Here in the Product department, we’re always busy building cool stuff to make life (and business) easier for our clients. This time, we’re very pleased to announce the launch of a brand new Accounting section. Please, everyone, calm down. Excuse me, sir, can you put your shirt back on? This …
Videos are by far the most engaging form of social content. This isn’t exactly a new discovery, but there’s a lot of missed potential by bands that claim to have a YouTube presence. The common misconception is that your music videos go up on YouTube and you’re done. Although MTV …
Plugging — it’s a word we often hear in relation to promoting something, recommending it, giving it your stamp of approval. iPluggers does just that for your music, and it does it all around the world. With a 100% airplay guarantee (or your money back), iPluggers provides the platform for …
Meet our latest partner: Conduit Mobile. The mobile app creator is getting all kinds of press these days, and it’s not without good reason. Their sexy app offers every function you could dream of with the ease of use you’ve always wanted. What’s more, they’re compatible with all major mobile …
If you’re a music lover living in New York City, chances are that you’ve been to at least one show at Rockwood Music Hall in Lower East Side, Manhattan. Though the music venue has only been in existence for the past eight years, it seems as though it has already become one of the most prominent places in the city to see live music on any given night of the week. Notable past performers have included Lady Gaga, Mumford & Sons, Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Amos Lee, and many more. With all of the successes that Rockwood Music Hall has garnered in the past few years, club-owner, Ken Rockwood, has decided to take the logical next step for someone in his position and launch a namesake record label, distributed by yours truly.
Ken has always possessed a passion for watching artists progress and grow before his eyes, under his roof, and in the company of those who frequent the Hall. He has seen artists begin their careers performing on Stage 1, the smaller of the two stages, and watched them slowly build their unique sounds and develop dedicated fan bases. Eventually, many of these artists graduate and move on to performing on Stage 2, the main stage, in front of a larger crowd. Now, a handful of these artists may have their records released on Rockwood’s newfound label…
Speaking of which, Rockwood Music Hall Recordings released its first official record, Dumpster Hunter‘s Frustration in Time Travel, on April 2nd. In the following weeks, Rockwood and his label plans to release two more records. The next release, scheduled for April 23rd, will be by world-reknowned drummer Mark Guiliana and his amalgam of Rock, Electronic, and Jazz, and is entitled Beat Music. On May 3rd, the label will put out its third official release and first live album, Live at Rockwood Music Hall, by singer/songwriter, Robbie Gil.
With these upcoming releases and future projects in the works, Rockwood Music Hall Recordings has certainly hit the ground running, and we can’t wait to see what else they have in store.
You made it through the week once again, and now it’s time to get rewarded… with music! That’s right, Freeloader Friday is back and we’re bringing you a plethora of new tunes that are sure to jumpstart your weekend.
If you’re in the mood for mellow sounds, Emma Louise has you covered with “Mirrors,” a smooth track with a smokey finish from her upcoming album. The Postelles keep the chill vibes going with their new song premiere, while Tripwires get ethereal and Dirty Fences up the tempo.
The free music love continues with The Casket Girls bringing the Electro grooves to your weekend soundtrack and the wondrous Thee Oh Sees spinning a full album stream of their anticipated new record, Floating Coffin, over on Pitchfork.
Not enough music for you yet? Then check out these clips from Grim Tower and Young Man — both dropped music videos this week that are sure to transfix you with crazy visuals. One features a banjo player on a snowcapped mountainside with a wolf, the other, a man sprouting from a black trash bag in a museum. Yeah, it’s going to be one of those type of weekends. Happy listening!
Emma Louise: “Mirrors” via Spin
vs. Head vs. Heart out May 21 on Frenchkiss Records
Tripwires: “Catherine, I Feel Sick” via Quietus
Spacehopper out June 18 on Frenchkiss Records
Dirty Fences: “White Lies” via The Obelisk
Too High to Kross out now on Volcom Entertainment
The Postelles: “Heavy Eyes” via Paste Magazine
…And It Shook Me out April 23 on +1 Records
The Casket Girls: “Universal Language” via Rollingstone
The Casket Girls out April 20 on Graveface Records
Thee Oh Sees: Full album stream via Pitchfork
Floating Coffin out April 16 on Castle Face Records
Young Man: “In a Sense” music video via MTV Hive
Beyond Was All Around Me out now on Frenchkiss Records
Grim Tower: “Reign Down” music video premiere via Stereogum
Anarchic Breezes out in June on Outer Battery Records
Cheech & Chong have worn many hats over the years — or, in Tommy Chong’s case, bandanas — but this April, the cannabis-inspired comics are back with a completely new look… cartoon animation.
That’s right, the dubious (or is it doobie-ous?) duo are releasing a new feature-length film, appropriately titled Cheech & Chong’s Animated Movie, and it’s sure to include plenty of blunt humor, mellow drives, and monumental munchies to satisfy all of your 4/20 cravings.
If you want to attend the premiere for the movie, good luck; the “green carpet” event on April 17th at the legendary Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles is an invite-only VIP party. But fear not idle stoners, the sultans of the sticky icky just released the film’s soundtrack album on April 9th (via Ode Sounds & Visuals), and with song titles including ”Cheech & Chong Anthem (WEed Are the World)” and “Medical Marijuana Blues,” the record is sure to get you buzzed without even having to leave the couch.
