50K MUSIC: You’ve released your fan funded album “The Odd One Out” in June last year. What happened since then?
John: Since the release of The Odd One Out I’ve been very busy promoting the record. I’ve been travelling all across my own country (the Netherlands) but I’ve also visited other countries during a small Europe tour last October. Germany, Spain and England. I’ve done some awesome performances and managed in february to succeed my second Sellaband project for the recording of an EP.

50K MUSIC: Meanwhile you’ve started your third project on SellaBand – the Documentary Project. Please tell us something about it.
John: The upcoming half year a lot of exciting things are about to happen. I’m going to record the EP for which I gathered fundings with my second SAB project, I got a few great performances with my string quartet and I’m going to tour the USA! With the recording of the documentary I want to show what it’s like to be an independent artist. An artist who does everything by himself without the help of managers, booking agencies and record labels. I want to give an insight in what you’ll have to do to stay in the attention and to do everything by yourself.

50K MUSIC: Once you will have raised the 5,000 €, what will you use the budget for ?
John: The 5,000 € will mainly be used for camera equipment, editing costs and duplication costs of the documentary.

50K MUSIC: How can we support you raising your budget?
John: By spreading the word and investing of course This documentary can be interesting for everyone: artists, music fans and entrepeneurs. I think everybody can learn something from my way of handeling things. Whether it’s my business point of view or just the way I look towards live and it’s opportunities. Besides that it’s going to be an amazing journey which is (I think) worth to film and watch.

50K MUSIC: You have announced the release of your upcoming EP for June/July 2011 (your second SellaBand project). Please update us on that.
John: I had recorded the EP, but decided to throw everything away and start over again. It simply was not good enough. The songs did not have the “WOW” factor I want them to have. So I decided to write some more, re-arrange the songs and start all over with the recording. So for now the release of the EP is planned for February 2012.

50K MUSIC: What are your plans for promoting the EP once it’s released?
John: The same as I did with my other recordings. We will be releasing a new single and promote that one on the radio, perform as much as possible and spread the word!

50K MUSIC: Do we have the chance to see you on stages in Europe this summer?
John: This summer I won’t be performing that much. We only play at “Geuzenpop Festival” on the 6th of August in Enschede. We had a very busy year, and with the upcoming plans I decided to take it easy for a couple of months. In september everything will be starting off again with the string quartet performances, and in October I’ll be heading for the USA.

50K MUSIC: What further plans do you have for the next few months?
John: Record a new record, perform and tour the USA. Oh and record a documentary if there will be enough fundings

50K MUSIC: And last: One thing you want your fans and believers to know.
John: I’m so grateful for all the opportunities I get with all these fundings. The documentary is my way of showing you how your money is spent. So if you’d want to know what happens to an independent artist after having them funded: invest in my new project!

John C Fraser’s Documentary Project on SellaBand

First are Bombay Bicycle Club “Dust On The Ground” … I like the voice of their singer (can anyone tell me his name?)

Second one … Gaslight Anthem “Drive” … I like their older songs most:

Next one … commercial one by The Civil Wars “Poison & Wine” … wonderful love song … btw, I’ve never watched one single episode of “Grey’s Anatomy”

And … they are my absolute favourite Pop band at the moment … BOA “Push” (Live at MetroOnstage in Stockholm)

Last but not least Okkervil River “Wake And Be Fine” … not necessarily ground-breaking, but great song …

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)

Last time I wrote for 50K MAG, I wrote about how making an album seems to take forever and can drive you totally mad while you wait for it to take shape. I suppose in some aspects, I’m still far from finished but this time, the album is starting to sound like an album and all but the vocals are recorded.

I’m sitting at ‘Sloth’ studios at the moment and my Stepdad Andy Tait is loading up the next track to record vocals on. We started the project at one of New Zealand’s top studios ‘The Lab’, with their top engineer Oliver Harmer and the band tracked live for three days at the end of April.

