AUAMUSIC has reached 2,000 funding fans and almost 3,700 groups. They focus on Spain so they have a regular updated gig-list in that country. Currently 20 bands have reached target.

I joined the little project Welelo. With EUR 1,600 it was the littlest project on the website. But even with that little budget I received a cd of good quality and a ROI of almost 30%.

One of the projects I like are the Crows. Great music for an international public. But also young Rhiannon Rose makes popular music with great hit-potential. And there is a lot more to discover on AUAMUSIC.COM.

(© Jurjen 2011)

First I’d like to introduce PickTheBand.com to you, a so called fan run label. Sponsored by a big headphone manufacturer it’s only open for fans from USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Colombia … so, no chance for European fans to join. I’ll keep an eye on them and will report if there are any changes on the site.

Another quite unusual label is born: DayJobRecords.com is THE record label for musicians with dayjobs. Maybe it’s successful in this niche, maybe enough hobby musicians …

Detroit based label Beehive Records is about to see the light of day and wants to succeed with a pay-what-you-want approach.

Hisham Dahud gives us 6 Critical Insights Into Music Business Success on Hypebot.

Fan funding (or rather direct-to-fan) platform Pledgemusic started a record label and signed The Damnwells a while ago. Hypebot talked to Alex Dezen (Damnwells) and Pledgemusic co-founder Benji Rogers.

J. Sider, founder and CEO of Rootmusic, introduces Bandpage on Rethink Music and seems to criticise the way Facebook deals with musicians.

Finally some advice for time management for musicians by Michael Brandvold on Music Think Tank.

Artists:
Gruff Rhys … Drownedinsound.com did a fine interview with him.

BOA … were featured in several music magazines and blogs: French YIN Magazine, Dutch Hunting Ensemble, … hopefully more in the future.

Music Think Thank … gives some advice if you’re running an e-mail list.

Music Business:

The DIY Musician evaluates the launch of Youtube Live

Catherine Hol talks about the digital chances for musicians on Music Think Tank.

Founders Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss talk about their motivation to start Soundcloud

This article by William Gruger was discussed very controversially on Hypebot.

Cooperation project of Berklee College of Music and MIDEM  … Rethink Music in Boston April 25th – 27th

Fun:

Check out the Yodel Rap

The 7 Ps (by Tim Bennett)
When I was asked to write an article about ‘Cracking America’ – I knew it was a daunting task because I haven’t come anywhere close cracking the music scene in this giant country or any where else for that matter.

But I have learned many important lessons about the music business.

Probably the most relevant thing I’ve learned is to live by the mantra ‘hard work pays off’ and I believe it’s essential if you want to have any credible form of success here. There is so much competition and the only way to push on through is to work that much harder than the next band or artist. It’s not just about creating top quality music but also putting together a team who can guide and promote you.

Another thing I’ve learned is that you can’t rest on previous success. The audience moves on.  An associate in the business recently told me he was booking a tour for Keane in the USA. The UK based alt/rock band have previously sold several million albums world wide. He said he was staggered to find that their management told him to book venues with a maximum of 500 seats. He had to ask them again to make sure he heard right. It appears that just because you sell a few million albums and downloads a couple of years ago does not guarantee that you’ll sell out an arena.

So how do you conquer this Everest-like market ? I’ve built a potential strategy list which I propose might work for any beginner or up and coming indie or mainstream artist.

I call these the ” 7 Ps”

1. Potential
2. Practise
3. Produce
4. Perform
5. Promote
6. Provide
7. Precaution

1 – Potential
It is vital to establish your parameters as artist. Essentially this means identifying your musical genre, your strengths and weaknesses, image,demographic audience , commercial possibilities and potential revenue streams.

You can find your demographics from your audience turn out at gigs and through you social network sites.

You can find out more about revenue streams through research on the internet.

2 – Practise
What ever style of music you chose – the only way to perfect your craft is through constant practise.

I think performing with musicians who are better than you is a great way to learn, hone and improve your craft.

It’s especially beneficial to work with people who are constructively critical and supportive.

3 – Produce
I personally believe that self expression, writing and creativity should come naturally to any artist and if they don’t then forming a quality product is going to be very hard.

To be a success in this business you need to have an audio-visual product.

Producing something of high quality is going to be a challenge to any newcomer. The above mentioned practise will ensure that you are somewhat prepared for the rigours of the recording process and the pressures in the studio.

