Discover, Consume & Share
As a producer and DJ media plays a massive role in both how I discover music and share my craft. In todays world we are spoilt for choice when it comes to how we choose to be informed by media. As a musician and DJ I must choose how I discover music, consume music and how to share what I've discovered along with my own creations to the world.
"Media - the means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet, that reach or influence people widely."
(Dictionary.com, LLC., 2017)
Discover
First and foremost I'm a music lover and to that end I love the experience of music. The sonic journey one goes on in a well crafted DJ set is hard to beat. For discovering music outside of live performances at night clubs and festivals my preferred medium is the podcast.
Podcasts are free to consume and allow you to discover music in a chosen genre and by an artists you enjoy. They are a great way to follow your favourite artists and to discover new artists and songs. They also allow you to hear a song in the context of a DJ set which is invaluable for any DJ. Another handy feature of the podcast is there are many websites dedicated to track listing songs from podcasts such as 1001Tracklists.
Here are a few of my favourites for your listening pleasure:
(Sherry, 2017)
(Indecent Noise, 2017)
Consume
Once music has been discovered it must be consumed. The internet has lead to a surge in illegal music downloads ever since the launch of Napster on 1st June 1999 (Suskind, 2014), artist revue has been changed forever. This trend has continued through until today; although there is some tentative research into a stagnation of music piracy in 2017 (Sanchez, 2017). There's still a plethora of ways to pirate music including stream rippers for sites such as youtube and torrent sites to name a few.
All this means the the days of crate digging at your local record shop are long gone. As with most things today it has been replaced by its digital counterpart. My preferred online portal for music is Beatport. Beatport is a fantastic tool for any musician or music lover in general to find and purchase music legally. It allows you to follow your favourite artists and labels as well as notifications for new releases. Beatport Pro is a wonderful application allowing seamless integration of the website, your music collection and payment options. This way of making purchasing music legal and easy hopefully will see a growthy in artist revenue and in turn growth in the music scene as a whole.
Share
"A painter paints his pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. We provide the music, and you provide the silence." - Leopold Stokowski
(Sullivan, 1967, p. 34)
As a modern musician, artist or audio professional in the information age it is important to curate an online image/brand for yourself. Thankfully there is a wide array of online tools to help. Like it or loath it social media is here to stay and vital for anyone wishing to establish an online presence. The power of the media is in its application and usage.
All social media outlets follow a very similar structure. It starts with an account once you have an account you can create your profile. This profile allows you describe yourself or brand, what your message or purpose is, create and share your own or other peoples content and allows other users to find you. When other find you or your content the can then choose to like or follow you and even join in your discussions with messaging, group chats, live streams and hashtags. This is where the power of social media comes through analysing reactions to your posts and metadata you can understand and engage you audience better than any time in human history.
The ease of use and connectivity of social media allows me to choose the appropriate site for content I create. I can make sure my posts and content adhere to copyright legislation as well as reaching my target audience. All this leads to better interaction between me and my audience.
Here is a list of my current social media sites:
My Website: www.doctorduck.info
You're already here, I like you.
Mixcloud:
Home of my recorded sets and podcasts.
Soudcloud:
Online hosting of all my recorded sets, orignial tracks, remixes and podcasts
DJ page with links, events, memes, posts, photos and more like my page and say g'day.
YouTube:
Online videos including recorded sets, reviews & tutorials.
What's on my mind in 140 characters or less.
Snapchat
Photo's on the fly.
BandsInTown:
Tours, gigs, events & tickets.
Instagram:
Photos, memes and more.
About.me:
Central hub with bio and social media links.
Logo's care of Freepik (Freepik, 2017)
Hope to see you on one of my pages or a dance floor real soon.
References:
Dictionary.com, LLC. (2017). Media | Define Media at Dictionary.com. Retrieved from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/media
Freepik. (2017). [Social Media Logo Pack]. Retrieved from http://www.flaticon.com/packs/social-media-logos-2
Indecent Noise. (2017, June 9). Indecent Noise - Mental Asylum Radio 117 by Indecent Noise | Free Listening on SoundCloud. Retrieved from https://soundcloud.com/indecentnoise/indecent-noise-mental-asylum-radio-117
Sanchez, D. A. (2017, May 11). What Music Piracy Really Looks Like In 2017. Retrieved from http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/05/11/music-piracy-looks-like-2017/
Sherry, M. (2017, June 9). Outburst Radio by Mark Sherry | Free Listening on SoundCloud. Retrieved from https://soundcloud.com/marksherry/sets/outburst-radio
Sullivan, D. (1967, April 18). Stokowski Maintains Schedule, Shrugs Off Birthday, His 85th; Maestro Entertaining G.I.'s, Making Recordings and Planning New Season. The New York Times, p. 34.
Suskind, A. (2014, June 6). 15 Years After Napster: How the Music Service Changed the Industry. Retrieved from http://www.thedailybeast.com/15-years-after-napster-how-the-music-service-changed-the-industry