January 2010Issu

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Music Is A Quest Of Life To MeHind is funding her second project on SellaBand

independent.music.dedicated

MAG

It Took Off Quick!Interview with Bulletproof Messenger

Promising NewcomersGussie MillerAlex Highton ...

Album UpdateCivilized TearsSlim Void Album LogKatie Thompson Album Diary

Review 2009/Outlook 2010

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EditorialFinally another issue of 50K MUSIC MAG is ready to deliver to it's readers. For the last issues of the mag I couldn’t meet my own deadline to publish it on the 1st of every month. Due to job and family duties I was not able to work on the mag as much as I wanted. So I had to announce delays in the last two months. I can’t promise that this will not happen in 2010 again. But what I can assure you is that I deliver one mag issue every month.

If you'd like to support the MAG, please spread the word. Again I had a supporters to help me writing the articles of this issue. I wish to thank them all for their really appreciated support. I hope you'll like this issue and have fun reading it.

I have also thought a lot about the name change. As the most of you know, I have started a thread here in the forum and a poll on 50kmusic.com to find a new name after the SAB changes. 30 members of the community took part in the poll and SELLAMAG has won the voting by a narrow margin. But finally I have elected to stick to 50K MUSIC MAG because I want to save SellaBand’s blushes in terms of name rights. Also a name change would cause some costs e.g. for domain change. Beyond that 50K MUSIC is quite established yet and in case of a name change I have to start from scratch. I only can hope that you understand my reasons and will remain true to 50K MUSIC MAG.

So, what does this issue bring? In this issue Bulletproof Messenger and Hind are spotlighted. We have an extended newcomer section with Gussie Miller (US), Alex Highton (UK), The Comeback (NL) and Eline Chiara (NL). Over and above three album producing artists update us we the latest information: Slim Void, Katie Thompson and Tim Bennett (Civilized Tears). And I guess I don't promise to much when I announce updates of Gisel de Marco and Inge M for next issue.

You also read the review of 2009 by the Knifelady (Lucretia) and an outlook to 2010 by Pete Strobl. And we have the Artist Diary (Part 2) written by Fleur Jack.

The mag is rounded up with Netvalar's article about success, Artist News and the Monthly Charts of Truth.

So enjoy reading the MAG and please give me your feedback. Authors and topic suggestions are always welcome as well. Send your hints and suggestions to mario@50kmusic.com.

Besides I'm still looking for correspondents who like to work for the MAG - get/keep in touch with local SellaBand artists, observing the (SAB) music scene and write articles/reviews/reports for the MAG from time to time. You should live in France, Germany, South America, Japan. So get in touch with me and we can talk about a collaboration soon.

mario@50kmusic.comwww.50kmusic.com

Note/Imprint:

50K MUSIC MAG (www.50kmusic.com)is mainly written and solely published by Mario Putzar, D-99947 Bad Langensalza, Contact: mario(at)50kmusic.de

The parts of the MAG written by other authors are signed as follows: (AM) - Andy Marczak(CM) - Cecile Morel(CS) - Catself (Agnieszka Holm) - member of Talentcast team(CW) - Casee Wilson(FJ) - Fleur Jack - Kiwi FM(ps) - Pete Strobl - posts from his bottom-end blog(Lu) - Lucretia(NV) - Netvalar - Researcher Extraordinaire (PMcM) - Paul McMaster(MC) - Multicorriente - Argentinean magazine(RSV) - Ronny - Slim Void(sab) - posts, news, informations from Sellaband webpage (TC) - information from Talentcast webpage(Th) - Thor(UBG) - Utterly B Groovy

Articles written by other authors do express the opinion of the particular author, not of 50K MUSIC.

All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be copied or distributed without the permission of the publisher. Copyrights of photos and pictures of artists used in this magazine are owned by the artists. Articles, feedback and suggestions are welcome. Please send them to my e-mail adress.

Friends of 50K MUSIC MAG are:www.sellaband.comwww.multicorrientewww.petestrobl.comwww.talentcast.nlwww.evolutioncoop.comwww.knifelady.blogspot.com

This magazine is made with Scribus - www.scribus.net

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In this issueEditorial 2

It Took Off Quick! 4

Music Is A Quest Of Life To Me 6

Slim Void Album Log 8

Katie Thompson Album Diary 9

SellaBand, What Will 2010 Bring? 10

Review Of The Year 2009 12

50K MUSIC - What Was ... And What Will Be 14

Promising NewcomersGussie Miller 15Alex Highton 17The Comeback 18Eline Chiara 19

SellaBand News 19

An Artist Diary (Part 2) 20

Decide and succeed or continue to dream 21

Civilized Tears ... Album Update 22

Artist News 23(Aly Cook, Cubworld, Chris Difford, Kirt, Nemesea,Kane Sole, Radius, Francis Rodino)

Monthly Charts of Truth 24

Hind ... 6

Gussie Miller - 15

Bulletproof Messenger ... 4

Alex Highton ... 17

Fleur Jack ... 20

Civilized Tears ... 22

Slim Void ... 8

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50K MM: Where are you from?Jesse: Bulletproof Messenger is based in Long Island, New York, but our members are from Baltimore – MD, Long Island – NY, Schenectady – NY, and Erie – PA.

50K MM: How would you describe the band in three words?Jesse: HARD-ROCK/TECHNOLOGY/GOOFBALLS (not necessarily in that order, you might want to put goofballs first if you have met us in person.)

50K MM: Where are you coming from artistically, what are your influences?Jesse: Our influences are spread across the board. We love everything from Celldweller to Depeche Mode to Brand New, Pink Floyd, Sevendust, Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, 311, Glassjaw, CKY, Chili Peppers... the list goes on and on. We try to pay tribute a little of each of our influences into our music.

50K MM: How would you describe your music?Jesse: Our music is a powerful concoction of electronic beats/synths, hard rock guitars, catchy melodic vocals. We pride ourselves in creating everything from ambient textures, metal-esque guitars, funk bass grooves, beautiful piano passages, and great memorable vocals – we don’t want to limit ourselves to one specific sound, and with our new album “Arm Yourself” we are really starting to be able to branch out into new sounds.

50K MM: How did you find the way to Sellaband? How has SellaBand changed your life? What were your experiences on your way to 50k?Jesse: One of my previous bands was actually on Sellaband and doing quite well when I heard of the website. I got a monthly newsletter from the band after joining Bulletproof Messenger and learned of the whole fan-investor concept. When we signed up on the website, it was a pretty big deal for us. We had no idea that things

It Took Off Quick!They are one of my favourite bands on SellaBand - Bulletproof Messenger's album "Arm Yourself" was played more than 100 times in my car stereo. And I love their straight rock, hope you too. For this issue of 50K MUSIC MAG I talked to Jesse about their time on SellaBand, what has happened since the album release and their future plans.

5would take off like they would. Almost immediately, fans from all over the world were investing heavily in us. It took off quick! Within the first couple months we were chosen out of 3,000 acts worldwide to be flown to London, England and play a special showcase for Sellaband’s staff and some of the “Believers”. Fans/investors are called “Believers” on Sellaband. It was really cool to meet some of the new fans that were laying their own money down to support our music. We also got to meet the whole Sellaband staff who was extremely cool! Not to mention, this was our first gig in Europe – an experience we will never forget. Things continued to roll along quickly as the next few months passed. We reached the $50k budget in only 7 months, and from there we dove head first into the writing process.

50K MM: You released your album almost one year ago. What happened since then?Jesse: Since the release of our second album “Arm Yourself”, a lot has happened. One of our members, Voley Martin, is in the army and had to go to war in Iraq, so he was “M.I.A.” from the band for the first segment of 2009. We spent the majority of the year playing around the Eastern US playing with a fill in guitarist named Konstantine Sitzanis, getting a feel for the new songs and making them real tight until Voley returned. In 2009 we also saw the entry of new drummer Vince Gorski. Now that we have a solidified lineup, we are planning out our next touring season. We are still completely independent though, and searching for management, booking, and promotion help… so *hint hint* if anyone in those fields are reading this, haha!

