Hot Topic: DIY
The topic of DIY seems to be on the tongues of many lately, and it’s not quite the same ‘do it yourself’ of your punk rock granddad’s age. We participated in a panel last week on this topic, and were impressed by some of the forward-thinking initiatives we heard put forth by young artists in attendance. Conversation of a modern DIY era was also spawned this week by discussions at the New Music Seminar that took place on Tuesday in New York. While in the past a DIY mentality and approach was completely antithetical to the mainstream music business, the concepts and ideas being explored now are very much a part of a popular dialogue. Recent developments in this arena include the formation of Polyphonic, a UK-based venture that models itself on a new concept of label-artist partnerships and profit sharing, which was featured yesterday in a New York Times article. The fan-funded blueprint continues to push forward as well, with more new sites like Kickstarter.com that provide a platform for ideas and endeavors to find funding through pledges – endeavors such as recording an album or ep. In fact April Smith, an artist who we’ve spotlighted in the past, is currently taking pledges to fund her new full-length and is more than halfway to her goal in just two weeks. So while the jury is still out on many of the new “models”, the whirlwind of ideas and debate proceeds to energize innovation and creation in a space that was built upon those very things in the first place.
Checkout a couple recent interesting articles at Hypebot and Digital Music News for more on this topic.
06.24.09Big Numbers for MySpace Unsigned Artist Contest
We commented last week on the current changes in affect at MySpace, and how in-spite of speculation during this transition, they continue to be an unmatched music networking and promotion platform. Further evidence of the wide reach and how that dominance can be leveraged is found in their recent contest, launched in partnership with Toyota, called Rock the Space. In a short period of time, it appears they’ve received over 12,000 submissions from unsigned artists hoping to be selected for the final five. Finalists will be voted on by the community, the winner will get a MySpace Records recording contract and the runners-up will also receive targeted advertising throughout MySpace via the label’s “friends” development deal package.
They’re still accepting submissions until July 1st. Visit: http://www.myspace.com/toyotamusic
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