While prepping for Figgy’s live debut, I went through his entire catalogue on SoundCloud, come to find half of it missing. SoundCloud has been more stringent on allowing sampled and remixed tracks recently, giving the major labels access to directly pull songs and even accounts from their service – Figgy was close to getting banned.
SoundCloud more recently introduced its Go premium service that includes offline, ad-free listening and a deal with the major labels that’ll increase their catalogue to compete with Spotify (it’s still in the works). What’s under the radar is that this deal may stop take downs for sampled and remixed songs and instead become a source of income for the labels – not that anyone gives a shit.
What we should give a shit about is producers will be able to keep their remixed and sampled songs on SoundCloud, probably at the cost of an ad. But at least we’ll get to use them for playlists. Until then, we’ve had Goldroom fill the void.
The amount of music going on in a few small areas around Austin, supported by all the music tech that’s trying to help it flourish, makes SXSW the place where my two loves come together. Quite literally this year with my job and this blog. Both helped me find places to go and people to do it with, but SXSW could’ve helped a lot more.
The SXSW Go app could have better helped with both finding and keeping track of events throughout the night and day, as well as finding the people to spend it with – it’s where the future of live music is going. I did find a handful of good performances and the same amount of not so good, but mostly because of the people in Austin and their recommendations. Some seriously nice people.
Here are a few stories I had with them.
I’ve never put out a playlist that I felt was incomplete, but trying to get at least an hours worth of female producers was the most difficult list I’ve ever compiled.
About four months back, I started to put together the playlist, but couldn’t get more than six or seven girls I wanted to feature. So like never before, I asked about a dozen friends in music who their favorite female producers were. Well, they had just as hard of a time.
I only managed to get twelve gals in the end, so I thought I’d open it up to a few friends and try to raise a little awareness of how female producers are really lacking. I’d say it’s the worse in any form of art, except directing film probably.
Here are eight lists consisting of over 80 female producers. If you come up with your own playlist, send it over and we’ll add it to the collection!
I Do Love You (It’s Alright) reminds me of Forest Gump. It’s like three movies in one. Going from trap to soul to disco, SO:DF changes up the key more times in one song than techno has in its 30 years plus.
I gotta figure out who they sampled on here, specifically in the disco interlude. 2:37 hits on all sorts of sexy.
Soda Island is a collective of 8 or so producers, all of which are my favorite names in an emerging style of electronic. Kawaii is what I hear it called most, or more generally future bass, but I like vapor. Bubblegum funk works too.
Along with the rest of this future bass movement (let’s rename), the folks at Soda Island are doing to electronic what jazz did to classical music. Rewriting the rules.
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I’ve never seen Del live before his performance after the ICBConference last Saturday. I went to Hiero Day last year where I got to meet my favorite right now, Anderson .Paak, but couldn’t catch Del in time.
After seeing Tommy Chong close out the conference, he was a good closer, Del performed a few hours later at Pier 23 Cafe. Actually, like every other damn rap performance, we had to wait for him until the wee hours of the night, but not as ridiculous as the Ghostface-Raekwon show. While waiting for Del to come on, I saw a familiar face waiting around too. […]
Super City 50 was a one night EDM event held the night before Super Bowl 50 at the Oakland coliseum. My photographer bailed last minute, but luckily I had a few friends going. I’ve gone to festivals alone before and it’s one of the easiest ways to find new friends, but organizers could do a lot better job to encourage it.
People will find the easiest way to connect with each other and drugs help out a lot. I saw all sorts of people on all kinds of things and it’s sad to see how much the law contributes in creating an unsafe environment. Laws change slowly, but the festival experience is about to change rapidly. And that change starts online.
We’re all connected 24/7 and using that to start conversations online will help people meet up more easily offline, at festivals. The closest thing I can find to what I’m talking about is Red Bull Sound Select, which is based around a community for curators. The best way to get people connecting around music online, in my opinion.
We anti-Valentined last year with our Hip Hop + Heartbreak, thanks to the help of mimb, and this year we’re covering everything but (hip hop).
Most of heartbroke (as fuck) is some sort of soul music along the electronic scale, leaning heavy on electronic near the end.
If you’re in for a lonely Valentine’s this year, I hope this makes for a good background soundtrack.
My dad bought a 2013 Corvette and wanted to get a custom license plate. The guy’s a real charmer, but he couldn’t convince the dmv agent to put ‘4play’ on his license plate.
I thought of beats4play when starting up our YouTube channel – I think Silence Nogood was taken – and I loved how it brought on a few more meanings than my dad’s original line.
Here’s a solid hour and some of music foreplay.
We haven’t had a proper disco list on here for years, but our groovewit & tits held us over last year. For our first list this year, we bring the best disco for dancing.
Frisco Disco came from a producer’s name I misread at first, Frico Disco, but I’m sure I’ve heard it somewhere else before. I gotta give it to 95 Royale for introducing us to this style of disco house – disco pop vocals with a heavy house kick – and after more than three years we finally got all the best of it together.
Disco is having another revival. Here’s out toast to it.