Over 100 songs have been uploaded by music labels to the Rock Band Network, and unknown indie bands have the opportunity to expose their projects. So far, established bands have taken the spotlight, but this is a great outlet for unsigned bands to gain funding and get more fans.

Rock Band Network has allowed independent and unsigned bands to submit their own songs for users to download since mid-January. The offer is  for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of the game with the intention of providing the most downloadable tracks to Nintendo’s Wii moving forward.

Indie bands can price their songs between 50 cents and $3, netting 30% of track sales. Users of the game will be able to preview songs before they purchase on the Rock Band Network store.

Featured Blog:

Writer C.W. Ross’s Blog
http://writercwross.wordpress.com/

This blog combines C.W. Ross’ three previous blogs (see below) into a one stop shop for information, commentary, interviews and reviews for a wide variety of Indie and Christian music.
Indie Music Stop- IndieMusicStop.com
The CD Reviewer- TheCDReviewer.com
Christian Rockers Online- ChristianRockersOnline.com

Featured Podcast:

Austin Music Foundation presents PARTY:SMART featuring Martin Atkins with special guests Ariel Hyatt of Ariel Publicity and Charlie Cheney of Indie Band Manager.

These three indie music luminaries will share tips, secrets, and strategies to help bands more creatively and effectively promote themselves in today’s DIY music business climate.

Local musicians and industry pros as well as SXSW attendees from far and wide will meet for a pre-conference party and educational event with our special guests designed to facilitate relationships and “get the party started” on the eve of SXSW.

The Random, Troubling Antics of the IFPI and How They Impact Indie Artists.

Something sinister has been going on in the indie music blogosphere this February. And not just this February. Rumors and conjecture and suspicious activity have been noted on the periphery of web consciousness since the start of the new year.

As noted last week by The Guardian, several major music blogs have been shut down, randomly and suddenly, due to a takedown notice sent to Google by the IFPI.

Just when you thought the RIAA was getting a little soft.

The IFPI is the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Basically a bunch of guys using international law to threaten Google. In response, Google took down six music blogs hosted on its Blogspot service, including relative non-offenders like I Rock Cleveland and Masala.

Featured Blog:
Bring Me Up
http://scrink.com/

Christy runs a periodic blog features stories from her life and about music. She welcomes all promotions and bands wanting reviews written.  She also review books.

Featured Podcast:
Family Movie Night Podcast
http://fmnpodcast.com/

Intermixed in our review of family friendly current releases will include some old classics from childhood like BMX Bandits, Flight of the Navigator, Godzilla the Final Wars and Gremlins to see how they hold up for the next generation.

A couple of weeks ago, a group going by the name of Die Antwoord (Afrikaans for The Answer) started to blow up all over the internet, and hence, the world. Die Antwoord, known by turns as a Zef, rap-rave, or next level beat production act, has been gaining popularity in South Africa since last April, but has gained serious, serious global media attention over the last month by making us all sit up and go WTF?

If your friends haven’t already posted it to Facebook, check out Die Antwoord’s Zef Side video right now.

Done?

How’re ya’ll feeling? Vacillating between a weird mix of “can this be real?” and “wow, so, South Africa, eh?” You’re not alone. The concept of this band of seemingly methed-out, white trash (Zef) South African kids with a dream of bringing their “next-level gangsta rap shit” to the world has completely captivated viewers. Die Antwoord seems to open up a door into contemporary South African popular culture, and it’s just SO gritty, and hipster, and bizarre.

And, of course, it’s not exactly real.

The Brains Behind Die Antwoord

Die Antwoord’s slick website, well-produced videos, and collaborations with South African artists like DJ/visual performer Leon Botha and photographer Roger Ballen instantly clued cynical viewers in. The little tribe of DJ Hi-Tek, Emcee Ninja, and booty girl Yo-Landi could not be as fabulously, authentically other-world as their hipster hairstyles, ghetto tattoos, and esoteric understanding of web culture would have us believe.

Featured Blog:

Baxojayz-Centricity

http://www.baxojayz.com/

Find out about anything in the universe worth mentioning in this weblog. The infinite knowledge of the BAXOJAYZ will guide you to happiness previously known only by those of my inner circle. Feel free to comment. Sit back, read, let go of your stresses and enjoy.

Featured Podcast:

Every Indie music artist should think about starting a blog.

First though, a little rant. I’m always shocked by the amount of crudeness people will allow on their MySpace pages. It’s not always their own content either. In fact, usually it’s the comments other people leave on their page.

If people start dropping comments on your page like, “Yo man, ur shits smashin, check out my dope new tracks !!”, not only should you not check out their dope new tracks, but disable comments on your page altogether because your page is becoming a spam farm. If your page is attracting these types of numnuts, pretty soon you’ll be inundated with more garbage than a Mumbai slum.

“Landmines” is off the independent band’s latest album, Never Say.

I was approached by this guy the other day. He hollered at me from across the street. It happened at night, so I couldn’t really make out his face, but I could see that he had on a backwards baseball cap, baggy jeans and a CD in his hand.

He said, “Yo man, can I talk to you real quick?…” I thought to myself, “Oh crap. Not another numbnuts trying to sell me a CD out of his car trunk.”

By the way, if you approach your customers by saying, “Yo man…” I suggest you stop it. Like, now. It’s kind of rude if you get my drift.

So anyway, this guy asked me if I wanted to buy his album. I said “No” and went home.

Featured Blog:
The Painted Man
http://thepaintedman.brookiellen.com/
The Painted Man is a blog dedicated to promoting good music, movies, beer, and culture… with a strong focus on independent music. They write reviews, feature videos, and so much more!
 
Featured Podcast:
PageantCast
http://pageantcast.com/

And What You Can Do About It

As I clicked on a popular music business forum, I was greeted with a question. “Why won’t commercial radio play music by Indie Artists?”

My reply to this person was as follows:

“As a former Operations Manager and Music Director on both the Comm and Non-Comm sides, Let me break the reason down for you.

Commercial Radio needs ratings to get paid from advertisers. Most advertiser’s, on radio, are ad agencies. Ad agencies base their “buys” (sponsorships) on a Cost per point (”CPP”) basis. CPP is based on how many thousands of listeners a radio station can capture in a 15 minute period (or cume).

Indie music can now be submitted to the Rock Band Network store.

Rock Band Network will now permit independent and unsigned bands to submit their own songs for users to download. This offer is  for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of the game with the intention of providing the most downloadable tracks to Nintendo’s Wii moving forward.

Indie bands can price their songs between 50 cents and $3, netting 30% of track sales. Users of the game will be able to preview songs before they purchase on the Rock Band Network store.

A set of professional tools, which will allow musicians on the front line of writing and recording songs to completely control their destiny. It will take 20-40 hours for first-time users to apply their music on the full-featured editing suite. Bands will also have admission to interactive products and then giving them direct access to the download store.