ContraNoise Underground

Song of the Week - Week#10

2010-04-04T18:55:00.000-07:00

BEACH HOUSE - GILA from Jon Leone on Vimeo.

Ok [Don't] Go: Record Labors Take a Step Back in Marketing Strageries

2010-04-04T13:59:00.000-07:00

Ok Go's video for their single 'Here It Goes Again' made the band a house hold name when it came out. It was a smash hit with its eye catching treadmill choreography and the band owe a lot of its fame to it. Take a peek yourself-

OK Go - Here It Goes Again from OK Go on Vimeo.

As Ok Go know it, music videos can be an important part of a musicians career. Record labels know this too, but apparently they are too concerned with music listeners pirating music to take advantage of the media. That's right, goodbye embedded videos. Ok, not entirely, but enough to make a ruckus.

EMI is getting stingy with dinero. I agree that labels must find new ways to earn money, but prohibiting embedding videos for bands who basically owe their fame to their videos spreading like a fire online make little sense. Just because EMI can make a little money from having their videos strictly on Youtube, they forget the long run effect when thinking of the short term benefits. Many of these bands want their videos to be of the maximum use to their fans- enough for Ok Go to switch record labels. On top of this, even if these videos are prohibited from being embedded, there are other sites that have the same exact videos with the feature - like vimeo and myspace (I had to find this week's song of the week video and Ok Go's 'Here It Goes Again' on Vimeo because of this no embeddingness by the way).

Licensing restrictions tied to videos that cannot be embedded has also limited oversees fan's access to these videos. To me, this sounds like a disaster!

Blogging has played a huge part in getting bands out there. Bloggers are even beginning to create record labels themselves.

Are record labels as short sighted and greedy as this makes them seem? EMI needs a reality check and a better plan. Pirating is not great news to them, but as Matt Rosoff from CNET's Digital Noise mentioned - it's not going anywhere. It's time record labels find a way to use this to their advantage.

Suburban Ring-a-Ling: The Local Miami Music Scene and Sirens&Sealions

2010-03-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

As I promise, I'm going to focus this post the one and only - Sirens and Sealions.

For starters you can check out their blog/vblog - The Murky Water Chronicles!.

Consisting of Johanna Viscaino, Nick Deluca, Chantal Meza, Gerry Felipe, Matt Gajewski, and Daniel Fernandez - these fellow Miamians and musicians are make quite an impact in the local music scene. They make use of several Miami venues and are currently playing in FIU's radio event Eat.Sleep.Folk.. Networking through sites like Facebook and MySpace has helped them greatly in popularizing their name in Miami. Keeping a blog also helps with connecting with their fans while keeping them update on any news concerning the band.

I currently had the pleasure of interviewing my friend, Siren and Sealion's wonderful lead singer - Johanna Viscaino about the band and their experiences with the Miami music scene.

Who are you!
Who are we? Ummm sea creatures? Umm no we are music lovers. That's what brings us all together, half of us are amateurs the other students of music or the arts. As a the initiator I describe this group as an amazing bunch of talented individuals that I was lucky enough to have as friends and supporters of this musical vision.

How did the band start?
Chanti and I literally were joking in her room saying how we could totally be in a band. This was after looking up the line up one night at STUDIO A when it was still bumping. We weren't pleased with the sounds that were being offered and really by accident created a product together that people really enjoy. Our members have changed through out the past year and a half. I compare us to Broken Social Scene in that sense, there are so many musically inclined supporters of the sound now that we are still able to play shows without steady members.

Where do you guys play?
We started playing at Churchills of course. It was meant to be a one time thing. At Raffa and Rainers "open mic night" CAN YOU ROCK A LIL SOFTER. We immediately got invited to play other shows. That we were not expecting. We were soon playing with the local acts we DID love and admire. Raffa was definitely our first supporter just as she has been for many local artists. She really believes in the scene.

How do you find local venues to play in?
As for venues- a lot of it is word of mouth. I remember within the first few months asking Chanti "should it be this easy for a new band to have this many invites to shows?" and shes like "I don't think so bands usually have to sell their sound and try to book their own gigs. As the one in charge of booking I haven't had to put much effort for our shows. Everything from the hipster infused WHITE ROOM to Churchills to Ps14 to the BORSCHT FILM FELSTIVAL @ the Gusman. It's all people inviting us cause they like what they've heard. We've also infiltrated the Wynwood area with a private show at the new CAFEINA LOUNGE and will be performing Bayfront park in a couple of weeks. So even major projects like working directly with the city has been word of mouth.

