ARCHIVE: March 2005

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March 31, 2005

INTENT MediaWorks Intros Family Friendly Music P2P

Mediaworks recently announced its release of the "first Family Friendly peer-to-peer (P2P) software" that only includes authorized copy-written music and videos. With the Grokster case hitting headlines lately, this announcement was well timed. Many consumers new to the world of... Read More

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March 30, 2005

BlogMatrix Releases Sparks! 2.0 Podcasting Solution

Musicians, bands, DJs interested in creating their own online, downloadable virtual 'radio show' should look into podcasting, which I briefly explained earlier. Already in the market? You may want to take a look at BlogMatrix's latest podcasting solution, Sparks! 2.0,... Read More

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March 29, 2005

Online Music World, Independent Music Forum and Blog

There has been a lot of discussion here lately regarding the development of new musician community sites. On such expanding community is Online Music World, which includes a musician's forum as well as an online music news blog. The forum... Read More

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March 28, 2005

McDonald's Infiltrates Rap Lyrics

McDonald's is paying rappers $1-5 every time a song with a "Big Mac" lyric plug hits the radio. Does "Street Cred" still matter in rap? How long before 50 Cent busts out 99 Cent Menu rhymes? How long before I... Read More

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March 27, 2005

Another Microsoft DJ Site, With Coke?

Ok, we're beginning to see a pattern. Microsoft launched another co-branded DJ site, the Scenario, with Coke. I just wrote about their launch of Crossfader, the DJ/Mixing community site (see post here). The two launches were a day apart. See... Read More

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March 26, 2005

Search for Creative Commons Music on Yahoo!

Yahoo recently launched a Creative Commons search interface that allows users to limit their music searches to works with a Creative Commmons copyright. As explained earlier, a Creative Commons license allows a work (music, film, photography, and written word) to... Read More

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March 24, 2005

Breaking News: Crossfader Beta Launched by Microsoft

The new Microsoft DJ/Mixer community site, Crossfader, was released in beta today. Member forums, member blogs, music uploads, and an integrated music/video player are all included, making for a pretty impressive package. I think this may be part of Microsoft's... Read More

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Using the Term "Indie"...Counter-Productive?

Peter left excellent feedback in my last post below regarding my abundant use of the term "indie" in GarageSpin: "You are trying to talk to us, normal people struggling in the music business. And on that note of struggling maybe... Read More

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March 23, 2005

Bitmunk Empowers Bands With P2P File Distribution

Indie artists and garage bands can now allow fans to sell music on their behalf using a peer-to-peer (P2P) file distribution network, thanks to Digital Bazaar, Inc., which launched Bitmunk, launched. The innovative distribution model allows fans to purchase digital... Read More

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March 22, 2005

Creative Commons Offers Exposure and Material to Musicians

Songwriters and bands -- have you protected your creative works by 'reserving all your rights' with a copyright? Have you considered only reserving "some" of the rights? That's exactly what a Creative Commons Copyright allows you to do. Many musicians,... Read More

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Build Your Own Microphone Pop Screen, Guerilla-Style

Finally, I now have a use for all those pantyhose...um, nevermind. Thanks to Jake Ludington for these step-by-step instructions on creating your own microphone pop screen for recording audio to get rid of all those plosive 'p' and 'b' sounds.... Read More

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March 20, 2005

Home Recording Studio Article in the NY Times

Home recording was covered by the Sunday New York Times, today. (Free registration required to read). Jon Pareles wrote about the increasing trend of musicians writing, recording, and mixing their music in home recording studios. More and more music is... Read More

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March 19, 2005

Indie Band Markets Music With iPod Shuffle

Continuing an iPod-related stream of discussion, I thought a band's use of an iPod Shuffle as a means of album distribution was quite an interesting marketing gimmick. The Sexahol Shuffle comes preloaded with the Sexahol's 12-song album "Enjoy!". Though I'm... Read More

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March 18, 2005

Podcasting and Microniche Broadcasting

According to PubSub, as of mid January there were at least 8 million blogs in the "Blogosphere", and possilby over 24 million (Per Bob Wyman's comment below, there are now over 9 million being tracked by PubSub). That's a lot.... Read More

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March 17, 2005

Propellerhead's Reason 3.0 Released!

I don't have much time to post today, due to a longer-than-usual recording session. So I will simply say: I love Propellerhead's Reason. It is by far the best audio generator/synthesizer I have ever used, offering groove clips, sequencers, a... Read More

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March 16, 2005

BitTorrent Used to Distribute Indie Music to Festival Goers

Recently, BitTorrent was used to distribute hundreds of music files legally, wrote Wired. Garage bands and indie rockers benefit. BitTorrent has garnered quite a lot of press, lately. Over the last few months, several Torrent sites including Suprnova and LokiTorrent... Read More

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March 15, 2005

Rosegarden, Linux Music Editing Tool, By Fervent

Roughly a month ago, I wrote about the open source home recording software Ardour that's currently in beta, but looking good. Another that is somewhat further along, and getting good reviews, is Rosegarden 1.0, which recently became available on February... Read More

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March 11, 2005

Indie Radio's Rennaisance and High Definition Radio

Wired had a great article about the expansion of microniche broadcasting in the US: Noting radio's declining audiences, recurring low-level payola scandals, horrendous public image, and competition for drive-time ears from iPods, satellite broadcasting, and cell phones, pundits have been... Read More

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Indie Musician Generates Both CD Sales and Web Revenue

Garage bands and home recording studio musicians often search for ways to financially support their acoustic addictions and dreams of success in music. Marc Gunn, an indie Celtic musician, is doing so with a series of websites that generate revenue... Read More

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March 10, 2005

The Importance of a Professional Demo Press Kit

Having a smashing demo to shop around to labels is a step towards garage band rock stardom. However, great music is not always enough. David Hooper explains the importance of a professional, sharp-looking demo package for getting record label A&R... Read More

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March 07, 2005

Digital Audio Home Recording Studio For Engineer on Budget

Prior to Engadget's Mac Mini Home Recording Studio post, Gizmodo wrote another, more financially cumbersome "recording studio how-to" post. It's great if you have $5000 to spare and are looking to upgrade to a pro-quality recording studio. All you... Read More

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March 06, 2005

Learn DJ Mixing Basics

For anyone wanting to 1) become a DJ, 2) incorporate a DJ into a garage band, 3) incorporate samples into a song or performance, you can start learning how by checking out these DJ mixing basics at recess.co.uk. Enjoy the... Read More

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March 04, 2005

IndiePodcasting.com Offers Garage Bands Podcasting Service

IndiePodcasting.com provides a new service geared towards promoting indie and garage bands using "a combination of podcasting technology, syndication, and viral marketing." (If you're new to podcasting, one of the best explanations of the technolgoy and its short history can... Read More

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March 03, 2005

Indie Music Electronic Press Kits For Garage Bands

Sonicbids created an electronic press kit solution that allows garage bands and home recording studio musicians to submit with a click to some of the world's biggest music conferences, festivals, songwriting contests and live music competitions. The list includes CMJ,... Read More

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March 01, 2005

Garage Radio Offers Streaming Audio Solution To Indie Bands

Garage Radio is adding another digital media tool to garage bands' online toolbox: The K-AMP Player is a web-based service and solutions provider that enables website owners and administrators to audiocast their own web-based audio player using K-AMP's web-enabled media... Read More

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