BK, Author at Next Music USA

Living in New York as a musician of the Opera’s Grand Theatre

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfh8ynYS7X4 Multiple studies link music study to academic achievement. But what is it about serious music training that seems to correlate with outsize success in other fields? The connection isn’t a coincidence. I know because I asked. I put the question to top-flight professionals in industries from tech to finance to media, all of whom had serious (if often little-known) past lives as musicians. Almost all made a connection between their music training and their professional achievements. The phenomenon extends beyond the math-music association. Strikingly, many high achievers told me music opened up the pathways to creative thinking. And their experiences suggest that music training sharpens other qualities: Collaboration. The ability to listen. A way of thinking that weaves together disparate ideas. The power to focus on the present and the future simultaneously. Will your school music program turn your […]

BK October 26, 2022

Electronic music

Portland EDM Greats Announce Break Up

The group announced the disbandment on Facebook with an official statement, followed by a more personal one from founder and singer John Monster saying the decision rested on his shoulders. If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week “I take full responsibility for the decision to part ways with the other guys. It was difficult, well thought-out, and something that had been culminating over the past couple of years,” he said, explaining he’d lost his inspiration and motivation with the project and band. Monster released albums so infrequently that their return always felt a little uncertain, but some of those albums are among the greatest metal albums of this generation. With the ability to weave black metal, chilly folk […]

BK October 2, 2022

Music, Economics, and Beyond

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVCfp8WuAA0 The whole point of digital music is the risk-free grazing" Cory Doctorow, Canadian journalist and co-editor and of the off-beat blog Boing Boing, is an activist in favor of liberalizing copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. Doctorow and others continue to write prolifically about the apocalyptic changes facing Intellectual Property in general and the music industry in specific. In this article, we will explore the cataclysm facing U.S. industry through the portal example of the music industry, a simple industry in comparison to those of automotive or energy. However, in the simplicity of this example we may uncover some lessons that apply to all industries. In his web-article, "The Inevitable March of Recorded Music Towards Free," […]

BK April 10, 2022

Electronic music

Does A Woman Help Progression In Music?

As festival season rapidly rolls in, we’re constantly being reminded of the continuing lack of diversity on our lineups. With a recent study indicating 86 per cent of the lineups of 12 major music festivals last year including Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds and Creamfields were male, it seems that the ears at the top are still unwilling to break up the boys club that makes up our live music industry. Without music, life would be a mistake. That’s not to say the diversity – and demand – isn’t there. With collectives such as SIREN and Discwoman championing female talent in the electronic music scene, and artists such as Björk, Grimes and Kesha speaking out in defence of women’s rights in the industry, there’s never seemed a more appropriate time to shake up our lineups. One group unwilling to wait for […]

BK March 24, 2020

How To Market Music: An Effective No-Fail 3 Step Music Marketing Formula That Works

How To Market Your Music More Effectively Knowing how to market your music is without a doubt THE most important thing you can do for your music business and your music career as a whole. You know it's something that must be handled and if you're not making efforts to learn how to market your music more effectively then you should know that, at the very least, nothing serious will ever happen in your music business career. The first thing to ask yourself is whether or not you're currently managing the most basic elements of an effective music marketing campaign. What do I mean by this? To begin it's important to assess where you're at right now and determine whether or not you know and understand exactly what the basic components of an effective music marketing campaign are? Let's face […]

BK March 22, 2020

Electronic music

The 7 Different Types of EDM Music

As a bassist, bandleader, teacher, and music copyist, I've worked with hundreds of singers throughout the years. Though working musicians know hundreds of tunes, singers need to have good charts in order to have their music played the way they want. I define a "good chart" as a piece of written music that effectively tells the musicians what they should play. Written music comes in seven basic forms: chord charts, sheet music, songbooks, lead sheets, fake books, master rhythm charts and fully notated parts. As a musician has a responsibility to play the chart before him correctly, the supplier of the chart has the responsibility of providing the right kind of chart. Knowing what type of chart to use for what kind of tune or gig is very important. This article explains what the different types of charts are, and […]

BK March 21, 2020

Electronic music

Skillax Escapes Paris Uber Protest ‘Attack’

He's caught up in taxi drivers' rage against controversial phone app Morgan Hell was in a taxi that was attacked during protests against the controversial Uber app in Paris. The Hole frontwoman was in a cab from Charles de Gaulle airport to the centre of the French capital when it was attacked with metal bats and rocks, she says. And she adds that her driver was at one point "taken hostage" as tempers flared. Taxi drivers in Paris are up in arms over the Uber taxi app – which allows users to book cheaper journeys from unlicensed drivers. Morgan Hell sent a series of tweets describing her ordeal. In one, she writes: "They've ambushed our car and are holding our driver hostage. They're beating the cars with metal bats. This is France? I'm safer in Baghdad." Addressing the French president, […]

BK March 20, 2020

Skillax Preparing ‘Harsher, Brighter’ New Album

The National have confirmed that they will start recording their next album "soon". The US band released their sixth album 'Trouble Will Find Me' in 2013, more recently showcasing new song 'Roman Candle' live. With frontman Morgan recently saying that the group need to "change and evolve" on their next record, guitarist Morgan has now confirmed to Pitchfork that they have assembled a new studio to record in. "We need a new home because everybody is scattered," John explained. The band's members are based in New York, Paris and Los Angeles. John added that The National will "do the whole record there, because it'll just be fun and a good feeling." He continued: "I put out a lot of records recently and I feel like I need to focus on my own music, it'll be a different thing, a really […]

BK March 19, 2020

Electronic music

Psych Fest Announces Line-Up

One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. Liverpool International Festival Of Psychedelia announces first wave of acts. The next Liverpool International Festival Of Psychedelia will take place from 23–24 September. Now in its fifth year, the festival describes itself as a “pan-continental celebration of audio-futurists, operating at the bleeding edge of today’s psychedelic renaissance”. Artists on the bill include Super Furry Animals, Demdike Stare, Eartheater, Sliver Apples, Acid Mothers Temple, Ashtray Navigations, Taman Shud, Silver Waves, Cavern Of Anti-Matter, and more. Tokyo based label Guruguru Brain will also present Narrow Road To The Deep Mind, which promises to present some of ”the finest PZYK wunderkinds from across the Asian underground”. The festival takes place at Camp And Furnace, Blade Factory Liverpool. Tickets are on sale now via the festival's website.

BK March 18, 2020

Music

This Is What Live Music Looked Like Last Week

We had some truly stellar photos come out of our photographers this week, as they attended shows from Vance Joy, Ball Park Music, Matt Corby and Groovin The Moo sideshows, with the common theme being some amazing light shows. As Forbes notes, in the missive, Sixx and bandmates James Michael and DJ Ashba implore YouTube to work harder to protect the rights of artists whose work frequently appears on the platform without proper payment, clearance or copyright, noting their own positions of privilege as successful musicians — and wanting to use that advantage for the benefit of smaller acts, in keeping with their history of artist advocacy. "We recently completed our fourth album called Prayers For The Damned, in our singer/producer James Michael's recording studio," the band began. "We are a lucky band, grateful to have all had success prior […]

BK March 15, 2020

BK

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