I will start off by saying that this is 100% my opinion on the 2010 GRAMMYs last night. If you disagree with anything I say, please feel free to share in the comments below. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Rather than do a “play by play analysis” of what went on at the GRAMMYs last night, since I’m sure you can find that elsewhere on the Internets, I thought I’d go through and list the good, the bad and, of course, the ugly:

The Good:

• Stephen Colbert.
• Lady Gaga and Elton John performing together with dirt (or something) smeared all over their faces.
• Slash coming out on stage to play his solo from “November Rain.”
• Beyonce performing a cover of Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughtta Know.” I thought she did the song justice and it was definitely better than her own song about being a boy.
• Kings of Leon finally getting some cred., even though many will say they “sold out.” Pish posh.

The Bad:

• Stephen Colbert. No, seriously. What was up with his lame jokes?
• Miley Cyrus … even if it was for 3 minutes.
• Taylor Swift winning album of the year. Putting aside the fact that I’m not particularly keen on teeny bopper music, I just truly TRULY cannot wrap my mind around the fact that she won. Did a bunch of 35-50 year old men and women sit in a conference room and suddenly decide that “You Belong With Me” really hit home? That finally someone understands them? Someone please explain …

The Ugly:

• Some random dude repeatedly telling us that Lady Gaga is “a monster.” It just became really awkward at some point.
• Slash playing his solo for “November Rain” during a performance of “Blame It.” Who comes up with these ideas and how?
• Every lame ass joke that someone said last night including the whole dialogue between John Legend and Carlos Santana.

I wasn’t sure where to fit this in exactly, but I still felt that I had to say: when did Pink join Cirque du Soleil?!

Category: Events, Reviews | 2 Comments »

Tags: 2010 Grammys, Beyonce Alanis Morissette, Lady Gagay and Elton John, Pink's performance at GRAMMYs, Slash GRAMMYs

It’s “Music Monday” and Audiolife is attending the CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival in New York City.  So with that, we thought we’d share Spin.com’s list of the “25 Must-Hear Artists from the CMJ Festival.”  The following is the list of the artists, but click here to actually hear the songs and read about the artists. The bold names are the ones I personally liked.

1. Bodega Girls
2. PAC DIV
3. RubbleBucket
4. The Stalkers
5. Young Prisms
6. Best Coast
7. Still Life Still
8. The xx
9. Bear in Heaven
10. Family of the Year
11. Fanfarlo
12. You, You’re Awesome
13. Skyzoo
14. Die! Die! Die!
15. Suckers
16. Darlings
17. Neon Indian
18. Lovvers
19. No Eye Contact
20. Hammer No More the Fingers
21. Unicycle Loves You
22. Arms
23. Miracles of Modern Science
24. Let’s Wrestle
25. MyNameIsJohnMichael

Category: Events, Music | No Comments »

Tags: Audiolife, CMJ 2009, CMJ artists

It’s not everyday I can sit through a 19+ minute video and actually pay attention the entire time. The following video, however, is quite interesting and I thought it might interest you, as an artist, as well. So if you have some time to spare, please watch or listen to Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Love, Pray discuss “nurturing creativity” and what we call “creative genius” at the TED Conference.

Category: Events, Music | 1 Comment »

Tags: creative genius, Elizabeth Gilbert, nurturing creativity

SXSW is conducting its PanelPicker contest right now and we need your help! We’ve submitted two exceptional panel ideas, if we may say so ourselves, and would greatly appreciate it if you could give them a thumbs by clicking here and here.

If either of the panels make it to the final rounds and get chosen then we get to sendour CEO, Brandon Hance, off to SXSW to drop some knowledge on the music industry! So please take 2 minutes to rock your vote. Thanks!

Category: Audiolife, Events | No Comments »

Tags: PanelPicker, panels, SXSW 2010, SXSW Music

In our last post, Greg hit the nail on the head.  At its core, marketing is about communication.  I was fortunate enough to attend the New Music Seminar a few weeks ago and it feels good to know that the music business and artist community are embracing technology for their benefit.  I stumbled upon an article on “Fan Relationship Management.” I wanted to share it with you because it’s from a Q&A with Courtney Holt of MySpace Music and Tom Silverman at the New Music Seminar.

Were any of you able to attend? What were your thoughts or favorite aspects?

Category: Events, Marketing | No Comments »

Tags: Commuication, D2F, fan relationship management, Marketing, New Music Seminar

Happy Independence Day!

