Musicadium Blog

This weekend just past saw me (Tim) travel to Rockhampton to play at the largest annual All Ages event in the region, Rockfest, which in the past has been headlined by The Butterfly Effect, Kisschasy, Youth Group and Gyroscope - this year’s was headlined by the amazing Dead Letter Circus.  I played drums with The Origin Complex, the band who I played for before I moved to Brisbane.  Musicadium Artists The Short Fall and Epidemic…Over also played at this event.

I also do some “pseudo-management” for The Origin Complex, so in the lead up to the event, I was thinking in terms of online presence.  The Origin Complex already has a MySpace page and a Facebook page, but not a twitter account.

My first impulse was to not bother using Twitter for this purpose, as after a few searches via search.twitter.com, did not show up too many different tweeters in the Rockhampton region. Further research using location-based searches (rather than keyword searches) dug up quite a few more.

I saw this as an opportunity to perform an experiment on the takeup of twitter in a regional area.  I signed the band up for a twitter account and with the help of the internet and an iPhone with the twitterific application, I was able to twitter my entire Rockfest experience.  I have always said that there is no point to using Twitter without a purpose.  You need to decide exactly why you are using Twitter - this then determines the people you actively go to follow and also your “voice” when interacting with other tweeters.  I decided that the purpose of The Origin Complex’ use of Twitter was to spread the word about bands/artists making connections with fans and also to get more people in Rockhampton listen to our music and become fans.  A secondary goal was to make people aware of Rockfest in the upcoming week.  As the use of the twitter account will be ongoing, this was only a temporary goal.

The Origin Complex can be followed on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/origincomplex.

To maximise the fan connection, I wanted to avoid having any standard avatars (the logo next to your twitter name) or backgrounds.  I began by creating a background that included a picture of the singer, Glenn, and the band name and MySpace URL for the band.  I used a photo of the four members of the band as the avatar.  I wanted fans to see who the members of the band were.

Next, I used twitter’s search function to find people talking about Rockhampton.  I found numerous conversations about things going on in Rockhampton, including the local newspaper (The Morning Bulletin) and a radio station (ABC Capricornia - who, ironically, have a 40+ age group demographic and yet, are the only radio station in the region to use twitter - come on, commercial stations, you are already behind the times, please join us in the 21st century - you claim to be “down with the kids”.  From these connections, I leveraged a story (that I had to write) in the newspaper and a quick pre-record on the radio station, which aired on Friday April 3rd.  As it is a new technology and a new way of approaching promotion in the regional Queensland city, it was certainly a different spin on the other press releases, so it got a run in the local media.

I followed as many people as I could find from the local area, including Yeppoon, Rockhampton and Gladstone.  I got a few follows back, but the takeup was not massive, though still worth it!  Those who did follow the feed connected well with the band, asking questions and wishing us luck on stage.

I offered links to our various social networking sites, so there was opportunities for people to check out our tracks.  It would have been better leveraged with some more time and planning, such as the ability to give away tracks in exchange for email addresses at a website, for example.

I cannot say for certain that this is the case for all regional areas, but certainly the findings from my experience tweeting Rockfest has shown that there is a place for Twitter in creating genuine band-fan connections.

Read some post event press here: http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/story/2009/04/06/thousands-turn-rock-out-and-mosh-music-bowl/

9.30am - ‘Get up, book a flight, I found you a ticket to MTV tonight’

9.31am - Threw up a little in my mouth

9.32am - Showered, then booked flights

Thinking I was going to have the house to myself for a few days, which rarely happens, this was not exactly what I was expecting.  A friend of mine who was one of the musicians playing at the MTV Australia Awards had found a spare ticket and asked me to come down and join the party.

After picking up a dress I’d found the day before as a ‘just in case’ dress, and stopping into Musicadium for some business cards to dish out to artists and company owners, I sped to the airport, parked, ran inside, checked in, sat down in em-BAR-go to have a scotch then realised I’d left my dress in the car.  After talking with the hosties, who said I had 10mins to get back before the plane left, I took my chances and ran back to the car park and made it just in time.  Ridiculous way to start the day.

