Introducing Abe Schwartz, Film/TV Coordinator
I have been working in entertainment since graduating from the University of Michigan in 2010. After cutting my teeth in the Motion Picture Lit department at William Morris Endeavor in L.A. (many horror stories), I moved back to New York to join the marketing agency DDCD & Partners where I produced a wide range of video projects for clients including American Express, Chrysler, IMG College and AM General. In addition, the last six months have consisted of the release of a comedic web series (CRASHERS) and the completion of a feature length documentary (WEB).
I have a deep passion for movies of all shapes and sizes. You may catch me at the next Noah Baumbach feature or waiting in line for Iron Man 3. In my free time, I love to play pickup basketball with friends and get on the golf course whenever possible.
I’m so pleased to be a part of this company and excited to work with everyone.
Between updating their subscription plans and experimenting with more visual profiles (still in early beta), SoundCloud has been on fire lately. ComScore even recently reported that their traffic increased by 26% in one month, making SoundCloud the 8th fastest growing site in the U.S. Though it’s certainly evolved since its launch in Berlin in 2008, SoundCloud has retained an attractive simplicity that makes for a winning platform all-around.
In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, SoundCloud is an online platform that allows you to listen to, share and create sounds — from music, to commentary, to podcasts… essentially anything that can be recorded and heard. Unsurprisingly, it’s taken on an increased importance in the music world and has become a space to premiere new tracks — press outlets often embed SoundCloud players on their sites — share works in progress — safely, thanks to the secret link feature — and generate buzz around a new or upcoming release, be it through sets (SoundCloud playlists), free downloads, or other engaging content.
Being such an influential audio service, SoundCloud obviously takes its copyright policy seriously. New uploads are put through a rigorous screen to make sure that all content adheres to copyright regulations. In order to help ensure that everybody’s rights are respected, SoundCloud uses a well-established and market-leading third party content ID system to help identify and block known copyright works from appearing on their platform. As a result, you may have gotten a copyright notification email while trying to upload one of your very own songs… This could happen if someone else has uploaded the song before you, for instance if you’re uploading a track to your artist profile that your label has already put up. In these cases, where you’re obviously not violating any copyrights, you could benefit from getting your profile whitelisted, so your tracks don’t get blocked while uploading.
If you’re an Orchard client, you’re in luck. In partnership with SoundCloud, we’ve updated our Marketplace app so that any track you upload using the app automatically gets whitelisted. If you don’t have access to Marketplace, you can still get your account whitelisted by shooting an email over to your client rep. We’ll take care of you.
In addition, we worked with the folks at SoundCloud to secure an exclusive 20% discount on upgrades to SoundCloud Pro Unlimited accounts for all our clients, giving you access to advanced features like more detailed analytics and further audio storage. For instructions on how to get your individual discount code, check your inbox for our Client Newsletter dated May 28.
And if you’re not ready to upgrade just yet, as a special bonus for using SoundCloud through Marketplace, you’ll still gain access to exclusive Partner Tools: geo-blocking, which will automatically be added when your profile is whitelisted, domain locking, which you can access via this link, and scheduling (coming soon!). These features give you increased control on your sounds and help to better target your impact, so take advantage!
To find out about these tools and more, take in this amazing SoundCloud/The Orchard Label Guide our teams have put together for you. In it, you’ll find everything you need to know about SoundCloud, how to install our SoundCloud Connect Marketplace app, and the amazing features you’ll find on the platform, plus tips on how to use them. I recommend checking out how to optimize your tracks (page 5), which widget to use on your website depending on your needs (page 9) and how to make the most of your analytics (page 15). Other useful resources are the SoundCheck Blog and Newsletter, to which you can sign up here.
Hello June, and hello Summer! I know this image to our left here doesn’t exactly scream “beach!” or “suntan!” but believe me when I say this shouldn’t detract you from our great selection of free tracks below.
Just days before the release of Children of Bodom‘s highly secretive eighth studio album, you can preview a new track from the album straight from Spotify. Also catch Children of Bodom headlining the Musicians Institute stage at this year’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival this June 29th in San Bernardino, California. Rockstar + Metal? Hell, yeah!
After “Cockroach” a couple of weeks ago, Crocodiles are giving another sneak peak of their upcoming album with “Teardrop Guitar;” Blackburner and CFCF are both offering free downloads — one a remix, the other a track premiere for their upcoming album; and Weekend and Adam Franklin & Bolts of Melody have some new music to share in advance of their July releases too.
Happy Friday, everyone!
Children of Bodom: “Your Days Are Numbered” via Spotify
Halo of Blood out June 11 in North America on Nuclear Blast
Crocodiles: “Teardrop Guitar” track premiere via NPR All Songs Considered
Crimes of Passion out August 20 on Frenchkiss Records
Blackburner: “Drop Bass (Not Bombs) (TRVP Mix)” track download via Trap Music
Drop Bass Not Bombs out now on Cleopatra Records
CFCF: “Camera” track premiere and download via Dummy Mag
Music For Objects out July 8 on Paper Bag Records
Weekend: “Mirror” via SoundCloud
Jinx out July 23 on Slumberland Records
Adam Franklin & Bolts of Melody: “Boocat Leah” track premiere via A.V. Club
Black Horses out July 16 on Goodnight Records
May was another good month on the charts for our clients, with the inspirational bump in sales of Zach Sobiech‘s song “Clouds” and album Fix Me Up, both of which benefit the Osteosarcoma Fund in Zach’s name; the appearance of promising new talents like Emma Louise; and international acts topping their local charts like Antonis Remos. Congratulations!
