Caveman, Weekend, Widowspeak, Tall Ships & More Record At The Fred Perry Artists Lounge

Last Friday’s Fred Perry Artists Lounge at Stratosphere Sound was a blast!

Engineer/dynamo Geoff Sanoff recorded sets by Caveman, Weekend, Widowspeak, Waters, Gauntlet Hair, 1, 2, 3, and Tall Ships in whirlwind sessions throughout the day. (Pics below!)

Thanks to event sponsor Blue Microphones, the studio had Blue Dragonfly, Reactor, Woodpecker and Mouse mics on drums, Vox and AC30 amps, and glockenspiel, while Blue encore 200 or 300 mics captured all the vocals. Band interviews were recorded on a Yeti Pro in the Studio B booth.

The day’s best music and interviews (by the hilarious David Rees) will be released as a CMJ mixtape via Insound. Soon. We’ll let you know when.

In the evening, SoundToys brought some guests over from the Javits Center for a post-AES hang. A regular SoundToys user, Sanoff expects the Decapitator, FilterFreak and EchoBoy plug-ins to come in big as he’s mixing the material – two songs per band.

Stay tuned for our behind-the-scenes video of this live recording session, with band impressions and production notes.

In the meantime, live vicariously through these photos of the event (by Diana Wong) below – it’ll be as if you were there…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CMJ Picks: Panels, Showcases, Parties, Etc.

CMJ is underway and there are a million things going on…here’s a shortlist of panel discussions and presentations – happening at NYU’s Kimmel Center – and showcases going on all around the city:

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19

12:30: “Behind The Board” – Producers and engineers — who’s working and how they are working in today’s music industry.

Speakers include Brian Malouf (Owner/Producer/Mixer, Cookie Jar Recording), Andy Leese (General Manager, RAK), Mark Needham (Owner, MAN Entertainment) David Bendeth (President, House of Loud), Eddie Wenrick (SVP, Shoutz Inc.). Moderator: Jimmy R. Landry, Artist Relations/Producer/Songwriter/Engingeer, Cakewalk/Roland

12:30: “Be Your Own Label” – Panelists discuss how to build and manage your own professional team, including booking agent, music supervisor, manager, music lawyer and more

Speakers include Darren Gallop, Founder/CEO, Marcato, Jesse Israel, Cantora Records, Fredrik Saroea Frontman/Songwriter/Producer/Label Owner, DATAROCK/Young Aspiring Professionals, Eric Sheinkop, CEO/Co-Founder, Music Dealers, LLC.
Moderator: Sujan Hong-Raphael, Senior Label Relations Manager, eMusic.

10:30 – 6PM: Showcase – The Free Yr Radio/KEXP showcases at the Ace Hotel (Zola Jesus, We Are Augustines, Portugal. The Man, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah)

2 – 8PM: Showcase – Cantora Labs SmartLounge – (Ill Fits, DOM, etc.) The Thompson LES Hotel @ 190 Allen Street

Click for the full Wednesday schedule.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20

11AM: “Next Generation of A&R Executives” – Doing A&R is a dream job. We will look at the challenges facing this generation of A&R executives, the methods of A&R discovery, and what A&R really means in the music business today.

Speakers include Drew Thurlow (A&R/Marketing, Nonesuch), Harinder Rana (Senior Director of A&R, Lava Records/Universal Republic), Isaac Heymann (A&R, Leverage Records), Ryan Whalley (A&R, Warner Bros. Records). Moderator: Allison Hagendorf, Fuse TV

10:30 – 6PM: Showcase – The Free Yr Radio/KEXP showcases at the Ace Hotel (Widowspeak, Givers, Dum Dum Girls, The Lonely Forest)

12 – 6:30: Showcase – NYCTaper Daytime Party at Cakeshop (Widowspeak, Savoir Adore, etc.)

2 – 8PM: Showcase – Cantora Labs SmartLounge – (Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Gotye, etc.) The Thompson LES Hotel @ 190 Allen Street

12:30: The Business of Music & Money: Who You Want and Need on Your Team – A panel  who together have over 100 years of experience in every facet of the music business, talk straight regarding the real income streams, how to collect them, who are your rainmakers (in addition to yourself), who to hire to protect you from the business (and yourself) and who you need to chase down every dollar.

Speakers include Gerri Leonard (Founder & CEO, Leonard Business Management), Sara Qazi (Guided Portfolio Manager & Advisor, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney) Peter Katsis (Partner, Prospect Park) Joe D’Ambrosio (Founder & CEO, Joe D’Ambrosio Management), Monika Tashman (Partner, Hiscock & Barclay). Moderator: Sara Qazi, Guided Portfolio Manager & Advisor, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney

3:30: Publishing/Licensing: It’s All About The Songs – Collaboration with your teams and partners is paramount. The quality of the songs, and the people helping to place them, are what prevail in today’s publishing and licensing landscape.

Speakers include Eric F. Galen, Glen Phillips (Director, Windish Music Licensing), Seth Faber (Partner & Director of Marketing and Artist Development, Primary Wave Music), Jessica Sobhraj (Sir Groovy) Brooke Primont (VP Music Placement & Licensing, Razor and Tie). Moderator: Eric Galen, Founder & CEO, Music180.com

Click for the full Thursday schedule

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21

10:10: Getting in Synch with Section 115 – Do the complexities of music licensing cause the industry to lose out on creative business models? The Section 115 Reform Act (SIRA) was introduced five years ago to offer a mechanism whereby legitimate music services could clear all the necessary rights to make large numbers of musical works quickly available through blanket mechanical licensing. This year, it has been suggested that Congress should bring back the legislation and extend that blanket to synchronizations as well. Would such a change in the law put the music industry back on track? Would it be an incursion on the fair use rights of consumers? This panel will address these complex issues and many more related topics.

