Billboard Launches A Promotion Service For Unsigned Bands

Billboard pro

Never one to lose relevance, legendary music service Billboard has announced the launch of a paid service for young bands that want to track their sales and fan activity.

This service goes by the name of Billboard Pro, and it has been in beta since January.

Bands that sign up for Billboard Pro are provided with a heat score that determines their ranking on a chart of its very own named “Uncharted”.

And bands get the chance to be mentioned in the Billboard Bulletin, as well as having their songs rotated on the weekly playlist found on Billboard’s website.

This service can be tried for free for a full month. Once this trial period comes to an end, a membership will cost you $ 99/year.

Radiohead’s “The King Of Limbs” Now Has Its Own Newspaper

Radiohead's "The King Of Limbs" Get Its Own Newspaper

Radiohead's "The King Of Limbs" Gets Its Own Newspaper

The reviews for “The King Of Limbs” weren’t exactly glowing, and for the first time in years Radiohead has a really hard album to market. The band’s latest promotional push involves the creation and delivery of a newspaper that can be had for free at selected locations the world over.

This newspaper features stories, poems and illustrations by worldwide artists, and digital copies have also begun surfacing at selected locations (see here).

It’s all very nice and novel, but it seems to me the most noteworthy ramification of the album so far is the clip featuring Thom Yorke’s hiccupped dancing from the “Lotus” video. In case you haven’t seen it…

I don’t know about you, but the more I listen to “The King Of Limbs” the more I feel like dusting my copy of “The Bends”. And no amount of paraphernalia is likely to make me change my mind, I’m afraid.

For Those Who Thought That Rebecca Black Was Bad Enough…

The whole Internet is immersed on a debate regarding the merits of Rebecca Black. On the one hand, many critics denounce her for having lowered the tone beyond all recognizable limits. On the other hand, an artist such as Lady Gaga calls her an outright genius.

I wonder what people on either side of the argument will say when they get to watch this video. Created by Disasteradio, it shows us that there is always some new pit to fall into.

The song is called “Gravy Rainbow”. Disasteradio’s album can be downloaded for free from its bandcamp profile. You look for the link at your own peril – I am not including it here. Having shared the video for “Gravy Rainbow” has been debilitating-enough…

Lanzamiento De “La Nieta Menor De Ofelia” De Jorge Nocetti Ruiz

la nieta menor de ofelia

Hoy quería presentarles el primer libro publicado por un compañero del taller de escritura al que asisto. Se titula “La Nieta Menor de Ofelia”, y ha sido publicado por Rumbo Editorial. Es una historia muy humana, con una moraleja excelente.

Comparto con ustedes el texto que el poeta Javier Etchemendi aportó para la contratapa del libro.

Una novela de las relaciones humanas que explora el difícil tema del amor filial.

Un libro arborescente que se interna en el seno de una familia y en el conflicto de la llegada de un hijo que no ha sido planificado.

Una historia que pone de manifiesto la circunstancia de que en la vida las decisiones nunca son perfectas, porque las personas no lo son. Y porque la vida no requiere de perfección sino de humanidad.

Es pues un libro rebosante de humanidad y de ilusión; la misma ilusión que nos impele a los mayores aciertos y equívocos. Un espejo donde reflejarnos y tal vez reconocernos o tan sólo la ocasión para imaginar. Porque un libro es como un collar de ámbar con la promesa de una vida en su interior.

La Nieta de Ofelia es la ópera prima de Jorge Nocetti. Un trabajo legítimo donde queda demostrada la pasión de su autor por la escritura y por la comunicación.

Enhorabuena, por este libro y por la experiencia, siempre turbadora, de la escritura.

Find You Some Vinyl – A Search Engine For Nothing But LPs

FindYouSomeVinyl

Name: Find You Some Vinyl
URL: http://www.findyousomevinyl.com

Find You Some Vinyl is a young search engine that lets people find LPs both old and new by simply furnishing the name of the band and/or artist they are after. The site premiered at the last Music Hack Day in New York City, and it has merited mostly positive reviews if only because there’s nothing else like it around.

