Underground House Culture

How to run your first DJ gig

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:42:00 +0000

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Hosting your first small club event or DJ Gig

Questions to think about:

Chances are you love music and would love to play it more if your reading this!

Have you ever hosted an event? Did you think it may be fun or you may be good at it?

Why not? It is fun! You most likely will be good at it!

Hosting events can be easy or very difficult. It depends how organized you are and the depth of the planning you take. Take good notes is the first step! If it’s an event and you are new to the area, don’t even attempt it.

Here is some tips on how to make the process easier on yourself!

First do some area research. Do you know anyone that has performed or hosted a top notch event? Ask them questions, even if it's your uncle Tom who did a wedding dj job or a random DJ from the local bar down the street. If it’s home, go out and shake hands with your role models and see what makes them so successful. Take some notes on what elements they have in these events. Trust me, it helps! It will stir the passion!

If it’s simple to you, then look at the details. Go out and see a random event that is similar to what you want to do. Role model after it. How much security do they have? Where is the venue located? What does parking look like? Who played and how long? Can you ask them questions about their fees and riders? What was the vibe like? What was unique about this event? Was it a good turn out? How many people do you believe were attending and the cost they incurred? What do you think the bar rang on that particular night? How many bars were there? Based on what figures did you make these estimates, did you notice age, race, drink style, dress code, affiliations and sponsors?

If you are doing an event, try and figure out your target market in detail. Look at the ages and what they like. Is there a unique way to promote it and reach these people? What are some details about your target market in the events they attend and focus on digital marketing? How do you plan to set yourself apart from the rest?

Get in touch with a good graphic designer. Learn prices for digital flyers and video promotions. Set a budget for expenses and start there. Contact the management of the venue when they are not busy (during the day time) ask when is a good time to talk about booking it. See what the prices are for rental versus a bar guarantee, any options they have for you. What nights are not booked and what the bar needs to ring on that specific night. If you get a little better, ask for their worst night of business and explain that when you are down he must offer you his best night. One time offer.

NOW YOU HAVE SOME REAL DATA!

After you have a great venue and a good idea of designer fees. Look at the talent you plan to be booking. It shouldn’t be to much on your first show! Start small and work up to those big dreams way later! Its good to have goals!

Think about a small turn out and minimal security, minimal bar tenders, minimal capacity to fill, ticket sales, and how to make it a big success. Have goals that are attainable. Learn from your mistakes because it will not be easy your first run with it!

Get the rider for the entertainers you like! Is there any you know that will play for free? Are you comfortable getting them to sign a contract?

image credit:

http://www.525lexrestaurant.com/images/photo-top-hosting.jpg

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS2CPt9YnNaMaTYB25MHOvQv_hUwqpTN99C5MU9bFXd1A0MqdDh1Q

House Music Compilations

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:21:00 +0000

CLASSIC SELECTION:

To continue on with the theme of the underground house scene, it is time to highlight a few classic vinyl packs. Yes, these packs are for the old school house lovers! BUT, they continue to rock dance floors to this day!

So many music lovers out there crave to throw their hands for the sounds of the early days. It’s not always the new and crispy sounds of tomorrow. As a dj or producer it’s up to us to keep them in our bag or repertoire of tricks.

United DJ’s of America:

This label made a smash with hit after hit, and release the triple pack vinyl’s along with compact disc. United DJ’s of America was still in the era of the cassette but strong enough to work early nineties dance floors. The first compilation was released in 1994. They were all DJ sets or compilations from upcoming artists that soon became legends.

Nearly all of them were top choice artists. From Doc Martin, Josh Wink, Mark Farina, David Morales, Frankie Bones, Kimbal Collins and others. These compilations are extremely rare on vinyl. The selections are nearly all out of print even when they were being re-released, thus making each pack so hard to find.

Imagine a tune so rare, that finding it on digital is nearly impossible in top quality. That tune is even more rare on vinyl. Even when they were released they flew off the shelves and didn’t come back around. Instant crowd pleasers if you can find one of these on CD or vinyl (for those that really know a lot about the music history).

MIXER:

Did you know that the magazine mixer was putting out those compilation DJ sets? United DJ’s of America and Mixer are affiliated, thus the Mixer CD compilations were also well laid out.

Mixer is a magazine that had the proper affiliations to the producers and DJ’s of an era to lead a new generation of music. If you are an enthusiast that is fond of classic hits, look for the label and magazine to lead you back to the hits. They only lasted for 10 years of albums or so.

Some of these early productions have spawned carriers for the early DJ’s and producers that now make them tens of thousands of dollars for a quick hour live set. Some of them in the 100’s of thousands for an hour set. Teach your friends that these magazines put out some of the first ever legal DJ mixes!

In conclusion - hunt for these classics and put them in your sets! It shows you are a true conasouer and have a little old school flavor! House music will never die!

Image Credits:

BlueBeats.com
Discogs.com
Rateyourmusic.com
Courtessy of
Mixer
and United Djs Of America

PRO’s and SESAC Helping the best bars in Orlando grow!

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 02:30:00 +0000

PRO’s and SESAC Helping the best bars in Orlando grow!

It’s a bold statement, but helping musicians with protection for their tunes will help our nightlife here in Orlando. If you have not thought about this yet, chances are someone will steal it in the future. In reviewing PROs, it may help a musician do more then just protect their music. It’s a path for your future. Something to get use to being a part of. There are groups, benefits, royalty collection systems and more. Becoming a promoter before this is complete is putting the cart before the horse.

WHAT FIRST?
First thing is to protect your music before you hand it out or solicit it to your favorite clubs or to record labels. In return we are helping Orlando grow with the industry.

What’s a PRO?