For all newcomers to the comedians, prepare yourself for an epic trip (literally) with this record. It features nine original tracks produced by legendary and original Ode Records producer Lou Adler, along with support credits from Dominic Kelly, Eric D. Chambers, Branden Chambers, and Paris Chong. You can get the full inside scoop on the album from Cheech Martin and Tommy Chong themselves over on Spotify, where the duo will be releasing special commentary for each track.
If you’re hankering for a copy of the movie though, mark your calendars for April 23rd when the DVD and Blu Ray versions of the film hit retailers. In the meantime, be on the lookout for the music video for “Cheech & Chong Anthem (WEed Are the World),” which drops April 15th and features star-studded animated cameos from the likes of Kid Cudi, Whoopi Goldberg, Wiz Kalifa, George Lopez, Bill Maher, B-Real, Willie Nelson, Zach Galifianakis, and many more.
Catch all of the upcoming release dates from the stonerific comics after the jump, they’re guaranteed to make your 4/20 soundtrack truly dope.
Warm weather looming on the horizon means that outdoor music festivals are just around the corner. So dust off those Birkenstocks, lather yourself in SPF 40, and soak yourself in patchouli because festival season has officially returned.
The popular West Coast music festival, Coachella, will begin the first of its two weekends this Friday, April 12th, with many talented artists taking the stage. This year, The Orchard is very proud to have 18 of its current artists performing at the festival. Here are a few you don’t want to miss:
Local Natives [Frenchkiss Records]
Set Time: Friday, April 12th/19th | 7:00pm – 7:50pm | Outdoor Theatre
The Indie Rock quartet made a splash this year with their sophomore release, Hummingbird, which debuted at #12 on the Billboard Top 200, and #6 on Billboard’s Digital Albums Chart – not too shabby for a band who released their debut record, Gorilla Manor, just a few years prior. Local Natives have been on the road promoting their record since the week of SXSW, and have been selling out nearly every venue they visit. They will continue to tour until the end of April, with additional plans to perform at New York City’s Governor’s Ball in early June.
Thee Oh Sees [Castle Face Records]
Set Time: Sunday, April 14th/21st | 3:15pm – 3:55pm | Gobi
Lead singer John Dwyer, and the rest of Thee Oh Sees have been creating music spanning a wide spectrum of tonalities for quite some time. Their forthcoming record, Floating Coffin, which is due out next week, is no exception as it juxtaposes optimistic songs of hope with dreary tunes of despair. It’s clear that Thee Oh Sees have a penchant for exploring every possible crevice of music that they possibly can. Playing shows at venues in places everywhere from Austin, TX to Beijing, China, the band’s eclectic sounds reach a myriad of people who grow to love the music.
Rodriguez [Light In The Attic]
Set Time: Sunday, April 14th/21st | 6:35pm – 7:15pm | Gobi
Rodriguez may have the most unique story of any artist at Coachella this year. A documentary about the artist, Searching For Sugar Man, premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival to raving reviews. The film tells the story about Sixto Rodriguez, a Mexican-American singer/songwriter from the 70s who found no success when his albums were first released in the US. But his songs about protest found their way to South Africa, where his music deeply resonated with the people and became wildly popular. The success of this documentary catapulted Rodriguez into the nation’s spotlight, and he has been taking his tunes on the road ever since.
These are just a few of The Orchard‘s great artists performing at this year’s festival. Others include Infected Mushroom, Jello Biafra & the Guantanamo School Of Medicine, Lee Scratch Perry, Poliça, Sparks, Seth Troxler, Descendents, The Make-Up, Booka Shade, The Selecter, Tommy Trash, The 2 Bears, Vintage Trouble, The Three O’Clock, and Dirtyphonics. If you’re attending Coachella this year, be sure to catch them all!
Goals
With Somewhere Else being the Swedish italo-disco duo’s first release in four years and the knowledge that the band does not perform live, our goal with this worldwide campaign was to revitalize their social presence and develop alternative ways for them to interact with fans.
Tactics
First step: refreshing Sally Shapiro’s Facebook page with new cover art, app reskins and an updated About section. On the apps front, we implemented FanRx, a Facebook app that shares music, video, tour dates and more; Viinyl, an app that creates a website around a single song; and Urturn, a fan engagement platform.
Next, we offered an email-for-download premiere on Nylon Blog through SoundCloud Email Unlock, and later through the Viinyl tab on Facebook and its corresponding landing page.
To engage local fans, we partnered with the best local music service: Spotify. We offered a one-week pre-release stream on Spotify Sweden, as well as an interview on Spotify’s blog. In addition, Spotify promoted the release in their weekly newsletter and on their Facebook page, and we ran some ads on the local service for additional support.
To get fans excited globally, we threw a Soundrop-powered “release party” that was accessible both within Spotify and a YouTube-powered Facebook app. The event included an hour of live chat with the band and was promoted on Spotify’s home page and Soundrop’s native Spotify application.
Tying the campaign together, we launched two ad campaigns. The first targeted a specific set of music blogs and websites; the second reached friends of Sally Shapiro Facebook fans who liked Electronic, Pop, Dance and/or Indie/Alternative music via Facebook Sponsored Page Ads.
Results
For your viewing pleasure:
