Music to My Ears: What I’ve Been Listening To

November 18, 2011 | Link | 0 Comments

I wanted to take a step back from writing about the relationship between the Internet and music for a while, and instead just write about music by itself. After all, music is what I love, what I studied at university and ultimately why I started ElectricKiwi.

There’s so many things that I love about music, but the two main reasons are how it makes me feel and how it can bring people together. The feeling of discovering a new artist and growing to love them is amazing but for me the feeling you can get when you introduce someone to an artist they haven’t heard before can be equally as satisfying.

On that note, I decided I want to start a regular feature on this blog which talks about what I’ve been listening to recently.

Over the last few weeks (and I suppose generally, too) I’ve been listening to a really varied mix of music. I think variation is so important. There are so many genres out there, it makes little sense to limit yourself to just one or two.

A few years ago, a gooLa Dispute - Wildernessd friend of mine recommended I listen to La Dispute as I had just discovered MeWithoutYou and they were in the same sort of vein. I always intended on listening to them, but for one reason or another, didn’t ever get round to it. I’m glad I accidentally stumbled across them on Spotify the other day because their album ‘Wilderness’ is an intense – if unsettling, and at times a little uncomfortable – listen. ‘Kings Park’ is perhaps the one track that represents the album best, with the last 30 seconds being the most unsettling moment of the album. Lyrically, the themes are very dark and this is matched perfectly by the instrumentation which often sounds disjointed and destructive in the best possible way. I haven’t had a chance to listen to any of their older material yet but if it’s anywhere close to the quality of ‘Wilderness’ I’m going to regret not finding it earlier!

I’ve also been enjoying something completely different: Kina Grannis. Kina is a singer/songwriter who gained a lot of recognition through her YouTube videos. Her ‘Living Room Sessions’ album is the perfect soundtrack for the transition between Autumn and Winter, with her covers of ‘Timshel’ by Mumford and Sons and ‘Blood Bank’ by Bon Iver being my personal favourites. Her harmonies are beautiful and her interpretations of this selection of songs are sincere and performed as if they were her own compositions. Her original material is good too, but this is something I can’t get enough of at the moment.

We Are the In Crowd - Best IntentionsAnother band I came across by accident via Spotify is We Are the In Crowd, a pop-punk outfit featuring both male and female vocals. I’ve always had a soft spot for bands with female vocalists and this band are no exception. They may not be the most technical or sophisticated of musicians, but is that always a crime? No. They have a pop sensibility that doesn’t feel forced and they definitely know how to write a good hook! Their bonus acoustic tracks also show that their songwriting skills are strong enough to stand on their own without any overproduction. ‘Best Intentions’ is out now.

As I said before, I love finding new music so if you have any recommendations, I’d love to hear them. You can also find me on Last.fm should you want to have a peek at what else I’ve been listening to.


The Internet: Shaping the Future of Music

October 27, 2011 | Link | 5 Comments

Things change at such a rapid pace that what is cutting edge one minute is almost obsolete the next. This is especially true in the world of technology, which is connected so strongly to the music industry. Because of this, I often wonder what the future holds for the music industry.

It is definitely important for artists and the industry as a whole to be adaptable – and not just in the sense that they are able to adapt but to be willing to embrace the changes which may come along.

There are countless ways in which the internet has changed the way the music industry works. It is so much easier to discover, share and purchase music than ever before. We can do it at home, work and on the move. It has opened up so many doors for unsigned and independent artists, and it is these artists (rather than the mainstream) who are taking advantage of all the internet has to offer and crafting their own niches and approaches to promotion, distribution and even recording.

Terra NaomiOne artist who has always been a pioneer when it comes to incorporating the internet in her musical endeavours is singer/songwriter Terra Naomi. Terra found success a few years back when her video for ‘Say It’s Possible’ went viral on YouTube. She has consistently used YouTube as a promotional platform and has built up a loyal following on there and subsequently on other social networks, too. She also partnered with iPhone app Hipstamatic to create a video for her single ‘You For Me’ and connected with music crowdfunding platform Pledge Music to fund the recording of her most recent album. Currently, she is working with producer/engineer Lucas Johnson on an innovative project which involves recording an album via Google+ hangouts. You can follow the progress of this project by circling Terra on Google+.

The internet is here for artists to use. There are so many options available – we all know about Facebook and Twitter but as Terra and other innovative artists have proven, there is so much scope for creativity and out-of-the-box thinking which can yield far greater results.

What do you think is the future for music? Have you come across any interesting ways artists have used the internet to promote themselves? Share your stories in the comments – I’d love to hear from you!


Why Does a Band Need a Website?

October 8, 2011 | Link | 0 Comments

This is a question that is asked so frequently. Everyone has a different opinion on it. Many bands feel that they are just not big enough to have a website, whereas others feel that Facebook or Myspace is an adequate enough platform for them to present their music on.

