The Golden Filter!

So far, I have liked everything I have heard from The Golden Filter… well, except for that Peter, Bjorn and John remix of “Hide Me,” but that’s not their fault! (Note to P,B&J- I really liked “Young Folks.” Um, yeah that’s about it…) Their debut album comes out on June 15th (in the States, the rest of the world got it this week!). I’m not really sure what to compare them to… so just give a listen for yourself! Previews of every song are available in the widget above, for those of you less savvy inter-webz surfers…

How cool is Madlib, seriously?

Madlib is set to drop his fifth CD in the Medicine Show series, entitled “The History of the Loop Digga,” and the fine people over at Stones Throw have put two songs up for download. Hit ’em up below:

Madlib – Static Invazion

Madlib – Episode XVI

Madlib is, in my opinion, one of the premier producers of the last two decades. His style can bounce all over the place, and his disregard for convention has led to an amazing body of work.

Now, head over to Stones Throws’ website and have a look at all of their fine artists and products.

Something to think about…

I recently discovered an interesting website called “Information Is Beautiful.” While perusing some, well, information, I recently discovered this article:

How Much Do Artists Earn Online?

In a business that appears to be rapidly moving towards an “all-digital” era, I found this information to be pretty poignant. For every unknown artist I meet that tries to introduce me to their music by pointing me to iTunes to download their “latest single,” I would like to direct your attention to this article. Take a few minutes to read it… go ahead, I’ll wait…

While you may be incredibly talented, I would still encourage sharing your music for free for promoting yourself while trying to sell physical (gasp! CDs? Records?) copies of your music at shows. Unless you are a MAJOR player in the music industry (i.e. Radiohead, Jay-Z, whomever that country group is that sold a gazillion records in the last decade…), you are not going to earn any sort of living by pointing me, or any really important kind of person (not me), to download your music from iTunes.

I’m not discouraging you from putting your music up on iTunes, Amazon, or an other mp3 “store.” But if I don’t know anything about you, I’m not paying to download your crap- er, music. E-mail me a hotlink to download some free stuff, and then we’ll see. As you can see from the article, it still pays to sell CDs at shows and mom-n-pop record stores… especially independently produced CDs!

And as an unsigned, unknown artist, guess what kind of CD you will be selling at your shows?

An independently produced CD! Wow, all that crazy Warren Buffett dough in no time…

Meanwhile, your remix EP languishes on the virtual shelves at the iTunes store; the 33 downloads you’ve gotten this year just paid for the double cheeseburger you just finished eating…

And odds are, I didn’t pay to download your song yet… I might have listened to that worthless 30 second snippet that you get to hear for free on iTunes… but who can really make a decision about new music from a 30 second snippet?

I bet if I had a couple of free full song mp3’s, I might venture out to a show and pick up a copy of your album… if I like what I hear. I’m just sayin’…