Last week when I posted about this free compilation I failed to note Toyota’s involvement.
Smart move on their part. Just giving credit where due and suggesting you take a listen with their embedded player in this post (if you have not yet downloaded it) - which much to my surprise does not include any Toyota branding….

“Partnering up with brands to release great new music in interesting ways, be it with a compilation like this, providing the soundtrack for a product release, or using our depth of catalog to provide the ambience for a film, a whole series worth of television, or video game is something we not only are willing, but are quite excited to do.” - Ghostly Director of Publishing and Licensing, Jeremy Peters

Via Ten Music and Ad Age

Continue reading for the widget - had to hide it to stop the autoplay (more…)

Derek Sivers is the founder and CEO of CD BABY which is a popular choice for indie artists to get their music out to the masses. I was skeptical, as I always am of anything new, when I first learned of CDBABY but I have always tried to experiment with how I got my music to people and figured what the hell. Since launching my album with CDBABY a year ago I have actually gotten paid, a few times so my skeptisism was quickly replaced with excitement.

I have since grown to become a fan of Derek’s blog and his insight into the music business. He gives away a tonne of great info on www.cdbaby.net and I recommend all artists take some time to read the advice portion of the website.

I recently stumbled upon Derek’s blog and found this awesome post so I thought I’d share it. The reason this all rings so true to me right now is partly due to the fact that I have recently taken part in the Cape Breton International Drum Festival. It was really inspiring to see world class drummers (seriously famous drummers if you know about drummers) coaching younger people and driving the point home that to “make it” they have to perfect their skills. If bands focused on getting good first instead of getting gigs/recording/money they would get further in the business of music.

borrowed from: http://sivers.org/pigs-sharks

I spoke at a conference last weekend, where a woman in the audience was SO mad about piracy that she was physically shaking, red in the face, tears in her eyes, fuming spitting livid, asking how we can stop this rampant piracy.

I didn’t answer her concern well, but I said “More people are killed by pigs than sharks each year, but because shark attacks are more newsworthy, they seem more prevalent. Piracy gets all the attention, but I don’t think most of you in this room have lost more than $30 to piracy.” (I got a big “Booo” from the audience for this.) “Obscurity is your real enemy. Fight obscurity until you’re a household name, then piracy will be more of a problem than obscurity. Until then, worry about pigs, not sharks.”

The woman got so furious about this that she screamed at me with tears in her eyes, “I HATE YOUR POINT OF VIEW, BUDDY!” (and some other angry things I forget.) From her point of view, piracy was Enemy #1 and anybody ignoring this massive threat was hurting us all.

Driving away from the event, of course I figured out what I wish I would have said in that moment:

The thing separating us from where we are and where we need to be is not piracy.

It’s always something more internal, whether writing, communicating, producing, networking, promoting, or taking a wildly different approach to marketing.

Putting so much attention and energy into fighting piracy (as if, when solved, you’ll suddenly start selling 10 times more) - is misguided effort, distracting you from what you really need to be improving.

That’s the real reason I often tell musicians not to worry about piracy. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist. But energy spent worrying about it is energy better spent working on what you know you really need to do.

From Darcy at Divorce:

I am trying to clear space for new records, so until May 9th shipping in Canada is free on orders over $45. The usual 4% fee will still be charged for all pay pal transactions. Quantities are limited and availability changes quickly (sometimes before I can change the website). Prices for pick-up and Lost and Found remain the same.

Shipping on LPs is usually around $10 in Canada, so this is a good deal. Check out the facebook group or divorcerecords.ca for information. Thanks.

Continue reading for the full catalogue (more…)

Ghostly International and Adult Swim team up to deliver a free electronic focused album [in the past Adult Swim has done more hip-hop focused music projects including work with DangerMouse]

You get 19 free tracks - all for download w/artwork or streaming on the site - including the newest Tycho single. There is also a video for the first song if you look down in the lower right corner.

It is the artwork I really like on this project. When I first saw the site I instantly thought “vinyl” in relation to the album artwork and its size on the site. Developing covers that can work as the foundation for the artist’s website to be built around them might be an idea more designers should try pitching to artists and artists should consider regardless. Oh and I think the artwork itself is beautiful.

From the Ghostly site:

Record label Ghostly International and modern cult classic programmers [Adult Swim] have paired up for a compilation of new music and art*.

A genre-busting 19-song collection, stretching the entire Ghostly International galaxy, Ghostly Swim explores the Avant-Pop style that the Ann Arbor/New York City label has been been championing for the past 9 years. Ghostly Swim features artists like Matthew Dear, Dabrye, Tycho and Aeroc and features new signings like UK cult band The Chap and NYC producer Michna.

The free collection also includes favorite friends of the label like School Of Seven Bells, and Detroit’s Deastro, Milosh (Plug Research), FLYamSAM (Warp’s Flying Lotus and SAMIYAM), and Dark Party (Mush). Along with the new music, BoyCatBird (Ghostly’s mascots) make their animated debut in the awesome “City Suckers” video by Daniel Garcia/Superfi.

Also- check out BoyCayBird’s new website, where you can download, avatars, desktop wallpaper and more.

* Love the emphasis of how it is a compilation of new music AND art.

Go vote over at Wired

Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have been taking turns giving the music industry the finger. The British band made headlines last October for releasing In Rainbows without the support (read: control) of a record label, and Trent Reznor’s group followed suit with last month’s Ghosts I-IV.

