Author Archive for Alan KhalfinPage 6 of 16

Camp Bisco Remix Contest: Remix Bassnectar, Disco Biscuits, King Britt or Black Seeds & Perform At Camp Bisco 9!


If you have the skills to DJ for raging masses of party people alongside some of the biggest and best electronic acts, this opportunity is for you! URB and MixMatchMusic have teamed up with Camp Bisco 9 for the second annual Camp Bisco Remix Contest. This year will feature four different artists and songs to remix. The contest starts May 19th with tracks from event hosts The Disco Biscuits, “whomp” godfather Bassnectar, electronica pioneer King Britt and New Zealand soul reggae stars The Black Seeds. One grand-prize winner will be awarded a one-hour set on the stage of this year’s Camp Bisco!

The Songs
Cozza Frenzy (Original) by Bassnectar
The Black Seeds – Slingshot
King Britt – The Intricate Beauty (feat Ryat)
Disco Biscuits – “On Time”

How to participate?
1) Choose a song to remix, and open up that Remix Wizard widget.
2) Download song stems, its 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 Camp Bisco 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 from Camp Bisco and URB.com will select a winner for each track and one grand-prize winner!
7) Contest ends June 21, 2010. Winners will be notified by June 28, 2010.

Visit the Camp Disco Remix Contest page on URB to start working on your remixes today!

Prizing
Each remix will have one winner. Each of those winners will go on to compete for the Grand Prize. The winning remix of each track will receive a prize pack of CDs from each of the remix artists and two tickets to the festival. One grand prize winner will also receive 2 passes to the festival with Artist credentials, a custom MobBase iPhone app and lifetime subscription from MixMatchMusic, $200 for travel expenses and a hotel room along with the chance of a lifetime — a one-hour set in front of thousands of festival goers at Camp Bisco 9!

Camp Bisco Announces Partnership with MixMatchMusic
A new addition to the Camp Bisco remix contest team for this year is the Remix Wizard, provided by MixMatchMusic, which includes easy-to-use web-based remixing tools for beginners. “Involving fans in the creative process through remixing is one of the best ways to make the artist – fan connection stronger,” said Charles Feinn, CEO and co-founder of MixMatchMusic. “And, it’s exciting and also humbling to know that we’re playing a part in making those connections happen.” MixMatchMusic’s popular and versatile iPhone app builder MobBase will be used for the first ever Camp Bisco iPhone app.

About Camp Bisco
The 9th annual Camp Bisco festival will take place once again at the picturesque Indian Lookout Country Club in Mariaville, New York outside New York City from July 16 to 18, 2010. The event features three nights of the Disco Biscuits and over forty other acts. Headliners include The Disco Biscuits, Thievery Corporation, LCD Soundsystem and Ween.  For complete, up-to-date information about Camp Bisco 9 click here. To start remixing, click here.

Band iPhone Apps – Interview With MobBase

Greg Rollett of Gen-Y Rock Stars and Label 2.0 chats with MobBase’s CFO and Director of Business Development, Alan Khalfin, about how you can create your own iPhone app, engage the modern music fan, and build excitement around your iPhone app to drive awareness and installs.

Build Your Fanbase Through The Niche Music System


As the music industry continues to evolve, artists are presented with more and more great options for marketing and distributing their music online and through mobile devices. This abundance of choice has left many artists, managers and labels confused as to how to navigate these digital waters, and use digital tools together with classic strategies (like playing shows and selling merch) to succeed.  Direct-to-fan campaigns are a big part of the new model, but before you can effectively engage in these strategies, you need to have a core group of fans that you can actually market to. It’s the classic get 1000 true fans and you will succeed concept, and while you don’t need 1000 fans right away, you do need at least a small group of loyal fans before direct-to-fan activities become viable.

Enter the Niche Music System. Created by Hagop Tchaparian, the Niche Music System is a strategy designed to help you succeed in the music business through the leveraging of music niches. The idea is to carve a small, local niche for your music in order build initial traction and then promote and rise up through that niche to grow and widen your reach. The logic behind this is that for every niche, there is already an existing audience that is pre-exposed to the sound of that niche. So while you may need to tweak your sound to fit into a specific niche, the Niche Music System provides you with a much easier way to build an initial following.

Hagop initially created the system to mirror the processes his own band (Symposium) went through to gain attention, build a core following, play for more people and make more money. Subsequently, he helped implement a similar system in his work with English electronic artist Hot Chip (pictured below) to help them build early traction, rise through their niche and ultimately get signed by DFA/EMI.

The Niche Music System has now been turned into a 12 week video/audio/PDF course designed to help you get people to care about your music and come out of obscurity.  For a great intro to the course, you should take the time to check out the video below. While the course is normally $47/month (for three months),  because you are an Evolving Music reader, you can get it for $27/month! To sign up and receive the discount, click here.

MobBase Growing 100 Percent A Month With 200+ iPhone Apps Released

MobBase grew explosively throughout the first quarter of 2010, doubling the number of iPhone apps released each month, month-over-month.   The steep sales ramp is proving the market for iPhone applications that connect musicians with fans. MobBase is the new service that makes it easy for musicians, record labels, recording studios, radio stations, music festivals and others involved in the music business to create, launch and manage their own, custom iPhone application.
“We’re seeing the proverbial hockey stick sales curve,” said Charles Feinn, CEO and co-founder of MixMatchMusic, MobBase’s developer.  “We’re delighted MobBase is taking flight.  We’re also excited that we’re helping shape the way artists and the music industry use mobile applications to connect with fans, build careers and audiences.”
MobBase launched in November 2009, releasing its first 50 apps in 90 days.  Since then it has doubled the number of apps released every month, reaching the 100 milestone in March 2010 and 200 in April 2010.
“The majority of our music is being spread by our fans,” said Eric Rachmany, guitarist and lead vocalist of Rebelution. “Our MobBase app gives them the opportunity to have everything Rebelution in the palm of their hands at all times, to project to whomever and whenever they feel. It’s a great marketing tool.”
MobBase is a low cost way for musicians to create a mobile app and 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.
MobBase apps are being used by artists as diverse as Pepper, Veronica Ballestrini, Jump Smokers, and Iration, and also by labels such as Controlled Substance Sound Labs/Silverback Artist Management and Town Thizzness. The Showtime network’s Nurse Jackie television series has its own MobBase app for the show’s soundtrack, as does the Sound Healing yoga audio companion.
Additionally, radio and music discovery pioneers including IODA Promonet, House Music Channel and Flawless Radio have made MobBase their preferred way to connect with fans on their mobile devices. And music industry blogs and media such as Indie Music Tech, Remix Comps and Wink Sound rely on MobBase apps to extend their reach and impact.

MobBase: iPhone Apps for Bands, Musicians and the Rest of the Music Industry Too!

You probably know that MobBase makes it easy for musicians, bands, artists and DJs to create, launch and manage their own, custom iPhone apps. You may have even downloaded one of the more than 150 MobBase artist apps available in iTunes. But, if you’re not a musician, band, artist or DJ, did you know that MobBase makes it easy for you to make your own mobile app too?

If you’re a music industry blog/publication, record label, radio station, venue, music festival, music school, recording studio, gear/instrument company, or other music related project/company, MobBase can greatly help you connect with your audience through a custom iPhone app. For as little as $0.50 a day, you can use MobBase to build a dynamic app that shares music, photos, videos, tweets, news, event info, merchandise and other content with fans on their mobile devices. Here’s a little taste of the different types of music industry players that are using MobBase to connect with their fans:

Music Industry Blogs, Publications and Resources:

  • Indie Music Tech: A blog that explores the technologies enabling the music industry.
  • Remix Comps: A community of remix contest enthusiasts that provides information on the latest remix contests going on across the web, and features streaming versions of remix contest winners.
  • Wink Sound: A resource for music production videos and tutorials on Ableton, Logic, Pro-Tools, Reason, and Cubase, as well as on mixing, mastering, recording audio, beat making and Djing.
  • Evolving Music: You’re looking at it dude 🙂

Record Labels and Other Music Companies:


Radio and Music Discovery:

  • IODA Promonet: A promotional distribution network from IODA that helps fans discover and share music from thousands of top independent artists and labels around the world.
  • House Music Channel: A destination for all things house music, featuring exclusive music, mixed sets, news, information, and events from today’s hottest names in house music.
  • Flawless Radio: An app that helps you discover new music and news from the hottest emerging and developing hip-hop artists.
  • LyricShare: A Gospel and Christian music destination that gives unrivaled access to music, pictures, lyrics, sheet music, and videos.

Soundtracks and Soundscapes: