Just wanted to thank everybody who came along to the EP launch this week and all the DJ’s involved on the night. I’ll be posting some of the sets from the night over the next few weeks so register for the newsletter to grab em when they’re online. You’ll also go in the draw to win a Vestax handytrax turntabe and vinyl pack which I’ll be putting together from my collection.

The EP’s now available from Conch records and Amplifier in glorious CD format plus you can download it from a list of online stores. I used Tunecore to distribute to the major international stores and DRM for the local outlets and have been really happy with the speed and ease of the whole process.

Get it while it’s hot!

You can also grab the 2 Bluevibe studio remixes from the EP for free when you sign up as a fan  on Reverbnation .

This life volume.1 at Amplifier.co.nz

This life volume.1at Amazon.com

This life volume.1at emusic.com

This life volume.1 at Voeveo.com

This life volume.1at Digirama.co.nz

And finally the full EP is also available through itunes.

Some would say that the CD is already dead as a means of delivering music but I think the final nails are being driven in to the coffin by some innovative ways of selling digital downloads. A month ago I read a great review of a company called Discrevolt who sell customised cards which have a code on them which can be used to download files. These files can contain music, artwork, anything associated with the album or EP your selling. I thought it was a great idea (although they don’t currently sell the cards in to New Zealand) and could be used with any product you wanted to sell to your fans. So the question is what do your fans buy that could have this download code added to it?

Loop recordings have jumped on the idea and will be selling a t-shirt/album for the new Yes King album to be released on May 20th. It’s released in conjunction with Amplifier which is a NZ based download site so I’m assuming that they will be providing the codes to grab your download. I’ll post more details as I get them or maybe somebody from Loop could jump in and give us the full technical rundown.

The real question for you is “what do your fans buy?”. Are you a teen punk band who’s fans will buy anything with your name on it? Are you a techno producer who’s fan’s are in to minimal gadgets and flash headphones? Are you a country band who’s fans buy… errr … I dont really know much about country fans, but you get my point.

I collect toys and robots and miniature synths and would kill for a Platinum Pied Pipersrobot playing an SH101 with the download code printed on it to download the new album! There are lots of labels selling vinyl with download codes as part of the package but just how creative can you be with this sort of idea?

It’s a topic that I’m doing some research on at the moment because I’ve got a few projects on the go which I’d like to release and a digital only release might be a good way to go for several reasons:

1. I don’t have the financial support of a label to help me get my tracks on to CD or vinyl
2. The current state of the CD buying market in New Zealand for my genre of music is limited
3. I like the idea of just getting the tracks out as quickly as possible without all the hassle involved in a physical production process

Steven Corn from Music Marketing.com just posted an interesting article on digital only releases which outlines the pro’s and con’s of this type of release. His main point seems to be that there are 100,000 new tracks uploaded to music download sites each month and you need to differentiate yourself in this type of flooded market. He also points out that the chance of making money on a batch of 500 CD’s is not actually that difficult and you could more easily make a good profit from CD sales than through a digital only release.

My only real issue with his article is the fact that he outlines the zero cost of marketing as one of the benefits of a digital release. Whilst most would not put a dollar value on the time taken to promote a release through your online networks, the cost of a marketing campaign associated with a digital only release should be a key part of your budget for the release. For me it will be the only part of the release that I’ll be spending money on if I choose to go digital only.

Marketing and promotion for digital releases is now the major factor which will get you noticed among the other 100,000 new tracks every month. I’ll be making the most of my online networks to promote my releases but will also be putting money in to some other marketing activities to complement the “free” promotional activities. I’ll let you know what type of marketing I’ll be paying for and if you’ve got any suggestions or experience with online marketing campaigns for digital only releases then leave me a comment and share the knowledge.

Are you looking at digital only?

Would it depend on the genre of music your producing?

When I’m not writing music I’m usually reading about how to promote and make some money out of it. There are a huge number of sites dedicated to the music industry and discussions about “industry models” and the future of the industry which most people don’t really care about because they’re steeped in speculation and theory. Here’s a few links to some of my favourite E-books which are based a little more in fact than theory.

