Soundcloud - A DJ's Best Friend

By now, im sure many of you are familiar with soundcloud. It has become the industry standard for sharing your audio productions to record labels, internet radio stations, & fans. It enables you (depending on your account) to upload full DJ mixes, your tracks, make playlists, and even have direct links to buy your tracks from beatport, itunes, or where ever you want to direct your traffic. This is great for producers, and soundcloud specifically has high quality streaming audio. I am finding soundcloud is the best place to direct my audio listening traffic because I can offer free tracks, and pay tracks all in the same location.

But what I want to talk about today is how soundcloud can be DJs best friend...especially when on a tight schedule and you NEED to get some HOT tracks fast! Since soundcloud kind of works like a social network in a way that you can FOLLOW certain artists, its really easy to find the newest releases from your favorite artists. After clicking FOLLOW your favorite artists page, you then have a nice little tab at the top of the page to check all the tracks (newest - oldest) that have been released by your favorite artists.

This is a GREAT feature. What I really like about DJing, is finding nice underground tracks that no one has heard yet. Since a lot of small time (and kind of popular) artists use soundcloud for promotion, you can find tracks even before they are released. Now, this doesnt mean you can download them, but most of the time you can. Sometimes, when you are really lucky, artists will release FREE tracks....so when REALLY in a jam, and no credit card around, you can still find some rockin HOT tracks.

What I did, is went through all the tracks that I use when DJing...and picked out ALL of my favorite artists. Clicked FOLLOW. And now I have a huge list of all my favorite producers.

No longer do I have to search trackitdown, beatport, junodownload, when trying to gather new tracks quickly before a gig. Just log in to my soundcloud, and check whats new.

I really think this is the future of music finding. It enables you to stay up-to-date with TONS of artist's releases, and also lets you know MORE about them (location, website, remixes, label info, etc). It is really hard staying up-to-date with the thousands of different artists out there per genre...and this makes it really easy. Also, many of the BIG artists are not really using soundcloud....so it keeps me from playing tracks that everyone else is. I can also comment on the tracks, and send my love when I really think a track is bangin. I can also check out other artists who they follow, and find similar sounding artists. This is much better than surfing beatport...which only really features the BIG artists....and leaves the small ones to drown at the bottom of the flood.

This feature of soundcloud is great...and is my new favorite way to stay on top of whats new, and find NEW tracks. With paypal accounts set up at beatport, trackitdown, itunes, and junodownload...you can buy tracks quickly from the soundcloud link (which will direct you to a place to download). I can support artists that I like, and get tracks that are released within the week.

Peace!

FroBot

Electronic Producers Being Pirated...Good or Bad?

The topic of todays article is electronic music producers being pirated. In this day and age, with torrents, websites like hotfile and rapidshare, and link databases, it is easier than ever to get "Hit" songs for free.

As some of you know, I released my first 2 real tracks last month, and since then, have been very careful about where I upload them. I have made sure to put the 2 of my tracks that I wanted to sell ONLY available as streaming on other websites, and for sale on a few others. I specifically made sure to track my links and check google for links where they shouldnt be.

Well, yesterday, I hit a new level in my musician-hood. I've been pirated. I found my tracks sitting in a list of techno torrents....and what was ONE torrent website....quickly become 10 or more within a few hours of other torrent databases picking up the tracker. Now this is not from one of the websites I uploaded to (like I had mentioned in my "FroBot's Journey..." blog). This is actually someone, or some program, who is scarfing up tracks from either pay sites, or some other way, and releasing then in a group torrent for free.

So, how do I feel. Well, to be honest...much obliged. I have mentioned before, that I think people will always pay for music, and always steal it...that is just how it will always be. So, im glad people are taking it and getting it out to all those music stealing people. Besides...musics invisible anyway....so it doesnt feel like a crime to them. My guess...is that the people who will download those torrents...are TOTALLY different people than the ones who are surfing trackitdown.net or itunes.com (where you can buy my tracks). So, the way I see it, more chances to make fans, and more chances to get my disc spun in clubs.

Now, a lot of established producers will definitely say that pirating is bad, and hurts their sales. OK, well, I am not going to start talking about a topic that I dont know about first hand. Ive never been a famous producer, ive never tried to calculate my sales from releases...let alone factor in what is loss from pirating. So, to those of you who pirating is damaging your lifestyle...well, that sucks...but I wont go as far as to agree with you 100%.

For a producer who is starting out...it is REALLY good to get your music OUT there...but also establish some kind of credibility ground (where as you have songs for sale on major outlets). Normal people tend to listen a extra few seconds if the track is coming from a better source (ex. itunes vs. myspace). It just looks good to be selling tracks. But, I would just as much like to give my tracks out for FREE because...well...1. music should be free in a perfect world...but we live in a capitalist style world and its just how it rolls... 2. The money you make back as a producer starting out is PISS when you compare that to what you are willing to spend just to make your career work. You have most likely already spent thousands of dollars on equipment, countless parties and drinks just staying connected in a scene, parties you have played for free, mastering and production costs, distribution and subscription websites, etc etc. So the money you will get back isnt going to cover much.

Anyway, the bottom line is, my track is getting out to MORE people...in the early stages of the game where that is the "Name Of The Game".

NOW AGAIN....for big artists who are really making their living off of making tracks and selling them...since I have never been there...I can not SPEAK for those opinions. They may be smart to have a protection service like trackitdown offers (here is an article about it http://www.trackitdown.net/news/show/104.html). But I am really not sure how much it is REALLY hurting their sales. Im sure statistics released by RIAA and other organization say that it IS. But, I am betting is that most of those statistics are for POPULAR music that your casual music listener listens to. When it comes to electronic music, a lot of the music purchases are other DJs, direct fans of the artist, a fan after hearing them live, and less commonly, casual electronic music listeners. If you ask a person on the street what "beatport" or "junodownload" is, they will have no clue. But if you say, what is iTunes or Apple...they of course will know. But, most of the electronic music now a days is sold via outlets links beatport, trackitdown, junodownload, etc.

So, a lot of the people buying tracks from these websites specifically know, like, and a lot of the times DJ this kind of music. THESE KINDS OF PEOPLE...tend to LOVE music more than the casual listeners. They are digging deeper in the genre pool "tech house, dubstep, trip hop, etc). They have obviously exhausted the shit that MTV provided years ago, and the classic rock that their parents blasted for years OVER AND OVER on the cheap car stereo. These are music enthusiasts, who really like the elements of different sounds when listening to music. And you know what, I know for a fact that a lot of these kind of people (including myself), like to pay for music...because it feels good to give back to the producer, their hard work, and just feels right.

Now, the only other group of people that would need to be addressed in this situation are the people who are DJs or electronic enthusiasts, but like to use torrents to download music. This is probably a lot bigger of a group of people than we think....but not really surprising. With the availability of electronic gear, and especially the prices now a days, ANYONE can make electronic music. That means there is a lot of new good music, but also a lot of pure shit. So, I am sure that downloading big torrents, and then sifting through them is a money and time saver. But should we really be upset about this....I mean it is how technology is changing. The people who are using torrents are probably a little bit more computer savvy...and some of those torrent hosting websites are SUPER internet savvy (as shown by lawsuits against piratebay and others). So, do you actually think you are going to STOP these people who are sitting at the for front of internet sharing technology. And is it really something you want to try to stop?

It seems as if everyone wants the "action" without the "equal or opposite reaction" (as newton would put it). Everyone loves how fast we can communicate with facebook, share a picture and edit them from a beach on your iphone, skype with your friend on the other side of the ocean, download mp3s from the airport for your trip, cheat on your math exam, etc.....but, thinks it comes without a downside.....file sharing, internet stalkers, leaked information, hacking, phishing, or exploitation.

Technology, since the beginning of time, has always been about "one upping" the next person. And it will always be this way. And with regulations trying to control this, it will forever be a cat & mouse game.

As to pirating music, there is just not enough time, resources, authority, or ANYTHING to control the INTERNET...which needs a GLOBAL authority. Also, things such a proxies tunnels, id masking, etc...it will always be possible to hide your location and still get what you want. If you think that authorities have enough police to start arresting even .0001 percent of the people downloading music...your living in a fantasy.

So, the way I see it...as a producer....I just CAN NOT CARE about this...and should just go with the flow. As a producer starting out....its actually helpful. If I ever made it to the status where it was hurting my lifestyle....then maybe I (or label) would take a personal route in controlling my illegally uploaded files (by using google and looking for your tracks). But, I dont ever see that in my future. I am happy to be where I am as a producer....releasing a few tracks...making shit for it....and keep making more. Ill do it whether I make a million dollars, or 1 penny.

Peace!