Hiring producers, studios, musicians, engineers and photographers and video makers is a costly expense and the question is how to raise these funds.

Without a large inheritance, winning the lottery, a wealthy family to back you or a record label to finance your expenses there are few options available.

My option of choice (unless you are lucky enough to have one of the above) is to learn to use music recording software ( e.g. protools, garageband ) and use this to demo your songs on Fan-Funding Platforms.

With a quality demo, some self orchestrated publicity and persistence you can reach your funding target.

Some well known funding platforms are Kickstarter, My Major Label and Slice the Pie.

These will allow you to afford and work with top professionals to make a high quality album, photos and video.

In 2009 I raised $31K through Sellaband and finished recording my debut album in May 2010. I was fortunate to work with some top industry professionals including Multi Platinum, Grammy Award Winning Mixer, Steve Hardy and Master Engineer, Ted Jensen, in NYC. This probably would not have happened had I not raised the funds through Sellaband.

4 – Perform
Performing is a vital ingredient of any artist’s career and it helps mould and develop the craft.

I’ve been lucky enough to have performed with some wonderful and talented musicians in some of the top rated, smaller venues in New York city and London. Booking these gigs requires the above mentioned demos and a promoter or booking agent who will facilitate the process of booking the appropriate venues.

It is necessary to bring a good crowd of friends and fans and obviously a huge amount of practise is necessary before going in front of a paying audience.

This kind of practise should be done at home, with tutors and your band mates and then at Open-mics.

Open-mics are a great way to explore your public persona and repertoire.

Busking is also a great way to reach the public and potential fans. However, you must look into the legalities of busking as it is unlawful in some public places.

5 – Promotion and Publicity
Lack of promotion is the downfall of many a brilliant musician. Promotion is the hard graft that goes on behind the scenes and will help bring your music to the masses.

I’ve known many artists who think that they don’t need to promote themselves and some even consider it as a job that is below them. I don’t buy into this and I certainly don’t buy into the idea that you could get discovered playing in a dive bar by a famous producer who wants to sign you even though you only have five fans.

The truth of the matter is that, from my experience, A&R, Managers and Record Execs are more interested in ‘Bums on Seats’ than raw talent.

If you have thousands of fans who follow you loyally then that’s a fan-base who are more likely to spend their money to see your perform, buy your t-shirts, and purchase your downloads, CDs and videos. And those are the dollar signs that the above can relate to. It’s really that simple.

Social Networking sites are a fantastic way of reaching new fans. Myspace is still a viable site although recent gossip seems to suggest that it is on it’s way down, although, it’s still possible reach many thousands of people around the world through this network.Facebook is also a wonderful promotion tool, as is Reverbnation, as well as Youtube which is still the most under-used site in my opinion.

It’s important to spend time interacting with your friends and fans on these sites. Gone are the days of up and coming rock stars in ivory towers. These days, fans want to be able to talk to you or at least be able to message or comment you.

I believe that your fans are your lifeblood – they are the most important thing along with your music.

Without fans you have nothing.

I found that playing in the New York Subway as a busker allowed me to meet thousands of people as well as music industry execs who have given me vital advice and suggestions. I was able to invite these people to my gigs and it brought me a lot of positive publicity and know-how.

Whilst performing in the subway I was also filmed for ABC TV who did a 3 minute segment about my music.

This was shown on prime time TV for a week and exposed me to millions of people.

My catch phrase was ‘ This is the biggest venue in NYC and for a couple of bucks entrance fee I can play to thousands of people’

6 – Provide
Providing your music through distribution sites and social networking sites is the way that you’ll hopefully make enough revenue to support your music and even provide a full time living.

If your product does really well then that will improve the likelihood of you being picked up by decent management and/ or label.

Reaching the US audience and making a success here requires a really dedicated and enthusiastic team of industry professionals.

7 – Precaution
Last but not least, there are many predators in this shark infested business. Most of them just waiting for the next desperate, naive musician to prey upon, bleed dry and leave for dead.

Harsh words, you may think, but sadly it’s not an exaggeration.

Rule number 1 – always read contracts and have someone with legal expertise to look over anything binding.

If you can’t afford to pay an attorney then it is possible to find lawyers who will work ‘pro bono’. I’ve done this in the past and it saved me from signing a disastrous record contract.

Rule number 2 – contracts should always be mutually beneficial.

