Posts Tagged ‘Independent Music’
Journey into Tehran’s independent underground.
In his recent film, No One Knows About Persian Cats, director Bahman Ghobadi shows us a very different side of the independent music scene, one unfolding in modern Tehran under a strict and repressive government.
Near the beginning of the film, one of the main characters, a struggling musician, laments, “Here you can’t do anything. In this country, you don’t have a chance.” Sound familiar? In the Iranian capital, it is governmental control, rather than monopolistic labels and corporations, that keeps non-traditional music underground. Still, the similarities to the music scene in the western world are uncanny.
Currents of Oppression
Featured Blog:
Urban Music Daily
http://urbanmusicdaily.net/
At UrbanMusicDaily.Net, we strive to be a distinct leader in the pursuit of excellence. With dedicated staff around the clock to provide everyone with fresh sounds each day, we at UMD believe the sky is the limit. While we cover a variety of music including R&B, Hip-Hop , DanceHall/Reggae, we proudly specialize in urban sounds.
Featured Podcast:
The Justin Wayne Show
http://thejustinwayneshow.com
The Radio Talk Show About…Whatever! The WBTM Internet Radio Network is a collective of ideas that formed to bring original talk programming to the Internet. The network began as a single talk show podcast, Behind The Mike, and grew to the current setup of three shows and a network of quality affiliates. WBTM also airs the best selections of the 70s and 80s and is PROUD to air the very best independent music from around the globe.
Q) Tell us a little bit about your site. What inspired you to start it?
A) The Behind The Mike Show was born out of the love I had for talk radio and old time radio programs; mixed with 23 years as a professional mobile Disc Jockey. I formed the show in 2006 and in 2008 we launched the WBTM Radio Network which features 80s pop and independent music.
Q) Why do you believe new media resources (i.e. blogs, podcasts, internet radio stations) have become so popular? How have they been beneficial to artists? How have they been detrimental?
What comes to mind when you think of record stores? A huge, impersonal megamart, reeking of the latest in warehouse infrastructure textiles, and crammed with billions of albums that do nothing but repeat a endless litany of top-40 hit factory crap?
Or do you think of a shop, vinyl and poster paper, exposed brick, eccentric section headings, cute clerks whose dense musical knowledge and tattoos are simultaneously intimidating and alluring, and more, discoveries, rarities, imports, singles, limited issues, shit that’s so old it’s new again, and new shit that instantly, instantly restores your faith in humanity. Music.
When we’re cheering the downfall of the plasticized, genericized, monster-sized major label and its megamarts, it’s easy to forget about this second kind of record store. Which is at least part of the reason why, since 2008, the third Saturday of April has been marked to celebrate Record Store Day. This year, that day falls on April 17th. Mark your calendars!
Carpe Diem!
In the U.S. there are over 700 independent record stores. Whether this sounds like an amazingly big number, or a depressingly small one, it represents a long history of people who have always supported independent music, stuck behind local artists, and turned the quest for finding new, meaningful sounds into an artform all its own.
On Record Store Day, a few different cool things go down. For one, tons of great bands come out to play shows at their local shops. For another, artists release special, often hard-to-come-by records and unique editions, exclusively to participating stores, exclusively on the auspicious day.
Indie artist, Pete Francis, has launched his new Web site featuring tour dates, lyrics and music. On his site, Pete offers the first single “Glue” for free download.
The New York City based singer-songwriter is set to release his new album The Movie We Are In on May 18. Pete decided that a new approach was key for his next record. Instead of his usual self-produced style of album making, he uprooted his life and assembled an entirely new crew with in Los Angeles with producer Jeff Trott (right hand man to Sheryl Crow as writer and guitarist).
Francis said, “I wanted to bring a modern element into my music. When first speaking with Jeff Trott, I quickly realized he had great musical instincts and that he was getting me and he brought ideas to the table that I hadn’t imagined.”
Indie on Air! & Music in Action w/ host “Classic”
The Voice of Independent Music featuring industry professionals & great indie music.
Indie on Air! broadcasts live every Friday 12:30pm CST from Chicago via the BlogTalkRadio platform
Music in Action broadcasts live every other Wednesday 2:00pm CST from Chicago via the BlogTalkRadio platform
Both shows are available 24/7 as an archive immediately following the live broadcasts.
