Show 1 all done After a lot of putting off due to Gurn.net going offline to get a major overhaul, the show is finished and uploaded to the media server ready to be put on the site. So, with that I'm departing for a short holiday at an undisclosed location (I don't want the press to hound me). I'm hoping all will be sorted by the time I get back.

7.5.05 09:51 Permalink / comment

Recording has started I put the first few minutes of the show down in MixMeister Studio last night and planned a basic set. It looks like there will be less talking and more music as the big name guest seems to have fallen through. I'm hoping to complete the show by Sunday night at the latest. I still want the show to have some features. Especially a competition because people love free stuff. As we have had so many delays, I think it's more important to get the ball rolling that spend forever making show 1 perfect. It's not going to be a big part of the site for a while anyway, so to start with I think we should concentrate on building a listener base and worry about the headline grabbing stuff when we have headlines to make. I'm still going to make a feature of our jingle producer though as his stuff is excellent and deserves a higher profile, plus it shows we are pushing new music producers as well as talent that's already signed. If you are a dance producer (in any genre) who wants some airtime and your music is up to scratch then make contact as I'm always looking to help new people breakthrough.

20.4.05 07:39 Permalink / comment

rss and mp3 It's all quiet on the mp3 show front. I have had some great music from two sites but others have clammed up somewhat. I'm thinking about just using the music I have: there is plenty I want to show off. Things are running much later than I expected and the sites have been patient for a while, so I don't want to pee them off. Speaking of music I'm playing with a few tricks to keep a top 10 that is regularly updated via rss if that's your bag. Also as a side note I have a new rss feed up the top right there. If you don't know what rss is then ignore me.

16.4.05 21:18 Permalink / comment

More MP3 show thoughts It's been an interesting experience dealing with the MP3 download sites as part of my MP3 radio show idea. There has been a massive difference in reactions from them all which has surprised me slightly. I was expecting some to be more enthusiastic than others but not to the extent which I have seen over the last few weeks. Some have ignored me totally in spite of my efforts to make contact. That's fair enough if they are not interested I guess. One went further and almost (but not quite) accused me of some kind of plot to steal their music. I wasn't quite sure what they were coming from, but I certainly have not followed up that particular avenue. At the other end of the scale, some sites have jumped at the chance of what amounts to free promo of their site and product. It's a win-win because I get to do the show and they get the sales as a result. Others have said they want to be involved but prefer to wait to see how the show does before committing music and advertising. And then there are the in-betweens. Those who expressed an interest but have since clammed up. They are the most odd, because they are saying one thing and doing another. I guess I am going to have to chase them until I find out exactly what's happening. It's times like this I think I should have stayed in sales. Gift of the gab comes in handy, especially when the product is something you are really passionate about. Once I've stopped smarming and the show is in the can I can start thinking about the next, and really the biggest, challenge: getting people to listen. Marketing experts feel free to offer your advice.

3.4.05 11:52 Permalink / comment

Free stuff Those fine chaps at Audiojelly (Hi Ricky) have sent me a DVD (that's right  a DVD) chock full of tracks in MP3 format for the radio show. Fab response, so I'm going to do a couple of things for them. Firstly I'm going to make sure all the best stuff gets played on the first show as no other site has been quite as brilliantly keen (although there are a couple that are not far behind). Second, as soon as I have listened to all the tracks all be reviewing some of them on here. I also strongly recommend you sign up to the site. I have used it since September and the music is great (especially for trance), the prices are about right and the service is good.  I had a problem with a track that was mislabelled on the site and not only did they sort it but they let me have the wrong track for free. So all round top marks for them. Stay tuned for more.

1.4.05 11:45 Permalink / comment

Another radio show update I have put the pilot show out to the download sites finally. It took some work getting the sound quality right and as it was first time I had used Mixmeister to create a radio show I was pretty chuffed with the output, which you can only get to hear if you are a very important industry person (translation: we don't have the broadcast licence in place yet so it's not legal to stream publically). The one feedback I have had is very positive, I'm waiting for more after the weekend. If you are a label owner with MP3s for sale, or you run a legal MP3 download site, or you can get me to Miami (it's begging time again already?) and you want to be on the show then let me know and I'll tell you where you can get the stream from. Otherwise you are going to have to wait for a bit. Never fear though, as soon as we are sealed as legal you will be the first to know.

19.3.05 18:33 Permalink / comment

Chuffed I got a big bite from one of the best download sites on the net yesterday. I hope they come on board as their music is consistantly some of the best and it would be a great pleasure to play some of the tracks on the show. Which reminds me, I must do a part 2 to my download review. I have made a promise so I can't balk on it now. I figure I can use this blog to post about the production of the show once it's up and running. Hopefully it will be insightful and add extra listeners.

9.3.05 10:04 Permalink / comment

Production has stalled Thanks to the rubbishness of Maplin I can't do any work on the radio show until I get a mic. The music is all ready to go though and some download sites have agreed to supply the tunes. So all is not lost yet, even if things are running a bit late. I'm still hoping to get a proper show out by the end of the month.

8.3.05 20:56 Permalink / comment

Radio I have mentioned podcasting and audioblogging previously as a terribly named but quite exciting way of using the net to get music out. Well, I'm hoping my own corner of that thanks to my pals at Gurn.net The idea is to host a show that can be streamed on demand from music that is legally available online. We haven't quite sorted out a format yet, but I can see it being pretty diverse with the basic underlying theme of music for the dancefloor. We have already lined up a fairly big name from the house scene to do a mix for us on the first show, and we are getting some good early interest from MP3 download sites. As far as I know this has never been done before, so I'm pretty chuffed with it so far. We are aiming to have things launched by the end of March. I'll keep you up to date with progress. Today I'm going to speak to a few more sites directly about how they can contribute to the show and talk to them about advertising (hey, we have to fund it somehow). I'm also going to try and build a show format. My current thoughts are a 2 hour show with a couple of different features to keep people listening. A download top 5 is essential and I want to do a bit on unsigned artists as Gurn has a lot of producers who could do with air time. I also need to work out what recording equipment I'm going to use. I need something that's good quality but on a budget. Let me know if anyone has any ideas. who already host some of my mixes.

25.2.05 09:06 Permalink / comment