DjDownload.com Mobile : First time ever in Asia! October 23, 2007
Posted by ashz in Asian Music Scene, Malaysian music scene, Mobile content, Music 2.0, dj, downloads, events, mp3, music, music business, music piracy, technology.add a comment
Here ye, here ye!
I’m proud to present my latest project: djdownload.com Mobile.
Ok now for some brief history…
It all began when I found out that I had run out of stuff to play for my Dj sets…
I discovered DjDownload.com but the prices were quite painful for a once broke student like me, so I had a plan, to bring these guys available with prices adjusted to suit the local market, so there begins my journey
I’ve imagined Djdownload.com to come to our shores (Malaysia) 3 years ago and I have been emailing the guys from Djdownload for an exclusive Djdownload Asia site to be set up thus enabling us deprived Asians to buy Dance music at a cheaper “Asian” rate. Things were really slow as DjDownload felt that piracy was the utmost concerning factor, plus they didn’t see why they should lower down their prices, my angle was cheaper prices equals volume and the much cliche’ d ‘educating the public’ phrase written all over my plan. They requested tons and tons of marketing plans, business plans and sales forecasts, I was bashed up, but I soldiered on to convince those guys that there is still hope at the end of a very bleak tunnel.
Fast forward. The boom of mobile content in Asia marks a dawn of a new beginning to sales of music related products, Telcos were investing a lot in advertising, promotions and marketing initiatives, and the Major labels were still clueless as always. There! Thats my angle! I prepared a new marketing plan and proposed revenue shares between Maxis as the official Telco, DjDownload.com, Metadome as my mobile partner and myself as the consultant.
The rest is history….
So, I present you, my first pilot project with dance music, this time, with a partnership with Pervert designs for the Global Gathering event (Btw, the flyers will be distributed at the door of the event and mobile cards containing the download codes, so be a part of this history, you might never know whom you might charm at the event…HA!):
I want to believe that this is the first event in the world that features mobile content exclusively for a rave, well, at least in Asia. I don’t want to sound too excited, sheesh, I’m always excited with new stuff…To add more to my glee, Maxis is now offering DjDownload.com’s chillout selections for a new (well, not so new) product called ‘background music’, how cool is that!
O god, I need to stop this, my post is starting to sound like a marketing pitch!
p/s: Point to wap.musicunlimited.com.my on your phone’s browser and click on the music tab, you may not find naked photos of Angelina Jolie, but hey, gems come in all shapes, sizes, formats, bit rates, bla bla bla
www.ukgmp3.co.uk- The answer to cutting edge UKG tracks without breaking your bank! September 14, 2007
Posted by ashz in Dj Gear, Music 2.0, dj, downloads, mp3, music, music business.3 comments
I’m excited, very…Why? because I just stumbled across a dedicated UK Garage MP3 store. Ah Finally! An online store which caters to a very niche genre. The site doesnt look that great but further exploring shows that this basic designed site is functional easy to browse. Labels are neatly listed on the left side and ala itunes tab makes exploring new sounds a breeze. My favorite sub genre is 4×4 or four to the floor or four by four, whichever you prefer, sounds more or less a housey version of the unmistakable skippy snare sound of 2-step garage….Well, at least through my personal interpretation of what 4×4 UK Garage is all about.
Labels such as Prolific recordings (Mj Cole’s label), Stereohype recordings and Riddler graces the categories, Juicy Joints and other labels with quality releases are covered. Gone are my days of illegal downloading! To be honest, there is not much offering of the freshest UKG cuts even on bigger MP3 stores such as DjDownload.com and not even one release under Beatport. Now this breaks my heart…Until this site which I just discovered recently from Duncan Powell’s website.
And a brief history of the site, which was nicked from the ‘About us’ section:
The site is owned and operated by Ultimate Dance Music Ltd and was launched in September 2007. Many of you will know us as UDM Records or www.udm.co.uk, an online & onland DJ Store based in Enfield, North London.
For those of you who dont know UDM, here’s a brief history. UDM has been trading as a DJ Equipment & Vinyl store since 1995 and has been at the forefront of Music & Hardware retailing, specialising in Leading brand DJ Equipment & Uk Garage & House Music.