50K MM: What are your plans for 2010 - new album, touring, ...?Jesse: 2010 is set for touring. Shows, shows shows! We are also looking for proper management like I said, but we will be taking a break from writing for a while. We are always writing individually, but we have spent so much time already putting out music that we are going to focus on the live show aspect and building up our fan base before we begin working on a new album. The internet is great for finding and reaching out to new fans, but it’s obvious to us that you cannot ignore the tried and true

method of getting out there in people’s faces and touring your ass off.

50K MM: And at last one important thing about you and your music everyone should know?Jesse: We would just like to thank everyone who has been with us since the beginning. We are still a relatively new band, but we have a very loyal fan base. You are all priceless to us, and the reason that we are still going. Don’t get me wrong, we all love music and will be creating music for the rest of our lives, but having the fan support that we are lucky enough to have puts a certain bounce in our step, to say the least. It really helps us keep motivated to continue to push this project forward. We answer all of our fan letters/emails. If you want to get in touch with us, visit www.bulletproofmessenger.net ... And be sure to check out our new album “Arm Yourself” on iTunes!

50K MM: And very last question: Do you think Crowd-(Fan-)funding is a viable and sustainable way to finance an album? Would you go this way again?Jesse: I think it is absolutely viable. It worked out great for us. I think what started as an experiment for Sellaband and its artists became (in the words of Borat) a “Great Success!”. This method takes the burden of worrying about the financial aspect of creating an album off of the artist and lets the artist focus on the music.

www.bulletproofmessenger.netBuy album here

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50K MM: Where are you from?Hind: I’m Dutch born but my father was born in Morocco

50K MM: How would you describe yourself in three words?Hind: Ha, ha, I need 5 words: Perfectionist, sweet, music, lover, independent

50K MM: Where are you coming from artistically, what are your influences?Hind: I have many influences growing up from a mix marriage and living in a multicultural society as the Netherlands are. But furthermore on an artistic level I would love to discover in depth the “Cross-pop” style that I’m developing more and more and giving it my own recognizable sound.

50K MM: How would you describe your music?Hind: As described in the last question. I’m developing

“cross-pop” as a new musical style, and I’m working on creating my own recognizable sound together with my new producer(s).

50K MM: How did you find the way to Sellaband? How has SellaBand changed your life? What were your experiences on your (admittedly short) way to 40k €?Hind: Through my boyfriend who contacted SellaBand to discuss possibilities with them. Being a professional artist I am able to generate media attention. That helped a lot in funding my album as well in supporting SellaBand as a brand. More people now have heard of SellaBand through my media actions. The speed was incredible and never expected by me or the people around me. It just boosted within 2 days to € 2900 and then at that same evening I had the chance to explain Sellaband on TV with over 1,5 million viewers and it rocketed all the way to € 11.500 within 2 hours. After that it never stopped..:) And within 11 days I reached the € 40.000 around $60.000 with the

Music Is A Quest Of Life To MeOn November 23th 2009 Hind joined SellaBand to raise the budget of 40.000 € for an album production. Within only 11 days, which marked a new record on SellaBand, she reached her goal. On December 8th she rejoined for a second run to collect an amount of 30.000 € for promotion. For this issue of 50K MUSIC MAG I talked to her about her time on SellaBand and her future plans:

7current exchange rate. So my experiences were like feeling awesome, happy, appreciated by my fans and more of those feelings.

50K MM: What kind of album can we expect? Who will be the producer? What are your plans for the album in detail?Hind: Haha I can’t tell u yet, still all a secret. But I will reveal that the minute I have my creative and financial deal signed with the producer I’m negotiating with right now.

50K MM: You immediately returned to SellaBand for a second run to fund the promotion budget for your upcoming album. What are your plans for promo?Hind: Yes the plan was always to raise € 100.000 in total, split in 3 parts. 40K for the album recording, 30K for promotions and 30K for video’s which I might split in 3 x 10K or so. Depending on how the singles will be accepted by my fans. The promotional plan includes traveling for support shows, TV performances, Radio performances local and national, interviews, putting singles and albums in the stores (which is really expensive coz of the right of return) and more like that

50K MM: And at last one important thing about you and your music everyone should know?Hind: I’m 25 years old and I have already 8 years experience as a professional singer. Music is a quest of life to me. I strive to become a better singer everyday. I still follow lessons with Setske Mostaert, one of the best vocal coaches here in the Netherlands. All to improve finesses, and discover all of the possibilities that is still hidden in my voice. My music needs to have a healthy cross-pop sound with lots of soul and feel in it. Real music with real instruments and as less programming as possible. I love to build my quality level the coming years and to be known as Hind an artist who sings and composes real music that touches your heart and/or soul when you listen to it. That would be my ultimate goal for the coming years.

50K MM: And very last question: Do you think Crowd-(Fan-) funding is a viable and sustainable way to finance an album? Would you go this way again?Hind: Hahaha… what do you think? I have been the fasted funded artist on SellaBand on an international level, with the highest amount so far $60.000 in 11 days. Of course I believe that this is a viable way to finance an album. Or else I would have accepted the record company deals that have been offered to me in 2009. It can be sustainable if the believers base would exponentially grew to around a million people. Because I believe that SellaBand needs way more believers to make this a sustainable way as an alternative to record companies for professional artists worldwide.

The other thing is that an artist or band needs to take a lot of time to make this work within a short period of time. I have been promoting everyday with all kinds of media i.e: national radio, newspapers, local radio stations interviews, local and national TV, magazines, social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc, etc. One has to be very creative and willing to put all of the effort in it to succeed with SellaBand. Nobody else will do that for you, you have to do it yourself. And next is to keep in touch with all of your believers which is almost impossible with my agenda and yet I’m trying to keep them posted as much as possible through my blog in order to give them insight in what I’m doing on a musical level.

Hind Laroussi Tahiri was born on December 3rd 1984 in Gouda, Netherlands as a child of a Moroccan father and a Dutch mother. In 2002 she participated in the Dutch Soundmixshow and made it to the finals. Hind also took part in the Dutch Idols talent show in 2003, with a third place in the finals.

In 2003 she released her debut album „Around the World“, a pop and R&B album with Portoguese and Arabic influences, which was a great success. In 2004 she received an Edison award for her debut album. „Halfway Home“, her second album, came out in 2005.

Hind represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 in Serbia with the song "Your Heart Belongs to Me".

www.hind.nlwww.sellaband.com/hind

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As the new year is just a few weeks old and the arctic temperatures have calmed down a bit, from 22 Celsius below zero to the gentle -10 of today, the Slim Void debut album is all done from the band's end of things. The songs and their sounds are tweaked as near perfection as time and circumstance allowed. Having just agreed on the order, fade outs, cross fades and gaps, the whole thing is now being sent to the mastering guys. Mastering is the very last step of the whole process before the album is sent for printing.

This last step will give the eqs a final tweak, making it sound professional and rid it of any demo feeling what so ever. Having listened to the album again twice today, surprisingly enough it just sounds better and better.

Everything is up to high standards and parts of it sound perfect to me. Thought it would just make me wanna puke at this point, having heard it a thousand times. Must be a good sign!

For all of you readers that wanna check it out, there's a teaser up at our myspace site. Please have a listen and feel free to leave us a comment: http://www.myspace.com/ slimvoid. These days we're busy rehearsing the album for our release concert which will take place at 'Blaest' in Trondheim sometime in March.

It actually sounds very good and the band is keen to get out there promoting the album.This awfully long process of making our first real album has made the band much more aware of who we are and what we are doing. The live part of what we do will benefit a great deal from that as well. Time is needed to make a band settle. Now a full year has gone by with our new line up and all that's happened have turned the band into a much more solid unit.

There is still some patience needed yet, as there's always a delay and all parts of the process seem to take more time than planned. No date set for the album release, but it will be out late March it seems. The next log will have more details regarding dates, concerts and all of this and that.