Granted, a site like Amazon has a large collection of vinyl on offer. Yet, the creator of this site is trying to bring together the results from smaller retailers such as Insound, Interpunk and Boomkat. That is not saying Find You Some Vinyl ignores Amazon – it doesn’t, it is one of the services that are crawled. It’s just that the emphasis here is on letting people look beyond that, and end up finding these truly rare records that (for the most part) are only found in the possession of reclusive collectors, hid in a chest with three big padlocks and a good couple of booby traps around. Continue reading

Free Uruguayan Music For Download: “Amigos Imaginarios” By Picnic

"Amigos Imaginarios" By Picnic

"Amigos Imaginarios" By Picnic

Picnic is a Uruguayan punk band whose debut EP has just become available for download. It is named “Amigos Imaginarios”, it has four punchy cuts (mainly dealing with vices, personality and emotions too torrid to mention) and you can get it for free here.

It also has a cover that would make Frank Zappa, The Mothers of Invention and the whole cast from “200 Motels” proud. I have discovered that if you stare at it for a couple of minutes and then look at the wall, you’re seeing a hybrid of Guernica, the movie poster for “The Lovely Bones” and the face of Doc Brown. Well, I did at least. I suppose that’s what happens when you have been fixedly watching nothing but Placebo videos the whole week.

Boy, “The Bitter End” is badass. And what about “This Picture”? Atomic. If Picnic ever shoots one like these, then I’m creating a category on the blog solely for them.

Picnic Playing Live. Left To Right: Mato, So and Germán.

Picnic Playing Live. Left To Right: Mato, So and Germán.

Anyway, “Amigos Imaginarios” is a greatly-enjoyable EP. Sassy references to The Ramones abound, with songs like “Él Es Punk” [He Is A Punk] paying a direct homage to compositions such as “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” and “Judy Is A Punk”. The ensemble playing is good, and the way the voice of singer Sofía is juxtaposed with that of her cohorts (guitarist Mato and drummer Germán) is really ear-catching (specially on the title track). Continue reading

The Guinness World Record For The Largest Guitar Lesson Ever Is Set

A new Guinness world record has been set by Grammy-winning guitarist Steve Vai and Berkleemusic (the online division of the Berklee College of Music), namely the record for the most massive online guitar lesson ever.

This live lesson took place at the beginning of March, and it was broadcast from Livestream Studios in New York City. On the whole, 7000 people attended (with 4455 alone tuning in during the first 15 minutes).

Just as importantly, Berkleemusic donated $7,000 (a dollar for every attendee) to the Steve Vai Online Scholarship Fund at Berkleemusic.

This is the video for the record-setting lesson.

Music Lunge – Social Network For Indie Musicians & Performers

MusicLunge

Name: Music Lunge
URL: http://www.musiclunge.com

Music Lunge is a new social networking site for musicians. Although the title of this post suggests indie performers are the ones that would get the most out of it, the truth is that this network is also going to be of help to all majors who want to promote their art.

On Music Lunge, just anybody can create a profile and become discovered both by the public and by other performers. What’s more, those who use the site can find music industry professionals that much faster. This includes not only managers and music editors, but also attorneys and promotion agents. Continue reading

The First Music Video Shot With An iPad 2

The First Music Video Shot With An iPad  Has Arrived: "Need" By Eddy.

The First Music Video Shot With An iPad Has Arrived: "Need" By Eddy.

Whenever Apple issues a new device (any new device) content creators rush to be the first to come up with a video within their relevant fields. And the iPad 2 was never going to remain aloof to that.

The first news broadcast on an iPad 2, for example, was carried out by Fox 4 in South Texas. It broadcasted a whole segment from one such tablet as part of its St. Patrick’s Day coverage

And now, the first music video shot using an iPad 2 is here. The song “Need” by Eddy was the first video of such nature to hit the Web. The video was shot by Remedy Films, and you can find it embedded below. It was created with Eddy holding one iPad, and several other tablets mounted on rigs.

What do you think? If all music videos were shot on iPads 2 from now on, would it make a difference to you in terms of quality and/or involvement?

Unlimited Downloads For iTunes Music Purchases

itunes logo
Ask any user of iTunes what he would change about the service, and his response will most likely focus on one thing: the inability to download music that he has purchased to more than one device.

And if he gets angry as he points that out, he is entitled to feel like that. The way everything stands right now, a person who has an iPhone, an iPad and an iPod is not allowed to download music that he has purchased to more than one of these devices.

Apple is well aware of that, and has begun negotiating a deal that (if successful) will enable users to have their music on all their devices. The key here would be either letting users stream their audio (a la Pandora or Grooveshark), or letting people download songs that they have purchased once unlimitedly. Continue reading