Soundcloud is possibly my favourite music website. I use it at least every week for a variety of music purposes. I love the clean feel of the site and the intuitive simple functions. It is such a user-friendly and well evolved website, that it is hard to believe they are just celebrating their 1st birthday. As any kind of musician, label owner, radio / podcast show host and more, Soundcloud is a great way to send and receive music, and it provides an efficient way to distribute, privately or publicly. It is becoming a hugely popular tool, and yet their friendly nature is still seen across the site. In their words, “We’re a few people who moved from Stockholm to Berlin, found some more cool people there and set up a small company to create the best dedicated music site in the world.”

Quick Facts
* SoundCloud is an online audio platform for music professionals that makes sending and receiving music simple and efficient.
* Accounts are currently only available by personal invite.
* SoundCloud is in use by many of the worlds leading electronic music producers and labels.
* Some people think of SoundCloud as an email application but for music, and with a play button.
* Founded in 2007 by Swedes Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss and based in Berlin–Mitte, Germany.

How Does it Work?
The easy way I can explain, is to show you via one of their friendly videos: The Soundcloud Tour.

Sharing
Using their embeddable music player is a great way to promote your music. The code is easily found once your song and details are uploaded, and simple to paste around the web. For example, here is a recent deep house remix that I produced for UK label, Lost My Dog.

Danny Stott – Bunker (Lee Jarvis’ Secret Kelvedon Hideout Remix) (320promo) by Lee Jarvis

Personally, I find this a much easier way than directing music fans to a (now overloaded) Myspace page, plus you are able to display the payer in blogs with ease. Using the Soundcloud Facebook App is also incredibly easy, gaining further recognition for your music on a popular social networking site. Allowing DJs, tastemakers, label owners, friends and co-artists to download your music from the site does away with the need for uploading and sending links that soon expire or FTP log-ins. As the Soundcloud guys put it, ” Music is just kind of tricky to deal with over email. So, we thought we’d change that. SoundCloud is our way of doing it.”

iPhone app
What next for the Soundcloud team? Obviously, mobile markets are going to be a huge development to most of the music industry, and so that’s where they went, announcing their iPhone App last week.

Having received endless feedback from their users, Soundcloud acted upon on of the most popular requests and have built an app allowing you to listen to your own uploaded tracks, as well those sent by people you follow, and tracks sent to your dropbox. It also lets you mark any of these as favourites, and send your tracks via email to anyone in your mobile address book.

Currently priced at €0.79 or $0.99 the app is available from the app store. Although only the first version, I’m sure they will continue to develop this the way they have the full website, and look forward to more announcements over the next year.

Lee Jarvis.

Lost My Dog ‘Connect’ is an opportunity for budding DJs, producers and anybody with an interest in the dance music industry to meet and learn from some the UK finest underground House artists, alongside LMD label bosses and record shop staff.

Lost My Dog has teamed up with legendary record store Swag Records, based in Croydon, London, who have been long-time supporters of the label and who introduced artists such as Nathan Coles, Harold Heath and Nick Dare to LMD.

On the afternoon of Saturday 7th November you can hear sets from Rhythm Plate, Giom, Pete Dafeet, Nick Dare and Terry Francis as well as get their advice on music software, hardware, production tips, DJing and learn how they got their first break.

Also in attendance will be Lost My Dog label bosses Najan Ward and Ian Straker who will be giving advice on how to approach labels, things to consider if you are interested in starting your own label and all aspects of the dance music industry. And of course the hugely experienced Swag Records team will be on hand to talk to and serve up the latest hot 12”s. If you’re looking to work in the dance music industry this is a rare and free event that should definitely not be missed.

Date: Saturday 7th November 2009, 12:00 – 18:00

Location: Swag Records, 42 Station Road, West Croydon, London, CR0 2RB

DJs / Producers:
Rhythm Plate / YSE (Lost My Dog, Winding Road)
Pete Dafeet (Lost My Dog)
Giom (Lost My Dog, Aroma, Blackcherry)
Nick Dare (Lost My Dog, Reform Recordings)
Terry Francis (Fabric, Wiggle)

LMD Label Bosses:
Ian Straker
Najan Ward
Pete Dafeet

plus
Liz, Paul and the Swag Records team.

