mistrustmusic's posterous http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com Most recent posts at mistrustmusic's posterous posterous.com Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:19:08 -0700 Stephen Fry, blogging and musicians http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/stephen-fry-blogging-and-musicians http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/stephen-fry-blogging-and-musicians Musicians and bands should take notice of Stephen Fry's comments on BBC's Analysis programme "Stephen Fry: The Internet and Me". Fry points out that Twitter and its ilk have made it easy for celebs to bypass the press offices and gossip columnists, and tell the world what they're doing as soon as it happens. Why though, are there not many bands and musicians on Twitter? Why aren't there many bands from Manchester (UK) not tweeting that they're doing a gig on Friday night? No DJs either, plugging their new set? Mr Musician, it's ok to have a Myspace page and add a new event, or go on Facebook and tell your followers when your CD is out, but do you use your Myspace blog to involve your fans (or potential fans) in your writing process, or post a comment on your FB wall to say you've finished another track? If you had a Twitter account, you could send update your fans on a regular basis: "someone from a record label was at the gig earlier tonight" - that sort of thing. Surely you're not waiting for manager to do it for you? If you've got a PR person, are they on Twitter, or Digg, or even blogging on your behalf? To me, a lot of bands - especially unsigned ones, are missing the boat. They're not looking for new ways of promoting themselves. Yeah, they're on Youtube, Bandcamp, Facebook, but everyone is. How many people read comments or blog posts on Myspace  these days? How do you know it's not the record company's PR department writing a post? Think about Stephen Fry's "Help, I'm stuck in a lift, but I've still got time to Twitter" tweet as an example of what I mean.  Stuff like Twitter just a great medium for keeping his fans and followers uptodate with what he's doing: when his next TV programme is on, when he's recording a podcast, and when he's going to have a cup of tea. So many people, many of them are celebrities, have switched on to the self-publicity machine that is Twitter, especially in the UK. Jimmy Carr, Philip Schofield, Chris Moyles, Alan Carr - they may not be really famous and massive celebs, but they've all realised that their fans and potential fans read their Twitter posts.  Mr Musician, Mr Band member, Mr DJ, Twitter et al let you build up your profile for your fans and let people know that you're a real person, with real thoughts, not just a noise on a CD. Get Tweeting when you've finished a recording session, or when you're getting a new guitar! My daytime job is in e-learning in a further education college, and I'm amazed by the number of applications, websites, and other stuff I come across that could be used by bands to promote what they're doing. Don't forget, this is just my opinion. If you want to know more about what I'm upto, why not follow me on Twitter!

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Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:43:11 -0800 Using Soundcloud in Wordpress http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/using-soundcloud-in-wordpress http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/using-soundcloud-in-wordpress If you're a Soundcloud user and want to play your tracks in your Wordpress.com blog, here's how to do it:  Just copy the link location from the "download" button on your soundcloud player and paste it into your Wordpress visual editor (not the code editor). You need to add the usual WP code to it so you get, eg: [a u d i o ] Obviously, you'll need no gaps in the word audio! So it should look like this: [audio http://soundcloud.com/mistrust/pitch-black-rude-mechanicals-mistrust-remix/do...] Publish your WP post and then view it. The standard WP flash player appears (the one with the speaker and the play icon). You'd think that you would need a .mp3 extension, but you don't! Also, you don't get a Soundcloud player in your blog. Have a look here to see it in action properly: It works! Thanks to Soundcloud.com for hosting my tracks. PLEASE NOTE: My blog has now moved to http://www.mistrustmusic.co.uk so please click the link to go there... The world of mistrust music

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Fri, 25 May 2007 11:09:57 -0700 Attention surfer dudes http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/attention-surfer-dudes http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/attention-surfer-dudes

I got an email yesterday saying that O'Neill, the surfing, skiing, and snowboarding company, have launched O'Neill TV, featuring all their promo films, profiles, and all sorts of other video footage. I thought it would actually be proper tv station on Sky or the Extreme Channel, but it turned out it's just a glorified Flash player on their website. I'm not dismissing it though. It looks great, and there are loads of videos on there, especially for all you surf, ski, and snowboard types out there. Plus, it's got me on there. Actually, it's got my music on a couple of videos up there.

