Dave Morin

I’m going to be bringing back the music section of my blog as I ramp up posting more often. Music has been a huge part of my life, I was in a band in high school, and my years at Apple were filled with music. Music is also a key element to living life well.

Chester French is the hottest band to ever come out of, of all places, Harvard. Head man D.A. Wallach and guitar impresario Maxwell Drummey throw down an uncommon blend of hip hop (they’ve collaborated with Common), pop-jazz guitar riffs, and catchy lyrics.

These guys are also pushing the boundaries of how social media mixes with the music industry. You can find them both on Twitter (@DAChesterFrench and @maxwellcf) and they have been a leading edge music pioneer on Facebook.

Expect big things from these guys in the future. Here’s the world premiere of their new music video on MTV today:

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Flickr’d by davemorin.

Just a quick post to broadcast that I am in the music capital of the world Austin, Texas for the Austin City Limits Music Festival this weekend with the crew from iTunes. If you’re in town for the festivities, drop me a line. Today was epic. John Mayer is one of the best guitarists pretty much ever (not to mention singer/songwriters), and Thievery Corporation is absolutely killer live. I was able to snag quite a few amazing photos which I’ll have posted shortly. But, in the meantime, here’s a great picture of JM himself.

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I’ve been running into an interesting conversation lately regarding marketing of independent artist’s music. This mostly comes from my love for local music, and a bunch of really random serendipitous meetings I’ve had recently. One on the plane last night with a sound engineer and classical guitarist who loves his music, but never really thought about how he could get it to the masses. I’ll start this quick and dirty lesson with a few fast tips to get you moving:

1) Join MySpace, start an artist page, and start talking to people about your music. This gives you a place to engage people online, talking about your music, creating a conversation channel.

2) Look into a music aggregation service which can get your stuff into the iTunes Music Store. The preferred favorite is CDBaby. I’m told, from a couple of my friends I recently referred there, that they have fantastic service (and you keep 91% of the profit!). This gets you an online buying channel.

3) Think about ways to drive back through these two channels at every single one of your live events (or even to just your friends). Use simple business cards or postcards and hand them out in the crowd. Make sure these cards tell people to join the conversation about your music at myspace.com, and to purchase your music online through the iTunes Music Store.

Make sure everyone there understands those two things before they leave: 1) where they can talk more about your music with other fans AND 2) where they can buy your music quickly and easily.

There are over 45 million members on MySpace, and the entire network was generated by giving independent artists a connection to people who may enjoy their type of music. What if you could find just 1000 (out of 45 million!) people to enjoy your music on MySpace? What if they told a few of their friends?

I love this! What a fantastic way to turn your passion into a side venture.

Enjoy

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I absolutely love Cuban music. From the Afro Cuban All Stars, to the Buena Vista Social Club. Cuban music rocks. So does Cuban food, culture, and art.

Yesterday I was turned on to cuban rap/hiphop. Check out the Orishas. Or just download both of their albums from the iTunes Music Store here:

Orishas

They are really, really good. And, well worth your time. I wouldn’t lead you astray

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Off to Chicago in the morning for work.

*packs ice/wind/cold/everything-proof down jacket*

More dispatches from there. But something worthy of note I feel I need to mention. Apple’s added the ability to donate to the American Red Cros Tsunami Relief to the iTunes Music Store. You can now give to those in urgent need as easily as buying your favorite John Mayer or Dave track.

I think this is much needed compassion, as my co-worker and friend Norm Norris points out. It’s good to see a few companies using their vast global network resources to help the globalized world when in need.

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