Project Opus - Supporting artists, fans, and local music everywhere.

The State She Has Me In - Drew_Leonard

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:34:39 -0700

The State She Has Me In - Artist: Drew_Leonard Album: On My Way, From: Boulder, Please Support Drew_Leonard and purchase 'The State She Has Me In' from ProjectOpus.com (http://www.projectopus.com/drew_leonard), Date Posted: September 27, 2008

Purty Boots - whoisbluegirl

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:46:44 -0700

Purty Boots - Artist: whoisbluegirl Album: Receptionist, From: BlueTown, Please Support whoisbluegirl and purchase 'Purty Boots' from ProjectOpus.com (http://www.projectopus.com/whoisbluegirl), Date Posted: September 26, 2008

A song for dreamers

Nick Cave/Bad Seeds Catalog Gets Deluxe Reissues

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 11:39:07 -0700

Nick Cave has joined the push to up sell devote fans with "premium packages". Artists and labels have been late to grasp the fact that their core fan base is not impressed nor do the highly value MP3 by themselves. Expect a serious 'pile on' in the coming 6-12 months as everyone embraces new digital packaging ideas.

Dapper don Nick Cave and his old friends the Bad Seeds must be used to the deluxe treatment by now; after all, they're rock royalty if anybody is. But the band's monstrous back catalog? It may have never been treated so good before.

Mute Records is set to reissue remastered, 5.1 surround sound-enhanced versions of the entirety of the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds discography, with the initial batch of four titles due later in 2008. Cave and the Seeds' first four discs-- 1984's From Her to Eternity, 1985's The Firstborn Is Dead, 1986's Kicking Against the Pricks, and 1986's Your Funeral... My Trial-- make up that initial batch, and boy, are they in for a treat. The collector's editions will be double disc sets containing both the remastered stereo album and the new surround mix, B-sides, and new liner notes. Each album will also contain one of a series of short films (collectively titled Do You Love Me Like I Love You?) made by the UK-based team of Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.

Indeed, Forsyth and Pollard are putting together Do You Love right now, and they need your help! "Have you been affected by the songs of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds?" they ask on their website. If the answer is yes, and you'd like to explain just how in front of a camera, you should probably click here pronto.

In other Cave rumblings, the theatrical production of Georg Büchner's Woyzeck-- for which Nick Cave and Bad Seed/Dirty Three dude Warren Ellis composed music a couple years back-- is coming to NYC. Woyzeck will play at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Howard Gilman Opera House on October 15, 17, and 18 as part of BAM's Next Wave Festival.

Hey Mama - jpreimer

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:13:24 -0700

Hey Mama - Artist: jpreimer Album: First Take, From: Vancouver, Please Support jpreimer and purchase 'Hey Mama' from ProjectOpus.com (http://www.projectopus.com/jpreimer), Date Posted: August 22, 2008

Sony buys out Bertelsmann. Recorded music is not worth what it use to be.

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:48:49 -0700

Sony has announced that they are buying the 50% stake in Sony BMG held by German media giant Bertelsmann in a deal valued at $1.2 billion. The deal is a touch convoluted but it basically results in Bertelsmann receiving approximately $900 million in value for its 50% stake in Sony BMG.

"Last year the BMG unit saw revenue fall 27% to $2.25 billion while operating profit dropped 46% to $144 million." Bertelsmann obviously wanted out. The business is crumbling, and they are in no position to try and leverage the master recordings like Sony can with its electronic products. Sony understands that Apple leverages music to sell iPods. They should be able to do the same.

How to promote your band and music online

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:47:35 -0700

So you want more plays and sales on Project Opus? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, especially now that summer is kicking in, but for musicians to see the real benefit of Project Opus – work is required.

I'll try to keep this as straightforward as possible and if you want further information about indie music marketing please see this mini-reference book.

I usually tell people to go for a walk in their downtown entertainment district to get an idea of the competitiveness of the music industry. On this walk, pretend you are not a musician or don't work in the music business. On the first pass walk like you are going somewhere, don't look around unless something catches your eye. Pretend you are late for a meeting. At the end of a few blocks try to remember what music marketing you remember. Not much, eh? Now take the same walk in reverse and this time look for music marketing. It's everywhere – fliers, stickers, posters, billboards – all the way from indie to major artists. Now combine this with all the other advertising in the world – everything from diapers to vacation deals. Trust me – it's like waking up and realizing you are in the Matrix. The average person doesn't actually see advertising anymore – in order to cope we actually filter it out. So, the indie band down the street is not your competition – the entire world of advertising is your competition.

Don't be afraid – you will soon learn how to dodge bullets. I am not telling you this to depress you – more to let you know what you have to consider when marketing your music on any level. You have to reach through the massive amounts of advertising that already exists on the internet and in real life. The internet is the cheapest way to be prolific and Project Opus has great tools to help you, but as with all music discovery websites, it is up to you to direct traffic towards your music. As your popularity grows on those sites, your profile will become more popular on its own.

Here is a basic strategy everyone should use:

Step 1 Upload your music and customize it.

