7 Of The Best Music Sites and Blogs

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7 Of The Best Music Sites and Blogs

We have scanned the internet and asked members what they think are the 7 of the best music sites and blogs. Basically, what's hot and what's not! Our choices may well differ from yours, so let's have the debate. Many things have changed in recent months and will change at an even greater pace now. With online streaming services we can enjoy our music for free or at a low cost. So let's get started with the ones we love.

1. Water and Music

We love Water and Music which is an audio companion to the email newsletter of the same name, dedicated to unpacking the fine print behind big ideas in music and technology. The title comes from a conversation between Quincy Jones and Kendrick Lamar, in which the former declares: "The last things to leave this planet will be water and music."

Host Cherie Hu is an award-winning freelance journalist and analyst focusing on the intersection of music, media and technology, with regular bylines in publications including Billboard, Forbes and Music Business Worldwide.

2. vampr

We love Vampr. Vampr is an app that helps you discover, connect and collaborate with fellow musicians, the music industry and music lovers alike. Vampr stats show 33,798,736 swipes and 5,017,135 connections made in 198 countries worldwide.

3. Pitchfork

We also love Pitchfork. Pitchfork has some awesome features such as best new music, and we really like the music reviews. The writers seem to be in the know and very much "thought leaders" in the music industry. They are continually updating the website with the latest information related to the music industry. In addition, Pitchfork hosts its own music festival which will be held in Chicago this year.

4. Hypebot

We also love Hypebot. Hypebot is one of the most well-known online music sites in the industry, and there is good reason for that! The site is updated very regularly, so you know you are getting all the latest information possible.

They also cover other areas such as “Music Tech”, “DIY” and “Charts”. You can also sign up to the Hypebot newsletter to get the daily lowdown on everything happening straight to your inbox!

Hypebot covers a wide variety of topics in the music industry, so no matter what you are looking for, you’ll probably be able to find it here. They also have a charts section where you can filter by “emerging artists” or “established artists” as well as the country and city. And of course you can play artist tracks.

5. YourEDM

Our next site is Your EDM, dedicated to Electronic Dance Music. Everything you need to stay up to date with the latest in electronic music can found here. This includes all the latest news as well as featured articles and sub-sections/ genres of EDM, like house and bass.

On this site you even have the ability to download free songs, from a variety of different artists trying to make a name for themselves in the industry.

All the different sub-genres are listed on the site, so even if your taste is really narrow in EDM, you can still find some great information. New info almost daily. Make sure you follow them on social media to get updates on the latest information.

6. All Music

Next on our it's-gotta-be-hot list is All Music. All Music doesn’t really have as much news on the music industry as the others listed here, but their focus is mainly on providing information in new music and helping visitors discover their next obsession.

They also provide recommendations if you create an account, and once you have rated albums, you will get recommendations on what to listen to next. Covering from all common genres including pop, rap, electronic, classical, blues, country and more. They provide an in-depth review of all the latest albums and give options on how to stream the tunes if you want to.

There are three different ratings available to view, “All Music Rating”, “User Ratings” and “Your Rating” so you can have a more detailed view on what people think about a particular album.

7. JEENI

Last but not least we love Jeeni, a new platform for Independent Musicians and Performers. JEENI is a multi-channel streaming service for original and unsigned talent. Jeeni provides a showcase for musicians and performers to put their talent in the spotlight, giving superfans the power to make them stars. The Jeeni promise is to treat their creative talent ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect. Additionally, Jeeni publishes its own blog, all about Jeeni and current industry news.

Most importantly Jeeni commits to – No hype. No adverts. No rip-offs. No Fakes, and making sure that the artists get 100% of their direct sales. Find out more here

That's all Folks!