I hope some of our UK Music Jobs members can check it out!

Lee Jarvis.

(Image via Lost My Dog Records)

FM is a music industry social networking night. Or if you want the less stuffy description, drinks in a pub.

FM Stands for First Monday – so everyone knows exactly when it is (although people do sometimes still ask when the next FM is).

It’s not stuffy in any way; no badges or bossy organisers – if it was like that, we wouldn’t come!!

FM is a very relaxed get together with people from the industry, in a bar, all there to meet other people in the industry and possibly do business. And it’s totally free.

We have been running in London for just over 2 years and in the autumn of 2009, FM will go online as well as see monthly events kicking off in Liverpool and New York. As of June 2009, we have 630 people on the mailing list and generally the events attract between 10-40 people.

So much business is now done by email and online, we wanted to do things on a more personal level. There area also a number of new businesses of 1 or 2 people setting up who enjoy the chance to meet other people from the industry.

We don’t bombard you with endless emails – apart from anything we don’t have the time! FM starts from 6.30pm and runs until people go home – not always early… You can arrive early then go off to a gig or come along after – you don’t need to RSVP – just turn up.

People who come are; MANAGEMENT – LABELS – ARTISTS – PROMOTORS – PUBLISHERS – PRODUCERS – LAWYERS – ACCOUNTANTS – PR’s – PHOTOGRAPHERS – VIDEO PRODUCERS – CHARITIES – TRADE BODIES SUCH AS MMF, BPI, AIM, MPA ETC, UKI TRADE AND INVESTMENT AS WELL AS STUDENTS LOOKING FOR INTERNSHIPS

We take a break in January and August.

Evening to you all.

Hope you’ve got some serious air conditioning or large open windows to help with the heatwave we’re going to enjoy/endure this week – well done to those of you who’ve got time off and are heading to the beach!!

Last week was a busy one kicking off last Tuesday with a UK Music reception at No.10 Downing Street hosted by Sarah Brown. Whilst the heat wave officially starts this week, the weather that evening was sunny and warm enough to allow us to enjoy the Downing Street Garden. Ben Bradshaw and Feargal Sharkey addressed the guests made up of around 100 managers, labels, publishers, the live sector, music charities, composers, a very small number of artists as well as technology companies and key politicians.

I tried to find people who would be happy to join me on the trampoline in the garden….no one was brave or game enough which in hindsight was probably a good thing….

Glasto’s been and gone – sadly I wasn’t there but first hand reports are unsurprisingly glowing and from what I saw and heard, it’s easy to see why.

If you haven’t already done so but would like to have lunch with Take That, please don’t forget you can still get the last few tickets to the Nordoff Robbins Sliver Clef lunch this Friday 3rd July at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane.

Take That are the winners of the prestigious Silver Clef Award this year and if last years event is anything to go by, it will be a wicked afternoon. Amongst other award winners who will be there on the day to receive awards are Madness, Brian Wilson and La Roux.

All proceeds go to Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy; a charity that does incredible work but doesn’t have the exposure that perhaps it deserves.

I know times are tight at the moment but if you pull anything more than a hairy toffee out from the back of the sofa that comes close to £295, you’ve got yourself a ticket.

If you would like to attend, please contact Nordoff-Robbins directly; Rachel on 020 7371 8404 or emailrachel@nrfr.co.uk

FM will be kicking off in Liverpool in September so if you would like to attend and haven’t already been in touch, please let me know.

We’re also going all international and launching an FM in New York this autumn too!!! If that’s something you’re interested in getting involved in, please reply and put New York in the subject line. I already have some people who will help organise the night out there but as with all get together’s, they work so much better with lots of people so please do pass this mail on to anyone you know who lives/works in the big apple. Now, I’ve just got to find a way to justify going to the big apple for that one….

The next London FM is on Monday 6^th July – that’s next week and the last one before our summer break.

We’re back here

UPSTAIRS

Duke of York, 47 Rathbone St, W1T 1NW

Map here

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=W1T+1NW&ie=UTF8&z=16&iwloc=A

Nearest tubes – Goodge Street or Tottenham Court Road with Oxford Street not too far.

We had a great turnout last month so hope to see as many of you again next week.

Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Sybil

sybil@fmfirstmonday.com