The Future of Music is Primal

(Photo via See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

Is music returning to its roots of being a non-recording based culture?

The primal idea of music was a as participatory experience; there was no production and no punter, people joined in with chanting, clapping, percussion and dancing. It was shared freely and willingly taught. It was meant for as many people to enjoy as possible. Today, with the aid of all kinds of technology, more people in more places are listening to and enjoying more music than ever before, and for that we should be happy and seek possibilities within this.

The way that modern indie artists relate to this, is touring. Being able to share a musical experience with an artist rather than obtaining 'just another disposable digital file' is becoming more valuable. Personal interaction and genuine emotion is a big part of a fan-artist relationship, and while it may not be exactly the 'get up and join in' tribal experience of old (obviously having 250 people on stage is a bit manic), the most successful shows are the ones that replicate this the closest. A performance where a sax player weaves through the dancefloor, adding flurries and sharing smiles, surely sound like a good time.

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Independent Record Store Day: this weekend, Sat 17th April 2010

Artists, stores and communities are putting together all kinds of packages and treats for this year's Independent Record Store Day, from limited pressings of coloured 12" Vinyl, to CDs of live shows, to special edition T-shirts, to full-on in-store parties and more.



I've spelled out how I feel about Saving the Record Store; I truly love them. And as the trailer above and forthcoming film shows, they have had a rough time in this new digital-driven world. They are fighting back, with various plans of attack, and with varying results.

Features such as the (kinda) recent Lost My Dog 'Connect' event at Swag Records in London are an interesting take, using independent artists and labels to unite and draw in a switched on crowd that want to meet, network and just chill with some of the music creators, distributors, retailers and generally be a supportive part of the music scene.

Here in Chicago, Gramaphone Records have tried to expand their vinyl junkie customer base by reaching out directly to independent artists on the rise and trying to work a deal for them to sell CDs of their digital work in the store. They also have an amazing collection of hard to find, highly desirable vinyl from the past 4 decades and a good website alongside, attracting attention of online buyers from across the globe. Also worth noting - they have announced that they are discounting all vinyl by $2 on Independent Record Store Day - a decent saving, so that you can now either buy six records for the normal price of five, or you can buy Michael a much deserved beer next time you see him ;)

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Tour:Smart PLUS April '10

Tour:Smart is the brainchild of Martin Atkins and the Revolution Number 3 crew. It is a book, a variety of speaking events, a blog, videos, and a whole heap of advice aimed at helping you avoid falling off the radar and into the bottomless pit of wannabee musicians in the new music industry.

The three day in-depth seminar known as Tour:Smart PLUS is a whirlwind of mini-events that will teach you everything you need to prepare yourself for a career in the battlefield that is the music industry, from online marketing to printing your own T-shirts, to touring the Mid-west and much more. The knowledge and tips at the weekend will change the way you view your music and the way you approach every part of being a musician in the most modern and complete sense of the word. How do I know this? I attended a Tour:Smart PLUS last year.

This weekend, starting 7pm Friday (9th), and lasting until 7pm Sunday (11th), sees another flurry of activity, and this time I've been asked to contribute as part of the 7-11 panel. Myself and several other panelists each have 11 minutes to share our '7 tips for the music industry'. Having a pretty free role, I will be sharing advice on marketing for the independent musician, touching on work ethics, social media and more.

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Lee J the DJ Mar'10 - Pelicans, Pool Parties and Pina Coladas, oh Miami!

March was all about the WMC in Miami: officially running from Tuesday 23rd - Sunday 27th, but with so many other parties and events running around the same time, and some of the most talented and friendliest DJs / label heads / clubbing folk that I know.

We stayed at The Pelican Hotel on Ocean and 8th, it was very cool, and was right in the middle of all the parties we wanted to check out.


Musical highlight? Possibly the Nic Fanciulli or Dennis Ferrer sets at DJ Mag pool party...

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New Berkleemusic Online Music Marketing Courses and a Music Marketing Book

I'm a fan of Berkleemusic, the online school of the esteemed Berklee College of Music, and often read many of the great blogs from David Kusek, Mike King and co.

Berklee recently launched their Winter 2010 term with two new music marketing courses available; Online Music Marketing with Topspin (co-authored by King and Topspin’s Shamal Ranasinghe), and Online Music Marketing: Campaign Strategies, Social Media, and Digital Distribution.

