Right now, THIS is your Spring Break Anthem!! Download it here: http://bit.ly/a9o6ih

If you are in the Albany, NY area, make sure you check out their show Saturday, Dec. 5th at Valentine's!

For more pics see our facebook album here.

In the early ‘70s, three brothers—Dannis, David, and Bobby Hackney—begin playing quick-tempo, high-velocity, hard rock as the revolutionary Detroit band, Death. Heavily influenced by the wild on-stage antics, political-tinged lyrics, and kick-in-the-face raw rock of fellow Detroit bands MC5 and the Stooges, as well as the high energy of more mainstream bands such as The Who in England, Death unknowingly helped create the genre of punk rock that later hit the music world full-force. Ahead of their time, Death, unfortunately, never had their moment in the spotlight. After changing musical directions; the three brothers moved to Burlington, Vermont. The Hackney’s continued to develop their musical interest and eventually settled down and raised families of their own, the days of Death seemed only a memory of the distant past.

Check out a sample of their music:

Hear more of their music at www.myspace.com/roughfrancis

30 years after the group disbanded and after the passing of David Hackney, sons Julian, Urian, and Bobby Hackney Jr., unearthed the original Death recordings in their father’s attic.  Already well steeped in the hardcore and punk scene since youth and inspired by the power and magnitude of their father’s recordings, the boys along with friends Steven Hazen Williams and Dylan Giambatista created Rough Francis as a way to help spread the word of Death and the newly re-discovered music. The bands name, Rough Francis, was in tribute to David Hackney, who created the moniker for himself years earlier. Shortly after forming, Rough Francis began playing and developing their own style and sound while sharing their own form of punk rock to select audiences. Although the loud howls, high-energy stage presence, and raw, gritty rock of Rough Francis echoes Death, they are exploring a musical style unique to them.  Their sound has appealed to a wide range of fans, from the most core punk enthusiasts to backpacker hip hop kids.

Fueled by their wide spread appeal but anchored in their core roots, Rough Francis has had a great year. They’ve performed at the annual Joey Ramone memorial Birthday Bash and opened for hip hop heavyweight Mos Def. The band has been steadily gaining acclaim for their energetic performances from critics all over, which has included a feature in the New York Times in March of 2009 and mentions on Spin.com, to name a few. They are currently in the studio recording for a release set for early 2010 and getting out on the road performing at various clubs in select cities.

The sons of Death are born; Rough Francis is inviting the world to take part and bare witness as a new generation evolves from a family story made for movies.

Check out this video from the upcoming documentary "Where Do We Go From Here?":

To learn more about Death check out http://www.wheredowegofromheredoc.com/

Watch Walter's brand new music video for Arthur Lee directed by Heidi Hartwig:

Learn more about Walter at his myspace page or at www.waltertown.com.

Check out photographer/cinematographer Heidi Hartwig's work at www.heidihartwig.com.

The opening—with additional marketing support from OKAY!! OKAY!!, FutureClaw magazine, and the Scuffer Steak & Ale House—will be held on Friday, November 6, from 6 to 9 pm.
Regular exhibition hours will be Monday-Friday, 8:30 am-5:30 pm.
The JDK Gallery
47 Maple Street, Burlington, Vermont   Tel: 802.864.5884

As part of an on-going series with the JDK gallery, OKAY!! OKAY!! Lends a hand with this amazing show. For all media inquires please  reach out to us directly at info@okay-okay.com

In-Studio features the work of artists living with autism-spectrum disabilities whose creative talents qualify them to participate in an immersive studio program. The artists are led in group projects by Marshall Harmon, Workshop Visiting Artist. Artists Matt Murphy (Art Specialist and a founding team member of LAND) and Susan Metrican (Gallery/Habitation Coordinator) guide and support each artist's personal exploration.

Established in 2005, LAND is the latest program of the League Treatment Center, a unique studio that helps artists develop their skills in a nurturing environment, as well as market their vibrant work. LAND has gained worldwide support from curators, collectors, writers, and arts organizations, dedicated to social change and the expansion of the art world. For more on LAND, check out The League Treatment Center website at http://www.leaguetreatment.org

Tangent features the work of Marshall Harmon, Matt Murphy, and Susan Merrican from the LAND studio. All three artists differ in style, yet each draws inspiration from LAND's creative environment.

Purchase Blood at www.zachhooperphoto.com

-96% of Gen Y are members of social networks.

-If Facebook were a country, it would be the world's 4th largest.

