Should You Soundcloud?

Hi there! It’s summer and it seems like every time I leave my house and run around downtown there is somebody on a street playing music. Summer means busking and every musician in the world is in the street playing a tune. I love music straight from the source. I am trying slowly but surely to break myself of my internet radio addiction and go to the artist for my music fix. Since most of the bands I listen to won’t be playing in my city anytime soon I have turned to Soundcloud for new music. Soundcloud is a great free tool for musicians that want to share their art with fans without paying a huge fee. Actually the basic Soundcloud account is free and offers limited music uploads.

I have a Soundcloud but I’m not going to share it; I’m shy. But you should definitely look into joining Soundcloud if there is music you want to share with the world. That is what Soundcloud is about, sharing. Feel free to make your music public, private, or anything in between. Some artists even enable their listeners to download the music. For musicians who want to promote their music, Soundcloud is the way to go.

The best feature about this site is it enables users to leave comments on the song at whatever point of the song they feel. This is great when you want to share a key part of the song that really wows you to the band. Some artists use this feature to explain the song’s structure which is a cool bit that I wish more artists did. It would be neat to see the process that led to the formation of a song since that opportunity doesn’t pop up nearly enough.

Pros:

  • New music can be uploaded to the web for fans to listen to.
  • Basic accounts are free and the next level up is only a few bucks a month so it isn’t a huge expense.
  • Fans can leave comments on the songs.
  • Can be shared on multiple social media sites like Facebook and Twitter with no problems.
  • You can reach a global audience by keeping your songs public and making them available for search.
  • Great way to connect with other artists locally and around the world.

Cons:

  • Free account maxes out a couple hours of music.
  • Does not give options for changing the layout of the artist webpage.

Soundcloud has been my go to site for music sharing and listening to cool remixes. How do you use Soundcloud?

Kickstarter Making Albums Come True

I was searching around the interwebs when I stumbled on Pitchfork’s Kickstarter. My initial knee-jerk reaction was to be mad that Pitchfork, a giant in the music world, would ask fans for support when there are so many little music sites trying to get off the ground. Of course I clicked on the link just to see what exactly was going on. Surprisingly, Pitchfork has set up a Kickstarter page with the purpose of linking to Kickstarter projects they support. What an interesting way for the big guys to reach out and lift up the little guys. I assume any band getting the Pitchfork seal of approval is like getting the Colbert bump. Lucky ducks!

But it got me thinking about the music industry a decade ago versus the music industry today. Things are certainly changing. I got my Radiohead In Rainbows album when it was released online for pay what you can. It was the first time a major artist in a  big way ignored the record industry and reached out directly to fans. Kickstarter is a big way for even smaller artists to do the same thing, get rid of the middle man.

Kickstarter in a Nutshell

Artists put up an idea and instead of begging fans to chip in a few bucks for things that could possibly be made Kickstarter encourages artists to put up financial incentives. Maybe for $5 you get a virtual hug or a letter in the mail. I could potentially create a Kickstarter for my uke trio project named Unicorn Baby! Baby!, put it on Kickstarter, and attempt to fund it with the promise of virtual hugs and snail mail letters. Most artists give out more interesting incentives then this but you get the gist. The great thing about the site is the campaign is all funded by people like you. It’s the first time the audience is really getting what they paid for up front, well the promise of something at least. And it makes us want to work together to see the artist meet their goal because without our help Kickstarter takes a big cut of the profit. That is capitalism though.

A lot of people are making Kickstarter drives these days to fund more than music projects. I have seen artists of all kinds reaching out to fans for financial support. Starting a Kickstarter is simple but it still depends on fan support, something that can be intimidating to reach for. I encourage young artists to get their foot in the door with Kickstarter rather than turning to loan sharks. Crowdfunding is cool.

Rock Out on Acoustic Guitar

Growing up, a lot of my friends were as equally into Metallica as they were into folk rock, more specifically folk punk. It was from these early beginnings that I learned the acoustic guitar was not some wimpy counterpart to its electric brother; instead, this wooden guitar could really sing. My first forays into the acoustic guitar were pretty rough to say the least. My best friend happily loaned me their mom’s classical guitar for only the promise that I return it when they asked. Since this was a pretty good deal I took the guitar home and started to play, slowly and rather painfully.

See, learning a guitar on a classical guitar can be tough but a vintage classical guitar is rough. The neck was too broad to hold comfortably as a new guitarist and my only training had been 6 years of violin. Jumping from the fiddle to acoustic guitar was a big jump for me. But I quickly learned to appreciate the sounds this gentle giant made, and yea, it was quite giant for my small frame.

It wasn’t until years later when I’d become comfortably playing mellowed out tunes I would learn the fierceness of the acoustic guitar. My friends gradually drifted into a passion for folk punk and not wanting to be left alone, I followed. My ears would perk up to Dustin and the Furniture playing to a circle of close friends. Acoustic guitars can create the most intimate settings but they were by no means weak. This is what I learned as I heard friends and artists shouting out lyrics to a new plucky anthem. I was young and had no idea what the lyrics meant but I felt the sound in my body.

It feels good to rock out on acoustic guitar.

Not quietly but loudly and when played this way the whole body of the instrument becomes both melodic and percussive all at once. These folk punks I grew to love did things with their acoustic guitars that I’d never seen before. The body was a bass and the strings rattled the instrument. I heard tapping and saw fingers flying and it made me rethink just how awesome the acoustic guitar is.

