When I released my EP last year I did so with the help of a few online articles and some friends who have released their own music independently over the last few years. It was a fairly simple process and something i’ll refine for the next Bluevibe studio release. It seems anybody can get their music up on itunes now but many artists still need a little help to negotiate the range of options available and still need some help putting the whole release plan together.

Cameron Mizell recently launched a series of posts over at musicianwages.com outlining all the stages involved in self releasing your music. I’ve been reading Camerons articles and checking out what he’s been up to on twitter and he really seems to have a great working model together as a musicians. When I’m working with an artist to look at income streams and models of working as a musician it’s really important to look at your skills and talents and really find a creative and productive outlet for them, Cameron seems to do this really well and share his knowledge along the way.

I’ve been working on a range of income streams for quite a while now and I’m always looking for new and creative ways to put my skills to use. Here’s my list at the moment and admittedly some of these only bring in a few dollars at the moment but it’s quite a diverse list and I’m learning and developing the list everyday.

• Artist career facilitator – (3 days) consultant job helping musician’s develop sustainable income
• CPC website manager – (1 day) errrr managing a website
• Seminar and workshop production
• Recording artist – music sales, gigs, royalties etc
• Blogger – guest posts and consulting
• Remix artist – paid remixes
• Mix engineer – mixing other artists projects
• DJ

Now, I gotta say that this list is a lot of hard work but this would be a similar model to most independent musicians who are out there trying to hustle a living for their family. Most artists are just not gonna make a living out of music sales (you guys already know that though?!!) so focusing on your skills and developing a diverse approach to your income is essential for most artists today, i’d love to know what works for you?

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• Soul Sides music blog – keepin it deep (0)
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The Bluevibe studio website has been live and direct for a year now and it’s been an amazing opportunity to share with you some of my music and ramblings about my influences and inspirations. I’ve never been a great writer so working on these weekly posts has really helped me work on my skills and has now helped me get work as a freelance editor for a new website being launched in the next few weeks in conjunction with The Depot Artspace. It’s a really exciting project which I’ll tell you more about once it’s launched. Ok ramble over and on to the actual topic of this post, my favourite music blogs.

Over the last few months I’ve been getting some good traffic from google for some quite specific keywords including “mp3 blog”, “jazz blog”, “electro funk” and “music blog”. Many of my early posts focused on a few of my favourite music blogs and it is those posts which are now bringing through some of my regular google traffic. So for those of you who arrived here from google looking for “jazz blogs” and “electro funk” here’s a list of some amazing sites which you really should be checking.

Beat electric – This is a recent addition to my RSS feeds and is dedicated to distributing rare and sought after boogie and electronic soul. I’m a huge fan of electrofunk and have found some amazing tracks on this site.

I wish you would – Found this through an O-Dub recommendation and have been a regular ever since, from dub through funk and heavy on the hip hop, DJ Mathew Africa’s blog is always killer.

Blaks Lair – I’ve posted about Lord Blaks site before but really had to drop it in again. I’ve found some amazing stuff on here and many of the albums posted have led me to dig around for more from the artists featured.

dubdotdash – Local blog from Dub Asylums Peter McLennan, always fresh with the latest music news and tracks from Peter’s radio show on Base FM.

matsuli music – wicked blog focusing on strictly limited and out of print juju, dub and afro funk.

soul sides – another legendary blog which I’ve posted about before but had to be dropped again, amazingly written and researched and always inspiring to read. Plus has the best mp3 player on any music blog i’ve found.

The CTI never sleeps – another new addition to my music research feed and this one is a killer focusing on sharing the whole back catalog from the CTI, Kudu and associated labels.

Shook magazine – the crew from Straight no chaser bring you Shook magazine and it’s little blog. You really should be buying the gorgeous hard copy mag but it’s well worth checkin the blog too for some of that Shook style.

So that’s a short list of a few of my regular influences but should give you somewhere to start, dig in to the blog rolls on each site and you could be discovering music you’ve never heard of for years to come, nice. If you’ve got any suggestions for great music blogs focusing on electrofunk, soul, jazz and anything sample based and deep then drop me a comment, I’d love to check em out.

