Mperia-l Legacy

Souther Death Racing Website

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:57:00 +0000

1st mock up for the proposed website - feedback welcome (yeah baby, crowd-sourcing!)

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Corporate Records

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:44:00 +0000

Just a quick note on the music distribution side of things there is a new UK site that may just be worth a look.

http://corporaterecords.co.uk is a site that allows you to upload your tracks free of charge and sell them at a price you set.

There is even a "pay-what-you like" option :

"Audiences always say, when surveyed, that they are willing to pay for music but that they want their money to go to the artists themselves. Pay-What-You-Like makes them think about that at the moment that they start a download and makes it easy for them to act on any guilt they might feel. At the same time it removes the incentive to post the music elsewhere as, once you enter a zero in the payment field, you have a free download. Pay-What-You-Like recognises that many people will download your music for free whatever you do - but it brings it back into your control"

http://corporaterecords.co.uk/paywhatyoulike

(You can actually set a lowest price parameter should you not wish to merely give away your stuff)

The site is simple to use and non-exclusive when it comes to your material

The filthy lucre aspect is handled via paypal:

"Paypal charges a fee to handle all transactions, after this has been paid, artists recieve 80% of revenue they generate."

http://corporaterecords.co.uk/faq

Although it still falls short of our original wishlist in that it does not seems to have any internal promotional resource or recommendation system (short of the charts that seem tio be de-rigeur for such sites) it looks like it may have room for expansion and may be worth a look if you require another sales outlet.

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Bring Something to the Table

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 10:55:00 +0000

What have you got through the internet?

I've garnered a plethora of trivia, a seasoning of useful techniques & tips,watched and listened to some good pieces of videos and music,(and even more poor ones).

I've also (allegedly) rekindled old friendships and cultivated new ones not dependant on geographical location.

But its all bee,n well, kind of arbitrary and to be honest I've wasted rather than used my time on the world wide web and my attention span has deteriorated - I'll follow certain avenues and then get sidetracked onto something else - admittedly these deviations have taken me down paths I might not have followed otherwise but ultimately it's just passing the time.

Years ago I had a acquaintance at school whose record collection was immense and included exotic tracks only available on import. One day the opportunity came for a few of us to sample this collection and we approached the event with mounting anticipation. However our host quickly fell into a pattern of selecting a track playing a few seconds then excitedly saying "you must listen to this" and putting the next track on, and so the afternoon passed. I'm sure that there were probably some gems in that collection but all I came away with was the distinct impression that the day had been wasted-yet that's exactly what I do now on the internet!

I can only conclude that I no longer have the discipline to see things through without being cajoled and/or encouraged by others.

How about collaborative learning

Not the formalised educational version, but maybe a free form style project where a group of people set themselves a task and encourage and help each other to compltete it?

Invites could be sent and, like most things, oarticipants would get out of it what they put in so to speak - it could be run as a forum, wiki chatroom or some other form of shared communication.

Now invariably when someone comes up with a vague idea like this one person will turn around and say "That's a good idea why as the instigator why don't you set it up?"

If there is anyone willing and able to show me how to I'm more than willing to learn.......

Oh and we also need a task to kick the project off

Alternatively if facilities like these already exist then please point me in their direction...

Right, what have you got to bring to the table?

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Flutexhaust

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:28:00 +0000

I leave you to figure out how to play it!

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Image Test

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:43:00 +0000

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Todays test

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:40:00 +0000

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Broken Society

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:02:00 +0000

Broken Society

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Visa + Pixies = Wrong

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:59:00 +0000

The soundtrack for the latest Visa (credit card) ad features the godfathers of indie - it hasn't hit ewetube (sp deliberate) yet but it has blemished the band for me

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Revolutions: If Unilever Ran the Music Business

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:24:00 +0000

Interesting thesis on running a music label differently Revolutions: If Unilever Ran the Music Business

First litter

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 09:55:00 +0000

Ten pups out of twelve made it

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QR Test 2

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:44:00 +0000

Test 2

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QR Test

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:31:00 +0000

Is it working yet?

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QR Code Test

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:28:00 +0000

So, does it work?

The Apathy Principle

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 12:47:00 +0000

September 2000 in a field in County Durham. Silent John, The Guru and myself were attending a motorcycle rally. Having arrived late on the Friday night, they dragged me off to the beer tent to enable me to reach the same level of inebriation in as little time as possible. "White Stallion"was the name of the brew I believe, and it was served in a two litre plastic bottle with child poof locking caps.

