On this episode of INSIDE MUSIC, host James Shotwell calls Evan Couture, vocalist for Avion Roe, to discuss the reality of being a newly signed band in 2015. Avion Roe has been building a fervent cult following since the release of their first record in 2011, but with the aide of Epitaph the band is now poised to be bigger than ever. Together, James and Evan discuss the history of Avion Roe, as well as how life has changed since the band signed their deal.
The music you hear in this episode is “Sing Me To Sleep” by Avion Roe. The song is available now on iTunes.
You may already know this, but ‘Inside Music’ is now available on iTunes! Click here to subscribe.
We have spent the past two months figuring out the world of podcasting, and I think we may have finally found our groove. After recording the episode you are about to enjoy I called my mom and told her I finally understood how this whole digital radio thing was supposed to work, at least for me and what I wanted to accomplish. She was proud, but she also wanted me to explain the concept of a podcast at length. I guess Will Smith said it best, parents just don’t understand.
This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
The latest episode of Inside Music features very special guest Dave Mackinder, vocalist for the Michigan based band Fireworks. Dave and his band have been staples of the alternative music scene for nearly a decade at this point, and later this month they will hit the road once again as they embark on the Glamour Kills tour as support for New Found Glory and We Are The In Crowd. Mackinder also has a new side project, Tea & Water, which just released its debut EP last week. We talk about all this and more, including how he and other musicians make money when not touring or recording.
I’ve been a fan of Dave and his work in music for as long as I’ve known of Fireworks’ existence, so I knew we were going to record something special when the two of agreed to create this episode. As I sit and reflect on our chat now I realize that I’ve come to respect Dave and his creations in a whole new light, which I also hope you are able to take away from your listening experience.
The music you hear at the beginning of this episode is take from “Change Your Mind” by Dave’s side project Tea & Water. Their debut EP is available now through Bandcamp.
If you would like to connect with Dave and learn more about his adventures in music, please make it a point to follow him on Twitter. Fireworks’ latest album, Oh, Common Life, is available now wherever music is sold.
Hello, everyone! We are happy to have you join us this afternoon. Our friend Lueda shared with us a story this morning about her recent promotional efforts that was so inspiring we felt we had to share it with you as well. Whether you’re an artist looking for affordable promotion solutions, or a label hoping to get more exposure for your talent without going broke, the following post will have something for you.
This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
The past few days, I been working on a blog post for Arms and Sleepers‘ new single “Swim Team,” but with each passing moment, the stats on the Soundcloud player for the single keep changing drastically. And here I am now, thinking “Screw it!” because I just want to celebrate all that’s happened in one short week.
Last week, we announced the upcoming Arms and Sleepers record Swim Team, which is out on Fake Chapter Records on October 28th, and premiered the title track on Earmilk. Since then, many publications, blogs, radio stations and friends have been approached with the news (no press releases – just good ol’ personal emails), and the results speak for themselves: the band has received coverage all across North America and Europe, and the single reached over 21,000 plays in one short week, growing steadily at 3-4k plays each day. For comparison, AAS’ pervious single, “Hurry Slowly” (which is easily one of the highlights of the album) reached 12,000 plays in 5 months.
“20,000 Plays In One Week” is my very own “Power Level 9000!!!” because I am beyond ecstatic over what’s happened. I would say I’m surprised, but I have seen what a good marketing plan and publicity can do for an artist over the years I’ve been working in the music industry. There is no doubt that in my mind that hiring a publicist is one of the most important things a band or artist can do to take their careers to the next level.
The magic formula? A solid marketing plan and hard work. I couldn’t be prouder of what’s happened this past week, and I can’t wait to see what happens with this campaign in the next few months. Hit me up if you have any questions, via email or @alueda!
Lueda Alia is a music industry professional and freelance entertainment writer with years of experience working directly with artists on the rise. She maintains a great personal blog, as well as Made Of Chalk (which we featured on this blog earlier this year).
Hello, everyone. Today is an exciting, albeit somewhat sad day. We are quite thrilled to be sharing the fourth and final installment in our ‘My Life A Music Pirate’ series, but are sad to see such a beloved column put to rest so soon. If you have any questions about the content of this post, or if you are interested in learning more about the secure music distribution services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Today we put to rest one of the most interesting features we have ever run on this blog. Over the last month we have featured a series of posts on piracy written by a current music professional who has previously leaked countless albums online (part 1, part 2, part 3). Their story is one that I am sure many reading this can relate to, but somewhere along the line this individual got caught up in file-sharing and spent several years breaking the law as a result. They claim to have cleaned up their act, and for what it’s worth I tend to believe them, but as the initial columns began running on this site we could not help noticing an influx of inquiries from readers with questions for our pirate and their supposed retirement. It took a little convincing, but after two weeks of waiting our pirate has emerge from the depths of the internet once more to answer your questions on their life, the repercussions of their decisions, and how they see the industry changing to further combat piracy in the future. You can read their thoughts below.
We have said this from the beginning, but it’s worth repeating that we have absolutely no intentions of revealing the identity of the person behind these posts. The pirate in question has been disconnected from the file-sharing world for over a year at this point, and we truly hope they manage to steer clear of trouble in the future.
[all questions based on reader’s emails]
H: Do you remember the first album you downloaded illegally? How about the first one you uploaded to share with the world?
As I said before, when I first started downloading I was downloading single songs. I wasn’t into full albums. By the time I was, I was gettings discs from the library to rip. I think my first full album download may have been The Prizefighter Inferno’s debut album. I couldn’t find that at the library, so I went online for it.
H: What is the furthest in advance of an album’s release that you would leak it? Did that time remaining before release play a factor at all?
Of course it did. The sooner, the better. When you’re leaking music, you’ve got to be first to be remembered.