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So it’s been an amazing year here at Bluevibe studio and I’d firstly like to thank all of the people who have supported me over the last 12 months by either checkin the blog, checkin the music and maybe even buying the new EP. So much has happened for me in 2008 I thought I’d run through some of the highlights and share some amazing plans I’m already cookin for 2009, it’s gonna be a big year that’s for sure.

• I released the first EP from The Ghostfaders which is still available as a free download and will be writing and releasing the second EP in early 09, again for free, so watch this space. The new EP’s gonna feature a few more guest instrumentalists and is gonna be heavier and dirtier than last time, I’m already saturating the tape deck!
• I also started working over at The Depot Artspace as an artist career facilitator and have met and worked with some amazing and inspiring musicians this year. Huge plans over there for next year including the launch of a new resource website for artists as part of the Creative Peoples’ Centre; more workshops and seminars for musicians plus we’re already planning something special for NZ music month.
• I’ve also been working with Depot sound recording studio to create a new audio community over at the studio for 09. This will include giving upcoming audio engineers access to the amazing facilities and holding regular workshops with established engineers who will be sharing their knowledge and getting together with the engineers to work on new recording projects. If your based in Auckland and would like to get involved just drop me a message and I’ll let you know once we’re up and running.
• Finally I released my first Bluevibe studio EP – This life volume.1 which is now available in a store near you. I’m really proud of this first release under the Bluevibe moniker and would like to thanks all the crew involved in helping produce the EP. I’ll be starting work on the next in the series in Feb 09 and will be looking for new vocalists and remix artists to get involved, again drop me a line if you like the first EP and want to colab.

I’ve really enjoyed blogging in 08 and despite my lack of posts in Dec (life’s been just too crazy) I’ve fully upgraded the whole back end and will be adding a new design and new feastures in early 09. It’s amazing to see the traffic coming through from google and I’ll be writing more about online music resources, new artists and fresh music blogs so register for the newsletter or signup to the RSS feed for the latest Bluevibe news, peace and merry xmas.

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So after setting up my Twitter account months ago I’ve actually started using it on a regular basis. I’m only following a few people so far but am actually really enjoying connecting with people and sharing the huge amount of information I come across daily. I’m a real info. freak and once I actually stopped to think about the amount of information I digest every day I thought that Twitter would be a great tool to spread some of this in a quick and easy format. I’ll still be blogging because I only blog once a week; I like to write longer articles for this blog plus at the moment I’m talking to different people and focusing on different topics on the blog than I am on Twitter.

As part of my working day I check about 100 RSS feeds every morning and meet with 2 or 3 musicians daily so there’s always something going on, new projects, solving problems for bands, giving advice to artists just getting started with blogging, a huge range of stuff and some of the most interesting bits are worth posting on Twitter. I also spend a few hours in the evening hunting round for new music, checking my music blogs, playing some vinyl and writing tunes and this always provides inspiration for a few Tweets. If your on Twitter then you can follow me over here http://www.twitter.com/bluevibestudio and if your not then you can check out a few quick articles on using Twitter below.

• 10 easy steps for Twitter beginners
• Musicians Twitter roadmap
• Twitter : Use it productively
• Using Twitter for music promotion

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So the registrations have closed and we’ve drawn the winner, so congratulations to Hugo Tichborne who wins the Vestax Handytrax turntable and vinyl prize pack. I’d like to thank everybody for taking part in the draw and because it’s a stunning day here in Auckland I’ve decided that everybody who registered will be getting all of the future Bluevibe studio releases free, in digital format .

Ok so here’s some news from the studio, I’m really excited to start mixing the new EP from Jellphonic, http://www.myspace.com/jellphonic , really blessed to be involved in this one and will be trying to help Jeremy release it, well, because the tracks are killer and really need to be released. The EP has been a huge success for me in term of getting the opportunity to start working with new artists and getting asked to do more remixes. I’ve also had several labels get in touch to license tracks for compilations which is really exciting, watch this space for future Bluevibe goodness.

