Hello all,
As we're getting more artists joining the Vox community I thought it would be good to do a quick summary of what's required to make sure your music gets to us and is presented in the best possible way.
First of all, make sure you are in the A&R Group. This is essential. If you did not join via the Columbia or RCA entry page you will not have automatically been added to this group. To check simply click the 'Groups' link at the top of the page to see which groups you are a part of. If you are not a part of this group, simply click the link in this post and add yourself. This will ensure as you add music to your blog it's added to the group.
Next, upload music. Yes, it sounds quite simple but a lot of people are registering, then simply sending a private message with a link to another page with no actual details on their own blog. Uploading your music and other details into your page makes them easy for review by those within the label and wider community. It's a simple process, if you have problems getting your music online be sure to have a look at the Vox help section.
Write a post. If you're not wishing to regularly maintain a blog that's fine. However, it would be preferable if you could put details of yourself on the page, include pictures and video if you wish. This gives us at the label a much better idea of what you are like as an artist.
With regards to private messages to the label pages you are more than welcome to contact us. However, more recently we've experienced a high volume of messages. Many of which are simply 'check out my blog' which often prevent other queries and replies getting to us in reasonable time. If you've created your blog and are part of the A&R Group you music will be accessed and listened to those within the A&R community. If you have a query or following up on a recieved message and have waited a long time for a response please feel free to chase up with another message but please be aware we do receive lots of messages.
We have an email address for technical queries and help also which is onlinedemos@googlemail.com. This address is not for submissions via MP3, it's simple for technical queries, press enquries etc.
In the meantime we hope you have been enjoying using the service so far. If you have any suggestions improving the service please do get in touch. We're currently already working on a number of concepts suggested by the community.
CD
Hello all,
As we're getting more artists joining the Vox community I thought it would be good to do a quick summary of what's required to make sure your music gets to us and is presented in the best possible way.
First of all, make sure you are in the A&R Group. This is essential. If you did not join via the Columbia or RCA entry page you will not have automatically been added to this group. To check simply click the 'Groups' link at the top of the page to see which groups you are a part of. If you are not a part of this group, simply click the link in this post and add yourself. This will ensure as you add music to your blog it's added to the group.
Next, upload music. Yes, it sounds quite simple but a lot of people are registering, then simply sending a private message with a link to another page with no actual details on their own blog. Uploading your music and other details into your page makes them easy for review by those within the label and wider community. It's a simple process, if you have problems getting your music online be sure to have a look at the Vox help section.
Write a post. If you're not wishing to regularly maintain a blog that's fine. However, it would be preferable if you could put details of yourself on the page, include pictures and video if you wish. This gives us at the label a much better idea of what you are like as an artist.
With regards to private messages to the label pages you are more than welcome to contact us. However, more recently we've experienced a high volume of messages. Many of which are simply 'check out my blog' which often prevent other queries and replies getting to us in reasonable time. If you've created your blog and are part of the A&R Group you music will be accessed and listened to those within the A&R community. If you have a query or following up on a recieved message and have waited a long time for a response please feel free to chase up with another message but please be aware we do receive lots of messages.
We have an email address for technical queries and help also which is onlinedemos@googlemail.com. This address is not for submissions via MP3, it's simple for technical queries, press enquries etc.
In the meantime we hope you have been enjoying using the service so far. If you have any suggestions improving the service please do get in touch. We're currently already working on a number of concepts suggested by the community.
CD
'Critics Choice' Award
UK recorded music industry association, The BPI, unveiled today a brand new award category for the UK's biggest and most prestigious awards ceremony The BRIT Awards 2008 with MasterCard.
The 'Critics Choice' Award will focus on new British acts the critics are tipping to break through in 2008. The shortlist and eventual winner will be chosen by a team of experts made up of music critics from national newspapers, major music magazines and music websites as well as heads of music at major radio and TV stations. The 'Critics Choice' Award will be open to artists signed to a label who are set to release their debut albums in 2008.
Ged Doherty, Chairman of The BRITs Committee commented, "The BRITs continue their support for up and coming British talent by creating this new award. It's a fabulous idea and I can't wait to see who our panel of experts deem to be their choice for 2008."
BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor added: "The BRITs is a great platform to profile the pick of the past year's established and new artists to a wider domestic and international audience. This new category allows us to use the UK's premier music event to profile even more emerging UK talent."
The results for this award will be revealed exclusively on the new BRITs website (at www.brits.co.uk <http://www.brits.co.uk/> ), when it goes live on 10th December 2007.