FroBot

Reciprocal Links for Music Bloggers (work in progress)

I know a few of you out there who are blogging about music and tech info. This will help you establish a little bit more GOOGLE grounding with some efficient back links. I tossed on each link directories GOOGLE RANKING so you can see how well it is going to help you. For those of you who are not familiar with this...google bases its rankings off of good backlinks. Getting your backlinks in directories is really a good way to help your ranking...(aside from GOOD CONTENT...which is most important). This is not good for bands so much, or artists...more for bloggers writing about useful info that will be searched via google. Since I write a lot about ableton, I get tons of hits daily from people searching for unique things about ableton. This will just help my website sit a little higher in the organic results. Anyway here is the list -


Ablaze Directory 3
MagDalyns Online 3
Syndirectory 3
Goobz.biz 3
VipDig Free Directory 3
My Directory Live 3
Tremble Online 3
Quality Marketing Directory 6
Business and Health Directory 3
Webnetclick 3
SEO friendly free link directory 3
Monster Link Directory 3
W3C Software Directory 3
COUNTERDEAL.COM 3
PLAINSTONE.COM 3
Atlantisweb.net - Free General Web Directory Network 3
Euro India Directory 3
Welcome to Katerart.com, a website Directory. 3
Free Link Directory Submit 3
Seychelles Classifieds 3
The Adored Directory 3
Fast Approval FREE Link Directory 3
Pmdip directory 4
Health and Marketing Directory 6
Website Design in Japan 3
Lurpo - SEO Friendly Web Directory 3
Aqard - Submit Your Site 3
YXDMW Web Directory 3
mediahp.com directory 3
IfccFBI.org 3
Pandora Battery 3
Lebateauivre.com 3
Nashvillebbb 3
Aauml Web Directory 3
Web Directory 3
Cultu UR Technologie Directory 6
Cy-sd Web Directory 5
Eduology General Web Directory 4
SudaNow - Online Business Directory 4
Chhap - Web directory 3
Vision IQ Directory 5
ZicoSur.org 5
Shane English WEB Directory 5
Add URL & Submit Site to Free Website Directory 4
Imadec Open Web Directory 5
Sabuco Web Directory 3
GOOGLEPHONE24 3
Business and Sports Directory 5
Cortex Directory 3
Site Name 3
Alma Public Directory 3
Diroo 4

Headspace Studio (Nara) Creates Interactive VJ Pyramid at Summer Love Beach Party

Last weekend, a group of people (including myself) from Osaka & Nara organized a chill little beach party in Tango Hanto. Tango Hanto is North of Kyoto on the Sea of Japan (about 2 1/2-3 hours from Osaka).

The party was on Saturday, but I went up Friday morning with my wife, Jamie (from Headspace Studios), and Rick (another great visual artist). Our goal (and Jamie's brainchild) was to make a giant, 4 sided pyramid out of bamboo and hang a camera under it, to create the visuals that would display on the rocks above the DJ. But, after a LONG morning getting up there, getting stuck in sand on the beach, and getting totally drunk...we dubbed ourselves - Team - "Hurry the Fuck Up"...that was basically the story of our weekend! The first night...after barely getting anything done for the art installation....we sat back, and watched this amazing sunset! -

This picture does not do it any justice at all! It was amazing!

Anyway, day 2 rolled around, and we finally got the car pulled out of the sand. We slowly, very slowly....started to get our shit together. We got some super long bamboo poles...and started to construct the pyramid. In the end, it all looked like this -

Just some bamboo poles (we found near an old temple down the road), some string, and some wire...and you got a 4 sided pyramid man!

And this thing was a monster...bigger than we expected, and Jamie was climbing all over it all night! I even saw a girl dancing and hanging off it.

We got the camera and projector secured, and mixing board mounted on the side....and then started to play with the visuals. Here is a little video of us playing with it. Rob is playing with some fire, and I am getting all the DJ shit set up there with my wife! It was cool to see it come together!





 

After a good long weekend of music, visuals, dancing, drinking, swimming, relaxing....we tore the bamboo down in a fraction of the time it took to set up....and took the long road home. Along the way we stopped at a farm and ate delicious steaks (all of Team Hurry the Fuck Up)...and then slowly cruised home....and all the while eating too much ice cream. It was a great weekend...and one I hope to do again!

FroBot

Making Music with Shoes (Japan Nike Commercial)

Music in Osaka Jo Koen (The Park that Never Sleeps)

Osaka Jo Koen (Osaka Jo Castle) is one of main symbols of Osaka which has a unique history and is almost always a stopping point for travelers visiting the city. The castle is historic, and the park enables you to get lost in nature (while being right in the city).

It is no surprise (but little known) that this is a great place for musicians to come and make noise at anytime of the night. That is the topic of this article. Musicians in Osaka Jo Koen.

Most people dont usually associate Osaka Jo Koen with being a music haven...except for the music hall and the small outdoor concert location that are within the park. After living in Morinomiya for the last few years...you kind of get to see the ins and outs of the park. And, being a musician, I am always running into other musicians throughout the park (at the oddest hours of the night). This is why I say, this park never sleeps...because at ANY GIVEN HOUR of ANY GIVEN DAY...you will find musicians in this park. In the day time, you can find festivals, concerts, performances, and full on events in the park. In the night time, you will find musicians...tapping away on drums, blowing trumpets as to sound the armies, or sitting quietly with a violin or koto under a secluded tree. The music really never stops in this park, and is why it is my favorite spot in all of Osaka to live.

Also, I know from being here a while that musicians come and go. Foreigners especially are looking for other musicians to make music with, and are always posting ads in the local classifieds looking for certain musicians. This may help you find what you are looking for. Just by walking through Osaka park at 1:30 am, you will be able to find almost any kind of musician you are looking for....and usually the hardcore kind who...well...go out to Osaka Jo at 1:30 just to make noise!

What I am going to do, is detail some of the great places in Osaka Jo where you can find music, musicians, and overall good fun!

Osaka Jo Hall

 

This place is not so much a place to find underground musicians, but is one the biggest venues to see concerts in Osaka. This place holds big J-Pop concerts, orchestras and bands, and even sumo and other events. Sometimes...you will just be walking through Osaka park, and there will be thousands of girls dressed up like anime characters, or crazy Japanese fashion, because a HUGE idol group is playing at this venue. Its always a funny spectacle....and this place will look like an anthill of people.

The closest station is Osaka Jo Koen Station on Loop-line.

Osaka Jo Koen Walkway

This location is a super rad location just outside of Osaka Jo Koen station. This little walkway has musicians playing all of the time, but is especially popular on Sundays. This whole walkway will be lined with bands and medium sized speakers. Sometimes, even more popular groups will just set up here and do a raw session.

This is a great place to meet other bands and get connected in the scene. You will find some of best artists chilling around here.

Also, if come here late at night, there is a tunnel right beside the hall where there is almost always acoustic singer song writers singing at the top of their lungs. The tunnel has some great reverberation, and is a great spot for acoustic instruments. I also catch didgeridoo players, hand drummers, violinists, koto players, and other interesting musicians here. Even until 6am, you will find musicians here....especially on the weekends.

Morinomiya Station

 

This place is BY FAR the biggest music hub in the park. There are quite a few reasons for this. #1, its one the main stations for entering the park....so during that day time, there are always many people here. This is good for taiko bands or other acoustic yet loud performances. #2, it is right beside the loop line train tracks, and has an empty train yard behind it (which means you can be as loud as you want)....and at night time...there are always anywhere from 10-100 different horn musicians practicing solo or in groups. It really is an amazing spectacle.

Once you exit the park exit, you will find a large walkway with a small stream up the middle. On weekends, bands will occasionally set up right here with small amps.



I have met some really talented jazz bands here.

Also, all around the exit...there are usually TAIKO bands practicing and dancing. Osaka Jo Park almost always has one of these going on somewhere...but, near the station is quite common because they can be REALLY loud.



For horn players, any night of the week, you can find them around here...or more specifically, along the road parallel with the train tracks.

If you walk into the park a little towards the fountain...you will find many different hand drummers who like to practice near the small stream and around the fountain. There are tons of good jam sessions here...and when Im bored during the day time...I just take my hand drum out there and meet some new musicians to jam with.

Be sure to check the parking lot near here too because I have recently been finding full on reggae and jam bands who set up in the dark hours...and blast some loud music with a generator right in the parking lot. Police seem to look the other way (even though speakers are not really allowed here). I even found a big reggae party with DJs

Osaka Jo Outdoor Music Theater

Right beside the fountain near Morinomiya station is the outdoor music theater. On weekends, there is usually some kind of conert going on here...whether it be J-pop, reggae, orchestras, radio promotions, etc. It is really hidden below a steep cliff...and sometimes, a big concert will be going on there but you would never even know it. Sometimes, big artist even come and play here...and it can get really busy. Sometimes, they hold practices for big ensembles, which is a nice treat to listen to on the overlooking cliff above it. 

