Latest Indie News

  • Jay-Z Executive Produces NBA 2K13, Taps Kanye West, Daft Punk, Dirty Projectors, Phoenix, Justice, More for Soundtrack

    Aug 1

    Billboard reports that Jay-Z has undertaken yet another entrepreneurial venture: He's the executive producer behind NBA 2K13, the latest installment in the long-running basketball video game series. In addition to consulting with developers on the game itself, he curated the soundtrack, which includes tracks by Kanye West, Daft Punk, Dirty Projectors, Phoenix, Nas, Justice, Santigold, Eric B. and Rakim, Meek Mill, Coldplay, U2, Jay-Z himself, and more. The game is out October 2 via 2K...

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  • Festivals In Brief: Superfest, Trillectro, Guelph Jazz Festival, Dimensions

    Aug 1

    WHAT: Superfest 4 WHEN: August 30 - September 2 WHERE: Portland, OR WHO: Chromatics, Glass Candy, Strategy, White Rainbow, the Miracles Club (DJ), more WHAT: Trillectro Hip Hop & Electronic Music Festival WHEN: August 11 WHERE: Washington, DC WHO: Schoolboy Q, Oddisee, Doug E. Fresh, Flosstradamus, Body Language, Tittsworth, Brenmar, more  WHAT: The Guelph Jazz Festival WHEN: September 5-9 WHERE: Guelph, Ontario WHO: Colin Stetson, Nels Cline, Glenn Kotche, Charles Spearin, Matthew Shipp,...

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  • An Open Letter to Young Musicians

    Aug 1

    Dear young musicians, For years, I’ve been receiving emails from you asking for my advice on how you can get into the music business, how to convince your parents that it’s what you want to do in life, and how to not let your age hold you back. Today, I decided I’d post all of my advice online in this open letter, which I hope you will share with other young musicians asking the same questions. How can I get into the music business? Get 10,000 hours under your belt My first piece of advice...

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  • The Idea Poison: Termination of Genius

    Jul 31

    Have you ever had an insanely great idea that went nowhere? Of course you did. We all have. Hundreds of times.  Sometime after the birth of that idea there was an opportunity to either pursue it with passion and vigour... or to brush off it and ignore it.   More often than not, the spark is snuffed and its chance to manifest into a tangible thing is lost. I call this, the Termination of Genius.  ↓ there's more to read, continue by clicking the link below ↓

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  • What Happened to Mystery in Music Marketing?

    Jul 31

    No more marketing jargon! Since successful independent musicians these days are expected to be marketing-savvy, it’s not surprising that you occasionally hear jargon like “value added,” “direct-to-fan,” and “call to action” slip into communications with fans. I find it a bit creepy though. While these terms are fine if you’re discussing the concept behind certain actions, your fans don’t want to hear the awkward grinding of your marketing machine’s gears. They want the tunes, the tour dates,...

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  • The Mountain Goats Announce Tour

    Jul 31

    Photo by D.L. Anderson The Mountain Goats have announced the first leg-- a North American route-- for their tour in support of their new record Transcendental Youth. It's out on October 2 via Merge in the U.S., Tomlab in the UK and Europe, Moorworks in Japan, and Remote Control in Australia and New Zealand. Matthew E. White will open the shows, and also back up the Mountain Goats, along with his horn section. Listen to the first taste of the album, "Cry for Judas", above. The Mountain...

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  • Amazon Takes On iTunes Match With Upgraded Cloud Player, Label Deals

    Jul 31

    Amazon today launched an upgraded Cloud Player along with licensing agreements with Sony, EMI, Universal, Warner Music, and more than 150 independent distributors, aggregators and music publishers.  Aimed straight at the same market as iTunes Match, Amazon’s scan and match technology offers access to music anywhere, but on a wider variety of devices including the Kindle Fire, iPhone, Android devices and any web browser. Free & Premium Tiers Cloud Player Free customers get storage...

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  • Passion Pit's "Constant Conversations" Video Coming to Pitchfork.tv on YouTube Tomorrow

    Jul 31

    Tomorrow, Pitchfork.tv on YouTube will premiere the music video for Passion Pit's "Constant Conversations" from Gossamer. Directed by Dori Oskowitz, it features actor/director Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show, "The Sopranos"), among others. Check out stills from the video below, and read our recent Cover Story on Passion Pit frontman Michael Angelakos here.  Subscribe to Pitchfork.tv on YouTube here and keep an eye out for the video tomorrow. 

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  • Watch Blur Perform Live on the BBC Now

    Jul 31

    Blur head out on a mini UK tour this week, culminating in a final performance during the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics on August 12. To start it off, they're performing live on the BBC twice today. Earlier, they performed for BBC 6 Music. Now, starting at 8pm London time, they're performing an hour-long show on BBC Radio 2. Watch the whole show streaming live, below. Blur released the career-spanning box set Blur 21 this week. Read Lindsay Zoladz' review here.

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  • NOW: Watch Cyber PR, ReverbNation Live Digital Press Conference

    Jul 31

    Today 3 - 8PM ET, more than 30 music journalists and bloggers will be interviewing and watching performances by 11 of Ariel Hyatt's Cyber PR and ReverbNation's clients (today's schedule) both at Ariel's NYC HQ and online. Today's event is a great example of both the creative use of free/inexpensive online tools to market music and the power of artists working together.  Watch live and share what you think: Free desktop streaming application by Ustream

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