From the owner [a dj since 1986] through to the staff [including DJ Kanga - sales manager & nu skool ukg dj] we have an extensive knowledge of UK Garage Music and through this webstore we will be bringing you not only the finest music, but un-released & exclusive ukg from the hottest producers on the planet - the biggest music makers & tastemakers the UKG scene has to offer!
Options for beatmakers to sell their music via the site is also apparent, this is really encouraging for bedroom producers to sell their tracks rather than just leaving your beats rotting in your hard drive.
Check out the site and lose yourselves!
Now I just have to save those extra pennies…..
Fresh UK Garage Mixes for your toothache! June 12, 2007
Posted by ashz in Music 2.0, dj, downloads, mp3, music.1 comment so far
It has been a terrible start for my week. I just recovered from messy office politics and I hate my day. I managed to wriggle through and I definitely need new sounds to clear my cerebral gunk. To add to the misery, I missed the annual Indonesian Jazz fest, my fault because I didnt check the dates which was in March. Well I didnt miss much, just Chaka Khan and a few Jazz heroes…Bitterness to the maximum.
Anyway…I found Duncan Powell’s latest UK Garage mix online. Haaah, a breath of air. Duncan ‘Dragon’ Powell is another favourite UK Garage Dj and producer of mine and his cuts can be heard on labels such as Prolific recordings, DJ Domino’s label, TrueTiger recordings and many more. His mix is definitely worth checking out as his sounds varies from 4/4, Ol Skool and fresh, cutting edge sounds.
Owh and please do not complain if the link expires, as all good stuff will come to an end.
Mj Cole - Never Say Never (Box Clever Piano Dubb) Prolific
Sunshine Anderson - Something i wanna give you (Duncan Powell Remix) Streetz
Livin Out Loud - All That Really Matters (MJ Cole Remix) Kin/Prolific
Jon B - Lately (Duncan Powell 44 Vocal Mix) CDR
El-B - With All My Mite - CDR
Duncan Powell - Highly Effective - RPM
Craig David - Fill Me In (Sugar Beatz Remix) CDR
Duncan Powell - A Thousand Times - DPR
Solution - Breaking Up (Duncan Powell Remix) MRP
Antonio Vs Phrozen - Hyperfunk 2007 - CDR
The Wideboys - Original Ruffneck (Qualifide Remix) Garage Jams
Duncan Powell - Step Till Dawn - DPR
Chris Mack - My Love - 1st Class
GE - It’s Been So Long - 2tuff4u
Maximum Style - Admit To Love (Dem 2 Remix) Vital Essence
Full Fx Crew - Crazy Love - Full Fx
Brown & Cole - All For You - 2tuff4u
Qualifide - Deep In My Heart (Club Asylum Remix) Qualifide
Qualifide & Daniel Ward - Flipside - Qualifide
Lenny Fontana - Spirit Of The Sun (Lavonz & Tuff Remix) Public Demand
Mr Bumpy - Cutie Cuts - Solo
Duncan Powell - This Is Love (Demo) CDR
EL Tuff - Dirty Dub - CDR
Tuff Beatz - Indian - Stereohype
Wookie & Doom man Ft Shyam - I Can See It Clearly - CDR
Monsta Boy – Sorry (Stick N Stone Mix) CDR
The Wideboys - You Wanna Know About 44 - Subjams
Mj Cole - So Damm Into You - Duncan Powell Bootleg Remix - CDR
Solution - What I Love - MRP
Duncan Powell - Put Your Hands Up 4 UKG - White
Brown & Cole - Our Destiny (DIY Postive Dub) 2tuff4u
Justin Timberlake - My Love (Sticky Remix) CDR
Amerie - Touch (Wookie Remix) White
Sonique - It Feels So Good (EZ’s Smooth Mix) White
GE - Deep Down (Remix) 2tuff4u
JME - Closer To You - Boy Better Know
Fully Loaded - Y.O.U. - 2tuff4u
Artful Dodger Ft Craig David - What Ya Gonna Do (DIY Dub) Public Demand
Dem 2 - Bad Girls - NYSC
Drama - Don’t Give Up - Solo
El Tuff - Drive Me Crazy - Qualifide
Nina Jayne - Anything (Signal To One Remix) Streetz Meetz Spoilt Rotten
Sticky - Dr Who - More 2 Da Floor
Sunship - 4u4me - CBE
For more mixes and biography check out his website here:
http://www.duncanpowell.co.uk/
And his Myspace page here:
Enjoy your week!
