Frank Testa "bigs up" Apple Beam!

Frank Testa has just finished recording a new track at Apple Beam recording studios in London - www.applebeam.com

Click the Before and After link below to see how he got on!

Unsigned band sells their name for £250k

I've been away from the Apple Beam Blog for a while but something triggered a wave of
inspiration. A friend told me about an article today telling the story of an unsigned band from Seattle who were paid £250k to call themselves The BuyStock.net Band.

This is unbelievable for several reason.

Firstly they are unsigned, I could almost imagine a corporate company paying a hugely successful touring band huge sums to change their name, but a new unsigned band?

Secondly, the 'sponsor' is a website platform build to enable anyone to buy stock, you know investor type stuff. That has nothing to do with music at all.

Thirdly, this was done on eBay. The band, who had only recorded one song by the way, put a listing on eBay and secured a bid of £251,100 from BuyStock.net.

This has to be the biggest step towards super branding that I have ever seen. What's next, someone with the Coca Cola logo tattooed on their face? You know how in futuristic films, there is advertising on the pavement and buildings and holograms asking if you would like to purchase the latest health insurance .. we've just moved a step closer to that!

But let's get some perspective.

Before my mind runs off into the future, let's look at the merits of this deal. The fact that the sponsor is not in the music business is a huge positive. It means the chances of musicians securing funding has just increased substantially. There is no reason why businesses of different types can't fuel one another.

The band from Seattle are unsigned. How often do you hear of unsigned bands getting paid? That is refreshing!

And finally, is it so bad that bands are moving towards a more corporate sponsor existence? Maybe it makes them look less genuine, but so long as the music is still from the heart who cared what banner they have behind them on stage. I guess only time will tell how far this goes but hopefully musicians and sponsors can get a perfect balance that works for everyone, including the fans.

Do you need your songs recorded? Our recording studios london is booking now!

STONY BOY releases his official music video "That Babe"

STONY BOY releases his official music video "That Babe" Visit Apple Beam Studios and record YOUR music!

AudioRokit.co.uk Takes Off!

New Music Website Creates Unique Link Between Musicians And Record Labels

December 17^th 2010 (Eastbourne, UK)

AudioRokit.co.uk is a new service that shows musicians what record labels, publishers and managers are currently looking to sign new acts. Launched on December 16^th 2010, the website makes the whole process of pitching music “more efficient and targeted”.

This exciting new website comes with a built in song management tool, allowing it’s members to upload their music and profile to the Audio Rokit server and pitch their music to the many music opportunities listed on the website.

“I needed a better way to pitch my music. Like most musicians, I love the creative process but not the boring ‘networking’ and pitching of my music! The problem is the pitching is the vital part, without a professional pitching strategy you are left with songs sitting on your hard drive and no hope of being spotted, says Darren of Audio Rokit.”

Darren, the founder of AudioRokit.co.uk interviewed record label A&R prior to designing the internal management system to make sure it was exactly what they wanted also. “This only works because we have listened to the industry. The whole website was designed around the needs of the A&R first, we knew that if they found value with our service, it would ultimately benefit musicians.”

Already endorsed by successful musicians and published songwriters, the future looks bight for AudioRokit and its members. Record label CEO Shabs commented, “This will help a lot of composers place their songs, as well as giving artists a chance to go direct to the companies that are actively searching for new talent.”

Creating a profile with AudioRokit is free, and full membership (required to use the internal pitch system) is £6.99/month. AudioRokit’s ethos is to ‘make the main thing the main thing’, meaning that rather than constantly adding bits to their website, they are focused on their core service - providing quality industry leads to musicians as well as talent to the music industry, and aim to do that better than anyone else.

Love is blind!

I wrote about this a while ago on a different subject but thought it would be worth sharing the thought as it relates to music.

Love is blind right? We all know it, people say we must be 100% passionate and in love with our music to succeed, but is that true?

You certainly need a lot of passion to keep your focus, but there are advantages to not being sooo in love with your work.

Firstly, if you are in love with your work you will find it very hard to take criticism or any kind of constructive feedback. This will ultimately hurt your career because feedback is important and can give you a sense of balance.

Also, have you noticed that the things you really really really want in life seem to elude you? Take a guy trying to get a girl, if he tries too hard he doesn't get her, yet the girls he doesn't care so much about are all over him!

Ok, this is all a bit tongue in cheek but in my music career the same is true of the successes I have had. The songs and projects I wasn't in love with seemed to do the best. Now don't get me wrong, everything you do needs focus and commitment to make it as good as you can, but without labouring too hard.

I recently watched an interview with Phil Collins about his 'But Seriously' album in which he said they never laboured over anything. It was done quick and if it felt right it was right. Lots of people were involved and there was constant feedback on the song developments. Nothing was too 'precious' that it couldn't be changed, which ultimately made for a better, more rounded album.

All too often us musicians will spend weeks on a song without playing it to anyone in case they don't like it! That is crazy if you think about it, surely we should spend a couple hours and then get feedback to see if we should devote more time to it?

I would say passion is great, but balance is better, especially with music.

I like to follow these 5 rules when writing songs:

1. Get feedback as often as possible
2. Work with others
3. Take regular breaks
4. The best stuff comes easier and quicker
5. Don't fall in love with a song too much, there's are many more waiting to be written!

Visit our recording studio website for more information on recording and songwriting and of course use Audio Rokit to pitch your music to record labels, TV/Film and more!

A few tracks from this week

In a normal week we may do 10 tracks or so, and whilst we'd like to upload more for you to listen to, most of the time we don't get around to it. However, for once I have got around to uploading a couple from this weeks recording studio sessions.

Check out our here recording studio audio samples page to hear lots more.




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Steven Hitchens chooses Apple Beam studios

Steven Hitchens chooses Apple Beam studios to record his music. Go to Steven's home page for more.