A website makes it easier for your fans to find you.I would argue that this is simply not enough.

Yes, social media is great and allows you to reach people in a far more personal way. Yes, you can have some degree of customisation on these services and yes, they are easy to use. But do they look professional? Are they completely 100% your own?

The answer to that is no, they are not.

When you set up a profile or page on Facebook/Myspace/social-network-of-your-choice, you are essentially renting this space from them – and since this is free, they can change the terms and conditions when they want to. Hell, they could even delete your profile for any reason. This may be unlikely, but it could happen!

People fall out of love with social networks all the time. Look at Myspace, for example. Back in the day, it was huge. Seriously massive. Now? Almost everyone has migrated over to Facebook. How many of us can say we’ve spent more than 2 minutes on Myspace in the last month? Anyone?

On the flipside, a website is a constant space on the web which is yours. If you own that domain and have a custom design that clearly represents your band, it shows that you are dedicated and serious about what you do.Bands Need Websites

Your website can provide as much or as little as you want it to. You can sell merchandise and music directly from it, or you could choose to use a third party site for this. You can   all of your social networking profiles in once place. You can simply have it act as a landing page which links all of your online presences.

I would suggest using it as your main hub, integrate your social media profiles and continue to use them separately.

There are so many reasons that a band should have a website. Professionalism is the number one reason in my opinion – it looks great when you have a domain name on your posters or flyers, and anyone you pass your details onto will be far more impressed to see a .com address as opposed to a facebook.com or myspace.com one.

If you want to chat about what ElectricKiwi can do for you, get in contact! I’m more than happy to answer any questions or provide quotations if you’re interested in setting your website up.


Music Discovery and the Internet

October 2, 2011 | Link | 0 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I love discovering new music. It’s one of my favourite things. I’ve never been one of those people who can listen to the same artists over and over again. I always need something new to listen to, just to keep things fresh and interesting.

Before the Internet, finding new music was a little more of a challenge. It wasn’t particularly difficult to find something new but we were restricted more by what was made available to us on radio and TV, generally speaking. Of course there were the underground zines which catered for the less mainstream side of things but for the majority of us, we had less freedom of choice and very much had to listen to what we were given.

Things have changed so much in the past few years and most definitely for the better.

It is so much easier to find new music, whether by unsigned artists or just those you haven’t heard before. There are vibrant online music communities full of unsigned talent and many discovery tools designed to introduce us to artists similar to those we already listen to.

There are times when I go online specifically to find new music and I can quite happily spend hours reading reviews on Absolute Punk or Pitchfork in the hope that I will discover my next favourite band.

I wanted to find out how others perceive the internet as a tool for music discovery and if there were any particular people or websites that influenced their decisions.

Jeremy Patrick is a fellow music lover I have come to know via Twitter. He always has a plethora of recommendations and blogs regularly about his discoveries. I wanted to find out who influences him and what his thoughts were on discovering music online.

Like myself, Jeremy is always on the lookout for new music. He is influenced greatly by some of the people he follows on Twitter, namely @valeriesee, @indiebeanie, @dharma69 and @michaelceldon. He makes a good point in saying that you don’t necessarily need to be a friend of someone or even know them to trust their opinion and that music can be such a uniting force:

I can’t explain why this is, but it’s somehow magical that people on the other side of the world can be united by music.

I also spoke with Anthony Reitzel who is a singer/songwriter based in Ohio. Again, I wanted to find out his opinions. Unlike Jeremy and myself, he doesn’t actively look for new music but does keep his eyes and ears open should he stumble across something new.

His influencers include Jeremy Patrick and Colette Weintraub of Rock Is A Girl’s Best Friend, who Jeremy also quotes as a major influence on the music he listens to.

Anthony says:

From the moment I read their blogs I knew that they both loved music. Colette treats music like spiritual experiences. She feels the music and her blogs are always so heartfelt in regard to the music. Jeremy pays so much attention to detail which is a testament to his love of music. His blog posts are always in depth. He always finds something positive to say about a band regardless of his stance on them. I trust their taste because of this.

We can gather from this that music blogs can be a great influence on musical discovery. There will generally have to be some commonality in musical tastes in order for the recommendations to be trusted but with the sheer volume of music blogs out there, there is bound to be at least one person with very similar taste to you!

So, how does this relate to independent artists?

I think for the reasons mentioned above, good relationships with music bloggers are important as they could introduce them to a wider audience, which really is what online promotion is all about. Cultivating these relationships organically is so important, so don’t expect a quick-fix – it has to be a two-way street after all!

If you are an independent artist, why not share your music and the music of others via Twitter, Facebook or even through a blog? You have to give to get anything back, so start now! The Internet works best when we share our knowledge, tastes and experiences with others, whether that is via social media, blogging or any other means.

Now that we have the Internet, we should embrace it, perhaps even more so than we have already. There is so much out there to be discovered. Get out there and find it!