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 …
Five years ago today, we launched this blog to share artist news as we grew our roster of Interactive Marketing campaigns. We quickly evolved The Daily Rind into a vital piece of our corporate content marketing strategy, focusing on client communication, Orchard news, tips for navigating the digital landscape, op-eds on industry topics, and yes, artist news. All of this through the eyes of my very talented co-workers, who we continuously pester for more posts.
In honor of our five year mark, here are some of our favorite Daily Rind moments :
2008
Sharon Jones on Austin City Limits, Grammy Consideration by Tonia Samman
2009
Getting Social: The Orchard is on Facebook! and Let’s Twitter! by James Volpe
2010
Streaming vs P2P (Round #543324): Why Does Spotify Feel So Much Faster? by Nathan Thompson
Honorable mention to a republished Billboard piece: Billboard Op-Ed by Scott Cohen (Our Co-Founder and VP): LESS BEGETS MORE by Scott Cohen
2011
SoundCloud: So…About Just Sending Out That MP3? by Robbie Mackey
Honorable mention for a catchy song and catchy topic: Ai Se Eu Te Pego: When Music + Soccer Collide by Celia Saez
2012
Indie Artist Makes a Killing from Streaming – Yep, You Heard Right. by Chris Duncan (this was reposted by Hypebot)
Honorable mention for being our sixth most read post of all time: The Most Valuable Thing You Don’t Know About YouTube’s Business Model by Doug Shineman
Thank you to all our writers, readers and sharers throughout the years. As always, let us know via comments if there are topics you’d like us to cover in the future.
Fans all over the world waited over 15 years for Guns N’ Roses to release Chinese Democracy. Similarly, fans of Hip-Hop have been waiting almost 14 years for Dr. Dre‘s Detox to hit the streets. For fans of the widely acclaimed 2004 Pure Intec compilation, the wait is over. The hugely successful Dance/Techno music series has just relaunched with the release of a new mix compilation, Pure Intec Two, out this week via Intec Digital.
With nine years since the release of Pure Intec, Intec Digital co-founder Carl Cox, and label manager Jon Rundell felt it was finally time to release the second compilation of the series. The label has been working hard to bring Intec to the forefront of the Techno world by signing a handful of talented DJs with a vast catalogue of great tracks. In Intec Digital’s mind, Pure Intec Two is the perfect outlet to showcase these brilliant artists.
The album is separated into two distinct parts. Part 1 — mixed by Carl Cox – consists of unreleased remixes from his acclaimed album All Roads Lead to The Dancefloor, which features both Intec artists as well as a few others from outside the label. These artists include Jim Rivers, Ben Sims, Yousef, Foamo, Tomy Declerque, Reso, Nicole Moudaber, Sharam, Layo & Bushwacka! and Loco Dice.
Part 2 is brought to you by Jon Rundell, marking his first compilation and featuring forthcoming tracks from Intec artists, compiled exclusively for the first time. These artists include The Junkies, Victor Vera, Nicole Moudaber, Daryl Stay, Dosem, Pirupa, Alex Sibley, Marco Bailey, Carlo Lio, Tomy DeClerque, Mark Reeve, Ben Sims and Jon himself with Digital Primate.
Pure Intec Two is full of Dance hits that will keep the party grooving into the night. Go get your hands on it now!
Introducing Dan Griffiths, Interactive Marketing Manager, UK
My path into the music industry was not a standard route! When I was a teenager, in the early days of the Internet and 56k dial-up modems, I decided I would set up a website to blag my way into shows and get a few free CDs. When reviewing shows for the website I would take my camera along and take pictures of the artists (to scan and upload to the website). As I began to get better at using the camera, one of my images got found and used by Marshall Amps and I later became one of their more regular London-based live photographers.
Close to that time I would also go to shows to take pictures of a friend’s band called Reuben. One of the pictures I took got used on the band’s first single to be released through London-based independent label Xtra Mile Recordings. I sent a CV into their sister company, Press Counsel PR, and was brought in to look after online press at the company. During my time there, I handled the online press for Latitude Festival (Festival Republic), New Order, Capdown, Reuben and many more!
