How 3 indie musicians sought to change the music industry for good.

Starting out with independent music
In March 2019, Ricardo Vasques started talking about distributing music with Mark Hopgood. Ricardo had already established an indie music label and Mark had started building an online community of independent artists, dnldr.

Mark was releasing tracks written with Rachel Starr and Ricardo was helping him to release and distribute their music on digital platforms.

Realising something was wrong
Mark had been asked to join a couple of bands in 2015 and had started getting radio plays and streams on Spotify with his band "Fade Files". When the cheques started coming in each quarter (£65 from PRS for radio play and £4.50 for Spotify he realised something was not right. Plays on Spotify were grossly underpaying. No worries, he thought. Just get more plays on radio and Spotify. This increased with the followings they were getting through their indie group dnldr and the private group dnldr for artists which were run by Mark & Rachel.

Meanwhile Ricardo had other plans
At the same time, Ricardo was going through a similar search and not happy with the situation, decided to write some software. He went on a course and the end result was a software program that worked a little like Spotify. Mark and Ricardo were talking about data and how much revenue was being generated by the music plays and something clicked. Between them, given all their knowledge about software, music and the internet, surely they could come up with a platform for independent artists.

In June 2020, the first release of their app, Projektor Digital was shared with their communities and feedback from this release incorporated into the current iteration.

The missing piece in the puzzle
Giving a greater share of the revenue from the platform with several ways to earn from plays and fans, Projektor Digital set a revolution in motion for the benefit of independent artists.

 You can find out more and try the Projektor Platform at https://app.projektordigital.com

Ricardo, Rachel and Mark continue to produce music as independent artists and share their software platform with members of their communities.

Creating a video preview post for your music.

Unfortunately Facebook isn't kind to musicians and artists. They make it awkward to allow fans to preview music. Here's a guide on how to promote your music to your Facebook page that will play music directly in Facebook.

There are quite a few steps involved and we've put them hopefully together in a way that is fairly easy to understand. As ever if you have any problems, just head over to Projektor Digital webpage and Ricardo, Mark, Sarah, Michael and Rachel will be able to help you out via the chat link in the bottom right of the page ( https://app.projektordigital.com ).

Step 1: Make a playlist or final destination link. 
The idea is to use a video preview to encourage your fans to listen to your music in full. Make sure you have your playlist URL handy.

Here's how its done in Projektor Digital - other platforms are available too.

a. upload your track and image
b. get your playlist url

First go to the release page and scroll down to get promotion tools..

Release page for your music

Then we will copy the playlist URL - this link will be used in the description for the video post in Facebook later. Projektor Digital automatically creates a playlist and link for your music, putting it with other recent releases in the same genre.

Once the link is copied to the clipboard, you are ready for the next step.

Step 2: get your video preview
Scroll down to the preview and download the video preview that you want to use. 

the video preview section will allow you to download a preview video file

after clicking the three dots (menu) you will have the option of downloading the video

in this case chrome shows the video below

Step 3: create your post in facebook.

This is the part that usually confuses me. The process I follow is 

a. go to your facebook page

b. start to create a post, then choose publishing tools

c.  Then click create post, then click photo/video
You get the option of uploading from computer.

Then schedule the video using the following info in the post, e.g.

In the above example i've used the following

Playlist link: 

https://app.projektordigital.com/player/index.php?playlist=52&uid=7&feature=genre&fdata=4%C2%AC28

Hashtag:
#UK20S - my code for UK 8pm on Saturday.

Facebook link:

@projektordigital - because I'm currently helping other artists.

Following up later on this I can use facebook analytivcs for my page to see how well the post did.

If you found this useful and you are a musician or musical artist, consider joiningg us at dnldr for artists, a community of people helping each other to produce and promote music.

dnldr for artists - private community on facebooks

https://www.facebook.com/groups/796223010768973/

Comparing revenue for artists in streaming platforms.

Projektor Digital recently launched their streaming platform for Music. With an already squeezed artist comunity and many venues shutting down, we're hoping that this will be some good news.

Ricardo Vasques, CEO and founder of Projektor Digital was interviewed about the key parts of the service.

Ricardo Vasques, CEO and founder of Projektor Digital

X: What is Projektor Digital?

R: Our service allows artists to publish to all streaming platforms and share playlists with their fans.

X: What are the key Projektor Digital differences?

R: There are 3 main differences between other services

1. We are a service focused on the artist, less on the consumer.

2. We have a different way of delivering royalties. On top of the usual pay per play mode, we let the artist receive additional revenue through a referral code. Their fans can support them directly, contributing to their monthly income.