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05
Jun

How to Build Your Own Playlist

In our previous blog called, "Top Ten Tips on How to Promote your Music Independently" http://bit.ly/2W2nCJ5 we suggested you get yourself PLAYLISTED. Maybe we should have said, Build your own Playlist and then get yourself Playlisted. So what is the difference? Building your own PLAYLIST is an easy way to boost the promotion of your own music, so why not give it a go. The video is 3 minutes long so I have taken the highlight. (Approx. 60 second read time) Start by creating your own public playlist filled with great music, and include your own tracks too. With a small amount of work you you could get a few hundred followers, it'll still help your chance of landing on other, bigger playlists. With a lot of work and fun, you could build your playlist to have thousands or even millions of followers over time. Discover Weekly algorithm takes EVERY playlist into account, no matter how small. The algorithms behind Discover Weekly find users who have built playlists featuring the songs and artists you love. It then goes through songs that a number of your kindred spirits have added to playlists but you haven't heard, knowing there is a good chance you might like them too.Ideally, you want to be uploading & submitting your tracks to playlists weeks in advance of your release. For example Spotify alone get 20,000 new tracks every day. Make sure you get your tags rights so you can be featured automatically and help the editors find you. No guarantee, but you need to start somewhere. Share your music on your own social media platforms to get on a playlist, stay on a playlist and grow your fanbase. Drive traffic from off platform, that means share your links everywhere. Post them on your socials, website and other channels. You can only submit one track per release, so if you're releasing an album or an EP, have a good think about which track is most likely to get picked by a playlist. Pitch your music to independent curators, if you are not sure how to do this, keep a eye out for our next blog. Try not to disheartened if you do not get thousands of followers straightaway, keep choosing music you love and keep adding to your playlist, be true to yourself, only add your favorite tracks and have some fun. Check out our new community of facebook, called: Unsigned Artist Community and join today. http://bit.ly/2Q45ri8 https://vimeo.com/396927442

06
Jun

Meet The Curators Behind Spotify Playlists - the A and R Dictatorship

Landing on an official curated Spotify playlist is for many artists a holy grail. To provide some insight, we hear from a Spotify editor about how they find the songs which eventually make the cut. Spotify seems to be the opposite of Jeeni, where the process is democratic and those artists that start trending are based on real votes, and whilst technology has moved on they are still in the dark ages where their music is still decided and dictated by A&R agents. And unlike Jeeni.com, with Spotify if they don't like the look of you, then you're not coming in! Guest post from Spotify for Artists by Khalilia Douze A Spotify editor explains how they discover songs to include in their curated lists. Being added to a Spotify playlist remains the dream for most emerging artists, as it exposes their work to some of the most-clicked on playlists in the world. But for many musicians and their teams, the behind-the-scenes process still feels shrouded in mystery. While there’s no formula for scoring a coveted slot on Pollen or RapCaviar, there is rhyme and reason to how the massive team of editors curate tracks. We spoke with one Spotify staffer, who helps oversee R&B playlists such as the genre flagship Are & Be, The Newness, Soul Coffee, Soul Lounge the Black Lives Matter playlist and more, to learn about their process and tips on how musicians can stand out when pitching unreleased music through Spotify for Artists. Spotify for Artists: What strategies do you use to curate playlists? The strategy is based on the playlist itself. Each has its own hypothesis, theme, or audience that we’re thinking about. If it’s one of the genre-specific playlists, like Are & Be, that’s the home for the current, biggest songs in that space. The Newness is new releases or developing artists. Chilled R&B, Soul Coffee, those playlists have a mix of current and some legacy and catalog artists. It really all depends on what the goal of the specific playlist is. What are you listening for when you’re curating? I’m listening for lyrics. I’m listening for melody. A lot depends on the playlist itself, and sometimes that’s the filter that I have. When I’m listening, [I’m like] Oh, this song would do good in this playlist or, This song could fit here for this moment. A lot of it is based on the audience. You have the specific genres, but then there’s a lot of cases where those lines are blurred. The instrumentation and the beat can determine an audience, so [we think about] where we believe the audience is for that particular song. Does song length play a role in how you’re curating? It depends on the playlist. Soul Coffee is more of a relaxing [vibe]. In our minds, that’s one of those where you would just get up in the morning and that’s what you throw on while you’re getting ready, eating breakfast, or reading a book on Sunday. I know that the people will just have it on, so that playlist has a longer time spent listening as opposed to the flagship, Are & Be, and The Newness. For The Newness, when people are listening to that or one where it’s developing artists and new releases, that’s more about discovery. People may not spend a lot of time listening to that playlist—it’s about skimming and seeing what’s out. Can you walk me through how you use the submission tool to discover music? Labels pitch to us every week. We’re able to get their submissions through there, but they also communicate with our Artist Label Partnership team. We’ll talk to them [about] what their plan is for their priorities. There’s a ton of music—it’s countless. That’s pretty much the majority of Mondays and Tuesdays, listening to the pitches that come in for that week. It goes to our whole team. We listen to everything. The rest of the week is updating the playlists and finding the space for them, reviewing what songs are already in the playlist, looking at the performance, and things like that. When it comes to tags in the submission form, what advice do you have? People should be as specific as possible and fill out every single thing to make sure it goes to the right people. Different editors might have different filters to differentiate. I’m listening for if it’s a cool song first and foremost, but past my opinion of it, do I know if there’s a home for it? It’s about being able to find it and [seeing] where it can fit. I’ve seen entries where it would literally just be the artist name and their title—that’s how it gets lost in the abyss. We’re not omnipotent, so we don’t know what we don’t know. Are there any rules about how many times an artist can be playlisted? No. Every curator is different and has [their] own philosophy on what songs are in a playlist. There’s no concrete rule. Click HERE to visit or return to jeeni.com