How do we know which PRO’s to pick?

WHAT IS A PRO?

It would be foolish for any performer to not register with a Performing Rights Organization, otherwise known as a PRO. Previous blog posts are outlining reviews on distribution for your music. Click here to learn more about distribution. After learning about distribution, you definitely want to protect it first? Which PRO is best? How many are there? Membership requirements and fees tend to vary, as long as you can show proof that your music has been published or performed it can be protected.

THE TOP 3 PRO’s

In understanding the basics there are 3 big royalty collectors out there. The 3 big PRO’s are ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. They are well known in the industry for collecting your money and have different reputations. Each have their own competitive advantages. Be selective, it is impossible to belong to more then one at once. So choose wisely.

SESAC

Some PRO’s such as BMI and ASCAP charge annual membership fees. They can vary in price for musicians and publishers. For example, SESAC has no fees at all, but they are very selective in who they accept. They go into a few screening processes and even have an interview to see if you’re accepted. It’s not just anybody they are looking for! Some believe their exclusivity is what sets them apart. SESAC also uses state of the art Pattern recognizing technology supplied by BDS to track performances on the radio.

SESAC BENEFITS

There is a long list of comprehensive benefits for SESAC if they become the choice direction. Here is a link to more of their affiliates and discounts.

To learn more about SESAC click here for company information.

http://undergroundhouseculture.blogspot.com/2013/02/pros-and-sesac-helping-best-bars-in.html

Tunecore Review

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 04:00:00 +0000

TUNE CORE REVIEW:

Tune Core is a music distribution website for artists to get their work out to the masses and earn some cash. There is many other options so a critique of some of the differences between them all may be helpful. This entry is focused on Tunecore specifically. What exactly is Tunecore? Are they right for me as a producer? Why are they better then the other aggregates out there? These are some of the most common questions you may be asking yourself when you learn about music distribution. With the electronic scene growing more and more as a part of pop culture in America, this is a must have piece of knowledge for most artists that love to make music.

Why does this matter?

Winter Music Conference dates are popping up fast now! There is music to push if your hungry for growth as the rest of the industry! There is one week in a year that has 100’s of events each day for electronic music with great appeal! There are panels, seminars, workshops and many networking opportunities. Or you can just go for the pool parties, hotel events, beach and yacht parties and network that way! If you don’t now about WMC here is a link to more of an explanation.

WMC - Sell your music here too!

So the money is coming soon with music distribution! Is your track on Itunes or amazon yet? Can you capitalize on this time of year as an artist and push your music at WMC? Make announcements during your set, have QR codes on your shirt, be the one who is more prepared! Some musicians have many goals and are looking for more then just the discount aggregate known as “Pump Audio”. Although it has lots of purpose to make some extra cash. Read about the perks of Pump in anearlier blog post.

What is Tunecore?

Tunecore gets your music out there to places where people decide to buy music. Whether your signed or unsigned Tunecore can release your music if you want to make some cash. They keep track of your royalties when downloading and streaming take place and pay you the mechanical royalties as the writer. When you sign up fill in the song writer registration form, pay them, then put in your splits. If you wrote the whole thing it is 100% you. A split relates to how much of the song you own. The singer, lyric writer, other band members, etc. may change your decision on how to split the royalty. Once you realize the split it goes out around the world. Tunecore releases to Spotify, Amazon, Itunes, Deezer, and Myspace Music, just to name a few. They offer you weekly stats on your sales and show you what’s moving and what’s not. Keep in mind that reports show up 2 months after the actual sale is complete. Many customer reviews can be discarded based on the knowledge that they don’t have a tune being sold at all or simply have not found a way to promote properly. Tunecore isn’t making the music themselves… if your bad it doesn’t sell! They also have a Tunecore player if you plan to promote your music on Twitter or Facebook. Share your music with a YouTube video, build buzz, create a following, get likes, share links, be active and it will pay off!

How is Tunecore Different?

Some of the things can be done independently without Tunecore but will cost you a lot as an artist to register with publishing societies around the world. There are dues and fees and minimums to many networks that would be easier to simply join up with a service rather then build on your own from scratch (its costly and time consuming). They are also different because they have been more transparent then some other competitors. Tunecore will show you the ways to make money and want you to do the checking yourself. They state the obvious like how to promote your stuff! It’s not a game of hide and seek! They know what works and you follow the steps. You can also list with other distributors, $30 for two songs and get 100% of your music sales. There’s another option to pay $75 one time and list other songs at no charge as they keep a 10% of the publishing royalties on the music.

Tunecore REVIEWS

So the reviews are mixed and it would make sense to brush up on as many reviews as possible with a few review searches prior to purchasing. There is a decent amount of negative reviews on nearly all-aggregate distributors though. Not many like these companies and yet they are so helpful and lucrative for musicians! To save time I’ll let you know that Itunes has recently (June 2012) changed their review process according to Tunecore. There is a Tunecore message board, which you can check out on your own and see these updates for your own research. Without Tunecore Itunes is known to take anywhere up to 6 months to approve a song with no aggregate behind them. This is one of the perks of distributors like Tunecore or others with a reputation! As of June Itunes now decided to now review content manually prior to your release date. If there is no content issues it posts. Itunes suggests that it can now take 7-14 days to be approved with this process. Many negative reviews are specific to this topic, and Tunecore seems to be handling the issue to the best of their ability by educating their customers. They have little control over how Itunes does business and it is still much better then 'not using' an aggregate and taking 6 months (or possibly longer now) because you have no relationship with Itunes. Use the link provided to see details and make some judgments on the matter.