Here, the BRIT Critics' tips for tomorrow will be unveiled, listing the top three artists or bands the critics are backing to break through in 2008 - as well as the overall winner - the BRIT Critics' Choice for 2008.
The Critics Choice Winner will collect their award at The BRITs main show, February 20 - live on ITV1 as well as perform live at the BRITs Nominations Launch Party. This year, the first hot ticket of the year, the BRITs Nominations Party, will be staged at London's Roundhouse in Camden on Monday, January 14 and broadcast on ITV2 at 8pm that same night.
Critics Choice
UK recorded music industry association, The BPI, unveiled today a brand new award category for the UK's biggest and most prestigious awards ceremony The BRIT Awards 2008 with MasterCard.
The 'Critics Choice' Award will focus on new British acts the critics are tipping to break through in 2008. The shortlist and eventual winner will be chosen by a team of experts made up of music critics from national newspapers, major music magazines and music websites as well as heads of music at major radio and TV stations. The 'Critics Choice' Award will be open to artists signed to a label who are set to release their debut albums in 2008.
Ged Doherty, Chairman of The BRITs Committee commented, "The BRITs continue their support for up and coming British talent by creating this new award. It's a fabulous idea and I can't wait to see who our panel of experts deem to be their choice for 2008."
BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor added: "The BRITs is a great platform to profile the pick of the past year's established and new artists to a wider domestic and international audience. This new category allows us to use the UK's premier music event to profile even more emerging UK talent."
The results for this award will be revealed exclusively on the new BRITs website (at www.brits.co.uk <http://www.brits.co.uk/> ), when it goes live on 10th December 2007.
Here, the BRIT Critics' tips for tomorrow will be unveiled, listing the top three artists or bands the critics are backing to break through in 2008 - as well as the overall winner - the BRIT Critics' Choice for 2008.
The Critics Choice Winner will collect their award at The BRITs main show, February 20 - live on ITV1 as well as perform live at the BRITs Nominations Launch Party. This year, the first hot ticket of the year, the BRITs Nominations Party, will be staged at London's Roundhouse in Camden on Monday, January 14 and broadcast on ITV2 at 8pm that same night.
Hello,
With the introduction of the calendar and the 'listened to' flag as a result of suggestions from within the community, it's very obvious how important your insight into the development of this is. As you use the platform, you probably already have some ideas on what you want to see from this. Although they were two quite simple additions, they are benefitting both us at the label and the artists we have in the community a great deal. For those of you who were having problems using the calendar on a Mac, USE THIS LINK. I will include it in the links section of this page.
So the next question is, as our community is getting bigger what do you expect from it as artists? As mentioned before, this is now the method of demo submission to the label and it is working well. More is getting listened to, presented to A&R and more acts are being investigated through this process.
However, there are further opportunities that exist when using a platform such as this that are well worth investigation and discussion within the A&R blogs.
The first thing I want to do, is hear your ideas on functionality/concepts outside the simple submission process. For example, could more tie-in's with other platforms be established? If so, where and with who? Would you like to see the better acts within Vox being promoted in other ways, such as getting some radio/inclusion in regular syndicated podcast? Has their been a function on another platform that you'd like to see here? Also, with the introduction of services like sellaband, or slicethepie do you think there could be more elements of offering a sliding-scale development for new talent using our resources at hand? Would you even like to see a different kind of label stemming from a community such as this?
This is simply the ideas stage at the moment but there have been a number of discussions within the community which have highlighted some interesting ideas and I would be interested to hear what you think could be done with Vox.
Hope all is well with you
(on behalf of CD)
In response to suggestions from the community (namely Kang and others), a couple of new elements have been added.
There is now a Calendar which anyone can add their gig dates to. No registration/log in is required. Simply add your details and everyone will be able to see when and where you are playing. So please take a look, see what you think.
Also, there were suggestions of a 'listened to' flag to show when Columbia/RCA/A&R have listened to a track. It's near impossible to give detailed comments on every track. But a simple when it was listened to and by who message seems like a good idea. So as of today I'm trying out something new that will generate a time stamp and signature as something is listened to by one of us. It's simply text at the moment but I will see if I can get some kind of embed graphic.
More details to follow.
In response to suggestions from the community (namely Kang and others), a couple of new elements have been added.
There is now a Calendar which anyone can add their gig dates to. No registration/log in is required. Simply add your details and everyone will be able to see when and where you are playing. So please take a look, see what you think.
Also, there were suggestions of a 'listened to' flag to show when Columbia/RCA/A&R have listened to a track. It's near impossible to give detailed comments on every track. But a simple when it was listened to and by who message seems like a good idea. So as of today I'm trying out something new that will generate a time stamp and signature as something is listened to by one of us. It's simply text at the moment but I will see if I can get some kind of embed graphic.