East Moatside Walkway

If you continue into the park from Morinomiya station, you will come across the outer moat walkway. This is one of my favorite places to find drummers. 

This little walkway always seems to have hand drummers jamming in the evenings...alone, and in groups. It is a good place to make a new friend and rock out some funky beats. I would say 90% of the time on weekday evenings, you can find a drummer here. On weekends, its goes without saying. There are also tons of singer songwriters here practicing because it is a really peaceful spot...and is a backup plan when the tunnel is occupied.

Osaka Jo Castle (Southside)

This part of the park is one of the main tourist spots in the park. It is the part that leads into the castle, and commonly has music and artists playing up here. This is where you can see all the traditional taiko drummers, koto artists, dancers, performers, etc. During holidays, there is always something going on. 

There are not many solo artists during the daytime, but in the evenings, I find people taking up corners near the inner moat cliffs singing alone or playing horns. 

 Osaka Jo Castle (Northside)

On the north side of the castle...there is another super chill location that musicians like to practice in. When you cross the 2nd moat, you can enter up into the north side of the castle. This is where Osaka Improv Jam Group has their monthly OSAKA JO FULL MOON DRUM CIRCLE. Every full moon, on either the Saturday or Sunday, there is a big drum circle held here. Sometimes, its in a different location depending on the moon...but usually it is here. More info - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=334548339055

 The Orchard

 Another great location to find solo musicians and drum circles is in the plum & peach gardens (The Orchard). This place has had a reputation of putting on good DJ parties (before the police busted them all up). I, however, still catch the occasional party here. Young kids like to bring speakers and DJ equipment, and party here. It still happens, just not as much. I always seem to meet other flute players, drummers, and soloists here...as it is very quiet and has amazing views overlooking the first moat.

Osaka Jo Koen (West Side)

The west side of the park, even being close to the big buildings near Tanimachi 4-chome, still has a bunch of musicians who like to set up here. This is a lot closer for people carrying BIG drums as there is parking on this side...so there tends to be BIG taiko sessions here. This is also the side with the big park that cost a couple hundred yen to get into...but is a great place to have a chill session with 1 or 2 other musicians. The pay-park is beautiful. Also, just outside the west entrance is where the 50's greasers like to dance.

 There are many other locations in the park where musicians like to hide and make noise...but these are just some of the few common locations to find musicians and music. Some of the best locations will stay secret...as they are the few gems that we have in the park. If you are musician and want to find other musicians....a Friday night stroll is all it takes to find anyone you are looking for. In the evening on weekends, you will find multiple bands playing. On holidays, you will find HUGE performances. Osaka Jo Koen is really a great, unappreciated spot in Osaka when it comes to music. I am glad to live right here...because any night of the week...and I can just take an instrument out to Osaka Jo....and get away from the city lights, pollution, and people. It is where many of the unknown talented artists like to be heard by the heavens, and no one else.

FroBot 

Teaching Kids English Using Right Brain Sequencing Through Drumming

***edit 8.20.2010*** - Part 2 w/ Videos - http://djfrobot.blogspot.com/2010/08/teaching-kids-english-using-sequential.html

As some of you know, I am not just a musician, but a kids music & English teacher as well. Most foreigners living in Japan do some kind of teaching work. I specifically teach young kids age 3-12 at 2 different schools here in Osaka. Being that I love music, I am always bringing in instruments and playing music with kids (not that normal CLAP YOUR HANDS bullshit)...but work with real instrument improvisation and use good music (like house, reggae, jam music, etc). My kids absolutely love it when I use music in my English lessons.

Recently, I have been finishing up the book "Musicophilia" by Oliver Sacks. This book has really changed my life, and especially my view of how messed up our brains can actually be. After finishing chapter 17, "Accidental Davening : Dyskinesia Cantillation", I had some really interesting ideas for teaching. In this chapter, Sacks goes on to talk about a patient he had (David) who has dystinesia and was a devote Orthodox Jew. The man would just sit around and CONSTANTLY sing "Ov vey, Oy vey vey". It was a really unusual situation, and he could not engage anyone about anything due to his illness. But, if you were to start talking to him, WHILE using the same melodic and rhythmic structure as the song he would sing, he could answer you back with anything you wanted to talk about. He just could not ENGAGE the talking without it being put to that song. So once you finished talking to him (and you could talk about deep personal topics with him) he would go back into his null state of "Oy vey...".

Now as many neurologists and doctors know....your brain has many different parts, each performing different functions. We have certain parts that handle rhythm, speech, pitch, harmonic balance, etc....and rhythm in particular has its roots in the oldest parts of our brain (because we needed this to walk, and survive). So, it is an extremely important part of our brains....that most everyone has acute control over (however some better than others).

It was also argued by Merlin Donald in his 1991 research paper entitled, "Origins of the Modern Mind" that the reason why humans developed was through "mimetic evolution" where as apes tended to stay in "episodic evolution". The ability to mimic rhythmic sequences therefor uses very unique parts of our brain that do not normally function while learning a foreign language.

This got me to thinking about teaching and using right brain strategies in my methods. So this week, in all my schools, I decided to try a new activity (an experiment so to say) using rhythm and mimicry....and with AMAZING results.

Now, for you who teach Engish....you know that it is tough to teach a large number of new vocabulary in one sitting (and have the children actually retain it). You can teach new words, you can try games, songs, drills, but usually....they will not remember all of them....just a few...and it will take a few more weeks to actually get the words to stick. This was not the case with my idea.

With most of my kids age 8-12....one of the hardest things is teaching irregular conjugated verbs in the past tense (ex. run - ran, sleep - slept, blow - blew, etc). In Japanese, verb conjugation for the most part is pretty simple...you just need to change the end of the verb to "ta" or "mashita". English likes to be difficult, and make most words "+ ed" or have a whole new word. It is really hard to get kids to remember all these new words, so I tried the rhythmic approach.

What I did was make a GRID on the board (4x4) (16 squares to represent 4 beats in a measure). Each grid location has a number above it. Now, I start out with JUST 4 words. I taught the new past tense verbs, explained the a little with a mnemonic device, and then let the kids come to the board. I sat in the back with a hand drum, and would simply play a simple beat....with anywhere from 1-4 hits in it. When I finished, the kids would quickly look at the board, find the corresponding number, and then say the English. I would repeat this until they seemed to remember all 4 words...and then I would add 4 more....and 4 more...until I got up to 16. By the end of this activity, ALL CHILDREN remembered ALL 16 words....quickly, and without thinking. They also REALLY LOVE the game because it tends to be like video games that they play like "Mario Party" or that taiko mimicking game. Once the kids get the hang of it, you can even let them go to the drum, and make a beat, and let them organize their OWN game (which is nice because I can just sit back and let them go at it, and just make sure they are answering correctly and playing the right number of beats).

By tapping into the rhythmic side of their brains, they were able to learn and retain 16 brand new words in about a 25 minute sitting. I have never been able to get kids to remember things like this. Kids have a really good sense of rhythm even if they are not musically inclined, and can easily hear how many beats are played even when it is played REALLY quickly. The kids amazed me.

I really want to start studying some more right brain strategies for teaching....because...sometimes...especially with language learning...things can get really mixed up in their heads when trying to embed so many "brand new" images into their brains. By using rhythm to make them stick....their brains become like super glue!

Peace!

FroBot

Is the death of the CD looming?

