Archive for the 'DIY' CategoryPage 6 of 15

MobBase iPhone App Connects Musicians and Fans

published
on November 2, 2009
by
Alan Khalfin
in DIY, MobBase, music, music business, startups, technology, and tools for musicians
. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

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Tomorrow (Nov. 3), MixMatchMusic will debut MobBase, a new service for musicians that makes it easy for them to create, launch and manage their own, custom iPhone applications. For as little as $0.50 a day, MobBase will enable musicians to share music, photos, videos, tweets, news, blog posts, information about shows, merchandise and other content with fans on their mobile devices.

“The iPod put music in fans’ pockets.  The MobBase iPhone app puts musicians in fans’ pockets, with the high value content that fuels the artist-fan connection,” said Charles Feinn, CEO and co-founder of MixMatchMusic, MobBase’s developer. “We’ve made it so inexpensive, even starving artists can have their own app and have the same mobile presence as major acts.”

Feinn said many artists aim to engage and involve listeners in their music in order to build deep and lasting connections with them.  Increasingly, these connections drive sales of concert tickets, band merchandise and music.  Likewise modern music fans are looking for more and deeper interaction with musicians.

“Just a relative handful of artists have launched iPhone apps,” said Feinn.  “MobBase makes it easy enough and inexpensive enough that every musician can have their own app.”

Rock-reggae stars Pepper among first bands to launch MobBase app
Twenty-two artists and labels including Pepper, Everclear, Zion I, RX Bandits, Silverback Music/Controlled Substance Sound Labs, Greg Laswell, Shanghai Restoration Project, the Jacka, Easy Star All-Stars, Rebelution, Town Thizzness, Throw Me the Statue, Killer Mike, Jennie Laws, Big Light, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, Black Gold, Enzyme Dynamite, The Blakes, Eoin Harrington, El Desayuno, and Gavroche have launched MobBase applications to deepen their connection with fans. To view all the MobBase iPhone apps that are live in iTunes, click here.

Pepper RX-Bandits

“Pepper fans can’t get enough about the band,” said Sally Nobbs, manager for Silverback Music, Pepper’s management firm.  “And were excited about the way that our app will fuel deeper connections with our fans, by giving them constant access to Pepper’s music, backstage video footage, photos and news, and the ability to interact with Pepper through their iPhones, no matter where they are.”

Feinn said MixMatchMusic is now making MobBase available to other musicians.

“Connecting more fans more effectively with the music they love is fundamental to individual artists’ success, and to long-term music industry revenue growth,” said Susan Kevorkian, IDC program director, Mobile Media and Entertainment. “Services like MobBase are expected to play a key role in connecting artists to their fans with cost-competitive, versatile apps as smartphones assume an increasingly central role as sources of music and related information.”

Labels and music 2.0 companies endorse MobBase
Music 2.0 pioneer IODA, along with indie labels Controlled Substance Sound Labs, SMC Recordings, Welk Music Group, Vanguard Records, Sugar Hill Records, Red Bull Records, Sargent House, and 429 Records have each agreed to offer and promote MobBase apps to their rosters of artists.

Feinn said partners are offering MobBase so their artists can build the deeper connections that result in fan engagement and ultimately sales of music, merchandise and concert tickets.  He said partners will promote MobBase as their exclusive solution for mobile applications, and that they will be marketing it on their websites, via direct marketing and other channels.

Content powers connection
MobBase gives artists a mobile, interactive fan club, storefront, merchandise table, and more.  The MobBase application is highly customizable, so artists can pick and choose the content they offer to fans and also the way that content is presented.

Feinn said there are no design constraints with MobBase.  “Musicians have a blank canvas to project their artistic vision.  We’re expecting an explosion of creativity and fun.”

Featured content supported includes:
Music.  Artists just want to make and share music.  By featuring their music in MobBase, they make it easy for fans to buy songs or even entire albums.

Videos.  With MobBase, artists can share video out takes, footage from backstage and at parties, or even feed their YouTube channel directly into the    application. Fans can also upload their own videos to their favorite artist’s app.