WMC Afternoon Delight 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 04:46:00 +0000

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Winter Music Conference 2013

Afternoon Delight

Presented by Auburn Events, Dae, and D24K in association with media services NYC and Ocean Drive Sessions

8 Years of Award Winning Popsicle Sickle Licking Sun Soaked Bliss!

I’d like to highlight the Afternoon Delight Event coming up in March 2013 this year at winter music conference. What’s that? You haven’t heard of it?

You've guessed it, yup! They give away free pop-sickles at the event all day!

It's an event you don't wanna miss! There's a lot of hype going on about the line up regardless and what will be coming up is constantly changing. The names in the line up are still on hold to be released. If you use Eventbrite you can learn what is available for the public. This event is still in the pre-sale stage but the publicity is high, and well worth looking into if your heading to WMC. It’s not on the official WMC List yet, so the info is for those who know to look for it and seek it out through places like Eventbrite. If you are not a frequent WMC goer, you may not know what I’m writing about in the slightest. So if you are interested in WMC, please seek out the earlier blog post titled “Winter Music Conference,” hopefully answering all your questions the topic. WMC is annual and is massive! Learn the basics on what the conference has to offer completely, where to go, when it started, the purpose, and of course the major difference to the event known as ULTRA (held at the same time). You can also Google the conference or just simply go to wintermusicconference.com for more information. Again Afternoon Delight is not on the official “The List” on the site yet.

The event, Afternoon Delight is an event that has been happening for 8 years now at WMC and going strong! Deep house has a strong cult like following and we know what we bring to the table, its our house. Afternoon Delight is in Miami during WMC and promoted heavily by Adam Auburn. Many are boasting Afternoon Delight and their heavy success each and every year at conference. Put it on your “To Do” list to network this year. For those that are interested in attending it usually sells out so remember Friday, March 22^nd 2013 and the line up is still being updated as I write this. This year it’s hosted at 960 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach at Ocean’s 10. If your planning on hitting conference, you can buy your tickets before the 31st of January and get an early bird special and save a little. March line ups are coming out quick at multiple venues (don’t rely on “The List”) and the pre-sales are filling up. There are many so keep your pen out and follow up on past successes to select where to be this year.

To inform those planning on attending the show, last years line up had some originators in the deep house scene step up and tear apart the dance floors. The line up last year was for Afternoon Delight was containing, Aaron Dae and DJ Dirty from Philadelphia, the originator Todd Terry, personal favorite moments from Claude Monet, Ron Carol, Andy Caldwell as well! How can you plan on missing this show? Every year it’s full of the network you should be uniting with and the people that know house music! If I haven’t swayed you maybe another post about some Dub Step is more up your ally.

Photo's from Last Year

Order TICKETS HERE

Promotional Support by: West Coast Soul Events, Lotus SF, BPMSession.com, Fusicology

Pump Audio Reveiw

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:31:00 +0000

Pump Audio Review

This blog outlines many angles and perspectives in the electronic dance music industry. If an artist needs cash and is just starting out there is always music aggregates. Pump Audio was highly recommended to me so I decided to review the site and look up what others are saying in regards.

What exactly is Pump Audio? Pump licenses your music through BMI, ASCAP and SEASAC and in turn networks you to a stream of others who will pay the royalties out for using the song. They are connecting you to film scores, television shows, commercials, and Internet syndicates to get you paid and help build your resume. The pump system creates a new market that hasn’t been around and creates new revenue opportunities. Pump claims to be owned by musicians who in return are to be for the musicians and their rights. They have the two main ways of getting the music out. One of the ways they do this is through a “Pump Box” which sits on many desktops. This box contains a catalog of numbers and those numbers are given to the song as industries exec's browse and purchase. Its indefinite licensing can be purchased cheap if you decide to grab something from the box. Another is the “Soundtrack Service” online. Recently launched in beta form it allows you to cycle through genre’s and track ID’s and listen and purchase like a store from small snippets.

So are you thinking about using Pump Audio? Now one thing to be known is you don’t’ want to advertise this to anyone. Why do I say this? It’s your music that goes out through Pump but they handle it in bulk with the license so it's sold for cheap. Your track is in a catalog under a Pump Audio ID number, that number is what they title your track when they re-license it. In some cases they make a name for it so people know what they are gonna hear, for instance “rave anthem” or “razor sharp tune”. It’s not the title they want, it’s the ability to find something for their commercial or tv show. Pumps clients want it cheap so we can’t complain, otherwise it wouldn’t get found.

As the writer should register the tune yourself through the same PRO’s such as BMI, ASCAP, and SEASAC. Those PRO’s pay you writer’s royalties at 100% for the original work. Also if you have no publishing company on file with the PRO Pump is a publishing company and will get paid those fees. If you decide to register as one then you save yourself the trouble. Pump does the bulk thing so you get 35%. It was a 50/50 split at one time but I suppose they have a industry name now and can charge a bit more. Actually the reason they did this is it’s no longer the original owners. Pump Audio recently was purchased by Getty Images for 47 million. Getty images is a photo stock licensing company which is a corporate giant. They have the new avenues to push the music with their network through NBC, MTV, BBC, etc and can now be pushing the music on a large scale.

Performance Royalties Owed may be on the smaller side as an artist with Pump Audio but I leave it up to you! It’s another stream of capital and if you wanted to look at what sells and what doesn’t it may be useful. Musicians often wish they had a way to get their music out to the world, now they have great way to do that! It’s a nice resume builder to have your song be on MTV or BBC, so we shouldn’t be complaining about the money when we are just starting off any how.

http://www.themusicsnob.com/2008/10/06/pump-audios-retitle-publishing-music-licensing/

http://www.pumpaudio.com/artists/index.php

A Charity Event Needed Assistance

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 06:41:00 +0000

Until There's a Cure There's a Dog :

Recently I had the opportunity of being one of the producers for a respected charity event called, “Until there’s a cure, there’s a dog”. This event took place on Saturday September 18^th 2012 and was held at the Orlando Civic Center. RachelleTravaglini and I put a lot of energy into this event as reps from Full Sail. She is one of Full Sail’s career development specialists for the EBMS program and I am known for large events in Philadelphia. Together we made quite the team!