Speakers: Roger Miller, Chief Executive Office and Chief Investment Officer, The Bicycle Music Company; Joel M. Schoenfeld, Esq., Partner, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP; Christos Badavas, Esq., Vice President and Senior Council, The Harry Fox Agency; Barry I. Slotnick, Esq., Partner and Chair, Intellectual Property and Entertainment Litigation Practice Group, Loeb & Loeb, LLP

11 – 12:15 – A Conversation with Doug McVehil, VEVO and Brian Dales, Vocalist for The Summer Set and PANEL: The Explosion of Video Content

Speakers include Brian Dales Alexander Kisch (Head of Business Development, VEVO) Ron Schneier (COO North America, Base79), Brandon Martinez (Co-Founder & CEO, INDMUSIC) Jessica Kantor (Head of Marketing & Content, Livestream) Doug Mcvehil. Moderator: David Moffey, CEO, Baeble

Monetizing video, video rights, and different delivery points, from direct to fan sites to large destinations, and how the right blend of these options can help build a band’s brand and drive revenue. Preceded by a conversation with Brian Dales and Doug McVehil, VEVO’s Senior Vice President of Music Programming Talent & Content Operations.

10:30 – 6PM: Showcase – The Free Yr Radio/KEXP showcases at the Ace Hotel (Waters, Atlas Sound)

11 – 7: The Deli’s Stompbox Exhibit at Googie’s Lounge and Ludlow Guitars: Featuring MOOG, TC Electronic, Digitech, Hardwire, Line6, Eventide, T-Rex, Pigtronix, Fridgebuzz, Z-Vex. This event will also be happening from 11-7 on Saturday.

11 – 9: Fred Perry Artists Lounge @ Stratosphere Sound (Caveman, Waters, 1, 2, 3, Tall Ships, Memoryhouse, etc.) – Join us for a rare glimpse inside the recording process along with a fun Brooklyn Brewery-sponsored CMJ/AES-style mixer. Info/RSVP here.

12:20 – 1:20 KEYNOTE: A Conversation with Daniel Glass, Founder/President of the Glassnote Entertainment Group (Mumford & Sons, Phoenix, etc.) and Matt Pinfield at the Kimmel Center.

2PM: On The Verge – Young professionals on the verge of breaking artists and building careers.

Speakers include Brendan Brown (Founder/Cheif Mediarologist, Social Turbine), Bojan Jovanovic (Agent, Windish Agency), and Sarah Hogan (Senior Publicist, Force Field PR), and Kileen Oberle (Manager, Massive CIA). Moderator: Michelle McDevitt, President/Co-Founder, Audible Treats

Click for the full Friday schedule.

There’s a ton going on Saturday as well, with interesting showcases happening at Vaudeville Park in Williamsburg and The Living Room c/o The Lovely Hearts Club and Music Hall of Williamsburg c/o Duck Down vs. Blacksmith.

Also, check out all the showcases being put on by our friends at The Deli over the next few days..

Event Alert: Vaudeville Park’s CMJ “Music as Art Music is Art” Oct. 20-23rd

Williamsburg arts collective Vaudeville Park takes CMJ to the Broken Land! The only CMJ-approved arts space starts its “Music as Art Music is Art” series by hosting two unique nights of chamber music by the composer collective “Circles and Lines”as part of a classical crossover into the 2011 College Music Journal Festival.

New works by Circles and Lines composers Angelica Negron, Noam Faingold, Conrad Winslow, Eric Lemmon and Dylan Glatthorn on Thursday, October 20th 2011 at 7:30 pm. The program features experimental ensemble Project 60/40, up-and-coming new music pianist David Friend, and Boston-based double bassist Peter Ferretti, among others.

The other nights, through Sunday, October 23rd, feature amazing music, both chamber music and dark synth/ cold wave, psych, shoegaze, singer songwriter and more, carefully curated w/ a “Satellite ‘Landstat 7′” install by Caleb Nussear.  Artists from the Drag City and Shatter Your Leaves labels will perform showcases as well.

Admission is ½-off for anyone who has a CMJ badge, and entry to all VP CMJ “Music is Art” events is free.

Schedule:

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20th 2011
Vaudeville Park’s CMJ “Music is Art”* Night One*
curated by Eric Lemmon
7:30PM
$10 Cover

Vaudeville Park hosts two unique nights of chamber music, Thursday Oct 20th & Sunday Oct 23rd by the composer collective “Circles and Lines” as part of an innovative classical crossover into the 2011 College Music Journal Festival.

Angélica Negrón – The Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak
Conrad Winslow – All Rise
Dylan Glatthorn – Broken Ships on Empty Seas
Eric Lemmon – Prelude No. 26
Eric Lemmon – The Mass of St. Sécaire
Eric Lemmon – Closer for Solo Viola
Noam Faingold – Facebook Opera Scenes
Noam Faingold – Hymn to Romance

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21ST
Music is Art
*Night Two *

*Shatter Your Leaves*
(www.shatteryourleaves.com)
& *Drag City Showcase*
Plus special guests!
Doors 5:30pm,
$10 Cover

10:00pm Rachel Mason and Little Band of Sailors (Shattered Leaves, “batshit unhinged” psychotic epic glam rock with costumes, powerful vocals and surreal lyrics)

9:00pm Ed Askew (Drag City)

8:00 “Seaven Teares” Quartet by Charlie Looker (Extra Life, Dirty
Projectors, on “Shattered Leaves”), Amirtha Kidambi, Russell Greenberg,
Robbie Lee

7pm No Sky God (Shattered Leaves, folk rock project of guitarist James
Marceda and guitarist/vocalist Stu Watson; Captain Beefheart to Television influences)

6pm Yva Las Vegas (Latina amazing singer folk artist)

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22ND
*Music is Art Night Three
*Rich Bennett and “Vaudeville Park All Stars” Showcase  *
*OPEN BEER BAR, 6-8pm* sponsored by Brooklyn Breweries
Doors at 5:30pm
$10 Cover [image: aerh]

10pm Rich Bennet (dark, melodic, intelligent vocal lounge twin peaks meets rural desolate country)

9pm Baby Copperhead (scifi backwoods claw hammer banjo with Synths and sharp and engaging lyrics vocals)

8pm Eric Fitzgerald (Incredible signer, a la Boards of Canada Depeche mode, with sequenced video game synthesizers)

7pm -Dead Leaf Echo-( Spiritual sounding effects driven lush shoe gazer NYC favorite, spiritualized meets slowdive, and blur )

6pm Cassandra Jenkins (alternative country, sweet but dark and sincere)

*SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23RD*
Music is Art
*Night Four*

*Circles and Lines*
*& Closing Cocktail Reception for LandSat 7 *
by Caleb Nussear
$10
New Quartets for PUBLIQuartet and New Composer Artists Talk.

