Musicadium Blog

Recently, Musicadium were lucky enough to score an interview with Dan Brooks, vocalist and guitarist of Sydney quartet Cabins. With a handful of achievements already in 2010 including current ITunes Single of the Week for their awesome new track ‘Catcher In The Rye’, as well as a recently announced national tour with buddies the Mess Hall and Bridezilla, Cabins are a band not to be missed this year. Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/cabinsband

1. After a crazy 2009 you guys are being hailed as one of the biggest prospects in 2010. Are you feeling the pressure or enjoying the ride to success?

Wow. That’s quite amazing to hear. Now we are feeling a little nervous……

I guess 2009 was pretty crazy but crazy in the way that things started to happen quite fast. Before we knew it we were in the studio recording, touring a whole lot more and really finding our feet as a band. Its been great.

2. Is there a story behind the name “Cabins” or do you just really hate tents?

Aha we do like to camp but man when its cold of a night and hot in the morning in a tent, its not so good.
The name actually came from a song we had called the cabin; the song was about being content with the homes/places we were in at the time.

We really like the name, sometimes its tough to come up with something that defines you. We don’t think it really puts us in a category or genre as such which helps. It’s a neutral name.

3. Supporting Mess Hall around Oz in March must be a great feeling. Looking forward to touring? Any funny/scary/interesting tour stories you can share with us?

The Mess hall are an amazing band, not only on record but to watch live. We take great inspiration from bands like the Mess Hall and take pride in our live set. We have played with them a couple of times so going back on the road with them and our good friends Bridezilla for the entire tour will be great. Places like Perth, Hobart and Adelaide are a first for us which is pretty exciting. We will report back with the funny/scary/interesting after….

4. Your next mini album is due for release very soon. Can you give us avid admirers a peek of what to expect?

If you have seen us live we would say to expect an album that stays true to our live performance. This is an album that is us now, its a part of us and documents this time for Cabins. We feel really good about the record and were able to work with a great producer (Woody Annison) and some special guests on one of the tracks. It’s quite dark and we experimented a bit in studio so the outcome is a little different…

5. You have really interesting and almost maudlin melodic arrangement. Is this inspired by anyone in particular?

Yeah I guess you could say the songs are that way. The artists we admire like: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, The Walkmen, etc have that edge or side to them. We find that darker emotional maudlin side to music/songwriting interesting, gives us a lot more to sing about. Telling stories about the darker experiences we’ve had, tales of journeys and strange murders (those which are fictional of course).

6. Finally, what’s in store post- Mess Hall tour and album release? Surely a holiday is in order?

We are writing at the moment, so we are going to have a whole lot more music by the time the end of the year is up.

We enjoy writing music and playing shows so in a way a holiday is not needed. We have been sitting on these latest songs, eager to have them out, so to be able to put out this mini album is a big relief/accomplishment/drive to record more.

Plus, even if we really needed it, I think a holiday would be out the cards. 2010 will still be packed with more touring.
Maybe after that ……

Downoad Cabins’ ‘Catcher In The Rye’ for free as ITunes Single of the week here

Remember the so called ‘good old days’, when bands just made money from CD sales, touring and merchandise? ‘Selling out’ or making money from a corporate tie in, or through having a song featured in  a mainstream movie was deemed a pretty negative thing. Things have since  changed, and with the decrease in record sales and the recent havoc within the music industry, artists are looking for new and interesting ways  to get their music heard.

One way of doing this is by selling their music to be synchronized with commercials and hit television programs. Synchronization gives artists the  opportunity to have their music played during a commercial or a television series. This not only creates a hefty wad of cash, but generates a huge amount of exposure and awareness.

On a local scale, take the Mitsubishi Lancer ad with Polka, by Yves Klein Blue playing. You know the one - the couple are throwing stuff into the back of their car, and the song makes the ad great. Or if you want to look at it from a bigger scale, there are television shows, Gossip Girl or Entourage to name a few, who only want the latest and greatest music featured, Entourage has featured music from Cold War Kids, Phoenix and even our very own Empire of The Sun.

The exposure and recognition that is gained from your song is uncharted as it could be played across all television stations on     
free-to-air, dozens of stations on Foxtel and Austar, at prime time to millions of people. Even if it is only a snippet of a song, it is helping to reach an audience outside your target market that you wouldn’t have thought of before. Having a song synced with a commercial could help to also generate numerous purchases. With the use of iPhone apps such as Shazam, a consumer can hear the song on an ad, Shazam it, and have the opportunity to purchase it via iTunes immediately.

The new hit show Glee is a great example of synchronization at its best. Glee has sold over 2 million tracks on iTunes, and its success doesn’t look like it is going to slow down. The cast also cover popular songs, and this is helping to boost sales by artists who manage to get selected for the show – an example of this being Rihanna’s “Take A Bow” increasing a massive 189% since it was covered on Glee. The royalties that they are generating for older artists is also incredible, the Glee Cast covered Journeys “Don’t Stop Believin” and it was certified Gold in December selling 500,000 copies. See the article here.

In theory, sync is great but is anybody really paying that much attention?  Sure you hear a great song in a movie, you might go buy the soundtrack, or find it through other sources via the Internet once you’ve identified it on Shazam. One good song on Gossip Girl may give you a kick start, but the rest, a great live show, other great tracks, still needs to be present in order be successful. Otherwise an artist may fall into the abyss of songs that are only associated with the ads they were on, and become known as “Oh yeah, the song off that dog food ad” forever.

With not a whole lot of ads being created, and so many artists trying to get heard, the chance of ending up on an ad are slim, to none. But still, if this could be harnessed, and Australian commercials used music by Australian bands, then the world would be better place.

Take from this blog what you will. At the end of the day what works for some people won’t always work for others. The old model of selling albums to make money is changing along with culture. Artists need new ways to get their music heard, and if that means writing a song for a vampire soundtrack, is that still selling out, or simply surviving?

Attribution for photographs

Are you an Independent Artist or Label seeking placement of your music into Film, TV, Commercials and Games?

PressPlay Media is currently have songs being represented for Placement into two feature films, a mobile phone commercial, a promotional CD, web sites, fashion TV show and another commercial. In 2010 they will have representation in the USA to license our Australian music.
What about earning on-going royalties from your music to be copied onto the music systems playing in the Hospitality & Retail Industries?

PressPlay Medis supplies our music to Australia’s largest Background Music Providers. Their clients include thousands of Retail Chains, Gyms, Cafes, Restaurants, Clubs, Pubs, Hotels etc Australia and WorldWide.

Pressplay Media provide a music licensing service on behalf of our Artists including: Sync/Placement into Film, Television, Commercials & Games AND Reproduction of their music into Hospitality and Retail.

Wendy Small of Pressplay Media; “In 2009 an opportunity came our way which has opened the door for our Independent Artists giving them the chance of exposure and on-going royalties. In 2010 a roll out of our music will commence into the Retail and Hospitality Industries”

“Pressplay Media is not a Publisher. We do not “Re-Title” music. We do not ask our Artists to “License Back” their music to APRA. Our Artists retain 100% of their rights and ownership. We encourage our Artists to be members of APRA and AMCOS so they may collect 100% of their Public Performance and Broadcast royalties”.

So what about this OPPORTUNITY for Artists?
When clubs, restaurants and hotels want to play background music, they have to pay a license fee to the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA), which represents major music labels and recording artists and The Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), who represent the Composers and Writers.

From December 1, the PPCA increased the tariff required every year by all clubs, hotels, restaurants and cafes wanting to play background music. The scheme will have increased some license fees from around $500 to almost $36,000.

Businesses have decided to turn off tunes licensed by the record companies and play the music of artists that are not signed to major labels.

One of the larger businesses making this decision: Clubs Australia have announced a scheme to play and promote music by independent artists, instead of those registered with the PPCA, in a bid to avoid the higher fees. A new scheme to play and promote independent artists may spell the end to mainstream Australian music at clubs and restaurants.

Clubs Australia set up a program to source and distribute the music of artists not signed to major record labels and who are consequently exempt from the restaurant tariff. This program includes the use of music by Artists signed to Pressplay Media that are provided on the Venue Music Solutions CDs and Music Systems.

Please either go to the Pressplay Media web site (www.pressplay.com.au) or this link for more information http://www.clubsnsw.com.au/Content/NavigationMenu/PolicyIssues/ClubMusic/default.htm

This will mean the Artists receive royalties paid quarterly plus APRA performance fees AND through Pressplay Media and Venue Music Solutions there will be an opportunity to perform live across these Clubs!

The music provided by Pressplay Media does not always have to end up in a PPCA Free playlist. Pressplay Artists also have the opportunity to have their music playing along side Top 40 music in commercial venues.

Join Pressplay Media and make money from your music with a Sync Fee and a Reproduction Fee. Keep 100% of your copyright and earn even more from your APRA Public Performance fees and AMCOS fees!
Sign on and submit your music for consideration!

www.pressplay.com.au

Jules, Flawless and Arno collectively form the Gold Coast original reggae funksters known as Anarchist Duck, and have just released their EP Propaganda to the world through iTunes. Musicadium Intern Julia “Ju-ju Bean” Bridger caught up with Flawless between the band’s antics which include; rescuing baby ducks from train tracks, “funk”-ing the system and drinking herbal teas, to find out what being a “Duck” is all about.

The name Anarchist Duck is pretty attention-grabbing and describes your political slant pretty well - but why a duck?

Ducks are amazing creatures and we stared at two holes in the wall that we turned into a duck when we first started jamming. I guess there’s a double entendre for the literary minded also, in that if you question the laws in society, you better duck. Anarchy to us is about the absence of control, not about the absence of respect and probably isn’t intended with the typical connotations. We are all about harmony, community and psychic time travel.

Your style has been described as a mix of Rage Against The Machine, Bob Marley and The Red Hot Chili Peppers among others. That’s quite a mixture, how do you manage to come up with such an eclectic sound?

By listening to A LOT of music all the time and taking all our favourite parts and mixing them together. That mixture is kind of like the mixture of spices you might use for an amazing indian curry, you add the spices and when they blend a completely new flavour is created.

Your music definitely has a political activist sense about it, as people can probably guess from your name. What influences you to help create positive change?

People fighting for what they believe in and being open to what others believe, not being afraid to be different from the ‘norm’. People who can look beneath the facade of society and follow their intuition despite obstacles inspire me to do the same. The absolute beauty that lies within every person is the best inspiration along with nature in all its glory.

I’ve read that your style is like Parliament and you’re heavily influenced by George Clinton, which makes me think of the Mighty Boosh. Do you “got the funk”?

We got the funk, you gotta have the funk. We are perhaps more heavily influenced by the likes of Bjork, Ween, PJ Harvey, Ani diFranco, Rage Against the Machine and the Chili Peppers. The old funk stuff like the Meters, Tower of Power and there is also a strong Bob Marley and 10 ft Ganja plant influence, hence all our funky reggae.

On your MySpace, you say that one of your least favourite past-times is “being asked to play bad covers especially by drunk people who have never heard of burping and blowing it in the OTHER direction.” This quote leads me to two questions- What is the worst cover request you’ve had, and how many people have burped in your face when requesting one?

I guess it’s more that you’re playing your guts out to an audience and then someone asks you to play a cover and it’s like “Ok, I don’t really hear what you have to say, I want to hear something someone else has to say.” Usually we don’t even know the songs being requested and then we have to say no and feel bad. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve had a burp blown in my face and sometimes it’s by my own band members (or myself!)

You’re performing all the way down the East Coast of Australia in the coming months, what can people expect from your shows?

A worldly experience that blends beautiful harmonies with hard funk and reggae grooves, some rapping and a lot of laughs.

Check out “The Duck” on Facebook, Triple J’s Unearthed and their tour dates are all up on their MySpace

An event management professional said to me recently that she came across a band who believed that “Professionalism” has no place in the music industry and should not be taken into consideration when choosing bands for a lineup on a gig’s bill.

Sounds crazy, right?  I believe in professionalism in any industry (your band as a business and a brand depends on it), but I also believe in creativity and creative licence in a performance.

I understand to some extent what the musician is talking about - I am a musician myself (well, drummer anyway) and I understand that there is the whole credibility vs corporate “Don’t sell out to the man!” mantra amongst musicians.  Anyone who knows good music will know a band who has sold out to the “man” and are not being true to themselves. There is a big difference between being a professional and sacrificing credibility for dollars.

Let’s have a look at what professionalism actually means in the music industry.

From what I can tell about the statement made by the musician, he believed that a good-looking MySpace or website, facebook page etc, good quality recordings, a bio and playing to a timeframe given for the gig was all irrelevant and that his “good music” should be considered above all else and that he should be given gigs based on that. The event management professional had given him gigs previously and the band turned up late for soundcheck, complained when they could not have one because of lack of time, played a lot longer than the allocated timeslot and ignoring directions from stage management.  Sounds like a nightmare, right? But still, he insisted that Professionalism was periphery to the music industry.

Musicians are always busy people and often working 9-5ers as well as creating art, but is that any reason why professionalism should be dropped?

I do not believe that being a musician and being a professional are mutually exclusive, even after a musician has got to the point where they pick up a manager to take care of business affairs. So here’s a list I have come up with. Feel free to add to it or cut it to pieces.

Top tips for interacting with music industry

• Get yourself an appropriate e-mail address with which to do all written correspondence, even if it’s a free one. i.e. bandname@gmail.com.
  The email account you started for yourself at high school using your nickname or some such reference is not professional and does not indicate that you are taking the correspondence overly seriously.
• Check your spelling, be neat and fact-check!
  This goes for all written correspondence - MySpace page, facebook, bio, twitter, e-mail, applications to festivals.  Paste text into your text-editor of your choice and have it give you a cursory look at your paragraphs to quickly identify any major problems with your spelling.  Then go over it yourself and give it an idiot-check.  In my opinion, nothing shoots down your credibility quicker than (consistently or obviously) spelling words wrong. Worse is spelling names wrong or getting names/facts wrong altogether!!
• Be on time.
  Whether it’s a meeting with an industry person, a soundcheck or for a gig or a media call, don’t be late or lazy! Obviously, acts of God or massive traffic jams aside, being on time and having a great attitude counts a lot! The easier you are to deal with and the smoother the process of working with you to provide a great show/service, the less resistance you will encounter from that industry worker again. Remember the old rule of restaurants. If you get bad service from a restaurant, a customer will tell 8 people. If they get good service, they are likely to tell only 1 or 2.  You are the one providing the service in this case and you are the one who can leave a good impression!
• Sound great!
  Don’t go to industry people (labels, booking agents) with your music until you have something that you feel truely represents you.  Obviously, this will be a continuous battle to perfect this.  I am simply suggesting don’t go public with demo that will be detrimental to your chances of interacting with that industry worker again.  Additionally: choose wisely who you send your material to and do some research. If a label specialises in dance music releases, as a general rule, they won’t be interested in your alt-country release, so it’s probably safe to say it’s a waste of time committing your time to that.
• Look good!
  While not necessary, a great press shot will turn heads.  While what REALLY matters is the music, of course, often a promo photo or CD cover art will be the first contact a band will have industry, hopefully just prior to listening to your tunes. You have a chance to tell a story very quickly with these tools and the more concise you are with your message in these mediums, the more chance you have of someone giving it a spin.
• You don’t have to be Formal, but be respectful.
  While you don’t have to lay out any e-mails with Dear Sir/Madam or To Whom it may concern, professionalism in this case certainly takes on another guise. It means acknowledging that Music Industry professionals are busy people and your e-mail/call is going to be one of hundreds of things they do that day. So keep it simple and short, well-written and to the point. Ask what you want to ask and leave it with them. Don’t follow up every two hours with “Have you had a chance to have a look at my e-mail?” etc. Maybe a follow up after a week if you feel that there is some urgency.

Griffith University’s Dave Carter caused quite the stir when presenting his Online Marketing Research Paper at Big Sound this year. So much so, that he has since been interviewed globally on his findings - and most recently by Ariel Hyatt of Music Think Tank. Check out the fantastic interview here, and Ariel’s site here.

In case you missed out on Dave’s findings at Big Sound, or you’re yet to read them at www.musicadium.com/reports, Musicadium team member Anna Stodart has given you a rundown of Dave’s findings, and what it means for you as an artist and as a fan.

Follow Dave here

Follow Ariel here

In a recent study conducted by Griffith University Professor Dave Carter, it was examined if the web presence and sales data for 99 independent Australian artists distributed by Musicadium could identify what, if any, relationships exist between their use of online space and digital sales

Let’s face it; should bands really be shamelessly stalking radio announcers for airplay anymore? And when was the last time you watched Video Hits? What musicians should really be pushing for, at least according to Carter’s findings, is an online following.

Carter’s findings suggest that with higher levels of fan or audience engagement, there was a tendency to correspond to proportionally higher artist earnings. The most successful artists, as distributed by Musicadium, were those who made use of multiple inter-linked sites, including a dedicated website or blog as well the use of mailing lists and the provision of free content.

In the same way that no two people will share the exact same music taste, not every social medium is going to speak to every person. So it’s in a bands best interest to get amongst as many of them as possible. And don’t forget the odd free giveaway. Every fan loves a free giveaway.

So, what does it all mean? Fans (or to others, consumers) are tuning out to the white noise of traditional mediums and are seeking more from bands than the radio and television can offer. Fans are free to pick and choose bands as they please, and can simply push aside the racket that is presented to them by major broadcasting avenues and labels. They are turning down the radio, turning off the TV and turning to the internet and they’re online- waiting for you.

So the online social networking frenzy may be another way to generate buzz about your band. But an up and coming musician shouldn’t forget that fans are logging in online and taking their time out to connect with you.

What it all comes down to is relationships- if they can’t connect with you, they can’t connect with your music.

So here’s an update of what I’ve been up to recently.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been busy posting tickets to bands scheduled to play at UnPlug. As you can see in the picture below, I’ve including my awesome new business cards, plus anything else Musicadium/UnPlug related. Upcoming at UnPlug we have metal bands, indie bands and a few acoustic nights…each a first for the venue, something I’m definitely looking forward too.

My business cards arrived at the beginning of last week and they look awesome (did I mention that they look awesome?!) I’m hell stoked as it means I can now promote the Musicadium name in style, offering a more efficient and reliable method of networking. I’ll make sure these cards stay in my back pocket indefinitely! (well at least not during the wash)

After incorporating the Unplug Live/Musicadium association,  I’ve also decided to give our original flyers a revamp.

You can check out previews below:

These will be due for collection from Street Print towards the end of the week.

and finally…

The Musicadium Podcast

With the first set of UnPlug Live shows shortly arriving, I’ll be starting progress on the Musicadium Podcast I’ve been discussing in recent posts. For every booking, I’ll be requesting a high quality MP3 of an artists track, during the week of the event due to be taking place. Each UnPlug Live show shall consist of three bands on the line-up, with regular mid-week gigs scheduled each month. At the end of the month, I’ll then produce a podcast featuring tracks from all the artists whom have played at the venue. However, the artists whom shall be featured on the podcasts will only be those who have successfully completed the UnPlug Live policy, earning a distribution deal with Musicadium. This demonstrates a solid working strategy benefiting both the artist, the venue and of course Musicadium. I’ll be creating the podcasts here, providing the team at Musicadium with all necessary log-in information and passwords. From here, I’ll look into posting a download link each month on the Musicadium blog, with a brief description of the artists featured.

That’s all for now!

Peace

Jimbo

I don’t know about you, but I think about all the big questions in life - why is belly button lint blue? Will lemon juice make you thinner? Where do babies come from?

You know who knows the answers to these questions? No, not your mummy, but everyone’s favourite science boffin and new Musicadium artist, Dr Karl!

Dr Karl, an artist? Yes people, Dr Karl has been working with his mate Jay from Triple J’s Jay and Doctor and a few of his muso friends to realise his dream of becoming a rock star. The result is his new punk track “Get Fact” which will be available shortly on iTunes.

In the meantime, you can pick up Dr Karl’s new book Never Mind the Bullocks: Here’s the Science at any reputable book store. He’s also coming to sign said book at a store near you sometime in the next month, so check out the dates for his book tour here. He’s also on Twitter, or you can catch him with Zan Rowe on Triple J mornings every Thursday at 11am.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, the Valley Fiesta took over Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley just last weekend, providing Fiesta-goers with some amazing local, inter-state  and international acts via their four main stages and a myriad of satellite events. Add visual art, theater, markets and zombies into the mix, and you’ve got one exciting weekend.

As a member of The Honey Month, I had the amazing opportunity of playing on the Naked All Sorts Mall Stage (with the beautiful condom backdrops), a stage which held host to acts as diverse (and incredibly talented) as Kev Carmody and Bertie Blackman. This was by far our biggest gig to date, and as such it would have been rather difficult not to have learned anything. Below are just a few of the things we discovered, as well as some things that were reinforced.

1. Get there early. This sounds painfully obvious, but it has to be said, especially when playing at festivals. Due to their finely tuned timetables, organizers are far less forgiving of your battle with traffic or your nervous bladder , and you’ll end up either cutting in to your sound check or set time, neither of which is desirable.
2. Don’t pull your instrument lead out without first checking with the sound guy. He won’t like you, and neither will your bandmates.
3. On the topic of sound guys, learn their names! They are responsible for making you sound good, and are generally lovely people to boot, so do them the small courtesy of introducing yourself. You’ll find it goes a long way, especially if you happen to run into them at a future event.
4. Don’t let barriers kill your crowd interaction. As far as I can remember, we haven’t played at a venue with barriers, and it can be a bit disconcerting when you first realise you are seperated from the crowd. Just remember that crowd interaction goes above and beyond a mere hi-5, and to keep the energy and personal interaction going despite the distance.
5. Speaking of energy, it is important to keep your entire festival performance at 110%. Whether this means cutting a particularly slow, long song that works brilliantly in an intimate venue or dancing like a maniac, festivals are the perfect opportunity to catch the eye of a passerby. Remember, there are always other stages and artists to entertain them, so it is up to you to ensure they’re hooked.
6. Get off stage quickly. While signing autographs and getting your picture taken with your legion of adoring fans is no doubt attractive, your primary focus upon finishing your set should be to get out of the way of the next band. The band before us, the wonderful Little Scout (who are, coincidentally, Musicadium artists, check them out on iTunes here ) , virtually vanished into thin air, which meant we had more than enough time to set up and soundcheck.

While this list is by no means comprehensive, it has hopefully provided some things to think about before you jump up on stage for your next festival gig. If you’re yet to play in a festival, I encourage you to do everything in your power to get a slot. They are without a doubt one of the best ways of expanding your fan base, and are also ridiculous amounts of fun!

Fashionistas, indie kids, art appreciators, music fiends and even rumours of a Marylin Manson appearance ensured that glassghost at x and y bar on Saturday night was a resounding success. Musicadium favourites The Cityscape Riot kicked off the night in stellar form, with frontman Joseph even chipping a tooth during the energetic and at times confrontational set - proving they are, in fact, riotous. In a good way of course.

The Turpentine fashion parade showcased some of Brisbane’s local design talent, and some of our better looking residents, as they strutted and strolled onto the x and y stage looking uber cool.

DJ Jane Doe, as usual got the crowd moving afterwards with her electro-trash remixes and crazy beats reminiscent of MIA, Santogold and some lady La Roux, paving the way for a dance-fuelled night at x and y.

Put simply, glassghost = gem.

To check out a gallery of photos from the night head to www.thelastbeatniks.com.

To buy the Cityscape Riot’s music head to