Musicadium Blog

1. To get on iTunes etc. you need to use a digital distributor. It is way too time consuming to do this yourself. And you need to have high level technical skills to do it. If words like FTP and XML make good sense to you, maybe you have a shot, but trust me, you need help. Better to spend hours jamming than writing code to upload an album.
2. There are four ways digital distributors make money.
   1 - Upload/Joining Fee: Be careful of joining fees. These can range really widely and this is the most obvious thing you should know before you go any further with a distributor.
   2 - Renewal Fee: There will usually be a renewal fee to have your albums online. Check whether this fee increases per album…
   3 - Royalties: Most distributors take big royalty cuts - make sure you know how much they are taking from you.
   4 - Contracts lengths and lock-ins: Make sure you know how long you are locked in for. You don’t want to find out you have to be with a distributor for five years without being able to get out of it. This is critical!
3. Musicadium is based in Brisbane and what we do is dead simple. We help you to make the most of the digital music revolution:
   1 - $39 upload fee per release. This is a one off fee for worldwide distribution.
   2 - $20 per year (one-off fee) to cover the transaction costs of paying you royalties. This does not change, regardless whether you have 1 or 100 albums online.
   3 - Musicadium gives you 100% of your royalties. We believe we had no part in the creation of the music so we do not deserve 10% of the royalties you reap for your creativity. We distribute. We ask for payment for that. You write the music. You should receive all the royalties for that.
   4 - We do not lock you in to contracts. Leave as you please (we’ve never had this happen), but you are free to go elsewhere if you feel you can find better.

Musicadium takes some time out to have a chat with Musicadium Gold Coast based singer-songwriter Casey Barnes.

Q. What styles and influences are on your latest album?
Its a real mix this album I guess… some more up tempo rock tracks, but also some laid back ballads as well… I’m pretty confident that this is the strongest album I’ve done to date.

Q. What inspires you? What makes you wake up and think “wow that really matters?” what makes you want to write songs that make people sit down and think?
I just think it’s such a great job to be able to wake up and share music with people on a day to day basis…whether is be 5 people in a lounge room or 8000 in a concert. I hope when they listen to my stuff it puts a smile on their face… I don’t know how to explain it but music just seems to connect on so many levels no matter what mood you’re in. That’s probably one of the main things I love about it! (more…)

In the music industry, royalties are par for the course.  Royalties mean the musical pie is shared by all.  There are many scenarios where royalty sharing makes good, equitable, incentivised sense.

Digital distribution is not one of these. 

Digital distribution in the strict sense is a once-off transaction.  Much like post office sends your parcels in return for your postage costs, digital distributors send your digital files away for an upload fee.

Why then would it be necessary for the distributor to then take an ongoing percentage of the artist’s revenue?  Whether it’s 9%, 15% or 30%, the digital distributor sits back skimming the cream off your musical milk, unendingly.  And for what?  Nothing more than a simple, initial transaction.

That’s why Musicadium returns 100% of royalties to our artists.

Simple really.

Musicadium – Australia’s Dedicated Digital Distributor – is set to launch at The Zoo on Wednesday, February 13 with a fantastic showcase of local acts.

The launch will feature Ranger (comprised of singer-songwriter Cameron Mckenzie, Adele from The Go-Betweens and Martin Lee of Regurgitator fame), recent Triple J favourites The Westminsters and Byron Bay based The Frankie band. (more…)

Sometimes it’s important to go over the basics.

Like, for example, why Musicadium exists at all.

Musicadium exists because distributing music digitally is hard. It’s so hard in fact that it’s beyond the reach of most bands out there.

Each online store, like iTunes for example, requires tracks in a certain technical specification.

In addition, all tracks require barcodes and ISRC codes to track what’s being sold and to generate royalty payments.

Unless you have an in-depth understanding of the ISRC code process and the ability to transmit perfect metadata to the online stores, you’re not going to be able to distribute your music digitally.

If you are an independent artist or label, looking to get your music released online, there is no chance that iTunes or eMusic will talk directly to you. They don’t want thousands of individuals inputting data to their systems every day. They entrust that process to major labels and aggregators who act as the single entry point for the online stores.

And the truth is, managing relationships with all those online stores is tricky and time consuming. That’s where Musicadium comes in. It’s a simple, one-off fee for a tricky, time-consuming process.

We are really good at it and that’s why we exist.

This month Musicadium profiles one of Musicadium’s first artists to sign up, Pete Hawkes.

Q. What styles and influences are on your latest album?
The Pete Hawkes/Phil Emmanuel album (lost souls entwined) is very different to anything I have done so far and is an errie/spooky kind of album, a dedication to the lost musical greats who were never known in their time, people such as Nick Drake, Eva Cassidy, Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton who were ‘famous’ only after death. The music has a bit of Nick in the acoustic guitars, Danny and Roy in the electric styles, played by Phil Emmanuel, especially the volume swells on the electric but its a completely new blend.

The Hawkes/Swarbrick album (which is a re- release of an old Festival records album with ou ttakes and some of Swarbricks arrangements that never saw the light of day) is the session we did at Ian Blakes Blue Bear Studio’s which is my folk stuff, written in my own style, using alternate tunings mainly and unusual hooks and melodies although on several tracks you get Swarbricks lilting, idiosyncratic fiddle style that really ended up being THE folk fiddle style that came out of the UK and was prominent on Fairport Convention & Martin Carthy’s albums and many more. He did a very good job on Jemimma’s lullaby and Reuben’s Fancy I thought. The later was his title; he fell in love with my border collie (Reuben) and gave him the tune. (more…)

Welcome to the Musicadium Blog.