How has social networking sites been an impact for your band?
Social networking is all I depend on. It helps me get to know the listeners. I'm on Facebook and MySpace 3 hours out of everyday. Chatting with people, receiving email to play at places, meeting other local artists wed like to work with. Promoting shows in an eco friendly way =)

How’s the environment like for local musicians like here in Miami?
The environment in Miami is harsh man. I mean that is why we are so surprised towards the reaction we get. We have developed a decent following after a year and a half or so. People truly enjoy it and make sure to mark their calendars. The way I see it. Our audience are people like us that were tired of what Miami usually has to offer and are looking for something a bit different. No punk or metal or hip hop or reggaetone (I don't even know how to spell it).

What are your future plans for the band?
Some of us wouldn't mind catching a break and investing a couple of years into this big time. a couple of us have other musical goals. So its tough cause we aren't all in SYNC. We are however recording and I'm working with local design companies to get the album art done and we are working with someone in the business that will hopefully help us spread this sound through the east coast.

Sirens and Sealions are a prime example of how local bands make use of social networking websites. These sites have started a revolution for bands. These bands are able to get their music out in no time. Not only is this music available to fans but also to record labels. It gives them an edge bands in the past couldn't even dream of. It is also a great way to get connected with other artists locally. In the end, word of mouth is very important in this business. However, Facebook and MySpace are a huge part of these band's names being out there.

Lastly, with that being said - don't forget to check them out!

Sirens & Sealions - Tumbleweed from johnolin on Vimeo.

Song of the Week - Week #9

2010-03-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

Lady Gaga and the Internet: the Revival of Music Videos

2010-03-21T16:40:00.001-07:00

MTV has finally come out and said it - "We don’t play music videos anymore".This is not news to a lot of us. However, just because the music television pioneer is calling it quits, it doesn't mean music videos are a thing of the past though.

As many of you might be aware of (or not), fashionista and current Queen of Pop, Lady Gaga has recently released her much anticipated video for "Telephone". The video, a week after its released, was viewed over 20 million times according to the London Press. With that being said, fear not fellow music video lovers! The internet is here to quench our visual thirst (cheers for YouTube!).

The London Press has brought us good news. Music videos are thriving online - even though they have become "endangered" on television. Vevo, owned by Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Abu Dhabi Media Company (and who also have a section all to themselves on Youtube) has been reaping the benefits. The site, which is solely devoted to music videos, was "averaging 30 million video plays a day and picked up an extra nine million streams each day" after the Lady Gaga video.

Artists and directors (and me too!) are thrilled with this new finding. Rio Caraeff, president of Vevo has come forward to say: "The video for 25 or 30 years has been really pretty much the same, it hasn’t really evolved, then it moved on to the Internet and now its ripe for reinvention”. As the London Press points out, with music videos on the internet, they are no longer limited by the limitations (including time limits) that they would have to encounter when being played on TV.

Is the internet the new new media of music videos? I believe so. Not only do musicians and directors have a new playground to explore, I think this is great news to record labels too. Successful artists, mean successful labels. This is a new way to gain fans and build each musicians image. With the internet, more people can be reached - literally overnight. On the other end, fans are able to give feedback and experience these artists on a whole new plane.

Song of the Week - Week#8

2010-03-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

Deschanel and some Ward

2010-03-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

Click here to check out She&Him's new album, 'Volume Two' on NPR before it's release!

American Idol Strips its Contestants of Social Media Identities

2010-03-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

American Idol is something else - today's American Idol not being the something else it used to be though. Remember when it seemed like America in its entirety would watch the show attentively to root for favorites like Jordin Sparks? That doesn't seem to be the case these days. With the programs being on its ninth season, contestants are not getting the same kind of attention and the network is hungry for numbers.

During the beginning of this month, a new rule was put forth by the show. Contestants have actually been prohibited from having personal MySpace, Twitter, or Facebook pages. According to Wall Street Journal, contestant followers in these social networking websites received the following message during the first week of March: “Thanks so much for following me/joining my Fan Page! All my updates from now on will be on our Official American Idol 9 Contestant Page, please become a fan there to read all my updates throughout the season!”.