I don’t regret my decision to buy an electric. Actually, I ended up choosing a used semi-hollow body out of all the guitars. It seemed to carry a touch of the charm that the acoustic guitar once held over me.

Why I Left Spotify

A lot of things are changing in the world of music including how we get it. The days of vinyl record may be making a comeback but people are just as content to get their music in digital formats. I have long been a fan of buying straight from the artist so vinyl and CDs were my thing. But nowadays the convenience of having the music at the tip of your fingers is more important than that trek to the local record shop. The resurgence of vinyl enthusiasts and Record Store Day makes me happy to be a music fan but I am certain Spotify and other online digital music sites are poised to take over.

What is Spotify? 

A giant music aggregator and then some. Any song you can think of is probably sitting in the Spotify library waiting for you to remember it. I’ve searched and come up with only a handful of songs Spotify hasn’t been able to find. Spotify is like iTunes if you had spent a fortune and if you don’t mind the grief of advertisements every so often, Spotify is for you. Some of my friends still haven’t heard about Spotify and are content to stay with Pandora through the long haul. For me, Spotify seems like a reskinned version of Groove Shark but with more social media features. I have always loved sharing music with friends so Spotify allows me to share without switching to my email or web browser.

A lot of things about Spotify are really neat, especially the ability to share playlists at the touch of a button. For someone who loves keeping their friends in the loop about new artists this is a great feature. There are  a lot of aspects about Spotify that do make me a little hesitant. The ability to get music for “free” always comes at a price and artists have historically gotten the short end of the stick. I worry that larger record labels may prey on artists by using Spotify to promote the music but giving musicians only a sliver of the profits. My searched of Spotify’s music collection made it easy to find Top 40 artists and some smaller groups that had gotten media attention. Finding smaller groups on lesser known record labels proved more difficult. I don’t see Spotify being a very accessible forum for music when record labels are buying their way in.

For now, I’ll stick with my guts and go with band pages. The great thing is sites like Soundcloud and Bandcamp allow artists to share their music directly with fans without censorship of materials. So how do you like your music? Analogue, digital, everything in between. Let me know below!

Summer Music Festivals Draw Near

Summer is something a lot of people look forward to but if you’re a fan of live music, summer is the season that doesn’t come soon enough. Sure, we might have gotten a little bit satiated by Austin’s SXSW performances but that is merely the tip of the iceberg. Already fans have paid top dollar to see their favorite acts play live and the shows won’t even go on for another few months. Instead of pondering just why we love music festivals so much we decided to take a quick look at some of our favorite music festivals in the states.

Bonnaroo:

Pack your bags, forget about hygiene, and get ready to camp out for a few days with every other music fan in the world. This is Bonnaroo and it is not for the weak at heart. I wouldn’t have imagined a little space in Manchester, Tennessee could bring together such an amazing crowd but Bonnaroo does just that. Each year fans flock to TN to pick their perfect spot to camp. Some camp in style, bringing along an RV with all the comforts of home, while others choose to wing it and just pitch a tent. Regardless of accomodations, rain or shine, the show goes on and Bonnaroo can get a little messy. Put thousands of fans in a field with their favorite dance party artist and a little rain…it can be a mess. But that’s Bonnaroo; it’s the music festival if you don’t mind going along for the ride.

Lollapalooza and Pitchfork Music Festival:

Oh Chicago, how could you not steal a music fan’s heart holding two amazing music festivals in the summer months? Chicago winters can be brutal but the heat wave is even worse. If you don’t mind waging a war with the weather, take a visit to the Windy City in summer to have the musical time of your life. Lollapalooza takes place in Grant Park in the heart of Chicago’s downtown so not only will you experience the music but you’ll get an eyeful of the Chicago city skyline as well. If you’re feeling a little more frugal (Lolla isn’t budget friendly) then head on over to the Pitchfork Music Festival. While tickets have gone up over the last few years Pitchfork continues mix up the line up with big name and really neat local Chicago acts.

Forecastle Festival:

You’re going to have to head on down to Louisville, Kentucky for this one but the trek is certainly worth it. The weather during a KY summer is pretty gentle making standing around in the summer sun less of a work out. Get yourself revved up because Forecastle festival takes place near the waterfront. As always there are tons of special VIP features for ticket buyers to get their hands on.

Coachella:

Stuck on the West Coast this summer? No need to worry because Coachella is here to rescue you from the summer doldrums. There is no band on the line up that is bad, ever. Of course this means festival goers pay a pretty penny to even step foot on Coachella grounds. Luckily, there is still time to save for your ticket and snag a spot closest to your favorite artist. Coachella Valley is transformed for this event and there are countless installations and artist exhibits to check out between sets. Think you’re too busy to make it? Coachella is split into two weekends so there is double the opportunity to see your favorite band.

Honorable Mention: SXSW

Okay, we can’t not write about SXSW but considering it takes place right when Spring is about to begin, it didn’t make our list of summer festivals. We still can’t deny that Texas in March could make anyone forget about Winter, Spring, or any season for that matter. We just enjoy the awesome amount of venues and spaces that open up their doors to let local artists and big name acts converge in Austin for several days of good spirits and good music.

Think you’re going to a music festival this summer? There is a good chance you might see us if you take a trip to Louisville or Chicago this summer. No guarantees though.

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