Q) Tell us a little bit about your Internet radio show. What inspired you to start it?
Cowboy Cantor is a podcast run by a Portuguese music teacher. Its the only podcast around the island of S. Miguel, in the Azores islands, Portugal. The show’s aim is to share the greatest free mp3s found on the Internet, in the artist’s own sites, their label sites, or in many other mp3 sites that offer free music. It’s all done with love and in the name of independent music.
Q) What can artists do to make money on the internet?
A) A lot of different things have been happening on the Internet with music. From stores with d.r.m. files, to free music. From the Creative Commons to pay what you want. From file sharing on chats to illegal peer to peer clients. Everyday we meet new ways of promoting music and selling it. It is fact, legal or illegal, Internet is the most effective way of getting an artist to be known. Labels and artists should keep that in mind and work with it. F.M. and A.M. radios, television, newspapers and magazines still have a word to say on this process, but Internet is vital these days for music promotion.
Happy holidays, everybody!
Click on the album cover to download or stream Hark to the Buzz! this year’s BEST indie holiday album!
It’s a big month for Gighive. We launched our indie music directory on the 7th, and we’ve also been working on putting together our first playlist, Hark to the Buzz! Indie artists from around the world have submitted their holiday songs for this festive compilation showcase, and the entries have been AMAZING!
The Century of Self Up For Best Pop/Rock Album & Best Album Packaging Design (which is courtesy of Trail’s very own Conrad Keely!)
The Century of Self was released in February 2009 on the band’s Richter Scale Records imprint via Justice Records and earned them raves from the media. Spin gave the album 4 stars and wrote “…these Texans gracefully balance the dynamic alt rock of 2002’s Source Tags & Codes with their more recent multimovement epics” while USA Today said “…Self’s shambolic guitars, punishing beats, nervous energy and striking choral arrangements add up to an intriguing aural experience” and New York’s Vulture Blog called the album “…epic….”
Q: Tell us a little bit about your blog. What inspired you to start it?
I have been toying with the idea behind Hummingbyrd Sings for a while: namely, creating a place where the independent artistic community can come together, engage with one another and share ideas that will improve their experiences as artists.
The very nature of ‘independent’ means being on the cutting edge of an ever-changing arena. That means bands need to create a story – a brand – in order to build a following. It’s no longer enough to say, “I’m Indie” and think that’s it. Indie is breaking the mold. If the industry is changing, Indie artists should be at the forefront blazing the trail to take the industry to the next level.
Third Eye Blind is giving fans a sneak peak of their full-length album, Ursa Major, on their Myspace profile due out Aug. 18 on Mega Collider Records.
Taking advantage of online marketing techniques while entering the independent music world, Third Eye Blind has encompassed the self-marketing operations for their first indie album.
After 3 best-selling CD releases, Third Eye Blind has decided to utilize the independent music movement for their fourth release, Ursa Major.
Many indie musicians are known for their anti-corporate stance. It’s not surprising then that the concept of “marketing” leaves a sour taste in many independent artists’ mouths. The fact is though, there are ways to build your fan base and increase people’s interest in and awareness of your music – without selling out. If you are an independent music maker, here are a few ways you can do some marketing without going corporate.
First, if your mindset is completely anti-marketing, you really need to change your tune. Marketing does not have to equal selling out or going corporate. Finding ways to expose your ideas and creations through your songs and music to more people – marketing – shows that you believe in what you are doing.
Let’s face it, the wildfire spread of web-based portals designed to introduce independent music to the world has created a bewildering array of opportunities and costs. So where do they all balance out? When does the cost of signing up to yet another music promotion service yield results? What results are we looking for anyway?
The key is to make your web promotion targeted, systematic and rich.
What is the main drive for independent artists promote their music on the web? The fundamental incentive for web promotion is the opportunity to get your music heard by people who might otherwise never know that you exist! If people know you exist they can become fans and repeat-listeners. Which of those fans buy CD’s and downloads?
ABOUT TheBuZZ
The Buzz – Empowering the Independent Movement…One Artist at a Time | Giving Indie Artists a Voice in the Process
Buzz(sound) Bites