The next project out of the studio will be a new Ghostfaders EP which I’m hoping to put out before christmas, if you haven’t got your free copy of the first EP just head over and grab one from here. http://www.bluevibestudio.com/the-ghostfaders/

I’ve been pretty quiet on the blog lately because I’ve been working with The Depot Artspace to build a new blog, it’s going to be a resource site for artists and musicians and is an amazing project to be involved with. I’ll let you all know more about it once it’s launched and I’ll also be looking to get people involved so watch this space. I’m also going to be posting more regularly on here and putting more emphasis on featuring new and up and coming artists who I’m really diggin, keepin it deep and heavy, nice!

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Since launching the blog I’ve been getting more and more requests from people to come and record at the studio which has been great but I’ve now decided that I’ll only be working on my own projects and collaborations. I’ve been really busy finishing the new EP and working on new tracks with more collaborators and the commercial nature of the studio has taken a back seat. With that in mind I thought I’d put together a list of studio’s in Auckland for those of you who need to get some recording done. I’ll still be doing remixes and working on collaborations so get in touch if your feeling some of the Bluevibe tracks.

The first studio I’m going to recommend is Depot sound over on the shore in Devonport. This is a community studio which is part of The Depot Artspace and has an excellent sounding live recording room. The rates are very cheap and the staff are always excited to work with new artists. This studio has a basic level of kit based around a Digi002 protools system and is an ideal place to record if your on a tight budget. It’s also great for home producers who may want to track drums in a budget studio and mix the project at home. The other reason I’m recommending Depot sound is because I work in the same building as the studio and while I’m not personally involved I love the fact the studio focuses on offering a great service at a budget price to bands who would not be able to record anywhere else. I also love that Calum (studio manager) often uses connecting the art gallery as a reverb chamber with amazing results!

If you have more of a budget check out some of these other studios, check out their websites to get an idea of their kit list and the type of clients they work with. I like a studio with a bit of vibe to it so make sure you go and check the place out before booking anything, obvious I know but you’d be surprised how many people like to book studio time without seeing the place. If you’ve got any studio’s you’d like to add to the list just let me know and I’ll add them if they’ve got the right vibe!

Depot sound
Kog studios and mastering
Lab Recording Studio
Beaver Studios
Platform studios
York Street Recording Studios
Studio 203
The Rock factory
Earwig studios

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Dave Hooper from MusicMarketing.com is setting up a new section of his excellent blog and is giving away free advice to musicians who subscribe to his mailing list. Not only is this a great opportunity for bands it’s also an excellent way for Dave to generate content and get more subscriptions.

Dave will be talking one on one with the “winners”of this offer and sharing his advice with his readers. This looks like a great idea and I’m really looking forward to reading the results, I’ll be subscribing to see if I can get some advice on the release of the new Bluevibe studio EP which is actually one step away from being finished, finally!

It will also be interesting to see who actually gets the free advice? It would be great to see bands from all over the globe, from different genres with different demographics of fans. Will selling an album to punks in the UK be different than selling a dub album to New Zealand fans?

If you write your own blog this type of direct connection with your audience could be a great way to give something back to your readers, create some content and expand your email list all at the same time. As a blogger asking questions of your readers should be something you actively do and I think Dave is taking this to the next level by offering this kind of interaction.

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Just a quick post this week with a list of links to my favourite music industry websites. These are the sites I subscribe to using their RSS feed through google reader, if you read quite a few blogs and don’t use RSS then you should really check it out. It just means that I can scan through a huge amount of information quickly and save all the interesting articles in one place to read when I actually have time.

So here’s the list of blogs who always deliver excellent content and some great insight in to the workings of the music industry. Take a look and get involved by leaving a comment. It’s great to have a conversation with these guys through comments because you can take the articles subject to a whole new level. If you have any suggestions for other music industry sites then just let me know by, well, leaving a comment.

