Unbundled, Part III: Democratizing the Future

Posted on May 3, 2017 by adammarx13

Why democratization and identity are the future of music.

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This is the final entry in the Unbundled series on music dynamics. Read the previously published pieces here:

unbundled

Power, Gatekeeping, Scarcity, and Democratization

Which brings us back to the last step in the cycle: unbundled once again. Only this time, the unbundled dynamic refers to power and ownership. The new unbundled form of power—referenced above—removes the focus of power from the major labels and fractures it, splintering it to varying degrees among the plethora of new artists and startups now emerging.

This is the best thing that could happen because it leads to a more stabilized version of meritocracy in music. The top-heavy, unbalanced paradigm of major label control over everything that a fan is exposed to is ending, and being replaced with a much murkier—but more expansive—reality. This in turn affects scarcity and gatekeeping on a massive level.

Scarcity is obsolete; democratization wins.

Ownership

Perhaps the most prickly point here is the concept of ownership in the new age. This is a contentious topic even among friends, and no one really knows what the landscape is going to look like in the next few years. What can be surmised, however, is that concepts of ownership of musical material are evolving. Sampling and other trends in electronic and DJ music, along with self-recording and independent releases, have muddied the waters of who owns what and to what extent.

Now the action of covering or remixing someone else’s song and posting it online bristles feathers. But (most) artists who do this also attribute the proper credits to the original artist(s)—many times in the cover or remix’s title—simply because it’s the right thing to do and because it helps them to disseminate their new version.

Asserting that cover songs and remixes hurt the original artist is a cloudy and jaded argument at best.

Yet, the argument can be made that with this new overhaul in ownership orthodoxy, perhaps the right people are now able to own the things they should have been able to all along. Let us not forget the reality of master tapes (where a record label owns the rights to an artist’s original recordings) which so many artists have regretted. Controlling one’s own material, and deciding what to do with it, are the ultimate power plays an artist can make. Appealing to this new sense of power is the best avenue for emerging music startups to make.

Such a concept is fairly reminiscent of points made by bitcoin enthusiasts, wherein a control-dynamic is illustrated. Controlling access to the material—in this case, bitcoin—is the ultimate power, and any major purchaser can go directly to a bitcoin supplier (i.e. miner) and negotiate significant discounts for their volume of purchase.

In this scenario, the music fan is the purchaser, the artist is the bitcoin miner, and the service that serves as a conduit between the two is better off appealing to and providing value to the artist rather than only the fan. Both are important, but the latter controls the material which the former wants to consume.

Money and Community

One of the loudest major factors that floats around is the argument over money, from streaming, downloading, merch sales, ticket sales, etc. Let’s be clear though: streaming and downloading—the purchase of musical material—is not where the real money is for artists. It never has been. The money has always been in the merchandise and live ticket sales. What does this mean nowadays? Community.

While it is certainly arguable and many times probable that new unbundling dynamics have struck at artists’ ability to make money from the sale of their music, it is equally arguable that it has enabled them to make money from other, more lucrative, avenues.

An artist can only sell a $10 album so many times (unless you’re a major label darling). Their real bread and butter is in their community cultivation: growing their base, getting people to come out, getting people to spread their music and message, and capitalizing on those efforts. Streaming and downloading revenue is at best a holdover until a better stream is tapped.

The dynamics that exist now in this new unbundled world provide new opportunities for artists. Now, they don’t need to make their money off music sales or streams. Enough access to fans and communication/funding tools exist that they can actually give their music away for free and turn a profit somewhere else.

And this is exactly what a growing number of artists are choosing to do.

The dissemination of their material onto a global stage is much more important than a few album sales here or there, and leads to better things on the other side. A more expansive universe brings more shows, more exposure, more true fans, and more branding opportunities. These are the real things that grant artists staying power.

The Expansive Powers of Identity

Lastly, there is identity. I examined in a previous piece how we’re seeing the rise of “identity platforms” in media. Music is no exception to this. In fact, it might be the shining example of it.

Identity gives music—and by extension all art—certain powers that contribute staying power. Identity is so powerful precisely because it exists independently of genre, mainstream recognition, money, or history; it’s unique in it’s own ability to build bridges where previously there were none. Regarding music, identity brings together people on a core level that can almost supersede differences they might otherwise have.

The power identity—especially in relation to art and music—in its potential to create ever-expanding identities—to create communities. Money is certainly a factor in this, but if a shared identity which draws people towards one another, and can shield them—for better or worse—from outside forces seeking to compromise that unique, collective identity. As music is given the ability to disseminate more and more, more communities will arise around newly-minted identities, and art as a whole will become more lush and layered.