Featuring:
The Composers of Circles and Lines
-Jessie Montgomery
-Joshua Green
-Ryan Homsey
-Elias Constantopedos

Plus, *Closing Cocktail Party* Reception for Caleb Nussear’s LANDSAT 7 after music and talk.

Complementary Champagne for all guests!

Building a Gathering: A Look Inside the Tinderbox Music Festival

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN: Seems like there’s more and more music festivals in New York City, and this is a good thing.

There are too many local/regional sonic gatherings — already past and still to come this year — to list them all. Just a few include Northside Music Festival, Celebrate Brooklyn, Electric Zoo, Camelfest, Hillstock/, moe.down, The Blue Note Jazz Festival, Rock the Bells, the Dave Matthews Band Caravan, Escape to New York Festival (cut short by weather), Music to Know (cancelled outright), September’s upcoming Brooklyn Indie Music Fest, CMJ, Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival, next month’s Portishead-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties, Camp Bisco, Blip Music Festival, Summer Stage, River to River, Make Music NY, Governor’s Ball Music Festival, New York Musical Theatre Festival. Need another?

OK, here’s one more! Tinderbox Music Festival. Being held on Saturday, September 10th at the Knitting Factory, it offers a good look inside an emerging NYC festival. Now in its second year after being launched in 2010 by Founder/Director Alyson Greenfield, Tinderbox presents a diverse lineup of all-female artists. A multi-instrumentalist songwriter herself, Greenfield’s idea is to foster collaboration and connection, seriously stimulate audience eardrums, and empower female artists by donating 100% of net proceeds to guidance organization Girls Write Now, and the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls music and mentoring program.

Is it worth the work to be a face in this crowd? Read on for a cross-section of one of the NYC area’s music festivals, and find out from Greenfield what makes one of these tricky but highly satisfying endeavors tick.

NYC has a lot of music festivals – why did you decide to start another one? What hole do you feel like the tinderbox music festival fills – who do you benefit, who do you book, and what’s the fan experience you aspire to?
I decided to start another one because there was so much talk when Lilith Fair came back in 2010 among many women musicians I know. A lot of them were talking about how they would love to play Lilith Fair, but they were too small to play something like that.

It got me thinking about all these amazing women musicians I knew from different genres who wanted a bigger platform to share their music, but felt like the opportunity wasn’t available for them. I also wanted a bigger platform for my own music too, so I thought, “Why don’t I just try to create a space for emerging female artists to showcase their stuff?”

That was the initial idea, and then once I started getting it going I wanted to add another element so it wouldn’t just be a show, but it would give back to a community of young women that might one day want to play on the Tinderbox Music Festival stage. We then decided to give back proceeds to NYC nonprofits empowering young women through the arts, including Girls Write Now and The Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls.

One of our big goals is to represent a wide variety of original music that current emerging artists are creating. This year some of the genres include, Indie Folk, Hip-Hop, Americana, Post Punk, Prog Rock, Garage Rock, Experimental, Cabaret Punk, Soul, Electronica, Folk Rock, and more — the fan experience Tinderbox aspires to is one that helps fans discover new music.

We purposefully put artists from different genres on the bill next to each other so we can get artists and fans together who most likely would not be on the same bill or attend the same show. Mostly it’s all about musical discovery, having fun, and walking away from the show with at least one artist fans have never previously heard of that wowed them, and who they are so excited to have discovered!

That’s a good approach to the bill. On the organizational side, starting up an annual music festival seems like a big undertaking. Why start a regular festival when you could just put on a show?
It is a huge undertaking! I don’t think putting on a show has the same weight to artists, to press, to the music industry, to fans, etc… Starting a festival, for me, meant possibility. It meant that it can keep growing in all sorts of ways, which it is starting to do: This year we have a bigger team, we are able to showcase more artists — over 20 — and we have also started a songwriting program that brings together professional female NYC musicians, some of whom played at the music festival, with young women who want to learn about songwriting.

Basically, since a festival has a bigger scope I think it allows for more things to happen than a regular show would, and it helps to actually build and sustain community. I think when it’s done right fans do feel that sense of community, excitement, and togetherness. We are still extremely small compared to many other festivals, but there is the momentum of bringing people together and building on that.

Those are good points about show vs. festival. When you put on the first one last year, what did you think it would take to pull it off? And what do you know now that you didn’t know then about running a festival?
When I started the festival I really didn’t know what it would entail! I think that’s one of the reasons I was actually able to succeed — I had no blueprint and no cynicism from ever trying to do something like it before or being burned by clubs or artists as a promoter/organizer.

I think my naiveté helped me just go for my goal instead of worrying about how something like this is “supposed” to happen. I pretty much know a million things now I didn’t know before and I’m still learning so much: From basic things to getting a business certificate and opening a business bank account to contacting booking agents, managers, clubs, sponsors, press outlets, dealing with contracts, publicity releases, managing interns and volunteers, corresponding with artists, etc…

I’ve learned that so much of this business is about negotiating. I just try to be upfront and honest and have the most positive negotiations I can have. The biggest challenges are fundraising, and scrambling to do so much with a small amount of people who are volunteering their time in between their other paid work.

Soooo, the big event is almost here! Who do you have lined up, and is there a common thread among the artists you’re booking?
I’m so excited about the lineup this year! This year something we changed was we had a Submissions Committee consisting of people in the music industry, and not people who were internal parts of the Tinderbox Team. We picked a group of people we respected, they listened to every single submission and came up with an awesomely diverse lineup.

Our headliners are indie folk artist Holly Miranda and hip hop artist MC Eternia. A lot of our lineup consists of local acts including EULA, Charlene Kaye & The Brilliant Eyes, The Debutante Hour, Kalae All Day, Mira Stroika, WYATT, Sweet Soubrette, Annie Fitzgerald, Sarah Aument, WOJCIK, Rebecca Jordan, and White Wave. This year something that’s exciting is that we also have regional East Coast acts including Miss Geo, Sarah Walk, Canyon, and Helicopria. We also have two acts traveling from farther away including Pepper Fandango from West Virginia, and Natalie Farr from New Mexico. It’s really exciting to have artists traveling to be part of the event.

Let’s welcome them to NYC with open arms! After the shows are over, what are you hoping will be the lasting result of this year’s Tinderbox?
Definitely a sense of excitement, community, and growth. I hope the festival keeps growing and I also hope we get to have more songwriting and other creative arts programs that engage artists in the community with young people. I also hope we create, build, and make things happen that I never would have guessed would happen– basically I hope we surprise ourselves in the years to come.

Well said – we like that! Finally, what are the challenges and opportunities you’re anticipating as you continue to grow Tinderbox? And are the rewards worth the pain of starting a festival on a shoestring?
I think a challenge for running a big event is always securing funding to put it on and make it happen the way you want it to happen. Another challenge could be keeping it fresh and keeping it interesting as the years go by. But I think since the festival focuses so much on innovative emerging artists, there will always be new artists to discover.

– David Weiss

Recreate My Night: Building an Effective Social Platform for Music Promotion

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN: There’s more than one way to socialize, but as the Web continues to expand, determined entrepreneurs must dig deeper to create new group experiences.

Its hard work for these thought leaders, but when they make a discovery, everyone else – especially those of us in the music sector — benefits with new ways to connect to audiences. At the NYC-based online startup RecreateMyNight (RMN), the aim has been to build a business with their own twist on the social media platform.

Created by President/Founder Tejpaul Bhatia and a roster of social media experts culled from ESPN and MTV, RMN allows its users to gather their photos, videos, and posts from a specific experience and stream them online to a central gathering place. Record companies are already seeing the potential: EMI’s Astralwerks label recently tapped it to promote David Guetta’s song “Memories” featuring Kid Cudi, adding up to a montage of fan-sourced media that play out along with the song (see the result at http://guetta.recreatemynight.com).

A free-to-use site, RMN provides the same opportunity to everyone from indie bands to ballgames to the bar mitzvah set. It’s a good enough idea, but there’s more than enough good ideas out there, competing like mad for the attention of individuals and investors. Will the market bite and turn RMN into a real breadwinner? Tejpaul and his team are betting – with every ounce of their blood, sweat and tears – that the answer is yes.

How do you define RecreateMyNight – is it a social platform?
One thing that we’re not is a social network. The big difference between us and sites in the social networking space is that we’re not a system of record – you don’t have to setup a username and password with us and you don’t have to upload any files to us. Users don’t have to change their behavior at all. They can upload to Twitter, Facebook, and RMN goes to all those social sites/platforms, and brings all those points in time into one place – in a comprehensive and meaningful way.

So if I’m using RMN, how do I share my images?
Say you upload images to Facebook from your phone. Then, you’ll connect RMN with Facebook, and RMN will automatically pull in anything tagged with that timeframe. It works amazingly well with FB’s mobile application. So you take a picture at a concert and upload it from your phone, boom – it’s in. Or if you just take it with a digital camera, you upload it to FB later and tag it with that time, RMN will then get them into that event.

Alternatively, five friends will pull in all the media they generated around it. Take that to the next level, with 30,000 people at a concert pulling in all their media. It gets extremely complex and interesting.

What niche would you say RMN is filling with what you offer?
What a lot of other solutions are providing is answering the question, “What’s happening right now?” Everything about Twitter and Facebook is right now – with phones and broadband you can upload it and it’s immediately broadcast to everyone.

We do a different take, asking the question, “What happened? How do you look at an event in a time-synched way?” With RMN, you can take all the images from an event that you didn’t know existed, and show what people were thinking in a way that was tied together with photos and videos. So we’re different in the way that we take media, and present them back to the user, but also because we don’t change people’s behavior in the ecosystem – we just take what they’re doing and make it exponentially more valuable.

Why is that particularly useful in the music arena?
When we launched the product, we knew there were a couple of verticals that were a slam dunk, with music/concerts being one, and weddings being another.

When we launched, we were approached by EMI Records – they said, “We have a new band, The Constellations, and we want to see if you can help promote them.” So we recreated every concert of their summer tour, and EMI said, “This is cool, can we do it with a larger artist?” David Guetta is a natural: He’s got a ton of followers, he’s very active in the social space, and the song is “Memories”. Labels are great because they have resources, and we can customize campaigns for them, but what matters is how to get this to the local artist.

For an artist that sells a couple thousand tickets, there was an in-between need that we thought needed to be met. At CMJ, for example, some bands used RMN to showcase the events. When you go to our site, you’ll see there’s a band called The Wellington Papers that used RMN. People were taking photos and videos, and these guys did a recreation for each of three shows in a week. You can see all the posts and Tweets, some photos look pro while others are raw, and all this took this upstart band and made them look even better.

There was so much fan participation, but it wasn’t a hurdle. We didn’t ask them to do anything – they did it on their own. Then other fans see it and say, “I was there!” and their media gets pulled in. So even though the concert was one night, three or four weeks later it’s still living. It’s a local band using the site to promote themselves, and it worked really well.

Recreate My Night is free for users — what’s the revenue model?

Currently, RecreateMyNight earns revenue through licensing agreements with other companies. Our customers brand, white label or embed our platform inside theirs. Looking forward, we see revenue generating opportunities in the area of consumer goods like photo prints, customized/personalize merchandise and music downloads. We also see a lot of opportunities in the area of contextual advertising once we figure out a seamless way to integrate it into our products.