Original Link - http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/19/cd.digital.sales/index.html?hpt=C2#fbid=Yx9TbMYHsiJ (sometimes CNN links dont work)

(CNN) -- If you think the musical compact disc is dying or dead, you're probably younger than it is.
"Show me a teenager buying a Susan Boyle album on CD and I'll show you someone buying a gift for their grandparent -- for Christmas," jokes Billboard senior chart manager and analyst Keith Caulfield. "There is definitely an age component to the consumption of music."
As the music industry as a whole struggles in a down economy and direct download business models like iTunes flourish, the compact disc -- which was commercially introduced in 1982 -- has the appearance of going the way of vinyl.
And contrary to the recent declaration of singer Prince -- who said that the Internet is dead and released his latest CD for free via European newspapers -- there's some evidence that consumers aren't as enamored with ripping the cellophane off that new CD as they once were.
According to data from Nielsen SoundScan, in 2007 CDs accounted for 90 percent of album sales in the United States, with digital accounting for the other 10 percent. Just two years later, that number had shifted to 79 percent CDs and 20 percent digital, with the remaining percentage point being made up of vinyl and other media.
Billboard's Caulfield said that so far this year, about 44 million digital albums have been sold, compared with 40 million during the same time frame last year. But while digital sales have increased slightly, CD sales have dropped from 147 million last year to 114 million this year for the same time period.
Caulfield stops short of speculating on a date when CDs might be phased out, but he does see similarities with the history of other media.
"Vinyl was the predominant configuration from the '50s and the '60s all the way up through the early '80s, and then cassettes became the predominant format from the early-mid '80s to the very early '90s," he said. "Then CDs became the predominant format and cassettes really didn't go away until a few years ago. It's kind of a natural progression, to a degree."
That's not to say that some artists aren't still selling well. Country group Lady Antebellum has so far racked up 2.4 million in album sales -- both CD and digital -- making them the top-selling act so far for 2010. In second place is teen phenom Justin Bieber, with 1.4 million.
"When an artist like a Drake or Eminem sells a bunch of albums, that shows that there are a lot of people that really want to spend money and give money to the artist that they are really, truly a fan of," Caulfield said. "The younger an artist skews in terms of who they appeal to, you'll see a larger share of their album sales tilt towards digital."
One obvious benefit of digital downloads is their ability to scratch an immediate itch. Caulfield observes shows like Fox's "Glee" make songs almost instant hits because "they have already heard and liked the song by the time they download it." Paul Grein, who writes the "Chart Watch" column for Yahoo.com, agrees, seeing hope for the music business in the success of "Glee" and "American Idol," which have helped spike downloads.
Despite the CD's decline, Grein believes the format will be around for the foreseeable future.
"I think it's becoming less of a mass-market item and kind of a niche product that caters to a small but loyal following," he said. "But there are enough cases where we are seeing albums that are selling in big numbers that I think they will be around for a while." Younger-skewing artists, such as singer-rapper Ke$ha, enjoy a larger slice of the digital pie than older-skewing artists such as James Taylor, he says.
Indeed, the format isn't the point, he said. In 100 years, recorded music has gone from cylinders to shellac 78s to vinyl LPs to cassettes, CDs and now digital downloads. Through it all, listeners still crave tunes.

"Music is definitely still in fashion," he said. "It's all around us."

CODA Brings NEEDED Change to Osaka Popular Crowd

Something very spectacular happened in Kansai last Saturday night at the Suma Beach Party 2010. Normally, this party is relatively good....but something happened that night that stood out from the rest of the years. I watched all the normal party goers...whether they be people who like top 40 music, salary men, hip/hop enthusiasts, heavy metal rockers....anyone & everyone...rock out to...can I say...the RAW BEAT. 

Now, there is nothing surprising about that fact that Juan, Karla, & Joey all had rockin groovy sets...this is something that many of the people within the scene all knew already from listening to Oasis Radio, or going out the the CODA shows in Osaka. But what was really remarkable, is that for the first time, at Suma Beach...it took absolutely NO CHEESE to get the crowd going. Joey started off with some really groovy beats....great, solid, funky but even a little deep....and the crowd just ate it up. This is not an EASY feat by any means. I always feel like it takes some kind of lame remix, some popular overheard song, or some kind of cheesy DJ gestures...to really get the crowd going. This was not the case for the Suma Party this year. The DJs played great, raw, underground tracks....and everyone on the dance floor were shaking it like they didnt know ANYTHING else in the world besides this particularly great underground house & techno. After Joey... Karla & Juan also brought a great attitude & great track selection to the table, and brought the party slowly more and more raw. By the middle of Karlas set, I could see girls & guys shaking it in front of the stage...but lacking the lame "grind" dancing that seems to follow these sorts of "popular, mixed genre" shows.

It is not easy to balance a crowd like the Suma crowd. When a DJ goes to play at their normal monthly event in a club...they know that the clubbers coming are prepared to hear the genres that are to follow. This permits DJs to dig deep within their tracks and find some even more obscure tracks because the people, for the most part, like that particular kind of music. This is especially true for music that CODA does, as it tends to be more underground, raw, and even experimental. But when you get a crowd of normal, everyday clubbers...like people who attend clubs like PURE, or Onzieme, only for the fact that they will have HUGE crowds and multi-genred music...people who are out for more of the EXPERIENCE rather than a particular GENRE of music... it is REALLY HARD to find the right tracks to make their feet move (and also the house knowledgeable listeners at the same time)...especially when it doesnt contain a remix or something for them to neurally catch on to. But last Saturday night at Suma beach....Coda changed all of that!

Not only were they able to supply the raw beat that made the people of Suma move their asses, they did it with a sort of "Funky Grace" that a lot of DJs just dont seem to have. A lot of DJs have trouble finding the right ATTITUDE on stage...whether it being super douchey and engaging the crowd like they are children....or, barely moving like they arent even enjoying it themself. But...between Karla (whos looks DAMN GOOD and cute up there...boppin her head and def feeling the music) & Juan (who never seemed to stop dancing on the stage even when his Coda friends were spinning)...they showed what a DJ should bring to the table at a mass event like the Suma Beach Party.

I hope this is a wave that will continue to ripple throughout Osaka. We need to show everyone around...that there is nothing like a FUNKY RAW BEAT...good and strong at its core...and you dont need something that you "know"...to feel it in your hips. Great job Karla, Juan, Joey, and everyone else who made the Suma Party possible this year! Great work, and I hope you continue this forward progress in the years to come! 

Again, fabulous job Karla, Juan, & Joey! You are a crucial part to making the Osaka scene a fresh & talented one!

Visit the Coda website -http://www.codatechno.com

Peace!

FroBot

FroBot's 5 Day Journey To Promote 2 Dance Tracks Without Soliciting

This is a detail of my 5 day journey through the land of promoting 2 dance tracks. As many of you know, promoting a track is a dangerous process, and takes a lot of "assumptions" to decide what you want to do with the tracks, where you want to release them, and by what means you want to go about it. So what I did, over a period of 5 days...was try to promote my brand new tracks...in a way that I saw effective, honest, and at LEAST accountable using google analytics. Sometimes, you can never really tell how well a certain website receives hits to NEW artists without tracking it...so I will explain all of this. Also, in this day and age, with the ridiculous amount of music producers out there...its getting harder to find a label that is ACTUALLY going to push you....and what I am out to prove...is that you can do it through a little bit of hard work, smart marketing, and without being pushy.

The goal of this whole idea...is to feel out all the websites; user-ability, its communities, its features, and keep them 100% updated with high quality audio, video, bio, RSS feeds, downloadable tracks free and pay, all the while tracking its traffic back to google analytics. Also, in no way solicit on these websites besides my own personal uploaded content within my profile. (this means NO personal messages promoting the track, no posts into forums or groups, and no friend spamming)

Also, the long term goal is to be able to work within communities in good websites, and also....with the right RSS feeds....be able to maintain high quality information on many different outlets via smart networking and a few extra hours of work maintaining them.

The Thinking....

OK...so, we all go through our "musical highs" & "musical lows". Its natural. The thing that smart musicians know how to do, is take those "low" times, and turn them into something productive. In my case, since I spend every morning until about 3pm, at home, alone...before work...this is my most productive time each day. Since last March, I have been going "gung ho" on getting some tracks together for summer time...and all that build up to getting them done, and summer now being here...has given me a "musical low"...at least in an electronic sense. Im out jamming at drum circles in the park, summer beach parties, & DJing too much to produce. So anyway, I thought...(since I still have time every morning) why dont I go all out, and try to promote these 2 tracks as much as I can.   ....dangerous....? youre thinking...shit, another facebook pushing asshole....no.....

Heres my opinion on the future of music. Dont push it!!! There is already so much music available for free now-a-days...and so many people pushing it hard on (I said hard-on, hahaha) social networking sites...that you are just going to sink in the flood of other artists...and become more of an "inconvenience" in users minds...which is a terrible approach. I could start throwing around the..."douchebag DJ" slander here...but, I always like to remember...that they are musicians...and really want people to hear their music...sooo bad, almost uncontrollably. This doesnt make me hate them, I just dont want to be like them. It sounds like bad marketing anyway. So, I want to keep my social networking sites pretty clean (especially facebook), which means I can really engage my listeners there and keep my promotion limited, and only on my FAN group & friends only...which I will discuss in a minute. (You guys know how much I hate all that facebook promo shit)

Also...in the future of music....some people will pay for music....some people will steal music....it will always be like this. Some people really feel close to their music, and when music listeners put their hard earned cash into something that really pleases their ears, it feels SO MUCH BETTER than stealing a track and try to feel close to it. I think so at least, just like buying a CD from a CD store, or a unheard vinyl....it just feels good...and different than if it was free. So, I just think this is how the future will be. We cant stop sharing technology...without it...none of us poor ass mother fuckers would even be making electronic music...so, the way I see it....in a promotion sense...you should have some tracks for free....and some tracks to buy...and think about how you want to go about doing that.

