Monthly Archive for September, 2010

Remix Hot Chip & Nortec Collective For A Chance To Perform Moogfest!

published
on September 29, 2010
by
Sandra
in collaboration, contests, fans, MobBase, music, music business, music production, recording, remix promotions, remixing, and tools for musicians
. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Moogfest – the annual event honoring the remarkable vision of Robert Moog and his amazing musical inventions that changed the course of music – has teamed up with URB.com and MixMatchMusic to host the official Moogfest remix contest! The contest features two different artists and songs to remix: “We Have Love” by Hot Chip (from the band’s album One Life Stand, courtesy of Astralwerks) and “I Count the Ways” by Nortec Collective (from their new album Bulevar 2000, courtesy of Nacional Records). Sounds pretty good, eh?

Prizing
One finalist for each song will get 2 weekend passes to the festival. Among those finalists, one grand-prize winner will be awarded a DJ set at this year’s Moogfest (plus $250 for travel expenses), as well as a custom MobBase iPhone app and lifetime subscription from MixMatchMusic.

How to participate?
1) Choose a song to remix.
2) Download the song stems, it’s free and easy!
3) Create your remix using the stems and any additional music or beats that either you have created or have a creative commons license for. You can also make your mix online by clicking on the MixMaker button of the widget.
4) Upload an MP3 of your remix via the same widget you used to download the stems. Enter as many remixes as you like!
5) Share the track with your friends and ask them to comment, rate, playlist your mix and share it with their friends on twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and their blogs, etc.
6) Once you have finished and uploaded your remix, judges will select a winner for each track and one grand-prize winner!
7) Contest ends at 11:59pm on October 14th, 2010. Winners will be notified by October 18th, 2010.

Remix Hot Chip:

Remix Nortec Collective:

About Moogfest
Moogfest takes place the weekend of October 29 -31, 2010. Artists include DEVO, MGMT, Massive Attack, Cee-Lo Green, Big Boi, Thievery Corporation, Hot Chip, Caribou, Four Tet and more! In addition to fantastic concerts, Moogfest 2010 will also offer opportunities to engage with the artists in panel discussions, question and answer sessions, and workshops. There will also be interactive experiences for the audience to explore their own musical creativity with a variety of Moog instruments. The festival will also offer visual art exhibitions, installations, and film screenings throughout the weekend.

Pepper Launches Remix Contest for New Single

published
on September 27, 2010
by
Sandra
in collaboration, contests, music, music production, remix promotions, remixing, technology, and tools for musicians
. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Over a year and a half ago, fans had a chance to remix Pepper’s “Freeze.” More than 50 great remixes were submitted, and the results were awesome. Sad you missed the opportunity? Think you can do better? Now you have your chance! Pepper has teamed up with MixMatchMusic to invite you to have a go at their new single, “Wake Up” from the forthcoming “Stiches” EP.

Prizing
Pepper and Silverback will be hand-picking the winner who, in addition to receiving a signed EP and lots of other goodies from Silverback and Law Records, will appear in a video explaining their inspiration. The winning remix itself will be featured on all of Pepper’s websites.

How to participate?
1) Download the song stems, its free and easy!
2) Create your remix using the stems and any additional music or beats that either you have created or have a creative commons license for. You can also make your mix online by clicking on the MixMaker button of the widget.
3) Upload an MP3 of your remix via the same widget you used to download the stems. Enter as many remixes as you like!
4) Share the track with your friends and ask them to comment, rate, playlist your mix and share it with their friends on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and their blogs, etc.
5) Contest ends at October 31th, 2010. Be sure to check out the official rules here before you dive into the creative process.

MobBase Integrates Soundcloud & BandsInTown, Adds Key Distribution Partners

published
on September 20, 2010
by
Alan Khalfin
in DIY, MobBase, music, music business, technology, and tools for musicians
. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Soundcloud BandsInTown

MobBase, the fast, easy and inexpensive way for you to build your own iPhone app, has integrated Soundcloud and BandsInTown to its service to make it easier for artists to share music and get fans to their gigs. MobBase is also making it easier for artists to get their own apps by making them available from BFM Digital, Ditto Music, Musicfinity, and The Indie.

The new capabilities and distribution relationships coincide with an important new milestone – 325 MobBase apps have been developed and released since the service debuted in November, 2009.

“MobBase helps artists build their careers by making it easy and inexpensive for them to connect and engage with fans,” said Charles Feinn, co-founder and CEO of MixMatchMusic, MobBase’s developer. “Integrating Soundcloud and BandsInTown adds sought-after functionality, and distribution with BFM Digital, Ditto Music, Musicfinity, and The Indie makes it even easier for them to get the app they really want.”

More power to connect and engage fans
BandsInTown is a platform that connects live music fans to their favorite artists. Its integration with MobBase makes it painless for an artist to add and manage tour dates, with information about shows, including when and where it’s taking place and how to get tickets, sourced from artists’ Facebook and Myspace pages, ArtistData and thousands of venues around the world.