Cheers!Ronny

Album Log

Slim Void ... studio photos

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Katie Thompson Album Diary

Here is Katie's update on album production:Over Dec/Jan I've kept busy with gigs and also putting together demos of all my songs. It's summer here in NZ at the moment so I've been out in the garden and spending alot of time with family and friends. This year is going to be crazy busy so I've been planning like mad (if you seen my house you'd laugh at the lists everywhere!!!). I will have a lot more details about the album for you next month so keep an eye out! Also if you want to keep up to date with what I'm doing join my Facebook fan club (really want to get the numbers up hehe!!!).

1 Katie with her biggest fan Harry2 Katie performing on a birthday party3 Katie with her Nana at Christmas4 Katie's new home

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(PS) As an early and optimistic supporter of Sellaband, I feel confident in saying that I am not alone in wishing a successful and prosperous 2010 to the company and all of my friends, both virtual and physical, associated with the Dutch crowd-sourcing music website. That said, the past year has brought changes in policy and implementation which move me to express concerns of a nature less than positive for the first time since I became a supporter, not only of the concept itself, but of many aspiring artists on the platform.

On a positive note, there are two sub-organizations on the website which I support and admire very much. The Dream Team is a group of individual artists organized under the benevolent mentoring of Phil Sommersby. My good friend Phil offers artists the wisdom gleaned from his years in business outside of the music industry. His “out of the box” thinking has proven to be a valuable resource to up and coming artists mired in the old school solutions to new wave problems. Marketing and promotion in the music industry is changing at light speed and Phil’s common sense solutions, positivity and sense of old fashioned perseverance have built a successful track record as no less than five Dreamteamsters have secured Sellaband recording budgets during 2009. Regardless of changes in policy, members of The Dream Team continue to use the platform to serve their purposes, maintain a positive outlook and reap the rewards of Phil’s sensible eye over their shoulders.

The Collaboration Project, under the watchful eye of composer/producer Casper Van Vulpen, is having mixed success in financial terms but if it is indeed “all about the music,” then this project is the Viagra of Sellaband. Most users of the boner-inducing “vitamin V” are not aware that

it was first developed for use in treating blood pressure deficiency. In much the same way, The Collaboration Project began as a collaborative effort to raise funding for a compilation album of Sellaband artists but has morphed into a clearing house for side projects which are turning out collaborative songs and productions by artists, writers and producers from all over the ever shrinking virtual world. The latest effort includes songs written by Monica Thomas, Mark Payne, aka Dreb Hacklett of Sheet Metal, Casper Van Vulpen, Kostek Andreev and Lille Mulder and will be available worldwide this spring. Members of The Collaboration Project have joined forces in developing quite an effective production team and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a successful move toward establishing this team as an option for other Sellaband artists who may think that name producers working at a fraction of their normal fees can insure success. These guys are serious.

On the flip side of Sellaband’s 2009, there are three developments which I have found to be potentially disastrous and which only the loyalty of the old guard believers can overcome if Sellaband is to continue to become an important force in the evolution of the music industry. In no order of importance, they are:

1. The look, construction and functionality of the website. The SAB forums document the disaster and subsequent fixes that have resulted in the present incarnation. Many security issues have been satisfactorily addressed and functionality restored but as the proverbial bell cannot be unrung, the damage to Sellaband’s integrity as a commerce site could well be beyond estimation. Navigation through the site is less than intuitive, searching for new music is on a par with browsing through un-alphabetized record bins and buying the music produced by Sellaband is nearly impossible for first time visitors to the site. While Sellaband’s initial priority is to sell parts in future productions, it seems absurd that albums produced by Sellaband artists are nearly invisible and difficult to buy. Yes, there have been answers to these issues but with all due respect to the tech team working hard to make sense of it all, the answers haven’t made complete sense in the real world and Sellaband has not served their own artists as well as they might or should.

2. The new terms and conditions which allow for customized budgetary goals. It used to be a simple plan for artists…post some demos, bring your homegrown support system to the site to get things rolling, sell 5000 parts and boom, you’re in a real studio to live out your dream of making an album with the support of experts in the field. It seems that Sellaband has caved in to artists who believe it can all be done otherwise. Of course it is possible to produce something that sounds relatively like an album for a fraction of what once was a recording budget. But that isn’t the point. The original point of it all was to put unknown or inexperienced artists in contact with people

Sellaband, What Will 2010 Bring?

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who had made records and were in a position to mentor and develop artists in the ways of producing music on a scale superior to the bedroom studio. But rather than hold fast to the idea of educating and developing talent, Sellaband now allows artists to produce music on the same scale and with the same inevitable results of the typical myspace offerings.

With a budget of $50,000 on the line, there is an understandable expectation of recording quality of even second tier songs. Under the current terms believers are asked to accept well-recorded but underdeveloped material, possible hits recorded in Garageband at Home Studio Inc. and everything between. While it is accepted that there are talented artists who can record great material at a high standard for a fraction of $50,000, it must also be understood that these are exceptions and perhaps Sellaband is not the place for them. Obliterating the original budgetary goal perhaps serves the purposes of a handful of artists but it is a mistake that lowers the standards for what can be expected by those who invest in

artists they don’t personally know. And this brings me to what may be the biggest disappointment of 2009…

3. The ambassadorship of Chuck D. What was originally touted by Sellaband as a significant promotional inroad to the U.S. music buying public is fast turning into a public relations comedy of errors. One can almost hear the pies hitting the side of the building as Public Enemy’s ship floats motionless in the doldrums of believer apathy. Many thought that whistling Chuck D. on board would signal a turning point for artists like New Zealand Hip-Hopper Maitreya, Sellaband’s most viable artist of the genre to date. But instead of using the influence of a successful career and notoriety to help Sellaband or its artists, Chuck and Public enemy elbowed themselves up to the trough to get their own…establishing a goal five times the budget at the time and at a buy-in price of 250% the norm.

This tactic may have seemed like just the braggadocio needed to pique the interest of the American public but coinciding with the financial disaster that has befallen first America and then every international economy sucking at the teat of the U.S. financial industry, the direction taken by Public Enemy and sanctioned by Sellaband has done damage that will not be undone easily. When Babe Ruth pointed to the cheap seats and declared that the next pitch was ending up there, well, that’s exactly where the next pitch ended up and the episode served to further cement his legendary status. Unfortunately I don’t think that Public Enemy’s plan of attack nor Sellaband’s approval of it will do the same.

And so 2010 begins with unanswered questions, high hopes and hopefully some hard-earned lessons. To all the individuals who share my continued optimism in the promise Sellaband offers, I wish continued success, a hit song and many healthy, prosperous returns of the day. For those who disagree with my assessment, drop me a comment. and to those who have all the answers…get up off your asses and make something good happen.

Happy New Year!

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Welcome to this year's review, when you can find out my highlights and disappointments of 2009 and discover all kinds of other things such as my top artists and songs of the year.

Top 10 artists of 2009I like an awful lot of music, but this is the only time of the year you can discover who my real favourites are. As with all things, the list changes each year, often as I discover more about each artist and their music. To be eligible for this, the artist needs to be currently raising a budget on Sellaband or have completed one within the last 12 months and have posted at least one new song on that profile during that time. So here's the list for 2009

1. We Love The Underground2. Phil Tweed3. Matthew Ebel4. Civilized Tears5. Ulrik6. MOPI7. The Jade Diary8. The Lights9. Voodoo Johnson10. Conflict in the sky

Most noticeable this year is that the 2-way scrap for my affections at the top has most definitely become a 3-way scrap. And to be honest it's been so close between the top three that I don't think I actually officially decided the order until I wrote it here. Brad manages to hang onto first place by a whisker, mostly as a result of coming up with more new material than Phil. But both these two should watch out next year, because there's a very real threat of displacement coming from third place in the form of new entry Matthew Ebel. Squeezed into third place this time around partly because of being a new find and partly because although he definitely has the talent (you might want to put the innocents to bed before you check this out though), he's not quite 100% there 100% of the time. Given that he's been putting out at least 2 new songs every month, the fact he doesn't necessarily write stuff that is easy to play in the first place (watch him play live and solo when 3 hands are required for starters!) and is now going to be putting out an album every 6 months (with or without the help of Sellaband), it's obvious the odd missed note is more of a case of familiarity/practice due to the volume of material than anything else. And if this makes you worry about "filler", well I haven't seen any. I also haven't found a song that I don't like yet, and that's pretty much a rarity in itself.

