In these days of musicians counting myspace plays and friend requests as a way of measuring popularity, it's easy to forget that not too long ago the much lamented MP3.com was making stars of its own (and paying them, no less!) with independent artists racking up ten of thousands of plays. And some whose play count went from tens to hundreds of thousands, and then to millions.
Enter singer/songwriter and multi instrumentalist Lobelia, whose profile on that original indie music portal lead her to places most independent musicians only dream of - lucrative sponsorship deals, a publishing contract and a feature in Billboard magazine. Playing in a duo with acclaimed British bassist Steve Lawson, Lobelia's sound blends hook-laden adult pop with a more spacial ambient sensibility reminiscent of David Sylvian, Talk Talk and The Blue Nile. Singing songs of love and loss, her star is once again on the ascendancy, with the coming year promising at least two new albums and more touring in Europe, the US and further afield.
Steve has just about put the finishing touches on our Live In Nebraska Album on Bandcamp. This has been just about sold out since we made it (and we did make lots of copies!) but now you’ll be able to pay what you want for this amazing CD. It’s truly one of the best recordings I’ve ever been a part of….partly due to it being the last show on our US tour that year and us playing really well….and partly due to the amazing Dan Kane at Power Base Studio really knowing how to capture live sound. It also doesn’t hurt that his studio is perfect either. (It’s only $500/US per diem, you really should go and record there sometime!) We’ve never played the song Rain like this since. It’s breathtaking.
So download like crazy, share with your friends. Pass it on and let us know what you think! xo Steve and Lo.
Just a bit of interesting yet slightly distressing news today. In a deal that is the first of it’s kind, Emusic has come to an agreement with Sony to include their back catalog that is over 2 years old to be included in emusic’s non DRM a la carte monthly download service.
When I initially heard this news, I was quite pleased. Large record labels have seemed to be quite skeptical in the past about the financial viability of non-DRM download services. But you can’t argue with the numbers. Emusic has over 400,000 subscribers and even at a conservative guestimation are bringing in over 3 million a month. The main complaint that I’ve had with their service ( I was a member for over 2 years) was that after I was finished getting all the cool independent and obscure stuff I wanted, that there were a lot of mainstream things that you couldn’t get on emusic. I’m sure this causes a lot of fluctuation in business, and often people will let their account drop for a few months while new tracks are added. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve put the latest song from the album In up for free download! As with the others, I could really use your help getting the word out about it! Because of all your help, these tracks have gotten out to way more people that I ever anticipated! Thanks so so so much! I’m going to start putting them out every week from now on as I find that two weeks is a little too long in between. Once all the tracks are out, then I hope you’ll all join me to hear them live! x
So welcome to the beginning of week 3 and the new release of the 2nd song from my new album In called I’ve Never Met Anyone Like You. Please download it and send it to as many people as you like. The first track had over 100 downloads in the first 3 days and over 185 total. Combined with my other fan exclusives on RN there have been over 650 downloads! That’s amazing! Hope we can match or exceed that with this track!
You’ll also notice there’s a share button on this widget. It allows you to grab this content and put it on your own site, myspace, facebook, or bebo and very much like being a virtual secret agent for the independent music alliance….uhm or something like that. x
Who’s that on the front page of reverbnation.com??? WOW! It’s me!!! You can help me to thank reverbnation by downloading my new tune The Sound of a Breaking Heart…for free! Just have a listen and then click the download button on the widget below. There’s plenty of other great content on my reverbnation page and lots of free downloads so have a look. And if you’re an artist who hasn’t yet signed up, I’m now giving you a virtual spanking! Thwack! Thanks peeps. x
@ghxststories Yes maam. Though I seem to have a hard time getting you to eat when you're here? Perhaps i iz feeding u wrong stuffs? 2010/03/08
I think it's time @baby_flapjack hits the sack. Can you say "cranky"? Time for GILMORES! 2010/03/08
@trainhitsboy See you just need to come over for dinner! (not now that we eaten it all obviously) Let me know! I'll do a repeat performance! 2010/03/08
