Supporting Tomorrow has limited places available at their enlightening seminar designed to show young people how to improve their employability and guarantee a work placement in the media industry upon completion. Clare Hudson, Director of Supporting Tomorrow and Enterprise Educator of the year 2010 will be leading the seminars. Finding good employment opportunities in the current climate is very challenging, this seminar is for anyone who is leaving education or needs some support to get that all important step on the career ladder!
Self made millionaire, Clare Hudson was brought up on one of London’s most notorious estates, but has over come many challenges to become an accomplished entrepreneur. Clare has established two successful businesses in the music industry, which have raised the profiles of Lady Gaga and Pixie Lott. This year has seen Clare awarded the ‘Women to Watch’ Award ‘Switched-on’ by Business Link and over all sfedi/Lloyds TSB Enterprise Champion of the Year’
Demand from Teachers and Parents have lead Supporting Tomorrow to design the Seminar ‘Bridging the Gap,’ to give young people an in depth insight into the world of work. Speakers from different professions including Management, Marketing, Teaching, IT, Media, and Engineering will discuss the pathways into the professions. Participants will get essential tips and advice on securing placements, interview techniques and how to stand out in a crowded jobs market.
For full details and to reserve your place click on the image below;
From the Basement describe themselves as ‘a sort of music show / labour of love produced by a small group of dedicated individuals’. Featuring HD video of world-famous artists, the site aim to show a different side of a performance – one that is not padded out with promo interviews or annoying MTV-pop presenters; by making the bands comfortable, they hope to draw out great and unique performances. Building upon established relationships and earning trust is something that the people at From The Basement strive for. Head honcho Nigel Godrich states that his personal goal is “that in the future some of these performances might be seen as the truest representation of the state of their artists work, captured in a way that lets their talents speak without the interference of presenters, or audiences”.
The site itself is simple, very clean and easy to use. So far it hosts dozens of performances from the likes of Beck, Gnarls Barkley, The White Stripes, Thom Yorke, Queens fo the Stone Age and many more.
Critically acclaimed singer/songwriter Marc Almond is back with this first complete album of self written songs since ‘Open All Night’ over a decade ago. His new CD ‘Variete’ is produced & arranged by Almond himself with the exception of 3 tracks (The Trails of Eyeliner, Bread and Circus and Soho So Long) which are produced and co-arranged by Tris Penna, who produced much of Marc’s 2007 album ‘Stardom Road’.
Almond says ‘The album deals with the themes of changing times, a yearning for simplicity, regret at loss, growing older, loneliness through the eyes of a performer, madness, letting go, acceptance, as well as obsession with nostalgia. For me the past and a sense of history is what gives us soul and humanity, gives us value. I want to celebrate nostalgia’.
We have 3 copies of ‘VARIETE’ to give away. All you need to do is email uk-info@music-jobs.com with the subject title ‘VARIETE COMPETITION’ by 5pm, Monday 26th July. The winners will be drawn at random.
Following the acquisition of a 50% equity stake in 7digital last year, HMV is set to launch their own music download store in the UK and Canada. HMV Digital has been live for several months, but currently only as a trial, and the hard launch is due sometime in the next two weeks.
Having been a huge part of the UK record-buying public for the last 91 years, and the chain has become symbolised by its iconic ‘His Master’s Voice’ dog and trumpet trademark. Launching at the beginning of a transformation in popular culture, HMV helped fuel the demand for recorded music, and over the decades the Group grew to nearly 600 stores in eight countries. Following the digital revolution of the 2000s, sharp declines in revenue and worries of a takeover, HMV has had a couple of strong years, seeing an increase in revenue in live venues, due to their purchase of the Mama group over the last 18 months. HMV has also profited by being the only remaining music retailer in many areas of the UK, following the demise of Woolworths and Zavvi.
This push into music download sales is, surprisingly, new territory for HMV; they are nine years behind Apple’s iTunes. They may have only survived this long because of their other income streams from computer games, DVDs and books (due to various smart acquisitions of the past ten years), but at least it has sustained them long enough to venture into the online music world.
I recently went through a bit of a lull in my music making, and so I decided to look to the internet to help me get more from the hardware and software that I have at my disposal. Here are some of the best video tips, tricks and tutorials I have come across. (Note: Some channels may not be dedicated purely to music production, they may also cover the blurring boundary of DJ and live performance tools, but they all have something to learn from.)
