OpenLBL is a music community that allows everyone to talk about the latest happening in the world of music. OpenLBL will be offering free music to the world on a daily basis. Artists and readers have the ability to submit article to the site. Anyone can create a group on a specific topic (eg. House), then discuss their latest favourite house tracks, new house music, happenings in the industry. Additionally, you can comment on the latest news, create discussion with other members, friend and email other members, or even just post links and create wiki pages about your favourite tunes.
OpenLBL combines groups, forums and wiki’s, which will allow users to discuss anything music.
There are millions of users all over the world who are already using Spotify. If you dont already know, Spotify is a music streaming service, which allows users to create playlists and listen to tracks from millions of artists worldwide. Previously, it hasnt been very easy to get your music on Spotify and as they are about to launch in the USA it is now very important to join the leading music service.
RouteNote allows artists to get their music onto Spotify and other streaming music services for FREE. All artists need to do is head to RouteNote.com and signup for an account. Once you have signed up, you are able to upload your music and choose the partners you would like to send your music to. Its that easy!
There are so many other music distributors out there that charge artsits a lot of money for this service, plus most also charge per store. RouteNote is the ONLY distributor that doesnt charge any upfront fees!
Spotify and other streaming services are very important for artists. These services dont currently make artists huge amounts of revenues (unless you have millions of plays). These services are used more for promotion and as the internet progresses these service will make a lot more money and it will become the main revenue stream for artists (just my opinion).
Anyways, make sure you head to RouteNote.com and signup! Its that easy!
Trent Reznor who has put togehter his new band with his wife Mariqueen Maandig, will release a free six track EP on June 1st. The EP will be made available via the band’s website, HowToDestroyAngels.com.
There will also be an HD version of the EP, which is available for download; the ‘hi-def’ release will include a music video for “The Space In Between,” with a price of $2.
If you pre-order now, they’ll send you one track, “The Believers,” immediately. You’ll then be automatically emailed on June 1st as soon as the full EP download is ready.
The EP is set for a CD release on July 6. Vinyl edition to follow.
Spotify released a major update to their service today, integrating a massive set of social and functional features, including the ability to linkn your Facebook and Spotify accounts, and the option of using to play all the music on your computer’s hard drive.
The new features will be available to free and premium subscribers alike; full list after their little introductory video. All of this new functionality makes Spotify an even stronger contender in the battle for dominance in the online music market, which will be put to the test if and when they launch in the US later this year, going up against already established services like MOG, Sirius and Pandora.
Social
Connect to Facebook: you can connect to Facebook inside of Spotify, instantly adding all your Facebook friends who’ve selected the same feature. Your friends’ profiles will appear in a new ‘People’ sidebar at the right of the screen, with your personal profile at the top.
Add usernames: you can also add people by typing their Spotify username, should you know it, into the Spotify search field. For example searching ‘spotify:user:username’ will bring up their profile (if their profile is published).
Publish your Spotify profile to the web: easily publish the link to your Spotify profile on your blog, Facebook page, website or anywhere else on the web and allow others to follow your musical journey. For example here’s a link to the official Spotify profile.
Inbox: a new ‘inbox’ folder on Spotify’s left sidebar lets you send tracks to friends directly within the platform, simply by dragging and dropping a track to their name in the People sidebar. Alternatively, just right click on the track and select the new ‘send to’ option.
Facebook feed: music your friends have posted on Facebook will be visible on the Spotify ‘What’s new’ page and via a new ‘Feed’ tab.
Popularity count for playlists: all playlists will show how many other Spotify users are currently subscribed to that playlist. By clicking on the number, you can even see the usernames of those who added the playlist.
Track playlist changes: see who and when a track was added to a playlist with the new ‘Added’ and ‘User’ columns in playlists.
Library
Local files: missing any music in Spotify? Now you can import a link to all the music files stored on your computer with a simple click of a button.
Gracenote: As with any good music media player, if you have missing or incorrect track information you need software to check those files and automatically correct them so that you can better organise and link them to our catalogue. Gracenote does just this.