Soundcloud’s integration with MobBase makes it even easier for artists to add music to their custom apps. Artists can now stream tracks directly from their Soundcloud library into their MobBase app, eliminating the manual loading of mp3 files. The integration makes it fast and simple for artist to get their music into fans’ hands and on their phones.

The new technology partners complement existing integrations with Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, and Shoutcast. MobBase’s capabilities and extensive relationships with its technology partners make it a complete solution for artists.

“Our mantra is ‘get fans to the gig,'” said Todd Cronin, CEO of BandsInTown. “It’s a huge win for an artist to be able to deliver essential gig info via the same app they use to connect with fans, on the device that is with them every waking moment.”

Ditto MusicBFM Digital

More places to get your own custom iPhone app
BFM Digital, Ditto Music, The Indie, and Musicfinity are each offering their artists the opportunity to get their own, custom MobBase app. MobBase is also offered through IODA, Iris, and Tunecore – in addition, indie labels including Silverback Music/Controlled Substance Sound Labs, SMC Recordings, Welk Music Group, Vanguard Records, Town Thizzness, Red Bull Records, Sargent House, and 429 Records are also offering MobBase apps and promoting MobBase to their artists.

“BFM’s label partners are creating iPhone apps because they see the value of connecting with fans in real time via mobile technology,” said Steven Corn, CEO of BFM Digital. “MobBase is an ideal partner for such applications, as they are highly customizable, user-friendly and affordable for indie artists.”

More apps for more artists
More than 325 MobBase iPhone apps have been released so far, with scores more in development or in the Apple queue for approval. Prominent artists including Pepper, Parkway Drive, John McLaughlin, and Everclear are among the bands that have built and launched their own MobBase apps. MobBase is the preferred app solution for indie artists such as Rebelution, Paul Thorn, Jump Smokers, RX Bandits, Zion I, and Veronica Ballestrini.

Fast, easy and inexpensive way for artists to get their own iPhone app
MobBase is the low cost way for musicians to share music, photos, videos, tweets, news, information about shows, merchandise and other content with fans on their mobile devices. MobBase apps are priced for starving artists and also artists who remember what it is like to starve, with many artists paying as little as $0.50 a day for their own custom iPhone app.

Marketing Your MobBase iPhone App

published
on September 3, 2010
by
Alan Khalfin
in DIY, MobBase, music, music business, social media, and tools for musicians
. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

So you’ve built an iPhone app through MobBase and it’s in iTunes. Now what? Time to market that app, baby! With hundreds of apps developed, we’ve learned a thing or two about marketing apps. Here are some best practices that we’ve learned on marketing your iPhone app (for free):
  1. Place big banners on all of your websites, including your official site, Myspace page, Facebook, etc., so that anyone who visits your websites will find out about your app. To increase conversions, be sure that your banners point directly to your app in iTunes. If you need help making a banner, let us know by emailing support@mobbase.com!
  2. Announce the launch of your app by sending out an email blast/newsletter, tweeting about it, sharing on Facebook, etc. You know your fans better than we do, so be sure to share the news wherever you normally connect with fans. If possible, be sure to include screen shots of your app, a description of what’s inside and any other relevant info that your fans would be interested in.
  3. Constantly update your app’s content and let your fans know when you’ve updated it by tweeting about it, sharing on Facebook, etc. This will give fans a great reason to keep coming back to the app and in doing so, they will be more likely to tell their friends about your app.
  4. Add exclusive music to your app that can’t be heard anywhere else. This will be huge motivation for fans to get your app.
  5. Tell your fans about your app during shows and live appearances, interviews, etc. Create pocket-size cards that promote your app, hand these cards out and have them available at your merch table. Be sure that the cards include something like “Just search [Artist Name] in the app store or go to [direct iTunes download link] to get the app!”
  6. Include your app in your online store, linking fans to iTunes for download.
  7. When setting up your app, be sure to include relevant iTunes search keywords, like your artist name, genre, and any other relevant tags that would help fans find the app in the app store.
  8. When setting up your app, be sure to write a persuasive and thorough app store description that lists all of the features and content included, and any other reasons why fans should get the app. After reading the app store description, fans should be so excited that downloading the app is a no brainer.
  9. Add your app to as many iPhone app review websites as you can and make sure that the entries are thorough and include screen shots, when possible. Most app review websites are free. Get a list of review websites and more info here.
  10. Drive awareness of your app by having fans contribute videos to it. More on this here.
  11. Create a video inviting fans to get the app and walking them through it. Embed this video on all your websites and upload it to as many video sites as possible.
  12. Share your success stories.  Let us know how you’re doing, how many fans are downloading your app, and how it’s contributing to building your fan base. We’ll promote your successes too. Just email us at support@mobbase.com.

Did we miss anything? Let us know by commenting below! We’ll be updating this list, so follow us on Twitter for updates. For more tips on marketing your iPhone app, you can also check out this article. Now do it! Questions? Here’s more info on how to build iPhone apps