In between recording the music and recording the vocals, I’ve been on my third tour of Melbourne, Australia with my other band ‘The Twitch’ and we had our best shows there yet. I think going back to places you’ve played is really important to create a decent following, even if the first couple of times you go, you don’t have packed out shows. Being our third time to Melbourne, the shows were really pumping and we took some footage from the shows and have made a little tour video which is up on our Facebook page.

While there we did television performances and radio interviews and we’re really starting to come out from the underground over there. Hopefully we can get back there before the year is out. As well as going to Melbourne, The Twitch have released a brand new video for our song ‘Greenlight’ which looks really professional and we’re currently working on servicing that to television stations all around the country.

In promotional news, I’ve just made myself my first ever website which is really exciting. You can have a wee -perve at: www.fleurjack.com

And I’ve designed and purchased some business cards to hand out at shows to promote the my album, the new website as well my fundraising campaign on AKA Music for album number two.

After releasing the album, I’m going to Canada to play the International Pop Overthrow Festival in Vancouver. My plan is to buy a van and drive through America’s playing as many shows as I can fit into two months.

I think the biggest market for country music is the USA and I am super keen to get over there and see what kind of reaction I get with my new band. To help me with all the flights and travel costs, I’ve setup yet another fundraising campaign on Indiegogo.com where I’m pre-selling my album for $20 USD which will go directly to my touring fund. You can help me out here.

So to wrap up, last time I spoke of madness but this time around, I’m feeling like there’s not much more work left to do on the recording process and it’s time to start thinking about the photo shoot for the album cover, the booklet and album artwork, then it’s time for music videos, touring for promotion and getting all the press releases ready to send out to the media.

Good things take time!
xx

Till next time (and hopefully the album will be done by then) love Fleur
xx

Maybe you’ve already downloaded their debut album “Reverence For Fallen Trees” for free on their website.

About The Black Atlantic:

They started as a project of van der Velde in his off time from his philosophy studies. Gradually the project turned more serious after Geert recorded his first song – a Valentine’s gift to his then girlfriend, now wife and mother of his baby girl – in February of 2006. After posting the song on Myspace van der Velde received some label interest and wrote and recorded ‘Send This Home’ in the early Fall of 2006 with the help of various contributing friends. He eventually abandoned his studies to focus full-time on the band. Live The Black Atlantic made its first appearance, in one of many incarnations, at Eurosonic 2007. Since then the band has maintained a steady diet of touring with a revolving line-up around van der Velde (and for the past 2 years Janssen).

In Europe the band has toured with Saturday Looks Good to Me (usa), Windmill (uk) and Woven Hand (us). The band also opened up most shows for Midlake in the Netherlands and shared the stage with The Tallest Man on Earth in the U.K. In addition to their European shows, the band has toured the US a total of seven times. Most notably they played Filter’s Culture Collide Festival in Los Angeles, CMJ Music Marathon in New York City, NXNE in Toronto, and SXSW 2010 in Austin, one of the world’s largest music festivals. The Black Atlantic has been invited back to play SXSW in 2011 as an official artist. The band is currently slowly working on a follow up to “Reverence…” but spends most of its time on the road touring.

www.theblackatlantic.com

Johan is struggling with the Finnish Ä and Y sounds while making the programme. So you already know that one Finnish band is featured in the new TalentCast programme … There is also music from Poland, the Netherlands, Britain, Germany… and not only. Don’t miss the current show and have a listen on Talentcast.nl

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.

First a great video from Amycanbe …

I love this video … spread the word!

Get a taste of Mount Fabric playing “Sarah and the Multiverse” live …

Btw, their new EP “Secretly an Astronaut” is out now and you can download it on Hairy Wolves Bandcamp Site for 2 pounds … check it out!

Next is Aly Cook’s “Spend It” from her debut album “Brand New Day” …

Do also join Kiwi Sofa every Saturday …

And last but not least a nice little piece from new Cornershop album (feat. BubbleyKaur) …

Issue #16 of 50K MUSIC MAG is out after a long period of silence.