A fellow blog, Hyperbot, reports that this move might have been an attempt to pump up the numbers for the show in general (the sponsors do need to be pleased) and also to even out the attention to the contestants. Only a small number of the guinea pigs - I mean, finalists - have been getting the desired attention from the public. The producers are also prohibiting the contestants to "grow their own brand ad establish more direct [contact] with their fans" - whatever that means.

Going back on last weeks post, this seems like a big plot to control control control. It's doing exactly the opposite of what record labels want. Then again, record labels and American Idol have different plans and uses for their musicians.

Has anybody asked the contestants how they feel about this? Is anybody saying a peep? It wouldn't surprise me that no one would. These contestants must be petrified to even make a move judging by the way the network is controlling these humble contestants.

This is not only oppressing to these Americans trying to rise up the music ladder, but a blasphemy when it comes to the spirit of social networking.

Song of the Week - Week#7

2010-03-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

Within the upcoming weeks I plan to have a special post on some friends and local artists, Sires&Sealions - so, I decided this week we should keep it local!

Check out Rachel Goodrich's (a fellow Miamian) video for Lightbulb

On that iTunes note..

2010-03-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

Take a look at iTunes's top 25 downloads of all time -

Click Here Please

Mainstream isn't called mainstream for no reason I guess.

iTunes's 1,000,000,000th download

2010-03-06T10:05:00.000-08:00

Apple thanks us a billion.

Don't you wish you were the 13 year old responsible for the 1 billionth download?

I certainly wouldn't mind a $10,000 iTunes gift card, an iPod touch, their Time Capsule (think storing your music online for FREE!) AND a MacBook Pro.

Song of the Week - Week #6

2010-03-05T17:27:00.000-08:00

Tweets and Statuses: Record Labels Encourage Musicians to Embrace Social Networks

2010-03-05T17:25:00.000-08:00

It's not a kept secret that the music industry has been hurting. With the boom of illegal downloading, labels are scrambling to make that extra money by making most out of the available resources. Even with legal downloads; there have been 1 million less online purchasers of music per NPD (leading global provider of consumer and retail market research).

As CNET's Greg Sandoval reports:"The music industry is in a major state of crisis and some up and coming acts are reluctant to dirty their hands with social networking". With the explosion of social networks, there has come this expectation for artists to get closer to their fans and vise versa. According to Sandoval, record labels are turning down artists because of their reluctance to do this. Most of them being pre-madonnas who think their only job is to make music. What does this push to use social networking sites really mean for artists and their music?

TechDirt's post Getting Part the 'But Artists Should Just Be Artists' Myth touches this question. There is a difference when it comes to being a musician today compared to before. With the massive impact of the internet on record sales, if you want to make music as a profession, you have to go the extra mile. Your whole career is in your hands, but also in the hands of your record label. As TechDirt mentioned, "Artists should just be artists" was a tool for labels to have more control over their bands. That is not the case today. Record labels recognize the importance of getting their artists to connect to their fans as a means of keeping their fans happy. Happy fans mean more sales.

Supporting this is Daniel Glass, founder of the label Glassnote, when he said "There may be some indie hipper-than-thou artists who want to let the music speak for itself. . . They are probably not for us. We believe an artist has a responsibility to communicate with their audience...We embrace the world of technology and the vast improvements in communication".

His labeling of "indie hipper-than-thou artists" may not have been very nice, but I have to agree. An artist should take pride in their music and want to see it flourish. This does not mean they have to sell their soul or completely expose their life in the internet.

Song of the Week - Week#5

2010-02-28T18:16:00.001-08:00

Big Brother Google is Watching

2010-02-28T18:05:00.000-08:00

As many of you might have heard already, the “Musicblogocide 2010” has started. Six music blogs have been torn down by the giant that is Google. Without even a mere warning, these six sites - Pop Tarts, Masala, I Rock Cleveland, To Die By Your Side, It's a Rap and Living Ears – were deleted overnight in their entirety. A messily “we'd like to inform you that we've received another complaint regarding your blog. . . Upon review of your account, we've noted that your blog repeatedly violated Blogger's Terms of Service. . . [and] we've been forced to remove your blog. Thank you for your understanding” was sent to the six account managers the day after deletion. Which makes me think - I thought the point of new new media was to have “total” control of the material you post on the internet.