-Ashton Kutcher and Ellen DeGeneres have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of Ireland, Norway and Panama combined.

The revolution will not be televised.

via: socialnomics.net/

I posted a message on Twitter yesterday stating I thought The Beastie Boys and TopSpin Media "got it right" regarding how to sell music in this day and age. Here's a link to their store:

[illcommunication.beastieboys.com]

Shortly thereafter, I got some responses from people stating the usual "yeah, if you're an established artist – what if you're just trying to get heard?" argument. In an interview I did recently this topic came up and I'll reiterate what I said here.

If you are an unknown / lesser-known artist trying to get noticed / established:

* Establish your goals. What are you trying to do / accomplish? If you are looking for mainstream super-success (think Lady GaGa, Coldplay, U2, Justin Timberlake) – your best bet in my opinion is to look at major labels and prepare to share all revenue streams / creative control / music ownership. To reach that kind of critical mass these days your need old-school marketing muscle and that only comes from major labels. Good luck with that one.

If you're forging your own path, read on.

* Forget thinking you are going to make any real money from record sales. Make your record cheaply (but great) and GIVE IT AWAY. As an artist you want as many people as possible to hear your work. Word of mouth is the only true marketing that matters.
To clarify:
Parter with a TopSpin or similar or build your own website, but what you NEED to do is this – give your music away as high-quality DRM-free MP3s. Collect people's email info in exchange (which means having the infrastructure to do so) and start building your database of potential customers. Then, offer a variety of premium packages for sale and make them limited editions / scarce goods. Base the price and amount available on what you think you can sell. Make the packages special – make them by hand, sign them, make them unique, make them something YOU would want to have as a fan. Make a premium download available that includes high-resolution versions (for sale at a reasonable price) and include the download as something immediately available with any physical purchase. Sell T-shirts. Sell buttons, posters… whatever.

Don't have a TopSpin as a partner? Use Amazon for your transactions and fulfillment. [www.amazon.com]

Use TuneCore to get your music everywhere. [www.tunecore.com]

Have a realistic idea of what you can expect to make from these and budget your recording appropriately.
The point is this: music IS free whether you want to believe that or not. Every piece of music you can think of is available free right now a click away. This is a fact – it sucks as the musician BUT THAT'S THE WAY IT IS (for now). So… have the public get what they want FROM YOU instead of a torrent site and garner good will in the process (plus build your database).

The Beastie Boys' site offers everything you could possibly want in the formats you would want it in – available right from them, right now. The prices they are charging are more than you should be charging – they are established and you are not. Think this through.

The database you are amassing should not be abused, but used to inform people that are interested in what you do when you have something going on – like a few shows, or a tour, or a new record, or a webcast, etc.
Have your MySpace page, but get a site outside MySpace – it's dying and reads as cheap / generic. Remove all Flash from your website. Remove all stupid intros and load-times. MAKE IT SIMPLE TO NAVIGATE AND EASY TO FIND AND HEAR MUSIC (but don't autoplay). Constantly update your site with content – pictures, blogs, whatever. Give people a reason to return to your site all the time. Put up a bulletin board and start a community. Engage your fans (with caution!) Make cheap videos. Film yourself talking. Play shows. Make interesting things. Get a Twitter account. Be interesting. Be real. Submit your music to blogs that may be interested. NEVER CHASE TRENDS. Utilize the multitude of tools available to you for very little cost of any – Flickr / YouTube / Vimeo / SoundCloud / Twitter etc.

If you don't know anything about new media or how people communicate these days, none of this will work. The role of an independent musician these days requires a mastery of first hand use of these tools. If you don't get it – find someone who does to do this for you. If you are waiting around for the phone to ring or that A & R guy to show up at your gig – good luck, you're going to be waiting a while.

Hope this helps, and I'll scour responses for intelligent comments I can respond to.

TR

TopSpin Media info:
[topspinmedia.com]

(disclaimer)
This was written on a bumpy Euro-bus ride across the wilderness – may ramble a bit but I think the point gets across.
TR

UPDATE 1:
Thanks for the insightful comments already – when I get a moment (and a reliable internet connection) I'll respond to some of your very valid points. Please keep in mind – these were just some thoughts I quickly wrote down and posted and not meant to be a complete guide by any means. I've neglected to get into publishing and some other things. I'll update pretty soon.

UPDATE 2:
Here's a message from Ian Rogers of TopSpin
[forum.nin.com]

UPDATE 3:
Here's a few responses – more to come when I get time.