Day 1-3

Lets start...but before we start -

***First, go to your favorite internet radio station, and get those speakers pumping...doing all this promotion work is a great time to groove to some nice mixes. I usually go to Oasis radio (our local Osaka DJ station), and groove. I cant stress how important it is to get some funky tunes on...cause this is some hard, kind of repetitive work...music makes you grooooove the whole time.****


Now lets start! So I need to look at what I have ALREADY for promotion. I used tunecore (I explain this later) to distribute to itunes other places, I have a facebook, a myspace (which I dont use so much), a barely used twitter account, a paid soundcloud account, and trackitdown.net is selling my new 2 tracks...so a pay link. I also think I have some old reverbnation account from like a year ago that I forgot about just sitting around (looks like shit and not updated). I have my main homepage which I have had for a year or so....and I also have a blog that focuses on ableton which is nice too. Thats it. Hmmm....ok, its a start. So from the starting point....this is what I started with.

I really STRONGLY believe, that having your music in as many outlets as possible...so people will stumble across you...is VERY IMPORTANT. I love it when I FIND a new artist, and it was not promoted to me...and I know there are people out there who still do it...so that is what I want to do. However, I do want to become part of communities on some of these websites right...after all, just posting and not doing anything on them is really lame...and wont help much. I will have to put some time into updates and listening to other peoples tracks...but right now, I dont know WHAT WEBSITES ARE GOOD! I only get hearsay from other websites....so how will I actually know...without finding out myself. So, I figure...sign up for a ton...feel out the sign up forms...put nice profiles in there...nice links, everything to the best of my ability...then move on to the next. I will have to check periodically after signing up, and playing around with the websites features...to realize if its worth the time and effort. 2 main reasons are...

1. You dont know what the community is like on any given website or realize if there are many genre friendly users, or whatever.

2. The website just doesnt drive any traffic to your tracks or webpage. Right now, you have no idea which are good...so for now, get signed up...and at least if you do decide to not join a community track hosting website...your page still is there...and google likes to see that. Just dont go endlessly link pushing on those websites, or your an ass.

So, before I get ahead of myself,  here is a checklist I put together of the things I will need to get promoting. This just makes it easier, since you will be signing up for a lot of website, and filling out forms.

***Before doing any of this, ask yourself...are my tracks FINISHED and ready. Mastered, and you are ready to present them. If not, dont do it. Its not worth it. As musicians, we tend to love and hate our music at different times just from hearing it so much....try not to let that happen. You'll "know" when a tracks ready. Its just right!****

Ok here we go -

The Necessities....

1. Have a great logo. Also, be prepared to change it into countless different sizes. Some websites need banners, some need small icons, tons of different things. It really is rough...so be prepared to change them. If using mac, just use preview and go up to "Tools-Adjust Size".

2. Have your tracks in different file formats. Some websites permit only .mp3 128, some allow as high as possible, some only want .wav, some even want .flac. So, convert your uploading tracks into the different formats so you dont have to do it when you start promoting. Nice folders are nice too.

 Also, pick up Switch for converting (Mac) http://download.cnet.com/Switch-Audio-Converter/3000-2140_4-10703967.html

And pick up Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/mac This program is very useful for many reasons.

3. If using firefox, get the "informeditor" add on. Here - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/673/  This plugin will save you a shit load of time when filling out your user name, password, bio, etc etc on these webpages. It really does take forever...with confirmation emails. This little add on puts a little square beside forms...and you just click it, and enter whatever you want (already decided text). This also assures you dont make typos. Below is the preferences for your inputs. Also, the second picture is what it looks like added to firefox besides inputs.

4. Make sure you have google analytics set up on your homepage to track return hits. If you dont know how to do this...get on it! Its important. http://www.google.com/analytics/

5. Have a good bio. Whatever your opinion of good is. Make sure website links are within it too because sometimes, certain websites have bad homepage finding features....so, toss it in your bio too just to make things safe and be assured people can see your website if they want it.

6. Get some pictures ready that you really like. Accounts all need a few pictures.

7. Make sure you have common social networking sites set up the way you want because many websites offer connection features. Decide which social networks you want to connect with to them. I will mention, in my opinion...think about this step hard. I personally didnt want to connect ANY of them to my facebook account. Facebook just seems like something you really want to have control of, because it is really the best outlet for an artists communication side, along with email... right. So, if some website starts sending out bullshit like you see some people do...that sux! I dont want to be one of those people...due to my own stupidity of letting all sites connect to facebook. So what I am going to do, is connect all to my twitter account...thats it. It will let twitter connect to all that other stuff....and keep facebook clean. Twitter pisses me off because of limits on words...I guess it works for them....im not huge on it...but apparently the world is.

8. Decide if you want to release FREE tracks, or PAY TRACKS. What I decided to do...since, making money on your music is nice...but people stealing it is really inevitable...and even if its pirated, its still getting my music out there...so...I thought....release FREE tracks, and PAY TRACKS. And be smart about my links. Since I made a couple remixes...I dont want to make any money from them. Its not fair, and its illegal, and thats not good. So, using my soundcloud account...I post free tracks, and then everywhere else, only streaming tracks. This way, I can try to make some money if its all possible...but remember, at this stage in the game, like I mentioned before...I HAVE NO IDEA how fruitful this all is...and it doesnt really matter if people are able to find my music (which is the bottom line)....but you have to experiment to find out...and all I am saying, is just be smart about how you put your tracks up on the internet...see if a few dollars come in. If not, you dont really lose anything.....and your music is still out there... and also...PAY tracks are good to have....because, from a user stand point, in its own sense...holds marketing potential just for the mear fact that you are SEEN on pay sites. To uneducated downloaders, that makes an artist SEEM more established (even though, we know its not necessarily the case).

8.2 (Something to keep mind about soundcloud and connecting to your pay site. When using other pay sites widgets and whatnot...sometimes, the sound is lowered to a smaller bit rate so people can stream more quickly. I, personally, do not want my possible fans first impressions of my track to be like that...I want full sound quaility. So, linking your music...either from your homepage, or from another website....I think its best to use your soundcloud, because when you upload a song to soundcloud, you have the option to put a link in the "Buy this track" section of your player (or widget)(where the download part usually is). It sends them RIGHT to your pay website. And they hear the good quality track first before buying it. You can keep your pay tracks in with your free tracks too...so a new listener can quickly get a free track of yours if they arent feeling inclined to drop any cash at that moment. 2 birds, 1 stone. And soundcloud is EXCELLENT for track sharing purposes....so I went in and bought an account. Its just so useful for a producer.)

9. Have youtube ready videos of your track ready to go, and links to them. Luckily, I picked up some video editing skills like 10 years ago in highschool...forgot a lot....but, at least I can toss a picture into a video and toss the track up. Youtube is still a good place to toss a track up. In general, I guess some people worry about people hacking audio from youtube...but I figure...if someone is going to go that far to hacking my track...fuck it, its yours buddy...hope your audio catching program is good...just sux you wanna hear shit audio. Also, you may be asked for these links when signing up for all the other websites. The more links, the better. Also, have your youtube playlist embed codes ready, and a few of your artist video direct links...for when sites allow you to connect directly to them.

10. Have a notepad, or a few text files open for saving notes of all the websites, passwords, track-back links, etc...that you need for each website you sign up for.

11. Last...well, I would say....have your coffee, cigarette, inebriate substance of choice....a fine whisky...whatever it is...and get to work.

Here is what I did....I did not do things in the correct order...so I figured this out as I went a long.

The Process....

First, I searched tons of blogs for good websites to promote music. Luckily....I kept documentation of all that I used. At the bottom of this blog, I will provide you with all the links to my pages with my reviews of the website. Again, I will not be using all of these, but I will be going back a few times to each over the next month....feel out the website, track its results with analytics, and feel out the community and usability of each website. (Look now if you like, but make sure to finish the blog before going nuts!)

Now lets get a few things straight here before we go jumping into signups for these websites. You will run into 3 main different kinds (possibly a couple more) of music hosting websites.

1. Social Networking. These websites may be catered to musicians, but they function on the same principles as social networking. A lot of these websites look really nice, big labels, very easy to navigate...colorful, and using nice widget connections and RSS to facebook, twitter, myspace, and sometimes even more. You will usually have a lot of options over how your song is accessed, nice places for bio, links, etc. But, these will also come with more work. You will most likely need to become a part of the community, join groups, etc...to have your profiled viewed. They look like the future of music...so def try them out, see what works.

2. Musician Hosting Websites. These websites dont have much in the way of features for connecting everywhere, and sometimes say that talent scouts look at them, or are just a main PAGE HOSTING website provided to musicians. A lot of these are using the old format, where a band just needed a page to host their files, bio, etc. Its still good to have your file up here. Some of these have communities within forums...which dont think of as any less than the social networking. Some forums have the BEST communities! So, try them out.

3. Distribution websites. Now be careful here....this is much different than the other websites. A lot of these websites distribute your music to outlets like itunes, emusic, rhapsody, etc. Usually, you have to pay (a very low) fee to have your music put on the major outlets if you dont have a label to do so. I highly recommend making sure that use only ONE of these...because it is smart to have your music on those outlets. Some of the other websites you are about to sign up for, will automatically find your tracks in itunes, or amie street, amazon...and within your profiles on their websites, will show a link to buy your track from there. So, find a distributor that works for you. I use TUNECORE.com. My page is http://www.tunecore.com/music/frobot
This website cost me 10 bucks per release, and my tracks were up within a week on itunes, emusic, etc. They are trustworthy, and reliable...and have an easy way to track the money you have made.

4. There are also CONTEST based websites... and have big promises of A&R viewing. Some are free, some are pay. Some even pay to market analyze your tracks....I kind of laugh at this. I dont pay for these, but free ones are nice. Some make profiles for you too. Fill them out. With free accounts, a lot will let you enter one song a month or something like that into a genre based contest. It cant hurt.

5. Radio airplay station. Now, I havent gotten into this yet, but it has tons of potential. If you are making mixes, and really good tracks...some of these websites are good for submitting onto radio stations and other outlets. Investigate them a little before you do it....if its free, and you dont care about where your music is going...sign up. If you do care, check them out, decide a price that you think is right from a website, and go with it. Im broke as shit, and havent really studied the possibilities of this...but if you are already doing it, maybe its really fruitful.

A few things to keep in mind when signing up to websites. Just stop and think for a second when you are gonna PAY for something. There is a lot of bullshit, and in this market, maybe its mostly bad business models and connections....but, before you take money out for things, just research other options before doing it. Some pay sites work wonders for you...but sometimes, its a rip off. Have a few bucks to put into it....I am doing mine for all under like 50 USD....purchased a soundcloud account, tunecore to distribute, and I forsee maybe one more thing I may buy. Not sure yet.

So, now that we know what were getting into...start going to websites and signing up, filling everything out nicely....typo free...links in the right places....be sure to :

***Label your email account with a folder that you can put all confirmation emails and passwords into. I use gmail, and its easy to make a folder. You will be getting tons of email confirmations, and also, in the future, friend requests and updates if you choose to receive (some websites are automatic). Making labels in your email account will help keep your inbox clean.***

1. Use html links in profile pages whenever possible. For html illiterates out there....if you have to write an html link, look here - http://www.echoecho.com/htmllinks01.htm

That will link your website. Some websites permit html, some dont. Check.

2. Sign up your social networking connections where you can. I am using mostly twitter.
3. Make sure your tracks have all pertaining info. Again, using your auto form filler addon gets useful here.
4. Have a photo for each track...different...and with track info. I just put my track name and composer. I like my frobot logo...but I changed the color of each. If you are good at making designs, have a unique one for each song.
5. Put links in the tracks info when you upload. Some websites only show track info, some show your bio, and this can be important when people are surfing....most websites dont show BOTH "track info" and "bio" at the same time....so its just safe to have them in both.

Something else to keep in mind when filling out all this shit. Do you want your real address and name going out everywhere. Maybe its just me being paranoid, and only reading NEWS from America being as im in Japan....I really dont like my name and address being anywhere it doesnt NEED to be. So, I use my real name for things that are going to be paying me, and an alias if its not. I guess, you can do what you want...but, I prefer to use internet aliases in cases where my info doesnt need to go out. Maybe its paranoia, but, after years of internet scams, stories, and information exchange...hmmm, its how I like to do it.

Also, keep in mind that a lot of the websites that do offer profiles and stuff will also give you an option to sell your music through them. You can decide to do this if you want, but remember the prices are all different everywhere...and, you also really need to keep good documentation of the pay methods and passwords, paypal connections, etc...for each website that will pay you. In the case of being able to LINK to your pay website....I always choose this...but if they dont have an option, and it seems like a good website to sell on...then I save the payment info, let them sell it...and just wait and see. It takes a little bit more time to research your genre of music within their system....to see if its worth its while. If its not, just offer your streaming track, free track, whatever....and hopefully if someone really wants the track, they will come to your homepage and find that link quickly.

One other thing to keep in mind is your USER NAME on these websites. Some will give you a separate section for your ARTIST NAME, but some, especially social networking ones, will use your USER NAME as your main page name. So, if possible....use your artist name as your user name....if that is not possible....you will just have to make due. Lucky...if for some reason FROBOT is taken, I just use DJ FroBot, or something like that.

Well. Thats it for day 1 and 2. Tomorrow...I will be going back into each of the accounts I have made...check out if everything went live, feel out the websites, update blogs on them (connect to my music blog), add some photos, video where I can (since I am just now uploading my youtube video links...and again, did this in the wrong order). But that will all be for tomorrow.

Day 4

So...today, I spent the whole morning from 8:30 (well actually 9 cause I realized I had no coffee cup filters and had to ride my bike in the rain at 9am to get...there was no way I could do this with coffee)so...9am - 2....and got 13 websites updated, video connected, blog connected, links working, youtube playlist embed, twitter connections, etc.....done.

First, I went back into my website accounts, and started to check over all the functions. I realized a few important things when going back into my accounts :

1. A lot of websites have weird functions for anything and everything. You really gotta dig deep in some websites to get your content loaded right. Again, we want to make totally professional, updated to the max profiles....so, finding things can be rough.

2. Trying to get a nice text link on your webpage front is tough. Some websites are great some are not. You gotta test if the HTML works on the page...if not, you want to make sure your website connection is right. I realized...without an HTML link, I cannot really track it in analytics....and kind of beats the point of tracking it. Its about 50/50 on your homepage link being easily to be found on your main profile page.


 3. Uploaders are weird sometimes. Errors and whatnot....its just baffling how many different sizes and picture defaults are on different websites. Get fast at converting pictures. I wanted to upload some photos to the photo albums, and it can be tricky. Some need description and names, some dont....

 4. One really cool thing I have noticed is the ability on some webites to put your youtube playlist right in your video tab. Also ones that let you re-direct your video from a youtube video instead of uploading. If you organize your youtube well, this is really handy.

 5. Some of the social networking type websites have really nice communities of artists who basically share a lot of tracks....and a lot less talking. I found some GREAT music in these groups. So, I joined at least some ableton groups and japan electronic artists....cause it was applicable, and the groups seemed full of high quality...free...and pay....tracks shared by artists (mostly soundcloud links).

6. Some profile blog editors are cool, some are terrible. There is one format...im not sure what it is, but its fucking fabulous. You just copy and paste your blog, photos and all, directly to your profile blog..and put it into the blog editor, and it posts it. It was crazy. Im guessing its google or something.......those are a gem if you are a blogger and want to update your other good blog outlets with your info without soliciting. Some of these websites feature users blogs on the main page too...so, its really cool if you are posting good info especially not pertaining to your music.


7. Almost every website wants to sell you something....its funny to see where the profits are coming from for each of them.

Well anyway, I got the day off tomorrow....so I will be working at this...its still fuckin rainy season in Japan....its longer than ever this year.....still rainy days outside. Tomorrow I hope to finish this all up....have everything running and well connected...then its party time at the beach! Great DJs in Kobe on the biggest beach party of the summer in Hyogo. Other side of japan next week! Phew.....

Day 5 

Ok...well, last hardcore day of really getting all this stuff updated. I am exhausted. I just finished up the last of the accounts, and documented them all into my reviews. 8 hours it took today. Im totally sick of looking at this computer screen. One lesson I learned from doing all of this -


Make sure 100% if you dont want a song to be downloadable...to make sure the website doesnt upload it anywhere else. One of the websites I found put torrents up on bittorrent, in .ogg format. That was really dumb, and all you had to do was go to google and seach "frobot" "torrent" and its first. Shit....anyway...just watch where your stuff goes. Also, check some key terms like torrent, free download, + your artist name. See what starts coming up.


Also, now that I have everything up....I can start checking my google analytics stats over the next few weeks, update my accounts when I release a track...and if I get bored...go play in some of the communities. I will be able to start getting a good idea of which websites are driving traffic...getting page views, and soundcloud traffic. Also, by checking google...you can see if you've gone up in rankings. After this week....I went from 11th (when searching frobot) to 6th. I have this Wii game that is called FroBot....that takes the top spot....but, at least i'm working my way up. Also, you can see if anyone else has posted your info anywhere.

