Embedding widget hopes to keep up Spotify presence alongside desktop app.

Here at Music Jobs, we are big fans of Spotify. We’ve been posting various playlists over the last couple of years (Check out our Music Jobs Playlist Blog Series here) and now, there is exciting news that makes these playlists and your other favourite music more easily sharable within a blog or website. (more…)

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As 2011 is drawing to a close, we thought we’d find out a little more about what kind of music listening preferences our members have used over the last 12 months.

There are now more ways to consume music than ever before, making the murky waters of the music industry even more treacherous for musicians, songwriters and performers, not to mention agents, managers and the like. Please consider taking our short poll and sharing some of your recent habits of consuming music in 2011. After you click submit you can see the results. Simply hit the back button on your browser to vote in another topic and see more results.

by Lee Jarvis.

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Over the years, we have been blessed with some incredible female singers, songwriters and musicians. The recent passing of Amy Winehouse is a loss to the music world, regardless of what you thought of her personal choices. In another life, she could have continued singing for another 40 years and created many more albums.

Her passing also inspired me to revisit some other amazing vocalists, their uplifting, haunting or heart-wrenching voices drenched with raw energy and emotion. Some relatively new faces, some classic legends, some classic ballads, some abstract pieces of expression. All strong icons for future female artists. All worthy of a special listen.

Click the image below or check out http://open.spotify.com/user/leejarvis/playlist/6WYCcVG6j9ngltrcEnoIwS

Tracklist
Amy Winehouse – Stronger than Me
Dinah Washington – Cry Me A River
Sia -Lentil
Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine
Beth Orton – Countenance
Jolie Holland – Mad Tom of Bedlam
Imogen Heap – Wait It Out
Florence and the Machine – Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)
Erykah Badu – Drama
Joni Mitchell – Big Yellow Taxi
Joan Baez – (Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody) Turn Me Around
Alicia Keys – How Come You Don’t Call Me
Nina Simone – I Put A Spell On You
Bat For Lashes – Glass
Björk – Joga

Enjoy!

by The Music Jobs Team.

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Remixes are a grey area, but can often completely break a sing, legitimate or not. They can range from bootleg mash-ups a la Girl Talk to a cover of a well know song in a completely different genre, to RnB jams remixed for the nightclub dancefloor. Many times I have heard an interesting mix of a well known track that has inspired me to go back and look up the original, and I dare say that many older musicians and bands have been rediscovered by a younger audience when the band of the moment covers or improvises on a classic hit live at a concert.

For this recent playlist, I’ve tried to delve into all of those ideas. For me, remixing is a great way to inspire creativity, and to stir interest. I’ve tried to pick up on several different genres from some very well known artists and some newcomers. Have a listen and let us know what you think. Also feel free to share your own playlists, from Spotify or elsewhere!

Click the image below or check out http://open.spotify.com/user/leejarvis/playlist/0fO7cvZzN4bOB5c7Tzc7ZJ

Tracklist
LCD Soundsystem – Daft Punk is Playing at My House (Soulwax Remix)
Jackson 5 – Dancing Machine (Steve Aoki remix)
Hot Chip – Over and Over (Solid Groove remix)
Simian Mobile Disco – Cruel Intentions (Heartbreak’s Slow Action Remix)
Phoenix – Lisztomania (Der Die Das remix)
La Roux – In For The Kill (Skream’s Lets get Ravey remix)
Bodyrox – Yeah Yeah (D Ramirez remix)
Jackson 5 – I Want You Back (Z Trip remix)
Easy Star All Stars – Money (Pink Floyd cover)
Christian Prommer’s Drum Lesson – Strings of Life


Enjoy!

by The Music Jobs Team.

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This month we’ve been on a bit of a retro kick. They don’t make them like they used to. Or do they? So many songs, be they pop, rap, electronic music or otherwise, have sampled some great tunes of old. Often the Producer uses sampling as a nod to their influences and inspirations, and is looking to add a modern twist to a classic riff or hook. With the help of our favourite music streaming service, Spotify, we created a playlist that will hopefully entertain and educate, with some classic disco, funk and soul songs that have recognisable pieces sampled by recent artists.

Click the image below or check out http://open.spotify.com/user/leejarvis/playlist/5T0FFqQt4TT4VsWyWYUTCN

Tracklisting:
Quincy Jones – Soul Bossa Nova
Sampled by Dream Warriors in My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz style
Kool and the Gang – Summer Madness
Sampled by: Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince in Summertime
James Brown – Funky Drummer
Sampled by Public Enemy in Fight The Power
Bootsy Collins – I’d Rather Be With You
Sampled by Adina Howard in Freak Like Me
Rick James – SuperFreak
Sampled by MC Hammer in You Can’t Touch This
Daryll Hall & John Oates – I Can’t Go For That
Sampled by De La Soul in Say No Go
Labi Siffre – I Got The
Sampled by Eminem in My Name Is
Chaka Kahn – Fate
Sampled by Stardust in Music Sounds Better With You
Carol Williams – Love Is You
Sampled by Spiller in Groovejet
O’Jays – Backstabber
Sampled by Angie Stone in Wish I Didn’t Miss You

Enjoy!

by The Music Jobs team.