Rule number 3 – no one can assure you of success or fame and if they do then they’re are almost certainly lying.

Rule number 4 – always do your homework and research potential suitors. Ask other musicians and don’t be afraid to ask industry people for references. You can also use on-line forums for this too.

Rule number 5 – always look at resumes and past history. Look for credibility and past success with the people you are intending to work with.

Rule number 6 – watch out for personality and agenda clashes and trust your gut. If you don’t feel right about the people you’re considering working with, then there’s probably a good reason for it.

Rule number 7 – your ‘ Word’ is very important. Be honest and trustworthy – This will stand you in good stead for all future endeavours.Those who run their mouths without facts to back up their claims soon get a reputation for being such and will not be taken seriously by those who really matter.

I moved to the USA in December 2009 for personal reasons, intending to stay for a month or so.

However, I’ve now been here for a year and have decided to stay long term.

Since that time:
I’ve worked with Grammy Award Winning Mix Engineer, Steve Hardy ( mixer for Bono-U2, Prince, Pink, Jay Z and Beyonce);
worked with legendary Recording Engineer, Ted Jensen ( Metallica, Alice in Chains, Dave Mathews, Green Day, Police, Madonna);
I’ve also made, directed two music videos which have been receiving critical acclaim;
I’m represented by one of the world’s biggest Entertainment Law Firms, Loeb and Loeb;
built strong relationships with highly regarded industry movers and shakers;
played with some of the best session musicians in the USA ;
been included on a compilation CD for GoDIY Records;

I’ve also had the pleasure of working with the very talented and versatile singer/actress, Bambi Monroe aka Taylor Horn.

Thank you for reading and the “Best of Luck”.

Tim at Facebook

Artists:

Cornershop … start promoting their upcoming album with interviews in The Guardian and on Kiwi Nerdy Frames blog

Julia Marcell, Catself and Oona Kapari … will play a gig together at Club Liberté in Helsinki on March 23rd

Subset and Anne Marie Sunshine … reached their funding goal on SellaBand – read Subset interview

Metibla … “Brand New One” is Song of the Week on TalentCast – and don’t forget to vote for new Song of the Week

Kings of Queens … “Pretending” is Video of the Month on Talentcast

Music Business

Hypebot interview with Tom Silverman on Digital Music and The Long Tail

Music Think Tank provides us with 6 case studies on Successful Online Music Marketing

mashable talks about why music industry has to change strategy to reach digital natives

Winning a Grammy is a remarkable accomplishment and one that few artists ever experience, let alone an independent 26-year-old jazz bassist and singer. In fact, according to the report I watched on ABC News, Esperanza Spalding’s Grammy for Best New Artist was the first time ANY Jazz artist has won the Best New Artist category.

As a huge supporter of a collection of Independent artists known as “The Pack”, I was quite impressed and excited with Esperanza’s Grammy. Why? Because her success proves that an artist DOES NOT necessarily need to be signed with a big label or have corporate ties. What I did learn, however, is there were a few key ingredients that may have helped her win. You see, Esperanza is a musical prodigy and through the years, she has acquired some famous fans and many critics have applauded her music.

“Esperanza first started playing when she was just 4 years of age and within on year, at the age of 5, she joined the Chamber Music Society of Oregon, in the United States. At the age of 20, she became the youngest faculty member at the prestigious Berklee College of Music.

While she won the best new artist award this year, she’s been around for a while. “Esperanza,” her 2008 album, spent more than 70 weeks on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart and was the most successful internationally selling debut that year. She recorded her first album, “Junjo,” in 2006.” (ABC News, February 14, 2011)

As you know, 50K Music Magazine is all about supporting independent music and since I have the same passion, 50K Music Magazine and I thought it would be a natural fit to team up and help promote the music of the indie artists we support. Personally, I am looking forward to this new collaborative effort. It’s a win/win for everyone and with a little creativity and a lot of hard work…who knows, one of the artists we support may be on that stage one day…holding a Grammy.

Anyone who knows me understands the passion I have for “The Pack”. I am proud of these artists; because they are all exceptionally talented, intelligent, and super hard-working artists.