It should have been just like any other rally, arrive Friday night, get wasted, spend Saturday recovering in time for the evening session etc etc., and indeed, that seem to be the path that was emerging.
Having procured ourselves much Stallion to imbibe, we found that we became the inheritors of all the candles and flares that had been left behind as people drifted off into the night, intoxication having taken took its toll.

In the glow of the candles the theory of the Apathy Principle began to coalesce. None of us can pinpoint what triggered the discussion, it was like so many a drunken conversation, meandering from the sublime to the ridiculous much as an inebriate stumbles down the road.

It was probably a comment along the lines that one of us couldn't be bothered to get up and go to bed, followed by another of us saying they couldn't be bothered to drink any more, that led to the revelation:

You only do something because it's the most apathetic thing to do!

On the face of it this may seem a nonsensical contradiction, and one has to understand the mechanics of our thinking at 2 a.m. on that September morning, so let us consider the options that were presented to this drunken trinity:

1.Continue drinking the White Stallion.
On the face of it the most viable option. However, take into consideration that at 2pm on a Saturday morning an empty marquee tends to get rather chilly. So you have to ask yourself
"Can I be arsed to stay here?"

2.Retire to your tent.
This is the other option. However, you have reached a stage where you are finding it difficult to speak, let alone manage to stand up, so the act of rising and heading towards your sleeping place is a gargantuan task. So you have to ask yourself
"Can I be bothered to get up?"
The point where the decision is made is when one option is the most apathetic course to take, and the other option becomes hard work by comparison.

So, around 2 a.m., the Apathy level would be tipped in favour of the first option, as getting up would seem to be an almost impossible task for which the exertion does not equal the rewards. However, gradually, over an indefinite period of time, the act of staying and drinking would require more and more effort, to a point where the Apathy level would increase in the direction of the second option.

Naturally this theory needs more development but, well...........

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Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:40:00 +0000

Okay, you can now follow our creator on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/boudiecash

Please feel free to add us and say hi!

Stalin Corleone

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 21:31:00 +0000

http://agent-koala.deviantart.com/art/Stalin-Corleone-148977765

Posterous test

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noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:50:00 +0000

So yesterday was sooooo slow that I ended up knocking this via GIMP

You can view it in its full glory here

Ghosts in A Burning City : Red State Sound System

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:38:00 +0000

Driving a ragtop Malibu down Las Vegas Boulevard with Don and Frank has obviously left its mark on Joshua Ellis’ and his newly released “Ghosts in A Burning City” album.

There is a sound of sun permeating the whole album, whether it be the bastardized version of Boys of Summer skewed by exposure to the midday Nevada sun which is the opening track “Scatterlings and Refugees”, the hazy ambience of “Airport Terminal” or the overcooked manic guitar on “Divine Intervention”, with dust devils harassing the old Chevy as we desperately try to get out of the city. It’s there lurking in the background of the menacing “Berlin Floor Show”, but this isn’t lets get bronzed sun, oh no this is your gonna get burned, you’re gonna get burned real bad, and your gonna love it! The bleached bones of Cohen and Waits lie supine in the desert sun throughout the minimalist "Not in this world.." before being strung up ang juiced by the cybersound of "Scarecrow", whilst "The Secret King of Africa" punctuates the soundtrack like some delirious hallucination bought on by a cocktail of too much sun and a few too many tequilas whilst

"Every hour wounds" pares the sound down to a post punk ditty with echoes of the Pixies (and all descendants thereof) but not before a nod and a wink to the best of the british new wave.

The title track drips vitriol as Joshua rips into the fallacy of Hollywood's Vegas that has been fed to us, but has to be listened in conjunction with "Sleeping in Flame", which tempers that emotion, adding an air of desperate melancholy to the mix.

In my opinion Mr Ellis leaves the best till last "Coda:Requiem for a Diplomat". A lament in three four time well suited to Joshuas vocal delivery with well crafted lyrics and a brilliant arrangement. For this track alone the minstrel deserves rewarding with filthy lucre.

Ghosts in A Burning City is available via http://www.redstatesoundsystem.com/

Pay the Piper

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:42:00 +0000

Following on from my earlier post concerning the viability of the net as a means of distributing your artistic output for profit this recent report from the PRS seems to suggest that getting out and playing has now become more profitable than selling recordings of your work.