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Maybe it’s the wintry, dark evenings, maybe it’s the whisky, but this January we seem to have been on a soul music kick. New albums such as Charles Bradley’s ‘No Time For Dreaming’ lean heavily on the sounds of the past, and that set the motion for a soul-fuelled Spotify playlist from the Music Jobs Team.

Click the image below or check out http://open.spotify.com/user/leejarvis/playlist/3FFxv5uOUsWxp8firWKs4j

Tracklist
Otis Redding – I Need Your Lovin
James Brown – It’s a Man’s World
Teddy Pendergrass – Love TKO
Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes – Wake Up Everybody
The Trammps – Stop and Think
The Miracles, Billy Griffin – Love Machine
Booker T & the MGs – Soul Man
Aretha Franklin – Dr Feelgood
Ella Fitzgerald – You’ve Changed
The Delfonics – Ready or Not Here I Come
Patti Labelle & The Bluebells – Groovy Kind of Love
Rose Royce – Wishin on a Star
Al Green – Look What You’ve Done To Me

Enjoy!

by The Music Jobs Team.

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Who’d have thunk it? You can now make music on you phone. Whether you use it as a fun gimmick to amuse your friends, some listening entertainment on your work journey, or whether you really wish you could write or record that killer melody while you were in the queue for a hot dog, there are thousands of music applications that you can download and add to your musical artillery. Here are some of the best ones we have come across…

Cleartune

A chromatic instrument tuner and pitch pipe that allows you to quickly and accurately tune your instrument using the built-in mic or an external mic. Cleartune features a unique “note wheel” interface allowing you to quickly find your pitch, and can tune just about any instrument that can sustain a tone – acoustic or electric guitar, bass, bowed strings, woodwinds, brass, piano, tympani, tablas and many more!
Price: £2.39
Get Cleartune app

Rjdj

We raved about Rjdj back in January 2010, when Little Boots created her own reactive music application. With Rjdj, you can get exclusive music from a variety of sources, and then re-create, remix and hash together your own unique versions. The Guardian says, “Music doesn’t get much more futuristic, or more fun, than this.”
Price: FREE
Get Rjdj app

BeatMaker

BeatMaker is a “music creation studio” for your mobile device. It combines a number of professional drum machines, samplers and sequencers into a very useful tool for creating beats and percussion. Use audio samples, record your own, and build your library with the BeatMaker community. Other features include trigger pads, sequencing tools, audio editing, delays, bit-crushers, filters, EQs, and more.
Price: (more…)

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Mixcloud is a website dedicated to streaming music. The main difference is that they focus on radio content as opposed to individual singles. Put simply, in their words, Mixcloud “helps connect radio content to listeners more effectively”. By hosting radio shows, podcasts and DJ mixes in the ‘cloud’ (without software or storage), the audio is available to listen to on-demand and instantly, whereas podcasts require downloading to a hard drive. Uploaded audio is therefore referred to as ‘Cloudcasts’, and saves the owner or listener using slow and restrictive file hosting websites.

Having an efficient and clean uploading process and a strong search function, Mixcloud has the two pronged attack of helping content creators promote and helping listeners discover the audio that they want to hear. I have been using the site myself for nearly a year now, and have found that broadcasting is easy (and free!), and listening and discovering is an enjoyable experience. For more info, check the ‘What is Mixcloud?’ video after the jump…

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I’m a bit of a purist me. I don’t like adverts on the radio. Not mad keen on the TV either but at least it’s a good time to pop to the loo or make a brew. But when I’m listening to an album, I don’t want to have the album I’m listening to interrupted but over excitable pseudo funny people telling me how I can’t live without their car/bank/snack. Which mostly I can.

It’s why I’m a big fan of BBC radio. I know I’m only going to get one song at a time. And there will be talking in between. But I know when it’s coming and mostly the DJ’s banter fits in with the time of day and style of music. Radio 6 being my station of choice for daytime and hallelujah for the arrival of Lauren Laverne who was on top form in today’s show (her arrival made all the better by bumping off George “Stratospheric Ego” Lamb). And Radio 3 or Radio 4 to kick the day off or bring it to a close. Anyway, advert free stations with ego-less DJ’s – that’s what makes BBC Radio so good.

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January saw a “highly productive and optimistic” MIDEM 2010 conference take place in Cannes. The event had kicked off with the “New Models At Work” panel session, with Amanda Palmer speaking about her 2009 self-funded solo album, and her online community of fans. Hal Ritson from The Young Punx added that artists need to “get some emotional contact with [the people listening to their music]” and that music bloggers giving away free downloads should be viewed as the modern equivalent of radio promo. Starting with an inspirational DIY discussion is great, but I’m sure people were looking for other ways to get involved, as each artist’s strategy will be completely different.

Luckily, there was a diverse set of panelists and topics; with video games and mobile device apps being two major industries in the future of music, as well as possible revenue streams for artists, I am glad to see that those topics were of great importance, and even had specific discussion panels (see below). One of the quotes from the ‘Apps’ panel became the most retweeted live posts of the conference… the news that “Shazam #App is selling 300,000 songs a DAY via iTunes”.

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