Bandcamp
[bandcamp.com]

This looks excellent to me. I have not used it but it appears to be great. This would cover your digital distribution of files and the collecting / amassing of your database. Looks like you'd still need someplace to handle fulfillment of merchandise / physical goods (like the Amazon link above).

Pay-what-you-want model
This is where you offer tracks or albums for a user-determined price. I hate this concept, and here's why.
Some have argued that giving music away free devalues music. I disagree. Asking people what they think music is worth devalues music. Don't believe me? Write and record something you really believe is great and release it to the public as a "pay-what-you-think-it's-worth" model and then let's talk. Read a BB entry from a "fan" rationalizing why your whole album is worth 50 cents because he only likes 5 songs on it. Trust me on this one – you will be disappointed, disheartened and find yourself resenting a faction of your audience. This is your art! This is your life! It has a value and you the artist are not putting that power in the hands of the audience – doing so creates a dangerous perception issue. If the FEE you are charging is zero, you are not empowering the fan to say this is only worth an insultingly low monetary value. Don't be misled by Radiohead's In Rainbows stunt. That works one time for one band once – and you are not Radiohead.

Why put something on iTunes for a price fans can get it from your site for free? Won't it piss people off?
Do it and don't worry about it. Lots of people apparently shop at iTunes exclusively and that's where they get their music. They are generally not the people that would be mad to discover they could have gotten the same record (at a better bit-rate) for free elsewhere. We put The Slip up at nin.com for free at all fidelities and STILL sold a fairly large amount of copies at iTunes for $9.99. At the time iTunes did not allow variable pricing (I don't know what the deal is now).

My Flash comments
I don't hate Flash, just go easy on it and avoid anything that takes time to load – ESPECIALLY your front page.

Managers / booking agents / small labels
Any or all of these may be good for you – or not. Here's a truth: nobody knows what to do right now, me included. The music business model is broken right now. That means every single job position in the music industry has to re-educate itself and learn / discover / adapt a new way. Change can be painful and hard and scary. If any of these entities we're discussing are interested in you, ask them about their strategies IN DETAIL. None of them know for sure what to do. Some of them have an idea of how to negotiate these waters. Most of them don't. If you are young and use the internet, you know more about your audience than they do – for sure. This is a revolution and you can be a part of it. The old guard is dying, if you have good ideas – try them.
Bottom line – before getting involved with anyone else, ask yourself what it is they can clearly bring to your table and is it worth their cut. Do they know what they're talking about, and does their strategies match yours?

I have not gotten into the basics which I believe are self-evident: believe in what you do, do the best work you can, work hard, practice, practice more, find your voice, hone in on it, take chances, play live (if applicable), practice more, keep believing in yourself and prepare for the long haul.

via: www.nin.com

OKAY!! OKAY!! will be working with Futureclaw in regards to advertising and marketing opportunities. Any companies interested in getting involved, please contact us directly at info@okay-okay.com.

Media kit/ad rates available upon request.

Check out more at www.futureclaw.com/

Or follow them on facebook here.

Check out the album art we designed for Z- Trip here at OKAY!! OKAY!! in collaboration with 2K Sports and Decon for their 2K Sports All-Pro Football 2K8 video game.

Take a look at DJ Z-Trip's new gig at The Palms in Vegas:

Check out this clip of the upcoming DJ Hero, Foreigner Vs. DJ Z-Trip:

And make sure to check out this video on America's Best DJ Award 2009:

For more on Z-Trip check him out at http://www.djztrip.com/.

Make sure to follow Z-Trip on Facebook.

Skatopia: 88 Acres of Anarchy is a feature documentary that follows one of skateboarding’s most infamous underground figures. Pro-skater Brewce Martin is the self-declared “dictator” of an extreme rural Appalachian skate scene. The movie follows Brewce as he struggles to keep Skatopia afloat. Though he declares skating his “prime directive”, the film reveals a fiercely driven entrepreneur determined to achieve success on his own terms.

Check out pics from the July 11th world premiere in New York City at the ACEfest indie film festival…

Skatopia’s owner, Brewce Martin, dreamed of a place where he could live and breathe skating… a place where people forget their “outside” lives by plunging into high-energy craziness. A continual work-in-progress, this rural farm is a mecca for skaters who want to live outside society’s rules.

See more photos from the event in our facebook album.

Make sure you check out the video below of the July 11th NYC premier!
Skatopia The Movie