On Friday, Katy Perry and NBC launched an anthem you’ll likely be hearing throughout the rest of the summer. Her new tune, “Rise,” is designed to accompany NBC’s coverage of the Rio Olympics, but is apparently a project the pop singer has been working on for some time. In her own words, “Rise” is “a…
Pulsewave is the longest running event exploring chip music (a.k.a. chiptune or 8-bit music) in the country. These days, they throw monthly events at New York City’s gaming-culture-centric art space, Babycastles. But aside from providing audiences with cutting edge chip music and live visual performances, all making use of vintage video game systems as the basis…
Maintaining an energized fan base is one of the foundations for success as an indie musician — and if you’re active on YouTube, turning those fans into an engaged subscriber base is critical. YouTube is essentially FREE marketing! And even better, it’s a platform that can bring you all kinds of incredible opportunities. What many musicians don’t realize is…
If you’ve walked outside in any major city in the country this week, you’re likely well aware of the wildfire that is Pokémon GO. For the uninitiated, Nintendo recently released its first location-based augmented reality game, based on the ’90s franchise that imagined fictional animated creatures, or Pokémon, inhabiting the human world. Pokémon GO uses your phone’s…
Every songwriter knows that painful moment: Staring at a blank page, unsure of what to write. But I believe it’s much worse to stare at a half-finished song. You desperately try to think of what to do next, yet still feel locked into the style, chords, and rhythms that you have already established. It can seem hopeless at times to continue a…
Improvisation looks effortless and cool — until you try to do it. In reality, spontaneously composing is one of the most difficult things a musician can attempt, and it takes practice. There are a number of crafts that a musician must master to be a good improviser. Technical ability and music theory knowledge are important,…
By Songtrust We’ve asked our friends over at Songtrust to compile a monthly round up of everything that happened in the wide world of music publishing. They are the experts in the subject — Songtrust works tirelessly to simplify royalty collection for artists, so it’s only best if you get it straight from the source! Without further ado,…
Feedback can be a valuable tool in a songwriter’s toolbox. Especially for new writers, gathering advice from professional songwriters can give your song a big leg up. Most importantly, getting feedback on your songs is instrumental (pun intended) in helping you grow as a songwriter. A pro will be able to point out ways to make your…
Entrepreneurship in Music Series: 012 MIDEAST TUNES Founder Esra’a Al-Shafei We want our humanity and our futures in our own hands and we use the internet and other forms of technology to fight for those rights. — Esra’a Al-Shafei Mideast Tunes is a music streaming platform promoting social change and cultural dialogue by promoting the…
By Harvey Grant As musicians, we can spend so long trying to improve our technique in terms of scales and “speed” that we bypass one of the most important factors in the success of a piece: timing. Sure, you may say that Glenn Gould didn’t stick precisely to the given measures of Bach’s Goldberg Variations,…