In the wake of these trends in art, music, and media, the power will lay with companies and platforms to not only cultivate these newly emerging identities, but to provide fertile ground for even more embryonic ones. Music becomes a vessel for the expansion of art and identity.

The Upswing

Where does this leave us? In unchartered territory to start with. Artists will continue to grow their power as new technologies make the opportunities possible. The companies which see this trend and capitalize on it will be the ones to stick around and do well. The others, however, who are resistant to this new set of events, will find it challenging to court artists and acquire material if they are determined to hold fast to a paradigm that was beneficial mostly to the major record labels.

Independents artists, and consumers of all strata (not merely the mainstream), will not be ignored or marginalized anymore. They will continue to experiment with the bundling/unbundling process until they find the right fit for themselves, and for their careers. There will be less of a set standard that all need to conform to, and more of a flexible set of possibilities and avenues for people to mix and match to reflect their changing personal experiences.

The future of music is three things: freedom, community, and democratization.

***

Find me on Twitter @adammarx13 and let’s talk music, tech, and business!

The Lucrative Strategy of Lurking

Posted on April 10, 2017 by adammarx13

An entry in the Minimum Viable Network series.

There are many times I find myself lurking in conversations with topics I know very little about, but which I’m very interested in learning about. It can feel daunting to try and contribute something meaningful to a conversation when 1) you’re unfamiliar with the topics, and 2) it’s around other potential experts. The preferred strategy of many people is to avoid these situations altogether; after all, the last thing you want to do is look like a dummy in front of someone whom you respect and/or want to make a good impression on.

But this does a disservice to yourself in the long run. Intimidation is a normal and valid feeling, especially when you’re new to a particular community. But avoiding the situation entirely doesn’t solve either your goals of learning more about the respective topic or making a good impression on the people you want to notice you.

A Better Strategy

A much more lucrative strategy is lurking, something which I do continuously on community sites like Twitter and Product Hunt.

For me, topics like music-tech and networking are my wheelhouse; I feel very comfortable discussing them and putting my two cents into discussions, even when the other participants are people that I might find intimidating by virtue of their success alone. When topics shift to other industries, though, like med-tech or AI, I feel less confident in my ability to contribute meaningful comments simply because I don’t know as much about those particular areas.

AI is a great example. As much as it intrigues me, I’m still trying to understand enough to contribute major points to discuss. So I lurk; I sit back and read viewpoints from others who know more than I do about these things and then try to surmise my own original thoughts based on them. Then, when the time is right and the conversation is right, I try to add a new viewpoint.

The Benefits of the “Lurk and Listen” Play

This strategy has two major effects early on:

It relieves you of having to come up with a bombastic and earth-shatteringly brilliant point under the gun, and
It allows you to absorb information and knowledge from others in an unassuming way, learning from their years of experience and insights

A third, possibly hidden, result of both points is that when you do feel confident enough to contribute a point of view to the conversation, you have time to carefully compose exactly what you want to say. Flinging tweets off left and right is for subjects which you’re very confident speaking about, not for new ones you’re trying to understand. Shooting from the hip on something you don’t fully understand can backfire dramatically.

Lurking is a great strategy precisely because it requires so little effort, except for focusing on learning from others. It teaches you how to receive information in an age when we’re told we need to be continuously providing it. Additionally, absorbing information at your own pace has the added effect of making you feel more confident about a topic.

It’s not a quick or flashy strategy, but it works. Learn to lurk and listen, then move when the time is right.

***

Find me on Twitter @adammarx13 and let’s talk music, tech, and business.

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Unbundled, Part II: Shifting the Paradigm

Posted on February 3, 2017 by adammarx13

How a new music paradigm is rising out of the wreckage.

This is a continuation of the Unbundled series on music dynamics. Read the previously published pieces here:

The second act in the “bundled/unbundled” production is the “bundled” piece. It’s about exploring the bundling process as it pertains to music, and really trying to determine the proper scope of examination. Said scope, when broadened enough, shows a shifting paradigm of power and perception rising out of the wreckage of the previous music landscape. It’s similarly divided into three parts:

Bundled in the Wrong Way
Power and Paradigm Shift
Sexy vs. Unsexy

The first of these is an exploration of what types of bundling already exist, and how it might not be the right kind of bundling to pursue. The nature of peoples’ interaction with music has changed, so it follows that the things bundled in music should change as well. This is a particularly difficult thing to accept because it requires a reworking of thought regarding something already perceived as “done.”

The second part is a discussion of how power naturally shifts during these seismic events, and how the new power should be held by a previously dismissed faction: the artists.

This flows right into the last part, which is an exploration of how many of the things which should be considered and bundled may not be the “sexiest” or most exciting of things to include. But “sexiness” and utility don’t always go hand-in-hand, and reality prevails at some point.