The two bands have also been busy one-upping each other with their innovative promotion strategies. We were tempted to let the groups coexist peacefully at the forward edge of digital distribution until Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor accused Radiohead of betraying fans by selling them low-quality files. In light of Reznor’s accusations, we put together a 10-round, voting-enabled smackdown to find out which band is really blazing the trail of innovation.

Title is a comment taken from Digg.com regarding the newest Nine Inch Nails`record

Nine Inch Nails presents Ghosts I - IV, a brand new 36 track instrumental collection available right now. Almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I - IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.

Trent Reznor explains, “I’ve been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn’t have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I’m very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts.”

And if you don`t want to buy it or even download it from the official site, but prefer to get it via your usual torrent site, well it is already on private torrent sites. The best part being how clear it is who put them there.

The site is currently UP, but from another comment, pricing details:

FREE DOWNLOAD
Ghosts I - The first 9 tracks from the Ghosts I-IV collection available as
high-quality DRM-free MP3s (320kbps LAME encoded, fully tagged) including complete 40 page PDF. Also includes the digital extras pack - various wallpapers, icons, and graphics tools for your computer, website, profile, etc.

$5 DOWNLOAD
Ghosts I-IV - All 36 tracks in a variety of DRM-free digital formats (320
kbps LAME encoded, fully tagged; FLAC Lossless; Apple Lossless) including a 40
page PDF. Also includes the digital extras pack - various wallpapers, icons,
and graphics tools for your computer, website, profile, etc.

This version is also available from the Amazon MP3 store.

$10 2XCD SET
Ghosts I-IV - 2 audio CDs in a gatefold digipak package with a 16-page
booklet. To be shipped TBD. Includes immediate DRM-free download of the
entire collection in same choice of formats as $5 Download option. Download
will include the 40 page PDF and the digital extras pack - various wallpapers,
cons, and graphics tools for your computer, website, profile, etc.
This configuration will be released to retail in North America (April 8), Australia (April 5), the UK (April 8), Japan (April 5) and most European territories (April 8).

$75 LIMITED EDITION DELUXE PACKAGE
Ghosts I-IV - Hardcover book holding 2 audio CDs, 1 data DVD of all 36
tracks in multi-track format (in .wav files readable by Mac and Windows), and
Blu-ray disc featuring stereo recordings in high-definition 24 bit 96Khz with
exclusive slide show. Includes immediate DRM-free download of the entire
collection in all formats and with all extras mentioned above. Also includes
48-page hardcover of photographs by Phillip Graybill and Rob Sheridan.
Discs and art book both housed in fabric slipcover.

$300 ULTRA-DELUXE LIMITED EDITION PACKAGE
Ghosts I-IV - Contains all elements from deluxe package, along with
exclusive 4XLP 180-gram vinyl set, and two limited edition Giclee prints
available exclusively in this package. Disc book, art book, and prints are
all housed in a fabric slipcover. 4XLP vinyl set comes in its own fabric
slipcover. INCLUDES immediate DRM-free download of the entire collection in
all formats and with all extras mentioned above. LIMITED TO 2500 PIECES,
NUMBERED AND PERSONALLY SIGNED BY TRENT REZNOR.

From Pampelmoose:

Today I came across Aphilas a DJ duo out of Finland who mix electronic and organic downbeat into trip hop mish mash. The interesting part to this music discovery is that the EP is released as MP3s for free from Miasmah a free MP3 record label

Pamplemoose is one of my regular reads, what is it, in his own words:

Dave Allen, bass player for Gang of Four, posts daily on this music blog about well, music. Beyond that the scope embraces popular culture, online distribution, blogs, podcasts, the decline of the music industry and a large dose of what’s going on in the vibrant Portland, Oregon music scene. Pampelmoose also offers free and legal music downloads for your enjoyment.

I have mentioned a blog post about the importance of local in every 8th post I have made and it will be finished soon, but I do appreciate that he feels it is worth covering his own scene where he is residing and that doing so is an important part of his blogging as I feel it is regardless of what else you cover.

Check it out regardless of whether you want local perspectives or not!

But it’s important to specify just what I mean when I say Myles Deck and the Fuzz are punk–these guys have a raw sound and talk about more than being bullied because of excess eye makeup–and they show their chops on Beware the Fuzz!…All twelve songs clock in at a total of just under 29 minutes, on the track’s frantic energy. Despite being short, all the songs have character, there’s no filler on this disc…Beware the Fuzz! is 30 minutes of high octane punk rock done right.

Complete review on the Fuzz’s MySpace blog

Oh, and since Myles posted it, check out the GLOWING review from MRR.
My first death threat I am pretty certain!

I am stealing this quote from a post Mack Collier made on his The Viral Garden blog. While he mentioned it regarding the originating company’s intention to reach out and empower their evangelists, if you replace evangelists, since few bands seem to refer to their fans as such, with ah, fans, you are talking about one and the same and it is a great point all bands interested in building a long-term career should take note of:

We enjoy talking to our customers one-to-one. It really is in our nature. We never worry about the fact that this is inefficient because we are only talking to 50 or 60 or a thousand or ten thousand instead of a million. Which you do when you try to slap everybody on the ass with an advertising message. Because we know that our next customers are going to come from their efforts, not from our efforts.

I have mentioned the Viral Garden [and the point I am about to make again] in the past, and it represents just one quick example of finding great ideas and information that can be applied to your music career in places you may not expect to find it and likely you aren’t looking.