The first is the fantastic book put together by Blink from A Low Hum. Once subscribed you get access to the best little E-book about the New Zealand live music scene full of advice and information about booking, promoting and surviving tours in New Zealand.

“Local Knowledge is a simple guide to touring New Zealand for bands from New Zealand or overseas looking to tour New Zealand. “

Local Knowledge E-book

The next is an essential guide to online music written by kiwi expat Andrew Dubber. The book is compiled from a series of blog posts from March to May 2007 from his New Music Strategies blog. This E-book isn’t new but is still an essential read for those who still don’t know about it.

The 20 things you must know about music online – E-book

The final E-book is from the Inner Rhythm website and is written by Kavit Haria who is based in London and runs seminars and workshops on developing and marketing your music online. I only got this E-book a couple of days ago and can highly recommend it, it’s basically a marketing tool for Inner Rhythms new online coaching program and is full of music marketing advice, promotion tips and social networking tactics. Lots of specific tactics for getting people to your site and therefore listening to your music through social marketing. Don’t think I’ll be paying for the coaching program but I’ll be focusing more on my social networks in future.

A Strategy guide for succeeding as a musician in 2008 – Free E-book

If you’ve got any suggestions for other online resources then just leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the E-books if you download them, i’ll be posting more about my successes and failures with social marketing in future posts.

I think it’s no secret that I like remix’s, or should I say I like producing remix’s. There are quite a few reasons for this:

• they’re always a great source of inspiration and fresh musical ideas
• I always learn a lot from doing a remix, about production techniques and programming as well as about who I am as an artist and my musical direction and focus.
• they can be a great source of network and collaboration contacts, I’ve met some amazing artists through doing remix’s and continue to keep in touch and work with most of the artists I’ve done remix swaps with.

At the moment I don’t usually get paid for my remix’s, they are usually done as a remix swap (you do one for me, I do one for you) or in exchange for some vocals or keys on one of my tracks. At this early stage in my production career I need contacts and collaborators more than payment in cash, further down the line I think that money will become more of a factor in my remix’s but for now it’s about the music and the people.

Many producers don’t actually like to get involved with remix competitions created by artists to get free tracks for a future release where the contributor wont actually get paid for their work or give the contributor any royalties from the sales of the remix album.

For me it comes down to the fact that I need exposure and publicity more than I need a tiny percentage of an artists release. The Politik’s recently announced remix competition is a prime example of a great opportunity for up and coming producers out there. Yes you won’t get paid for it, but you will get:

• your track released at no cost to yourself which for most independent producers could save a huge amount of money.
• a high level of exposure on the back of a potentially great release from two of the most talented artists in their field (yes I’m a bit of a fan).
• the competition is being judged by Bembe Segue + Mark de Clive-Lowe, Benji B (Deviation 1xtra), Phil Asher (restless soul) and Afronaught (coopr8/Bugz in the Attic). If that isn’t great exposure I don’t know what is!

I obviously need to be one of the chosen few to get the full benefit from entering but even if I don’t get on the release it’ll still be a great inspiration to write a new track around those killer parts. As a producer simply checking out the vocal mix on it’s own has been a great learning experience. Head over to the competition page to download the tracks and good luck. I’d be interested to know what you think about remix’s and your motivations for doing them, or not??

SampleSwap.org

SampleSwap is one of the oldest collections of samples available on the web and is an excellent resource for all types of sounds for your tracks. The classic breaks alone are well worth downloading as they are high quality version of many classic breaks and beats. The whole site has been recently updated to make it easier to preview and download the samples plus you can now buy a DVD with over 4GB of samples from the site.

Now most beat heads have different views on the use of samples and where you should get your samples from. Shaun J Period has spoken about how he doesn’t use samples any more and now uses all original sounds in his tracks. Josh Davis has also stated that he only uses samples from original vinyl and would never lift a sample from a compilation or from a track which is based around a sample. We all have different attitudes towards sampling and i’ll be posting more about these different views on diggin for samples in the future plus uploading some sample packs from some of my tracks for you.