Beginning in November of 2010, Radio Enkhuizen out of the Netherlands started playing music by “The Pack” on a regular basis and just last week, another radio station, Vixen 101 FM out of England welcomed their music, as they played songs by 9 of the artists. Next week, they will play music by the other artists. Additionally, I’ve submitted a couple of CDs to NPR radio from the United States…the world’s largest radio station and a HUGE supporter of ALL music. Next, I’ll be shooting for Los Angeles radio stations…which would be the ultimate prize! People in Los Angeles spend a great deal of time in their cars and because of this…radio is a major part of the LA lifestyle.

It’s all about reaching out to as many people as possible; because if the music is good, people will not only request it…they will buy it.

To everyone who supports independent music…thank you! Collectively, we can all make a difference…it’s our choice.

-Wolfman-

50K MUSIC: You have just started Crowdbands and “want to save the world from bad music“. How would you define your mission?
Peter: There is a gap in the record industry today where credible artists like The Donnas are itching to make great records, but where labels focus on flash in the pans like Ke$ha and Justin Bieber. We aim to fill that gap with a platform that allows bands and fans to get closer earlier in the writing and recording process.

50K MUSIC: Your approach is rather crowdsourcing (with using the wisdom of the crowds) than crowd or fan funding, isn’t it?
Peter: That is true, our members have an equal voice in the choices we put forth. You can’t buy greater influence than other members by paying more money. We are not in the business of selling mentions in liner notes, or t-shirts or mugs. We are in the business of providing a unique experience to our members.

50K MUSIC: What does Crowdbands offer musicians once they’ve joined? Actually, can they simply “join”?
Peter: At this point musicians can’t ‘join’ per se. We are actively talking to a variety of bands that we feel could do well on the platform, we hope to announce a couple more in the next few weeks.

50K MUSIC: And what are the benefits and chances for fans?
Peter: The main benefit to the fans is to be part of the artistic process, which to date they have not had a chance to participate in. Their voice is heard and they help support and guide a band they love. We are giving them free music from our bands, and we are creating experiences only they have access to.

50K MUSIC: You’re focusing on a small number of musicians to support or more precisely one band, The Donnas, at the moment. Do you think this could be the right way?
Peter: We will add more acts over time, but we are not going to be a platform for hundreds of bands like some of our competitors. We believe in keeping it small, focused, and curated. This way we can really listen to our members and truly implement their desires for our bands.

50K MUSIC: Don’t you think you will overstrain fans with all the decisions they have to make and the artists with executing these decisions?
Peter: Participation on the fan side is voluntary – you either vote or you don’t. It is up to the fan. The Donnas want to hear from the fans and make decisions with them and so they are ready to execute the decisions made. Some of the decisions are for the Crowdbands team to execute on as well.

50K MUSIC: If you need fast decisions I guess the process on Crowdbands could be a little bit complicated. Is grassroots democracy really the best way?
Peter: Define fast. We can turn a decision around in matter of hours or a few days. In 99% of the cases that is not needed however, in the creative process things take time and so the fans and the band have more than that to make up their minds.

50K MUSIC: Do you think fan funding or your new approach will be the gravedigger of big labels? Will websites like Crowdbands, Pledgemusic, SellaBand or Slicethepie really revolutionize music business?
Peter: As in many other industries there is room for different models and players. We believe we have a place in the industry and to some extent we are revolutionizing the process. The fans should have more input in the music they love.

50K MUSIC: What are your further plans on Crowdbands for 2011?
Peter: More bands, more fans, more decisions and more fun as part of the whole process.

50K MUSIC: Anything else you want to let 50K MUSIC readers know?
Peter: Come join us, we are eager to listen to and work with a diverse group of music fans.

50K MUSIC: You started Pledgemusic together with your mates Rupert, Jayce and Jann back in 2008. What are your experiences during these two and a half years? Would you do it again?
Benji: It has been an amazing ride for sure, and personally I am still reeling from it all. I went from being a musician to running a music company seemingly overnight. The best part about the day to day is that I am working with an incredible team of people who deeply care about the music and the musicians that we are helping. What we do seems simple from the outside but ask anyone who has worked with us and you’ll see that there is allot more under the hood than just a fundraising platform and so there’s allot to get right. I would do it over again in a heart beat but this time with more sleep for sure.