Ableton http://www.youtube.com/user/AbletonInc
One of the most powerful and limitless pieces of music software around, Ableton Live has changed the game for both recording and performing artists. From composing improvised Jazz pieces to Electronic jam bands, Ableton Inc has over 100 uploaded videos to help you find your own way.
Future Music Magazine http://www.youtube.com/user/FutureMusicMagazine
This UK magazine has been running in print for years, and have recently started sharing full video interviews with various high profile producers. They also feature “Quick Tips” from musician’s studios around the world.
Propellerhead SW http://www.youtube.com/user/PropellerheadSW
The Swedish manufacturers of Reason, Record and Recycle are currently 20 weeks into a 52 part video tips series. Product Specialist James Bernard shares creation, enhancing, manipulating and mastering advice. Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s get this out of the way now; Robyn’s first album in over 5 years is short. The Swedish songstress announced earlier in the year that this would be the 1st installment of three records she plans to release in 2010. That’s a risky move and no mistake but I’m more than happy to report that not a single minute is wasted. I’d rather have 30 minutes & 8 brilliant tracks than the bloated efforts of say, Bionic by Christina Aguilera, with her myriad of collaborators but no cohesive sound or direction.
There are no duff tracks but there are three absolute standouts. The first is the melancholy, disco soliloquy ‘Dancing on My Own’ which is the song of the year so far. It works as a haunting dance floor anthem and layered portrait of unrequited love. The 2nd is ‘Cry When You Get Older’ which displays Robyn’s knack for smart, relatable writing ‘Hey girl in the strobing light what ya momma never told ya, is love hurts when you do it right, you can cry when you get older’ all set to an irresistible electro beat. The 3rd is ‘Fembot’ which continues her ongoing android theme covered previously with “Robotboy,” the interlude “Bionic Woman” and last year’s “The Girl and the Robot” collaboration with Röyksopp. Fembot is intelligent, bouncy & lyrically schizophrenic. In order words, it’s unconventional pop at its best.
The ambitious ode to Jamaican dance-hall ‘Dancehall Queen’ takes a few listens & may not appeal to everyone but it’s symptomatic of Robyn & her playful style. It’s just bloody good fun. The collaboration with Röyksopp on ‘None of Dem’ features a broody synth rift that works beautifully with the tone of the track; utter disillusion. The addition of two ballads ‘Hang With Me’ & traditional Swedish song ‘Jag vet en Dejilig Rosa’ slow down the pace somewhat but both are typically heartfelt & ultimately moving.
The handful of popstars who write their own material have become increasingly more cerebral & Robyn is right at the head of the pack.
Kelis’ grainy R&B vocals with ‘euro-electro’ is just… well, in a word… no. A talented singer who made some edgy and intelligent tracks alongside producers such as Neptunes, you can see what Kelis was aiming for with ‘Flesh Tone’, but any kind of fresh sound or uniqueness is absent. Kelis’ decision to collaborate with dance music producers is not new in itself, and could have been an interesting project, but it feels like the producers have just laid her vocals over B-sides that they had lying around from the last few years. It has been pointed out that at a time when pop is getting ‘weirder’, one of the original ‘weird pop’ artists has aimed for a generic mainstream sound. Your thoughts?
How can an independent artist help maximise their music-based revenue? For one, if you have several online profiles showcasing your work, you have a greater chance of being discovered by fans, building your base, and making sales as your popularity rises. Some websites offer great networking opportunities and superb features for sharing and distributing your music. Here is a quick run-down of some of the key sites that I see as being very prominent in the current and future climate of music for indie artists.
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is yet another fantastic tool allowing musicians to upload their audio, artwork, lyrics, liner notes and more, but adds some great features, by converting your audio into eight different formats, and giving you the tools to market, distribute and monetise from your tracks. It also provides heaps of analytics Here is a great video from Ethan Diamond of Bandcamp, running through the site’s features.
