Alex Gontar - Forever Ft. Anat Elbaz (Lyrics video)

Eventric’s Master Tour Makes Touring Logistics and Revenue Management Even Easier with v3.0, Currently in Beta Testing

Live events and touring are a key source of revenue for artists, performers, athletes, personalities, and groups of all kinds. Yet the margins on tours are thin and the logistics wickedly complex. Technology and devices like smartphones have seeped into the business, but mass-market software products often don’t serve busy tour teams well.

SaaS company Eventric, the masterminds behind Master Tour, is a crew of former (and sometimes current) road warriors, seasoned tour managers and live event pros who know what touring demands. For over 15+ years, their products have supported the work of more than 125,000 live-event professionals, sweeping away a tangle of spreadsheets, group texts, and other unwieldy and fragmented tracking and messaging systems.

Based on multiple years of feedback from users, the latest version of Master Tour, MT3.0, is more streamlined and powerful in just the right areas. “We’ve worked really hard to pare down the number of clicks or taps needed to get from place to place,” says Matt “Sators” Satorius, lead developer for Eventric, sound engineer, and former tour manager. “The goal is to make Master Tour ridiculously simple to use, while keeping all the functionality to deal with anything and everything a tour will throw at managers.”

Currently in private beta testing, Master Tour version 3.0 improves on the already wildly popular tour management product. It offers several vital new features:

-More visibility options: Talent doesn’t need to know when the crew has load in, nor do the lighting folks need to worry about the talent’s publicity schedule. Master Tour now allows admins to determine who sees what, reducing repeat entries and keeping everyone more focused on where they need to be when.

-Autosyncing: No more wasting time, pushing updates one by one. MT3 takes care of updating users automatically, while still functional in a completely “offline” environment.

-Guestlist features: MT3 admins can set a total number of available guest list spots for users, eliminating the confusion around this contentious area. They can see instantly whether they have overallocated beyond what they get from the venue, with automatic email notifications alerting guest of the ticket status.

-Customizable, printable reports: Make your daysheets, tourbook, call sheet, setlist, and financials look just the way you want them, with fully customizable templates to keep everyone on the same (custom) page.

-At-a-glance accounting: MT3 shows managers 10-15 key fields related to accounting, giving a helpful snapshot of financials without getting too lost in the details. All the data is still there, but a new interface lets you see the big picture, and compare your P&L across any date range, or tour.

-Multilingual: MT3 will soon be available in several additional languages including Spanish, French, and German.

“As a tour manager, you learn to plan methodically for every foreseeable challenge and to respond rapidly to the unexpected,” says Paul Bradley, Eventric CEO and former tour manager. “We respond to our users’ needs because they are out there, managing expectations and making sure everything goes smoothly for artists and crew. They don’t have time to mess around with their tech.”

"Eventric set the industry standard with Master Tour. And now with Master Tour 3.0 the platform continues to evolve to meet the growing needs of the touring professional at every level,” enthuses Jimmy Chamberlin, drummer, The Smashing Pumpkins. “This is technology that saves time and money and can instantly professionalize any organization. Whether you are in a van or a private jet - you need this!”

About Eventric

Eventric is a Chicago-based provider of software and online services for the professional live entertainment industry. Eventric’s solutions promote connectivity, community, and competency, making the production of live events more profitable and effective.

Our customers include music artists, artist management, tour and event production companies, entertainment venues and festivals.  Our software and services are used behind-the-scenes to power many of the largest tours in the world.

The Eventric team is dedicated to making the very best tools and solutions for the people and businesses who earn their living performing and presenting live events. Our unique combination of experience in both the software and entertainment industries gives us the ability to create new and innovative solutions.

www.eventric.com/

Feel Good - Fatima feat. WNDR

10 Tips to Become a Better Banjo Player

Banjo is one of the most iconic musical instruments today. It has had a great history and is an elegant stringed instrument that is beautiful and amazing in its sound output as well.

As beautiful and glorious the Banjo is, it is quite a thing to play and master it. Banjo masters are no less than true music artists as the trick of this trade continues to baffle many music players.

If you are a banjo enthusiast, here are a few tips that can help you to become a better banjo player.

1: Be an Active Listener

Like most things in our lives, we master what we listen best. With complete attention, listen to your favorite banjo music CD or some TV shows can provide you just the idea of how to make it sound better. If you can get in on some live Banjo sessions and jams, this can be just what you might need as you will be able to have visuals of how they are playing the instrument as well. Plus when you go in live sessions or jams, you will get the opportunity to talk to famous and expert Banjo players learning a few tricks of the trade there and then as well.

2: Regular Practice Makes a Banjo Player Perfect

The old saying ‘Practice makes a man perfect’ is true when it comes to learning the art of Banjo. The more you play the instrument, better you become at it. Like most stringed instruments, natural ability takes you so far, from there on in, you have to master the trade by practicing it on regular basis. So get a good quality Banjo for Sale from a decent music instrument seller and Play, Play and Play some more.

3: Set Yourself Short Goals

When you are learning the art of Banjo playing, always set yourself shot goals at first. Keep practicing on your short goals until you feel comfortable with the medium and longer ones. Short goals mean playing the banjo for shorter periods of time first and getting your shorter notes right first. If you start off with longer playing goals, it is for sure you will develop bad playing habits. You should move to medium banjo playing goals after at least a period of 6 months playing your shorter notes and then to longer ones 6 months after that.

4: Use Tablature for short Practice

Tablature is without a doubt a great tool allowing quick access to a great many tunes and also facilitating new players to study subtitles of master players with complete attention. Yet, new players should use it in small amounts. It is for sure you will get a much better idea of how everything works with banjo playing but even if you play a tune from your tablature, it doesn’t mean that you can now play the instrument well. Often, you should try to initialize the sound of what you want to be playing.

5: Warming Up for It

Warming up is not limited to athletes for their sports. Banjo players should also warm up in practice sessions. During warm-ups, you can just go with picking the strings with your right or left hand with no particular songs in your mind. This will not only help you out with setting the right tone for your hands and body but those accident tones that you might fall one are a bonus. Music instrument players are often in their zone when they don’t have to worry about any factors at all.

6: Get the Right Hand First (for adult learners)

Adult learners will always find it difficult to put the right and left-hand techniques together in order to use both hands simultaneously playing the Banjo smooth way without any type of interruption in the even flow of notes. Playing the right-hand part by itself on the Banjo’s open strings is a great solution that sets you in the right habits. When you feel comfortable about having the right rhythm for the right hand, you can move in the left-hand techniques one small bit at a time.

7: One Measure at a Time for Songs

For new learners learning from the tab, playing on the first measure or two, many times over until you can play it without looking at the tab and for ones learning by ear, being able to play this first couple of measures by first hearing them in your head is important. Try to identify the musical phrases of your song by listening to the sound of several measures played together. Having mastered the first phrase, you should move to the next while you don’t have to rely on the tablature or hearing the first. Carry this forward into the next phrases.

8: Increase Your Speed Gradually

Everyone wants to get on the Banjo and play it as fast as possible. However, as tough as it might be for new starters to start from a slow playing routine, it can be the best tip anyone can give you. Be patient and always start your movements slow until your fingers respond to the commands of your brain in a efficient way. Increase your speed gradually as well moving and not jumping from slow to fast all of a sudden.

9: Start by Playing the Right Range

Even though it might be tough for a new learner to predict how they will be playing their Banjo in the future, yet, if you know that you will be playing it with other music players, you should begin with the right range with your collected set of skills. Set yourself on the right tones if you will be playing in a specific part of the world. Different music tunes from different parts of the world involve unique tunes of their own along with speeds, notes, and phrases. Take the example of Bluegrass guitars these will have a different parts than old-time banjo players.

10: Keeping Your Progress in Check

By far, the most important tip is to always keep your progress in check. Having gotten your dream banjo for sale, you should keep your progress in check while learning this beautiful instrument. Record yourself from time to time and listen to how you go about it alone. Try and improve whatever you can as you go along. Keeping your progress in check will always prompt you to improve faster.

CD Baby and SACM Announce Historic Partnership to Empower Independent Mexican Artists and Composers

CD Baby is proud to announce its recent partnership with SACM, Mexico’s only Performance Rights Organization.

One remarkable benefit to Mexican artists from this alliance is that CD Baby will be offering free standard submissions to all registered SACM members.  SACM is equally honored to recognize CD Baby as their “preferred” and recommended distributor. Representing more than half of all Mexican artists, this is the first time SACM has inked such an agreement.

“Along with renewed hope for the future of their country, Mexican artists are feeling more empowered than ever. They want to learn more, enjoy life and be in charge of their music careers,” says Heli Del Moral, CD Baby’s VP of International Development.”Music artists in Mexico are not only producing more creative and higher quality projects, they are building loyal relationships with their fans and seeking reliable and trustworthy partners to help them manage and grow their music business. They want transparency and flexible options that allow them to adapt quickly to a very dynamic industry. We’re thrilled to offer them the tools they need to accomplish this.”

Emer Villalobos Saunders, Director of International at SACM, sees this agreement as “a historic agreement and a culmination of a long-time mission to bring artists in Mexico a viable and trustworthy way to distribute their music. Both SACM and CD Baby share a set of values and a philosophy that puts the artists first.”

This is the first step of a true alliance to develop additional services and integrate efforts to benefit composers and performers in Mexico. “The alliance between CD Baby and SACM gives independent artists in Mexico a rock-solid foundation and a support system that will help them lead the way far into the future,” Del Moral notes. “For CD Baby, we feel this demonstrates our commitment to one of the world’s top streaming music markets.”

About CD Baby

CD Baby is one of the largest distributors of independent music on the planet, home to 750,000 artists and more than 9 million tracks that are made available to 100+ digital services and platforms around the globe. Artists on the platform are empowered to monetize their rights while maintaining control of their own careers, and have collectively earned over $600 million since the company’s founding. CD Baby’s Publishing Administration service allows over 170,000 songwriters to collect all of their publishing royalties and currently administers over 1 million songs.

About SACM

The Society of Authors and Composers of Mexico (SACM) is a collective rights management non-profit organization created in accordance with Mexican legislation in the year of 2007.  Its history goes back to 1945, when the Mexican Union of Music Authors, Composers and Editors (SMACEM) organized with the purpose of creating a new culture that protects intellectual works as an important part of the cultural heritage of the nation, and as an essential element of cultural identity. The current president of the society is renowned Yucatecan singer-songwriter Armando Manzanero.

Eventric’s Master Tour Makes Touring Logistics and Revenue Management Even Easier with Release of v3.0

Live events and touring are a key source of revenue for artists, performers, athletes, personalities, and groups of all kinds. Yet the margins on tours are thin and the logistics wickedly complex. Technology and devices like smartphones have seeped into the business, but mass-market software products often don’t serve busy tour teams well.

SaaS company Eventric, the masterminds behind Master Tour, is a crew of former (and sometimes current) road warriors, seasoned tour managers and live event pros who know what touring demands. For over 15+ years, their products have supported the work of more than 125,000 live-event professionals, sweeping away a tangle of spreadsheets, group texts, and other unwieldy and fragmented tracking and messaging systems.

Based on multiple years of feedback from users, the latest version of Master Tour, MT3.0, is more streamlined and powerful in just the right areas. “We’ve worked really hard to pare down the number of clicks or taps needed to get from place to place,” says Matt “Sators” Satorius, lead developer for Eventric, sound engineer, and former tour manager. “The goal is to make Master Tour ridiculously simple to use, while keeping all the functionality to deal with anything and everything a tour will throw at managers.”

Available January 22, 2019, Master Tour version 3.0 improves on the already wildly popular tour management product. It offers several vital new features:

-More visibility options: Talent doesn’t need to know when the crew has load in, nor do the lighting folks need to worry about the talent’s publicity schedule. Master Tour now allows admins to determine who sees what, reducing repeat entries and keeping everyone more focused on where they need to be when.

-Autosyncing: No more wasting time, pushing updates one by one. MT3 takes care of updating users automatically, while still functional in a completely “offline” environment.

-Guestlist features: MT3 admins can set a total number of available guest list spots for users, eliminating the confusion around this contentious area. They can see instantly whether they have overallocated beyond what they get from the venue, with automatic email notifications alerting guest of the ticket status.

-Customizable, printable reports: Make your daysheets, tourbook, call sheet, setlist, and financials look just the way you want them, with fully customizable templates to keep everyone on the same (custom) page.

-At-a-glance accounting: MT3 shows managers 10-15 key fields related to accounting, giving a helpful snapshot of financials without getting too lost in the details. All the data is still there, but a new interface lets you see the big picture, and compare your P&L across any date range, or tour.
-Multilingual: MT3 will soon be available in several additional languages including Spanish, French, and German.

“As a tour manager, you learn to plan methodically for every foreseeable challenge and to respond rapidly to the unexpected,” says Paul Bradley, Eventric CEO and former tour manager. “We respond to our users’ needs because they are out there, managing expectations and making sure everything goes smoothly for artists and crew. They don’t have time to mess around with their tech.”

"Eventric set the industry standard with Master Tour. And now with Master Tour 3.0 the platform continues to evolve to meet the growing needs of the touring professional at every level,” enthuses Jimmy Chamberlin, drummer, The Smashing Pumpkins. “This is technology that saves time and money and can instantly professionalize any organization. Whether you are in a van or a private jet - you need this!”

About Eventric

Eventric is a Chicago-based provider of software and online services for the professional live entertainment industry. Eventric’s solutions promote connectivity, community, and competency, making the production of live events more profitable and effective.

Our customers include music artists, artist management, tour and event production companies, entertainment venues and festivals.  Our software and services are used behind-the-scenes to power many of the largest tours in the world.

The Eventric team is dedicated to making the very best tools and solutions for the people and businesses who earn their living performing and presenting live events. Our unique combination of experience in both the software and entertainment industries gives us the ability to create new and innovative solutions.

Dubset Enables Distribution of Mixes and Remixes Directly From Music Hardware or Software thanks to Groundbreaking New Dubset API

(NAMM Anaheim, CA January 23, 2019) Dubset is announcing its latest service to shift mix culture from the distribution shadows onto popular subscription streaming platforms: an API that allows remixers and DJs to clear and distribute their mixes instantly in the software and hardware they use to create. (developers.dubset.com)

Creators can record, mix, and get their music to streaming services directly from their preferred equipment or software. Software and hardware partners, for their part, have no publishing or label deals to make, no relationships with Apple or Spotify to navigate, just a seamless submission of mixed content via Dubset.

All remixes and mixes submitted via API run through Dubset’s proprietary MixBANK technology that identifies and clears all parts of the new work. “Once content clears, users are notified by the application of the content’s status, so they know what's going on,” notes Vadim Brenner, Dubset’s SVP Product. “As content is distributed, we can maintain that connection to the original software to provide other rich information that is important to the user. Remixers and DJs also benefit from getting a dedicated artist page on the music service, if they don’t already have one, to allow their fans to get to the music they love.”

Direct distribution of mixes has been attempted before, but never with all the proper licenses at the ready. “With past approaches, the mixes would go up, only to be taken right back down because the deals were not in place with rights holders,” says Dubset CEO Stephen White. “Dubset has all the licensing taken care of, so there is no heavy lifting for software and hardware providers.”

With a partnership already in place with Soundcloud, and with several DJ hardware and software companies already having access to the API, Dubset is enabling a new golden age of legitimate distribution of unofficial remixes and DJ sets. Bringing this content onto legitimate, fully monetized platforms promises to boost subscription rates, as well as increase revenues for rights holders.

The potential impact on music platforms and the business writ large is enormous: “In 2016, EMI put together report that estimated how many consumers listened to mixed and remixed content, and they came up with 750 million consumers worldwide,” White explains. “The majority of that consumption happened through unlicensed services with no revenue making its way back to the original artists and their labels and publishers.. We’ve created a high-speed onramp to legitimacy for the content those 750 million consumers want to hear. By getting this content to legitimate platforms quickly, you can convert these consumers, and the best way to make all this happen is through our API.”

15 Website & UX Statistics of 2018-2019 [INFOGRAPHIC]

J. Cole’s new #1 hit “Middle Child” is powered by a Tracklib sample

The Swedish sampling service allowed the artist to sample exclusive stems from a 1973 song and to clear the sample instantly and affordably. 

Tracklib is announcing the first major charting hit featuring a sample taken from its extensive library of original music. J. Cole’s “Middle Child” is currently taking US charts by storm and is based on a sample from Reservoir Media Management’s Philly Groove catalog powered by Tracklib. The Swedish company has transformed the way samples are licensed and is built to empower artists and producers to sample easily, legally and cost-effectively.

J. Cole created the track together with multi-platinum producer T-Minus (who’s worked with Drake, Kendrick Lamar, DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, Travis Scott, Big Sean and The Weeknd). To get access to exclusive material to sample and get licenses quickly and easily, they turned to Tracklib. On the platform, producers can dig through virtual crates, find gems and in many cases even multi-track versions of songs. For “Middle Child,” T-Minus and Cole sampled the brass section from First Choice’s “Wake Up To Me,” a soul song from 1973, one of the 15 stems available from the song on Tracklib.

“Cole and I found a loop on Tracklib. It was the initial inspiration for the record," says T-Minus about the First Choice stem. “The special thing about having individual tracks is that you can take something that sounds one way in its original body of work, and completely flip it to a different vibe. You can really change the progression of the music that way. It takes sampling to a new level."
“We have a lot of stems and multi-tracks that aren’t available elsewhere,” explains Pär Almqvist, CEO of Tracklib. “The stems offer producers and artists many new possibilities, and for some songs we even have unique alternate takes. The cool thing is that after you sample, you can get a complete sample license in a few clicks for as little as $50.” No need to spend weeks or months to manually seek clearance, it’s all instantly available.

“Middle Child” dropped on a Wednesday evening US time – only to hit #1 on iTunes the next morning and to rack up more than 27 million streams on Spotify in less than a week. The single is currently the most streamed track in the US.

“There has been so much great music that’s never been released, simply because it’s gotten hung up in sample licensing negotiations. There are so many artists who’ve been sued in the past,” Almqvist reflects. “This is terrible for the artists, for fans, and even for rightsholders, whose catalogs can get a serious boost thanks to this kind of discovery by both established and upcoming producers and artists.”

“Artists and producers have no time to have their songs hung up on a sample licensing snag. They need to get their tracks out there now,” says Almqvist. “We’re here to make that happen.”

About Tracklib: 

Tracklib is the world’s first and only music service that offers legal and affordable sampling from previously released original music at scale. Music producers can easily browse more than 70,000 tracks and purchase downloads for sampling, then instantly get a license with an easy-to-use category and sample length calculation, for as little as $50. The service launched in 2018 and has already been supported by industry heavyweights such as Questlove, Zaytoven, Bloodshy, Drumma Boy, Prince Paul, and Erick Sermon. www.tracklib.com

5 Tips: How do Kids Microphones Work?

Kids microphones work similar to how actual microphones work, but there are a few features that this has that others don’t. Here, we’ll touch on how they work, and some other important features that kids will enjoy from these.

They are like Reverse Loudspeakers

Kids microphones are reverse loudspeakers. You probably think of a loudspeaker and then look at a mic and don’t know how in the world you get that from the other. Well, they each have their own capabilities, but they follow a similar pattern.
Essentially, how a kids microphone works are simple. They sing into it, and then, it hits something called a diaphragm. The diaphragm vibrates, creating a reverberation in all of this, and from there, it goes towards the electrical output and puts it out, or in this case, the sound that the microphone can put out for the kid to have. That means, that their voice is what causes it to vibrate, and it’s what makes it shake. it’s pretty remarkable what you can do with one of these, and the benefits of them as well. They are strong for kids, and kids can sing into it without any problems whatsoever.

They Have Volume Control on Them

Kids microphones also have another factor that’s added to them and that’s volume control. The ability to control the volume is essentially the difference between a kids microphone and a regular one. The kid's microphones tend to have automatic volume control because kids aren’t always the best with holding onto those kinds of things. Automatic volume control is great for them so that they don't’ get too loud, and that’s definitely an added bonus.
Plus, some of these newer ones have Bluetooth capabilities to it, which is an addition that you normally don’t see on a microphone. that’s because, there are typically a lot of times when a child wants to stream this, and these kids microphones can even be streamed with Bluetooth music, or even the radio, or the aux plugin. This is a great one for them to use.

They have Recording Playback Capabilities

Recording playback is pretty great, and many of these new ones now have a 512 SD card storage, meaning that tons of songs can be recorded and stored. When your child uses this, it actually allows for them to listen to their music, which teaches auditory comprehension in many different ways. There are many times when kids want to get better with this, and you’ll realize over time that, with the right functionalities, they can sing into this, transfer that music to a file, and then hear it again. They can train their ear in order to get better with this and build a better, more rewarding experience with this as well. Recording playback is a great function, and it’s one of the best features for kids to enjoy.

They Tend to Have Games for Children to Try

Kids microphones also have games on them, and these games are fun. They typically use music and rhythm so that children can learn how to have that, and it also teaches listening comprehension of music and auditory comprehension. You’d be surprised at the difference this makes in terms of the content that you can do with this, and the capabilities that kids have. Sometimes, games are a great way for children to learn, and it’s a feature that kids mics possess, and it’s also something that many parents love. Plus, it’s fun to have everything at hand that children can use to get better at singing.

The Material they Have is Insulated

Kids microphones are also much more insulated. What that means is, they typically are break-proof, and they are usually lighter for smaller hands. Kids tend to be a little more careless, and if you’re not careful, they can end up breaking something that they shouldn’t be. A microphone for kids is a great option for those children looking to have a better, more rewarding experience with their insulated microphone sets. The microphone being insulated is a great and rewarding benefit that children will love.

Microphones are Fun!

Microphones are perfect, and children can learn with this, just like how they would if they got a banjo for sale, and they wanted to try that out there. It definitely is a nice little touch, and microphones also have the added benefit of a lot of fun options for them to choose from. For parents, getting them started in the realm of music is essential to the fun that you can have, and you can try out a kids microphone and see for yourself the full array of benefits that you can get from this, along with some of the fun and engaging capabilities that this has as well for your child too.

Globally Local: CD Baby Expands and Regionalises to Better Support Artists in International Markets

CD Baby is announcing several key hires in music’s fastest-growing countries and regions: Latin America, the UK and EU, Canada, and East Asia/Pacific.

In the global music business, all independent music is local. CD Baby’s artist-centered approach means international expansion equals regionalisation, and the independent distributor and artist services company has hired representatives worldwide. These regional specialists will either expand CD Baby’s existing presence in their area, or launch a new regional presence.

“CD Baby is committed to becoming a global leader and to serving independent artists around the world. We need to be present where the artists are, and to provide artists everywhere the ability to get support and access to our services the way our US artists do,” says Heli Del Moral, CD Baby’s VP for International Development. “We feel it is very important to be physically present in these regions. To this end, we are expanding our global team with industry professionals who believe deeply in our vision and share our passion for indie artists.”

CD Baby’s Latest Regional Hires:

Henriette Heimdal will be joining CD Baby’s London office as Market Development Coordinator. Heimdal brings with her strong relationships across the European industry, having worked in recent years for trade association Worldwide Independent Network (WIN), representing the global independent sector.

"I have long admired the DIY spirit and independent-to-the-core ethos of CD Baby,” Heimdal states. “The artist direct market is expanding daily throughout the world, and I am extremely excited to be joining the UK team as these opportunities continue to grow."

“As we build increased and deeper relationships with our considerable UK & European artist base, I am hugely pleased to welcome Henriette on board,” says Rich Orchard, Director for UK & EU Market Development. “Her wealth of experience across those markets will be invaluable as we expand our European footprint in the months ahead.”

Darryl Hurs is CD Baby’s new Canadian representative, based in Toronto. Hurs started Indie Week Canada almost two decades ago as a hobby, only to transform it into a flagship event for the independent music scene, with thousands of bands applying each year.

"I am looking forward to being part of the international marketing team of CD Baby representing Canada,” Hurs says. “I've run Indie Week for the last 18 years with the focus on helping indie artists and I look at this as an opportunity to step it up to a higher level. I am especially excited to help artists and businesses build success stories."

“Canada is a very important market for us, and Toronto is an incredible capital for indie music,” explains Heli Del Moral. “Darryl walks the talk, and we think he’s an ideal representative and artist advocate.”

Johanna Rivera will join CD Baby representative Juan Peña in Colombia. Based in Bogota, her work will support artists from other South American and Spanish-speaking countries as well as Colombia, including parts of the Caribbean like the Dominican Republic. She worked for two years as Head of Customer Operations for a digital distribution company where she learned how to work with the artists to understand their goals and kickstart their careers.  

“I am happy to be part of a team created by artists for artists,” ethuses Riviera. “Colombia is a big market and the artists are ready to grow. We are the partner to make that happen.”

Keith Tan has devoted years in Singapore to a wide range of music-related projects. Tan will be founding the first Asian office for CD Baby, a significant move into a increasingly important market.

“Asia Pacific has a growing market of independent artists that are putting out content and music at a very high rate. We see potentially high growth in markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, The Philippines, Australia,” notes Tan. “We look forward to working with artists from these parts to assist them in their artistic journey.”

In addition to experts on the ground, CD Baby is adding a series of Artist Support Centres around the world, starting with the UK in the coming months. These centers will give specific advice in local languages tailored to the needs of artists in those locales. They will add a new dimension to CD Baby’s current relationships with local PROs, publishers, and other significant organizations that power careers for independent artists and labels.

“One of CD Baby’s true differentiators is that we are very focused on customer service. You should be able to pick up the phone and talk to a person, or get an email back promptly with an informed reply. We need people to answer in a local timezone who know the intricacies of the region and who can relate on a very local level,” reflects Del Moral. “We have built the team with this in mind, and the people who care most for artists will help us have our best business. We see this less as internationalisation, and more as regionalisation.”

 

DIY in the EU: CD Baby Brings its Positive, Idea-Packed DIY Musician Conference to Valencia, Spain for its Second Edition

CD Baby is once again returning to Spain for its EU edition of the popular DIY Musician Conference (April 6-7, 2019), the only conferences designed to impact self-managed artists’ careers through accurate, actionable ideas and advice. The DIY Musician conference has been called “life-changing,” empowering artists to do what they do better, in ways tailored to their specific needs.

For the price of modest dinner in most European cities (59 Euros), artists can spend two days exploring new approaches to marketing, pr, recording, songwriting, and royalties collection tailored to the EU market. Workshops, inspiring keynotes, special offerings from YouTube and others, and ample networking time offer musicians from all walks of life a chance to learn about the business and art of music making, in a welcoming, positive environment.

The conference will once again take place at Aula Magistral of the prestigious Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía and on the grounds of Berklee College of Music Valencia in the City of Arts and Sciences. Sessions will be held primarily in English, with several events in Spanish. More info at diymusiciancon.com/eu/.

“We’re excited to team up with Berklee Valencia once again and bring panels and workshops to European artists who are managing their own careers,” says Kevin Breuner, VP Marketing of CD Baby. At its kick-off last year, artists from 22 countries attended the conference, representing nearly every style and genre of music.

The offerings have expanded to include live performance opportunities for attendees. “That’s one piece of feedback we’ve gotten everywhere we’ve held a DIY Musician conference,” says Breuner. “Musicians always want more chances to play music for and with their fellow musicians. And we’re always looking to give them more times and ways to do that.”

It’s not just live performance opportunities artists are seeking, however; it’s overall guidance and perspective on what to do if you want to make music outside the label system. In markets like Europe, that notion of going your own way is just beginning to gain traction. “We’ve been increasingly asked to present the kind of very artist-oriented, actionable content we feature at our DIY Musician Conferences around the globe,” reflects Breuner. “It’s about bringing an education experience to the artist community that only CD Baby can do. Especially in an area like Europe that tends to still be focused on the need for a label. We are here to suggest rewarding alternatives.”

Dubset adds Warner to its clearance catalog

This week, Dubset and Warner have announced an agreement to make Warner’s tracks available on Dubset’s rights clearance catalog for DJs. This means that DJs using the Dubset platform are legally clear to include songs from Warner’s catalog in full-length mixes, and distribute those mixes to streaming services. The original rightsholders are then paid out appropriately.

This deal brings Dubset’s catalog to over 45 million tracks, now with Warner, Sony, and Merlin in their arsenal. Universal is the only Major label still holding out.

“Dubset’s team has worked tirelessly to expand its catalog, giving DJs a broader set of tracks to use in DJ sets that can be distributed to streaming services,” says Stephen White, Dubset’s CEO. “The licensed songs that DJs can include in their mixes has expanded at a blinding rate due in large part to deals signed with Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and Merlin (also known as the fourth major).”

The Glorious Sons get their Billboard #1 plaques + break records in Canada

Show.co, CD Baby’s music marketing platform, offers new marketing tools unavailable elsewhere

Now indie artists can run inexpensive audio and banner ads with precise targeting
Show.co is rolling out new, powerful tools to self-managed artists and independent labels. The marketing magic, once the sole purview of big industry players, is no longer out of reach for working musicians.

Users of the site can now run audio ad campaigns on Spotify, iHeart, and other platforms to reach fans right where they are most likely to engage, while they are listening to music. They can target listeners in a specific city or region with customized 30-second ads. 

Artists can also target potential fans via banner ads on carefully selected sites, from big music destinations like Rolling Stone and CMT.com, to niche blogs, sorted by genre. All starting at the accessible price of $50 for audio ads, and $20 for banner ads.

“We’re really excited about this new set of campaigns,” says CD Baby VP of Marketing, Kevin Breuner, who conducted several test campaigns for his own band using the tools. “A lot of these tools were once exclusive to major labels and big brands, with audio campaigns on Spotify costing more than many musicians are able or willing to invest. Now for the price of a stack of flyers and a tank of gas, you can reach out to thousands of people, right when they are already thinking about music.”

The campaigns on Show.co are designed with busy artists in mind. They can set up their marketing plan and let the campaigns run in the background. They can easily and intuitively see what’s getting traction and tweak their approach accordingly “Streaming platforms and music-related media offer a lot of opportunities for artists to connect with fans,” Breuner notes. “We want to give people the tools not just to get their music out there, but to make an impact and find their audiences.”

CD Baby artists get free access to Show.co and its complete set of marketing tools through their CD Baby artist dashboard. Labels and managers can set up accounts directly via Show.co.