50K MUSIC: What does Pledgemusic offer musicians once they’ve joined?
Benji: From the outset we knew that we couldn’t build just a website. We set out to build a music company. So from signup to fulfilment our artists are guided through what is essentially a digital marketing campaign that assists with growing the existing database, consolidating the social networks, a data capture strategy & the actual writing of the campaigns. Whilst live the system and the team work with each artist to make sure that the campaign runs smoothly and in short has the best chance of succeeding. There is allot to this process and we can make it easier. Most artists realise that they do not want to look desperate or needy and as such we will guide the message of the campaign to focus on the Pledgers only updates page i.e. the place within the site from which the artist rewards their fans for their participation. We are currently batting a 75% success rate across the platform which means that you have a really good chance at succeeding with your campaign goals. We’re a friendly bunch too and so we go above and beyond to help out in matters beyond just the campaign where ever we can.

50K MUSIC: And what are the benefits and chances for fans?
Benji: These vary from project to project and artist to artist. Ideally the fan gets, rather than just a sales pitch or an artist flat out asking them for money an experience of the making of the record or tour or what ever is on offer. They get to Pledge in at the level of their choice, and they also get access to the Pledgers only updates page from which the artist can offer them exclusive access to anything from rough mixes, demos, live tracks, videos, tour and studio diaries and all in between. This is really where things get exciting for the fans. It’s my belief that fans are sick of being flat out sold to. So the Pledge experience was designed to reward them from day 1. Rather than a glorified pre-sale they are offered participation right from the outset.

50K MUSIC: Dave McPherson, The Subways and Cornershop have successfully raised money for their upcoming albums – Dave in less than 24 hours and all three much more than the planned 100%. Do you think fan funding can work for unknown artists as well?
Benji: So before I answer this I need to clarify that PledgeMusic is not a fan funding platform it is a direct to fan platform. As previously stated there are multiple ways to ask your fans for money and straight out fan funding is one of them. We just do things a little differently. But back to your actual question it can work at every level as long as the expectation is reasonable & the campaign thought out. The most important thing is to set the target correctly and make sure that it’s appropriate to the level that the artist is at. An artist with 50 fans does not need $50k to get to the next level. They need 50 more fans. So it’s crucial that that campaign is well thought out and to this end we have built in a budget calculation tool into the signup system. This coupled with the experience of running so many campaigns means that we can get this right more often than not. Being an unknown artist is in no way an impediment to succeeding with one of our campaigns.

50K MUSIC: By the way, why don’t Pledgers see the funding goal (in £) on the project page?
Benji: Because it’s not important to the experience of the project. It goes back to my issue with fan funding. Why would you publicly set a price on your artist or album? Why would fans care? We offer the ability to show the target but it rarely gets used. The amount of money required to make an album is irrelevant to the PledgeMusic process as I don’t think that fans ultimately want to “Fund Anything.” When the target is displayed fans spend less money as well. The last thing I want to know about my favourite artist is how much they need to make an album or tour. I want the music, the access and the experience. I’ll leave the financial stuff to the bank.

50K MUSIC: It seems like Pledgemusic is mainly successful on the UK music market. Do you plan to expand to the European or US market?
Benji: We have actually run an equal number of campaigns in the US and Europe and the rest of the world is growing for us at quite a pace. The higher profile acts have definitely come from the UK so far which is brilliant though the US is going to catch up this year for sure.

50K MUSIC: Do you think fan funding will be the gravedigger of big labels? Will websites like Pledgemusic, SellaBand, Slicethepie really revolutionise the music business?
Benji: Not “Fan Funding” in its present form no. Fan Funding is getting allot of buzz at the moment and there are some great people out there doing it but it’s not a long term strategy to my mind. The big labels are digging their own graves and as such don’t need any help with that. The direct to fan sector is where things will get interesting indeed and this is where I see PledgeMusic fitting in. You see we can work with the labels and not against them. We have run campaigns with both major and indie labels and as such have seen what a brilliant future could look like. The direct to fan industry is the most exciting sector to watch at the moment as it has the ability to totally change the way things are done. Asking your fans to give you money can be done with a paypal button on your website. But the kinds of strategic and in depth campaigns that will actually succeed and engage the fan, offer true value and more importantly leave artist and management in control of their destiny to me are not so much the future of the music business but the business of making music and this is what it’s always really been about.

50K MUSIC: What are your further plans on Pledgemusic for 2011?
Benji: I want us to hit an 85% success rate and to further improve the system. The iPhone app and a few other bells and whistles that we are rolling out are really going to offer the fans something special indeed and are going to give the artists some incredibly powerful tools to use. We are also going to see our first releases on the PledgeMusic Recordings label which is going to be great and we are signing our first artists to the publishing company as well. We have opened an office in Los Angeles and will have one in NY shortly. This is an exciting time and we are ready to bring this direct to fan experience into the mainstream.

