Electromancer.com, the site where I first put my music on the internet, is to close. It's run by one man, Marvy Mills, and has been going for quite a few years now, giving unsigned artists the chance to promote their music in a non-threatening, non-competitive environment. It's not about people chasing record labels, it's a place where musicians can share their work with like-minded people. Marv cites increasing running costs, increasing "free" membership numbers, but fewer members who are prepared to pay for "Platinum" membership (I hold my hand up to that!), and the fact that it takes a helluva time to manage and maintain it all. Marv also makes music under the name FBF (retro, 80s electronica - he's a fan of John Foxx, well worth a listen).
I first came across Electromancer in December 2003, when I'd started to think about doing something with my music other than playing to my family. A few people had said that "Never Alone" and "I travel" were good enough to go on the web, and I had a look around for some sites to help me test the water, and where I could be anonymous enough if people thought my stuff was rubbish. In fact, I got quite the opposite reaction! Everyone who heard the tracks and wrote a review or comment was really positive. One reviewer said that Never Alone was "worthy of a small record label release". That hasn't happened yet, but the track has since been played by a number of DJs in clubs up and down the UK. The same track got to Number 2 in the Electromancer download chart in its first full month. It's since had nearly 300 plays, which is pretty good for a small independent website.
I've uploaded quite a few more tracks since then, and the plays and downloads keep coming in. There's also a really good forum on the site where members can make comments about the tracks and talk about whatever else they like. The site has also inspired a number of collaborations, most notably (for me, anyway), the Croydon Library remix project, set up by Fudgedubnofunk. My version has become my most popular track in terms of film/tv licensing. It's been used by O'Neill and Ripcurl in 4 promo films so far. Hopefully all the artists can find a new home for their music.
The site, its owner, and members have had a massive influence on me and my music. They've written some great reviews (I'm hopefully going to quote some of the best ones sometime soon), and really inspired me to keep making music. I wouldn't be where I am today with my music if it wasn't for Marv and the Electromancer people. Things have really taken off for me recently, with a new-found interest in what I'm doing, and I've felt I've been moving away from the Electromancer-type sites for a while, but it still feels like "home", and I'll miss it. It's definitely the end of an era, as there aren't any other music sites like this around anymore.
Electromancer will close on 3rd October 2006. In the meantime, please visit the site and support some great musicians. My Electromancer page can be found here until 3rd October 2006.
Thanks Marv, it's been a real pleasure.
My music and Myspace T&C....
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I'm surprised anyone using Myspace hasn't picked up on this before now. It seems that this little piece of information is cropping up more and more:
Is your music actually your own property after you put it on myspace?
You need to read the T&C on Myspace ....section 6: Proprietary Rights in Content on MySpace.com.
By displaying or publishing ("posting") any Content, messages, text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, profiles, works of authorship, or any other materials (collectively, "Content") on or through the Services, you hereby grant to MySpace.com, a non-exclusive, fully-paid and royalty-free, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense through unlimited levels of sublicensees) to use, copy, modify, adapt, translate, publicly perform, publicly display, store, reproduce, transmit, and distribute such Content on and through the Services. This license will terminate at the time you remove such Content from the Services
And it also looks have the right to keep and use any backup copies they make of your tracks.
It says at the bottom of the T&C:
I HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT AND AGREE TO ALL OF THE PROVISIONS CONTAINED ABOVE.
There you are then. Can anyone explain that one?
Is your music actually your own property after you put it on myspace?
You need to read the T&C on Myspace ....section 6: Proprietary Rights in Content on MySpace.com.
By displaying or publishing ("posting") any Content, messages, text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, profiles, works of authorship, or any other materials (collectively, "Content") on or through the Services, you hereby grant to MySpace.com, a non-exclusive, fully-paid and royalty-free, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense through unlimited levels of sublicensees) to use, copy, modify, adapt, translate, publicly perform, publicly display, store, reproduce, transmit, and distribute such Content on and through the Services. This license will terminate at the time you remove such Content from the Services
And it also looks have the right to keep and use any backup copies they make of your tracks.
It says at the bottom of the T&C:
I HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT AND AGREE TO ALL OF THE PROVISIONS CONTAINED ABOVE.