1.30pm - Drink

To cool off on the plane I ordered a scotch, and then asked the two men next to me if they would please drink with me so I don’t look like an emo alcoholic.  To my surprise they said yes and two rums and a scotch later we were the best of friends.

3.30pm - Arrive at Hilton

Walking through the Hilton crowd of people with fancy phones, fancy tattoos and fancy friends, I saw the guitarist from The Killers sitting in the lobby.  Must. Stay. Calm.

4.00 pm - Get Ticket

After getting though the ’suits of music’ in the lobby I got into the lift and made my way up to the 42^nd floor.  After hanging out in the room for 15 minutes, the van had arrived and they had to go to Dress Rehearsal, Hair and Makeup. I found my ticket on the table and all it said was ‘Talent Entourage’.  So “Almost Famous.”

7.00pm - Freak Out

Drank beers from hotel mini bar.

7.30 - MTV Awards

I found a door away from the lights and asked if my tag could get me in, it did, and so I continued through a bunch of doors Alice in wonderland style and eventually ended up at the bright lights and camera end of the red carpet.  After scurrying off quickly I was met by Molly Meldrum interviewing Duffy.  This was the beginning of the stalk-a-thon.

8.00pm - Through the Tall Black Curtains

Up until this time I thought I had a pass that got me into the general public area maybe including a fast track in the bar line.  I went through these massive curtains and ended up behind the stage.  First thing I saw was a monitor directly in front of me with The Killers playing the opening to the show.  To my left was the celebrity grandstand and to my right was Jessica Mauboy’s back up dancers practicing their little hearts out.  Dannii Minogue then walked past, that’s when I decided I needed to just pretend to look at the monitor, get my bearings and to stay calm.

Still looking at the monitor acting as though I was a tech without the headpiece Mark Hoppus came up to my left and Pete Wentz on the right. Oblivious to this, I only noticed when they started talking.  Intrigued by who had the American accents I looked up and saw who they were.  I couldn’t help but laugh.  I was invited into the conversation about how they were going to simulate sex after the show… I encouraged it.

Hoppus then asked if I worked for MTV and if he can say “bitch” on stage, I told him I didn’t work for them but to give it a go anyway and see what happened, he said he liked me style.  I wanted to spew.

8.30pm - Settling Down.

I hung out side of stage watching the show and the fluffing of celebrities for the first half of the show.  After 3 jagers and a couple of wines I started thinking I was able to strike up conversations with these people.  First chat was with Rhys Darby (better known as Murray from Flight of the Conchords).  I said I saw him hanging in the VIP area of the stand and that he didn’t look like he was having the best of times and this wasn’t his crowd.  He laughed and said ‘Yeah, you’re probably right’. Classic Murray.

The second half of the show was spent out the back where all the dressing rooms/dongers were.  I met Vanilla Ice, Delta Goodrem, Damien De Montemas, Dieter Brummer (heartthrob), The Killers, Wolfmother and The Fray.

The Killers guitarist was giving me and some other girls cheek, asking if he was in the top 10 hottest guys in Australia at the moment.  I said no.  He didn’t take that too well, saying he needed a boost before going back onstage.  I gave him top 100 and he accepted.  He appreciated that and I cheers-ed his drink before going back onstage.

11.00pm - After Party

After the show the lovely volunteer Jade radioed for a car to be ready for 14 people.  2mins later the van was waiting for us outside and the band and crew got in and we were off to the Hilton for the after party.

Imagine this, jager shots, beers, wines, champagnes all lined up for you to take for free. Rad.

After getting all the photos I could with the people in the VVIP section of the room (including Ashlee Simpson, Pete Wentz, Mark Hoppus and Dannii Minogue) I went to hang with the not so celebrity celebrities.  Dieter Brummer and Damien De Montemas were my favorites by the end of the night.  Happy to dance, drink and talk shit.