Having studied several of their courses, I know that the Berkleemusic system is a good one, and these new courses have inspired me to sign up again next term.

In the fast-moving, ever-evolving new music industry, I see digital marketing strategies being of huge importance. Artists need to do as much groundwork as possible themselves, and when they cannot, know the correct people and resources to help. Being efficient at selling your music online, and building your fan base with social networking communities is critical for bands and musicians looking to make a living from their music and music-related activities.

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Mixcloud: Re-thinking Radio - One Million Streams Old

Mixcloud is a website dedicated to streaming music. The main difference is that they focus on radio content as opposed to individual singles. Put simply, in their words, Mixcloud "helps connect radio content to listeners more effectively". By hosting radio shows, podcasts and DJ mixes in the 'cloud' (without software or storage), the audio is available to listen to on-demand and instantly, whereas podcasts require downloading to a hard drive. Uploaded audio is therefore referred to as 'Cloudcasts', and saves the owner or listener using slow and restrictive file hosting websites.

Having an efficient and clean uploading process and a strong search function, Mixcloud has the two pronged attack of helping content creators promote and helping listeners discover the audio that they want to hear. I have been using the site myself for nearly a year now, and have found that broadcasting is easy (and free!), and listening and discovering is an enjoyable experience. For more info, check the 'What is Mixcloud?' video after the jump...

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MIDEM 2010 Round-up

January saw a "highly productive and optimistic" MIDEM 2010 conference take place in Cannes. The event had kicked off with the "New Models At Work" panel session, with Amanda Palmer speaking about her 2009 self-funded solo album, and her online community of fans. Hal Ritson from The Young Punx added that artists need to "get some emotional contact with [the people listening to their music]" and that music bloggers giving away free downloads should be viewed as the modern equivalent of radio promo. Starting with an inspirational DIY discussion is great, but I'm sure people were looking for other ways to get involved, as each artist's strategy will be completely different.

Luckily, there was a diverse set of panelists and topics; with video games and mobile device apps being two major industries in the future of music, as well as possible revenue streams for artists, I am glad to see that those topics were of great importance, and even had specific discussion panels (see below). One of the quotes from the 'Apps' panel became the most retweeted live posts of the conference... the news that "Shazam #App is selling 300,000 songs a DAY via iTunes".

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Ok Go New Music Video Premiere

Chicago-based indie rockers OK Go caused a sensation with the video for their 2006 song "Here It Goes Again". The video featured a choreographed treadmill dance routine, and reached nearly 50 million views on Youtube, and inspired scores of remakes. The band became the perfect example of viral marketing in the new music industry.

So, any follow-up would be a tough task, and would need to be a pretty impressive video. "This Too Shall Pass" premiered yesterday, and has received some great reviews so far. The latest project collaborated with Syyn Labs on a two-story Rube Goldberg machine. The machine, constructed in a warehouse in Echo Park, keeps perfect time with the band's latest single "This Too Shall Pass," thrashing TV sets, dropping pianos, launching paper airplanes, blasting paint, and much more in spectacular synchronicity with the song.

Check it out here...

Reactive Music

What is reactive music? Well, it is music that responds to it's surrounding environment and manipulates the sound accordingly. A simple example, is whilst playing music through your iPhone, you can effect the sound with different swinging and shaking movements. Essentially, it enables you to remix songs live and create a different recording every time.

RjDj is an iPhone app and web platform operated by the team at Reality Jockey Ltd. They hope to create a buzz around reactive music and turn it into a consumer format. The startup launched its own free app last year that offers an ever-changing variety of tracks and effects. Below is a video explaining some of the options.

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Lee J the DJ Dec/Jan/Feb - ORD/MSP/ORD/LHR/ORD/SNA/ORD/NRT/ORD

It's been a couple of months without the monthly updates. Life gets in the way of blogging sometimes. I kinda realise that my friends don't actually live in my computer and I was out there getting up to mischief on a regular basis.

December kicked off with of my favourite gigs ever. I was invited up to Minneapolis to play for Hotdish. The guys looked after me so well and the crowd were so into hearing great music, old and new, that it really reminded me of the Moochin parties of old. I even met Jack the Snowman. *le sigh* I'll be heading back there this summer.



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