I hope all of you had a great 4^th of July weekend!

Audiolife was founded with the fundamental purpose of empowering artists to take control and build a successful career “independently”.  All of the leading indicators in the industry show that independent music is the way of the future.  For example, less than 10 years ago indie music accounted for less than 10% of sales.  Today that figure is closer to 30% and some would argue that in just a few years it will be more than half.  You’ve seen many success stories from artists that have chosen to release their albums independently such as Radiohead, NIN, Corey Smith, and most recently, Drake.  This trend will certainly continue in the months and years ahead.  Artists now understand that becoming independent means more creative control, deeper relationships with their fans, and more money.

All of this begs the question of what it truly means to be independent.  There are many definitions floating around out there and I’d love to hear your opinion.

Please let us know what it means to you to be independent by writing a comment below.

Category: Audiolife, Events, Marketing, Reviews | 4 Comments »

Tags: Audiolife, building a successful career, indie artists

We’re just all over the place lately. This weekend, Audiolife CEO Brandon Hance attended the ASCAP “I Create Music Expo” at the Renaissance Hotel at the Hollywood & Highland Center. Attendees included musicians, songwriters, and publishers throughout the U.S who came to both share about their experience in the Music Industry as well as learn from industry thought leaders and experts. Check out some of the pictures from the event below: » Continue Reading

Category: Audiolife, Events | No Comments »

Tags: ASCAP, Audiolife, brandon hance, music industry experts, sell music online

Inside the NAB Convention

Las Vegas was super hot, the hotels were packed and everyone seemed to be holding a pass for the National Association of Broadcasters Convention. Earlier this week, over 100,000 attendees filled the Las Vegas Convention Center to see “the next generation of audio, video and filmed content across multiple platforms.”  Representatives of leading media entertainment, communications and music industry professionals were scattered throughout the Convention Center showcasing new products.  Some of the more notable ones included: Sony, ProTools HD, AVID & Final Cut Pro.

» Continue Reading

Category: Audiolife, Events | No Comments »

Tags: AR Rahman, audio equipment, Audiolife, AVID, Las Vegas, music industry event, NAB Convention, Pro Tools

On April 10th, Audiolife invaded the Roxy on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles for “On the Rox.”  SUBNETARMY.TV and We Got Skillz threw an album release party, featuring artists from around the world, for Regime Change’s new album “International Party.”  The entire set was broadcasted live on the Internet.

Check out this video below from the show:

Category: Audiolife, Events, Music, Reviews | No Comments »

Tags: album release party, Audiolife, concert review, the Roxy, We Got Skillz

Attention: Arts/Entertainment Editor, Assignment Editor, Business/Financial Editor, Media Editor, News Editor

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – April 13, 2009) – Canadian Musician magazine (CM) celebrates 30 years as Canada’s premiere magazine for musicians and music practitioners. 30 years ago in the spring of 1979, Canadian Musician magazine released its debut issue featuring rock legend Burton Cummings on the cover. Since then, Canada’s best and brightest musicians have graced the cover of CM making it Canada’s longest running music magazine. Today, the 30th Anniversary issue still celebrates The Artist, The Gear, and The Biz.

For the last 30 years CM has gone through many changes as the industry and technology has changed. CM now has an Internet presence with an online version of the magazine, and also a bi-weekly newsletter. Some things, however, don’t change. Like being able to pick up the print version from your favourite store shelf. CM has continued to lead the way in bringing Canadian musicians quality content, an exciting look at current trends and products, and a spotlight on the people helping to revolutionize the Canadian Music landscape.

CM has been around to support Canadian musician for 30 years and it is just getting warmed up. “The next 30 years will be even more exciting than the last”, says Jim Norris, Publisher of Canadian Musician magazine.

CM covers prominent Canadian artists, the latest gear, technique and the business of music. Published bi-monthly, Canadian Musician features regular columns on Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Percussion, Brass, Woodwinds, Vocal, MIDI, Business, Songwriting, Live Sound, Recording and On-Line Music. Also included are classified ads, opportunities for musicians, new releases and new products.

For more information, visit www.canadianmusician.com.

For further information: www.canadianmusician.com
Online digital edition: www.canadianmusician.com/online
To arrange an interview contact Nik Duncan at 905-641-3471, nduncan@nor.com/

Category: Events | No Comments »

Tags: Canadian music, Canadian Music Magazine, Music Industry, online magazine, press release