This charity was completed to raise money for a guide dog for a 3 year old boy named Kelvis. This young boy was unfortunately diagnosed with a terminal form of Diabetes that needs assistance through a service animal. As a young boy he spends numerous hours in the hospital receiving treatments intravenously. Not an ideal experience for someone this age! Having this new disease at only 2 Kelvis is sure to have a unique childhood as he struggles with adapting. A service animal usually runs around 20 thousand so we hoped to start making a dent in that for his family.

The family was given the task of promoting the charity (reach out to your friends and family for support) as we organized the talent, photographers, volunteers, food, and vendors. When Rachelle and I spoke about some of my ideas, she realized quickly that I could do more then most. I added to the talent roster a famous Dub Step producer from Philadelphia at no cost. Damian was already in town so adding a pit stop for the event to do a Live PA was now in his schedule. Next I explained that my sister is blind with a guide dog and would love to speak on our behalf. Rachelle loved the idea so I worked out a flight and a speech with Raina. Another key element was organizing strategies for our volunteers, since Propeller wasn’t able to put up the ad for volunteers as scheduled. I was able to offer GPS points and explained that it would be a great opportunity for anyone in my program. I’ve been pitching it to many and got a great response even to outsiders I knew in the area. As I gained momentum I began randomly collecting sponsorships such as Kres Chop House whom donated gift cards. Another donation came from the owner of Sandwhich Bar. Also OLV donated wine and gift certificates to be raffled. Meditation gift certificates came from a fellow volunteer Michon whom I was grateful to have on my team. Michon and I did a lot of leg work to keep more sponsors coming in and the responses came quicker then I expected for donations.

Next I laid out duties for the staff to perform prior to the show. I had 2 of my volunteers as greeters at the front, Jodi Gross and Tiffany Doll. They also sold raffle tickets and collected entrance fees. We had promo girls after that which handed out Full Sail bags and directed people through the venue. Brandon Davis and his daughter were organizing food trays and Vince and Michon were helping with raffle tables. I over saw talent and basically partnered with Rachelle to trouble shoot as things came up.

Our goal was to raise awareness for Kelvis and his service animal needs. Our next purpose was to sell as many raffle tickets as possible and individually raffle off our sponsors donations. We had 3 other performers singing, 2 spoken word performers, Raina giving her story about her guide dog and disease, a DJ for the night known as Evolution, and we closed the event with Subzinger. Our staff was large, our attitudes were positive, our speed was amazing, and the show was a success from our ends! Rachelle and I were very pleased with the amount of talent, vendor tables, volunteers and sponsors were attained. She thanked me prior to, during, and at the end of the event over and over for all that I did. It was a true joy helping such a great cause and working with Rachelle and our team! I would do it again in a heart beat! I also loved knowing that I was helping Kelvin and his family... and supporting a cause close to my sister's needs! We all were impressed with our accomplishments and look forward to the next event together!

Artist Alife Talent Agency

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 05:15:00 +0000

Artist Agency Review:

This blog post is a review of Artist ALife talent agency and what they stand for in our contemporary underground music culture today. Artist Alife is a newer agency I stumbled upon that just so happens to represent some extremely talented musicians. Alife focuses on talent management and international artist marketing in the electronic music scene. They center their artist roster in the electronic genre but also have an Artist Alife Urban Unit known to bridge the gaps in other genres such as hip-hop. The philosophies of the electronic culture and the hip-hop culture looked extremely different years ago. But today they are more alike then ever as they fuse into one anthers sound classifications. There is a seamless transition in these sub-cultures recently growing in today’s pop culture. So many pop icons are making this sound grow as they use loops from electronic producers. Daft Punk’s Harder Better Faster Stronger came into hip hop and from then on I am hearing more and more get looped in! As artists today fuse these genres talent agencies can divert from market segmentation to a new transition of the two genres. For Artist Alife that change alone makes the abilities of hiring and connecting artists and artist managers more diverse. Who would have thought “techno” and “hip-hop” would unite in the music cultures? This 5 year-old agency has the right idea on taking control through promotional efforts and taking marketing concepts for top artists in the industry and using it to lift off the newer names on their roster.

Two partners who are deep in the electronic and urban music scene, Tom Preuss and Yasire “Dice” Ben Achour, founded artist Alife in 2007 in Dusseldorf. Their team has quickly sprouted into a large family and represents some of the industries top growing artists like Alexkidd, Victor Calderone, Martin Buttrich, Loco Dice, and many more! They also promote some of the biggest talent in the industry such as Dubfire, Carl Cox, Dj T. and others. Core competences and skills in the field of scene marketing focus on developing design and communication pieces for artist marketing as well as reaching out to affiliated partners. Their target market is music interested, fashion conscious and opinionated leader groups. As a family with diverse influences and multicultural backgrounds they present a platform into the industry that is unique. In my opinion design and fashion efforts focused around event promotion is a great strategy to launch campaigns for new artists. There is also an array of pod casts and merchandise to keep the buzz alive for their international marketing campaigns to lift their artists.