Coolfer - Coolfer is a New York-based blog that covers music and the music industry. Started in August of 2003 as a way to expose the fledgling blogosphere to the insights of a person within the music industry, Coolfer.com has grown to become a respected and widely read source of news and opinion.

Newmusicstrategies – New music strategies is written by ex-pat Kiwi Andrew Dubber and is a must read for any artists with an interest in how to make the most of the online environment. After publishing the “20 things” e-book Andrew is now running through a list of the 100 most frequent questions he gets asked about the industry.

Sivers – this is the blog of Derek Sivers, founder of the ever expanding distribution company CD Baby. Great articles from a man who started one of the most successful online distribution companies, Derek jumps from very practical to thought provoking, always a great read.

Musicmarketing – “How to Sell More Records, Get More People to Your Shows, and Make More Money in the Music Business…”.

Knowthemusicbiz – “KnowTheMusicBiz.com is an online community for emerging artists, musicians and music executives. KTMB members can find, exchange and contribute valuable information about the business of music plus get advice and insight from industry thought leaders”. A great site which has a wide range of articles sourced from all over the web.

Musicthinktank – This new blog is fast becoming a great source of information and opinion. Contributors include Anthony Volodkin from Hype Machine, Andrew Dubber, Bruce Warila from Unsprung Media plus other music heavy weights.

Digitalaudioinsider – “Digital Audio Insider is a blog about the economics of online music distribution, from the perspective of a self-released, indie musician.”

Bob-baker – Bob Baker, author of several fantastic books on music marketing also publishes this blog. Always worth a read.

Kurb Promotions – Kurb is the only NZ based music industry blog and always offers food for thought on the future of the music industry. Just don’t take some of the articles too seriously, devils advocate can show up every now and again! Well worth subscribing to.

If you publish or subscribe to any similar blogs then drop me a comment and let me know.

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This week I’m spreading the word about the Soul Sides music blog, now some would say that everybody should already know about this amazing blog but it’s a wide wide web out there and I still talk to people who haven’t checked out Oliver Wang’s site.

Soul Sides is the first music blog I think I ever read on a regular basis and still enjoy because of it’s depth of knowledge and diverse approach to music blogging. The articles are always fresh and it’s been interesting and to see the blog develop over the years and still manage to keep one step ahead. Oliver has now started to write (amongst other things) more in depth articles based around a “box set“, the first focused on Aretha Franklin and the new one looks at Latin boogaloo, you can check it over at Uber.com.

Most of the musicians/producers/dj’s I know have an amazing level of knowledge around their style of music and don’t really think about how to maximise their opportunities for income generation (except being able to tell me which label my favourite artists released their first bootleg on and where I could buy it). Blogging can be a great way to move towards earning a living from your knowledge and passion and looking at how Oliver has done it could be a good start.

I’ll be posting a few articles in the future on music blogging and focusing on some of the bloggers who have used their blogs to start labels, release compilations and generally make more creative opportunities for themselves.

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This mix has been put together by my good friend Kerry Adams under his Bromide Dub moniker and features the first airing of the Bromide Dub remix of High Times featuring Lisa Preston from the upcoming “Bluevibe studio presents” EP. Kerry is an amazingly talented producer who releases music under many different production names including Tech and the Filter brats. He also runs a a great blog called The Proof where you can check out all his music and read production tutorials and gear reviews. Check it out and leave me a comment, it’s great to get some feedback on the tracks and make sure you head over to The Proof and get your heavy heavy bass fix womp womp womp booooooom tish.


Track listing

Vaccine – Side Effects
Skream – Make Me
Skream – Clock Watching
Bromide Dub – High Times
Djuna – Ites
Martin Buttrick – Well Done (Papa Ench Remix)
Tech – Snowflakes (Bromide Dubs Remix)
Telefon Tel Aviv – I lied
DZ – Strong on Ya
Excision – Warning
Ghilslain Poirier – Blazin (Modeselector Remix)
Bromide Dub – Call and Response

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