Three tracks - Croydon Library, Never Alone remix, and Hello - are on the Deep Blue Open 2005 event video, and two - Croydon Library and Never Alone - are on the video profile of Trent Munro (world-famous surfer dude).  I signed a non-exclusive deal with O'Neill Europe a couple of years ago, thinking that I'd just get a couple of DVDs from it, but I'm still getting exposure from it. I guess this O'Neill TV thing is getting a lot of hits, so more exposure for me. You can play the two clips here: Trent Munro Profile Deep Blue Open 2005 Both of these clips show how well my music fit with a variety of visuals. Any film makers out there who need music for their latest project, please get in touch!!!!

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Thu, 03 May 2007 11:11:55 -0700 All the world's an MP3 stage http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/all-the-worlds-an-mp3-stage http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/all-the-worlds-an-mp3-stage I've been thinking about the number of music hosting sites and MP3 directories that I have my music on. Most of them are free-to-download places where people can just have my tracks for nothing. I started off in late 2004 by choosing just one site - Electromancer.com, which is now no more, just because I lacked confidence about my music and it seemed like a good place to start when I'd never even considered putting my music out to the public. In fact, even though Electromancer closed down last year, a lot of the artists are still active on the forums of another site, Nervejam, and are still as friendly and supportive as ever. I got a bit more confident after getting some great reviews, thinking that more people might give me a listen, so I followed links and recommendations about other hosting sites, signed up to 2 or 3, and waited for the plays to roll in. Then I started chasing more sites and more plays, until I had tracks on about 1o or 15 sites. I've now lost track (and usernames/passwords) of most of those sites, and still get the occasional email from them, saying someone has posted a comment. A quick check on google as to which sites I'm on offers up 94 links for "mistrust music site" and 30 for "never alone mistrust" (my first track from 2004). I still see the same old faces on all these hosting sites, desperately looking for more plays, trading reviews, asking if the rolloff should be at 40Hz or 20, continually producing new tracks in the hope of what? Getting signed by an independent label? How many of them trawl the unsigned band pages looking for new talent?  I don't mean any disrespect to all these unsigned artists, if that's what they're happy doing. It's just that I have got the time any more to keep making tracks, posting reviews, etc. I've thought about uploading my music to loads of other MP3 hosts, especially the ones that have been recommended by music magazines, just to get a few more people interested, by right now, what's the point? I've got a blog, a myspace profile, and somewhere to host a few tracks. I've been featured on a local radio show and played by a few DJs. That's probably all I need. I've signed a non-exclusive deal with a music library, so it's not a bad life. Here's some homework you, dear reader: How many websites am I listed on for "mistrust mp3" at google? Answers in the comments box, please! Don't forget to listen to some of my tracks... 