So as a recap...now I can actually track all my websites....and not send out any soliciting ads on forums, groups, or anything. If I actually want to become part of communities...then I can choose to and work from within them. But this just goes to show, that with a little bit of work....and smart marketing....you can generate good traffic by providing great content...and without soliciting. I will be doing a part 2 of this, detailing a few more websites, and letting people know some stats of how the websites are working out. But that will be in a a week or more. Its party time! Shower, and off to the beach!


Share the knowledge please!!!

Peace!

FroBot

 Reviews of all the websites.

Please be aware, that I may have made some mistakes when going through, and by all means, search deeper into these websites. Due to compatibility issues with my computer, add ons, mac vs windows, etc....things can go wrong for me, but erroneous for you. These links will go straight to my profile page.

1. Last.fm

Review : This one has a nice RSS feed. Make sure to clean out your favorite artists after making it because it automatically puts favorites based off of keywords from your BIO and profile info...and its almost never correct. It looks bad to have all these favorites of bands with 0 hits and not even music uploaded. There are tons of great groups to join. I found some cool ones about ableton, and funky house...other good stuff too. When I looked through the groups, some had some really cool conversations going on too, and totally underground tracks. Also, this website seems to hit really well even after 2 days...one of the best actually. So I would really recommend checking out other artists on this website, and working from within here. It seems hopeful!

2. Artistserver.com 

Review : This is another nice little website. It has a nice place to upload pictures. You cant use HTML links on the main page...but there is a button that says HOMEPAGE at the top, so it can get you to your main page. It also has a place to blog, so if you are running a blog, you can post some of your blogs on your own webpage, and its just a quick copy and paste from your website...pictures included. This was really handy! Its a good place to meet other self releasing artists, and not so much in the way of groups. They do have a charts section, which has their best electronic music based off of really specific genres...which is nice for finding exactly what you want. They also have a forum sections, and it looks like the category called music has some cool mixes in it too...but not much conversation going on. This also has some RSS feeds, I connected Twitter.

3. Soudclick.com

Review : This is a nice little website which returned a couple hits right after opening the profile without doing much...so, it seemed hopeful. This has a nice little feature where you can point youtube videos straight to your account, and then even decide which one is on your main page....like an inpage video playlist. This was neat. I was able to direct a bunch of videos. It also has photos. There arent groups or favorites or anything but you can subscribe to artists. They have a charts list where you can check on small genres...and always have a top list of each genre. You will also have a USER account and ARTIST account when using this website.


4. Reverbnation.com

Review : This website is really great. I knew about this one before, and has all the tools you could ever need to promote yourself. This however is not a dance based site, so it is filled with a lot of indie bands...which is still cool. They can help you distribute if you like, however I have never used their system so I cannot vouch for it. It has a great way to connect straight to the artists facebook account just via a link...and only to an artist page...which is nice. If you want RSS they got it. You also can become fans straight on reverb nation, I am just not sure how many artists besides HUGE artists are using this for their fan connection. It looks really nice though. This one does provide nice hits, I had it set up a little before but never used it. Somehow, I already have 195 fans, and I never did anything on it for like a year....but I am not sure how many of those are click spammers or not...anyway, seems good. 

5. Acidplanet.com

Review : A much more simple website. Doesnt allot much in the way of content upload besides audio & video. Still, there are some really cool artists on this webpage...and you can search by exact genre. There seems to be a lot of uploading going on, but many people dont have profile pictures...which leads me to believe less real activity...but I cannot be sure. There also looks like a blogs & pictures section, but only on the pro account. Also, HTML does not work on the main page...but there is a link to get to your webpage.

6. Mp3.com (no page made)

Review : I had uploading troubles with this website. This website has been around since the beginning of the mp3 revolution. There is a pending approval that seemed to take a while for me to receive. Also, maybe it was my time of day, but the website was running bloody slow when I was working within the artist section. There is a blog sections, and also forums for communities. It also has charts, but is pretty saturated.

7. Besonic.com

Review : This is a german/english website. It has some nice features like a nice page, photo uploads, and some other good stuff. The community is more on a buddy system, where you becomes friends with people. They have charts and a star rating for tracks.  They also have a forum however its not very specific, and pretty open to everyone in the community all on one forum. Which means a lot of release posts. But, still a good website.

8. Artistopia.com

Review : Small little independent website for uploading music. For free accounts, 3 uploads and 3 pictures max. A lot of the features of this website need to be accessed be a pro account, which I am not sure is really worth it until I feel it out more. This website has forums that are moderately sized but are pretty well organized into groups so you can get into discussions. However, they are not very active...sometimes a month goes by without posts in certain topics. They do offer charts by genre, however the electronic chart is just that...electronic.

9. Audiostreet.net (still pending)

Review : Seems like a pretty big website. It took a while to receive my pending approval...but that could be a good thing...checking for real artists. It has a nice place to upload pictures, up to 20 of them. It has a blog place to write blogs. Has a video upload section, but no connection to youtube. You must be a premium member to be featured in the featured artist part of the website. The forums are pretty inactive except for the promotion forum...which goes without saying. I also ran into a few problems with the audio uploader, but I did manage to get one track on there. It may have been me, but some script errors came up a few times. You can connect to other people by friend requests to user accounts. No html allowed in certain parts of profiles and blogs.

10. Soundlift.com (awaiting approval)

Review : This website offers different languages besides English, so hopefully that means a nice international crowd. It took a while for tracks to get approved and my profile to be put online. It really only offers a band photo and not much for uploading besides video and audio..and video looks like its still under construction. You can rate tracks, but not really favor artists. There are some pretty active forums though.

11. Unsignedbandweb.com

Review : This is a nice little website that makes a nice page for you. Has a nice photo section, and an easy way to upload your music. It is important to put your WEBSITE in your TRACK LISTINGS on this site, because when if shows your main page, it shows your bio in a small scale-able box, and then shows your tracks below it. More info is pertaining to your tracks on your main page than your actual bio. Also, it lacks a MAIN PAGE connect to your homepage. This website also gives your band its own little forum. The main forums are pretty much full of song promotions, and not much talking really. This website also has a cool little UNSIGNED radio stations section. It also has a charts section with moderately large genre selection per chart. In a couple of days of just leaving it sit before I came back, I had 21 listens...so that was interesting.

12. iSound.com

Review : This website seeming really promising because literally within hours of signing up, I was receiving friend requests. There is a 5 picture maximum. It has a great way to connect your youtube playlist embed code straight to your videos section, which means if you are using youtube to keep all your videos inline for your homepage or something like I am, its super easy to add the whole playlist right to your videos section. There is no HTML permitted on site for free users, but there are nice links to your homepage right on your main page. Within a couple days of making a profile, I had 34 views and 19 plays...which is pretty fast without uploading much content. This website really looks promising for promotion. Connection to people seems to work on a FRIEND basis, where you can find other LISTENERS & Artists. Genres are a little bit broad, but still pretty good. 

13. Ourstage.com

Review : This website is an MTV partner, and is a little less electronic based...but still has an electronica genre. You can enter 1 track into a contest each month...which is fun. This website is getting a lot of publicity on the web recently. The pictures section was a little glitchy with firefox, I had to readjust the window screen to get certain things to fit....maybe because the website is so flashy. There is a place to post your blogs or general posts. You can also vote for other tracks on this website in the contest sections. A neat little thing about fan clubs, you can listen to the OURSTAGE audio radio...and then add them as a favorite or rate the track directly from the player...and also buy the track directly from the player. I couldnt really find a way to listen to only a certain genre on the radio...so, its full of rock and stuff which I dont wanna hear...so I would probably never use it...but cool idea. It would be nice if there made the player genre specific....because this seems like the future of music. You can also allow ourstage to sell your music...but I did not. It just didnt seem very electronic specific to do that.

14. Overplay.com

Review : This is a great website that allows you to put HTML in your bio. Good for your links. You do need a banner on this webpage that is 405 pix X 110 pix....so you need to make one if you want your main page to look nice. 5 song max for free users, and they will distribute if you upgrade accounts....however I did not. Something GREAT about this, is since it allows HTML on the first page, you can upload your youtube playlist right to your MAIN profile page, and it fits really nicely and balances out the page. Be sure to get pictures on here because they show on the main page just below your videos....its a beautiful layout! Even with your video taking up your bio, there is still a homepage link on the very top, clear to see! I really really like this websites layout. They also have a lot of other features like overplay radio....the message boards are mostly full of promotions....but they have some other genres where labels are looking for artists, and artists who need artist. This looks really cool...chances can be taken here! Watch out for mass marketers with sign up fees though when dealing with forum posts. There are also awards and contests on this page. You can favor artists, and they show up on a tab on your main profile. I would really try out this website. 

