Look, I know you’re sick of your latest release. I know that the songs are old news to you and that you’ve written a dozen new ones already. I know that you’re changing your musical direction and you’ve grown older and wiser since your last release. I know you’re selling material that you feels old, but listen, before you spend another $10,000 to record your next album, ask yourself this: Has your last album been fully exploited? Have done everything in your power to get your last release heard by as many people as possible?

I’m willing to bet that most people reading this will answer “No” (including me).

Most folks haven’t made a video for every single song on their last album. Most folks haven’t spent the appropriate time pushing each song, making each song an event, strategically releasing content to their fans over an extended period of time. Most people haven’t exploited their own content fully.

So if you haven’t, then why are you thinking about recording a new album? Beware of that sort of ego. It can become very expensive. That sort of musician ego can end up putting you in an endless loop of spending money to record, putting out a record, losing interest in it, going back in and recording another record. If you have endless funds and need not market your music, then by all means feed your ego. But for most artists there has to be a part where you share your music and really get your value from those recordings. Value in the sense that each song that you once were in love is shown to the world, and maybe, just maybe, it actually will make you some money allowing you to keep recording.

Music Consciousness
Voyno

For whatever reason it seems as though musically inclined kids who’ve lost their mother at an early age develop a special talent in music, in both songwriting and performing. This being mothers day I thought I’d put up a list to of them all and maybe encourage anyone who has lost their mother to take up music and songwriting as therapy.

• Madonna
• Bono
• Tom Petty
• Beethoven
• John Lennon
• Paul McCartney

What’s interesting is how absolutely massively successful each of the artists on that list are. Bono has been struggling with his mother’s loss since the first U2 record and he still explores that in his songwriting today. Tom Petty and Madonna are very much in a similar situation.

One of the main reasons John and Paul became such close friends so quickly was that both had their mothers taken away during their teenage years. Both writers explored the issues of their mother’s death in their recordings and have commented on it in various interviews.

I’m pretty certain that all of those artist would trade back their entire musical career for a few more hours with their mothers so appreciate your mom if she’s still around. Tell her you love her and if you know someone who’ve lost their mother recently, make sure you pass on the healing power of songwriting to them.

Music Consciousness
Voyno

On this week’s podcast CDJ and I discuss, dropbox, Gotye, UK Touring, and much more. Give a listen.

Music Consciousness
Voyno

Big news from one of the internet’s biggest musician hubs, SoundCloud; they’ve got upgrades coming. Currently the upgrades are still in private beta mode, but soo enough the Next SoundCloud will reveal a more focused and intuitive layout. With features set to make an even bigger impact on the online sound world.

Here’s a run down of the new features:

See more:

• A more interactive waveform player with profiles redesigned
• Simpler, more attractive profiles bring the best things into view: sounds, sets, reposts and profile images.
• Likes and comments are more visible. See which of your friends are following people you find.

Share more

• New reposts to share what you hear.
• Real-time updates from your friends.

Hear more

• Play your sounds continuously
• Build sets of music and audio you like
• Forget playlists : Sets let you build collections of sounds you like in one Waveform. Share your sets with people, and like and repost other people’s sets too.

Find more

• Easier than ever to navigate
• New search with faster, better results

Essentially sound cloud is getting slicker and quicker and they’re still set to be the YouTube for Sound. Still, the one thing that Bandcamp has over SoundCloud is the email list signups. SoundCloud is already an obvious first choice for DJs but I’ll be using Bandcamp primarily until SoundCloud does a little more for bands in the email area. Check out the new SoundCloud here.

Music Consciousness
Voyno

Most of the time (when Stephen Harper is not destroying our country) I’m really proud to be a Canadian. I’m especially  proud of our Canadian music scene. Many talented and hard working bands are able to make a global impact because of the smart and talented industry folks who help make it happen. One of those smart and talented Canadian music industry folks is Shain Shapiro. Shain is the UK/EU Export Manager for CIMA (Canadian Independent Music Association) and I had a chance to talk to Shain about the UK and EU scenes.

How is the UK music scene different from the Canadian scene?

- Hard to answer. It has a completely different socio-cultural history, so it’s very, very different. Plus the country is much smaller and more condensed, so it’s highly competitive. The UK is quite focused on being new and introducing talent. You usually only have one chance to be new while in the UK, it can be more forgiving. It’s not always that way, but it can be ruthless… and in the UK, the genres are more defined in the business… folk is folk, indie is indie etc…

What can associations like CIMA offer musicians touring/preparing to tour the UK?