Look like a pro – put up good photos, not ones taken with your webcam. Write up a bio and make sure it contains some info that is truly interesting – your bio is your opportunity to tell us something neat about you.

Customize your player. Under the Edit Music tab there is a section call Opus Players. Using the dimensions they specify, create an image that fits. If you know a little graphic design that helps, but if you don't, simply get a really good band photo and crop it to fit those dimensions. Use this opportunity to make this player your own.

Step 2 Strategize.

A good strategy is to make one page on the net your home page and then have your links bounce from there. I either prefer the official website or myspace. If you are your own web programmer or have one on the speed dial then opt for the official space. If you don't, then use your myspace. In this way, you can market one site and build traffic on all your sites. For example, on a flier you could have "Go to www.myspace.com/dnahq for a free download!" then put a big bold link to your Project Opus site and redirect your fans to that page to get your free download.

This is an example of a flier we have been using for DNA6, we have been using the PO mainpage link, as well as our website links ...

This generic flier is something all bands should have. Print lots of them and give them away at shows, on the street, put them in coffee shops, etc. Get someone to go through audiences at festivals, etc and give fliers away. Or, make the front a cool sticker and the back has all your info on it. Whatever you can afford.

Step 3 Link-back.

Now start placing your music all over the web. On the Home tab, you will see your music player to the right of your bio. Click on "Embed this collection" on the bottom of the player and it will take you to the embed code. Copy and paste the embed code into your myspace or website.

The Way - kevin J Maclean

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:02:46 -0700

The Way - Artist: kevin J Maclean Album: For you, From: Edinburgh, Please Support kevin J Maclean and purchase 'The Way' from ProjectOpus.com (http://www.projectopus.com/kevinjmaclean), Date Posted: July 11, 2008

Legal P2P Proposal Emerges in Canada

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:27:21 -0800

Straight from Digital Music News:

[quote]Legalized file-swapping has been a concept since the late 90s, though major content holders have mostly resisted the possibility. Despite immense volumes of P2P-based swapping and acquisition, most major label efforts have been focused on paid downloads, subscription initiatives, and more recently, broader content bundling and ISP-level filtering and enforcement. The result is that file-swapping is almost always a gratis endeavor, one that leaves rights holders out of the equation entirely.

spygirl: Exclusive Interview on Project Opus

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:58:12 -0800

Straight from Spygirl's own bio: Spygirl plays lush, melodic, elegant, and dark pop/rock. If Spygirl were a martini, they’d be equal parts sonic assault, naked duets and lush harmonies with a dash of drum & bass, and garnished with a twist of Canadiana - shaken vigorously, of course. If Spygirl were an outfit, you’d look geek-slick, full in all the right places and your ass would look hot.

Project Opus 2.0: Discovering Music

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:52:09 -0800

How will people discover music on Project Opus 2.0?

Post your ideas here!

(I'm thinking most of it will come from region searches, genre searches, and by watching what my friends or high-ranking members are listening to.)

Cry of Silence: Exclusive Interview on Project Opus

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:09:22 -0800

Fronted by Ed Lam, Cry of Silence brings uplifting harmonies and aggresive vocals in a mesh of New Rock and Alternative to Vancouver, British Columbia. Cry of Silence came together in the spring of 2004, and have since found a presence in their arena, reaching top spot at the Battle of the Bands and performing across the province. It was a great honor to sit down with the entire band for this Project Opus exclusive interview.

The Death of High Fidelity

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:25:25 -0800

Today's (Pop) music is all noise. And it's draning. That's not to say it's not good - it's just loud.

Robert Levine from the Rolling Stone mourns over the age of the MP3, where tiny nuance and splendor gives way to the equivalent of aural McDonalds: music that is overproduced, undifferentiated, and in the end, really not good for you.

Introducing Mixx Maker on Facebook

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 17:08:47 -0800

Mixx Maker, our long-awaited Facebook application, is finally here!

If you haven’t seen Mixx Maker in action, a Mixx is a mixtape that you make with your friends on Facebook. With Mixx, your friends are all you need when you need to get music for that party. Or, that road trip you want to take next summer. Or, those tender moments when no one’s around and you really need a good cry.

Rehab for Egos: Exclusive Interview on Project Opus

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 11:38:18 -0800

Rehab for Egos, led by Alex Jigaray, brings a welcome mix of heavy rock and uplifting melodies to the Vancouver music scene.

Born in Russia, Alex moved to Vancouver at the late age of 15. However, that hasn’t stifled his musical ambitions in the slightest. As a former member of RallyCar, winners of the 2005 99.3 CFOX Vancouver Seeds, Alex traversed across Canada with the band, learning about the music industry as he went along. With a wealth of knowledge and experience behind him, Alex went off to start his solo project, Rehab for Egos.

David Byrne talks music distribution options for musicians

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 18:54:01 -0800

David Byrne's Wired article is a couple of weeks old, but I am realizing quite a few musicians do not read Wired Magazine, and have missed it. It's interesting to note that some of the most insightful articles around the music business in the last 2 years has come from Wired magazine, and not the more obvious publications like Billboard.