3. Focus on providing a fair service. There are no curated playlists. Everyone has a fair chance, so if you produce a pop track, you will be on the pop playlist.

X: What artists are welcome on the platform?

R: We are encouraging independent artists and smaller labels.

X: Thanks for sharing, we are looking forward to hearing more from you.

R: Thanks.

Ricardo Vasques artist VCore

So, how do the streaming services compare?
Currently streaming services have a pay per play model.

The most popular service, Spotify gives you up to $0.005 per play ( 1/2 US cent )
The fairest service, Napsterp gives up to $0.019 per play ( 1.9 US cent per play )

In comparison, Projektor Digital gives the artist up to $2.54 per play*


Projektor Digital is a streaming service for independent artists.
Listen to a sample playlist at:
https://app.projektordigital.com/player/index.php?playlist=7&uid=7

* earned monthly as part of the referral code. Total earnings unlimited.

Reviewing keyboards for home / learning piano

Keyboards:

Fun stuff

Width of keyboard: min 5 octaves

e.g. Yamaha PSR-E363
this one has a great sound and is user friendly.
vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCcGVCN6QZ0
has some nice piano sounds and learning features including notes on the music staff on screen.
about £154
buy:https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/yamaha-psr-e363-61-note-keyboard
I'd recommend this to start with.


However:

There is an EW ( extra wide ?) which has all the keys of a piano - well almost
and it has 2 x 12 W amplifiers, so a little louder.

vid:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJnTi_DCkeY
buy:https://www.gak.co.uk/en/yamaha-psr-ew410/915106
£379

Then there is pure piano...

All the keys and a great sound.

Roland FP-10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8oa7FbLvS0
https://www.roland.com/uk/products/fp_series/fp-10/

buy: https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/roland-fp-10-digital-piano

I would buy this, but I already have a keyboard and only one corner for musi.
The hammer action is something that gives the authentic feel of a piano, but as I said before it
However - even though it has no screen, check out the 5 mins in has a great app which looks fantastic. If you have an ipad say
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8oa7FbLvS0
buy: https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/roland-fp-10-digital-piano
£399

Looking for singers wanting to kick start their music career in 2020

At You Tube X Factory we're excited to anounce a new collaboration with record label dnldr, producer Oncle Gilbert and Rachel M Starr Lyricist.

The dnldr team is looking to help new artists in the following way.

Writing new exclusive music
Building an online profile
Creating a Spotify Artist profile
Building your following as an artist

There are several requirements:

1. you have social media accounts e.g. facebook, instagram etc.
2. you have or have access to a paid Spodity account.
3. you have access to a recording studio, a microphone and a PC or are willing to travel to London
4. you are willing to spend 30 minutes a day as part of our online community
5. have an example of your singing online - either video on facebook / youtube or soundcloud etc.

This is an opportunity to kick start your career in music in 2020 and build a profile and potential means to becoming a professional artist.

To get started:

Join us on the dnldr for artists facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/groups/796223010768973/

Have a listen to some of our tracks from 2019
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7gmSPuXON7yly02EyyCjXR

How YouTube cards can boost your business' promotional videos

I'm putting this out here for all those businesses who make videos for promotion. Here's how YouTube features can help you make your videos interactive and connect your business.

Cards are one way to link and interactive with the audience - and they work on mobile and here is an example.

1. Plain video - here's a fantastic video from photographer, videographer and drone camera pilot  Chris @takenbychris.co.uk





2. Video with enhancements - here's one we've prepared earlier.

There are a couple of enhancements which we can apply to a video ( you can do it yourself, or email Mark Hopgood, mark@hopgood.eu who can do it for you) .  There are a couple of changes




When you start playing the list you'll see a card appear - its a link to the itunes store for a track,
but it could be a link to your website.

Here's a breakdown of whats seen on the user's device

1. card text appears saying listen on iTunes now - a call to action

2. if the card link is clicked a preview of the page appears giving further info and a further call to action

3. finally if the card is clicked, the visitor is taken directly to the apple store.

Hopefully this has been a useful video in terms of business boosting ideas using youtube.
Contact mark@hopgood.eu for more info on how you can build your business using web based technologies.

How does Diarolyte work?

Diarolyte is a combination of the words Diarrhoea and Electrolyte. In some parts of the world, they use a different spelling, diarrhea.

So the product Dioralyte aims to help people with diarrhoea by replacing the electrolytes or salts lost from their bodies when they have the condition.

Here's where to buy it for delivery next day..

More information on replacing electrolytes if you have diarrhea or diarrhoea
http://rehydrate.org/diarrhoea/fact-sheet.htm