Then again, this could be skewed by the fact that some of the Major artists command a rather sizeable ticket price for their performances......

MP3 to Vinyl

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:24:00 +0000

There is a plethora of ways to covert your cherished vinyl recordings to MP3's but, in light of the recent campaign by Jarvis Cocker & friends to support independant record stores in the UK, what about the reverse? Is it possible to reverse the process and create the beautiful tactile discs that were once the staple of the music industry?

Perhaps this may point the way!

Seriously, though, if you really want to go the whole route of putting your artistic endevours onto a peice of black plastic then, as this article points out the only way seems to be to pay someone else....unless of course you have 10k burning a whole in your pocket

Songs in the key of Shakespeare

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:25:00 +0000

Whilst searching the web for some form of online musical composition programme (look I don't get access to Reason from work okay) I came across literature2music.com.

It strikes me that this is a similar concept to the one that Pete Townsend wanted to use for the Baba o'Reilly track, insofar as it is data being input to generate a musical sequence.

Unfortunately I've also forgotten my earphones to plug into my works PC, so guess I'll have to wait until later to try this little gadget out - it would be interesting to compare whether the Bard or Barbara Cartland produces a better composition when the text of their work is input!

Jukebox Jive

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:49:00 +0000

Okay, so you've accepted that you've got to give stuff away to get attention but where do you put it? Something that springs to mind, especially if you are a gigging ensemble is to get yourselves on the various sites of the venues that your outfit has performed at. Take for example the London venue of the Bull & Gate . Now in the dark distant past one of my old outfits played there, and as is the norm, we asked the sound guy to record the live performance. This was before the net had really impacted on every day live & recording to a CD was the height of technology

Now, what if you played that venue today and agreed to make such recordings available to the venue to put on their web presence in a sort of jukebox of bands that have played there?

You would get increased exposure, and the venue would have a growing showcase to pull in the punters.

The band plays “live” at the venue which supplies a soundman to record the performance and let the band have a copy.

The venue itself may not have the hosting capabilities to store all the mp3's that would invariably end up on the proposed jukebox, so why not put your recordings in the Internet Archive with a Creative Commons license attached. In return for giving the venue the right to broadcast the tracks free of charge, the band could then have them featured on the venues on-line jukebox.

The venue gets to show its credentials in terms of the past acts it has hosted, and the acts get further exposure.

Extrapolating from this the venue could use this as a means of gauging which bands to re-book by capturing the hits each act gets via the jukebox. If they are so inclined it should also be feasible to produce charts – let’s face it we all like our names in lights.

Likewise with a little clever meta-tagging the bands could exploit the “showcase” to point punters in the direction of their material and/or website- naturally it would only be right to include reciprocal links back to the venues site.

Cafepress - Outsource your merchandising

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:38:00 +0000

And why not? Can you really afford to pay for a run of 500 T-shirts and then have to sell them at a loss when the band splits? Basically, if you haven't somebody else's money to play with why should you risk your own when others can do it a lot easier than you?

Okay, so the Cafepress thing has been around for a while and is possibly only really viable if you live in the USA, but there are sites that offer similar services whatever your geographical impairment.

It will cost you nothing and may even give you a little bit of exposure in a field that you wouldn't normal venture into - it's worth a try isn't it?

GotSeen.com

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:26:00 +0000

After what seems to be await of eternity there finally appears to be a site that offers what Mperia used to do all those years ago
GotSeeN is a new UK music discovery site that allows artists to sell their mercahandsise on line as well as allowing listeners to stream and download material.

At the tiome of writing it is only acouple of weeks old, but the site appears to have gone down the payments via PayPal route to get the moula to the artist

Interestingly enough, the site also seems to be geared up to allow bands to sell merchandise, though quite how thias works needs further investigation.

The site is primarily UK based, but given the trans-border nature of the internet there should be no reason why artists outside the UK cannot benefit from the service

New Music Strategies

noreply@blogger.com (Carlito & The Strawberry Express) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:32:00 +0000

Just a quick nod towards an excellent reference site that may be of interest, namely New Music Strategies, which contains a bit of advice that may (or may not) be of use to you when trying to negotiate your way through the minefield of trying to market yourself & your material via the wonders of the worldwide web .

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Media article relating to Mperia

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Mperia-l Legacy
SOS Home
Sound On Sound web presence tips hints etc

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