This team of artist managers focuses on day-to-day business affairs of their artists as well as guiding their professional career toward long-term goals, which get laid out by an assigned manager. Artist Alife divides their artists roster by urban artists and electronic artists on the site to differentiate management segments. Both units advise and counsel talent concerning professional matters, long-term plans and personal decisions that may affect their career. They organize worldwide events and take care of all matters on separate teams to unite their artists into the appropriate bookings. Although some segregation is needed they intermix talent and management to keep the growth factor mentioned previously in both genres.

Follow up:
As a follow-up to this review I plan to get in touch with Sandra, a booking agent in the company and see about some more information. Get an inside perspective on the corporate culture and see what’s coming up for Artist Alife! I would like to learn more about the efforts in the states as well. Possibly hear about the selection process used in acquiring talent and sustaining their careers. There is much to be said about emerging talent agencies and what sets them apart from the rest of the competition! Their website was unique with a flash platform that had artist managers profiles in classy black and white head-shots. Definitely unique because when you hover on the pic their faces turn and flip. When I clicked on an agent you are taken to a direct outlook message to contact. Well done Artist Alife, I wish you the best of luck for the future and look forward to speaking with you!

Steve Angelo V.S. DJ Sneak

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 06:02:00 +0000

Steve Angelo V.S. DJ Sneak

House Music Beef With DJ Sneak Plays Out in Steve Angelo’s Set: REALLY??

Now this is a review on an article that was recently written in the Houston Press by Dennis Romero on June 9^th. Also there is so much controversy over these comments made by Sneak on Twitter that there was an interview done to save face. A one on one follow up interview was made to clear it up both sides, but only Sneak complied to complete the interview. Angelo refused to answer the same questions Sneak took on under the publication BIG SHOT. So if you haven't heard about it and you are wondering what I'm talking about, there is apparently some controversy going down about two amazing producers DJ Sneak and Steve Angelo. Steve Angelo is one third of Swedish House Mafia and rather well known for his remix by Robin S. “Show me Love”. Let’s also add that Swedish House Mafia and Steve Angelo for that matter are very well known in the commercial house genre. It’s a more trendy club sound that can be ranked in the David Guetta realm with big build ups and vocal progressive tones. If you are a fan of Guetta then I suppose you enjoy listening to them. Then we have a funky bumpy L.A. producer, DJ Sneak that calls their music "fake house music" over Twitter. Not the most professional statements to tweet on I agree, and not many enjoy such slander. I know if someone called my music fake I wouldn't be so inclined to follow their music. But it's still an opinion, so Sneak doesn’t think it’s real house music, and what is real house music to Sneak? So many define house differently, even the writer Dennis Romero apparently, by his article in the Houston Press. In his reference, Steve Angelo get’s wind and plays EDC 2012 and drops a track with a sample “tear the club up” and another tune, “f**k haters”. This is meant to be some type of response to DJ Sneaks remarks on Twitter and at the end of Steve Angelo’s set hands the decks over to Erick Morillo, a New York Progressive House Legend. Steve Angelo announces him as “the guy who taught him how to DJ in clubs”. So Romero explains what's a Puerto Rican DJ compared to a "Colombian DJ. Then the article ends with a big, “Game Over” for DJ Sneak.

So Dennis, the article is a nice twist on some of this drama regarding these amazing musicians, but where are you going with this? It’s drama that really has nothing to do with what’s real

house and what’s not real house. Let’s take note that they both have an established career. I thought it was interesting that it was clearly pointed out at the end that DJ Sneak was not booked for EDC 2012. You talk about two major styles of house, one being bumpy funky tech house, and another being big room pulsing piano’s and hand raiser build ups as the early rave days had. So you say, “there’s no right or wrong answer” all the way up till the end of your article where you said “game over” towards Sneak. You stated that Columbian is better then Puerto Rican producers/ DJ’s? What are you talking about? This article is not authentic and because Steve Angelo played a couple of tunes with samples in it and introduced the next DJ that taught him how to be trendy and it’s game over for Sneak calling “Angelo” a bit “fake”? How so? Is there a competition that is not clear? Sneak has more records then Angelo, Sneak has not sold out to the masses. DJ Sneak cares more about making music then getting paid, he plays what he wants to play, not what tickets need to be sold to play. Also Sneak is not playing a tune you expect to hear every set. Is it good to be a Dj and play tunes you expect to hear? Why not Dj in your car or bedroom then? What about you go up on stage and make a request… that’s really what we need when we expect things. I want to know what’s going to come on next, maybe hand out a program for the crowd so they know what songs to expect in which order. It’s the Dj’s job to expose you to new music, show you that you are not hearing the same stuff over and over, teach you about your taste as an artist, move a unique crowd that pulses with your expression. Connect with that crowd and feel where they want to go and how they respond to your track selection. Get so lost in that selection that you can’t stop working that mixer and making new music. The DJ can use more then a simple play button. The mixer does more then just a volume up and down and there is actually a way to be talented as a DJ not just a producer that plays their tune for a crowd. Those tunes with samples I guarantee have been played in other sets and not used as a way to make a point. If that was a point, I believe that it doesn’t prove anything. DJ Sneak is a workaholic producer (quantify his infinite amount of releases) and still makes time to tour and keep making records. He is not a collective of 3 men or a one hit wonder. I enjoyed your article but you clearly are on Steve Angelo’s team with your expression toward giving the people what they want. There is a man named Greg Wilson that in the late 70’s early 80’s said people expect to hear the same stuff all the time in clubs, as a Dj we are able to make changes to the music to give more of a performance. Use double plates, reel to reels to record and make effects. We came a long way since reel to reel and double vinyl’s… now there is remix software for live performance such as Ableton and Native Instrument’s Traktor 2.5 and can actually be talented while playing DJ sets. Or if you are able to work a crowd like Sneak… it comes effortless. Where did that go? Press play and stand back and give them the same sounds they know?