BUNDLED

Bundled in the Wrong Way

This is the biggy. Inasmuch as many things in the music universe(s) have become unbundled, so too are there a variety of things that have also become bundled. In the light of all the unbundling going on (Chris Saad blew through an extensive example list from everything including music and news to relationships and war), it appears somewhat unsexy to talk about the things going through the bundling process.

Where unbundling is fast and sexy and simple, bundling appears slow and outdated. But in music at least, this is far too simple an assessment.

The reality is that there are many things in music that have always been bundled, but bundled in such a way that they appeared to be unbundled. Many of the things which “music” apps are now trying to tackle separately—distribution, marketing, social, ticketing, analytics, messaging and/or communication, and live booking—have always been bundled under the banner of the record label.

The label controlled virtually everything, from distribution and radio play (yes, payola is real) to marketing and fan engagement. If you wanted to exist as an artist, you needed to be a part of this world in some way. Otherwise, you were relegated to the “independent” pile, which in the years prior to 1991, was much less glamorous than it is now.

Power and Paradigm Shift

When the digital age hit, the unbundling of the record labels’ power began. Since around 2005, major label power has seeped, and independent power has reached new heights. However, in their new-found power, independents were also sold a myth that everything they needed could be solved by partaking in a variety of unbundled services, from analytics to social platforms.

What this myth fails to address though, is the massive time-suck it really promotes. There are a great many things that should be bundled. Things like analytics, ticketing, distribution, radio play, social engagement, community, and marketing should all be offered under the same banner of a startup or new company.

But—and this is so important—done so in a way where the artists retain their power.

Sexy vs. Unsexy

The unbundling that has occurred has amazingly and unexpectedly taken much of the power away from the labels and delivered it to the artists. Artists now have the ability to control nearly every aspect of their operation, from recording through distribution through community engagement. But they don’t really have it all in one place, for free (yes this is huge), with the level of choice they need.

They have a variety of music discovery sites to choose from, a variety of analytics engines to use, and a variety of social platforms to post on, among other things. This is too much, and simplification is necessary. A music company should offer all of these types of functions under its purview, wherein artists can then choose to use them—or not—as they like. Choice and freedom remain intact while efficiency and simplicity are underscored.

But why stop there? Why not tackle the unsexy things that major labels have always done and give that power back to the artists as well?

Have a company that encompasses all the functions above, and then add (fan-driven) radio play, legal information and resources, management, copyright, and informational context. In making the experience of one site all-encompassing, you then succeed in changing the artists’ paradigm, thus changing the music landscape.

Giving artists access to these “unsexy” things is just as easy as (easier actually than) giving fans access to the music they want to hear.

The only difference is that instead of focusing on half of the equation, you instead complete the circle, and do so independently of the former rigid structure.

The Power of Knowledge

Whereas the points of the previous piece—choice and format—led to the overarching concept of community, the three points here point to something different, but equally important: knowledge.

If knowledge is power, then bundling things in a new way to give artists access to more knowledge clearly translates to a shift of power in their direction. This upends the previous paradigm immensely.

As artists gain perspective and knowledge on things like music analytics, marketing strategies, and engagement statistics—as well as “unsexy” things like legal resources and contacts—the power shifts significantly away from the major record companies. Their power has always been cemented in two main things: money and knowledge. But once artists and creators have access to the second of these two things (knowledge), they can apply it flexibly to attain the first of these two things (money).

This creates major fissures in the current music landscape, and opens up a splintering ecosystem of new opportunities for creatives at all levels of music creation and engagement.

The next movement in the symphony will be Part III: Democratizing the Future, which will take a look again at a new unbundled dynamic. Concepts discussed will touch on how the new unbundling will change music ownership and identity.

Stay tuned!

Find me on Twitter @adammarx13 and let’s talk music, tech, and business!

The Spotify-SoundCloud Supergroup Is Dead

Posted on January 13, 2017 by adammarx13

Originally published on Mattermark on December 29, 2017.

tl;dr: The SoundCloud and Spotify deal is dead. For Spotify, no deal avoids unnecessary headaches. For SoundCloud, the road ahead looks lonely as the platform heads into 2017.

Cream. Bad Company. Temple of the Dog. These were some of the greatest supergroups that ever existed. The Spotify-SoundCloud union could have been next, but like many supergroup concepts, it only lasted a short time.

The real question is why. Ultimately, in my view, the deal died because SoundCloud tried to become something that it wasn’t, alienating its core fan base in the process.

It was easy to argue that a Spotify-SoundCloud combination could benefit each party: SoundCloud’s independent-heavy catalog and Spotify’s major label material are natural complements.