You’re based in NYC. What’s good and bad about being an online startup here?
Let’s start with the good: NYC is a microcosm of the world. With 8 million people here, whatever your product is, there’s an audience in NYC for it. Music and media is an obvious play – there’s a lot of people, companies and energy around. In NYC, I can have as many meetings in a day as I can possibly fit in. We could always be busy selling with business development people, if I had enough of them. And on the user side, to recruit local bands I don’t have to do major outreach to test something new: I can just call a couple of friends and get quick feedback.

From a challenge sense, NYC is a tough place. With so much competition, getting the word out isn’t easy. And for startups, NYC is particularly tough. We don’t have much capital. We’re putting our lives into this, making a big investment not necessarily with cash, but with our time and the hope that this will pay us back at some point. NYC is evolving to be more supportive of that type of dream, but if you look at a startup breeder like Silicon Valley, it’s not like that.

However, if you look at this as a place for starting up and succeeding, NYC has a lot of history like that. The city is doing a ton of stuff to support entrepreneurs, and the mayor and his different departments have played a huge role in our ability to stay alive right now. A couple of programs include The Levin Institute and the NYC Economic Development Corporation, they both do a ton of programs for startups.

There’s a scene, a support structure, and people just have to believe — that the positives of NYC can outweigh the difficulties, and make it a truly great place to get started.

– David Weiss

The SonicScoop Year in Review: Top NYC Music Business News and Trends of 2010

THE FIVE BOROUGHS: 2010 has been busy all right. For anyone involved in New York City’s expansive business of music – producer, publisher, entrepreneur, engineer, artist, and many more – the environment remains fast-paced, ultra-competitive and constantly changing.

With 2011 looming, SonicScoop looked for the news, trends and topics that stood out to us over the past 365 days.

In audio post, it was grow or die in the uppermost echelon. The biggest facilities, including hsr|ny, Nutmeg, and Sound Lounge made serious expansions into audio and/or video:

Sound Lounge opened an ADR Stage and multiple studios.

Nutmeg Post added a strong team and facility when it soaked up Soundhound.

The big post house Mega Playground built out audio capabilities.

Northern Lights added a 5.1 audio mixing suite.

Video house Click3X reversed the trend and added their own audio suite.

Celebrating 35 years in business, hsr|ny continued to expand as a full-service video and audio post facility.

Large and mid-sized recording/tracking/mixing studios kept making capital improvements and expanding:

Premier Studios took over the 8th floor at 723 7th Avenue.

Engine Room opened up its penthouse studio.

Stadium Red expanded with a new studio for Just Blaze and a mastering suite.

Platinum Studios added Augspurgers to Studio K.

Sear Sound set up the Moog-centric Studio D.

Tainted Blue swapped out its SSL for a Euphonix (nee Avid) System 5.

And props to Electric Lady for marking its 40th Anniversary.

Converse (yes, the shoe company) has an interesting business plan for the Rubber Tracks studio it’s going to open in Williamsburg in 2011: no-cost recording.

Advanced smaller studios – independent and within larger facilities — and producer rooms also opened up at a peppy pace:

Chris Theberge’s Music Works arrived on the Upper West Side.

The former One Point Six in Williamsburg was reborn as Three Egg Studios.

Manhattan Center Studios launched The Fuse Box with Public Enemy’s Brian Hardgroove.

Avatar opened up its Studio W writing room.

Sisko’s Min-Max Studios opened up in midtown.

Marc Alan Goodman announced an ambitious new expansion for Brooklyn’s Strange Weather, then blogged about the buildout – step by step – for SonicScoop.

Guitarist Justin King moved his Vinegar Hill Sound from Portland, OR to DUMBO, Brooklyn.

Avid capped off a furious year of reinvention and new products with the release of Pro Tools 9.

Music houses and composers still had a ton of TV, film and video game work to go after and win:

Joel Beckerman of Man Made Music continued to make NYC a TV music powerhouse.

Composer Peter Nashel turned ears everywhere with his work for shows like Rubicon.

Outfits like Expansion Team scored for networks such as the Biography Channel.

Tom Salta understands how to get chosen to score for games like Prince of Persia and Red Steel 2.

Production music and synch licensing remained a solid business, especially for those who got in at the right time or had a smart approach.

NYC’s Kingsize Music was acquired by 615 Music.

And later on Warner-Chappell (NYC) bought up 615 Music.

NYC’s Videohelper released the “Scenarios” music search tool.

Jingle Punks continued to grow.

Mechanical licensing experts RightsFlow kept progressing.

One of NYC’s most controversial music business plays, peer-to-peer file sharing network Limewire, appeared to be finally finished.

Tracking, mixing and mastering at NYC’s established facilities did a relatively healthy volume of A-level and independent work throughout the year:

The Black Eyed Peas, Rivers Cuomo and Kanye West were at Germano Studios.

Neon Indian, Beach House, Matt and Kim, Bear Hands and more were mastered at The Lodge.

MSR Studios handled Kid Cudi, Evanescence and Broadway Cast recordings.

Lenny Kravitz, The Dirty Pearls, “Glee”, and Vampire Weekend were all at Avatar.

Joe Lambert Mastering worked with Moby and Ninjasonik.

New software and hardware happiness abounded:

We elected many items “Buzzworthy” at AES, from Universal Audio, Focal, SSL, Burl, Shadow Hills, Izotope, Sound Toys, Lavry Engineering, Telefunken and more.

Propellerhead released Reason 5.

NYC suffered losses when beloved people and places left us:

Recording icon Walter Sear passed away.

The great hip hop/jazz experimentalist Guru was gone before his time.

Clinton Recording Studios hosted its last session.

Brick and mortar music retail took another hit when Fat Beats shuttered its last stores.

Baseline Studios, home of Just Blaze and countless Jay-Z hits, closed.

Chung King Studios started off 2010 with a bang by suddenly vacating Varick Street.

NYC-based producers, mixers, engineers and artists became businesses in their own right:

Producer Chris Coady worked on some hugely acclaimed records this year, including Beach House Teen Dream and Delorean Subiza, as well as records with Hooray for Earth, Zola Jesus, Smith Westerns, Cold Cave.

People like Allen Farmelo developed their distinctive sound.

Choice songwriter Claude Kelly made a business of hits.

Shane Stoneback’s career took off via work with Sleigh Bells and Vampire Weekend.

Mixer Mark Saunders embraced multiple aspects of the biz from his studio at Beat 360.

Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess took his iPad/iPhone app MorphWiz all the way to #1.

Joel Hamilton continued down an immersive production path, working on records with Blakroc, Dub Trio, The Parkington Sisters and Blakroc.

And John Agnello brought his classic production and engineering technique to new records for Kurt Vile, J Mascis, Shayna Zaid And The Catch and Dead Confederate (among others).

The studio scene got a lot more socialicious and FUN:

Flux Studios was always hosting something in the East Village, like Alto and Dangerous converging for a schooling from Fab.

Digital Music NY was one of many popular business-based meetups.

Stadium Red partied down post-CMJ.

20dot20 mixed advertising and music.

And the Connectors connected a LOT of people.

What big stories would you include? And what do you see next in 2011? Don’t be shy – leave a comment and let us know!

– Janice Brown and David Weiss

Road Survival Tools of a Pro Agent: Touring Tips from The Agency Group’s David Galea

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN: You’re not ready until you’re ready to take it on the road. With all bets officially off on all other forms of music revenue, touring is one of the most tangible avenues available for promoting a band.

David Galea, an agent at the NYC office of the elite booking specialists The Agency Group, knows that as well as anyone. Currently, he represents the traveling interests of approximately 35 indie/major label acts including Paramore, Relient K, Dredg, and Brooke Waggoner, and it’s his job to make the most out of his artists’ time up on the stage – show by show.

Before the energetic Galea was on the payroll of The Agency Group, he was a client. As the trumpet player for ska act Edna’s Goldfish, Galea toured with the group from 1998-2000, at first booking their tours himself before their manager signed them with an agent at – you guessed it – The Agency Group named Jeremy Holgersen. Even after Galea had had enough of the road himself, however, he found that the lure of the tour was still there – it’s just that he wanted to book jaunts, instead of being on them.

Galea nabbed an internship at The Agency Group, a multinational agency with 50 agents and a combined roster of 1,000+ artists. Combining patience with natural aptitude, Galea moved up the ladder to assistant, and then on to full agent. Today, he’s got a clear passion for his field and sharp experience to share with all the bands, managers, live sound engineers, FOH mixers and labels who need to make the most of touring.

You said that part of what you do is “Plan people’s lives.” What did you mean by that?
With retail making a lot less money, and merch (merchandising) more, touring is an increasingly strategic part of a bands career. Touring used to be an accessory. You use to tour to promote the record. Now you tour to exist.

It’s important to have a vision for your live component. When you’re building a band, you need eyeballs. You need people to see you, and you can’t be too precious about the bands you tour with.

When should a band book their own tours, and when should they look for an agent?
It’s an interesting question – there’s not an exact science to it. In the indie hipster world, things tend to blow up quickly because of blog activity. Couple that with really good press: If Picthfork gives your record an extremely good review, you’re off to the races.

That said, touring is becoming more and more valuable to a band’s career, and when they come out of festivals like CMJ and SXSW a lot of those bands are being gobbled up by bookings agents as if they were real estate. I try to keep my roster manageable – with a small stable of bands I can also develop real relationships in each market with each buyer.

I think a lot of bands just want to go out there and tour, and see the country. You can go to Seattle, and 100 people might be into your band because of MySpace/Facebook. I’m very traditional: conquer your home town, conquer your region. If you’re from Milwaukee play Chicago, Des Moines, Grand Rapids, Detroit – build up followings in those places, before you leave the Midwest.

If you’re from Seattle, there’s not as many options – Portland, Eugene, but then it’s out to Boise. It’s not like the Midwest or Northeast, where a lot of cities are aggregated closely.

So that’s important. That way you build your following and your buzz, and then you get a booking agent.

That’s great advice. What else?
The other thing is perfect your show. Master your craft. If you’re a baker, you might not want to open your first bakery until you’ve perfected your confections. Why not wait until you’ve perfected your show to be out with professionals? I would stress that point more than anything else – be good. And there are a ton of bands with agents that are successful, that aren’t that good live.

What do you want to let artists, managers and/or labels know about booking shows or a tour – what are the mistakes young bands make booking themselves?
Well, I was in a young band booking myself — with Edna’s Goldfish — at one point. Obviously, you need to be smart about the geography, and don’t overextend yourself. What you’re doing is arduous: You’re not eating well or sleeping well, and you’re doing a lot of traveling. So get the most bang for your buck, and see the most in a small amount of time.

Also be smart about your health. When I was on tour I ate Taco Bell three meals a day, and my stomach is still suffering for it. If you were living at your home, you wouldn’t spend three weeks in a row partying every day, not eating well and sleeping poorly. Don’t do those things on the road either. And insure your vehicle! Because otherwise when the alternator blows, you can’t play the show.

This all sounds like a sensible approach to indie touring.
Early on it’s your health, well-being and your vehicle. Make what you’re doing, doable! Don’t say when you’re booking a tour, “This drive from Philly to Atlanta will be really shitty, but it will be a good show.” Unless the gig is just undeniable, don’t go from Philly straight to Atlanta! You may have a bad show because you slept in the van all night.

Play the places you should be playing. If you have fans in Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, play those places, and don’t hit Muncie, Indiana, just because it’s on the way.

Geography is important, in terms of building careers. Don’t just focus on major cities, play around in the suburbs, and then when you do play NYC or Los Angeles later on, they’ll come and see you. Go to where the people are.

