Archive for the 'web 2.0' CategoryPage 2 of 4

Host your own remix contest with the Remix Wizard

Recently, MixMatchMusic launched the Remix Wizard, a free widget that any artist can use to host remix promotions on their websites, blogs and social network pages.  Artists customize what the widget looks like and provide the stems to a song (the various parts of a song, like the vocals, guitar, drums, etc) for fans to remix, either by using the online MixMaker or by downloading the stems for remixing in any music software. All the remixes are then published to the widget for others to play, vote on, and share. The widget is designed to be flexible, so that artists can sell the stems or give them away for free, set deadlines and give prizes to winners, and set the legal agreement that covers the rights to the stems and remixes made (who owns them?).

I recently recorded a new song, and have embedded the widget on my Myspace page so that y’all can remix it:

My Remix Wizard

The play button next to the left of “A Little Fuzzy” lets you hear the original song. The tracks in the middle of the widget (Dark Sunrise, Now’s the Time) are submitted remixes. When you submit yours, it will be listed there. Then, people can hear it, vote for it, and share it (by making a separate, mini widget).

Click “download stems” to get the stems in your home software, and then be sure to click “upload stems” to publish it. Or, click “MixMaker” to see how the song was made and to create a mix using the online sequencer. You’ll be able to publish it to the widget directly from there. The “wanna remix more tracks” link will take to a gallery full of Remix Wizards deployed around the web!

So, what are you waiting for? Host your own remix promotion today! Or, click here for more info.

MixMatchMusic Launches at Demo!

That’s right folks, the industry revolution we’ve been hinting at here for months has arrived and launched at the start-up mecca, DEMOfall08. While we’re sure to have more detailed posts from MMM leaders Gavroche and others over the next few days, take a look at what CNET is saying now about this new and exciting music collaboration site.

Survey: How Do You Collaborate With Other Musicians, Engage With Fans, and Profit From Your Art?

Musicians, we need you!

We have teamed up with our friends Hypebot and Indie Music Tech to find out how musicians collaborate on music with other musicians, how they engage fans, and how they profit from their work. We hope to find out how musicians are doing these things online, and if they are, whether they’re satisfied with the tools currently offered.

If you’re a musician, please take a minute to take the survey. The results should be very interesting and we’ll be sure to share them with you! The first 100 people to complete the survey will get a sweet ass MixMatchMusic t-shirt!

You can take the survey here.

Brad Sucks Does Not Suck

Self-proclaimed “one man band with no fans”, Brad Sucks (Brad Turcotte) is one of the pioneers of “open source music” and the Free Culture Movement. By waiving all the rights to his songs and giving fans access to the source of his songs for remixes, Brad has not only built a huge following, but his songs have been licensed for commercials and many of his fans choose to pay for his music.

This serves to further reinforce the school of thought which maintains that giving fans access to free music (whether for listening or download) actually results in increased sales in the end (of CDs, digital music, concert tickets, merchandise etc.)

Here is one of my favorite Brad Sucks songs (in a fan-made music video done as a film project and editing test):

Carefully, Correctfully Wrong has an interesting way of describing Brad’s sound: “…a smooth mix of indie rock and electro, mixed with sardonic lyrics and pounding disco beats. It’s what the Scissor Sisters would sound like if they weren’t trying to be the Bee Gees.”

Brad Sucks is a great example of a DIY musician who has taken full advantage of the tools available to artists online. Other than his official site, you can find him on MySpace, CD Baby, ccMixter, Last.fm, Magnatune, iLike, Sellaband, Jamendo, MOG and Twitter to name a few. Not only does Brad Sucks encourage remixing of his songs, he invites fans to submit their remixes so he can post them on the site.

I love the simplicity of his site and the plethora of options he offers his fans for how to enjoy his music. On the home page you can view the progress of his next album, view his upcoming gigs (you can also “demand” to see him live…), buy the album there (or Amazon, iTunes, CD Baby etc). On the music page, you can listen to songs, download them for free, buy them on a number of sites, or make a donation etc.

Also. Is it just me or is this guy a freaking marketing genius? With a self-deprecating artist name like “Brad Sucks” and an equally likable album name, “I Don’t Know What I’m Doing”, and the simple almost child-like branding style, he gets your attention immediately and is not easily forgotten.

Brad Sucks genuinely understands the power of encouraging direct artist-fan interaction by giving his listeners what they want, when they want it, and how they want it. And by letting them have a voice.

And he definitely does not suck.

IFPI – Representing Themselves, Pt. 2

Last week I wrote here about the IFPI including a musician in their lawsuit against Pirate Bay that never wanted to, nor was asked about being included. Well that was pretty bad…but in a further nuisance to the case against file sharers, it turns out that one of the expert witnesses brought on behalf of the IFPI as a prosecutor’s witness to help quash Pirate Bay was actually a former employee. Of course, this conflict of interest wasn’t revealed by the IFPI to the court, nor by the witness himself. Why would they intentionally tell the court something that might hinder their case? In a brilliantly ironic case of Web 2.0 and technology undermining a legal case seeking to stop file sharing and technology, the conflict of interest was discovered on the witness’ LinkedIn account. If this entire case doesn’t get chucked out of court, I’m going to have to assume that something is broken in the Danish legal system…