After too many jagers followed by some beers I was well and truly over the limit and dancing like a tool.  To my surprise though, I looked over and there was a dance off between Nacho Pop and a random.  How many can say they’ve seen Nacho Pop in a dance off?  He seriously was popping all over the shop, even in the photo I had with him.  Check out those jazz hands.

4.30am - Being Kicked Out

The bars were closing and all that was left were the Bra Boys, Rhys Darby, the Vogue Model, whom I was making pose for me, and my friend Mark.  We decided (rather the bouncers decided) it was time to go.

Next time (there will be a next time) I will find the guts to ask out Dieter.  He will be mine, oh yes. He will be mine.

Musicadium gets a wrap in APRA’s APRAP Magazine!

Australian Performing Rights Association (APRA) put out a magazine 3 times a year - and the March 2009 edition features an interview with Tim Price, Musicadium’s Promotions and Development Manager.

FROM PAGE 5 OF THE APRAP (March 2009)

Musicadium is an Australian-based company that helps self-released artists and independent labels to digitally distribute and market their music across the globe.

Musicadium is focused on digital distribution and have rapidly built a local profile and customer base, as well as servicing customers worldwide. Aprap spoke with
Tim Price, Musicadium’s Promotions and Development Manager.

What sort of music content are you looking for?
Everyone, basically! We have a very large indie and rock base, as well as a lot of singer/songwriters. We are beginning to see jazz and dance music coming in and there is always room for any genre imaginable. We take all comers; we do not reject content, so we really are in the business of allowing any artist to have their music online and for distribution. We want to allow anyone to generate new revenue streams for themselves.

Which DSPs do you supply?
Currently, we supply iTunes, Emusic and Amazon. We are in the final phases of testing with Nokia and that should be live very soon. We have a view to expand this list to cover all of the major outlets.

How do you charge for your service?
We believe our fee model is the most artist friendly. We charge up-front and don’t take a percentage of royalties earned. We charge on the basis of the number of outlets you wish to distribute to. You can distribute your albums to iTunes, emusic or Amazon mp3.

What is the best way for a music creator to get your attention?

We don’t make judgment calls on bands’ content; therefore the best way to get our attention is simply to sign up! Though, there are ways of making us work for you! When you sign up, make sure you are organised and have your artwork (high res files), track details and PayPal account info ready to enter into our system. Also, send through press releases when you have something exciting come up: whilst we can’t promote every release we get, we love to blog about it and put it in our e-mail marketing campaigns. We love it when one of our artists has some success!

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Some fantastic developments for Musicadium

In the very near future, expect an announcement about our brand spankin’ new upload system as well as a new outlet that you can distribute your music to - Nokia Music becoming available! And YES…you will be part of the Nokia Comes with Music plans if you choose to opt in!!

There is no exact date set yet, but these two wonderful developments will come online at the same time.  Watch this space to find out how to add your release to Nokia Music.

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Musicadium to distribute Little Red and Dragon!

Melbourne band Little Red are now among the artists we distrribute, as well as the classic Australian Band, Dragon.

Check out Little Red @ Myspace, Facebook and Twitter.

Check out Dragon @ their Official Website.

This week, we are featuring The Short Fall, a pop-rock band who write killer tunes and who have supported some of Australia’s biggest bands….in a regional town!  Great work.  They will be available on iTunes very soon - they are playing the Coconet Festival alongside Australia’s Finest - The Living End, The Butterfly Effect, Butterfingers, Dukes of Windsor and more.  I caught up with lead singer, Angelo Conway.

I hear this EP was recorded in your bedroom, how did that come about?  It sounds waaaaaaaay better than a home recording.  Who did the recording/mastering?

We recorded it over Christmas and New Years at my house, downstairs in our band room - Matt Dever from Song Doctor Productions recorded and mixed us - it wasn’t exactly a home recording job - he has tens of thousands of dollars worth of gear that he specially brought up with him from Brisbane to record us…so yeah, we own him! haha

Mastering was done by Dave Neil from Modern Mastering - he did an awesome job!