How do you also make sure you’re doing all that as economically as possible?
Again, by touring regionally. It’s a big country. In terms of economics, once you cross that Mississippi River, the drives get loooonger. Texas is a big state, and it takes a long time to drive through it.

If you’re in school, you may only have the summer to tour. Divide a six-week tour up so it’s a bit easier to get from place to place.

We’re both here in New York City. Why — or why isn’t — NYC a particularly good place to be involved in live music as an agent, artist, venue owner or whatever?
It’s the biggest city in the country, thus it will have the most people going to concerts, and in turns a wide range of people with a wide amount of interests. Conversely, that’s what makes it tough: the competition. There are lots of opportunities to play live and put on shows, but in a recession economy it can make things difficult.

But, hey, this is NYC! It’s greatest city in the world. If you look at what happened in Brooklyn in the last 10 years – just like how scenes emerged over the decades in Montreal, Toronto, Seattle, Indianapolis – NYC is a marquee city.

There’s always a lot of marquee value for being an NYC band — not to disparage LA — but a lot more so than being an LA band. You don’t hear about a lot of huge acts coming from there right now. It’s a different world. And people are looking for entertainment more here in NYC. In a place like San Diego, people are less interested in shows.

Thanks for a terrific introduction to the basics of booking bands. Anything else?
This sounds cheesy, but go after what you believe in. I was in a band because that’s just what I wanted to do for a couple of years. And now I’m continuing to grow – I’ve just scratched the surface in terms of my professional goals.

– David Weiss

Geoff Sanoff Records 8 Bands in 8 Hours for Insound at Stratosphere

In the midst of CMJ last week, Stratosphere Sound hosted rapid-fire recording sessions with eight bands chosen to record tracks for an Insound.com digital mixtape release.

Grammy-winning engineer/producer Geoff Sanoff recorded the eight bands in eight hours — capturing Fake Problems, Dom, Bear Hands, Surfer Blood, Ma.Mentor, Woven Bones, Class Actress and Jukebox the Ghost for the ultimate surf-punk-electro-dance-pop-rock CMJ 2010 mixtape. (Scroll down for photos!)

Sponsored by Maker’s Mark, Fred Perry and Insound.com, the “Artists Lounge” sessions and party at Stratosphere provided a unique, in-studio CMJ experience for the bands, press and other industry folk. And SonicScoop was there to catch some of the action.

One by one, bands quickly setup, got sounds and ran through takes, recording three or four songs in their hour-long session. Sanoff and his second engineers, Mike Nesci and Atsuo Matsumoto, were totally in the zone, working as fast and furiously as possible to provide a totally pro, if on the fly, recording experience for each of the artists.

To mentally prepare for this marathon session, Sanoff says, “I was thinking of my old friend Kevin McMahon, who once upon a time was the sound guy at Brownie’s, and how he used to do 5 bands a night routinely. I decided if I approached this experience with the mindset of a live sound guy, even though its not a world I’ve inhabited for any substantial length of time, it just wouldn’t seem as daunting or hectic.”

The biggest challenge, notes Sanoff, was constructing a studio setup that was both conducive to quick changeovers but could also accommodate a wide variety of setups from full rock band to acoustic duo.

“The other part of the equation, arguably the more important part, was using the space in a way that would be as immediately comfortable as possible for the artists but also sonically satisfactory,” Sanoff adds. “The goal was to get recordings by the bands that forced them somewhat out of their usual comfort zones musically and to hope that they would respond creatively to the challenge.

“Knowing that getting 8 bands in and out in 8 hours was going to force us to make compromises on how we setup, I decided to try and channel some of practice space vibe into the setup so people wouldn’t feel as awkward as they can entering a studio for the first time and so that what we lost in audio fidelity was made up for by the energy of the day.

“Better to have an interesting recording that’s going to draw your attention than a flawless recording of a bland performance. Live in the studio things can too easily become inferior versions of songs a band has already perfected, and that seems like a wasted opportunity to me. In this case there were a lot of people at the studio milling about so there was an element of a live show energy there, even though it really wasn’t set up that way visually.”

In the case of UK rock trio Ma Mentor, lead singer and guitarist Boban Tran was setup at a microphone in a blanketed corner of the control room, with his band mates each playing in separate, isolated live rooms.

After the session, Tran mentioned how happy he was with what he was hearing. No doubt. Sanoff’s a talented and extremely well-versed engineer and Stratosphere is a top-notch studio, with great rooms, a classic Neve 8068 console and other awesome vintage and modern gear to aid in getting those good sounds, quickly. The bands tracked via the 8068 into Pro Tools HD.

And the sessions went as smoothly as possible, with Sanoff and team ready for anything. “With events like this you know from the outset that there are going to be unexpected last-minute changes and our job was just to roll with it and keep everything running,” says Sanoff.

“And thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, especially my awesome second engineers Mike Nesci and Atsuo Matsumoto, we managed to do just that. I was lucky to have them and all the rest of Stratosphere’s great staff behind us 150 percent.”

For more on Stratosphere Sound, visit www.stratospheresound.com and get in touch with Geoff Sanoff (Obits, A Camp, Secret Machines, Tinted Windows) via Just Managing. Check out the following photos from the Insound + Maker’s Mark + Fred Perry CMJ sessions at Stratosphere by Jessica Lehrman and Beka Venezia, where noted.

CMJ + SonicScoop Present Studio Time, Sponsored By The Deli

CMJ has announced its full schedule of showcases and panel presentations! There’s a ton going on next week, find it all at http://cmj.thesocialcollective.com events and plan wisely!

Definitely check out our “Studio Time” event — being co-sponsored by The Deli Magazine — happening on Friday, October 22 at NYU’s Kimmel Center. Studio Time will be a unique two-part panel series, providing emerging artists, engineers and producers with recording and mixing insights and inspiration from expert music creators.

Part I (12:30 – 2:30) is “Mix Reconstruction” – Three top mixers take you through their personal mixing process, explaining how they approached and ultimately mixed a song from their discography, playing pre- and post-mix examples to illustrate how they work. Basic techniques and creative solutions will all be examined in this illuminating event.

