So I’m sifting through all the artists playing Coachella and stumble on this video by Dada Life.

If you’re unfamiliar, they’re a DJ/Producer duo from Sweeden who love to party and have a good time.  I kept watching their vids and was taken into their world because they’re just having a good time and taking the viewer/listener along for the ride.  It’s fun to watch.

Anyways, I noticed their logo and their shows always have bananas and champagne involved.  I’m like WTF? Then I realized that’s their thing. You keep watching their vids and you’ll see.  They have people dressed up as bananas, they toss real bananas into the crowd, they spray champagne over the audience, and they have a huge blow up champagne bottle they toss into the crowd.

All in the name of having a good time and people remembering those good times were due to Dada Life.

There are soo many DJs out there and these guys stand out with the help of their champagne and bananas theatrics.  What can you do as an artist to help distinguish yourself and really stand out from the rest?

Music Consciousness
Hoover

I was talking with my director friend Randy recently, when he told me the story of his last experience at the Sundance Film Festival. He was walking around the streets of Park City when he came across a band that was busking in the streets. The band had rented a little PA, brought the full band, had hand bills, and had street team members handing out promo CDs. Because they were the only band around they had gathered a large crowd around them. Randy was hanging out with a number of other directors and they were all very impressed by what they heard.

Randy, along with the others, all picked up a discs from the band and it has been Randy’s most listened to album of the last 6 months. He’s been in contact with the band and now they’re got a few of their tracks in Randy’s next movie. All of this from a band that knew where to play and who to play to.

The amount of cash a band can get from one gig is typically much less than being placed in a movie. Song placements will not only get you more money but the amount of exposure that a band can get from one movie placement is way bigger than a band can get from playing one gig. Especially if the movie become s a hit. So as the music festival season keeps chugging along think about maybe adding a few gigs that are off the beaten path like your local film festival.

Music Consciousness
Voyno

I love February. Not because of Valentine’s Day or that we’re almost done winter. No, I love February because I get to participate in the RPM Challenge.

The idea is a simple one: Record an album in 28, just because you can.

In the past few days I’ve seen a few pieces of content floating around on my social networks that both point to the same thing; Music is important, and musicians should be compensated accordingly. It appears that the free economy is no longer cutting it for some.

This is from musician Dave Goldberg as an open letter to Los Angeles club owners:

…If you want great décor, you hire a great interior decorator. You expect these professionals to do their best at what you are hiring them to do. It needs to be the same with the band. You hire a great band and should expect great music. That should be the end of your expectations for the musicians. The music is another product for the venue to offer, no different from food or beverages…

….”looking for a high energy jazz band, if you can bring the band and have a following, I will put you on stage.” That logic seems to say that they think musicians in a jazz band know lots of people….. and the people those musicians know, have lots of money to spend. Those are two pretty big assumptions. Good luck finding that combination….Would you expect the chef’s friends and family to eat at your restaurant every night? (More here)

I understand Dave’s point and I agree with it. Unfortunately one of the things we’ve given up by having a leveling of the music biz playing field is that now everyone can be a musician/artist. Supply and demand make it so that many folks will play for little just to be on a stage.

This doesn’t mean that you aren’t going to get paid. It means that you just can’t show up to a gig and expect the venue to have done everything. The venue should have posters, ads, etc, but you still need to hustle yourself. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube are all places you should be using if you want more people to come to your show or even be aware of it. So it’s more like a shared workload, but  still if the venue does nothing, then don’t play there anymore.

Music Consciousness
Voyno

Recently we wrote about how SOPA or no SOPA many file sharing sites were either being taken down or blocking US residents. The list was getting pretty long and unfortunately we can add a few more to the list.

This from our man in the field:

Now Filesonic won’t let you download links unless you share a personal password with downloaders. Here, look at this example link: http://www.filesonic.com/file/u2Wa0Br. This is getting ridiculous. Pretty much the only one left is mediafire now. I hope to god they don’t cave…..

Annnndddddd now FileServe is over…. http://www.fileserve.com/file/EbZCTpB/. I was expecting as much since they are owned by the same company. Also, this site croaked yesterday as well: http://uploadbox.com/

So the official list is:

MegaUpload - Closed.
FileServe - Deleting multiple files. Closed affiliate program. Closed
FileJungle - (Owned by FileServe) Deleting multiple files. Testing out blocking some USA IP addresses.
UploadStation - (Owned by FileServe) Deleting multiple files. Testing out blocking some USA IP addresses. Closed
FileSonic - (Owned by Fileserve) No concrete news yet.  Password only
VideoBB - Closed affiliate program.
Uploaded - Banned USA IP addresses.
FilePost - Started suspending accounts with infringing material (doing what Hotfile did)
VideoZer - Closed affiliate program.
4shared - Deleting multiple files.
Uploadbox - Closed

Enjoy your internet freedom!