Photos.  An image is worth 1,000 words, so artists can create and share photo collections including album artwork, tour pictures and other images fans are clamoring for.  MobBase features seamless integration with Flickr and Picasa, so it’s easy to manage, update and add photos in real time.

News/Blog.  Artists can use MobBase to keep fans up to date on news, blog posts and behind the scenes info with RSS feeds.

Shows.  The best way to get fans to shows is to make sure they know when and where they are.  With MobBase, artists can update show times, venues, directions and other info to make sure their fans know where to find them live. MobBase features seamless integration with ArtistData and MySpace, so it’s easy to manage, update and add concert info in real time.

Discography.  Artists can connect fans with their entire catalog, album artwork, liner notes, and lyrics by featuring them in MobBase.

Twitter.  Artists can make sure their tweets reach their fans with MobBase, and fans can hear what others have to say about the band. Artist and fans can also have conversations to discuss specific topics of the artists choosing.

Store.  MobBase is like a mobile merch table, connected to artists’ web stores.  It’s a great way for artists to show their merch where it’s easiest for their fans to find it (in their pockets).

Biography.  Biographies provide fans with background and back story, information that makes the artist-fan connection that much more meaningful.

More and more.  Because MobBase is highly customizable and supports additional functionality, artists can expand on the platform to do more and engage fans more deeply.

Easy. Customizable. Dynamic.
MobBase is built on an advanced content management system that makes it easy to add, manage and update content in real-time.  Yet it is so easy to use, so easy to set up and so easy to maintain, even a rock star can do it.  And because it is highly customizable, every artist – rock star or rock star-in-the-making, can easily create their own unique app with their unique image, look and feel.  Artists aren’t locked in to a design either – they can change the app whenever the mood strikes.

Priced for starving artists
MobBase is priced for starving artists and also artists who remember what it was like to starve.  It costs just $20 to get going and many artists will never pay more than $15 a month to deliver music, photos, videos, tweets, info about gigs, merch and more to hundreds of fans.

Everclear TMTS

LoopMasters: Audio Producers, Check It!!

published
on August 31, 2009
by
LG
in DIY, music, recording, technology, tools for musicians, and website
. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Loopmasters.com, the ultimate audio sampling site based out of the UK. “Loopmasters first came to light in 1999 under the ‘Beatnik Samples’ banner, which released 4 Sample CDs known as the ‘Modular Series’, and received excellent reviews in the UK and overseas by the likes of Future Music (Platinum Awards), Sound on Sound (5 star reviews) and many other magazines, mainly for the flexibility and general quality of these titles. The titles were distributed worldwide and were used by many recording artists, multimedia designers, library music producers and dance music producers.” In 2003 Loopmasters officially launched. They’re not your typical audio sampling web site. Loopmasters searches for well known producers to contribute packages of useable samples. We interviewed the Loopmasters team about their product. Check it out…

LG: Hey Loopmasters, hows the audio sampling business these days? Any big news?

LM: Good thanks, lots of great stuff coming out over the coming weeks, we launch Global Underground Sample Series, and we have some great artist titles coming out including a Hardcore pack from Breeze and Styles, trance from Jon 00 Flemming, and some great dance titles from artists like Meat Katie, Jon Carter, Funkagenda and many others!

We also just starting working with Industrial Strength records who have some great Drum and Bass, Techno and Dubstep libraries amoung others in the pipeline, so its exciting times here at Loopmasters with some fantastic new royalty free samples coming from some of hottest producers on the planet. We just took over a new office which also has a nice music studio next door, and have expanded our team to help with social media, distributor projects and some new ideas we have cooking – so watch this space!

LG: What do you look for in the producers that you get to upload samples to your site?

LM: Overall it has to be quality and inspiration every time, as we can help with technical formatting and content selection – overall the producers must have passion and really know their style, genre, or instrument. Apart from that they must be ready to give up their best sounds and musical ideas for the project without worry – as we know that we have to make our customers happy.

LG: Are there any recognizable songs out there that have Loopmasters samples in them?