But the prospect is no longer on the table. It recently became known that Spotify passed on acquiring the little orange cloud.

Let’s talk about why that happened.

Supergroup Not

2016 was not kind to SoundCloud.

Despite signing deals with major labels, securing its largest to-date funding round, and launching its own subscription service, key questions remain concerning its current operational results, where it fits into the M&A landscape, and what an independent SoundCloud looks like in 2017.

Fiscal Expense

Mattermark recently examined, broadly, who could afford to buy SoundCloud, now that Spotify has left the table.

To understand why Spotify might have passed—neither Spotify nor SoundCloud responded to requests for comments regarding this piece—on SoundCloud, it’s worth remembering the smaller firm’s P&L.

SoundCloud’s revenue quickly expanded from $1.8 million in 2010 to $9.6 million in 2012, to $19.6 million in 2014. Its losses tracked upwards, however, from $2.01 million in 2010 to $14.9 million in 2012, to $44.2 million in 2014.

Much like Spotify and other streaming services, some SoundCloud revenue quickly passes through its books. In SoundCloud’s case, around 80 percent of its revenue from a portion of its aggregate top line goes right to labels. Spotify’s results are similar.

The context for those numbers is simple: SoundCloud has raised around $193 million to-date over a series of five rounds. Just comparing the company’s through-2014 losses, SoundCloud has spent around half its raise so far. And since we’re not including more recent operational results, that figure is very conservative.

The Sophomore Slump

If 2010 to 2013 was SoundCloud’s breakthrough album, then 2014 to 2016 was its disappointing follow-up.

Beginning in 2015, SoundCloud started to move away from its initial user base of independent artists and began courting major labels. The company inked a deal with Warner in later 2015 and Universal Music in early 2016.

Warner and Universal were joined by the last remaining holdout in March of 2016 when Sony signed on. That effectively marked the end of SoundCloud’s days as the independents’ playground.

Following the three major label deals, SoundCloud released SoundCloud Go, its entry into the music subscription wars. The company has yet to report major gains from the subscription product. I’d posit that it may be difficult for SoundCloud to entice music fans to the service. If potential subscribers are interested in mainstream music, they can already go to other music services.

Money Talks

While Spotify sports extensive independent material, its focus is major label artists. That fact did not escape those who made the argument in favor of the combination. SoundCloud’s huge base of independent EDM, acoustic, rock, and other artists could help balance the scales and provide a funnel into the Spotify nest.

If the argument for Spotify buying SoundCloud was that the latter could help the former pull in independent music, do SoundCloud’s operational results matter?

The answer is yes, as Spotify doesn’t want anything to threaten its impending IPO.

Earlier this year, I took a deep dive into Spotify’s own financials, examining the numbers and reasons that they already might have a tricky path to IPO. New cost centers could make that already difficult-looking trek nigh impossible.

Even with SoundCloud’s legal issues seemingly taken care of by major label deals, SoundCloud’s subscription service arrived to lackluster reviews, and its sizable debt may present too much of a headache for Spotify just before their looming IPO.

This is all especially stark considering SoundCloud’s desired price-tag of $1 billion. Even with Twitter’s most recent $70 million investment into the service, valuing it in the neighborhood of $700 million, Spotify would still need to pay an additional $300 million to close the difference.

2017

What does this all mean for SoundCloud’s future?

As with Spotify, the major labels now have a vested interest in SoundCloud’s existence. But that doesn’t mean that they have a long-term interest in its health. As I noted in my previous Spotify piece, the labels may not want to kill SoundCloud, but they also don’t have to go out of their way to help it. So long as it sends in revenue, who cares?

Some people will care. The danger could be that independent artists may care enough to go somewhere else more focused on them. (Since they operate independently, SoundCloud’s major label deals have no sway over their prospective decisions.)

SoundCloud’s challenge is that the faster it rushes to catch up with Spotify and Apple in the mainstream arena, the faster it may alienate its key demographic of independent artists; in working to compete with the larger, mainstream players, I wonder if SoundCloud has become what its initial user base—its core point of differentiation—was trying to avoid

We’ll see in 2017.

Find me on Twitter @adammarx13 and let’s talk music, tech, and business!

Unbundled, Part I: Reformatting the Barriers

Posted on December 20, 2016 by adammarx13

How unwrapping the previous barriers is changing music.

This is a continuation of the Unbundled series on music dynamics. Read the previously published piece here:

Unbundled: Introduction to the Bundle

The first movement in this symphony is the “unbundled” piece. It’s all about “reformatting” the conceptual barriers that initially existed for decades. It’s divided into two parts: Choice and Format.

The former is an exploration of how choice has evolved with the changing technology, and how it’s taken on a power it previously lacked. The latter, however, discusses how new formats have changed music and broken down barriers which artists historically were—most times—unable to scale. Similarly, it’s given light and life to format types which for decades have been ignored by the broad base of music consumers, except perhaps for the most die-hard fans.

unbundled

Choice

The first and most obvious form of unbundling in the music industry is the industry itself; no longer is there simply one music industry to partake in.

Now there are multiple, and they exist as completely separate universes; the major label mainstream, the exponentially growing independent industry, and everything in between. Along with this kind of unbundling of different musical arenas comes a freedom for music fans to explore in new ways.

Where non-mainstream fans were once relegated to shoddy mixtapes and bare-bones independent releases (which many times meant lower quality), now they have a plethora of music sources to choose from, as do all music listeners.

This leads to a level of choice the likes of which has never been seen in music. Now, it’s realistically possible to exist as a music fan outside the mainstream in a holistic way. You’re able to not only find the music that you like, and which speaks to you, but are similarly able to take advantage of growing communities of people like yourself. With the free access to all this new material comes access to other like-minded people.

This is community.

Chris Saad pointed to two distinct contributing factors which have lead us in this direction:

Reducing the cost of inventory and discovery to, in many cases, zero or near zero
Reducing the cost of direct communication and orchestration with more people at once—bypassing the need for manual mediators/editors/orchestrators/curators

Format

Saad’s post also mentioned this within the scope of musical format. What was once a record and CD has now become digital information, thus with more power to disseminate. Even the album format itself is restructuring, as fans looking for a single-song experience are abandoning the long form in favor of something musically shorter.

But this has a swing dynamic as well; while some argue that the album format is dying (or is already dead), many see the opposite.

The unbundling of the album format has actually given it more power than it had before. Now, when an artist chooses to create a full album, a fan knows that there is an artistic meaning behind that, rather than a record label’s fiscal bottom line.

It also lends long-overdue validation to releases that fall in between singles and full albums. EP’s and double-sides have long been ignored by most but the hardcore fans. Now, however, they exist with the same legitimacy as their gaunter and fuller peers.

The Ironic Thing

The ironic thing about these two points—choice and format—is that they’re inherently about one overarching concept: community.

As choice expands and begins to encompass formerly ignored genres and artists, new communities have the ability to coalesce and thrive. Choice isn’t merely about having new material for already established communities to engage in; alternatively, it can lead to a mixing of communities that otherwise might not happen.

Punks and jazz fans may begin to mix over a new punk-jazz fusion genre, and people who otherwise would never have met one another can now suddenly exist alongside each other. This leads to an increased level of creativity and an exponential production of creative material.

And this material is further disseminated throughout communities—splintering them and rebonding them—through new formats of information technology. Communities cease to be rigid and orthodox in their functionality towards music and instead become more elastic—they become living, breathing things which grow and continue to evolve.

This is the unbundling process within music as it should be: an unwrapping of previously rigid dynamics that lends more flexibility and power to the overall process of community cultivation.

The next movement in the symphony will be Part II: Shifting the Paradigm, which will take a look at the BUNDLED dynamic. Concepts discussed will touch on how bundling — but doing so incorrectly in the new era — impacts music consumption and community cultivation.

Stay tuned!

Find me on Twitter @adammarx13 and let’s talk music, tech, and business!

Unbundled: Introduction to the Bundle

Posted on December 19, 2016 by adammarx13

Why the unbundling of the music universe matters.

In recent years, the dynamics of bundling and unbundling have changed everything in media. But they’ve had an especially palpable effect on music.

This is an exploration of the bundling and unbundling dynamics taking place in the music universe right now. Because of the massive amount of information discussed herein, it is necessary to cover it in series of parts, each explaining a particular aspect of change and restructuring.

This series will appear as the following:

Introduction to the Bundle
Part I: Reformatting the Barriers
Part II: Shifting the Paradigm
Part III: Democratizing the Future

Additionally, all four pieces (including the introduction) will subsequently appear as a single, holistic text, entitled: Unbundled: The Story of Music.

This is the first entry in the story.

A New Emerging Dichotomy of Freedom and Reach

A few months ago, Chris Saad penned an article on the dynamics of bundling, and how they’re affecting a number of fields. In his piece, Saad addressed how concepts of bundling are impacting areas of creativity like art and music, among others. Ironically, it had a similar air to Joshua Topolsky’s earlier article on media companies, which itself prompted my response on music-startup realities.

Such examples were only briefly mentioned, but one can go deeper on them, particularly in the way of music. Things are happening now to the age-old structure of music that arguably haven’t changed for the better part of five or six decades. And even that is only the tip of the iceberg.