The latest UK Garage cuts…Better recognize! May 9, 2007
Posted by ashz in Music 2.0, dj, downloads, mp3, music.1 comment so far
UK Garage! The love sounds of my life…I tried scouring the net for recent good mixes of the perplexing genre and Ive found one from Dj Charma, Mj Cole’s label manager for Prolific Recordings. This was recorded live on London’s 104.7 FM and features the latest in the most cutting edge of UKG beats. Among the highlights are of course, MJ Cole, Danny C, Bibliotek and many more. Here is the tracklisting and the heavy basslines are receiving heavy rotation at the moment in Malaysia, well, in my car…heh
Copied and pasted from Dj Charma’s Myspace blog:
1ST HOUR - Audio: Instant Stream - Click: http://djcharma.tripod.com/charma_april29a.ram
‘All I Wanna Do’ - Ed Case Ft. Oggy - Quality Control
‘Hey Lover’ - David Lewis (Bibliotek Mix) - Streetz Singles
‘Hang Around’ - Ben Westbeech - Brownswood
‘Crazy’ - Jean (MJ Cole Mix) - Stereohype
‘Back To The Summer’ - Midnight Circus - Damaged Goods/Stereohype
‘Looking Hard’ - Duncan Powell - True Tiger
‘Snowflake’ - Wideboys and Clare Evers (Bumpy 4/4 Mix) - Garage Jams
‘Real Girl’ - Mutya (Duncan Powell Remix) - Universal
‘Hooligan’ - Norris Vs The Wideboys Ft. Rose Windross (Delmonte Mix) - Garage Jams
‘This Is Why I’m Hot’ - Mims (Misty Dubs Bassline Mix) - Streetz Vol 7
‘Dance With Me’ - Ben Westbeech (MJ Cole Remix) - Brownswood
‘Crazy’ - Jean (Sunship Mix) - Stereohype
‘Going Crazy’ - Danny C Ft. Jay Harvey (Scott Tonic Remix) - AIM Records
‘Nothing Else Matters’ - Scandalous Unlimited - Streetz Vol 7
2ND HOUR - Audio: Instant Stream - Click: http://djcharma.tripod.com/charma_april29b.ram
‘Willow’ - Duncan Powell Ft. NY - True Tiger
‘If I Don’t’ - Amp Fiddler Ft. Corrine Bailey Rae (Wookie Remix) - White
‘Hands On Her’ - David Lewis (Misty Dubs Remix) - Streetz Singles
‘That Girl’ - Pharrell (Dragon Remix) - Riddler VIP
‘Dont Wanna Try’ - Danny Dubbz - Streetz Vol 7
‘Who Want To Be’ - MJ Cole Ft. Niara Scarlett - Prolific
‘Work This Out’ - Mappa Ft. V-Lorenz (Scott Garcia Mix) - 7 Wonders
‘Show Me’ - TnG - Streetz Vol 7
‘Concentrate’ - DJ Wec - True Tiger
‘Shame’ - Jade Lion Ft. Cecilia - Marvelis Recordings
‘Life’ - Midnight Circus - Damaged Goods/Stereohype
You may download the 2 hour mix here:
Part 1 - http://djcharma.tripod.com/charma_april29a.mp3
Part 2 - http://djcharma.tripod.com/charma_april29b.mp3
Niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!