After a few years, my role grew and I was brought over to work on developing Xtra Mile Recordings with the Managing Director. My role was very diverse but largely focused on overseeing all digital aspects of running a record label, be that digital marketing, social media, online press, copy for our distributors, D2C, etc. When I started at the label we only had two artists and our focus was purely U.K. based but fast-forward to today and it now has a large roster of artists from all over the world and distribution in all of the major territories you would expect an international label to have! In my time there, I worked with Frank Turner (who we also managed), Against Me! and was influential in helping sign many of the labels roster including The Swellers, My Vitriol, Sonic Boom Six, Future of the Left, Straight Lines, HalfNoise (ex-Paramore), Far and The Xcerts to name only a few.
I have always had a keen interest in all aspects of digital media and music, so when I started speaking to Mark Denby [The Orchard's Director, Video Network and Marketing] about The Orchard towards the end of last year, it was the perfect fit!
Between Amanda Palmer and Veronica Mars, crowdfunding has proven its worth beyond the shadow of a doubt. In one year alone, global crowdfunding initiatives grew 81% to generate a reported $2.7 BILLION. Of that, music-related projects represented a very respectable $202.5 million, i.e. 7.5% of all raised funds and 4th most important category after social causes, business and entrepreneurship, and films and performing arts.
So, how do you get in on this? It couldn’t be more simple: install RocketHub via The Orchard Marketplace. For step-by-step instructions and a video demo on how to create a campaign, check out this blog post. The design has since changed but for the most part everything is still the same.
To add to the appeal crowdfunding has on its own, RocketHub has just announced an exclusive partnership with A&E’s Project Startup. Through this new deal, projects launched via RocketHub will have the opportunity to be featured on air, online and in print through A&E’s channels. In addition, if a project is really unique and attention-grabbing, A&E just may add itself to your list of funders.
“But I’m not a startup, I’m a musician!,” you say.
Don’t worry, we asked that question, too. While the first wave of projects is startup-related, RocketHub is planning several other engagements with A&E, Project Startup just being one of them. With music representing such a significant portion of the crowdfunding sphere, related projects will naturally ascend to higher visibility, and as such raise awareness in line with RocketHub and A&E’s goals: amplifying crowdfunding projects to do more than just raise funds, but also gain significant and strong awareness.
So get your thinking caps on and start an original campaign with RocketHub. The more stellar the idea, the higher the chance your project will not only get you money, but also create that oh-so-precious buzz and engagement you can’t get enough of.
RocketHub is accessible via The Orchard Marketplace. Read more about them on their One Sheet.
Historically, a successful band will undergo several iterations of band members throughout its lifetime. The sounds change and mature, but sometimes that original flavor is missed. Fortunately for Country band Lonestar, Richie McDonald, the band’s revered original vocalist, decided to return to the band in 2011 after three years of being away. With McDonald back in the lineup, Lonestar plans to release Life As We Know It, its first full-length release in over three years, on June 4 via the band’s own 4 Star Records, in partnership with The Orchard.
The album’s second single, “Maybe Someday,” is a mournful breakup song written by Lonestar’s own McDonald and Dean Sams with help from songwriters Frank Myers and Billy Montana. It is currently being spun nationwide on Country radio, so turn that dial up, folks! For some visuals, catch the music video on CMT.com, and a video of the band speaking about the writing process for the song on YouTube. Recently shot in Nashville, the music video features Sunny Mabrey (Mad Men, Desperate Housewives, CSI: Miami), who also starred in the video for their hit song, “Amazed.”
Though Lonestar‘s future looks bright with the forthcoming release of Life As We Know It, success is not something that’s new to this multi-genre Country band. According to the RIAA, the band has sold over 10 million records since they began making music in 1995. Lonestar also boasts an impressive 18 Top 10 songs, including three Top 5 peaks, and nine No. 1s. With all of this previous success, these guys have no one with whom to compete besides themselves.
On the touring front, Lonestar debuted the reunited group at Stagecoach: California’s Country Music Festival just yesterday, sharing the stage with artists such as Zac Brown Band, Darius Rucker, Thompson Square, and many more. A nationwide tour is on its way now too… Check out the full tour schedule after the jump.
With this new album set to be released in a little over a month as well as the handful of tour dates on deck, Lonestar is on track to make a triumphant comeback.
