Promotion Music Record News09/28/11 CD Review from New World Finn Arja Kastinen and Peter Phippen – Lavender Calm Reviewed by Gerry Henkel Over the years of listening to and collecting meditative music, three recordings have captured my attention more than any others: Djivan Gasparyan’s recording titled I Will Not Be Sad In This World, Ulla Suokko’s Bridge of Light, and most recently Arja Kastinen and Peter Phippen’s Lavender Calm. Released this month, Lavender Calm brings together the spontaneous improvisations of two very disciplined musicians. Arja Kastinen, a graduate of the folk music department of the Sibelius Academy, plays several different small kanteles on this recording, and Peter Phippen, a Grammy Award nominee, plays numerous flutes on the 11 tunes. “Meditative” music is a term I’m using here to differentiate Lavender Calm from other recordings of a similar nature which are often referred to as “new age” music. Unfortunately, this recording is tagged “new age”. Lavender Calm stands apart from all the rest in that genre: it is not a mix of shallow sweet sounds designed to relax the listener as is the usual case with music in this category. Lavender Calm is so much more, so much deeper, than new age music. Instead, Arja and Peter have created 11 marvelous journeys based in solid and interesting musical ideas. There are musical progressions and turning points in the recording that surprise and delight a listener. We will relax while listening, but not fall asleep. Since Arja resides in Finland, and Peter in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the process of making the CD began with Arja recording improvisations on her kanteles at a studio in Finland, and sending those to Peter. Arja reports to New World Finn that Peter “then chose the parts he wanted to use and played on them. The final result was then edited by Ivar Lunde Jr. at Skyline Studios www.skylinestudio.com I gave free hands for Peter and Ivar to use the material as they wish.” Peter told New World Finn that, “After improvising over the kantele pieces for a while, I went into the studio with three big cases full of flutes, every key, antique, vintage, new, whatever I thought would go along well with the improvisations Arja sent over. I also took a bunch of “other flutes” (just in case). The funny thing was, when I got into the studio and began to improvise along with Arja’s tracks that day, I wound up playing three quarters of the album on the “other flutes” that I did not plan on playing on this recording. They seemed to work better for my improvisations that day ...Go figure! ... I feel this is a good thing as it kept the recording fresh. Everything I played was improvised, nothing was “worked out” on the flutes. If you hear something that sounds “worked out” it was not.” Peter adds, “...often there are two or more flute parts, I would improvise over the same piece two times. Parts (or all) of the second improvisation were used in the background along with effects such as reverbs and echoes to give the recording more depth. I asked Ivar to select the proper background improvisations for the flute parts as I was way too close to the work ... Ivar was also responsible for cleaning up the overall recording, a very time consuming job.” Lavender Calm can be purchased at: http://www.promotionmusicrecords.net/new-age.php Lavender Calm is also available at iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lavender-calm/id466082592 09/23/11 Tony Bennett Is Oldest Living Artist To Reach Hot 100By Gary Trust At 85 years and two months, the iconic Tony Bennett becomes the oldest living artist ever to grace the Billboard Hot 100, as "Body and Soul," with the late Amy Winehouse, bows at No. 87. 08/17/11 What Indie Bands Can Learn From Rebecca Black: Ignore The MassesBy James Moore I Since the release of the song and video, something unprecedented has also taken place. The backlash was incredible, with an 87 percent disapproval rating by YouTube users. As it turns out, some of the reasons why the song became viral in the first place was because of it’s questionable lyrics, it’s use of auto-tune, and the judgements by many that it was the “worst song ever”. Parodies of the song became commonplace and “Friday” became a sign that the current YouTube generation had possibly reached a kind of peak. Forbes Magazine stated that the popularity of the song is another sign of the current power of social media - in the ability to create “overnight sensations.” The original video was removed. Rebbeca used the leverage from the first video, and released a 2nd single called “My Moment”, which in turn is also a bona fide hit. This young lady is a new celebrity. Now, you may think that this article is about to tell you how you can achieve the kind of success Rebecca Black has, and outline viral steps to recreate this kind of promotion. Not so much. I’d like to suggest something else entirely, if I may. Many independent artists strive to be liked by as many people as possible. This isn’t necessarily the best way. It could easily be argued that Rebecca Black sounds quite similar to other modern pop stars such as Katy Perry and Britney Spears, and