When putting this EP together, we didn’t have a massive budget, but still wanted lots of input and flexibility in the way the songs where recorded - something we wouldn’t have gotten in a studio with our budget. We’ve been mates with Matt Dever for a while now, so he kinly agreed to come up and record us.

Where are you from?  What’s the music scene like there?
We are from Rockhampton, Queensland. It’s hot here.

The music scene here has really improved in the last few years, thanks to some committed local bands and a guy called Tim Price (*plug!*)… We get a heap of up and coming bands touring through, so its great to get support slots for these guys! Obviously its nothing like the big city for variety and original music, but you have to take the good with the bad I guess…

What’s it like playing with your brother in the band?
It’s cool - we have very similar voices, so harmonies flow REALLY well. It’s also easier to say what you think in regards to songs etc…we don’t fight too often…nothing like Oasis or anything!! Haha

Ryan also plays wicked guitar, so creatively its awesome!

You have supported bands such as INXS, The Butterfly Effect, Youth Group, Dead Letter Circus and Musicadium artists, Kisschasy.  How was that?  Who was the coolest rockstar?  Who was the rudest??  Dish the goss!
Dead Letter Circus and Kisschasy seemed like awesome guys - they were really down to earth.

INXS were the ‘rock stars’ - they had all their own tents and shit with five sourse dining and eskies full of beers out the back - it was insane. JD Fortune tried to be nice, but came across as a dick. The other guys were really nice, though.

The other artists we really didn’t get to talk to.

What are you plans with your digital presence??  How do you plan to sell some tracks on iTunes??
We’d love to sell a heap of EPs online, as large scale CD distribution is unrealistic. We really love the concept of digital distribution, as it breaks down the distance barrier for those who can’t physically buy a CD or can’t watch us play.

Myspace and Facebook are the 2 biggest ways we see our EPs getting sold online.

What has been your favourite gig that you’ve played and why?
There has been a few…i’ll give you a couple!

Rockfest 2007 supporting Youth Group in Rockhampton was pretty memorable, as it was our last gig with bassist, Ben Wilson and guitarist, Vinnie Kemp, who both moved down to Brisbane. At the end of our set we announced we would be giving away free CDs in the corner of the venue - a couple of hundred people suddenly flocked and packed themselves within a 10 x 10 metre area, all screaming and getting crushed!!! It was awesome!! Security didn’t think so…
We gave away 300 cds in the space of 5 minutes. Nice.

Supporting INXS was insane, simply because of the size of the rig they turned up with. They had about $6 million worth of gear and lighting on stage! It was the best on-stage sound I have ever (and will ever) experience. Amazing.

The final memorable gig is a covers gig we did in 2006. It was the closing of the Birdcage - the Uni bar. It was the end of an era, and we got to play at the final gig. I remember playing “Killing in the name” by R.A.T.M with a couple of hundred screaming uni students moshing to it…it was the biggest rush ever!

Who is one of your musical idols and why?
Incubus - they are amazing in how they can change the dynamic of their music with every album, yet still maintain that unmistakable ‘incubus’ sound. I wish I could sing like Brandon Boyd.

What direction would you like your music to take?

Hmm…not sure…whethever the wind blows i guess…

Finally, what are your plans for the 2009? Coming to sunny Brisbane anytime soon? If so you will have to come and hang out on the Musicadium couches and play a game of fusball with us!
Plans for 2009 are to sucessfully realease our new EP and sell a heap of them! We’ve got some cool local shows coming up, so its going to be an exciting year for The Short Fall.

No plans for Brisbane as yet - we’re content on sweating it out on Rockvegas…

Fusball sounds tempting though…

Thanks Angelo…!

Check out The Short Fall’s music at their myspace - http://www.myspace.com/theshortfallrok!  Their music will become available digitally very soon!