ControlRoom - Mixin' it with Dr. J » Atlantis 2007

Review – Eye Music Network -

drjblog — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:29:49 +0000

(Click on image above to see full-size.)

I checked my email this morning and found an invite to join Eye Music Network for free…and I remembered these folks at the Atlantis Conference. So I went and signed up.

Impressions:

1. The streaming is really fast! I’m on my office connection (at a university) and have been used to waiting 15-30 seconds for the average stream to begin. These videos load almost instantly! A nice surprise, but would it continue at these speeds once 100,000 more people joined?

2. Interesting variety. Here’s a Ozzy video…

http://musicroom.eyemusicnetwork.com/video/b0ade2d026/I+Don%27t+Wanna+Stop

Let me know if you have any playback issues!

3. It is ad-supported. As a member you can select your favorite videos and embed them into your facebook page or blog; i.e. a personal “video boombox”. I could see how some folks would really enjoy this if: (1) they could upload their own media, and (2) more artist videos were available. Their player is supposed to be embedded below (after the jump), but apparently they have some technical issues with my blog host or the wordpress GUI.

*UPDATE* - They contacted me and said a fix for this was in progress! YAY!! How’s that for good customer service!

A bit of background can be found in this quote:

Fernando Fernandez – Founder & CEO, Eye Music NetworkSince MTV and VH1 no longer play music videos, there has been a giant void in the marketplace to supply the demand that has never gone away. Fernando Fernandez, founder and CEO of Eye Music Network, has built an interactive IPTV web channel that will bring users their favorite music videos on demand.A new partnership with Endavo allows EyeMusic to deliver its library of 3,500 hours of music videos to users on their computers, television sets and hand-held devices, and they’ve also designed an EyeMusic player for bloggers or MySpace users to embed their favorite music videos, while allowing EyeMusic to manage advertising content.Source: http://www.dailyiptv.com

That’s about it. Check ‘em out if you enjoy music videos. Personally, I’ll just stick to listening without all those extra visual distractions.

I See Music

drjblog — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:53:11 +0000

I took a moment today to check out a CD business card someone gave me at the Atlantis Music Conference. As it turns out, you can access the EYEMUSIC Network for FREE and watch music videos from their cable channel from your computer by simply registering at http://eyemusicnetwork.com/LiveStreaming.php

I watched for a couple of hours today and enjoyed it; quite a good change from Hypem.com!

It’s free for a limited time, so check it out.

From the website:

Today we reach over 5 million viewers throughout the world. Our partner relationships continue to develop weekly opening a window for projection of 10 million viewers by the end of 2007. EMN™ entered 2007 with new technologies in order include the demand for future IPTV and Wireless mobile devices. In order to help support all programming EMN™ has developed a 2.0 website to allow viewers and members to connect with others on a global bases. Arriving Fall 2007 is a second all new 24/7 music video channel which will be known as EMN/True Latin. EMN™ is truly becoming the music video channel of choice with demands to reach international markets.

It’s a producer-eat-producer world…

drjblog — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 13:54:58 +0000

A member of the NARAS and I were talking last week about the plight some of the poor souls wandering around at Atlantis and the comments he made were very interesting to me. I thought I’d share them with you and I’d welcome your comments if you have any insights or a different point of view…

According to him, every producer at the Atlantis Conference last week was a “farm leaguer” or “hanger” who was connected (sometimes very loosely) with a 1st-rate producer. These 1st-rate producers surround themselves with “hangers” and use them to help sort through the myriad of folks who want to be produced. When he finds something he wants, he may throw a mention in the credits to the hanger who brought him the act, but hardly ever will he share the single or album credits. So everyone who is a “hanger” has very little chance of ever getting their own big break, yet they continue to work hard for the “man.”

Synchronicity Live at Atlantis

drjblog — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:06:30 +0000

Yes, I took this pic. Sorry, Aric!

Aric Berquist is the founder of Synchronicity Live. As an independent artist, you need all the exposure you can get. Aric’s company has an amazing website that allows you to connect artist with audience, both live and asynchronously. You set up an account (it’s free) and download an adobe flash media encoder, then hook up your camera and get ready to rock!

I haven’t figured out how he makes money yet, or how he keeps groups from broadcasting cover tunes (wouldn’t they owe someone some royalty?)…but from a fan’s point of view, this is really cool. His site is still in BETA, but they already have over 200 shows and over 3000 fans signed up. You should sign up too, before he decides to start charging for this…

http://www.synchronicitylive.com/

Get yourself a fashion coach!

drjblog — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:50:42 +0000

No change in musical style will survive unless it is accompanied by a change in clothing style. Rock is to dress up to.
Frank Zappa

If you want to be the next big star, you’d better wear the right shoes. That’s the message I heard from one panelist at Atlantis this past week. I’m personally not much of a slave to fashion, but I’m not looking to be the next John Mayer, either. It was interesting to study the panel audience at the conference; the rappers looked like rappers, the heavy metal bands looked like metal band members, and the singer/songwriters looked like regular people.