Quite a few slots obviously became free this year as a result of artists leaving, going pretty much inactive, or becoming ineligible due to finishing their fundraising more than a year ago, so it's made for some quite interesting changes from last year further down in the list, as a few of my "near misses" from last time around managed to fight their way on this time against some of the newcomers, most notably Civilized Tears who went all the way up to 4th. This year the near misses are as follows: Derek Daisey, Jon Allen and Taylor Horn.

Top 20 songs of 2009Here's the list of my favourite songs for this year. To be eligible for this, the song needs to be currently on the artist's Sellaband profile and I also impose a limit of one song per artist. The new requirement for this year is that the artist must either be currently fundraising or have reached their target in the last 12 months.1. A few good men -Phil Tweed2. Who do you find - Ulrik3. Drive away - Matthew Ebel4. Feel it down - MOPI5. Drop dead girl - Mount Fabric6. Words you bleed - Derek Daisey7. Open her eyes - Silverimage8. Bad habit - Voodoo Johnson9. 7:30 plane - Matt Byers10. January blues - The Lights11. Dead man's suit - Jon Allen12. Love called me home - The Jade Diary13. The universe is burning - Marc Supsic14. My enemy - Silver and Blue15. The comedown (we are not saints) - We Love The Underground16. Country storm - Aly Cook17. Death clock - Conflict in the Sky18. Candy whore - Six Eyes Lost19. Back up - Taylor Horn20. Take me - Broken Sun

Sadly a few of the artists on this list appear to be going inactive, which is a real shame. You'll find all the listed songs in my playlist until February, when I'll revert to a playlist which only contains fundraising artists. Most interesting in this top twenty list is probably either Mount Fabric, as I feel this particular song is one of the flashes of genius that occasionally pop up from the often quite mediocre I've heard from that direction, or Silver and Blue who are so new on the site I haven't even had the opportunity to mention them in a hatchet day post yet.

Dropped the ballHere's my list of artists who I think have real music potential, but look like they're in the process of dropping the ball.1. Matt Byers2. Silverimage3. Voodoo Johnson

Review of the Year 2009And here it comes, Lucretia's (The Knifelady) review of 2009. I had to abbreviate it, but you can read the full blog post here: http://knifelady.blogspot.com/2009/ 12/review-of-year-2009.html

13Amazingly Matt still seems to be listed on Sellaband despite all the site changes and the fact I mentioned him in this category last year as having not been seen for ages round the site. The last seen date on his profile is still listed as unknown. Silverimage left a message on their own wall back in August mentioning that not only were they having problems with the site, but there was also a split in progress. Voodoo Johnson also haven't been seen around the site in more than 3 months now so the question of whether they're actually interested in fundraising any more is coming to the fore. It will be interesting to see if any of these recover or disappear over the next few months.

Sellaband albumsWhat's my favourite of the albums produced so far? Just a top 5 here as there's still a relatively small number to choose from. The main factor deciding the order is how much I like the tracks on an album and therefore how likely I'd have been to go out and buy it if I'd heard it first.

1. Arm Yourself - BulletProof Messenger2. Circles and Squares - Francis Rodino3. In Control - Nemesea4. The Elements - Second Person5. Until the Morning Light - Daniel Ward-Murphy

So interestingly, no change from last year, although I have to make special mention for Unseen by Ellie Williams at this point, as I think it's easily the best Sellaband album Tony Platt has produced to date and shows exactly why he's considered a world class producer. So from a personal point of view, whilst I have a lower liking for the songs themselves than I do for those of some other artists, I'd still say this album is highly recommended as not to be missed due to its quality.

I also got surprised by one of the album releases this year, as it contained a derivative work of a very well known song. I say derivative, because while the lyrics had been altered, the song itself was the same (just the artist's own interpretation as opposed to a straight copy). Interestingly the artist in question had had the cover (i.e. exactly the same song but with its original lyrics) on their page when they were fundraising. I'm slightly surprised Sellaband let this one through given the terms and conditions under which this album was produced, particularly as the last time I looked, the original composer was still alive, so here's hoping the correct dues have indeed been paid. Meanwhile, I'll leave you to try and work out for yourselves which artist I'm referring to.

Disappointments of the year1. Vegas DragonsLet me take you off sideways first by talking about Cubworld raising his 50K (trust me, the relevance will become clear by the end). When you consider that when Jake originally signed up to the site, he was just an airport baggage handler who sang songs for his wife and kids, the idea of giving someone like that 50K to make an album and therefore effectively get started in the music industry from nothing is like handing them a ten tonne ball and telling them they need to carry it to a finish line that's an infinite distance away. And despite starting from nothing, as soon as he was given it I've seen him try and pick that

ball up and carry it, or even effectively just keep pushing and shoving, trying to roll it on the ground towards that finish line. It's fair to say he's still an infinite distance away, but equally you can see that having been given that ball, he has both moved and is still trying to keep moving. You'll find out the full story in my hatchet day post, but this is just part of the reason why Cubworld became only the second artist on my belief list to see a parts increase since the site change - the fact that he's making that effort deserves respect ....

2. SellabandProbably no surprise here, but some of the reasons for my own disappointment may be a little bit different from what you might expect. I could probably write an entire blog on this subject alone, but let's keep it simple with a summary list of the more important ones in no particular order.

- failure to maintain "housekeeping" of inactive profiles - this was only done for a couple of months before the June site change, and we've been back at the bad old days of them not deleting inactive ones, or removing artists who are stating on their profiles they've left the site since.- coming up with a confusing and complicated incentive/plan system which seems to be just as complicated and confusing for artists to get changed. Even artists are struggling to know how to fill this in to make sense, never mind the poor believers who have to try and interpret what everything really means themselves now. Sorting out those with good intentions from the (often total) idiots is a nightmare as a result.- failure to enforce section 5.5 in the current fundraising terms and conditions. Just go back over the blogs I've posted since the last site change and look at the "help I'm lost" part of the section I have dealing with artist plans. Despite some of these plans being more than 2 months old now, they still don't conform to this section of the T&C and Sellaband appear to be doing nothing to rectify the situation. This is also only the tip of an ever increasing iceberg as far as this particular problem is concerned.- no Sellabration. 2009 was probably the last chance I would have been able to do some travelling (particularly abroad) for a while and I'd been aiming to go. It's unlikely I'll be getting out much this year, even if it does return.- isolation rather than fostering of community. I remember mentioning in last year's blog that I feared this was the way they were heading and it looks like that fear came true.

I may still be listening to and following interesting new music on the site, but is it really any wonder that even I have become somewhat apathetic as far as believing in artists is concerned?

And you shouldn't be surprised that I don't mention ArenaFest in that particular list. After all, who described it in an earlier blog post as "looking like a big if"? So whatever the story behind its failure to occur, it should be obvious that the fact it didn't happen was obviously not an entirely unexpected possibility to me, and hence couldn't be that much of a source of disappointment as a result....Read the full blog post here: http://knifelady. blogspot.com/2009/12/review-of-year-2009.html

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2009 was a very busy year for me. In March I published the first issue of 50K MUSIC MAG. At that time I never thought that it could be such a success. It became a monthly periodical with about 800 readers on average. I hope each one of these readers impatiently awaits every single issue. And maybe each of them has as much fun reading it as I have creating it.

This success story would not have been written without the continuous support of many people – the SellaBand HQ and team who supported me and spread the word, all the artists who uncomplainingly answered my questions, the people who wrote articles and reviews for the MAG (special thanks to Netvalar, Utterly B Groovy and FleurJack – only to name three) and all the other people who read the MAG, supported me in many different ways and spread the word around the world. You all made my year.