More details to follow.
Hello,
Something wonderfully different with this particular track. 'Boxes Burning's endearing vocal sound with beat box rhythms stood out a while a go as something worth listening to again and again (I've got this one one my MP3).
I've messaged Flinders a few times and he seems, like many of the artists in the community, working hard, getting heaps of gigs and has got various good promo through radio, compilations and good coverage online.
I was also impressed by his balcony TV appearance. A youtube channel I've heard loads about in recent months that Nigel Place introduced me to. Well worth checking out.
Anyway, have a look and take a listen to the below and lets hear what you think.
Fox Cubs joined us back in April under a different name just as this community was developing.
The first track that really caught my attention was 'I Could Be Wrong', Although the band haven't tried to emulate any of the Cure's styling musically, I find the vocals quite reminiscent of Robert Smith, especially on their newer material.
'In Silence, In Secret, In Shadow' is also delightfully dark with a bludgeoning intro, seedy phrasing in the verses and a really strong chrous. I'm looking forward to seeing the band live to see how their use of synth's and reverb effects translate.
They've just come out of the studio with their latest offerings 'Beasts of England' and 'You'll Never Learn' which looks like the band are taking a break from the dark side musically. Be sure to visit their blog and have a listen to their other tracks. In the mean time, watch the below:
Also, on reading the comments of Kang and others, I have contacted Vox to see if we can add fucntionality to the A&R process of having some kind of 'listen to/by' flag on new submissions. I don't know if this is possible yet but will keep you informed. Keep the good ideas coming. Thanks Kang.
Hello,
As we approach the 3000 mark I thought it would be a good time to talk on the method of submitting your material.
Firstly, especially over the past two months, the quality of submissions has been excellent resulting in representatives from A&R listening to many tracks and seeing artists live as a result. We are currently looking at several artists who we feel have potential.
When creating your blog it is important to know how to best present your material. Many of you are using your blog as a promotional tool of your work and to help build your online presence. In doing this attracting the attention of the labels. When doing this, regular posts are essential with new content added all the time. Be this new tracks, rehearsal/live video or interviews etc. These create the most interesting style of blog and often build a solid subscribership quite easily which can create a 'buzz' around your work. Adding neighbours and contacting other Vox users is the easiest way to build your own community.
If you're main motivation is to access the ears of those within the labels the most important thing to consider is the quality of the material you're submitting. Don't send a message to the label asking for someone to listen, but also say "I'm still working on this" or "With real money this will sound great". Only submit what you feel is your best work that you're 100% proud of. This doesn't necessarily mean the production has to be flawless. Once you feel that your potential submission is representative of what you can achieve then upload as soon as you can.
Once uploaded, your tracks are available in the central A&R area where the new submissions are listened to. It's easy for us to listen to each track and visit the blog of those which catch our attention. This is when first impressions are important. Often we will visit a blog on the strength of a track and there is nothing there, except that track. The very minimum contents of your blog should be:
Audio - Some people don't upload before contacting us, do this first.
Info on yourself - This could be in the 'About Me' section or simply a post summing up. Give details of what you've achieved in the past. Maybe people you've worked with, radio, big gigs etc.
Pictures - It's nice to know what you look like :-)
Please don't simply register a blog and send a message along the lines of "Check out Myspace - www..." with nothing on your blog. The main reason for us using this platform is so we can quickly go through new submissions, review them internally and use the tools that are available to us. Directing to external sites wont allow us to do this. However, please do incorporate your myspace or any of your other sites into the 'My Links' section, in addition to your populated blog. That way we can access more information about you and use the platform internally.
Finally, regarding comments on material. We launched this for demo submissions through a community rather than a feedback/critique site. Take a look at the FAQ we released at the start of this project for further details which can also be accessed via RCA's and Columbia's landing pages. We can quickly access and listen to new submissions whilst having a simple way of contacting the artist. Plus we can easily forward material around internally. We do comment on where we can but currently it's impossible for us to comment on every track submission as we want to spend as much time going through the new material as we can.
Quick tip on embed's
It is now possible to add third party embeddable widgets in your sidebar aswell as your posts. So if you wish to add a hit counter to monitor traffic, slideshows, other media players etc you can do this here. This can help you monitor traffic and also encourage further interaction with your blogs.
New Additions:
A Grazr widget has been added to the sidebar so you can explore some of our other staff blogs. The additional links section also includes some of the artists we've been listening to recently.
thanks
RCAD
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