Publicación del CD Colectivo “Ayer La Lluvia”

Hace exactamente un año publiqué “Ayer La Lluvia”, libro que fue presentado en diez oportunidades distintas con músicos independientes tanto de Uruguay como de Argentina.

Desde el inicio surgió la interrogante de si estábamos presentando un libro o un disco, debido a la preponderancia de las canciones en cada evento, y el hecho de que la música es el eje por el que transitan sus textos, y donde anidan las esperanzas de sus principales historias.

Ahora, esa interrogante queda resuelta. O al menos, redimensionada. Ayer La Lluvia se ha convertido en un disco que incluye 17 temas, la gran mayoría en formato CD por primera vez. Hay canciones inéditas, reversiones, interpretaciones en vivo…

En el libro “Ayer La Lluvia”, lo que hice fue contar la historia de los diversos músicos con los que compartí una infinidad de vivencias a lo largo del tiempo. Y ahora, en el disco el planteo está revertido: son los músicos quienes cuentan mi historia. A través de las 17 composiciones incluidas se cubre desde la etapa final de escritura del libro (noviembre 2012) y su publicación (sábado 1 de junio de 2013), hasta alcanzar el periodo actual.

Y del mismo modo que el libro buscaba acercar a los más jóvenes a la literatura, este CD colectivo lo que procura es despertar su interés por escuchar discos de manera unitaria. Esto es, lograr que en vez de enfocarse en uno o dos temas concretos escuchen álbumes enteros, de principio a fin.

Hoy comparto lo que es el diseño del CD en sí; en estos días podrán ver el arte de tapa, y los nombres de todos los artistas involucrados. No solo participan músicos de Uruguay, sino que también contamos con artistas de Argentina, España y Ecuador.

 

Arte del CD Colectivo "Ayer La lluvia"

(Arte del CD Colectivo “Ayer La Lluvia”)

 

Esta edición física del disco es posible gracias al Sr. Luis Marcelo Pérez, conductor del programa de Radio Uruguay “El Mural”, quien no dudó ni un segundo en financiar este proyecto cuando lo hice partícipe de la propuesta.

La presentación oficial del disco tendrá lugar el próximo sábado 7 de junio junto a las bandas Buentiempo y The Rasta Rolling Papers.

Coincidirá con el lanzamiento de la Gira Despedida Ayer La Lluvia.
Ésta tendrá 5 fechas, y nos conducirá a lugares donde nunca antes habíamos presentado el libro. Culminará en un escenario que conocemos muy bien, y que es acreedor de las emociones más fuertes que nos ha brindado “Ayer La Lluvia”.

Comparto el afiche del evento. La invitación queda planteada para este 7 de junio a las 21:00 horas en la Sala Experimental de Malvín.

Sala experimental de malvin 7

Cínica Issues Its First Album, “Transparente”

Cinica transparente

Uruguayan metal band Cínica was the first national artist to be featured on MusicKO, back when they were recording their eponymous EP.

And it’s a great pleasure to break the news they’ve just released their first album (“Transparente”), and that they’ve got a promotional video to go with it.

The video is for the song “Panacea”, one of the tracks that were actually included on the band’s earlier EP. All these cuts are featured on “Transparente”, newly remixed and remastered, along with seven other original compositions.

Cínica’s current line-up comprises Vico Campbell on vocals, Marcelo Simonetti on guitar and backing vocals, Gonzalo Simonetti on bass and Manuel Kastanas on drums.

Marcelo Fontanini (from Snake), Mariana Acosta (the former singer for Dr. Rocka) and Fabián Furtado (from Rey Toro) all have guest spots on the album.

“Transparente” will soon be available for digital purchase, and when that happens I’ll make sure to update this post. In any case, note that if you drop by the band’s website (www.cinica.net) you’ll be able to buy a physical copy using PayPal.

Cinica transparente banda

How To Sell Your Music On iTunes

How Do You Sell Your Own Music On iTunes?

How Do You Sell Your Own Music On iTunes?

To think that once upon a time the dream of every musician was to have his own CD on the racks of record stores all over the country… now, his aim is to have it featured on iTunes. Yet, how many stop to think of what would it take to make it happen before doing anything? How many understand how it really works? I hope the text below answers that, and gives anybody something of a direction when thinking about selling his own music through iTunes.

The first thing to realize is that you are not going to work directly with Apple – the requirements for doing that rule most people out (IE, you must have 20 albums in your catalog – that is more than bands like The Who put out in their actual time together). No, what you are going to do is to work with Apple through an aggregator such as TuneCore or CDBaby. These are companies that work with Apple in order to ensure that the content which is featured on iTunes meet its actual quality standards, and they also take care of marketing/promotional duties.

In the case of the two that have just been mentioned (TuneCore and CDBaby – they are easily the two most popular aggregators around), you retain the rights to your music, and you also retain more than 90 % of the royalties for every sale (TuneCore actually lets you retain 100 % of every transaction). Aggregators also let you sell your music on other stores and services such as Amazon MP3, Spotify, MySpace Music, Zune, Rhapsody, Nokia, Amazon On Demand and (in the vast majority of cases) you are also allowed to market your music physically, and have it sold on record stores. Continue reading

How Much Do Artists Who Market Their Music Online Really Earn? Read On…

We hear so much about Lady Gaga causing an online sensation that nobody would be blamed for believing the Internet has shifted everything in ways that clearly benefit musicians. However, this study (by David McCandless) puts it all into perspective – how much an artist earns by selling a physical CD, how much by marketing his music online… It is interesting to say the least, and I advice you to give it a good perusal. Continue reading