jump out of the dark. So, just as in films, videogames employ a range of different music to enhance the public’s experience, ultimately immersing them into the world and storyline that has been created for their enjoyment.

L.A Noire, by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games of Grand Theft Auto fame, is a great example of a game that utilises music to its advantage. Featuring an original score by British composer Simon Hale and songwriting by British band, The Real Tuesday Weld, the music in this game aids significantly the player’s immersion into the post-WWII Hollywood setting as players take on the role of Cole Phelps of the LAPD in trying to solve various crimes. The 1940s setting is brought to life by the audio heard throughout the game which helps to anchor the player to the setting.

However, L.A Noire is also of note when talking about videogame soundtracks, thanks to its novel use of the soundtrack as a device to propel the gameplay forward. When investigating a crime scene, faint music can be heard which alerts the player to clues critical to solving the case; the music only ends when all clues have been discovered. The evidence clearly demonstrates the importance of a good soundtrack to the success of a videogame, and helped propel L.A Noire to great success.

If I’m not convincing you of the importance of music is to videogames and their success – or lack thereof – then consider this: in May 2011 world-renowned metal band, Avenged Sevenfold, wrote and recorded a new song specifically for Call Of Duty Black Ops (more specifically the game’s Escalation downloadable content pack).

This could be taken as an indication that the music industry, itself, sees, or is at least beginning to see, videogames as an alternative distribution method, or a new way to increase its fan base.

Dotted Music: The Documentary

Andrew Apanov — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 12:27:54 +0000

This is both an announcement and the beginning of one hell of a long project – an adventure. In fact, this might be the sickest Dotted Music adventure to date, and I’m inviting you to join us on the ride: we are filming a documentary on the music business.

“Ear Pleasing Noise” (the project’s working title) will answer a frequently occurring question found upon Dotted Music and countless other music marketing blogs: how can a musician break through the noise of thousands of similar artists, stand out from the crowd, become irresistible and come to thrive in this tough business?

Preparing for the trip

How can we define the ever-changing music industry of the present? It seems that the future is already upon us, with what advances brought to us by technology and Internet becoming perpetual. There is no present to the present day music industry. So how are musicians to earn a living through music in this ever-changing industry? The traditional methods of selling records, touring, attracting a fan base, or licensing songs seems are increasingly challenged by the immediacy of online services, but it seems equally tempting to forget the dream for good and work in Starbucks?

These are just a few of the questions that are to be asked and answered in this film by record label owners, managers, publishers, promoters, entertainment lawyers, bloggers, creators of online services for musicians, music startup owners, and — I bet you never expected to see them here — the musicians themselves.

The Crew

The crew is awesome. And it consists of two people – my wife, Katya, and me: Andrew Apanov. Katya is the professional TV journalist and a rising film / music videos director, and knows her stuff better than I do. So I establish and conduct the interviews, while she films everything (while telling me how to avoid looking overly stupid on film). There are more people to be involved behind-the-scenes, but I wouldn’t want to tell you too much too soon.

And how is this going to work?

At present the project’s financial needs are supported solely by myself, although I hope this to be a temporary state of affairs! There is no intention to make money with the film, primarily because the cost of production and travel aren’t exactly what you would call low even for a team as small as ours.

Train Kaliningrad-Berlin

Berlin!

After a number of initial interviews in our native Kaliningrad, the trip starts with a trip to Germany’s capital, where technology and culture meet. Actually, the trip is already underway, as I’m writing this on a train to Berlin.

Our goal is to visit iconic European cities with rich music history and developed music business, so there are many exciting places marked on our roadmap.

Come back to the this section of the blog next week for exclusive photos and reports straight from the filming process. I will be revealing the names of the interviewees over here as well. If you want instant access to exclusive Dotted Music in Berlin news, why not check out our Twitter page?

How can you contribute?

Right now I simply ask all Europe-based musicians and businesses to feel free to contact me so we might discuss how you can be involved in the documentary. I’m open to all opportunities, and although I can’t guarantee your inclusion in the documentary, I’m sure we’ll find a way to mutually benefit from this project.

PS: Wherever you are located, please answer this poll’s single question.