15. iLike.com

Review : Another great website with some GREAT RSS features. You can directly connect your youtube, twitter (both ways) and myspace. Check your account settings to make sure you add your social network links....they have a nice section for it. The photo uploader was a little quarky...in that when I uploaded a picture to it....and refreshed, it didnt show my photos there. So I tried a few different times, still nothing. Then I came back after playing with other features....and my photos were there. So be patient sometimes to see your photos. I did get them all up though. It has a nice place to blog right on the website too. They also distribute if you want them to. As with a lot of music based websites, you can LIKE bands, become fans, send messages, and buy their music...directly from this website. Seems really clean, and nicely put together. It seems a little more based on staying connected with artists rather than groups of artists sharing tracks with eachother....but, it is REALLY big...and easy to keep updated with RSS.

16. MyMusicStream.com

Review : OK. This website is a little weird in how to get your main website pointing to your homepage link. They seem to want to sell you a domain name....and even after emailing them personally, and getting a response back how to change it, I did exactly as said...and cant find anywhere to add my already made domain. I dunno shit. But what was nice, since they allow links in your BIO, its easy to get a couple links up there. The video section only really permits uploads....and I didnt want to go all uploading videos everywhere....its a little rough. And full HTML is not totally allowed in the bios, so I couldnt load a youtube playlist. It has a NEWS section which is a nice place to blog if you want...but no real RSS feeds or anything. The forums arent REALLY active, but there are some underground tracks sitting in there.

17. mp3unsigned.com (did not use)

Review : I did not like this website, and had a lot of trouble with it.

18. Jamendo.com

Review : WARNING. I realized after signing for this, I could not shut off my free downloads, and found torrents of .ogg files via bit torrent. So if you are using SALE links...be careful with this website. If you dont mind free download torrents...go for it. This website is really hoping for you to work in within them for your updates, blogs, etc. You can RSS to different outlets OUT...but no IN. But, you can add links within your bio, and they also show your website on the very top of the page. Theres no real way to show tons of social networking connections unless you connect within your blog. Also, no photos or video sections. The blogs section makes a unique blog direction based off your artist name. This website does have groups, and had a few tiny little groups going on. Im sure there a little communities hiding in there...small....but sometimes great. I checked out a group about synth nuts...and it seems like it had some good content. And something really interesting here...the forums are full of ALL KINDS of talk. Website errors, a little promo, and technical info! That is really cool to see! Its like a free for all on the forum...and full of the most interesting topics.

19. muzic.com

Review : Had trouble uploading mp3s, even with different formats. I will try back later.

20. AirPlayDirect.com

Review : This company is a little different. They help you get airplay. Im not sure how well this website works...and I could only upload 1 song to it with a free acount, and 5 pictures. But, it gives you a profile page, with a homepage link right on the front. Within a day or 2 of signing up, I was getting a few emails about airplay contests...so, maybe its something to play around with. I will have to wait and see about this, I just dont know.

21. TheMusicHutch.com

Review : This website makes a cool jukebox out of whatever genre of music you want to listen to. The genres are very indepth, so you can listen to underground music in a jukebox of only a certain genre...of all user uploads. The profile is VERY basic...and being that im colorblind, setting the colors for this was a bitch for me. HTML is OK in your bio page. This page is like super underground...and it really only has a community of PEOPLE (no groups or anything)...the thing its best for is finding uploaded video and music from users...and putting it in a nice radio player to listen to. Kind of a neat idea!!!

22. Muziboo.com

Review : Good webiste. It allows links in the bio but, I could not embed a youtube video player. You can upload photo albums...however to upload a few in a row, maneuvering the website is a little funky. There is also this HORRIBLY ugly ad that shows up above your name on your profile. Its gone with a pro account, but....for an add, its just terrible to have on your profile page. It will only show a TINY little photo of your main picture, a GIANT ad, then your tracks and bio on the side. I mean, it is what it is, but....its really ugly. The connection to your social networks is mostly OUTGOING...so check your preferences. If you leave it just regularly connected to twitter...it will automatically send a twitter post when you LIKE a song...which can be really annoying. So check your settings.

23. uPlaya.com

Review : Great and easy to use website....well put together. However it is mostly promising that your song gets heard. It kind of puts together a press kit for you. The site is SO easy to navigate, and easy to understand. Make sure to update everything related to UPK. This is your profile really. It connects right to all social networking sites on your main page, also a straight connect to your youtube account under video gallery. I was able to upload a bunch a photos no problem. They do offer pay things on their site like entry into contests, and bigger accounts....but, I didnt sign up. I really really like the layout of this site though. Its very user friendly!

24. mVine.com

Review : Hard to navigate. Freeze ups all over the track viewing part. Couldnt get my pictures uploaded. Forums are kind of dead. I dont know about this website.

25. MusicForte.com

Review : Another nice and easy to navigate website. Lets you connect to twitter and facebook. Lets people add you as a friend on twitter right from your page...and then works outgoing after that. NO HTML on the bio page, but a link to your home page sits at the bottom of your bio. It was a little bit hard to find...but its still there. I was also getting emails within a day of signing up of people viewing and adding me as a friend. They have an internet radio station, but it looks rather broad genred. They also sell your music too. There didnt seem much in the way of communities though. But they do have charts and whatnot.

26. RecordScout.com

Review : Easy to use website. Lets you upload pictures too. No HTML on the bio page and also I had a  terrible time finding a link to my homepage....which I never found...so this will be hard to track really. I just put text in the bottom of the bio. The forums are dead...so I dont know how this website will be.

27. HitLab.com

Review : This is an interesting website that analyzes your tracks using DHS (Dynamic Hit Scoring) to see if your track has potential. I dont know how real this all is, but the account is free. It lets you upload pictures, and link your blog and even embed a youtube video in your blog. You gotta pay 30 bucks to see if your tracks a hit...I dunno how well this works for us dance producers. So, I dont know how much I will use this site. The profile is there though.

28. JukeBoxAlive.com

Review : Small little website. Allows pictures, and video uploads...although no real connection to youtube or social networking. It does show your details on the front page...so make sure you fill it out or it looks bad. You can add your LINKS to social networking on the main page nicely on the right. Now the cool thing about this website, is that it has a radio player per genre. A little more broad...electronic is just electronic. Good idea though! The homepage makes a nice little slideshow out of all your photos....starting with your main one. Really easy to navigate.  This did however have that AWESOME blog feature where you can just copy and paste your blog. Mine worked perfectly! This is great for bloggers. When you post a blog, it comes up on the PEOPLE main page as long as its new. Communities seem to be in the way of commenting on tracks, blogging, and becoming friends.

29. iJamr.com

Review : A weird little website with very little features. Small community. I didnt really understand the point...they sell your music...but its really limited. I dunno. I probably wont use this website. It does let you show your links on your main profile page...so link HTML is ok! It does show them at the BOTTOM of your bio, but if its long, you wont see it on the main page unless they read your whole bio. You can connect to facebook and twitter and view your twitter tweets right on your profile page...but within a tab. Its community also has GROUPS.

30. DJTube.com

Review : A cool website dedicated to electronic music a little more than others. A great photo uploader that can do a few photos all at once. I had a little trouble getting a video up...some script error. I dont know what that was about. It has a blogs section, but I couldnt just copy and paste. But still good for text. This website doesnt have ALOT going on...but, we will see how they build their site.

31. BandCamp.com

Review :  This little outlet basically sells your tracks right on a homepage. No real place for pictures besides your track pictures. PUT LINKS in your track info for this, because it shows up beautifully on the main page. Also make sure to have good track info because that shows up on the main page, rather than a bio or anything. Tags are good to have too. People can share your tracks on many outlets if they like it. I will have to track the links to see how this works. They also have a big blog directly connecting to wordpress....so wordpress users will like this. 

31. MusicSubmit.com

Review : To activate this, it looks like you gotta pay.

32. Artists-First.net

Review : This website just basically sells your music. I gave it a shot, because it doesnt cost anything, and this is all an experiment. Its not a community at all. Not sure how it works. Make sure you have your tracks updated, and your store updated under admin. Tracks are under products (either single or album, however you uploaded it).

33. RecordUnion.com


Review : This website basically only publishes your tracks if you plan to get a UPC through them. If you are already distributing your music....then this wont really be needed. If you want to distribute....this webpage has this funny quirky DOG who tells you all about the website. Obviously who ever is behind this operation has a sense of humor....which is really smart marketing. I would be inclined to try this website just because of its attitude.