A little warning before would have been nice.

There were years and years of knowledge and insight in these websites. Not even to mention, those that only used legal material – promotional tracks sent from the record labels themselves- such as Masala (a blog that focuses of obscure music genres that would otherwise get no exposure to the fast world if it weren't for these blogs). It's as UK's Guardian reporter Sean Michael writes: “in a complaint posted by Google Support, Bill Lipold, the owner of I Rock Cleveland, cited four cased in the past year when he had received copyright violation notices for songs he was legally entitled to post”. Here's a note from Blogger about it - and the notification the bloggers are receiving.

These sites were obliterated to bits because of the obscure so called Digital Millennium Copyright Act. These warnings, bloggers report, contain no information or sign of what material they are referring to. Bloggers are left in the dark, putting hundreds of well thought out blog posts on the line, for one piece of their vast blog. This one track, most of the time, puts their whole year's worth of material at risk. What ever happened to a little self defense? Not all blogs were self proclaimed saints, but some of these are legit websites under the payroll of the record labels in charge of these artists. They are promotional tools for the artists themselves.

It's like Kevin O' Keefe, lawyer and blogger, mentions in his “Real Lawyers Have Blogs” post. Are we all at risk? Who is to say everyone of our blogs will not get deleted from one night to the other?

On top of this, why those six blogs? Thousands of individuals acquire their downloads from many existing (and thriving) sites such as Hype Machine and torrent sites like PirateBay, not these small sites.

I'm all for the support of artists and their music. However, Google is a big guy. I don't see the message they are trying to send by removing these music blogs when there are bigger players in the game of music copyright infringement to be up against. It's all but a cowardly move to me. Google should pick on someone its own size.

A few UK boys

2010-02-25T19:27:00.000-08:00

With overlapping ranging vocals, heart pulling guitar riffs, and a move worthy beat the UK natives are definitely worth a listen.

Their sophomoric album, Two Dancers, released December 2009, was a hit in "Best of 2009" album blog lists.

Song of the Week - Week#4

2010-02-20T11:33:00.000-08:00

Myspace's Attempt to Swim in the Flood

2010-02-12T16:02:00.002-08:00

I remember a couple years ago when MySpace was at the top of the game. It was a break through in social media. Sure, there were others before. Remember Geocities? Actually, there was a whole TON of other social networking websites. However, MySpace changed the game. Everyone knew who Tom was. It seemed MySpace was here to stay. That did not end up being the case though. Today, the lonely blue Myspace ex-giant is struggling to survive and grasping at the last straws as it purchased Imeem.com - what used to be a music sharing site where it's users could stream, upload music and even create a personal profile. Even Tom is barely hanging by the last thread.

Take a look at the unique number of visitors MySpace received last year compared Facebook :

No wonder MySpace is so desperate. Desperation doesn't look so good on the previous social media craze favorite. Previous Imeem users aren't happy campers. From one day to the other, the website disappeared in the abyss that is the world wide web. It was not until a month later that Myspace restored Imeem user playlists (if you take a look at the comments you will also notice the aggravation users are not shy to stress when it comes to this whole ordeal).

Imeem had had tons of trouble with the law when it came to copyright infringements and they were clearly not making enough money. It was bound to be pushed off the face of the web. How is MySpace going to incorporate Imeem into it's website though?

MySpace is dead. Personally, I haven't logged into my account since 2008 and I don't know many who have. Focusing on it's strength, music, is a valid attempt to try to hold on for its life. The site has been on the decline since 2008. Used started straying to better friendly site such as Facebook and Twitter. Today Facebook boast around 300 million regular users while Myspace doesn't have but a third of that.

A lot of that third still logging in to MySpace are artists. Why would you want to hire someone to build your band a website at the cost of $50/h when you can crate one for free using MySpace? MySpace was a big part of this online music revolution - especially for local bands (Owl City to name one).

Still, Imeem users are still feeling the annoyance. As MySpace threads water under the shadow of Facebook, I don't think we will be hearing much from them in the next 5 years.

