SoundCloud.com

Ryan    Uncategorized     Independent Music, Music Distribution, SoundCloud.com

It is kind of interesting to think about how personal publication has evolved over the last 10 or so years. First it was writers and their websites and blogs. Who would have thought that anyone and their dog could become widely read writers or authors in a day where national publication meant real success? I remember classmates of mine being overly excited because their poem was going to be published in a book chock full of hundreds of other poems just like theirs. Then came video. With the mass publicity YouTube generated along with the easy to use interface and the chance at YouTube stardom, people began pushing home videos left and right. But what about music?

There has always been music sharing and peer-to-peer networks since the dawn of age.. but we never really utilized these outlets to publish our own works. Sure there were some that tried this.. but there was really no way to market your junk unless you put a ‘Britney Spears’ in the title. Then people just hated you.

Podcasts came about and gave people the obviously clear opportunity to distribute whatever audio they wanted, but the use of the technology as a means to publishing original music never really caught on to artists and bands. So whats the deal?

Music, I think, is a touchy subject especially with record labels. Pirating music was, and still is, a major issue labels face. Does this mean that new and coming artists need to plan their success around this money dilemma? I suppose that all depends on what musician you talk to.

SoundCloud.com was founded in 2007 in Berlin, Germany and is one of today’s most utilized music distribution networks. If you haven’t heard of it, its basically a resource bands or artists can use to upload, collaborate, promote and distribute their music to an audience worldwide. With popularity of the service blossoming, its worth a comparison to that other social sharing network, Vimeo. Does this look promising?

This  basically shows that SoundCloud has gone from nothing to a search index of over 2.0 in just about 2 years. As a comparison, Vimeo went from nothing to a search index of over 2.0 in over 3 years! While I know this is not saying much, I do have to think that there could be some big things coming from SoundCloud in the near future. While more and more artists and bands learn about the simplicity SC has to offer, along with the opportunity to truly distribute their art in way where they have complete control… who knows.

In the mean time, go check out some new music at SoundCloud.com. If you like it, tell your neighbor, or heck.. stick it straight in your blog! Maybe we can start a trend.

The World is my idea, by AEHaller

Andy Haller is a friend of mine.. check him out.

Indie Music… Where it's at. Where it's been. Where it's going.

Ryan    Uncategorized     digstation.com, Independent Music, Indie Music, indie-music.com, MySpace Music

I’ve been looking at a lot of independent music portals on the web recently. Some of the ones that stick out in my head are www.digstation.com, www.indie-music.com, and of course theres MySpace Music… bleh. Needless to say, there are a lot of avenues for people that are into the indie scene, can go. The thing that makes me think, however, is how did the whole online craze just come up and totally bypass music in general?

I suppose it didn’t. Let’s go back to say, 2001. Napster was totally making it’s mark in the online music downloading world, and it was definately the product of choice for such resources. The courts came in, with the labels and artists at her side, and then proceeded to blanket the music downloading world. Yeah… it was illegal. But people still did it anyway. From the growing torrentz, to rapidshare, and so forth, people still had ways to get the music they wanted.. for free. Where did this leave indie bands though?

Think of the analogy between music and video. How did YouTube.com come up and make the uploading and downloading of videos so easy? I don’t know, but for one thing, YouTube created a whole generation of ‘online stars,’ ‘online comedians,’ and everything else online. People were getting famous for doing stupid things.. only because they filmed it and stuck it on the web. In an essence, music and audio just got left behind. Now, already established musicians were getting access to selling music on iTunes, and Amazon, while the independent artists were left figuring out how they could one day distribute their music to a larger audience then what they already had. I know this isn’t the indie mindset, but it is a viable issue. If musicians want to do what they love.. for a living.. they need to find resources so that they CAN make a living.

Think of the popularity of OK Go. I have no qualms against OK Go, but come on… they’re a gimicky band. Their music videos are great, I give them that, but they are as gimicky as any other popular mainstream musician. Maybe even more. People would listen to them and be like “Listen to this band I found on the internet… Aren’t they totally out there?” If bands were to have become popular for their music alone, I think there is a lasting respect amongst other artists in that scenario.

What I’m trying to get at is this. In a world where corporations can control what we can and cannot have, how is it that we are smart enough to find ways around this in some cases, but not in other cases. Let’s build a framework, similar to YouTube, and optimize it for music! Let our users designate who THEY like. If they want to purchase these bits of intellectual property… let the owners decide how much they want for them… not companies trying to make a buck. Remove the middle man, connect artists and musicians with their fans, and cultivate a deeper appreciation for a culture we’re trying to bring to a next level.