Crowd-songwriting with Maroon 5 & Coca Cola
Coca Cola has always been one of my favourite brands. When I was a kid I used to collect bottles, pencil boxes, glasses etc. To this day my most cherished item is a Coca Cola bottle written in Hebrew from my trip to Israel.
I love the fact that they are so innovative in embracing music and the arts and they are producing a programme with Maroon 5 live in London to write a song with input from fans on March 22. They will have 24 hours to complete the song and all of it will be promoted via Coca Cola’s Facebook page and also on Twitter.
In this day and age with people caring more about their IP and copyrights, who will actually own the song? What will become of the song if it is used commercially? Business aside, I think it’s a great idea and I’m sure it won’t be the last time we’ll see fans write songs with their favourite artists. Don’t you just love social technology?
Have you seen or hear of any good ideas where artists involve their fans in the creative music process? Please share in the comments section below.
Post inspired by Mashable.com. Image courtesy of FanPop
Do you need help building your fanbase using social media? If you’re a talent entrepreneur in the music, design, comedy, acting or film business I can help you. Contact me at hello [at] chinelo360 [dot] com
Hot Chocolate Party this Friday
Yes I said it – this Friday in London city there is a party at the splendid Rococo Chocolate Store in Belgravia. I’ll be tasting chocolates from around the world, washed down with even more chocolate.
If this sounds like your dream Friday night after work event, join me and few other Chocolate lovers for some fun.
Check out the details at Eventbrite and get your tickets now as they’re limited.
Are you coming? Let me know in the comments area below.
Image credit: Rococo Chocolate
Angry Birds Cake
Now why would you wait until it’s your birthday? Everyday is an Angry Birds day right? So if you could recreate your digital life or entertainment into some edible delight, what would it be? Please post your comments or links to your video below.
One thing though – that Dad is awesome!!!
Image credit: Digital Trends
Blogging RIP?
After I finished re-skinning my ageing blog, I stumbled across this article in my inbox at work; Blogs Wane as the Young Drift to Sites Like Twitter
Instantly, I thought should I have bothered to spend umpteen days looking for a theme that I liked without too much back end re-coding. But then I thought, I quite like to share my thoughts and knowledge and for the most part, this is blog is where I can do it.
So I say long live the blog for those of us who like to express ourselves in more than 140 characters (I love Twitter by the way) and single media uploads per post (I think Tumblr is fab too).
iTunes Digital Bundle Tips
I’ve been working on a client project to release a digital bundle on iTunes.
It’s not a standard offering so it meant that there was a massive learning curve for myself and also my new friend James Walsh at Ditto Music – one of the UK’s digital music distributors.
A digital bundle is music package where you can offer audio tracks, images and video as part of your release. Your digital bundle can also be eligible for the UK charts too! (Rules apply)
If you’re planning a campaign, ask lots of questions and work with a music distribution company that has a telephone support service. Most of the other companies don’t generally have this and I don’t know how fast their email support team respond to queries. I think it’s also helpful when everything is urgent (as life is nowadays) to have contacts based in the UK too.
I have learned lots during the campaign and have had to overcome many hurdles. It’s not over yet, but we’re hoping to get to number one this Sunday. Fingers crossed. If you were to ask me for my advice, here are my top tips:
- If you want your track to chart, you will need to ensure that the audio track’s ISRC code is issued by PPL and the video’s ISRC is issued by VPL
- Only iTunes sells digital bundles – you’ll need to get a UPC for the bundle and register the bundle code and the code for all the components with OCC
- iTunes no longer has a descriptive of the track on it’s sales page – it displays just the metadata. Although some data from iTunes new Ping music social network is pulled into the sales page
- Any items that are not for sale in the bundle may not be listed as iTunes can not list something that’s ‘free’. Consider pricing up the components of your bundle
- iTunes will set the price point of your bundle. It’s non-negotiable and cannot be changed.
- You’ll need to supply your assets to a mixed media team via your music distributor – check how much time is required to load to their content delivery network before your release date
- Definitely consider pre-sales as part of your marketing strategy. However, you’ll need at least 4 items to be part of your pre-sales package.
- If you’re working up the singles chart, bear in mind your digital bundle will be listed as an album. That’s okay because the OCC will use the UPC/ISRC codes to track sales for chart compilation
I think that’s it for now. Mind you it’s day 2 of the release. If I have any updates, I’ll post them here.
As for choosing a music distribution partner, I’m glad I chose Ditto Music, some information was clarified late in the day but they have bent over backwards to help and support us. Especially James Walsh – thank you!
Oh by the way, if you’re wondering what the track is check it out: 2 Minute Silence by The Royal British Legion. And if you don’t have an iTunes account you can also check it out at Silentsingle.com
And when I say check it out, I mean give to a worthy cause and download the audio track and the video. Please give support to our troops.
Until next time…
Let’s go again…
I’ve had a blog for sometime but never quite managed to be consistent with it. The main reason is writer’s block. What should I write, share, expose, discuss, postulate and create interest for others?