many independent artists are feeling increasingly disillusioned. These days, the mainstream simply choose differently. Don’t try to figure it out or make sense of it. It’s not going to get better. If the public overwhelmingly chooses Rebecca Black, Jersey Shore, the Kardashians, Pitbull, and a slew of talent show contestants, then why worry so much about being accepted by the masses? There is something positive to be taken from all this. Instead of getting angry about the choices that we collectively make, market honestly to your niche and stop trying to appeal to or rebel against the masses. If you are planning on writing or making music with your life, you must first accept that the masses are going to choose things that you won’t understand. As Tom Waits says “Everything you can think of is true.” (in pop culture, I would add.) Let them watch Jersey Shore and blast “Friday” on their car stereos. You’re going to need to save all your energy to effectively market your music to the people who really want to hear it. There are, and always will be, people who value honesty and passion. They will never be in short supply no matter how much this fact is not promoted by the mainstream media. If you are marketing to the masses, you’re marketing to no one. Study your niche. That would include your genre(s), themes, lyrical content, image, location, and life philosophy. Promote to your niche in a credible way and believe in what you’re doing. Have some class. Just because it’s possible to score an auto-tuned hit, doesn’t mean it’s a great thing to do. Release your true self, not a gimmick. There are people who want to hear what you have to say. Start small. Promote to music blogs, podcasts, and publications that cover genuine independent music. Build it one brick at a time and don’t worry about the rest. James Moore is a Canadian music consultant and author of the music marketing book “Your Band Is A Virus”. 06/06/11 Want More Fans to Pay? Then Double the Price... Paul Resnikoff - ASCAP This is the part where you burn your Econ 101 textbook. Because in certain situations, fans will actually buy more if the price is higher. In the car business, this has been a lesson for brands like Cadillac, where experiments in lower-priced models destroyed the perception of higher-end quality. Once the prices were lifted again, status-conscious buyers returned. But this anomaly goes beyond luxury automobiles. In the music space, Stageit founder Evan Lowenstein (formerly of Evan & Jaron) is pursuing the idea that artists should protect and charge for certain online assets, specifically unique, live streaming performances. But in a recent marketing analysis with Harvard Business School, surveyed fans actually showed a greater interest in certain higher-priced performances from their favorite artists - even though the 'product' itself remained unchanged. Dip into 'live streaming performances,' and all sorts of variations emerge. That includes studio feeds, couch performances with requests, and full-blown concert simulcasts, all of which are getting studied and observed in the real world by Lowenstein. But most show a modest increase in demand even while the price is rising. Here are some of the initial findings, shared with Digital Music News.
So, give away those easily-duplicated MP3s, but don't dare give away those one-time special performances. And, price-point experimentation could produce some unexpected gains. The rest is still getting tested in the real world, though Lowenstein is broadening the petri dish through recent partnerships involving Jimmy Buffett and Rhino. 05/25/11 The Music Industry: It's Becoming a Third World Country... Paul Resnikoff - ASCAP It was supposed to be the complete opposite. But years into this digital revolution, the music industry seems to resemble a third world country. I'm talking about extreme gaps between the rich and poor, a depressingly large group in poverty, endemic corruption, extended decline, and the presence of pervasive, religious ideas that have little connection to reality. This industry has become so totally bi-polar, I'm not even sure The rich are a tiny, elite cadre, and they're benefiting from a preferential pipe that still matters. In fact, not only do mainstream channels like terrestrial radio and TV still matter, they have a dominant influence over music culture. But these channels are also controlled by a tiny group - ie, mostly the majors. Turn on a terrestrial station, and it's the same artists played ad naseum, while the masses languish in obscurity. And how about the road? Maybe festivals are the bright spot, but the huge artist ransoms belong to Bon Jovi, U2, and Lady Gaga, who are minting millions every night. It's a tiny group, but how can that be reconciled with the artists that are struggling to pay for gas for their tour bus? Then there are the obscene - and questionable - salaries for a top cadre of executives. We just learned that RIAA president Cary Sherman yanked down $3.2 million in compensation for 2009, and Mitch Bainwol $1.6 million. And we've been witnessing a textbook looting of Warner Music Group for years, with a select group of operators walking away with tens of millions in cash. Yet, every week I hear about new layoffs, or get emails from people struggling to find employment in this business. It's almost impossible to find a good job it seems - even for really qualified people. That's why people are fleeing towards other industries, just like people emigrate from horrible economic situations. And what about the impoverished artists? Instead of some egalitarian revolt, a vast majority of artists are barely surviving. Forget about the pricing debate between Tunecore and CD Baby for a second - because on both platforms, the average yearly payout is about $175 per artist - before costs (we calculated both). Yet the pervasive idea is that direct-to-fan channels can make artists self-supported winners, that intermediaries don't matter, that radio is dead, that labels are redundant, and that the solution is to simply respond to every tweet and email. And who gives us this misguided inspiration? The extremely rare lottery winner, or artists that were already promoted by the major label machine (like Amanda Palmer or Radiohead). As if somehow, these post-major success stories are a template for others to follow, rather than rare exceptions. I'd say nothing's changed from the 'old days,' but it seems like it's actually gotten worse. And I'm left wondering why this 'music nation' keeps sliding. 05/05/11 Every Week, 30,000 Stages Are Left Unfilled... by Paul Resnikoff - ASCAP That's according to an estimate from startup NuevoStage, which counts 15,000 North American venues that have two or more empty, unfilled slots per week. Meaning, at least 30,000 gigging opportunities go unfilled every week, with the club either closed or solely serving alcohol and snacks. Of course, there are thousands of bands that would love to play
The NuevoStage system allows venues to list empty dates, and bands can pitch themselves and rally fans to fill targeted slots. Ultimately, if a band sells enough tickets, a gig is born - but the venue and band don't have to get linked to start the selling process. Instead, NeuvoStage functions like GroupOn, where a deal is only cemented when enough people (in this case, ticketbuyers) seal the deal. "This is [an opportunity] of approximately $400 million in a $10 billion North American booking industry," Wessel estimated. Sounds like an elegant solution, but is NuevoStage stepping into a ticketing quagmire, like so many before? Wessel is a recent Harvard Business School grad, so naturally he's attracted to solving marketing inefficiencies and matching buyers and sellers. But this goes beyond analyses and modeling exercises: Neuvo will be beta-tested - and beaten up - in Boston for the next year or so before a broader expansion. Fittingly, the hometown is rallying: the company just won a startup derby at Rethink, and walked away with a $50,000 purse. 04/23/11 Listen to Underdog Radio - "Independent Music For The Masses" at: http://ubroadcast.com/channel/underdog_radio 04/04/11 Promotion Music Records welcomes pianist Neal Topliff and his holiday album, "Snow Angels", which will soon be available on this site. Neal A. Topliff grew up in a beautiful wooded area just north of Duluth, Minnesota. He began his musical journey at age five when his family introduced him to his first love, the piano. That journey continued as he learned how to play the violin, French Horn, English Handbells, acoustic and electric guitars. 12/26 We are pleased to announce flutist Peter Phippen has been nominated for a Grammy for his album Woodnotes Wyld - historic flute sounds from the Dr. Richard W. Payne Collection. Congratulations Peter and we wish you the best come February 13th! 11/2 Watch for the Promotion Music Insider Magazine release Spring, 2011! 10/13 Promotion Music Records is looking for new artists! Do you have what it takes? Submit your music (Here) 10 /12 10/11 New video from Brian Bethke! (Click here to watch) 10/6 Peter Phippen was nominated for a Native American music award in the Native Heart category. Cast your vote here! 10/4 Brian Bethke wins Last Rites Of Ransom Pride pride song writing contest. YAY Brian!  Phone: 866-651-6472 Email: info@musicspecialties.com (c)Copyright 2010 Promotion Music Records All Rights Reserved
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where to begin. Well, how about the charts - any chart. Whether it's BigChampagne's Ultimate Chart, Billboard's Hot 100, or the most-streamed songs on Grooveshark, the top-ranked artists are all the same. It's Lady Gaga, Pitbull, Justin Bieber, and the Black Eyed Peas, week after week, over and over again. And sure, indie success stories are definitely happening, but why aren't they hogging the rankings next to the mainstream, major label priorities? 
those venues - and many could fill the room. Sounds like the perfect market inefficiency - but there are reasons for the missed dates. "A new artist has to deal directly with promoters, compounding the work they have to do," founder Maxwell Wessel recently told an audience at Rethink Music in Boston. "And most promoters won't give new artists the time of day, because they lack a proven track record - there's too much risk."