I don't want to talk too much about SellaBand – Pete and Lucretia have said a lot and I mostly agree. There are only a few thoughts I would add. The idea of SellaBand is to give artists a platform to fanfund and produce their album. But the period of afterproduction is a problem the artist (not SellaBand) has to deal with. And then we often see a lack of promotion, ideas and business experience. Please understand me right, I don't want to insult or blame artists here. But why don't you use the experience of the community, the so-called wisdom of the crowd. You should not stop once you have crowdfunded your album. You should encourage your believers to brainstorm and share your thoughts and ideas. Use this source of knowledge and experience and do not only make them street team members. I'm sure you (and your believers/fans) will profit in the end.

What we, the artists and believers, urgently have to improve is the promotion and profitability of the albums, because we are indeed in business together. Believers invested their hard-earned money and artists work just as hard to deliver a high quality album. But once the album is released, the real hard work for both parties begins. So let's tackle this problem and solve it together. Because it is not SellaBand's problem, it is ours.

I think the Collaboration Project, Dream Team, Talentcast, MAG and all the other artist and believer projects are good starting points. Please support them as much as you can to promote SellaBand artists and their albums beyond the SellaBand community as well. Even small contributions help: just be creative, critical, cooperative, inventive, demanding, … and share your thoughts and ideas with them. It is really appreciated. And of course keep on spreading the word.

I have used my Christmas holiday to develop a few ideas,

some of which are mature enough to share with you, some not. One of the mature ones is to publish a printed version of 50K MUSIC MAG. I would really like to send out a printed MAG, but I don't know if anyone wants to pay a price between 2,00 and 4,00 € (depending on the circulation) per issue plus shipping costs in Europe (1,45 € - Germany, 3,40 € - rest of Europe). For USA, Canada and UK costumers I could use a print on demand service called MagCloud. A mag issue would then cost about 4,00 $ per issue plus shipping costs.

Another one is to start a video section on www.50kmusic. com called Visual Control (please contact me in case you find a better name) including a VideoLog where I'm going to post new videos of SellaBand artists. I already have plans to expand this idea. But more on that later.

Over and about I have made a couple of small changes in design and content of the MAG. So I hope it will become more readable and you like it.

The ideas I am still working on are related to the MAG's first birthday in March 2010. I have plans for this but it is a little bit too early to share them with you. Please have a little patience. I'll keep you in the loop.

And here are my Top 20 songs of 2009:

1. Julia Marcell - "Night of the Living Dead"2. Bulletproof Messenger - "No Way Out" 3. Jon Allen - Dead Man's Suit"4. Ellie Williams - "Fin's Song"5. Francis Rodino - "Burn"6. Alex Highton - "A Song For Someone"7. Epyllion - "Just Like You"8. EES - "Metal Man"9. So What - "Sister Dance"10. The Nancy Wha - "As The Panic Grows"11. Lunic - "Masquerade"12. Banshee feat. Ellie Williams - "Sallygardens"13. Fleur Jack - "Not My Fault"14. Tender Hooligans - "Hours After Hours"15. Mount Fabric - "Drop Dead Girl"16. the Lights - "Low Hundreds"17. Broken Sun - "Take Me"18. Jon Robert - "Meant To Be"19. The Fanclub - "Poets Die Too"20. Blue Trash Can - "Primordial Touch"

What Was ... and What Will Be

MAGSubscribe to

... just send an e-mail with re "Subscribe" to mario@50kmusic.com

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50K MM: Who are you, where do you come from,...? Please tell us something about yourself. Gussie: I was born and raised in Columbus, OH. I have family in both New York and New Jersey where I spent much of my formative years around entertainment people. My Uncle James "Blinky" Miller, was a music professor who first believed in my talent. My Aunt Juanita, who was also a music teacher, MADE me sing in her church choir, where she was the choir director.

Years later, after I became an adult, I lived with my Uncle and got to know my second cousin, James Allen, who is one of the S1W in the legendary rap group, Public Enemy. I desired to sing at the Apollo Theatre, so James escorted me to the Apollo to sing at Amateur Night, because he believed so much in my talent.

My background includes being a child actor, and being on cable and national television, including WBNS TV and QUBE TV, which later became the Nickelodeon Network.

Taken under the wing early by owners of several major recording studios, I learned the art of production for commercials and TV & Film work. I learned the art of studio production under the direction of John Kiehl from the Soundtrack Group while I was singing for him doing jingles in Boston. While in Boston, million selling artist Paula Cole was a singer in a band I had in the 80¹s. (http://www.wolfram.com/products/mathematica/portraits/johnkiehl/)

I have since been a performer at Universal Studios and Disneyland ("The Lion King Celebration"). Also, I have entertained on two major cruise lines. After moving to Los Angeles from Boston, I performed and/or recorded with Gino Vannelli, LaVerne Baker, Cher, Seal, Mindi Abair and Marcus Miller. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4 RdVr8TJOM/)

While working with Marcus Miller, Marcus used my voice

for Chris Rock¹s CW Television Show, "Everybody Hates Chris". In addition, I have most recently been composing music for commercials and film, and my voice can be heard on Chris Rock¹s feature film, "I Think I Love My Wife". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everybody_Hates_Chris)

50K MM: How did you discover SellaBand?Gussie: My cousin in Public Enemy keeps me informed of everything going on with PE. He had reached out to me about the power of Sellaband in funding their current project. I checked it out and "fan funding" sounded like a great idea!

The vision for my first solo effort, "Forever Plan", began well over 10 years ago. Due to a tough divorce situation and spending much of my time and finances fighting for the custodial rights of my children, "Forever Plan" was put on hold. I also experienced a workplace accident that pushed back completing "Forever Plan". However many setbacks I encountered, I never lost sight of where I wanted to go with this project. The time has come now, to utilize the power of SAB to finally bring my vision to fruition!

50K MM: How are you going to convince people to believe (and invest) in you?Gussie: Being a performer, product spokesperson, and having been involved in multiple music projects, I have networked with many people throughout the years. I am reaching out to all of these contacts via social networking sites, such as MySpace, facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Modern Vocalist, Digg, and my blog, called "Artis Musicai", (http://artismusicai.blogspot.com/)

I am also forging co-marketing and branding agreements with companies I support, such as HeadBlade, http://www.headblade.com/

Promising NewcomersGussie Miller

16I am in contact with local and national media, including Time Warner Cable (Southern California), who has a program that is considering doing a feature piece on how I am raising capital to fund my record, using Sellaband.

50K MM: You have raised a small percentage of the budget yet. But have you thought about the time after reaching the goal of 50k yet? What are your plans then?Gussie: I have had a lot of experience in working on major albums with major artists, as a technician, engineer, producer and vocalist. This has given me a unique perspective on how to put a project together. A wise man once told me, "Most of the time it is not knowing what to do, but who to call." So, I am calling in favors from songwriters, producers, engineers and artists I have worked with over my long career as a side-man. I chose my close friend, David Isaac, who is a 4-time Grammy winner from hiswork with David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Anita Baker, and Eric Clapton, just to name a few, to co-produce and engineer "Forever Plan", because he¹s got some of the best ears I have ever heard. (http://www.titanmusicand filmworks.com/Home.html)

I also reached out to my admired friend, Tony Shepperd, who, along with me, is a Westlake Studios alumnus, to co-produce and engineer because of his work with my idols, Kenny Loggins, Sting and Take 6. Tony was one of the first people to believe in my voice and my vision, and has offered his services to be a part of my team. (http://www.tonysound.com/)

My recent experience teaching at Columbia College of Hollywood has introduced me to some amazing production talent, particularly an up and coming young director, Jonathan Lewis. Jon is slated to direct my music videos and behind the scenes DVD for a future incentive on SAB. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFWIKrcmn MY)

My band is led by my good friend and all star-musical director, Alex Alessandroni (Pink, Nelly Furtado, Christina Aguilera, Babyface, Natalie Cole). My band also includes my friends who are well known musicians on million selling CDs, including Herman Matthews (Tower of Power, Kenny Loggins, Amy Grant, Tom Jones) drumming in the project. (http://www.herman matthews.com/home.php)

My SAB plan will be the catalyst in launching my touring of major US cities; showcasing first in Los Angeles at one of the well-known clubs. I will eventually tour throughout Europe, following the lead of Marcus Miller, and establishing a lucrative international presence.