Enjoy reading about Alex Highton, The Subways, Cornershop and a lot more. Also I have included the two interviews with fan-funding platform founders Benji Rogers (Pledgemusic) and Peter Sorgenfrei (Crowdbands).

Read it on Scribd.

Download it (pdf 18 MB)

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

First: BOA have released their single “Push” and get D-rotation on Swedish radio station P3. They will be gigging tomorrow at Sticky Fingers in Gothenburg. I really like their refreshing Pop and hope they’ll get the attention they deserve.

Second: Amycanbe‘s new single “Everywhere” is also out now. And their new EP “The World Is Round” will be released within the next weeks.

Single Tracklist – 1 Everywhere (edit) 2 Everywhere (Dub Version) 3 Everywhere (Dub Instr Version) 4 Rose Is A Rose (PEACE Mix).

You can watch the recording sessions at Teatro Petrella di Longiano:

Third: Storyfold will release their single “Trick Of Light” on April 29th. Today they send it out to loads of radio statition as they stated on Facebook. On May 20th they will hit the stage at Whelan’s in Dublin.

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

As well as my impatience with time, I am also wanting the album to be really freakin’ good (who doesn’t right!?). I want to make an album that people will want to play from start to finish and enjoy all the way through. I want it to be a successful album that people will talk about and as well as impressing other people, I want to impress myself with it.

I have been writing like a mad hatter! Wine in one hand, pen in the other and a cigarette pressed into the end of my headstock. I can’t help but feel like i’m channeling Hunter S Thompson some nights. Is that song finished yet? Is my chorus strong enough? Is the bridge working? Can you sing this note, so I can test this harmony?

I even called my parents today to ask for their opinion on a song. My dad spent the rest of the afternoon locked in his audio cave putting strings to the song I emailed through, so I guess that’s a tick from him and mum was honest about her dis-taste for a chord I had chosen in an otherwise great track. Unlike a lot of peoples parents, mine are always brutally honest with constructive criticism and I can always test out songs on them and know i’ll get honest feedback that I can trust – take it or leave it, it’s always good to get opinions.

Last week I filmed band practice as a way to make people feel like being a part of the album making process. I’ve left all the in-between stuff out of it and you just see the band playing one song in my very, artistically messy lounge.

I will continue to film the album making experience so if you want to stay tuned into it, please subscribe to my Youtube channel.

While working on the album, I am also planning the release tour. I toured NZ four times last year between both my bands and i’ve decided to step it up a notch for my album release. This September, I am going to drag my band to the USA, buy a van and drive for two months. It’s going to take me the whole year to plan all the gigs and of course, save my butt off to pay for the flights, the van, petrol, insurance, food, accomodation and everything else that will go into the trip of a lifetime but no doubt, will be worth every effort.

Once I get home, it’ll be time to do a tour here and then try it again in Australia.

The plan from there is to get into my follow up CD which I am already funding for on AKA music.

In my head, it’s all figured out. I just need to dedicate every part of my soul to turning into reality!

Right – now for the sales pitch:
Please ‘like’ me on facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Friend me on Myspace
Check out my stuff and get behind me with my next album

Thanks very much – all the way from little ol’ New Zealand!
xx
Fleur

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.

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.

Dave McPherson reached 100 % of his funding target in less than 24 hours Pledgemusic announced in their newsletter. If we all knew the amount of his target we’d sure consider to give him standing ovation for this. At the moment he stands at 179 % of X. I have to say this is one of the weak points of Pledgemusic. Nevertheless Dave seems to deliver some good music with his upcoming solo album “The Hardship Diaries”.

Same with The Subways – they reached 99 % of their funding goal of X in this minute. They fund their upcoming album on Pledgemusic and offer a well-assorted bundle of incentives, especially they promise to follow the making of the album day by day.