Posts Tagged ‘ Netlabels

“Waveformations” @ SEAMUS 2010

I just received word that my piece Waveformations will be on the headphone concert at the SEAMUS conference this year. I’m not sure, but according to the email I received, it looks like there will be two performances of the concert – one on Thursday, April 8th and one on Friday, April 9th, both at 10:00pm. I’m looking forward to the headphone concert idea, it’s not something I’ve been a part of before. If you’re planning to attend, the organizers ask that you bring your own headphones.

By the way, if you’re interested, you can check out the original album that Waveformations was released on. It’s from Wandering Ear, a netlabel releasing primarily field-recording and phonographic works. All of the tracks are reconstructions of an earlier Wandering Ear release, made of field recordings from Minnesota. My friend and collaborator David Collins also has a track there, which you should definitely check out.

Why independent composers should release on netlabels.

Over the summer, I released two albums of my work with two European netlabels. Solid State, a collection of tape music, live electro-acoustic music, and acoustic chamber music, was released on Petcord, while Untitled, 2006 – 2009, a selection of recordings made with my custom software instruments, was released on Digitalbiotope.

I’ve had almost 1,500 downloads of “Solid State” alone, according to Archive.org. (Who knows, that number may be higher in reality… these are both Creative Commons licensed works, so copying and sharing is encourage.) I cannot think of a better way for a young, independent composer to gain a bit of exposure. Petcord also run a streaming internet radio station, Leftob, so anything they release (or anything else they find and enjoy) is given some play on the station. It’s a great way to get your music out to some new listeners, who might be tuning in because of another artists work that they enjoy.

It can be difficult, but it’s important to find a netlabel who has released similar music to yours. Petcord’s previous releases were not necessarily focused on the same things as mine, but Olliver, one of the operators, was quite interested and totally positive about putting my music out.

As you can see in some posts below, my releases have literally gotten global attention, from Hungary, to Estonia, and Duke University.

I’m thinking next about some netlabel-specific music releases, possibly consisting of a piece of software rather than a recording. More here when that happens.