When you think everything is fine and its a sunny day….Think again! May 3, 2007
Posted by ashz in General, Rants, dj, events, music.4 comments
Why is it that when you think that nothing will go wrong, it will actually go wrong? Have you ever wondered why does your equipment will definitely screw up on you the 11th hour? Especially during your gig on stage? Why is it that everything was fine during sound-check, working smoothly, thus giving you hope that the crowd will rock to you but Lo and Behold! Your laptop decided to die on you during your first track? Well, its called ‘Murphy’s Law’, and damn this law bites Djs hard on our asses many many times, so here are my top 20 list of my personal Dj gig screw ups, blamed on this dreaded force of nature (A gentle reminder, everything was fine during sound check) :
1- Your laptop hangs on stage, in front of 80,000 people
2- Your sound card could not be detected, just before your turn to spin
3- Your MP3 file appears to be corrupted
4- Your MIDI settings goes haywire
5- Your MIDI keyboard could not be detected
6- Your DJ software couldn’t be opened
7- Your stage monitors suddenly dies on you
8- Someone fiddled with your settings, resulting in your up-faders to work in reverse
9- No sound through your headphones, thus having to monitor using the subs (yes, the subs)
10- Your CDs magically refused to be read by the CD players
11- A loud buzzing/feedback sound, and the only solution is to switch off your laptop
12- Your laptop suddenly becomes very low in memory, resulting it to hang and restarted
13- The Windows opening theme sound played through the house speakers after you restarted
14- The in-house fuse box blew
15- The dodgy in-house electrical connection caused a short, thus frying your motherboard
16- Cracking and jittering of the song files
17- Rain (outdoor gig), causing everyone to run for cover and leaving you alone like an idiot
18- A fight broke out suddenly in the middle of the dance floor, during your first song
19- A raid, then your Cds and records gets confiscated by the authorities
20- (After the gig) Your car broke down, broke, too drunk to think, you forgot your house keys and a hot chick is waiting for you at your place (Beat that!!!)
So….Whats your story?
Pesta Air Langkawi 2007: My scariest DJ gig ever! April 11, 2007
Posted by ashz in Asian Music Scene, General, Malaysian music scene, Rants, dj, events, music.2 comments
OK, so I haven’t blog for a few days now and I consider that as a sin. I was away for a couple of days, committing to a show that I had to perform alongside some other friends in Langkawi. The event was in conjunction with the launch of Pesta Air langkawi 2007 or The Annual Langkawi Water fest 2007. It was a hectic week, but I managed to pull through. Last week started by a foolish mistake that I made by buying an extra airfare for a friend that didn’t confirm to go, Lo and behold! Murphy’s law bit my behind and I had to bear the extra cost, O well…
Langkawi is an island off the northern coast of Malaysia, its a beautiful island famous for it’s duty free cigarettes and cheap liquor. Anything goes if you know where to find the right spots. I arrived at around noon, checked in a 4 storey motel with no lifts and my room was on the fourth floor. How cool is that?! I chucked my bags and headed straight to the beaches. The sun was right, the water was green and my head was spinning due to excitement. Fast forward: had dinner with my friends and went ape shit at the bar.
The next morning came with a sore back as if I was hit by a drunk Dugong. I took a quick shower and went straight for the sound check. The sound blaring from the speakers gave me hope. I felt a tear down my right cheek.
The night was crazy, imagine 40,000 people in front of you, staring straight at you and just waiting for something to go wrong. I can almost hear them crushing beer cans ready to strike me if I screw up. There were a few technical hiccups here and there ( At one time, the speakers went silent, I thought I was going to be killed by the locals…), but it was a great experience. I caught the morning flight and before you know it, I was already back in the office, facing my crusty desk…*sigh*
Enjoy the pix!
Vote for Djdownload.com as your best dance music retailer! March 6, 2007
Posted by ashz in Dj Gear, Music 2.0, dj, downloads, mp3, music, music business, startups, technology, technopreneur, web 2.0.add a comment
why should you vote?
1- DjDownload.com is the best online store in terms of selection and quality
2- DjDownload.com offers the most convenient payment methods
3- For the love of God, Music and candy!
Music stuff to watch out for this year! February 23, 2007
Posted by ashz in DRM, Dj Gear, Gadgets, Mobile content, Music 2.0, dj, downloads, mp3, music, music business, technology, web 2.0.3 comments
I think this year will be a great year for digital music development, the fact that many music 2.0 companies has brought some change in how we experience, use and view music is a bold statement that digital music is here to stay, so ive listed some stuff to watch out for.
- Legal P2P networks (Snocap)
- Music widgets (Sonific)
- Playlists sharing
- Music softwares, new VSTis
- The fusion of DJ and VJ technologies
- Advanced content for mobile phones
- DRM free music
- Mergers
- Music social networking sites
- Podcasts, videocasts
- A new digital music business model (Still crossing my fingers!)
- Music communities
- Gadgets (Iphone)
Lets just wait and see how the year ends for the digital music business!