Part of what was so intriguing about Saad’s examination of these morphing areas is just how much change is going on which is not being discussed. In many ways, Saad’s piece shines a light not only on the changing bundling and unbundling dynamics taking place in music, but how these two different forms—yin and yang—are interacting with one another to shape a new musical landscape. What we see is an emerging dichotomy of freedom and reach that we haven’t seen in quite a while.

Three Trends in a Specific Order

Within the context of music, three trends—unbundling, bundling, and unbundling again—matter. And they matter in that sequence. This is so because each (un)bundling action touches a different area of the music arena, and thus their interaction together forms a new paradigm.

They lay out as follows:

unbundled

Covered in Part I, Reformatting the Barriers

Choice
Format

BUNDLED

Covered in Part II, Shifting the Paradigm

Bundled in the Wrong Way
Power and Paradigm Shift
Sexy vs. Unsexy

unbundled

Covered in Part III, Democratizing the Future

Power, Gatekeeping, Scarcity, and Democratization
Ownership
Money and Community
The Expansive Powers of Identity

The music industry, like all other forms of media, is undergoing such a massive tectonic shift that we’re only beginning to now see how big the fissures are. The most interesting thing will be how these changing power paradigms affect the music coming out, and the communities which are built around the material.

Stay tuned!

Find me on Twitter @adammarx13 and let’s talk music, tech, and business!

100 Awesome Independent Album and EP Releases You Probably Missed in 2016

Posted on December 14, 2016 by adammarx13

It’s that time of the year again — when all those “Best of…” lists come out telling us the supposed cream-of-the-crop releases in music. And as happens every year, they skate right over the slew of amazing independent releases that dropped into our lives.

Last year, I drew up a list of 100 independent albums you probably missed in 2015. Now it’s time to do the same for 2016.

In the interest of fairness, it’s important to note that most of these releases simply follow my personal taste in music genre-wise; they certainly don’t encompass all the amazing independent albums that came out this year in jazz, EDM, rap, classical, or other styles.

As with last year’s list, these 100 albums and EP’s come from artists all over the world. This year’s list has artists from: Canada, the U.K., France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, China, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Belarus, Germany, Israel, China, Mexico, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and from 20 different U.S. states. That’s how big the independent universe is, regardless of genre.

So here are just 100 of the albums and EP’s that you probably missed in 2016. All were released during the 2016 calendar year, so this gives you an idea of just how small a window into the music world the mainstream actually cuts. As always, albums are in no particular order. Do yourself a favor and go expand your universe. You’d be shocked at what you discover.