Due to Google, I have a very strong internet presence. SAB is integral in pulling all the pieces together by fan funding the "Forever Plan" project.

50K MM: And last question: How can we support you to speed up raising your budget? Gussie: It would be great to be featured on the SAB front page, just like Hind, Public Enemy and The Jeffersons. That would really help! Being featured in 50K, I'm sure will also draw attention to my project. Any exposure to your part of the world would also be appreciated!

http://artismusicai.blogspot.comwww.sellaband.com/projects/gussiemiller

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50K MM: Who are you, where do you come from, ...? Please tell us something about yourself.Alex: I was born in Liverpool, lived in London for a few years, and more recently have moved to the countryside not far from Cambridge. I'd never lived outside the city before and I was a little bit anxious as to how I would take to it. Luckily I fell in love with the life, & the village, from the moment I arrived. I've two little girls and it's nice to get out into the fields with them, although this last week we've been snowed in.

I love all types of music but the songs for this album seem to have been pretty heavily influenced by Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson & David Ackles on one side & NIck Drake, Davey Graham, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn on the other. Although I tend to just write whatever comes out and see what happens. All these songs were written in a bit of a bubble, I wasn't listening to any new music, which was strange for me.

Since I recorded the demo's at home it's been an interesting year or so. They've played my songs on the tv (Hollyoaks), the radio (Tom Robinson's BBC 6 Introducing show, a live session for BBC Suffolk, amongst others), & I've had loads of interest from various different record companies. Also the Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher stumbled across my music and started supporting me, which has lead to a lot of interest from all over the world,

for which I will be forever grateful. Considering I recorded the songs just for my own amusement, the whole thing seemed to have taken on a life of its own and I've decided to go with it.

50K MM: How did you discovered SellaBand?Alex: I had heard of the website Slice of the Pie, had a look at it and was a interested. So I started searching around for competitors to see what they did. I stumbled across Sellaband and was immediately impressed with the flexibility of the system. So I thought I'd give it a go.

50K MM: How are you going to convince people to believe (and invest) in you?Alex: This is a really hard question and one on which I've taken quite a bit of advice in the forum. I thought I may as well find out the best way forward from the people who know the site inside out.

I think the most important thing is the music and I'm hoping that people like it enough to invest! I've been getting some great reviews, BBC Introducing Suffolk & The Rebel Riffs Music Blog, have both said it's one of their favourite albums of the year, which considering it's currently collection of demo's recorded in a shed, I'm really proud of. Hopefully this shows the believer's some potential.

18

I've tried to make my incentives value for money across the board, from a 1 part believer upwards. I hadn't really done this when I first signed up.

I'm trying to engage with the community as much as possible, making sure I'm in touch with followers & believers & getting involved in the forum (where you can find a wealth of information & some really nice people).

On the other hand I'm trying to bring in outside investment. I've just signed with a fantastic booking agent (BPA Live) and they are starting to get me gigs. At each of these I'll be giving away cd's for free with information inside about Sellaband, which I'll also be mentioning during the gig.

I've been messaging my myspace fans, contacting my mailing list, twittering about the site.

Also hopefully in the near future I'll be lowering my target as well. A producer friend who is currently working on the Brian Ferry / Roxy Music project, has offered to help me at a massively reduced rate, just waiting for the costs from him. Recording starts in March, as he's agreed to wait for his money until I reach target.

I'm totally open to ideas as well. So if anyone has any please get in touch alexhightonmusic@googlemail.com.

50K MM: You have raised about 1 % of the budget so far. Have you thought about the time after reaching the goal of 50k yet? What are your plans then?Alex: I have no idea how long it will take for me to reach target. As I said the album will be recorded anyway in March, however there's no point having an album that no one ever hears of. I imagine, even with a reduced target, it could take some time. I'm in for the long haul!

Once we've raised the money I've very good contacts within the industry to work the marketing side for me, BPA Live are working on Festivals & higher profile gigs. I think in the end it will all be down to good old fashioned hard work. Lots of gigs, lots of promotion.

50K MM: And last question: How can we support you to speed up raising your budget?Alex: Help me spread the word. I need all the help i can get. There's lots of great artists on Sellaband and I'm honoured to be part of the set up.

50K MM: Who are you, where do you come from, ...? Please tell us something about yourself.Kevin: My name is Kevin Storm, and I am one of those people you heard about. You know, the kind that gives up everything in life to chase a dream, they may or may not make it. I dont really care. I make my music, I'm telling the stories I have to tell in every possible way, be it graphic novel or music, I just need to get it out of my system.

50K MM: How did you discovered SellaBand?Kevin: Not sure actually, but I think the story about people who DON'T know Sellaband is a lot harder to find :)

50K MM: How are you going to convince people to believe (and invest) in you?Kevin: I'm not. I have put the project on Sellaband and I will answer every question anyone has. I'm far too busy getting this thing into the world, in the real world. If people believe in me on Sellaband, I will be very grateful, but I'm not going to push anyone. The product speaks for itself. I'll let people on Sellaband decide what to make of it ;)I'm working on new material, writing more music, finishing the next graphic novel, let's see how my firstborn "The Comeback" holds out on it's own , haha.

50K MM: You have raised about 4 % of the budget so far. Have you thought about the time after reaching the goal of 25k yet? What are your plans then?Kevin: well, my goal is 10K, because that's the lowest option there was. (50K MM: ehem, sorry for this mistake)I'm gonna do exactly the same if I reach the goal, as I would if I don't reach it; make music, draw, write and find special musicians to collaborate with. The only difference would be, people would then actually SEE me working my ass off every day for music, hahaha.

50K MM: And last question: How can we support you to speed up raising your budget?Kevin: Listen. and forget the hype. I make music with my heart, and so did all the 13 guests. This is a story that needed to be told for ME. and somehow, everyone I know seems to understand and feel that. If I can change ONE single heart out there with this book, to decide to start pursuing what makes you happy in life, my mission is accomplished. THAT is my 100K goal :)

Th

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19

50K MM: Who are you, where do you come from, ...? Please tell us something about yourself.Eline: I am Eline Chiara and I come from a small town in the Netherlands. Currently I live in the city where I go to college. At the age of 8 I started taking piano lessons. When I was 12 I started taking singing lessons as well. The last 2 years I have been very busy writing and recording my own music. Next to being a singer I am also a songwriter and I write songs for other artists as well.

50K MM: How did you discovered SellaBand?Eline: I believe I heard something about Hind on the radio or on TV and thought I'd check out this SAB.

50K MM: How are you going to convince people to believe (and invest) in you?Eline: That's a pretty hard question. Like all other artists I offer a revenue share % and some pretty great incentives, but I just hope that everyone who enjoys listening to my music and sees how serious I am about this, will start 'believing' in me. I'm very thankful for those people that invest in me.

50K MM: You have raised about 2 % of the budget so far. Have you thought about the time after reaching the goal of 50k yet? What are your plans then? Eline: But of course, that's what you do it for you, right? I am in contact with some wonderful and talented musicians and I can't wait to start recording with them.

50K MM: And last question: How can we support you to speed up raising your budget?Eline: Shamelessly promote me, haha! I can't thank you guys enough!

Eline Chiara

(sab) The Christmas Competition has been an exciting race with three Top ten artists making it to their goal before the competition ended. The absolute winner is Hind with her album project on nr.1 and her promotion project on nr. 2. But because the album project is already on target the First prize of $1000 in parts, subscriptions to Uplaya and Youlicense and top coverage will go to the promotion project of Hind. The second prize will go to Lisa Brokop and Paul Jefferson aka The Jeffersons. Lucky third is Catself who will get $250 in parts and special coverage on the site.