Just wanted to wish all the readers and visitors to the new website a merry xmas and give you the chance to download the new EP "The Archives Vol.1 – The Ghostfaders" plus the Bluevibe studio remix of The Shades "Wait a minute". Thanks to The Shades for the colab and the chance to get it out to you for christmas. If your in NZ make sure you try and check out The Shades live plus look out for the new EP in the new year, should be a new Bluevibe studio remix from the new EP too.

Looking forward to 2008 I’ve got a list of new projects and remix’s on the go in the studio as well as a new job working with musicians on the P.A.C.E. scheme over at The Depot in Devonport. I’ll be adding regular posts to the website with info on new projects, lots more music for the mp3 blog, plus a new focus on collaborations where I’ll be posting unfinished tracks and asking you to download and add your vibe to them. I’m always on the look out for a killer synth player so if you like what you here from the studio then just hit me up.

Here’s to a fresh and exciting 2008, health, love and happiness to you and yours.

Here’s the links to the downloads, leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

K15 and LP – little love

the EP “A New Path” drops in early 2008

This is the first of the “Artist features” articles and who better to start with than an amazing vocalist from Welli, Lisa Preston better known as LP. We’ve been working together on a track which should be coming out of Bluevibe studio early next year as part of the first “Bluevibe studio presents” series. I’ve heard the EP and its killer, amazin beats with LP’s smooth vocal delivery. I’ll let LP give you the run down on the project and lets hope the EP makes it on to vinyl.

It all started back in 2006 with a hook up on myspace, one of those “I like your beats” and “I like your voice” interactions. The resulting first demo collaboration “LP sings” eventuated a couple of weeks later receiving accolades from like minded souls and alot of airplay through djs here and abroad.

K15 (aka Kieron Ifill) is based in the UK and has long been a lover of music. He started djing as a teenager and moved onto making beats a few years later when he discovered the the joys of computer software and later down the line, the mpc. He is currently working on other collaborations too, so keep an ear out in 2008 for these will be sure to please all discerning beatheads out there! LP (aka Lisa Preston) started writing beats on her mpc back in 2004 and has been singing since childhood. She recorded her first singles with The Cherished Collective back in 2002 , has added flavours on backing vocals for Trinity Roots and the Little Bushman albums, and is currently working on other collaborations with Bluevibe studio and Tim Scott. More recently heard live in Wellington, NZ, where she lives, performing out live with Adi Dick, Sons of Puha, and The Boil Up.

Expect to hear more from this collaboration when the EP “A New Path” drops in early 2008….enjoy the sneak preview !

Skyman was the first band project to come out of the Bluevibe studio and this gig was recorded back in 2004 if my memory is correct. We had a core of 4 members but expanded out to 8 members depending on who wanted to come and join in when we played live. We played quite a few gigs but only ever recorded one of them so I thought I’d get it online so you could check it out.

Skyman was based around core song elements played live from a sampler and a lot of instrumental improvisation. Each gig was completely individual and the songs never got played the same twice.

The skyman idea was based around writing a core set of elements for a song and then giving all the members of the band copies of the rough songs to have a listen to and come up with some more elements. We then had a practice to run through the songs, have a jam on the ideas, see how everybody was doing, more social than musical usually. We would then turn up to the gig, decide on a set list and play.

Here’s a run down of how it all worked at the podcast gig from the St James in Auckland:

• all the beats and samples run from the Yamaha rs7000 sampler and consist of loops which can be remixed live.
• I ran the sampler and played guitar.
• Kerry Adams also ran the sampler as well as jumping on the decks for the cuts.
• Ryan Marshall on bass, core member of the team and always smooth and solid.
• Deb Toko on vocals, great voice and ability to improvise every time.
• Johnny Flurry on the chapman stick which is basically used to either play bass or gat and trigger samples from Johnny’s rack. Stunning skills and one of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with.
• Graham on percussion, exciting percussionist (mean cricketer too!!)
• finally we had Shanti join us on stage for this gig, amazing mc with some of the deepest lyrics around, mad skills for a young un.

As you can probably tell from the tracks this was recorded as a two track straight out of the desk so the mix is all over the place but still gets across the “impro” nature of what we tried to achieve on the night. Let me know what you think, if you’ve got any questions on the gear or players then hit me up. enjoy.