- Well, information to start. And contacts. And we coordinate showcases which can help with funding if the band is successful in receiving a showcase grant to tour. But mainly we see it as preparedness… We try to ensure everyone we speak to is provided with honest, forthright advice.

In your talk you talked about how each country has it’s own rules for touring acts. Is there a country you should start with? & Why?

- It depends on the music to be honest. Germany is usually more welcoming though on average as it’s bigger.

Is there a common mistake band’s make coming over to tour the UK and/or Europe?

- Coming before they are ready.. Thinking that their music would work here if it doesn’t work in Canada. Just because you go somewhere it doesn’t mean anyone will care about you, unfortunately.

Classic answers really, but everyone needs to hear the truth. Just because the UK/EU loves music doesn’t mean they’ll love your stuff. Build your buzz at home and start making connections abroad (talk to ppl like Shain). Europe can be an awesome place for your music but like with all investments, make sure it’s worth the squeeze because taking a band across the pond costs a lot of cash. Invest wisely.

Music Consciousness
Voyno

A lot of people talk about buying local. When you hear buy local you think food, goods, and services…but what about music? It’s just as crucial as the others but would you ever have your entire music world be local?

Well in the city of Naples, Italy, it’s the way of life for many. There are quite literally local superstars that appear to be as revered as Beiber. But what’s even more amazing is that the style of music these local Naples superstars make is totally a local genre. Neomelodics is the modern pop music of Naples and it’s a strange Italian pop hybrid that seems to work ONLY in Napels. Vice magazine has a 3 part series on the stars and genre of Neomelodics. It’s most definitely recommended viewing.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

If you can’t see the videos, check out the direct links below

http://www.vice.com/en_ca/music-world/neomelodics-part-1-of-3-alessio
http://www.vice.com/music-world/neomelodics-part-2-of-3-tommy
http://www.vice.com/en_ca/music-world/neomelodics-part-3-of-3-giuseppe

Music Consciousness
Voyno

This week’s NRP Podcast we discuss AnonTunes, Pitchfork hype, Quality vs Conent, Festival tips, and Incredibox! Listen below.

Playlist:
Death Grips – I’ve Seen Footage
Daughn Gibson – Tiffany Lou
Purity Ring – Loftcries
Simian Mobile Disco – Seraphim
Regina – Hauluan Sinut
Here We Go Magic -Over The Ocean
Church Spires – Icelandic

I’ve been reading a lot of music industry books lately. The history kind that detail the rise and fall of the record industry. The one theme that I keep seeing time and time again is that (big shocker here) GREAT MUSIC MAKES MONEY. Whoodathunkit?

Well today, just as in old times, great music will bring great money..if it’s presented properly. A label that has been thriving producing great music is Beggars Group which owns a Matador, XL, Rough Trade, and 4AD. Each label puts out great music first and foremost, they’ve been making a killing off of it. Proof of their success can be seen as group found Martin Mills has just made it onto a special list.

The annual Sunday Times Rich List will be published this Sunday…..Most interesting are the two new entries in the top 50 richest music industry people. Beggars Group founder Martin Mills finds himself at joint 46th with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason with an estimated fortune of £55 million….

Nearly 40 years after he opened the original Beggars Banquet record shop in Earls Court, kickstarting a career spent discovering and promoting great music, that seems fair enough. His jump up the charts is aided by Adele, whose endlessly popular ’21′ album was released by the Beggars-owned XL Recordings. -via CMU

I’ve been lucky enough to be part of a tasty festival this year called MoSo. I’ve had some input on the selection of the bands and I’ve got to see the how’s and why’s of which bands are chosen. I’ve also seen more than a few bands approach the festival asking to play. So if you’re thinking about submitting your stuff to any music festivals make sure to think about these things before you do:

1. Where does your music fit?
You might not have all the fest’s info just yet, but if they’ve released some initial headliners, or even a website, this can tell you much about the festival’s flavour. Are you in their world? It’s a waste of everyone’s time if you’re not on the same page as a festival you’re approaching.

2. Do you have anyone connected with the festival?
This might be an obvious one, but make sure you have exhausted your personal contacts before you approach from the outside. If you’re involved with the music industry you’ll probably have an email or facebook contact that could help you get an in. Good words from friends mean much more than good words from strangers.

3. Are you ready to play?
Another one of those obvious, yet not so much. Festival crowds are different, in that audiences are paying to see music rather than just being at a bar where music is going on. They’re more engaged. So if you’re looking to get booked you better make sure you’ve got everything ready for that type of audience. Everything from having merch to putting on a pro set is expected at these sort of events. It’s an opportunity to share your music with a bigger crowd. So if you want to get booked make sure you have everything else up to par.

Music Consciousness
Voyno