The ten fundraising Artists who will make the special SellaBand download album:1) Hind2) The Jeffersons3) Catself4) Aryn Michelle5) Celeste6) Chris Difford7) Anne Marie Sunshine8) Mopi9) Public Enemy10) The Esoteric Gender

There are Artists who reached their target budget too. They will be added as bonus tracks: 11) Aly Cook12) Cubworld13) Kane Sole

The exact track listing will be announced shortly.

And the three lucky winners of the SellaBand t-shirt and a stack of all 35 SellaBand albums are:Shanna PedlerliedjeTon

(sab) SellaBand is proud to have won the Buma Stemra Interactive Company Award 2010!

Today, on the 15th of January 2010, the prestigious award has been presented during and award ceremony at Dutch Music Conference Eurosonic/ Noorderslag. Leaving Spotify and Bandcentral behind, SellaBand proved to be the most innovating concept of 2009 that serves artists and authors to exploit or market their music.

That calls for a SellaBration!

(sab) The SellaBand Team posted the sixth new playlist on SAB's YouTube Channel aptly named ‘SellaBand Video Playlist 6’.This new list features amazing artists like KOOT, Softlights and Painted On Water.

What are you waiting for? Check out the videos at SAB's YouTube Channel!!

SellaBand News

20

(FJ) Mon 11th Jan.I'll start with my SAB journey. I'm sitting on $2080 which is 10% of my goal and i'm up about $500 since my last report which is great progress!

Pavlova and The Jandals (one of my bands) had a sold out Xmas showcase in Auckland City. We played really well, made some new fans and impressed old fans with some new tracks that we've been working on. We are recording this month on the 23rd and 24th and are hoping to record most of a live album and set about releasing it in April this year.

My other band The Twitch is about to release an album and do a NZ National tour which starts Feb 5th with our Album release in our hometown Auckland. I have been a busy little bee organizing the venues, sound-men, accomodation, press/ publicity and flights among other things for the rest of the tour.

Touring sounds like a glamourous thing to do, and don't get me wrong, the actual touring part is great, (what musician doesn't love to get the chance to play to new audiences, break a few hearts along the way and see the country while getting to play their own music ?!) but the work that goes into putting a tour together is huge!

It's not just booking the venues and putting on a show, which obviously is work that does need to be done before anything else can happen but if you don't promote it, then you don't have an audience and you may as well have stayed home.

Press releases have gone out to our database and also all media (that we can possibly think of) and already we have been featured on 4 websites. We have 3 radio interviews lined up for the next couple of days and hopefully that is just the beginning.

I think that it is definitely worth mentioning that we are going to be cutting it very fine to get the album out in time for the tour so that we have physical copy's for sale at the gigs. With the public holidays and everyone being on

Christmas break, we tried to get everything ready in December but we wanted the artwork changed last minute which meant we didn't get to the printers on the other side of the holidays and as much as I know that it'll all work out in the end, I can't stop the butterflies!!

Can't wait to tell you how the tour goes!Wish Me Luck

www.sellaband.com/projects/fleurjack

Kiwi FM's Fleur Jack - An Artist's Diary (Part 2)FleurJack introduces NZ SellaBand artists on Kiwi.FM's I.A.N. every Tuesday night at 9.00 p.m. (NZ time) ... exclusively for 50K MUSIC MAG she writes her artist diary

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(NV) Well its a new year which means time to evaluate where you are on this journey we call life. This month then I would like to talk about a 10 year old girl with a dream. Who at 11 years of age turned that dream into a decision. From that decision she has reached success in her late teens. Along the way you may think to your self that it was luck. However if you read this months article you will see that she created the path for that luck to take form.

So now back to the age of 10 and the dream of music and film. This all starts with a bunch of kids getting together to perform comedic skits under the title "TheatreKids Live! ". Through this short time the comedy group's founder decided to spend more time and focus on our girl's singing. To achieve this new focus space was rented and tracks licensed for Karaoke weeknight showcases. As the audience grew to ever increasing size our girl started to hit up open mic's and other Karaoke events. It may be this early success led to the decision the following year.

What happens once you turn a dream into a decision though? What is your 1st step on such a road? I can't answer that but lets see what our darling little girl did that year. All she is doing at this time is Karaoke and yet she buys her own web domain. That initial website may have been a bit sloppy, however by the time her 1st album is released years later it gets professionally redone. Of course making a decision means knowing not just dreaming. So knowing a record deal is in the works someplace she takes her demo of Karaoke songs to Nashville. Every label in Nashville received a copy of this demo and all of them rejected her. You could say that year of turning a dream into a decision didn't pan out very well.

Returning home and attending school along with all the things a outcast teen does. Rather then accept failure she begins to write her own songs with over 200 written to date. Of course writing songs you want to hear some of the music too so she learns to play a 12 string guitar. In order to learn the guitar she would practice everyday for 4 hours a day, I am sure a day off here and there occurred. This along with additional trips to Nashville, where she would co-write additional songs with other songwriters, would lead to her becoming one of the youngest songwriters signed with Sony/ATV Music. Of course getting your songs published is not the same as getting yourself recorded with your own album.

Now 15 and a publishing deal for her songs, along with her families support to such a degree that they move from Pennsylvania to outside Nashville. Constantly finding and playing where she could bring her songs to more people. Someplace along the way RCA Records talked to her about a development deal. This deal would have kept her in development until the ripe old age of 18 thus our now teen age girl declined. When you have turned your dreams into a decision you know when to say no and when to say yes. That yes comes by way of an unemployed record exec who tells her he wants to sign her but has no label to sign her to. So what does an unemployed record exec do when a talented 15 year old says yes to a deal that can't exist. I

suppose he goes out and starts up a record label because that is exactly what he did. So at the age of 16 she becomes the 2nd artist to sign with Big Machines Record (I can' find any connections with a major label either other then distribution).

Now 20 years old Taylor Swift has received numerous awards and nominations. Just to name a few Entertainer of the Year, International Artist Achievement Award, and Songwriter/Artists of the Year. So how does she stay relevant to her fans you may ask? Growing up in the social networking age we live in today. Early on she would spend up to 30 minutes (maybe more) a day connecting with her fans. Thanking them for everything from a comment on her Myspace profile to just saying how grateful she is for them being a fan. This has led to her becoming the number 1 country artist on Myspace with over 40 million streams of her music. In 2007 she even took one of her awards with her on tour and let her fans pose for pictures with the award.

I read this and think of it as inspiring and even a little bit lucky. But I also see in all of this how that luck was created rather then waited for. So for your new year what decisions can you make that will lead to your success?

www.evolutioncoop.com

Decide and succeed or continue to dream(Written by Netvalar)

22

Since the last interview with ' 50Kmusic ' magazine in December, the Civilized Tears project has been moving at a dizzyingly fast pace.

By the end of 2009 all the tracks had been fully arranged and produced in New York and London.

American Producer/Guitarist, Jeff Thall, is the main man behind the production on the album and he wrapped up the final tweaks and details of the tracks by mid-December. My appreciation and deep thanks go out to Jeff for his extreme dedication and magnificent job of bringing my vision to life.

Mike Cozzi was also involved in Co-producing one of the tracks and I would also like to extend my gratitude to him for his generous encouragement and advice throughout.

The production of the album was not an easy ride by any stretch of the imagination and there were many ups and downs. At some points we felt completely lost and then somehow we'd manage to find a way out of the misty maze and find the creative answers. Sometimes there were voices raised in frustration, but there was also a lot of love & laughter and some truly beautiful moments of free-flowing musical expression. I guess the production mirrored the emotional roller-coaster that had inspired me to write the songs in the first place.

On January 5th, we started the mixing process in New York with Steve Hardy. Steve has been in the business for 15 years and has worked with many of the world's most famous bands and artists including: Bono, Prince, Razorlight, Pink ,Beyonce, Jay Z & Santana, amongst many others. (Please see his website for more details: http://www.rockmixer.com )

It's always an anxious moment to see how another musician will interpret your music and I am happy to say that Steve has more than exceeded my expectations.

