Album almost finished

Wrapping up the album. Check it out:

http://igg.me/p/102801?a=344672



- jM

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MOOG + SCANIMATE

MOOG + SCANIMATE = Analog Wet Dream!

Here's one for the analog lovers and audio / videophiles out there:

Exciting new collaboration working out how to facilitate a Moog synth talking to one of the the only known working Scanimate machines in the world (there may only be two).  This system was used to help create the Sesame Street Floating Face Sketches.  The style was also used for the computer-animated segments appearing in The Electric Company, most notably displaying the episode numbers.  

Brilliant, exciting stuff!!

A little background:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanimate
http://scanimate.zfx.com/

Early use examples:

http://youtu.be/PoV3K504_LE   (from sesame street)
http://youtu.be/at_eGZezPco     (from the electric company)


This is a fascinating new marriage of analog equipment in an incredibly cool artistic endeavor.  Stay tuned for further developments.  I hope to be as heavily involved as possible in the project & to be able to share it with you as it happens.

- jM

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Google's New Slippery Slope Privacy Policy

Thoughts on Google's new privacy policy and terms of service which were recently announced?

Has anyone actually read it in its entirety?

Set to take effect on March 1st, Google's new privacy policy and terms of service contains the following passage:

     "We may use the name you provide for your Google Profile across all of the services we offer that require a Google Account. In addition, we may replace past names associated with your Google Account so that you are represented consistently across all our services. If other users already have your email, or other information that identifies you, we may show them your publicly visible Google Profile information, such as your name and photo."

Does anyone else see this as a treacherous slippery slope?

Given the recent developments in the Google+ Real Names Policy, i.e., Google finally allowing pseudonyms - that is, if and only if members have a “meaningful following” online (can we say a.m.b.i.g.u.o.u.s?) or can otherwise verify their identity through newspaper articles or other official sources - is it safe to say that any group of musicians with a chosen name (this is, after all, the standard) may as well forget about having any sort of unified presence via Google?

That said, your band can have a 'page' on Google+ ( for example : jamesisaMonster Google+ page ). However, the page is associated with the individual who created it, and this is highly visible.

I have multiple online identities because I have multiple facets as a living, breathing, thinking human being.  I dress differently when I go to work than when I'm on stage playing with a band; I carry myself a certain way depending on the social role I am currently acting out.  

I teach adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder to adapt to different social settings by allowing specific situational expectations to inform behavior. The need for variance in expectations across manifold social arrangements arises out of necessity; the very structure of society is threatened when you start treating your boss like your house cat.

Google appears to be having a mid-life crisis (implying that Google does indeed have a finite lifespan). Google may appear too pervasive to fail, but let us not forget the now archetypal decline of Roman civilization. 

Paradoxically, Google can be portrayed as playing both sides of the fence. Google wants us to be able to tell fart jokes to our college friends without our grandmother overhearing, yet wants an individual to maintain a unified image that is intended for all purposes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that frist piece  what Circles are all about? Is that not Google's purported trump to all other social networking sites? Yet Google is now threatening to "show them your publicly visible Google Profile"?

Are we then forced to adopt the most innocuous and nondescript profile possible, only divulging details about ourselves in the ostensibly safe-for-now far reaches of the online identity venue? How soon will this slippery slope make even our private emails a matter of public record?

One must ask, what is Google's motivation behind this? Are they attempting to combat against cyber crime? Misleading identities? Online predators? Social accountability? Could an online predator not function in the exact same capacity with a single universal identity? If the aforementioned motivations are accurate, would Google not have to verify identities by some other means than those currently in place? 

"ERROR 1298 - The SSN you entered is already in use by another member of the Google machine"

- jM

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After a week of being featured on MadeLoud, my music has recieved 280 plays, but no sales even with the songs priced at 49 cents.  My profile picked up 5 fans, and 8 favorites.  This was without any marketing or spreading of the link on my end.  So it appears they do get some traffic, and being featured does generate clicks.  If you're interested in buying some of my songs, they are still available at the discounted price at http://www.madeloud.com/artists/jamesisamonster.


Best,

- jM

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So, I finally heard back from MadeLoud.  They are featuring my music starting next week, then again for a week starting January 30.  I'll let you know how that works out.  All the demos to date are on the site and available for download @ .79 cents a track.  I'm not going to be pushing the link too hard the first week, just to get a baseline, then possibly push it out on my networks for the second week.

I'll post the results ASAP.


best,

- jM

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another day... OR the golden rule applied to music marketing

So - day four, no word from MadeLoud.com.  Starting to wonder if the guy that contacted me is 'off' for the holidays (not checking / responding to email?), or if it was all just a clever plot to get as many reciprocal back links as possible.

Anyone else have this experience with MadeLoud.com?

Anyway, back to business.  With a SoundCloud free membership, you can only post each of your super-fresh-and-ready-for-public-consumption tracks in one group at a time.  New listeners may find you via tag or keyword searches, but the way to really get your music heard is in SoundCloud's groups.

So - forget the free membership.  Go with the 'lite' version, use a promo code for 25% off, and for less than $30 US, you can post your tracks in as many groups as you want.

Plus, SoundCloud gives you a 14 day trial period for a full refund, AND will even send you an email reminding you before the 4 days is up. Go SoundCloud customer service.

So I'm starting with 7 tracks and 9 groups that had the most members and were a good fit for my type of music (indie rock, alternative, experimental, electronic, industrial, hard to categorize!).

I'll be putting all the data into a spreadsheet to share my insights after a week or so.

However, I have a feeling the most important way to gain new listeners regardless of the platform is to talk to people. Find other musicians with similar music, friend them, give feedback, start a conversation.  Do onto others as you would have them do to you. 


If I take time out of my busy day to listen to a random person's music, it's someone who commented on one of my tracks. My curiosity is piqued. What type of person likes my music? I have to know. I will listen to their songs!

- jM

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Spread the love... on SoundCloud

Hey all, it's been 2 days, no response from MadeLoud.com -> will keep you updated on that front.

Uploaded the latest demos of all songs onto SoundCloud just about three weeks ago.  I've had a decent amount of plays mostly coming from Facebook posts, but have not received any comments or followers on SC.  I'm about to start posting tracks in SC 'groups' to see if that will generate any traffic to my tracks from SC users.  Hopefully some of this traffic will wander on over to my Facebook page (or other social media).

I'll let you know how well this works out (if the cost benefit analysis leans towards waste of time, or time well spent) - update in a few days, so stay tuned.


- james