There you are then. Can anyone explain that one?
My music on TV?
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I've been told by the bloke who licensed my music to O'Neill and Ripcurl that the producers of a well-known UK tv drama series are looking for "my sort of music". Apparently he sorts out their music for them, so has some influence. I'm not holding my breath, but if they do use it, it will be a big move for me. It's also paid work, with royalties for repeats. He also wants to act as my "synch agent" - putting my music out to tv and film. The deal is that he'll take a small cut of what I earn from each project.
Been asked to do another gig by someone on Myspace and the Big Chill. My stepson has asked me if he can be my manager!
Been asked to do another gig by someone on Myspace and the Big Chill. My stepson has asked me if he can be my manager!
2500 hits last month!!!!
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I got almost 2500 (two thousand five hundred) hits on my website during March. A record for me. I've been running the site for a couple of years, and never had so much traffic. A lot of it seems to be coming via this blog, so thanks for that. Hope you like the music.
Should have some new tracks finished soon. Not much time to do things at the moment, but I'm quite happy with most of the tunes so far. In the meantime, you can still download my latest album, Making Movies from musicfreedom. I'll have a sample up soon.
I've updated my website at last. It's still purple, but has a lot more info on it, including a section called all about mistrust. It gives a bit more info about me and my music. I've also got a podcast/iTunes feed for my "Making Movies EP" from the site. You can now iPod me!!!!
Playing live....
I've been asked to play live at the Module in Liverpool on 5th April. It's too soon to organise anything and I haven't even got a live setup organised yet, so I've said I'll do it later in the year. There are 2 more gigs in the pipeline with The Only Michael of Animat (they make similar music to me, but are a lot more professional, and use female vocalists). Looks like either Manchester or Liverpool, and Sheffield later in the year.
Yet more interest in my music......a listener on Digitally Imported radio's Chillout Channel emailed me to say that "Never Alone" is still on rotation on that station. It's been on there for nearly 9 months.
My new laptop arrived the other day. It's a Dell Inspiron (1.5GHz Celeron processor, 256MB RAM, 40GB HD). It's going to help me out writing new stuff, and for live work. It's faster than my desktop machine, so should prove a lot more useful. The desktop machine is going downstairs for eveyone to use on the web and other wonderful things. I'll still use it for backup, but it'll be strange working on a laptop instead of "old faithful".
BTW, please have look at Animat's website....They played at The Big Chill Festival last year, and have a new EP out. If you only buy one chillout CD this year, buy there's. It's called "Arctic" and you can get it via the link on their site.
Should have some new tracks finished soon. Not much time to do things at the moment, but I'm quite happy with most of the tunes so far. In the meantime, you can still download my latest album, Making Movies from musicfreedom. I'll have a sample up soon.
I've updated my website at last. It's still purple, but has a lot more info on it, including a section called all about mistrust. It gives a bit more info about me and my music. I've also got a podcast/iTunes feed for my "Making Movies EP" from the site. You can now iPod me!!!!
Playing live....
I've been asked to play live at the Module in Liverpool on 5th April. It's too soon to organise anything and I haven't even got a live setup organised yet, so I've said I'll do it later in the year. There are 2 more gigs in the pipeline with The Only Michael of Animat (they make similar music to me, but are a lot more professional, and use female vocalists). Looks like either Manchester or Liverpool, and Sheffield later in the year.
Yet more interest in my music......a listener on Digitally Imported radio's Chillout Channel emailed me to say that "Never Alone" is still on rotation on that station. It's been on there for nearly 9 months.
My new laptop arrived the other day. It's a Dell Inspiron (1.5GHz Celeron processor, 256MB RAM, 40GB HD). It's going to help me out writing new stuff, and for live work. It's faster than my desktop machine, so should prove a lot more useful. The desktop machine is going downstairs for eveyone to use on the web and other wonderful things. I'll still use it for backup, but it'll be strange working on a laptop instead of "old faithful".
BTW, please have look at Animat's website....They played at The Big Chill Festival last year, and have a new EP out. If you only buy one chillout CD this year, buy there's. It's called "Arctic" and you can get it via the link on their site.
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