Forget About It – It’s Butter – Los Angeles, California, USA
I Talk to Strangers – I Talk to Strangers – London, England, UK
The Centauri Conspiracies: Part 1 — The Awakening — Sunshine & Bullets — Tampa, Florida, USA
Colours — Chelsea Shag — Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Good Days — Skyline — Austin, Texas, USA
Muster Point — Jeeps — London, England, UK
Scars — Forever Still — Copenhagen, Denmark
Body Wars — June Divided — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Silent Elephant — Silent Elephant — Lille, France
The Parts We Save — Heel — London, England, UK
Breaking Free — A Truth Divides — Fall River, Massachusetts, USA
Emergence — Hour 24 — Temperance, Michigan, USA
Hardly Loaded EP — PhantomHead — Lynchburg, Virginia, USA
Tough Love — Bloody Diamonds — Toronto, Ontario, Canada
A Moment of Silence — The Funeral Portrait — Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Epicentre — Bouquet of Dead Crows — London, England, UK
She Speaks — She Speaks — Kildare, Ireland
Wanderer — Red Handed Denial — Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Dark Narrows — Lights That Change — Flintshire, Wales, UK
The ReIntroduction — Almost Kings — Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Black — Suan — Athy, Ireland
Mean Something — Kinder Than Wolves — Orlando, Florida, USA
For Your Obliteration — The Dead Deads — Nashville, Tennessee, USA
No Mirror / Baby Steps — Birdeatsbaby — Brighton, England, UK
Screech Bats — Screech Bats — London, England, UK
Five Kites — Five Kites — Uckfield, England, UK
Pow Wow — Red Apple — Madrid, Spain
Hoopdriver — Hoopdriver — London, England, UK
The Mud Lords EP — The Mud Lords — San Francisco, California, USA
Stones — Cherry Water — Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
Please Welcome Imperial Jade — Imperial Jade — Barcelona, Spain
From The Cave — From The Cave — London, England, UK
Imminent for Your Interests — People Like Us. — Los Angeles, California, USA
Otra Vez I — Sidewatcher — Detroit, Michigan, USA
Eraserhead — Eraserhead — Aurora, Illinois, USA
Alterhood — Alterhood — Tel-Aviv, Israel
Eugenia EP — Darla and the Blonde — London, England, UK
Cosmophonie EP — Cosmophone — Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada
Hit the Air — Basic Land — Monterrey, Mexico
Born to Dance — Pürple — Brighton, England, UK
Double A-Side — The Mis-Made — Sydney, Australia
Refuse to Shine EP — Mr.Mountain — Portsmouth, England, UK
Gaining Perspective — Glory Days — Brisbane, Australia
The Sky, the Lie, and Who We Are Before We Die — True North — Los Angeles, California, USA
Luxury EP — Patio — New York City, New York, USA
Phantasmagoria — White Claudia — Chicago, Illinois, USA
Cruise Deal — Mirror Travel — Austin, Texas, USA
Call Me by Name — Good Fiction — Albany, New York, USA
Bipolar — Kreepy Krush — Minsk, Belarus
Good Hangs — Lauren Patti — New Jersey, USA
Copper Crown — Copper Crown — Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Cuatro — Tranparentes — Alicante, Spain
It’s Too Bright Inside — Lush Vibes — Vallejo, California, USA
Ropes End — Ropes End — New York City, New York, USA
Only Roses — Carissa Johnson — Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Theories of the Universe — Haunted Ghost Town — Sunnyvale, California, USA
Soft Grudge — Mulligrub — Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Dirty Lyxx — Dirty Lyxx — Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Stages — Kopacetic — Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
Much Love — Microwave — Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Metadonna — Metadonna — Valencia, Spain
Break Down the Walls — Break Down the Walls — Hawthorne, New York, USA
Stuff EP — My Cruel Goro — Iceland
Shadowbox — Vivienne the Witch — Perugia, Italy
In the Arms of the Sun — Vox Vocis — Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Discourse — Sex With Strangers — Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Sleep Tight, When You Wake Up We’ll Be Gone — The Few. — St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Harmony and Disconnect — Rising Down — Tampa, Florida, USA
Vectors — Yeah Sure Whatever — Marin, California, USA
DEVILTRAIN — DEVILTRAIN — Bamberg, Germany
Buried in the Sound — Lost Frontiers — Pomona, California, USA
Nosebleed Weekend — The Coathangers — Atlanta, Georgia, USA
The Eternal Sea — The Eternal Sea — Tauranga, New Zealand
Traces EP — Traces — Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Elevation — We Are The Catalyst — Gothenburg, Sweden
MABON SONGS — Crypt Trip — San Marcos, Texas, USA
Angel — Heroes — Los Angeles, California, USA
Swan Valley Heights — Swan Valley Heights — Munich, Germany
Abandoned — Counter Theory — Valparaiso, Indiana, USA
Ants — Ants — Rivergaro, Italy
The Journey (EP) — Rusty Joe — Casais, Portugal
Spectra — Myrrias — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Dimensionauts EP — Robot Jurassic — Edgewater, Maryland, USA
Believer — Weird Neighbours — Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Hell Is Not Other People, It’s You — The Republic of Trees — Scarborough, England, UK
The Lippies — The Lippies — Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Far Away, As We Fade — AggronympH — Yichang, China
The Departed — Summer Drive Home — Weymouth, England, UK
Mix Tape — The Hang Lows — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
SweetMeat — The BlackLava — Torino, Italy
Singularity — Fight Like Sin — Lafayette, Indiana, USA
Chasing a Phantom — Changing Scene — Bel Aton, Maryland, USA
Abandoned Homes — The Aesthetic — Seattle, Washington, USA
Connector — Fable Circuit — Shepherdstown, West Virginia, USA
Inburn — Inburn — Illigan City, Phillipines
The Lost Ones (EP) — LUNGS — Sacramento, California, USA
Ambulance — The Amazing — Stockholm, Sweden
Detox — Pyke — Arendal, Norway
Start Again — The Middle Ground — Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Valley Queen EP — Valley Queen — Los Angeles, California, USA

If you enjoyed this please share, and feel free to Tweet me. Let’s talk music and tech!

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What Artists Can Learn from Startups, Part 2

Posted on September 7, 2016 by adammarx13

Who Do You Promote?

Recently, I wrote a post entitled, “What Artists Can Learn from Startups” in which I began looking at a number of strategies which startup companies (mainly tech) use to generate leads and interest in their products and services.

The more I think about it, the more certain strategies really stick out as things that artists should be considering and implementing. One in particular is something which holds my attention.