WEEK ENDING May 26, 2013
Billboard Top 200
#20 — A Firm Handshake: Fix Me Up EP [Rock The Cause]
Billboard Hot 100
#26 — Zach Sobiech: “Clouds” [Rock The Cause] * Hot Shot Debut
#82 — Hadouken!: “Levitate” [Hadouken Partnership]
Billboard Current Albums
#20 — A Firm Handshake: Fix Me Up EP [Rock The Cause]
Billboard Heatseeker Albums
#13 — Emma Louise: Vs. Head Vs. Heart [Frenchkiss Records]
#19 — Lenny Cooper: Mud Dynasty [Average Joe's]
#22 — Dirty Beaches: Drifters / Love Is The Devil [Zoo Music / Revolver]
#27 — Burning Rain: Epic Obsessions [Frontiers]
#49 — Charles Bradley: Victim Of Love [Daptone Records]
Billboard Independent Albums
#4 — A Firm Handshake: Fix Me Up EP [Rock The Cause]
Billboard Digital Albums
#9 — A Firm Handshake: Fix Me Up EP [Rock The Cause]
#15 — Mike Stud: Relief [Electric Feel Music Group]
Billboard Folk Albums
#1 — A Firm Handshake: Fix Me Up EP [Rock The Cause]
Billboard Top Regional Mexican Albums
#1 — La Energia Nortena: Sin Restricciones [Azteca Records]
Billboard Top Latin Albums
#3 — La Energia Nortena: Sin Restricciones [Azteca Records]
iTunes Top 200 Albums
#3 — A Firm Handshake: Fix Me Up (feat. Zach Sobiech $ Sammy Brown) [Rock The Cause Inc.]
#91 — Emma Louise: Vs Head Vs. Heart [Frenchkiss]
#96 — Mike Stud: Relief [Electric Feel Music Group]
#142 — Ugly Heroes: Ugly Heroes [Mello Music Group]
iTunes Top 200 Songs
#1 — Zach Sobiech: “Clouds” [Rock The Cause Inc.]
#83 — A Firm Handshake: “Clouds feat. Zach Sobiech” [Rock The Cause Inc.]
iTunes Pop Songs
#1 — Zach Sobiech: “Clouds” [Rock The Cause Inc.]
iTunes Rock Albums
#1 — A Firm Handshake: Fix Me Up (feat. Zach Sobiech $ Sammy Brown) [Rock The Cause Inc.]
iTunes Rock Songs
#2 — A Firm Handshake: “Clouds feat. Zach Sobiech” [Rock The Cause Inc.]
iTunes Greece
#1 — Antonis Remos: I Kardia Me Pigeni Emena [Heaven Music]
iTunes Russia Top Albums
#4 — Okean Elzy: Земля [Nikitin]
#6 – Grigoriy Leps: The Best (Deluxe Version) [Nikitin]
#7 — Basta: Basta 4 [Gazgolder]
#11 — Chaif: Кино, Вино и Домино [Nikitin]
#12 — Assai: Задеть за Мёртвое [Studio Soyuz]
#14 — Slava: Одиночество [First Music Publishing]
iTunes Turkey Top Albums
#2 — Şebnem Ferah: Od [Pasja Muzik]
#13 — Taksim Trio: Taksim Trio 2 [Dokuz Sekiz Müzik]
#15 — Fahir Atakoglu, Aytekin Ataş: Muhteşem Yüzyıl Vol.1 [Orijinal Dizi Müzikleri]
iTunes Brazil Top Albums
#5 — Fernando & Sorocaba: Homens e Anjos [Som Livre/Globo]
#7 — Jorge & Mateus: A Hora e Agoro (Ao Vivo) [Som Livre/Globo]
#13 — Michel Télo: Sunset [Som Livre/Globo]
Introducing Mike Drake, VP of Engineering
I grew up in Lakeland, Florida, which — according to Wikipedia — is well known for citrus, cattle and phosphate mining. I moved West to attend Stanford University and stayed in the Bay Area where I played guitar in bands (Oranger, The Aquamen, Overwhelming Colorfast, Hot Fog), started an indie record label (Amazing Grease Records) with Spiral Stairs from Pavement and built software (The Mckinley Group, Excite@Home). I helped found the SF-based digital music distributor IODA, where I was VP of Engineering. Some of you may also know me as Bearded Guy #3 from The Orchard 2012 Holiday Party Battle of the Bands also-rans The Beardy Wigs.
I recently relocated to Brooklyn to work with everyone at The Orchard and experience something called “seasons.”