A friend recently encouraged me to start blogging again as she feels that I have a lot of information and thoughts worthwhile posting. But where do I start?
Today, I’ve decided to just write something, anything with the hope that the idea juices start to flow. Maybe because it’s late and because I’ve been working all day I’m completely drained.
So how do writers and bloggers manage writer’s block? How do you avoid reaching a state of perpetual procrastination? I hope to share meaning tidbits with my audience so here’s what I found across the net that I like:
- Just get started – procrastination stalls every beginning, start writing something anything and the ideas will start to flow
- Be inspired – who or what place inspires you? Use that energy to get creative and passionate about something you care to write about
- Read, read and read – to help you write, write and write
- Don’t wait for perfection – practice makes perfect so you might as well write something along the way
I hope that helps – it certainly has helped me. But as it’s midnight, now is not the time to write another blog post. 
Until next time.
Day 32 and New Year “Habits”
Happy New Year to you all!
Yes I’m 32 days late to send you this greeting but I really mean it. Personal development gurus and Neuro-scientists say that it takes at least 21 days to change a habit. That probably explains why it is a struggle to maintain New Year Resolutions and some of us give up before we reach day 21. I don’t set New Year’s Resolutions but Goals to help me achieve my Dreams as I continue to design the life I truly desire.
After achieving and tasting my desire for freedom to do whatever I want for the last decade, my goal for 2010 is to fulfill my vocation and create the tools to make that happen. Now that it’s February, it seems easier to get back into the swing of things after a 1 month break from my last contract at Ukash – a cash-based online payment system.
Where are you on your goals and achievements? If you feel you’re struggling, today is a good day to start afresh. Strive to work at your goal for at least 21 days and engage your emotions and your passions with it. When you face hurdles or obstacles seek inspiration and help outside of yourself to pep you up and re-spark your energy. Try playing your favourite music, talking with supportive friends and family or even help someone else with a challenge as even that time away from working on your goal can give you a fresh and new perspective.
I have yet to download my pictorial representation – vision board - of my 2010 goals from my busy, hyperactive and creative mind to another media, but when I do, I’ll share it with you.
But for now, I’m off to make things happen for others and ultimately myself. Make your day great!
Changes to desireebanugo.com
For sometime now, I’ve been looking at how I can truly get across on a blog the issues and points that matter to me most. After working from home for a number of months and watching Oprah it struck me. This blog should be more about the one issue that I know well – Life Design.
What is Life Design? To me it is when when an individual carefully and strategically designs and crafts their own dream life and lifestyle and actualises that plan. I’m a strong advocator of Life Design and have been for most of my life.
We’ve all heard the now cliche phrases – ‘Dream big’, ‘Work smart and not hard’, ‘Keep your dreams alive’. For nearly everyone it’s a struggle, so via this blog I will aim to share the how-tos of what I did to acheive my life design and the lessons I’ve learned from others.
Desiree Banugo’s Life Design:
- Work 9 months of 12 like at school – CHECK!
- Be able to pick and choose my own contracts and negotiate what I get paid – CHECK
- Minimise my tax bill by seeking the best advice and make more money in the process – CHECK
- Take extended holidays where and when I choose – CHECK
- Start in property investing – CHECK
- Start to transform my freelancing company into a full business concern – CHECK
and it doesn’t stop there, but that’s just a taster. There will also be some other thoughts and learnings, information and knowledge that I’d like to share too so look out for those posts in the future.
Take some time to answer these questions and visualise your goals when you get there.
- What is your life design?
- What do you want to achieve/possess/experience in your lifetime?
- How will you get there?
- Is anything or anyone holding you back from achieving those goals?
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments box below.
While I was away…
At times I find blogging hard to do. Why? Because essentially, I’m a very private person and then when I read my posts some time in the future I wish I hadn’t been so open.
When I do blog, I feel like have have offloaded if I need to have a rant, or shared my thoughts with you if I have something on my mind. I hope you have enjoyed reading my posts as I have enjoyed converting thought energy into readable binary code. But that doesn’t really explain why I haven’t blogged for months.
Well it was because I was busy entering a new era in my life and at the same time adjusting my ‘flightplan’ for my goals. Namely:
- moving from ‘me’ to ‘we’
- re-defining my business and career goals
- establishing a better well-being programme
- starting a new contract with Ukash, an online payment company
And… everything has been going pretty well – I’ve lost 12lbs in 7 weeks, I’m focussed on my business .
Blog ideas come to me all the time, especially when I’m away from a computer, however I’ll try to share my inner thoughts with you more frequently than I have more recently.
However, I’m back now so watch out for my next few posts and some small changes that I’ll be making to this blog.
Survey – how good are your internet skills?
I’ve been away from my dear blog for a while as I’ve been busy working on some other projects. However, I’m back now and would be grateful if you could lend me your opinions, please.
I’m researching a business opportunity and would like to know about your internet skills and your opinions on improving these skills (if you need to that is!)
It’ll only take 5 mins and I’d be really, really grateful for your contributions. So go on, leave your answers below.
THANK YOU!
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