50K MUSIC: Anything else you want to let 50K MUSIC readers know?
Benji: Because it can be amazing it should be.

Thanks a lot to Benji for this great interview.

Pledgemusic:
www
Facebook
Twitter

The concept of Crowdbands looks promising at the first look. There are a only few drawbacks for me. The first one is the annual fee of 25 $ you have to pay if you want to be a member and take part in the decision process. But you can submit to a 3-day-trial to get to know the site. Another con for me is that the site looks quite boring with loads of text, few pictures and only videos from the featured band (The Donnas at the moment). I don’t know if the strategy of limitation of artists Crowdbands is pursueing will prevent the weak points other crowdfunding concepts have.

I will keep track of Crowdbands and will report about any new features and developments there.

Bob Lefsetz seizes this suggestion in his newsletter. In his post about “Today’s Music Business Paradigm” he advises how musicians can make it on their own together with their fans. Could be more than food for thought for Independent musicians.

Of course, there is also quite a lot of music from all over the world, and, as usual, the Song of the Week. Also this week, you can take part in the new Song of the Week voting.

The podcast will appear on the TalentCast website on Saturday at 5 pm CET.

50K MUSIC: What is WELOVEYOURSONGS.com about? Please introduce the concept.
Alessandro: Weloveyoursongs.com is an internet community for unsigned musicians and music fans. Our principal aim is to empowers artists that are not signed by any music label, and we are committed to provide the best environment possible for the artists that are part of our community to be heard on internet, and for the music fans to discover new talented underground musicians, hear some exciting sounds and have the possibility to interact with other people with similar interests.

At the moment we have 2 competitions – Best New Song and Best New Artist – and every musicians that registers on in Weloveyoursongs.com automatically take part in both the contests.

The 31 of January is the end date of the first round, after that the ten most voted songs and the ten most voted artists by the public will be selected and will go for a final phase until the 10 of February when a winner for both competitions will be awarded. The votes that artists receive for their songs are valid also for the “Best New Artist” competition comes from the public. The prize is £ 1,000 – divided in equal parts between the winners of the two contests – and some other interesting prizes will be revealed very soon.

So basically artists that join weloveyoursongs.com can win some prizes, receive feedbacks of their works from other artists and music fans, create their own artist page, upload and stream their music. All this come for free, there are no fees they need to pay to join our community.

50K MUSIC: May we get to know the WLYS team? Who works for WLYS? Who is the force behind WLYS?
Alessandro: Weloveyoursongs.com is owned by Mapamundo Communications, a new media start up based near London. We can count of the support of some nice collaborators around the globe that give us a lot of help. The website has been built by Buckle Consulting, a UK based consulting company, composed by a group of cool guys, that has done a really great work for us. There is not a big investor backing WLYS, just the passion of some few people for music and innovation!

50K MUSIC: Will WLYS die when the competitions are over?
Alessandro: No absolutely not! This is just the start and we hope to start many more competitions, add many interesting features and build a community that will stimulate creativity and curiosity between their members. We are really looking for new collaborations to offer exclusive services, tools and opportunities to our members.

50K MUSIC: Why do fans have to pay to vote on the website? Isn’t this contrary to the spirit of independent music?
Alessandro: No we don’t honestly see that as contrary to the spirit of independent music, most of the contest works like this, and more than that you have usually to pay also a fee to register, while for our competitions artists can take part for free. We are in a kind of beta testing phase now, we are trying to get as more feedbacks as possible from our members and we are really open for any possibilities.

50K MUSIC: How do you plan to support independent music?
Alessandro: We created Weloveyoursongs.com to offer to unsigned artists a new place to share their music and compete with other artists, to help them to bring forward their passion for music and give them the space they can’t find on mainstream channels where major labels are ruling. We have created that also for the music lovers like us that are always looking for new interesting sounds to listen at and that are eager to discover new talented artists.

—

So I guess you have to decide for yourself whether WLYS is your cup of tea or not. The only drawback I see at the moment for fans is the voting fee. Please let me know what you think and leave a comment.