Song of the Week - Week #3

2010-02-12T16:02:00.001-08:00

Really NPR?

2010-02-09T09:39:00.000-08:00

Taken a look at NPR's The Decade's 50 Most Important Recordings?

I ran into it last night and... is it only me or is it a little disappointing?

What about Of Montreal's Hissing, Fauna are you the Destroyer? Girl Talk was huge at one point in the last decade. Modest Mouse, Good News for People Who Love Bad News anyone? Mr. M Ward released several records - including Post War. They gave a brief mention Fleet Foxes self titled album Fleet Foxes - but it did not place in the list. They're a young band, but worthy of the list in my opinion. Not a huge fan of the British band Arctic Monkeys, but they were everywhere in 2008. No Yeah Yeah Yeah It's Blitz? Long hail the Dirty Projector's Bitte Orca! Where is it? I've been hearing great things about them since for a couple years now. What about Phoenix? MGMT by all means?

Woah woah woah buddy. I can go on forever.

Most importantly though, no Grizzly ? Really now... Every "Album of the year" blog posts I've read has placed them at least in the top 10. We even saw them in the Volkswagen Super Bowl XLIV ad this year.

Some insight anyone?

Song of the Week - Week#2

2010-02-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

Distaster and Relief Funds: Musicians, Fans and the Internet

2010-02-07T11:20:00.001-08:00

As you all may know, on Tuesday Jaunuray 12 of this year, the country of Haiti was hit with a massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake. It was a disaster that silenced the world and moved numerous people to reach a lending hand out. Many music artists joined to perform shows across the US in hopes to raise money for the distraught population of Haiti. Going the extra mile, many of these cocerned artists used their talent, fan base and the internet to raise money for those in need.

Artists like Wilco chose to post free downloads of show footage on their website with a message encouraging their fans to donate at least $15 to organizations like Doctors Without Borders and OXFAM. You will also notice the many causes Wilco supports and advocate for if you follow that link.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, Wales natives- Los Campesinos!- went ahead and auctioned off the very first glockenspiel they ever used for close to $700.

Orenda Fink from the duo, Azure Ray chose to offer a free download of her CD Invisible Ones through a post in their website along with a description of her experience with Haiti in hopes her fans would donate to the cause. She goes on to feature several links to organizations such as the Red Cross and Yele Haiti.

Renowned band, U2, who are well known for their activism posted an announcement in their website promoting the CD Hope for Haiti Now. This CD was put together featuring artists like Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, Rihanna, and Jay-Z as a way to raise money for Haiti. 100% of the proceedings for this CD are being donated to aid the wounded country.

Especially in this time of need, the world wide connector that is the internet has yet again proven to be an indispensable tool.

Song of the Week - Week #1

2010-01-30T12:38:00.000-08:00

A Beginning

2010-01-30T07:22:00.000-08:00

Music is man's second language. For years and years, it has had us tapping our feet and doing the twist. Whether it was a childhood lullaby, a rare 45 vinyl record or that 80 gig iPod you carry everywhere, we forget how intertwined we are with music. Through all these years though, the medium in which we have found music has changed – and changed fast, especially in recent times.

I highly doubt you listen to music the same way you used to listen to it 10-20 years ago. I'm not talking about your music taste now, but the mode of your main music source. Personally I remember having a blast with vinyl records during my younger years to later enjoy it through my cassette tapes and CDs. Today though, the internet has become my (and many other's) source of goods.

Browsing through the internet, you will notice how it provides a massive amount of music sites and blogs. It's almost overwhelming (a comforting overwhelming for the sake of music I like to think). The internet has not only changed the way we listen to music, but how we share it, how we're exposed to it as consumers and fans, and even the lives and careers of musicians. Sites like Myspace, Imeem, Grooveshark, Pandora and Last.fm are but big names in the field of online music sites. Let's not forget the numerous blogs dedicated to underground music around these giants of the web – BlackCab Sessions, Laundromat Matinee, and RCRD LBL are but a few.

If you visit these sites and you can't help but notice the style of music they embrace. Each has their differences, but they are very similar in their focus of artists that prosper underground and not your usual mainstream music.

Having said this, there is little doubt that the internet has paved way to the new music intellect.

Ignore this!

2010-01-28T10:13:00.001-08:00

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