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Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:45:17 -0700 Signed by a music library http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/signed-by-a-music-library http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/signed-by-a-music-library I've sort of mentioned this before, but now I can tell all..... I've signed a non-exclusive deal with a major UK music library, called CandyCover, that supplies music to TV, film, and advert production companies. They've worked with big players like Orange, O2, Virgin, and the Ministry of Sound. It's a massive break for me - never had anything like this happen before. They've asked to use 8 of my tracks - not my long, instrumental tunes that have been doing the rounds for a couple of years like Never Alone and For All we've done, but my more recent ones that are available at Music Freedom. They're all fairly short and are wanted for the library's "Art/Quirky/Cult Drama" section. I've signed a contract with them and the tracks are going to be registered with MCPS, the official publishing organisation in the UK, which means I get paid the proper rate if any of my tracks get used. I know that a lot of musicians get tracks signed to music libraries, and the competition is huge
Listen to this article , but it's a massive break and I'm really pleased about it. I've been told in the last couple of years that my music hasn't been commercial enough to get on a record label release, which was a bit disappointing at first. I got some tracks taken on by a company called Archangel Media Group for use in some O'Neill Surfing promo films - Deep Blue Open 2005 and Anglet Pro, but it was unpaid and not a lot came from it apart from a decent showreel and the prestige from getting airplay on Extreme Channel. However, more and more people in the music licensing business were saying that I had a "soundtrack" edge to my music and that it would fit in with the sort of thing that gets used in film and tv. I got a knockback a couple of years ago when a licensing company called Raw42 said that my style was not suitable for adverts, but I carried on in the same style, making more short instrumental stuff, and it looks like it's paid off. Finally, a big thanks to everyone who's pushed my music and kept me going with words of encouragement and support.

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Tue, 17 Apr 2007 21:13:21 -0700 Paul can't open up to people but he can talk to his blog http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/paul-cant-open-up-to-people-but-he-can-talk-t http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/paul-cant-open-up-to-people-but-he-can-talk-t
Should this blog be entirely about music? Comments please! I just wanted to put in a quick word about Paul's blog. Paul Harrison is my stepson, who happens to have PDD-NOS, a condition similar to autism and asperger's syndrome. He's very withdrawn and hates having to meet new people, as it makes him anxious and can't cope. He can't get into school at the moment as his stress levels go through the roof whenever he thinks of being in class - he's 14 y.o. and you just try making him go! The whole thing makes him more anxious and less confident. His school agreed to send him work home, which is a start... We've had major problems getting him to communicate his feelings and anxieties, and won't go to see the pyschologist he's under at the moment, so me and his mum have to keep diaries and try to tell the psych what we think Paul is thinking. He just can't open up to people. Until he discovered I was writing a blog. Now he's blogging all the time. At first it was only to tell people about his music on myspace. Then he posted something about PDD-NOS, I helped him tag it, and he started to get loads of hits and a few comments about how he wasn't alone in the ASD world. People from around the world were writing to him. He's now added more posts, writing about his days at home, and life in general, and he's really opened up in writing how he feels, and actually puts across his anxieties. Whether he's found a way to get more hits than me (he's very competitive) or whether he genuinely thinks he can write down how he feels, I'm not sure. Oh, and if you want to read about music, I've just been signed by a major music library in the UK. Some of the tracks are on musicfreedom.com, so have a listen while you post a comment on here!

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Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:21:46 -0700 Breaking the spell http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/breaking-the-spell http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/breaking-the-spell
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I'm nervous and excited at the same time. So much stuff going on at home to keep me occupied and  frazzled and to keep me awake at night. If you've read my stepson's blog, you'll know more. Now I've got something else on my mind. Some major news - big, big stuff - about my music. Can't say much at the moment. Am I superstitious or have mildly autistic tendencies and think that if I let the cat out of the bag, it will somehow not happen. If I spell it out, does it count as telling all? Maybe if I say it backwards? Or cross my fingers? Anyway, here goes. A music library in the UK that works with the likes of Orange and Virgin want to add some of my tracks to their roster.  I've submitted 10 tracks. They want to use 7 or 8. There. I said it.  I get nervous and excited at the thought of having my music on TV. It's like the time my tracks were used by O'Neill Europe on their Deep Blue Open 2005 promo film and I found out it was being shown on Channel 4 in the UK and in 25 other countries around the world. Plus, in all the O'Neill shops. This time, if it gets used, I'll get paid and the exposure will be massive. Oh, and the tracks will be registered with MCPS.  I'm just an unsigned, bedroom musician. I'm allowed to get nervous. If anyone reading this has any experience of working with a music library, please leave a comment tell me how you got on.