Music Consciousness
Voyno

Remixes are good for your career. The right remix can lift your career onto the international level. Like my buddy Economics. Economics is a musical project that has some big fans…… like DJ Shadow.

Economics got a chance to remix a DJ Shadow song and is now gaining new fans from all over the world. All this from the DJ Shadow bump. I asked Economics about the situation:

–How did the who DJ shadow stuff get started?

For fun, I started entering songs in online remix contests. … I did a version of “What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 2)”, submitted it, and didn’t think much of it. I eventually received an email saying that he liked the remixes so much that he’s select a handful and release them on an album, and that my remix had been selected.

…A few months later, he released a new LP, and I mentioned on Twitter that I’d love to do a remix of “Give Me Back The Nights”. He actually replied back to me and said “Go for it!” We emailed back and forth a bit, he sent me the all the stems for the track, and sent him a remix back. I wasn’t sure if anything would happen from there, and a few weeks ago, he posted it as a free download on his website.

–What has the exposure done for Economics?

The exposure has been pretty great – I’ve been in touch with some of the other remix contest winners and have made plans to collaborate in the future. I’ve definitely received some international exposure that would have otherwise been very difficult to get. DJ Shadow has a big following in Europe and South America, and it’s really amazing to get feedback from people around the world.

–What are your future plans with the DJ Shadow releases?

I can’t really say I have any future plans – I don’t think the tracks will go any further than free downloads on the website, but I would certainly do it again if he asks!

…Volume 3 of my EP series will be released very soon, and I’m also working on a full length album, which will hopefully be ready in the spring.

Economics has managed to get a lot of hype by connecting with DJ Shadow. He’s not touring all over the world, he’s using the popularity of another artist to find new fans, classic stuff. But remember that remixes of any kind are good for your career. Let your own music be remixed or create other remixes, either way it will help and who knows who will dig it.

Music Consciousness
Voyno

SOPA or no SOPA it appears that many file sharing services have been spooked by the recent events. MediaFire went as far as releasing a statement calling themselves a “cloud storage service” rather than a “File sharing service”…rrright.

Now that MegaUpload has been shut down by the feds, other file sharing sites (Fileserve, Hotfile, Rapidshare, etc) are deleting files and blocking USA IP’s.

MegaUpload - Closed.
FileServe - Deleting multiple files. Closed affiliate program.
FileJungle - (Owned by FileServe) Deleting multiple files. Testing out blocking some USA IP addresses.
UploadStation - (Owned by FileServe) Deleting multiple files. Testing out blocking some USA IP addresses.
FileSonic - (Owned by Fileserve) No concrete news yet.
VideoBB - Closed affiliate program.
Uploaded - Banned USA IP addresses.
FilePost - Started suspending accounts with infringing material (doing what Hotfile did)
VideoZer - Closed affiliate program.
4shared - Deleting multiple files.  (More via pupfresh)

MediaFire’s Position in the Cloud Storage Market

Recently there has been extensive media coverage of the United States Government’s shut down of MegaUpload.com which has drawn attention to the entire cloud storage market as a whole…

MediaFire offers a free, secure, and unlimited cloud storage service for users to upload and share data … (more here)

Here is the DAY 3 YouTube preview for DAY THREE of Coachella 2012.  For DAY ONE, click HERE. For DAY TWO, click THERE.

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg

At the Drive-In

Justice

Florence and the Machine

The Weeknd

Girl Talk

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The Hives

Company Flow

Real Estate

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Thundercat

Wild Beasts

Music Consciousness

Hoover

Here is the Coachella 2012 YouTube Preview for DAY TWO. For DAY ONE, click here

Radiohead

Bon Iver

The Shins

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds

Jeff Mangum

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Andrew Bird

Feist

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

St. Vincent

Azealia Banks

Squeeze

A$AP Rocky

Destroyer

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Childish Gambino

The Vaccines

Gary Clark Jr.

Keep Shelley in Athens

Music Consciousness

Hoover

I’m going to Coachella!

I was fortunate enough to get tickets to this grand celebration of music down in Indio, California.  Last year I got last minute tickets, so I only got a chance to check out a few bands before. This year, I wanted to get to know every single artist to really plan out my good times.  I thought there may be others in the same boat as myself, so I put together a YouTube preview of every single artist for each day of the festival.

Here is the preview for Day 1 at Coachella 2012. It’s a long list, so it may take a minute to load.  Since Day one will be a Friday, it’s fitting that this post goes up on a Friday.

Enjoy!

The Black Keys

Pulp

Refused

Arctic Monkeys

Cat Power

GIRLS

Frank Ocean

Yuck

Neon Indian

Black Angels

Wu Lyf

Sheepdogs (home town boys are playing)

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Music Consciousness
Hoover