Have you seen those viral videos from Steve Angelo? From the perspective of someone such as Sneak, what is Angelo doing in those videos anyways? What videos am I talking about? The viral videos that have Steve Angelo on stage in front of a crowd over a thousand and he clearly is not concerned with his DJ set. When I say not concerned, I mean we can hear a mix as he is not even on the mixer or near it and the new tune is already completely mixed in, and old tune out. It was a premade mix that he was just playing for the crowd. That video should have destroyed his career! If a producer is paid a few grand to play a show like that and has a large crowd cheering in front of him, dancing and cheering and pointing at him, the least he can do is make something authentic by trying to DJ. Is it hard to press a play button? Robin S. “show me love” is not even his tune, it’s simply a remix… is that worth that much to take a trendy tune and remix it?

How To Book A Venue

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 12:07:00 +0000

WAYS TO RESEARCH AN EVENT:

How to book a venue!

When booking a venue for your next gig there are several ways to go about it. If you know that your going to put a lot of time into promoting this night you may wish to view multiple venues to fit your style. Figure out exactly what you want, imagine your crowd in the venue, take note to where the sound is. What is the quality in speakers, where does most of the sound hit, look for a booth or stage where you can see what you need to make the show happen with the right equipment.

Another big tip is size. You really want to earn your stripes by playing small venues first. Don’t go for your favorite club right away, lets just take note of that goal and build up to that. Have you ever packed a small club before? What about had a big venue with double the amount of people but still way to much standing room? It’s not worth that trouble to have a large venue that feels empty. So sell out a small space first!

Now that you’ve looked around and have some ideas where, go during a slow night, ask for management, let them know that your good at what you do and can pack their place if their interested. If the management team isn’t available get an appointment to come back. It’s good to say you have other venues your working with and that you need to know rental fees as soon as possible. You can do this with a phone call, but again it works best to go in to follow it up. You sell yourself better in person always! Follow with a firm handshake! It builds trust!

When you get those rental fees you are now in a position to negotiate. Do you want to do one show at this place or build a monthly or weekly event? Remember they don’t know you and haven’t heard of you so you really don’t have much pull yet. Ask if there are specific nights with lower fees and higher fees in the month, based on successful parties they do. For example they may have a Thursday that really lifts off with a specific promoter so it’s out of the question, or a Monday for that matter. It has been done in smaller spaces, and you may wish to go that route if it’s open. Fridays and Saturdays are obviously the money maker nights so they will cost the most. If you have access to a daytime crowd, Sundays are good options for cheap rates.

Take the numbers you have and compare them to other clubs and do this little formula. If you have done other shows you should be telling them that you will pack their place and they will miss out on a great night of business because Club B is only going to charge them $300 for the night. Ideally speaking you should go for multiple hits, tell them you want it for free! You will do all the promoting and you have access to the crowd anyway so money comes from them any how, not the performer. If you pay a few to rent out the night then you get the door and a cut of the bar after the bar hits a guarantee. Ticket sales can’t always be the only way to make money if you pack a small spot. Ask for 10-20% of the bar sales after the guarantee if you want to do a weekly or a monthly. That’s how you know you know that the bar will make money and be packed. It’s the confidence that sells!

So you are looking at that club, you got a rental quote, you got a bar guarantee and after that guarantee you get a cut, great! Now they know you know what your talking about! Don’t disappoint by getting lazy now! You may also want to ask about drink specials. Is this a one-time event? If you say no, even more reason, let’s say it’s a monthly event or a weekly. You want to advertise their club, tell them you are going to get flyers designed and printed and show some example of what your flyers may look like. Easy to find that isn’t it? Now say that the drink specials can easily bring more people in early and we can promote that liquor. Ask what reps they have the strongest reputations with, those that are open to cover cost of flyer design and printing once we do the special and show them the proof of the flyer as well as that liquor logo on the flyer. It’s the proof that your not just taking money, make the flyers now for free or use the money to get it done and bring receipts.

So now you have your venue owner excited about your party, you got a great deal or it’s free, you got flyers being made, you checked out the sound… what else?

Get your band together and start a plan of promoting and your on your way to making this take off! If you are a DJ then get slots out and fill them with the hungriest promoters/DJ’s you have! It’s time to turn that club out and make it a new hot spot! As you get closer to the night make sure you keep in touch with that owner so he knows your on top of things! Don’t let him book someone else on your night because he lost faith in you. If you paid for it, less to worry about.

GOOD LUCK!

Some places to check out for hints

SanDiegoClubs.com
DanceOrlandoClub.com
FindRentals.com
ClubRentals.com

Laws of Piracy & Sound Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Fri, 11 May 2012 06:16:00 +0000

Electronic Piracy Laws and how music distribution is changing!

Has DRM really been around since the 90’s? DRM is known as Digital Right’s Management. It was around since the early 90's and even thrown into the movie Hackers. It was created to help regulate the digital files that we obtain. Some refer to it as Digital Restriction Management, because it is all about restricting how we obtain our music. The government is regulating what we do and how we do, even if we like to pretend they are not involved in piracy. The “No Electronic Theft Law” (NEFT Act) is very similar to the copyright violations that involve digital recordings and what is considered illegal for distributing digital assets. Some of the criminal penalties can land you up to 5 years in prison and up to $259,000 in fines even if you didn’t do it for monetary or financial gain (www.riaa.com).

Another one of the topics I’ve been wondering about was digital rights management. So what about the companies that play all the streams we are hearing everywhere, do artists make any money on it? How are all the royalties being collected with this new model of music we are witnessing? If I stream on youtube, I know that artist isn't getting paid! People say over and over again that record labels are going out of business and Compact Discs are obsolete, how are the artists getting paid if not by actual records sales? Is there a new way to get royalties that we haven’t explored?