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Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:31:07 -0700 How many forums - how many blogs http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/how-many-forums-how-many-blogs http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/how-many-forums-how-many-blogs
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Just how many blogs should a person have? How many forums should a musician sign up to? All in the interest of promoting a new song? My stepson, Paul, is trying to get people to listen to his music. He's only 14 and gets very focussed and obsessed with everything he does. You wouldn't say he's very musically-minded, but he wants to make tunes. He's not interested that they might need mixing properly or mastered to get them sounding good. He just wants to put them on the internet like me. He thought that people would just come across his myspace profile or his page on MP3.com and just his total plays would go up and up without any input or promotion from him. So, I told him that he should start a blog and tell people all about himself and his music. He could always join a few forums and start swapping reviews and opinions, and start to get people to listen to his music. I even mentioned music competitions. I think he's taken me a bit literally. He's looking on the web for almost every music competition that's listed. He wants to me to put him on every blog site going - especially the ones I'm on. He wants me to sign up to loads of forums and let him copy and paste a "Listen to my music" message so he doesn't have to write anything new. Why gets me back to my point. How many blogs does an unsigned musician need to do a bit of self-promotion and to get some new listeners? How many forums do you need to sign up to? Is it ok to sign up and just post a thread saying "here I am"? It made me think that when I first started putting my music on the internet just over 2 years ago, I wanted to post threads on every forum and tell everyone to listen to my tracks, hoping that someone somewhere would hear me and I'd stand out from the crowd. I'm still on a few of those forums, but don't post much these days, mainly because I haven't got time, due to other things like making music. Budding artists like Paul need to stick to getting some decent tunes together and put them on a couple of sites, and spend a few weeks plugging away and posting comments about other people's tracks, in the hope that someone will listen. It happened to me. When I go on the old forums, I see the same old names, hoping that someone important will notice them, or they'll get a good review from someone on Outer Mongolia who's never heard of them and will never ask the to play live. There's more to making music than forums and blogs.

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Wed, 28 Mar 2007 12:18:19 -0700 MP3s and other updates http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/mp3s-and-other-updates http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/mp3s-and-other-updates
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I've now added quite a few new things to the site that should make things a bit more interesting. You can now play some of my tracks on the music page, watch a clip from the O'Neill Deep Blue Open video that features my track "Croydon Library", and meet some of my friends and people who've helped me along the way. I've now got a "I'm also on.." section to see where else I've got music or postings. I've also got some promo photos on Flickr. These are to promote a track of mine that's on Myspace. Guess which track it is? Talking of photos, I'd like to be able to add interesting images to my posts (paintings, photographs, designs etc) by people who frequent the forums that I'm on. Don't forget to go over to my stepson's blog and say hello - Paul Harrison on Wordpress - he's recently got the music bug from me, and is keen to get some tracks up on the web. That's Paul on the photo, with the word "ringing" in his face!

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Thu, 22 Mar 2007 16:51:28 -0700 mistrustmusic.co.uk http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/mistrustmusiccouk http://mistrustmusic.posterous.com/mistrustmusiccouk I've finally bought the domain name mistrustmusic.co.uk. It's mine (for 2 years at least)! No more "blackburnt.portland.co.uk" in forums and directories! I toyed with releasing all my music under the name Tim Blackburn, but now I'm stuck with "mistrust". I don't think anyone else is using that name, so hopefully I'm unique! I know I sometimes sound like a Massive Attack copy, or maybe a bit of Faithless, or Leftfield, but I try to make original-sounding music, and not stick too much to one style, and try not to be influenced too much by other artists. I've been asked by a music library to submit some tracks to put out for film and tv projects. More when I decide which ones to submit. They've given me some guidelines, so hopefully I'll get some time to sort it out. Changes to the site: I've added "I'm also on...", which links to my other sites and profiles around the web. Please visit them and say hello. Some of them have voting on.... If you've visiting this site, and like the music (or not!) please say hello and leave your website address. Maybe you make music too, so I can add you to my friends list. (I promise not to hassle you!)

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