H: What was the application process like for the leak site? If I ran something like that I would suspect everyone of being out to get me.
It wasn’t so formal. We got something we ran it.
H: Did you have any close calls with the law/RIAA?
We’d get notices, but no more than the average music blog with a stream. Most of our links would get taken down, but copyright holders would provide the DMCA notices to hosts like Mediafire and Rapidshare. On occasion, we’d get angry emails from band members that felt helpless and couldn’t actually do anything. I remember once a label offered us advances in exchange for not posting their roster’s material. We took the deal and subsequently posted links to the albums they gave us.
H: Did you ever have a moment when you were overcome with the thought you may be doing something wrong? Do you even see piracy as being wrong?
I don’t think there was one moment. I think it was a more gradual decision. Of course I see it as wrong? Didn’t you read my letters? Readthemhere.
H: What benefits do you believe there were, if any, to the artists and labels whose work you shared without permission?
Even bad press is good press, they say. Seriously. Kids listened to the records I posted and went to shows. Some bought merch, some didn’t, they all tweeted and shared with friends. There are ways to make the most of a leak and a lot of artists figured out how to do that.
(Editor’s note: Haulix has a post that can help with that.)
H: Have you met any other music industry professionals actively involved in music piracy?
Actively? No. All of my old mates are out of the game.
H: Do you ever worry that your pirate past will catch up to you?
You’d be surprised how many of my colleagues are aware of my pirating past. I’m not that concerned about it.
H: What lessons, if any, did you learn from your time as a pirate?
That kids like free shit, that I liked introducing people to bands, that bands are made up of people making creative shit, and that underselling the value of that creative shit was a shitty thing to do.
H: What, if anything, can be done to stop piracy? More importantly, do you feel it should be stopped?
Piracy won’t die. People will always want something of value for nothing. That’s human nature. Still, things like Rdio and Spotify help cut out the need to download something to have it for free right away. Dying leak hosts help too. There are a lot less leaks going around now that It-Leaked is gone.
H: Where do you go from here?
I keep doing what I do. I write, I help musicians out where I can, and I drink more than I should sometimes. I live life and listen to music while I do it. That’s all I can do.
This article is the second in a four-part series on piracy. Click here to read the first entry.
We love creating content for this blog, but the true mission of Haulix has always been to provide the most secure music hosting and distribution services available online. It’s no secret that piracy has crippled the music industry in many ways over the last decade, and we strive every day to do whatever we can to prevent future music leaks. You see, we may not be musicians ourselves, but recognize that the livelihood of everyone in the music business is dependent on the continued success and support of the artists we sign, promote, and otherwise get behind. If we do not do our part to help them support themselves however we are able then how can we expect anyone to help us when piracy eventually erodes entire segments of the industry?
Recently, it dawned on us that we did not have a strong grasp on what actually makes someone want to leak music. The assumption has been made in the past that these so-called ‘music pirates’ think the praise from anonymous commenters on message boards and forums is enough of a reward to convince them to hurt artists and those who fund them, but frankly we thought that felt a bit too simple to be entirely true. So we decided to do something we had never done before: Seek out a music pirate and convince them to share their story.
This afternoon we are thrilled to share the second in a four-part series that aims to take a closer look at music piracy as seen through the eyes of someone directly responsible for the leaks of several high-profile albums. It’s the story of one individual who managed to engrain themselves in the music industry professionally while simultaneously sharing unreleased records with the world, and it’s told entirely in their own words.
**As part of our agreement with the author of this series, a number of names and websites have been altered to protect identities and certain brand reputations. We have no intention to reveal the author’s name or location.**
PART 2 – High School
Throughout my last years of middle school and the beginnings of high school, I kept on collecting. These were formative years by means of my general taste in music. Many of my favorites today were discovered on new release shelves at libraries and in my friend’s collections. I continued to plunder and steal and tally. It was around this time that I first came into contact with the idea of torrenting.
I was always good with computers. My Powerpoints and Windows Movie Maker projects were always the most detailed and animated in classes. If a teacher’s PC wasn’t starting correctly, I was normally the first they’d ask to look at it. My family relied on me for setting up, fixing, and cleaning up their Windows XP-based desktops and I took pride in that. Still, there were things could admit to not understanding and torrenting was one of them. Limewire was one thing. To search and download was easy enough, but somehow the idea of torrenting from The Pirate Bay seemed daunting to me, so I brushed past it and stuck with the citrusy latter.
Oh Limewire, you dangerous little thing. You never did quite know what you were getting with this P2P service. Mistitled songs, incorrectly attributed ID3 tags, viruses abundant… My grandparent’s PC was at the whim of Internet strangers when I began using its services. This was my first real taste of the dangers of piracy and its use was the first thing that made me question not only the legality of music downloading, but the morality as well.
At this point, my library was starting to get a bit messier. I was downloading more single songs than albums. Correctly naming them took time and time was something I began to have less of due to after school activities and clubs. So my collection grew untidy and my care for the music I was getting outgrew that of the number of songs I had. This is when I started becoming a “fan.”
As high school progressed and more Internet access was available to me, I started using my computer ability to my music hunting advantage. First I’d navigate around my school’s Internet blocker of choice using a proxy (or occasionally the actual bypass password itself if I could find it). Then I’d bring up Myspace, Purevolume, or YouTube and peruse the charts. If a download was available, I’d take it. If it wasn’t. I’d make it. Audicity was good for that. A quick switch from “microphone” to “wave out mix” made any listening experience an act of copyright infringement.
Then came blogging. Once I found WordPress and Tumblr, I took piracy a bit further. I went from music collector to music distributor with ease.
My Life As A Music Pirate will continue next Thursday, April 3. Follow Haulix on Twitter and Facebook for updates.