Reverbnation
Offering everything but the kitchen sink, Reverbnation has become immensely popular with artists of all genres. Live show schedules, music streaming, online promotion and digital distribution, it’s all here, it’s all customisable, and it’s all available in a selection of widgets. Part of the attraction of this site is it being a one-stop-shop to control all your online efforts, and also works as a great base for your offiline activities too, such as booking gigs and selling merchandise. Definitely worth checking out and getting involved.
Tunecore
Tunecore is a distributor of music, allowing you as an independent artist to showcase your music on iTunes, Amazon, emusic, Rhapsody and many more of the big online music stores. You keep 100% of the royalties, along with all the rights to the songs, Tunecore simply charge a one-off worldwide-distribution fee; Singles cost $9.99/year each; Albums cost $46.99 for the first year then $19.98/year thereafter.
Spotify
I’m going to stick my neck out, and say that despite all the negative comments regarding streaming royalties, it is important to have your music available on the Spotify system. Technically not a website (you download the interactive program to your computer), Spotify is leading the way in the UK (over 1 million subscribers and 40k joining everyday) and Europe, and after a year of speculation should be hitting the US very soon. To not be a part of this huge wave and be accessible to music listeners and potential fans could be a huge mistake. Get your music on there, share playlists, and earn some fans, who can then purchase your music elsewhere.
Soundcloud
Along with it’s Dropbox feature, Soundcloud makes it easy to share tracks with other artists and record labels alike, with the added bonus of being able to stream works before downloading if necessary. Timed comments is a very useful feature when sharing works between musicians; rather than working in beats and bars, you can pinpoint the exact part that you wish to change. The fact that you can share customisable versions of the player on your blog/ Myspace page/ Facebook profile and more makes this site a real draw.
With their extremely clean layout and user-friendly interface, Mixcloud is a relatively new but heavy-hitting website in the world of cloudcasts. Cloudcasts are essentially radio shows, mixtapes and podcasts, that live in the ‘cloud’ and therefore are only for streaming, not download. They don’t accept single track uploads (hopefully avoiding a heap of trouble there), and so their market focus has been towards DJ mixes and podcasts. Covering many styles of music, after a short browse you will find big names such as BBC, Mixmag and Diesel Music, along with a very easy way to discover similar new music.
They are expanding at a good pace, and even using UK Music Jobs for their search (Smart move! Check out Mixcloud on UK Music Jobs). We also celebrated when they became “One million streams old”, and again, they offer a great way to share your mixtape on websites and blogs, as shown here…
Finally, don’t forget that it is still very important to have your own place on the web. Online profiles and points of sale are great, but there will always be new things cropping up, and some of the older sites will fall in stature (Myspace, anyone?). Maintaining your own website will not only help hugely in search engines, but also give your fans a central hub to visit no matter where they are from or what the latest social networking fashion is. Incorporating widgets from the above places into your blog and website keeps the workload to a minimum and the exposure to a maximum.
The future of LCD Soundsystem has long been under scrutiny; ‘This Is Happening’ is said to be the last LP from the electro-disco-future-rock band, and James Murphy has hinted at that himself. Pumped full of Bowie influences, typical Murphy hipster-angst and -snobbery and BIG beats and percussion, the album has everything from festival anthems to trippy 4am warehouse journeys. The lead single, ‘Drunk Girls’, gets all punk-y with droning guitars and shout-along chorus, and Murphy’s lyrics playfully telling half a story with each line. Each song is fresh and unique, varying between spooky melodies, echoing synths and electronic bleeps and squeaks, and yet they are all segued together with that LCD party spirit.
Recorded in LA in late 2009 and early 2010, ‘This Is Happening’ was released in the UK on May 17, and in the US on May 18. You can find all the relevant purchase links at the LCD Soundsytem website
The guys at Kahua Music are not only on the ball when it comes to music as culture, piracy, the digital generation and more(here / here), but they are also hustlers of fine electronic music. Combining the two, and practicing what they preach, they have put together a Free Sampler for you to download.
The sampler includes some of the leading names working across the deep, soulful and tech house genres including labels Lost My Dog, Adaptation Music, Prismatic Tracks, Bounce House, Headtunes and Baker Street, and artists such as Random Soul, Jay West, Sleazy McQueen, Bobby & Klein, Andrew Phelan & Origami, Paul Hardy and a few more. There’s even a couple of exclusive unreleased tracks in there.
