ARCHIVE: September 2005

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September 30, 2005

Beatmixed Interviews DJ Zebra

Matt Hite at Beatmixed conducts a great interview with DJ Zebra here about the art of spinning, mash-up creation, and bootleg booty. Check it out!... Read More

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September 29, 2005

Unsigned Band Sells 17,000 Copies of Self-Released Album

Another unsigned band success story. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, a band based in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, has sold almost 17,000 self-titled albums through word-of-mouth marketing alone. The band recorded the entire album for under $10k, and fulfills orders the... Read More

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September 28, 2005

DIY Musicians Challenge Major Label Artists

Alexis Akwagyiram at BBC wrote an interesting story about Sway Dasafo, an unsigned, home studio artist from north London that beat out major label hop hop artists (including 50 Cent!) at this year's Music of Black Origin awards. Sway's accomplishment... Read More

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September 22, 2005

Austin City Limits Music Festival vs. Hurricane Rita

I’m heading to the Austin City Limits Music Festival this weekend. While completely psyched to see an incredible lineup, we’re a tad concerned about the pounding Texas will receive from Hurricane Rita… Austin is about 200 miles offshore, so it... Read More

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September 21, 2005

PROMONET Offers Pre-Cleared Music, Videos, More

The Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA) launched Promonet today, a promotional distribution network providing “qualified” podcasters, bloggers, internet radio stations, and other music sites with thousands of pre-cleared music tracks, videos, artwork, and more, from over 750 independent labels. Qualification... Read More

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Store’s “Buy It, Burn It, Return It” CD Offer

The Wall Street Journal wrote an excellent story about how independent record stores are combating declining CD sales. Scotti's Record Shops has a “Buy It, Burn It, Return It” policy that lets customers do just that. The website reads: Load... Read More

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September 20, 2005

Freestyle Rapping on Rhapsody Radio

Hey freestyle rappers, check it. You can now bust da rhymes on ya mobile phone. Beats N Breaks is a freestyle rap service being offered through Rhapsody Radio, a new offering launched yesterday by RealNetworks and Sprint. I can’t wait... Read More

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September 19, 2005

Treating Your Band As a Small Business

Bernard Davis discusses treating one’s band as a small business, complete with a business plan. A “band business plan???” you ask? Doesn’t that take all the fun out of being in the band? Well, some of it, yes. But he... Read More

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September 15, 2005

Clear Channel Radio Launches Indie Artist Showcase, NEW!

San Antonio-based Clear Channel Radio launched NEW!, an Internet Web site featuring music of new and developing artists. From what I can tell, all the artists are taken from GarageBand.com. From the MySA.com: Every four months, NEW! is to feature... Read More

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September 14, 2005

AOL Adds Podcast Search Tools

Podcasting takes a step further into the mainstream: AOL announced the release of several tools to help users learn about and find podcasts. No doubt, an attempt to retain its status as one of the top online music portals.... Read More

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September 13, 2005

The Future of Music Conference

Speaking of music industry conferences and forums, Paid Content has been providing wrap-up posts regarding the Future of Music conference going on this week. This panel sounded particularly interesting: Is Digital Distribution a Good Deal for Artists?. Billboard does a... Read More

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"The Music Upfront" Forum is Today

The Music Upfront forum is today. According to the ad, "Don't miss this one-day, high-level forum for marketers and music labels to connect and build partnerships." It's taking place at B.B. Kings, and Teddy Geiger, Rhymefest, and Ne*Yo will be... Read More

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iZ, Zizzle's Animatronic DJ

I now know what I want for Christmas. Zizzle, a toy company founded by Furby creator Roger Shiffman, is launching iZ, an animatronic DJ. Kids poke and prod it to mix 'n' mash beats. I dunno. My wife's Furby never... Read More

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September 12, 2005

MBox 2: Digidesign Launch

In case you missed it, Digidesign launched the MBox 2, complete with Pro Tools LE and a lot of new features. The best breakdown of the features offered that I've read was posted by, once again, Create Digital Music, with... Read More

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Sonar 5: Cakewalk To Launch in early October

Cakewalk is now allowing customers to pre-order Sonar 5 ahead of its scheduled early October release. According to the site: Version 5 adds an arsenal of responsive instruments, more effects, and powerful editing tools including Roland® V-Vocal™ VariPhrase technology. These... Read More

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September 06, 2005

So much news, so little time...

It's been busy. A new job, a new age, and new friends... Plus, I was away for most of the weekend, attending an amazing wedding in New Hampshire. It's been more than a week since I've touched anything music related,... Read More

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September 01, 2005

Cordless: Update On Warner's e-Label for Indy Music

Remember Warner's e-Label announcement last week? Dawn C. Chmielewski at Mercury News provides additional info in this article. Apparently, the tentative name for the album will be Cordless, and will offer song downloads exclusively via the Internet or through mobile... Read More

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