In this weeks show you can listen to Kalika, Adams Dream, Erinn, Radaid, H.C. Turk, Monika Evans (formerly Monika Thomas), Irene B, Szlikk, Simeon, Infinitus Mortus, EXoluta, Tiffany Gow, Tim Bennett (formerly Civilized Tears) – read his album update -(Song of the Week), Alex Marczak.

Enjoy the show and don’t miss to vote for Talentcast’s Song of the Week here.

Apart from the Song of the Week, there is of course lots of other music in our programme – you will hear some very relaxing jazz from France, British rock, a magical Belgian progressive rock band, another magic Belgian experimental band… And many others.

Enjoy this weeks radio show on www.talentcast.nl

Btw, read also the interview with Stephan published in May.

Natalia is a successful model and actress, but music is her biggest passion and she is working hard on finishing the album and also on the promotion plans. She also offers a little gift to the listeners of TalentCast – you will hear the details in the interview!

TC have played one song of Natalia, and of course music of other artists. All listeners who have profiles on SellaBand or MySpace can take part in the Song of the Week voting – this week, there are nine songs to choose from.

So if you missed this weeks show today tune in on www.talentcast.nl.

You definitely should not miss interview with Inge from the Netherlands, who released her SellaBand-funded album just a few months ago. Inge will speak about her SellaBand journey, her music inspirations and reveal the secret how she had managed to make the album so fast.

So, make sure to tune in … www.talentcast.nl

A few SellaBand artists released their albums while TalentCast was on holiday. This Saturday (August 21) and in the following editions we will  interview some of these artists and play tracks from their new  releases. This week you will hear an interview with Tiffany Gow, whose  album “Deeply Drowning in Deception”, produced by Peter Stevenson, has  already begun to arrive in believers’ mailboxes. You will also hear some  new tracks of artists you have already heard in our programme, and some  new artists who have recently joined TalentCast and uploaded music to us.

Information on TalentCast:
TalentCast started off over three years ago (on August 12, 2007) with its weekly independent music radio programme. Originally they played only music of SellaBand artists. Since last autumn, they have also begun to include independent artists from MySpace.

Every independent artist who has a profile on SellaBand or MySpace can submit music to TalentCast to get airplay. You can read about how to submit music on TC’s FAQ page.

Every week, listeners can vote for their favourite track on the playlist. You will find information on how to vote also on TC’s FAQ page. The song that wins the weekly voting becomes the TalentCast Song of the Week and is played in the next edition of TalentCast and minimum 40 times on Ede FM. It is also featured on the main page of the TalentCast website for a week.

TalentCast is available as podcast on TC website, a number of podcasting websites and on iTunes. It is also broadcast twice a week on cable and FM radio Ede FM. Selected tracks of TalentCast artists are also played on Radio Enkhuizen in the weekly programme of Peter Timmerman.

to TalentCast radio show!

Q: A little bit more than 100 days ago you took over the job of SellaBand CEO. Do you regret this step with hindsight?
A: Not at all! It has been and still is a great challenge and I´m happy that we´ve managed the takeover and the first 100 days together with a vast majority of the Believers and Artists.

Q: What was the hardest challenge for you after the new start?
A: I would say that all the regulatory and legal issues have been most challenging, since this is something you can not completely influence. On the one hand you have to follow certain rules and requirements and on the other hand you are looking for a creative an positive way to realize a workable solution. Beside of this it wasn’t always easy to find the right priority because there are so many demands and interests we have to take care of.

Q: Are there any issues you wanted to tackle but haven’t solved yet?
A: Yes, I would love to be faster with the progress of the front-end and usability. Everything else is in a good situation. Things could happen faster – as always, but right now I would say “we are on schedule!”

Q: A lot of (active) believers and a few artists have left SellaBand after the bankruptcy. How do you plan to bring the community back to SellaBand?
A: We have to offer new features – we need more marketing power, and support the artist as an consultancy, provide proper distribution partners, promotion activities… We will have some nice new features, TV shows and are expanding into foreign markets. This will give a lot of attraction for our former believers. We will setup satellites around the Sellaband Planet. Those satellites will create a 360 degree full service for Artist and should be very attractive for all our “old” believers.

Q: What are your plans for the next months regarding the website, promotion and SellaBand in general?
A: As said we are working on the TV appearance, we will have some more competitions like Rocken am Brocken or the Intro co-operation. There will be some nice changes to the website, functionality and appearance in general within the next 6 month, but of course we don´t want to spoil anything right now.

Thanks Michael for the interview.