The fashionista on the panel encouraged them to find fashion coaches to create “images” for performers. It’s all about branding and marketing; are you unique enough to be your own “brand?” Is your guitar sending the wrong message to your audience?

I hear the same thing over and over; the record labels are looking for market-ready material. You need to be so very market-ready that the A&R guys look at you and see dollar signs. Maybe you need new teeth. Or as Erykah Badu said on BTMD, “get yourself some butt implants; –that’s the new thing.” Got a good look? You’ll be a star.

How many people shop for new artists by going to concerts anymore? In my town, the only place to find new music is at Walmart or online…

Is the label’s focus still on the superstar? What sells? What is the expected life expectancy of said product? Look at the product formerly know as the Artist formerly known as Prince: –he’s still making albums (and money) but his last 2 releases have been steady but unimpressive in market sales. Why (you may ask)?

Because we don’t support musical steakhouses the way we used to. We opt for musical buffets and listen to our customized list of MP3s. We don’t listen to CDs the way we used to; we instantly rip them up into single files and never relisten to 90% of the tracks. We want a new buffet of new music (cheaply) every day. Trouble is, emphasis on quantity over quality is disturbing, both for artistic merit and for the long-term health of the industry.

Will fickle consumer demand yield many musical superstars? I doubt it and that’s a real shame. The labels developed, groomed and revamped careers. We may be bypassing their artists, but at what price? Maybe I can’t see the future of the forest for all these shiny trees in my way, but I’ll always believe that there’s something universal in quality that can withstand the test of time. And quality is something I’m missing in this dearth of music that floods my present day plate. I could go for a good ribeye right about now…

Not what I expected…

drjblog — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 15:02:09 +0000

I was excited to attend a session about getting jobs in the music industry featuring the president of MusicRowSearch.com. Imagine my surprise when the most qualified speaker on the panel remained eerily silent while the other panelists told the audience to “just hang out and make yourself available”, “use good quality paper for your resume”, “go pick up his dog from the groomer” and ”…P.Diddy let me pack his suitcases for a trip…and that’s how I got to where I am today”.

I got up and left after 30 minutes of mindless rambling from the other panelists. The best tips I heard were: “check your spelling on your resume” and ”don’t use street slang when meeting with industry professionals.” O.K! Yeah!

Download Job=sexy on paper?

Tom Truitt of Music Row Search is the CEO of the “insider’s employment service” for Music Row in Nashville. He’s one of the top music industry headhunters out there. Tom will find you industry jobs that no one else knew were available because he and his team are the most “connected” specialty employment firm in Nashville. And they do a skills inventory and interview prep to make sure you’re not wasting your time or their clients. They won’t help you find a job unless you’re well qualified to do a job. And you have to be the kind of candidate he can recommend without reservations. Get the picture?

I was hoping Mr. Truitt would share his secrets to opening the doors with us, but he didn’t. I guess if he did, he might be out of a job.

Friends, it’s a tightly closed network out there and people don’t admit you until they’re sure you’re responsible and highly-qualified. If you’re a shining star, doors will open, but realize it may take many years of star polishing before you’re ready to shine. Not everyone that wants to work in the music industry is ready to meet the high expectations. So stay in school and prepare yourself to be the kind of client that Mr. Truitt and his associates want to work for.

Peace,

-J

I guess he thought it was fashionable…

drjblog — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 05:33:26 +0000

It was funny, ’cause he didn’t inhale anything…he was sort of a human smoke machine. I thought the Amish were against this sort of thing… What some people do for art’s sake!

Download Kids; –don’t try this at home!

An Atlantis Collage

drjblog — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 05:19:26 +0000

I can’t remember how many groups we saw in the past 24 hours, but I’m about to say too many! Here are some clips assembled in no particular order to show a bit of the variety at the Midtown complex; –there were venues all around town, but in interest of seeing as many as possible we stayed at the complex (3 stages there). All I can say is that I know one sound man who might be to blame for axing the hopes and chances of about 12 groups to get signed. This guy would start off alright after sound check but kept boosting the bass frequencies once the groups started playing. People were actually moving away from the stage to escape the high SPL’s… Some great bands were drowning in bass mud and I watched some of the producer-types head for the bar to escape the roar. I was impervious to the pain due to my Kryptonite earplugs…and Mrs. J lost a lot of her heavy metal frequencies long ago.

Anyway, you’ll get the idea… Did I mention it was still fun?

Download Hard Rock to Hip Hop Collage

Soundloadmusic.com – a new business model

drjblog — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 04:12:41 +0000

The alternative way to sell music… this plastic card can be sold to fans for 25% of the price of traditional cds. The fan gets all the artwork and material of a traditional cd plus the artist is able to count the product as a Neilson Sound Scan sale of 1 record when the consumer logs on and downloads the product. This video was made in the worst lighting conditions and I’m sorry I didn’t realize it was so noisy when we were recording this.
Download visit www.soundloadmusic.com

Yes, this is Trey Wilson of Superkalastudios.com; he and Kosha are back at it in BollWeevil Town!