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 …
Introducing Timothy Vargas, Video Engineer
I’m very excited to be a part of The Orchard team! I am 26 years old, born and raised in Queens, NY, but have called Stamford, CT my home for the last year. I worked for the WWE for the last 3 years in CT doing broadcast operations and for the Sound Lounge in NY before that, doing audio post production for commercials. I went to Brooklyn College for Film Production, transferred, and finished my degree in Audio Recording at Five Towns College out on Long Island.
I like Quentin Tarantino films, “Breaking Bad”, “Seinfeld” re-runs, and “Girls” on HBO. My music tastes vary from growing up on Blink 182 and Gorilla Biscuits, to Between the Buried and Me and Saves the Day, and recently Of Monsters and Men and The XX. I’ve been in a couple of bands, love local shows, and love listening to and seeing new things.
Getting a job at The Orchard is incredibly exciting. I look forward to meeting everyone, making new friends, contributing to the company, and being a part of something I truly believe in.
When you think of giving a presentation, does your heart start racing in excitement or fear? Do you rejoice at the thought of sharing your expertise in a subject you’re passionate about or do you freeze at the idea of speaking in public? Do you ooze confidence and charisma, or are you worried you’ll botch your point?
Chances are, if you’re not Steve Jobs — no introduction needed; Gary Vaynerchuk, social media pro and author of the best-stelling Crush It! and The Thank You Economy (about which I coincidentally wrote a post last year…); or Scott Harrison, Founder and CEO of charity: water; you could use some tips and tricks of the trade to improve your presentation skills.
Lucky for us, these three very different but equally poignant presenters have left us plenty of raw material to binge on and learn from. HubSpot even put together a very helpful deck of “10 Lessons From The World’s Most Captivating Presenters” to help you turn “yawn-inspiring” into “awe-inspiring.”
I highly recommend you check out the full article and deck, which I’ve embedded at the end of this post. To whet your appetite, here are my top 3 takeaways:
Use Plain English
In addition to being a marketer, I’m a writer; and as a writer, I love words. I love their power to convey ideas and stories; I love how you can make them sing by placing them just… like… that; and I love how this one word can totally blow that other one out of the water — if you can only find it.
But that doesn’t mean I like fluff.
Whether you’re introducing a new indie act, giving a year-in-review of your label/product/company, or participating in a panel discussion at a big (or small!) industry event, drop the jargon and let people focus on the idea behind your words rather than what the hell they mean.
We are excited to announce our involvement in this year’s 3rd annual AIM Independent Music Awards, held in London on September 3rd, 2013. As a member of the Association of Independent Music, The Orchard has always appreciated the goals and intentions of AIM to support and represent the independent music sector.
We look forward to this year’s awards ceremony which will recognize outstanding achievements and individuals from within our indie music family. After sponsoring the Independent Entrepreneur Of The Year award last year — proudly presented by our COO Colleen Theis — we’re excited to show our continued support this year by sponsoring the Pioneer Award, which will recognize a visionary indie label founder.
See below for a full list of this year’s categories, which include two new awards, Independent Track of The Year and Independent Video of The Year:
Thanks to AIM for advocating and lobbying for the indies! We look forward to another great ceremony with you this year.
To get more details on this year’s ceremony and read the official press release, head over to AIM’s website.
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