Local file linking: we will check your local files and see if we have that track/artist/album in Spotify. If we do, we’ll make the file linkable so you can easily go from that file into an artist or album page. This allows for better sharing of playlists that contain a mix of your own music and Spotify’s.
Starred: every track and album on Spotify can now be ‘starred’ – allowing you to tag all your favourites into a special sub-folder.
Wireless sync: you can copy your music files to your mobile without connecting a USB cable with our new wireless sync feature.
Filter bar: the library has a permanent filter-bar at the top so you can easily type in what you’re searching for. In all other lists the filter bar is visible when pressing cmd-f (mac) or ctrl-f (windows).
Additional features
Mosaic images for playlists: the artwork from the first nine tracks in a playlist will create a cool mosaic image for your playlist
New toolbar in headers: Sharing music to Facebook/Twitter and your friends is much simpler. Easy to subscribe or unsubscribe to a playlist as well as view information about how popular a playlist is.
A share icon in ‘Now playing’ artwork: makes sharing what you’re currently listening to much easier.
Automatic track replacement: Spotify will now automatically try to find a replacement for any track you can’t play. So if a friend in another country sends you a playlist with tracks you can’t play or a local file, we’ll search our catalogue and link to a playable track when possible. A ‘link’ icon next to the track name represents replaced tracks.
Social
* Connect to Facebook: you can connect to Facebook inside of Spotify, instantly adding all your Facebook friends who’ve selected the same feature. Your friends’ profiles will appear in a new ‘People’ sidebar at the right of the screen, with your personal profile at the top.
* Add usernames: you can also add people by typing their Spotify username, should you know it, into the Spotify search field. For example searching ‘spotify:user:username’ will bring up their profile (if their profile is published).
* Publish your Spotify profile to the web: easily publish the link to your Spotify profile on your blog, Facebook page, website or anywhere else on the web and allow others to follow your musical journey. For example here’s a link to the official Spotify profile.
* Inbox: a new ‘inbox’ folder on Spotify’s left sidebar lets you send tracks to friends directly within the platform, simply by dragging and dropping a track to their name in the People sidebar. Alternatively, just right click on the track and select the new ‘send to’ option.
* Facebook feed: music your friends have posted on Facebook will be visible on the Spotify ‘What’s new’ page and via a new ‘Feed’ tab.
* Popularity count for playlists: all playlists will show how many other Spotify users are currently subscribed to that playlist. By clicking on the number, you can even see the usernames of those who added the playlist.
* Track playlist changes: see who and when a track was added to a playlist with the new ‘Added’ and ‘User’ columns in playlists.
Library
* Local files: missing any music in Spotify? Now you can import a link to all the music files stored on your computer with a simple click of a button.
o Gracenote: As with any good music media player, if you have missing or incorrect track information you need software to check those files and automatically correct them so that you can better organise and link them to our catalogue. Gracenote does just this.
o Local file linking: we will check your local files and see if we have that track/artist/album in Spotify. If we do, we’ll make the file linkable so you can easily go from that file into an artist or album page. This allows for better sharing of playlists that contain a mix of your own music and Spotify’s.
* Starred: every track and album on Spotify can now be ‘starred’ – allowing you to tag all your favourites into a special sub-folder.
* Wireless sync: you can copy your music files to your mobile without connecting a USB cable with our new wireless sync feature.
* Filter bar: the library has a permanent filter-bar at the top so you can easily type in what you’re searching for. In all other lists the filter bar is visible when pressing cmd-f (mac) or ctrl-f (windows).
Additional features
* Mosaic images for playlists: the artwork from the first nine tracks in a playlist will create a cool mosaic image for your playlist
* New toolbar in headers: Sharing music to Facebook/Twitter and your friends is much simpler. Easy to subscribe or unsubscribe to a playlist as well as view information about how popular a playlist is.
* A share icon in ‘Now playing’ artwork: makes sharing what you’re currently listening to much easier.
* Automatic track replacement: Spotify will now automatically try to find a replacement for any track you can’t play. So if a friend in another country sends you a playlist with tracks you can’t play or a local file, we’ll search our catalogue and link to a playable track when possible. A ‘link’ icon next to the track name represents replaced tracks.
Produced by Bosco Mann and recorded on an Ampex eight-track tape machine by Gabriel Roth in Daptone Records’ House of Soul studios, this record drips with a warmth and spontaneity rarely found since the golden days of Muscle Shoals and Stax. Sharon’s raw power, rhythmic swagger, moaning soulfulness, and melodic command set her firmly alongside Tina Turner, James Brown, Mavis Staples, and Aretha as a fixture in the canon of soul music. From the lushPhilly-Soul fanfare that ushers in “The Game Gets Old” at the top of the record, to the stripped down Sam Cooke-style“Mama Don’t Like My Man” at the tail, the Dap-Kings dance seamlessly through both the most crafted and simple arrangements with subtlety and discipline. I Learned the Hard Way is the “Daptone Sound” at its finest.
Brit Award winners Florence and The Machine have released a new video for their track ‘Dog Days Are Over’, which is available for your viewing pleasure on their website. A strange mix of Barbarella and Jane Austen, seasoned with Monty Python animation and Ziggy Stardust makeup. The track is bearing up pretty well under the usual vampiric draining by pop radio stations that a Brit win usually entails – by the way, did anyone ever hear from that Speech Debelle girl again? I guess not all music awards are created equal… shame that talent needs so much money to swim against the tide of marketing.
Everything Laura Marling touches seems to turn to gold. Her past romantic liasons have both preceded breakthrough musical success, first for ex-boyfriend Charlie Fink and Noah and the Whale, and then for current beau Marcus Mumford of the eponymous Mumford and Sons. She was also [ahem] instrumental in the rise of Emmy the Great, and modest initial success for her debut album ‘Alas I Cannot Swim’ has built into a devoted critical following and a growing fanbase. She’s now just days away from releasing a second album, and because she’s a smart cookie, she’s previewing it through the Times’ website here. If you like what you hear, you can pre-order ‘I Speak Because I Can’ on Amazon here. Imagine a young, less squeaky Joni Mitchell who could give Feist a decent bout in the song-writing ring and you’re pretty much there…
We’re big fans of Fink, one of Ninja Tune’s artists – if you are too, then you’ll be interested to see that he’s got a free, previously unreleased download of a B-side track that didn’t make it onto ‘Sort Of Revolution’ up on his site at the moment. You will need to swap him your email for it though…
Feel like helping develop a new piece of sampling software? Maize are currently developing the Beta version of Maize Sampler 2, to go alongside their ‘Modular Studio Environment’ a VST and effect chaining/mixing shell. They’re inviting producers to download the latest version of the sampler beta, and use it for a couple of weeks before reporting back with feedback and information on any bugs you might find. Be quick though, the software’s license will run out in a fortnight’s time.
The recording studio downstairs here at RouteNote Towers is only a modest affair, certainly no Abbey Road, but making sure everyone involved in the running of the studio or the scheduling of a project can still get complicated. This web app from Gain Studio aims to arrange your business neatly, and make it remotley accessible, so that multiple members of staff can use it even when they’re not offsite. You can also:
Book sessions and assign rooms, staff, resources etc to each one, then easily edit them.
Easily track tasks by assigning jobs, tickets, and to-do lists to staff, setting due dates and priorities.
Track your equipment and reserve it for sessions.
View calendars for every room, staff member and piece of equipment, or get an overview of the whole studio in one place.
Of course you can also manage staff calendars etc on Google Calendar or even Outlook, and having all your studio’s co-ordination happen online can be a problem if your internet connection goes down, but this does seem a neat way of collating all the necessary information and making sure everyone’s on the same page. The basic version, for smaller studios (like ours) is free, but if you’re managing a massive organisation with tens of projects and multiple simultaneous recording sessions you’ll need to pay for a premium version (up to $399 a month!). That said, they’re running a month’s free trial at the moment, so you don’t lose anything by taking a look.