This is my first experience with a top Mixer and it has been an incredible adventure. We are now 7 songs into the album and I am amazed how each song has taken on a new life.

I wrote the songs on acoustic guitar, then played them with my band, but now the songs have moved into a whole other dimension.

Steve has managed to weave an intricate mesh of sounds into the music and there's a lot of drama and cinematic landscapes in the material. Each song is like going on a journey. It will be very exciting to see how the album sounds once the mixing is completed.

The next step is Mastering which really adds the final finish and polish to the songs. I will reveal who the Mastering Engineer is very soon.

It is going to be really interesting to see how the believers , supporters and fans of Civilized Tears will take to this Album.

I guess you just never know if people will like it or not. That's the risk of trying to make a living from doing music, but it's also a risk that I am willing to take and enjoy immensely !

Thanks for tuning-in , Tim Bennett of Civilized Tears

Civilized Tears ... Album Update(by Tim Bennett)

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Aly CookItalked to Aly and asked, how album production runs. And she gave me short update: "Yes, my full focus is now on working with Alan Jansson on which songs we will record. Alan Jansson is producing .. http://www.alanjansson.com . check out his site .. and you could write a little about him .... I'm hoping to make a start on vocals in Feb. Maybe end of Jan depending on how it goes ..I'm also focused on my live webcast The Kiwi

Sofa LIVE WEBCAST & CHAT .. This is live EVERY Saturday .. USA 1.00pm PST and 4.00pm EST in UK 9.00pm and in Europe 10.00pm and in NZ and

Australia that is a Sunday at 10.00am for NZ and 8.00am for Australia .. The site is best viewed in an open source browser like Fire Fox :) http://go.yaplet.com/?url= http://www.alycook.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=55 - that link takes you to the chat and screen ..

I will take the Kiwi Sofa in the studio with me when I travel to record .. so all the sella friends will see the studio etc. "

Cubworld(sab) He did it! Jacob Kongaika aka Cubworld has raised $15,000 and will hit the studio for the second time through the SellaBand platform. He first raised $50.000 in January 2007 and recorded his album Step Lightly Create Out Loud in New York together with the guys from Brooklyn Noise Productions. He was the second artist on SellaBand ever to reach the target and now he's the first artist to raise yet another budget for his second album. Jake is planning to go more acoustic this time, staying more true to his musical heart.If you haven't heard the great music of Cubworld please visit his store and download a free songOr go to his new profile to congratulate him.

Chris Difford(sab) Chris Difford has decided to make all parts invested in The Full English project RECOUPABLE.This means whatever you have invested, Chris will return it to you once he starts making money back on sales. Pro-rata revenue share on profit will follow. This is a new way of using the SellaBand platform to the fullest and a great example of artist and fan collaboration. Check his profile to read more.

KirtSongs from the new album of my band Neon Legion are streamabe now and the networks are all set up! Check out the newest song "Twin" acoustic version on myspace! Also new: "Twin" album version and "Wicked Men".http://www.myspace.com/neonlegion

Become a fan on Facebook Pages:http://www.facebook.com/neonlegionor on iLike:http://ilike.com/artist/neonlegionand follow me on Twitter:http://www.twitter.com/neonlegion

NemeseaOn December 16th Nemesea gave a very special concert in Haarlem, Holland.

Every year the DJs of Dutch radio station 3FM establish themselves for a few days in a house of glass without any food. During this period they try to collect as much money as possible for charity. Last year the money went to the Red Cross for fighting Malaria. The University of Haarlem (Hogeschool InHolland) also had a version of the house of glass. A couple of students made a 31 hour radio show (Feelin Radio) without eating anything.The purpose of this show is collect money for the Red Cross.

Nemesea were invited to come and play a few songs in Haarlem. And of course they said yes to this amazing opportunity to contribute. So they came up with some nice ideas to collect some good money for charity.

Radius(sab) Dutch rock band Radius will release their first single of their SellaBand album during the Dutch Music Conference Noorderslag. The single will be included in hand-outs that will be given away to 3000 visitors during the conference on the 14th, 15th and 16th of January. For their Believers they'll add a link on their website to download the singles. Stay tuned for the download link. The full album is expected to be released in April 2010.

www.sellaband.com/radiuswww.radiusrock.com

Francis RodinoFrancis released a brand new track called "The Other Side" exclusively for e-team members. He's working with Ruth Lorenzo, last year's X-Factor finalist, on her upcoming EMI album (due for March 2010).And ... his album is now for free for e-team members ... so, come and join the e-team on www.francisrodino.com.

Kane Sole(sab) If one man deserves to reach his target then it's our friendly singer songwriter Kane Sole from New Zealand. He signed up on SellaBand three days after the launch of our platform back in 2006 and today he officially closed his full budget of $15.000. As one of our "founding Artists" it's needless to say that he holds a special place in our hearts here at SellaBand HQ. Kane plans to hit the studio in February 2010. Well done Kane, you are number 41 to have reached the target!

And I will try to get him for next issue of 50K MUSIC MAG!

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Here's the December edition of the "monthly charts of truth", observing the movement in the Top 100 artists.

Interestingly, the total sum of $67,453 invested is only a little bit less than last month ($67,895), but with the €/$ exchange rate used it would be even more than $80,000. The numbers of winners and loosers are almost equal, there were 48 artists gaining money, 41 artists loosing money, 11 didn't move in budget.

Four artists reached the goal in December, it's Hind (€40,000), Aly Cook ($20,000), Kane Sole and Cubworld ($15,000 each). As you can see, there was no regular $50k artist this month, but a lower goal is possible to be reached.

Calculated back to $, more than 50% of the total money spent in December went to Hind: €19,230 for the Hind Album Project, reaching the €40k goal, and another €10,010 on the 2nd Phase, the €30k Hind Promotion Project. The €40k was reached very quickly, officially in 11 days, but that's only part of the truth. Things go a lot slower for the 2nd Phase, but still, €10k reached in three weeks is not that bad.

These two Hind projects are #1 and #2 of the monthly gainers. On #3, there's another custom artist, The Jeffersons.

They newly joined in December and already reached $7,060, which was enough for being #3. On #4, there's the number one finnish artist, Catself, who gained $6,170, followed by the two artists who reached their goal, Aly Cook ($5,420) on #5 and Cubworld ($4,890) on #6. Where's last month's hype artist, Public Enemy, you might wonder? The $2,250 they gained was only enough for #15.

There are only two bigger losers in December, it's Konstrust (-$1,430), a band who once had more than $10k, but decided to leave Sellaband. With -$1,290, Seth Warden lost more than 50% of the budget and has only $1,260 now, from the $9k they once had in June. It's not officially announced, but it looks like they are leaving, too. #3 of the loosing artists is Electric Fence (-$510), a band that decided to leave already some months ago. #4 may be an interesting case: Band Without Borders lost $300: They were one of the newly introduced custom artists in October, but without activity, being a 'premium' doesn't help much: Their last seen date is in October, too.

My forecast for January: If nothing unexpected will happen (like a big TV show for Hind, or another well known premium artist joining Sellaband), it will be a slow month, with no artist reaching the goal, and a much lower sum invested.

Monthly Charts of Truth(by Thor)

Here's the complete Top and Bottom 10:

Top 101 Hind Album 192302 Hind Promotion 100103 The Jeffersons 70604 Catself 61705 Aly Cook 54206 Cubworld 48907 Aryn Michelle 43608 Celeste 42809 Chris Difford 395010 MOPI 3540

Bottom 109 24-7 Spyz -1009 The Collaboration

Project -1009 Conflict In The Sky -1008 SANDBOX

Theory -1607 Mua'Dib and

The Awakening -1906 Blister -2105 Wetwerks -2604 Band without borders -3003 Electric Fence -5102 Seth Warden Band -12901 Kontrust -1430