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
Among some event highlights to watch out for this year! October 9, 2007
Posted by ashz in Asian Music Scene, Malaysian music scene, Mobile content, Music 2.0, events, music, music business.2 comments
I’m working on some secret technological advancement with Kenneth from Pervert Designs as their official mobile partner, so yeah, it’s worth the mention that this event is going to push my baby, DjDownload.com mobile to the masses, owh did I tell you that DjDownload’s background music is already available on www.musicunlimited.com.my? Owh that is another story.
Anyway, Global Gathering this year will be held at A’Famosa, Melaka and expected turnout of 30,000 party goers. Not bad. This is an annual event not to be missed, one word of advice: Bring your own bottled water!
Register yourselves here for goodies:
Next up we have Live and Loud! Kuala Lumpur 2007,
The biggest music festival in South East Asia. Expect 10 days of music, seminars and various activities to participate in this much anticipated event. Among the artists scheduled to come are Whitney, KCI and JOJO, Kool and the gang, Shaggy, Elliot Yamin, Dionne Warwick and many many more. To be honest, I’m really looking forward to check out Maliq & D’Essentials during the jazz session which is going to be in Zouk. 80 bucks worth spending people! Owh and tickets are available on the 15th October onwards so book early to avoid disappointment!
I’m not gonna spoil the fun, check em out here:
I so need to lose myself….
My first Industry experiment is finally here! July 16, 2007
Posted by ashz in Asian Music Scene, General, Malaysian music scene, Mobile content, Music 2.0, downloads, events, mp3, music, music business.add a comment
Phew! After 4 months of extreme planning and brainstorming, finally, the launch of my first band was a success. The event was in Planet Hollywood, Kuala Lumpur last Friday (13th July 2007) and was considered a milestone in the history of the Malaysian music industry. It was really a big statement as the band was and still is the first band to be digitally released and backed by a reputable Telco. The evening was packed with journalists and everyone who is anyone in the media field. It was a rainy Friday but the event went smoothly nevertheless. My mates from Maxis was there and they couldn’t help smiling, well, not only they were part of the history but because all the fiasco was finally over.
This band of mine shall be my first industry experiment, a band which will feature mobile downloads as the main distribution channel and music discovery for all local music lovers. I strongly believe that the band will be a classic industry example for others to follow. Events and showcases are being lined up so as to push the band further. Oh, did I mention that their Video clip will be available for download soon via Hotlink’s music unlimited music portal?
I was interviewed by national television that day asking me on what will the future hold for this new business model, I gladly filled them with the juice of this venture.
So watch this space as more updates will be coming soon!
Peter Pan: Live in Kuala Lumpur….As good as dead May 30, 2007
Posted by ashz in Asian Music Scene, Malaysian music scene, Rants, events, music, music business.add a comment
Haven’t been updating blog.Sinned. Last couple of weeks was very hectic, had to do a production schedule and master plan for a Malaysian artist’s upcoming second album, and had to clear up a lot of other pending stuff. The people from PT Musica Indonesia ( A record label which handles almost all of Indonesia’s big acts) came down last week for Peter Pan’s latest album launch in conjunction with Celcom’s X Channel artists ambassadorship program. The event was held at Ruum’s Kuala Lumpur.
The showcase started at 11 PM after a very long wait. Typical of Malaysian time management. The fans were becoming restless and the security boys were nervous. Me? To be honest with you I’m not a huge fan of Indonesian bands, even though the night before my boss and I were sipping coffee and smoking Cohibas with the band boys. I noticed that everyone was staring, but I was too dim to know how big they were in Malaysia. I spent most of the time observing their technical setup and sound system. Looks promising.
Arel, the lead singer came up on stage at around 11 plus, and started with a slow number then went on singing the rest of the night away. Question: Why do I sound so not impressed? Answer: Simply because I wasn’t. I remembered I saw them performing for the first time last year somewhere in Kuala Lumpur, and compared to this one, I’m sad to say that the band is suffering from a sophomore jinx. I really feel that they have lost their bite and their new songs are some what mediocre. This can be clearly seen from the fan’s reactions and to make matters worst, the sound was a bit off during the final minutes, most probably due to dodgy cabling.
I met my old Uni friend whom now works as a reporter at The STAR, and also a hardcore Indo band fan. I asked her about the whole performance, she replied with a frown.
“Us reporters are trying very hard to choose our words carefully for tomorrows column….”
Which makes me wonder, why do we Malaysians idolize Indonesian Bands so much that we tend to forget our homegrown talent?
Well, at least there were free food….
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?
GEMA 2007: Crazy reminisence of my college days… April 19, 2007
Posted by ashz in Asian Music Scene, Gadgets, Malaysian music scene, Rants, events, music.1 comment so far
I received a call from Nitrus’ manager informing that a few bands will be performing in MMU on the 18th of April in conjunction with the university’s talentime competition. I was feeling kinda excited as I havent watched any bands performing live for quite a while now. So yesterday, after work, I drove all the way to Cyberjaya for the gig. The bands that were scheduled for performance was 6ixth Sense, Nitrus and Butterfingers.
I arrived quite late, as I was feeling a bit tired and hungry, I paid the cover ( RM 8 ) and slowly walked into the hall and grabbed the best seat possible, which was quite close to the stage and adjacent to a projection screen. The show had already started with lucky draws and bad stand up jokes to kill time before the actual band performances. It really reminded me of my good ol’ university days, the vibe, the girls, the adrenaline and the funky smell.
The first band, 6ixth sense went up stage after a great performance of some local college band ( great, by my definition of some band that is not professional artists…)
I have never seen them perform live before and I should say that their performance was oozing with raw energy, I really think that they’ve managed to capture the crowd. The vocalist was an Indonesian, and his accent wowed the girls, as usual.
Nitrus came up on stage and performed three songs, one of them was a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s. Verdict: Chicks dig rockstars no matter how they sound or look like.
I sneaked in backstage, meeting the rest of the bands and crew. I missed Butterfingers though, ah, I’ve seen them countless times and I still think they’re awesome.
The night ended with happy thoughts, even though I cant remember where I actually parked my car, this is worrying, as it happens to me many times and I am not on any funky substances. I finally found my car after tiring “campus excursions”, ans as soon as I know it, I was already snoring the rest of the night away…Wait, how did I know that I was snoring?
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!