In tech (startups, at least), there isn’t the same reticence to publicize and promote someone else’s product or service as there seems to be in music. Among artists, there seems to be this gospel-like belief that if you promote an artist or song you don’t love with all your soul, then you’re somehow being disingenuous. In all forms of art, and music especially, the concept of reputation is taken extremely seriously. Sometimes to a fault.

Whereas I see founders from all over the startup world promoting one another, I see more resignation in the music community to follow suit, and truthfully for no good reason.

I have no qualms about promoting a product or service that I don’t use, or don’t use regularly. Before you come down on me for having a hidden agenda, though, take a moment to think about all the things you can promote someone for that have little to nothing to do with their service or product.

So often, I find myself tweeting and posting about the people behind the product, either because they’re so magnetic, so innovative in their thought process, or so willing to help others. It has so much more to do with their character than anything else. And this is something artists could so easily cash in on and make their own.

When someone helps you set up a show, helps promote your band or music online, or introduces you to someone new, tweeting out a “thank you” and promoting them isn’t being disingenuous at all. Quiet the opposite. It actually solidifies you as someone who returns favors and good karma, and thus builds your own reputation, even if it’s in the service of others (for the moment).

Positive service of others is service to ourselves, if only indirectly. Artists would do well to begin to reexamine their practices in how they promote others, from the decision process to the execution. Starting to have more fluid strategies here could greatly expand their networks in relatively short amounts of time.

More to come on this soon.

The Hit List: 20 Demos, Albums and EP’s You Need to Hear Right Now — May 29, 2016

Posted on May 29, 2016 by adammarx13

Hey from Israel everyone! So I’m not sure what my wifi situation will look like tomorrow, so I’ll just post this week’s Hit List tonight :D. A lot of great music spinning around again this week, so hit these people up and show them some love. Happy listening!

Break the Distance – The Alibi – 2014

2. Music to Forget the Future – Kick the Robot – 2015

3. Dark Narrows – Lights That Change – 2016

4. Pow Wow – Red Apple – 2016

5. Like We’re Wild – Single – Royal Street – 2015

6. Snakes and Spiders – Safe Secrets – 2016

7. Lion’s Mouth – Lion’s Mouth – 2014

8. Cruise Deal – Mirror Travel – 2016

9. No Mirror / Baby Steps – Birdeatsbaby – 2016

10. I Believe You, Ok – Post Pink – 2016

11. Slug Life EP – Atomic Walrus – 2014

12. I Don’t Mind – The Horse Traders – 2016

13. Ghosts – Fallen Edge – 2016

14. EP – Solar Tantrums – 2016

15. S L U R R S – Slurrs – 2016

16. Only Roses – Carissa Johnson – 2016

17. The Mud Lords EP – The Mud Lords – 2016

18. Errata Naturae – Phonocaptors – 2016

19. Riverlust – The High Divers – 2015

20. Believer – Weird Neighbours – 2016

The Hit List: 20 Demos, Albums and EP’s You Need to Hear Right Now — May 23, 2016

Posted on May 23, 2016 by adammarx13

Heading out of town today for a few weeks in Israel, but not before I give you all a new run-down of great music to check out. Creation never sleeps, and neither do I when there’s new material popping up, so give these people a spin. As always, albums are in no particular order. Happy Monday listening!

1. Black – Suan – 2016

2. Warpaint – Wicked Faith – 2015

3. Mean Something – Kinder Than Wolves – 2016

4. From The Cave – From The Cave – 2016

5. Snakes and Spiders – Safe Secrets – 2016

6. Only Roses – Carissa Johnson – 2016

7. Slug Life EP – Atomic Walrus – 2014

8. A Shot in the Dark – Kiss the Curse – 2015

9. Ghosts – Fallen Edge – 2016

10. Acoustics EP – Yvette Young – 2014

11. Lion’s Mouth – Lion’s Mouth – 2014

12. Demo – Great Woods – 2014

13. Cheerleading – The Sports – 2016

14. I Believe You, Ok – Post Pink – 2016

15. Cake Daze – Cannibal Kids – 2016

16. S L U R R S – Slurrs – 2016

17. I Don’t Mind – The Horse Traders – 2016

18. Evergreen / Kite Dodging – The Hazy Seas – 2016

19. EP – Solar Tantrums – 2016

20. The Beautiful Light EP – The Beautiful Light – 2016

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Category Archives: Music

Unbundled, Part III: Democratizing the Future

The Lucrative Strategy of Lurking

Unbundled, Part II: Shifting the Paradigm

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What Artists Can Learn from Startups, Part 2

Who Do You Promote?

The Hit List: 20 Demos, Albums and EP’s You Need to Hear Right Now — May 29, 2016

The Hit List: 20 Demos, Albums and EP’s You Need to Hear Right Now — May 23, 2016