LM: There are a lot out there for sure, but we prefer to generally operate like a doctor/patient relationship and keep our customers identity a secret.

LG: Anything in the Loopmasters future that we should be aware of?

LM: There is a lot going on here at the moment, we are lucky to have a great group of producers buying and trusting us to provide them with the right sounds, genres and formats – as styles change we have a constant challenge to find the best people to come up with the goods. Outside of our core business we are looking into supporting our customer base more and providing useful information and opportunities – so we launched looptv.net to give an industry focus for music production, artists and interviews. Also we have an exciting record label related project launching which will be new for us and hopefully something we will be very proud of.

In the meantime – watch out for upcoming releases from our Artist and Label series, along with some fantastic products from our partner labels – a couple to keep an eye on are Wave Alchemy, Push Button Bang and Drumdrops.

Thanks for the interview, Loopmasters. Make sure to check out their profile on MixMatchMusic where you can download several of their samples!

Remix Lyrics Born!

published
on August 24, 2009
by
ACtual
in collaboration, DIY, fans, future of music, genres, music, music production, remix promotions, and remixing
. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

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Heads up fans, producers, and DJs! We’ve got a brand new remix contest for all of you looking for new and impressive ways to participate in the creative process and show off your DIY skills. MixMatchMusic has joined forces with Bay Area rapper Lyrics Born and eyewear company Sutro Vision to bring you a chance to remix Lyrics Born’s newest single, a re-union track with the other half of his Latyrx duo, Lateef the Truthspeaker, called “Pushed Aside, Pulled Apart.”

“Pushed Aside, Pulled Apart” will be appearing on both Lyrics Born’s upcoming Variety Show mixtape and the studio album he has due in 2010. The track utilizes female vocals, synths and moving drum and clap percussion to frame uptempo lyrics from Born and Lateef surrounding the decisions and choices they’ve been faced with making for their careers. Check out the video for the single below.

In an effort to engage and interact with fans, as well as contribute to the growing number of artists allowing fans to remix their work, Lyrics Born has loaded the stems to “Pushed Aside, Pulled Apart” into the MixMatchMusic Remix Wizard and has given you two options for making a remix: Either download the stems for free and use any software you want, or just click on the MixMaker button on the widget to make a remix in MixMatchMusic’s simple online music editor. If you’ve never experienced remixing before, or just want to see how the song was made, check out the MixMaker. Once you’ve completed your remix, upload it so that others can listen to, vote on and share it.

So what will you win? From the entries, Lyrics Born himself will be picking three winners – a grand prize and two runner-up prizes. The grand prize winner will receive a pair of Lyrics Born signed Sutro sunglasses (these shades are sweet!), autographed copies of the entire Variety Show catalog, a Lyrics Born T-Shirt, 2 free tickets to any Lyrics Born show, a meet and greet with Lyrics Bron at said show, and their track featured on LyricsBorn.com presented by Lyrics Born himself.

The 2 runner ups will each receive a pair of Lyrics Born signed Sutro sunglasses (he will sign the case), a copy of the new Lyrics Born Variety Show mixtape, a Lyrics Born T-Shirt and 2 free tickets to any Lyrics Born show as well as their remix featured on LyricsBorn.com. The official rules for the contest are available here.

So what are you waiting for? The contest starts today (Tuesday, August 25th) and runs through Friday September 25th. Tune in, sign on and start mixing!
[vimeo vimeo.com/6247808]

Send MixMatchMusic to SXSW!

published
on August 17, 2009
by
Sandra
in culture, DIY, fans, film, music, music business, remixing, technology, and tools for musicians
. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , .

sxsw2010

Fan of .Evolving Music. and/or MixMatchMusic? Show your support and help us send some of our folks to SXSW next year by voting for our panel topics!

SXSW is a conference, a festival, a networking event, and much much more that has become a premier destination for music professionals around the world. Now in its 24th year, SXSW boasts 80+ stages, and 2,000+ acts. In addition to the amazing music that gets shared and discovered here, the panels give industry thought leaders a forum to introduce brave new ideas and technologies to a hungry and influential audience. MixMatchMusic has found itself in a unique position in this new musical landscape and we would relish the opportunity to share some of our ideas with this crowd.