One way is a new company that has recently emerged for the artists and labels, and they do a lot of the collections to keep people in business in this fast changing industry! The company is called Sound Exchange, and they deal with the digital rights of the online radio community. Sound Exchange is a non-profit and mostly collects statutory royalties from cable TV music, Sirrius XM Radio, Pandora, and other similar platforms for streaming sound recordings. “Sound Exchange has been entrusted by the U.S. Library of Congress as the sole entity of the United States to collect and distribute these digital performance royalties on behalf of featured recording artists, master rights owners (like recording labels), and independent artists who record and own their own masters” (www.soundexchange.com). There is a great interview from the former executive director of sound exchange John Simson and he discusses the future of radio and how Sound Exchange came about. The title of the interview is called, “The Day The Music Died.”

This interview is amazing! Click the link below that's purple to watch!

CLICK HERE

: : : : SOUND EXCHANGE : : : :

Spatial Recognition: Neil Burgees

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Thu, 03 May 2012 08:06:00 +0000

Recently reviewing speeches and talks on TED.com I found one that hit an area of interest of mine. When completing my undergrad I had a minor in Psychology and one of my interests was neuroscience. As an analytical individual, understanding how the mind works and what makes us have those patterns was fascinating to me! In regards to my blog the affect music perception has on neuro-responses and how our mind processes these sounds in our brain could be a great topic for study or TED talks.

Neil Burgees spoke on the way our mind and memory works through signals in the hippocampus. Neil is deputy director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. One of the topics he covers is how locations are used, stored, and remembered in the brain. Neil talks about spatial recognition and how to interpret these details. There is a slide with Homer Simpson lost in a parking lot trying to find his car. Neil points out the distances to walls from the center of the lot where “our” car is parked. We notice these distances to know the spatial recognition of locating the car. One way the brain processes this information is through the hippocampus. The role of the hippocampus in spatial navigation and episodic memory is determined by signals that bounce from end to end, leaving messages on specific areas. Neil gave some processes with mice, where they studied the behavior based on how they maneuvered in patterns while tracking signals fired during memory responses. The process with the mouse is done through computational modeling and electrophysiological analysis of the function of hippocampal neurons and the rat. Functional imaging of human navigation was also compared to the rat’s behavior based on distance. It was displayed similar to a video game, marking territory and spatial recognition. Check it out on TED.com!

Madonna raises interest at Ultra

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:31:00 +0000

Madonna Raises Controversy : : : : : : : :

During the final weekend of winter music conference is one of the biggest parties in the country known as Ultra Music Festival. As mentioned in my previous blog posts regarding winter music conference you can find this well known event. Again Winter Music Conference is an international summit that brings together many industry professionals to do work together and throw events together. Ultra Music Festival is known to be on the last weekend every year. This event alone has taken publicity to a new level for EDM! What do I mean by this? Last year’s Ultra of 2011 hit record highs of 400,000 plus attendee’s and has been known to sell out months in advance at over $400 a pop! That’s some serious revenue! The colossal event is reaching record-breaking heights for something that size and the talent is unheard of for this country! This year Ultra and Miami were in for a bit of a surprise though! When the crowd was chanting for Avicii, one of the new superstars hailing from Sweden, they got a surprise! Not only was he not on stage, out came Madonna to introduce this new Dj icon! Obviously she is one of the biggest known artists of our time, her presence instantly transformed the crowd. She wore fishnets and cut off shorts, a T-shirt that said MDNA, as well as her trademark channel gloves. It didn’t take her long to throw herself into the controversy of the media as she takes the mike Madonna explains how excited she is to be at Ultra and how talented Avicii is, then Madonna goes on to say, “Electronic dance music has always been a part of my life since the beginning of my career, and I can honestly say that a DJ saved my life”. But then she had a question for the cheering crowd that we didn’t expect, “How many people in this crowd have seen Molly”? Molly is a slang term for ecstasy, the main ingredient is known as MDMA, ironically her shirt read MDNA and yelling the drug reference into the crowd had them in an uproar! Deadmau5, one of the leading producers of progressive house music, took to twitter and Facebook to respond to the diva’s choice words. Deadmau5 writes, “very classy there Madonna, HUR DUR HAS ANYONE SEEN MOLLY???? Such a great message for the young music lovers!” (Huffington Post) Now this is especially funny because Deadmau5 is very anti-drug and her Molly reference is the very thing that gives EDM a bad rap. It shouldn’t be needed to reference drugs with music, and it does show the age or responsibility factor of our listeners when drugs are needed to listen, referenced, or used at shows. Madonna did respond back to Deadmau5 recently and it was with a photo on twitter. The photo says it all, I believe she wants to try and save face a bit. This picture is kinda small but you can click the link above to see it on here twitter.

Skrillex Takes Over

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:11:00 +0000

Skrillex Moves Forward :

One of the fasted upcoming artists today in the electronic dance music scene happens to be taking the world by storm overnight. He literally didn’t exist and then put out his first EP and was signed through Deadmau5 upon release. Scary Monster’s and Sprites on the label Mau5trap by none other then SKRILLEX has taken every slot on beatport’s top ten. That was groundbreaking for beatport, the first time seen for an artist to hold every slot, number one, two, three, and so on! Also the fact that it was a brand new name that literally just put out his first album, we as music fans tend to do a double take. Prior to becoming the infamous Skrillex also known as Sonny Moore, he was the front man for a scream-o band in his teens called, “From First to Last.” This band was unique to say the last but I think we all agree, “that any move away from singing about topics like body dysmorphia and overwrought relationship drama is a step up. At the age of 21 Skrillex is a pop icon helping the new genre known as “dub-step” reach amazing heights from a multi-genre influence, nearly taking EDM to a commercial level with a close to demonic sound. Some argue that the elements of hip-hop found in dub-step genre’s such as Skrillex help this new genre push into the mainstream. Skrillex held the headlining slot for the legendary Ultra Music Fest this past March and continues to step in and step up to mold a new genre out of what once was dub-step to a fusion of rock, house, dub-step, and so much more! If you haven't heard of him, take a listen! It's not the usual rock and roll or electronic techno sounds your use too! If you already know dub-step and Skrillex then it should be no surprise that he's touring the world in style as a new pop icon for youth today! Attached is one of his more popular tunes, and if you are really curious about the scream-o sound then take a listen to the last video. It's probably still embarrassing for you Sonny Moore to look back at! But with tour dates filling up, and new remixes being pumped out for pop stars and Rocks stars such as Lady Ga Ga and White Zombie, the sky is the limit for our new young rock an roller!

"FROM FIRST TO LAST" - Sonny Moore a.k.a. Front Man known now as Skrillex

In the News... NextAid lends a hand

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 05:13:00 +0000

There is a Los Angelas based company known as NextAid, which harnesses the unique power of music to support sustainable development in Africa. They are set to return for their eighth consecutive year at Winter Music Conference to bring together conscious artists to inspire social action together. This Wednesday NextAid partners up at WMC with, Rootz media, Media Services NYC, and Fusicology to present to you, IGNITE. Official badge holders are welcome to attend, others need to purchase tickets before they sell out. IGNITE is an exclusive event on March 21st 2012 taking place at Red South Beach Hotel from 5pm-11pm and the line up is extensive!

Also NextAid has partnered up with Winter Music Conference on a grand scale. All event tickets that are purchased online for all WMC events using "wanttickets.com" have the option at check out to donate one dollar to NextAid. Ticket buyers may not notice such a small number of giving really adds up when there is 100,000 people attending and purchasing multiple tickets for multiple events. If we all donated think of what that would do? This project specifically is benefiting Nairobi, in South Africa.

What is Winter Music Conference all about?

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:32:00 +0000

So what is Winter Music Conference all about anyway?
What is WMC? This week is the kick off to one of the most monumental events in the music industry for electronic music. If you are a follower of "electronic dance music" (EDM) then you must know about Winter Music Conference! WMC happens annually ever March in South Beach, Miami. This year marks the 27th consecutive year! "WMC attracts thousands of artists from 70 countries and over 100,000 event attendees each year for a concentrated schedule of more then 400 events, parties, seminars, and workshops" (wintermusicconference.com). This event gets global sponsoring and has hotels and near by establishments planning ahead to be on their "A" game for the massive rush. The clientele that conference brings is not the usual spread either! It's a mix of young professionals, press, industry heads, record labels, and fans all intermingling in crowds at hotel parties, beach parties, pool events, seminars, etc. The international ratio is heavy for this specific week draws in travelers from across the globe in large numbers. You may see royalty from another country or your favorite film stars in town and other upper class moguls because of the South Beach luxuries along with the glam of the music industry professionals. It's a unique blend of music, sun, attractive people, and networking possibilities. I'm sure after reading this blog you know I'm a major fan and will be attending as usual!I plan to be at the NextAid event mid day on Wednesday March 21st, and benefits will be raised to go to Africa from the party. Most of the talent come Wednesday will be New York and Chicago artists whom I connect with. Good people and good energy at this show. Officially the conference began today, even though parties started last Wednesday. After the kick off event today there will be panels all evening and again into the morning. Registering for a badge is now closed, and record labels flying you out usually get crews in on Tuesday. If your reading this blog and would like to attend you may be closing towards the deadlines!

noreply@blogger.com (Nemo) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 13:03:00 +0000

Phil Weeks - Raw Instrumental LP - Rob Soul Recordings [RBLP03]

: : Phil Weeks is no rookie when it comes to programing a dance floor! He continues to utilize the less is more method! This LP goes from a abstract deep lounge feel to more funky flared house in the usual Phil weeks format. The tune "Family Tree" has layered percussion in a detroit techno vibe. "Don't give up" has crisp high hats and a disco element to it."Pimpin 4 weeks, Oh Yea, and Disco Fever" has a quirky vocal loops. His layouts are more simple, but simple is effective and this LP is all instrumentals. Great for dj's that want to work their mixes and lay more on! Weeks is known for a particular sound of deep and funky, with those usual crispy highs! Rob Soul rarely puts out anything not worth picking up so this album can be found on juno or beatport.

Artist : Phil Weeks
Title : Raw Instrumental LP
Label : Rob Soul Recordings
Release Date : 03/09/2012
Source : Web

01.Opener (Instrumental Mix) 2:09
02.Walking In The Dark (Instrumental Mix) 8:02
03.Come To Me (Instrumental Mix) 6:24
04.The One (Instrumental Mix) 7:03
05.Dirty Groove (Instrumental Mix) 6:07
06.Pimpin 4 Weeks (Instrumental Mix) 7:14
07.Half Time (Instrumental Mix) 2:29
08.Dont Give Up (Instrumental Mix) 5:46
09.Family Tree (Instrumental Mix) 5:38
10.Oh Yeah (Instrumental Mix) 3:04
11.Disco Fever (Instrumental Mix) 6:18
12.On Da Raw (Instrumental Mix) 5:57
13.Do That Dance (Instrumental Mix) 3:11
14.Closer (Instrumental Mix) 1:34