Featured mixers include: Nicolas Vernhes (Dirty Projectors, Animal Collective), Jason Goldstein (The Roots, Bilal) and Shane Stoneback (Vampire Weekend, Sleigh Bells).

Part II (2:45 – 4:45) is “Rough To Refined: Exploring Recording From Demo to the Finished Product” – In this lively forum, artists and their producers appear together to play rough demos for the audience, explaining how their complex collaborations resulted in the final, polished song that ultimately made it onto their album. Professional workflow concepts and the creative possibilities between producers and artists will come to light in this inside look at modern music production.

Jim Keller and Franz Nicolay, Phil Palazzolo and Nicole Atkins, and Chris Zane (Passion Pit, The Walkmen, Suckers) with guitarist Seth Jabour of Les Savy Fav.

Studio Time sponsor The Deli will be hosting 7 showcases at multiple venues throughout the week, featuring Bear Hands, Keepaway, Deluka, Buke & Gass, Pearl & The Beard, La Strada, Anni Rossi and more. Click for the full schedule!

And here are some highlights from the panel program running at the Kimmel Center next week (Click for full schedule):

Tuesday, 10/19

2PM: American Hardcore and the Rise of Modern Rock, featuring Vic Bondi, Jack Rabid, Michelle Rakshys, Matt Sweeney and Steven Blush

3:30: The 360 Deal Does A 180, featuring David Boxenbaum, Bernard Cahill, Jim Cooperman, Fred Goodman and J. Reid Hunter.

3:30: The Sync Is Clogged, featuring Joe Cuello, Daniel Gross, Elliot A. Resnik, Esq., George Stein and Shayna Zaid.

Wednesday 10/20

2PM: The Who, What, Why and Differences of the Performing Rights World, featuring Gary Adelman, Samantha Cox, Marc Emert-Hutner and Laura Williams

3:30: Labels in the Black and How They Are Succeeding, featuring Craig Balsam, A.J. Benson, Fred Feldman, Dan Goldberg and Steve Savoca

3:30: Start Me Up (Real, first-hand advice on music start-ups), featuring Andrew Dreskin, Chris Fralic, Catherine Radbill and Daniel Zaccagnino

3:30: The Zeros and Ones of Music Creation, featuring Bryan Abreu, Tim O’Heir and Vinny Valentino

Thursday, 10/21

11AM: Times Are Tough; Keep Your Composer: featuring Andrew Hollander, Ryan Shore, T. Griffin and Jonathan Zalben.

12:30: The “What’s Cool” Culture of Indie Placements: featuring Stephanie Diaz-Matos, Tom Eaton, Eric Johnson, Bryan Ray Turcotte and Steve Yanovsky

CMJ also offers mentoring sessions on Music Publishing and Licensing, Music Production, Artist Management, New Media, College Radio and more! For more on CMJ, other panels, artists, shows, etc. and to register, visit http://cmj.com/marathon/register.

CMJ + SonicScoop Present Studio Time, October 22

We’re excited to announce our partnership with CMJ to present Studio Time during the CMJ 2010 Music Marathon.

On Friday, October 22 at NYU’s Kimmel Center, we will be producing a unique two-part panel series, providing emerging artists, engineers and producers with recording and mixing insights and inspiration from expert music creators. Check it out:

Part I (12:30 – 2:30): Mix Reconstruction
Three top mixers take you through their personal mixing process, explaining how they approached and ultimately mixed a song from their discography, playing pre- and post-mix examples to illustrate how they work. Basic techniques and creative solutions will all be examined in this illuminating event.

Featured mixers include:

Nicolas Vernhes, of Rare Book Room Studios in Brooklyn, who in the last year has mixed Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca and Dirty Projectors & Bjork’s Mount Wittenberg Orca, Spoon’s Transference, Small Black’s New Chain, Versus’ On The Ones and Threes, and Animal Collective’s Oddsac movie, among other projects;

Jason Goldstein, a Grammy-winning mixer most recently known for his work with The Roots (How I Got Over), Beyonce (B-Day) and Bilal (Airtight’s Revenge), Jill Scott (“Hate on Me”) and Ludacris (“One More Drink”); and…

Shane Stoneback, of SMT and Treefort Studios, who has recently engineered and mixed records for Vampire Weekend (Vampire Weekend, Contra), Sleigh Bells (Treats) and Magic Kids (Memphis).

Part II (2:45 – 4:45): Rough to Refined: Exploring Recording from Demo to the Finished Product:
In this lively forum, artists and their producers appear together to play rough demos for the audience, explaining how their complex collaborations resulted in the final, polished song that ultimately made it onto their album. Professional workflow concepts and the creative possibilities between producers and artists will come to light in this inside look at modern music production.

The featured guests will be the following producers and artists:

Producer/engineer Jim Keller (Franz Ferdinand, Demander, The Cribs) with artist Franz Nicolay talking about Nicolay’s upcoming album, Luck & Courage.

Producer/engineer Phil Palazzolo (New Pornographers, AC Newman, Okkervil River) and artist Nicole Atkins discussing Atkins’ album — Mondo Amore — due out in January ’11.

Producer/engineer Chris Zane (Passion Pit, The Walkmen, Suckers) with guitarist Seth Jabour of Les Savy Fav talking Root For Ruin, the band’s latest album on Frenchkiss Records.

For more on CMJ, other panels, artists, shows, etc. and to register, visit http://cmj.com/marathon/register.

Artists performing at CMJ 2010 include Phoenix, GZA, UNKLE, Black Sheep, John Vanderslice, Cute Is What We Aim For, Justin Townes Earle, Black Label Society, Corin Tucker Band, Dan Black, Cults, The Bogmen, Clutch, Francis and the Lights, Screaming Females, Franz Nicolay, Small Black, Wild Nothing, Dom, Marit Larsen, Good Old War, Reggie Watts and BRAHMS. Click for the most up-to-date list.

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