You can help by voting for our two panel topics below. Simply create an account and then vote (and comment).

Topic #1

Remix: A New Model for Engaging Fans

Today, there are millions of recording artists competing for the attention of the 190 million music fans who demand a deep and personal experience with their favorite artists online. Remixing gained legions of fans when pioneered by NIN and Radiohead. However, many artists have been shut out from engaging fans with remixes by the complexity and expense of the technology. This panel will explore a range of new engagement tools that promise high levels of connection and are accessible and affordable by the DIY musician.

MixMatchMusic’s CFO and Director of A&R Alan Khalfin can discuss how bringing fans directly into the music making process through remix promotions can be highly engaging and convert casual fans into loyal fans. He will also comment on how artists can distribute their stems, in addition to their songs, to increase their revenue. A team of panelists can also engage in a lively discussion around the intersection of music, technology and social media and the tools musicians want and need to collaborate with their fans to bring them into the creative process. The panelists could also discuss how crowd-sourced remix promotions can create a musical conversation between an artist and his fans, and can ultimately affect how music is written and experienced.

Topic #2

How to Develop Artist/Fan Connection

It’s no secret that the channels musicians have traditionally relied upon to get their music discovered, promoted and sold are growing irrelevant and as a result, millions of musicians are increasingly on their own, without labels, record stores or radio to help them. The artist’s challenge is now to convert casual fans into loyal fans, and loyal fans into paying customers. Compounding the challenge is the changed fan: modern music fans are acclimated to the read/write web and the social interaction that comes with it, and are looking for the same experience with music. Now, musicians have to engage and involve casual listeners in order to build deep and lasting connections with them, and to convert them to loyal fans.

MixMatchMusic’s CEO Charles Feinn can discuss how creating deep and lasting relationships with fans is the only way for artists to be successful in Music 2.0. He can also comment on ways to achieve the types of meaningful connections that convert casual fans into paying customers, from engage fans through mobile apps, to bringing fans into the creative process through remixing, and developing direct relationships with fans on Twitter.

The community’s votes account for 30% of the panel selection process and voting continues until September 4th so get your vote on and spread the word! We will be eternally grateful! 🙂

RIP Les Paul

published
on August 13, 2009
by
ACtual
in collaboration, culture, DIY, genres, music, music business, music history, music production, and recording
. Closed Tags: , , , , , .

Les Paul

A sad day in music today as one of the older trailblazers, Lester “Les Paul” William Polfuss passed away. He was 94. Born only a few short years after the sinking of the Titanic, Paul lived through two World Wars, numerous armed skirmishes, the Depression, three “first” Supreme Court Justices as well as the first African-American president. But in a life that spanned all of those historic events, his contributions to music, the recording industry and the guitar dramatically changed the way it was created, played and recorded on a level unparalleled elsewhere.

Not only was Paul an accomplished musician, but his DIY tendencies and desire to see how things worked lead him to develop technology that shaped the future of the music industry and huge developments within genres. The standard of multitrack recording was pioneered by Paul, and the practices of overdubbing and delays were advanced by him as well. Dissatisfied with the acoustic guitars available, Paul created his own electric guitar. This would go on to be manufactured and sold by Gibson, becoming one of the iconic guitars for rock musicians from multiple generations. Certainly we may not have had the Steve Miller Band were it not for Paul being Miller’s Godfather and giving him his first guitar lesson. I’ve also read that when he broke his arm he asked the doctor to reset it in a permanent guitar playing position. I can neither confirm nor deny that.

When it comes to instrumentation and studio techniques, few people in the recording industry have had as much of an impact as Les Paul. His influence and love for music was so great that he continued playing guitar into the last year of his life, and created continued inspiration for premier guitarists worldwide. In a musical climate where “innovation” comes in the form of auto-tune and artists rarely have more than monetary attachments to the instruments they play, Paul’s truly significant leaps of technology and his subsequent engineering attachment to the instruments he created will remain singular and unique for some time to come.