Think of this blog as an indie musician’s toolkit.

Through it, musicians can learn, improve, and ultimately make the most of their talents.

We will post here regularly with marketing tips, interviews, artist and industry profiles, how-tos, never-dos and guest posts from experts worldwide.

Please feel free to comment with your own tips and suggestions or contact me directly: nick at musicadium dot com

The Bedroom Philosopher
http://www.myspace.com/thebedroomphilosopher

Scott Edgar and The Universe
http://www.myspace.com/scottedgarandtheuniverse

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In this week’s blog, Musicadium interview’s CRASH. CRASH was born Mike Beever in 1969 in the north of England. At a very early age he is introduced to music through his father, a church organist and his mother a keen ‘New Seekers’ fan!

He develops an interest in uplifting and soaring music through his love of the great composers in particular J.S Bach, Handel, Mozart and Beethoven but it is when he comes ear to ear with film and music that the potent mix strikes a chord.

Throughout his teenage years he begins a love affair with sound synthesis aquiring his first synths at age 14 and going on to start experimenting with sound and recording throughout these years. (more…)

This month we chat with Czarina who hails from Melbourne, Australia via the Philippines. Czarina first entered Melbourne’s R&B scene back in 2002. But music has been running through her veins since she was a child. Through joining various choirs and even a family band at age 16, Czarina gained more insight into her love for creating music. She even formed part of a vocal group where she arranged the harmonies. This increased exposure to music led her to obtaining support slots for touring Filipino artists, gaining Czarina a strong reputation in the Filipino community. She even sang on Channel 9’s program, ‘StarStruck’, in 2000, performing a version of Monica’s, ‘Angel of Mine’.

All this finally led to Czarina hitting the studio and recording her own original songs. Working with some of Australia’s hottest producers, singers, dancers and MC’s at the time (including JWess, Digga, Israel, Randolf Winston & Vince Calingasan), Czarina began to stamp her mark on the scene with her smooth, melodic and catchy R&B / Pop tunes through her energetic and sexy live performances in some of Melbourne’s hottest clubs, including The Next Blue, Saratoga, Club Odeon and Club Matrix.

Being influenced by the likes of Janet Jackson, Mya, Usher, Aaliyah and Justin Timberlake, her new musical direction is more an extension of her old self, rather than an entirely new path.

Czarina has written all the songs for her Album Demo (15 tracks) and has been hard at work in the studio with Damion recording and polishing off the project (which features local MC’s: Lipz, Cee-For and the recently signed, GMC).

Q. When did you first know that creating music was for you?
When I was about 19 I realised I could actually write songs! I’ve always loved writing poems growing up. Music and singing have always been part of my life though.Q. What inspires you? What makes you want to write songs that make people sit down and think?

Life experiences, family & friends inspire me most. Past experiences have lead me to feel and think the way I do now, and I believe that we only have one life to live so we should definitely make the most of it. Not take important people in our life for granted. Do what we enjoy doing and work hard. My husband & parents are extremely supportive, and my son makes me aim higher so that as he grows up he’ll also know that he can do anything.

Q. What styles and influences are on your latest album?
R&B mainly (ie. Janet Jackson / Justin Timberlake influences), however, because I bring a lot of positivity in my songs as well, I am also very Pop oriented (like our lovely Kylie).

Q. How did you come up with your band name?
OOh! That’s an easy one! I used my real first name! hehe

Q. How long of you been playing your instruments/singing and did you take lessons?
I’ve probably been singing since I was 5 years old really but nothing as exciting as what I do now. I used to be in choirs and bands growing up, and took a few singing lessons, but no formal training.

Q. What’s your favourite colour?
Purple!

Q. Do you have a day/square job as well as music? If so what is it?
Yes I do, I work full time in an insurance company in the city.

Q. What did you think of the last Harry Potter book?
Actually I’m only up to the third book now (started reading the series a few weeks ago - held off all this time because I didn’t get into the craze of it, BUT now I’m a huge fan.) so once I finish all the books, I’ll let you know what I think of the last one! Loving it so far though!!!

Q. The best thing about being an artist is?
Getting feedback from people saying that they love my songs! Hearing them say that they can relate to a song that I’d written. Myspace is a wonderful tool for artists as feedback is world-wide! The hype of performing as well and
the fact that I can listen to a whole album which is all mine!

Q. Why did you choose Musicadium to digitally distribute your music?
Musicadium had the most user friendly website, most competitive price and kind and efficient staff.

“I chose Musicadium because they had the most user friendly website, most competitive price and kind and efficient staff. Even before signing up completely, I had emailed Kley so that I understood the way it all worked, and he responded quickly and didn’t seem to mind that I had asked SO MANY questions! I have since then been dealing with Michaela who has been fantastic! I was so surprised when she had told me that they were having a press
release done in regards to my being in the top 30 of the NA2R competition, and again now with the feature! I’m glad that I chose Musicadium because they are not just getting my songs out there, they have been extremely supportive in all aspects of my music.”

Czarina Czarina Release Date: 01 Jan 2007 Genre: R&B/Soul (c) 2007 C. Lapus-Di Santo / D. Portaro