19
Mar

Something for the Weekend

Need a little listening inspiration? With all the new music on offer, across the many genres available, it's difficult to know where to start. Allison Hussey and Madison Bloom of Pitchfork create a Friday Newsletter each week, to keep you up to date with the weeks new releases. If you're trying to decide on something for the weekend, here are their recommendations from this weeks releases. Lana Del Rey: Chemtrails Over the Country Club [Polydor/Interscope] Lana Del Rey Lana Del Rey announced Chemtrails Over the Country Club almost a year ago. The Norman Fucking Rockwell! follow-up, which was pushed back from an autumn 2020 release, was led by “Let Me Love You Like a Woman” and the title track. The album also includes"Tulsa Jesus Freak" which the singer had teased with an Instagram post last summer. Benny the Butcher/Harry Fraud: The Plugs I Met 2 [Black Soprano Family/SRFSCHL] Benny the Butcher Griselda MC Benny the Butcher and producer Harry Fraud have joined forces for The Plugs I Met 2, a nine-track release featuring 2 Chainz, Fat Joe, Jim Jones, and more. The new project follows Benny’s 2020 album Burden of Proof, which was recorded at the same time as The Plugs I Met 2. Check out the music videos for 2’s “Thanksgiving” and “Plug Talk.” Sofia Kourtesis: Fresia Magdalena EP [Technicolour] Sofia Kourtesis Fresia Magdalena is the third EP from Berlin-based electronic producer Sofia Kourtesis, joining last year’s Sarita Colonia and her 2019 self-titled EP. The project features four songs, including “La Perla,” which Kourtesis built around field recordings she made in her home city of Lima, Peru. Mare Cognitum: Solar Paroxysm [I, Voidhanger/ Extraconscious] Mare Cognitum Portland musician Jacob Buczarski makes black metal under the name Mare Cognitum. Solar Paroxysm is Buczarski’s fifth album under the moniker, following last year’s Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine. Loretta Lynn: Still Woman Enough [Legacy] Loretta Lynn Still Woman Enough is the 50th album from 88 year-old country star Loretta Lynn, following 2018’s Wouldn’t It Be Great. Intended to celebrate the presence of women in country music, the project features new songs, as well as re-interpretations of classics from Lynn’s catalog. Margo Price, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, and Tanya Tucker all make guest appearances on the record. Show Me the Body: SurviveEP [Loma Vista] Show Me The Body New York City hardcore punk band Show Me the Body are back with a new EP. Survive follows their 2019 full-length Dog Whistle. The group produced the three songs with Gabriel Millman and Patrik Berger; the EP is also mixed and mastered by Arthur Rizk. Surviveis the first project that Show Me the Body wrote and recorded completely in their CORPUS studio. “The songs deal with spiritual and physical isolation, as well as staying ready and preparing for the next time we come together,” they said. www.jeeni.com www.pitchfork.com

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