One Proud Monkey

Benjalu - Reflecting On

2010-08-19T20:49:00.002+10:00

Newcastle band Benjalu have digitally released their first offering "Reflecting On"

Get a preview and download it here:

http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/reflecting-on/id376794949

Adrenalin - Rock The Nation EP

2010-08-19T20:48:00.003+10:00

Dubbo 4-piece Adrenalin have just released their debut EP titled "Rock The Nation"

Get a preview and download here:

http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/rock-the-nation-ep/id379407001

Benjalu - Waterwalls

2009-09-03T20:06:00.003+10:00

Benjalu's latest release "Waterwalls" is now on iTunes, go here and download :)

Yep, sure Chinese Democracy is coming out...

2008-11-21T19:17:00.001+11:00

It appears that we are possibly on the eve of a momentous event, the release of the... I'm not sure there's a suitable adjective... Chinese Democracy.

Now IF (I couldn't make it any bigger, but it's meant to be a big if) it comes out tomorrow it's only fair that this occasion is recognised.

Every one in the US will get a free can of Dr Pepper but we miss out SO if Chinese Democracy comes out tomorrow and you contact me tomorrow I will upload your release to iTunes for free, that's right FREE.

Contact me for details :)

Rock on...

Stu Morrison's new album on iTunes now!

2008-10-30T17:34:00.006+11:00

Central Coast singer/songwriter Stu Morrison's debut album has just been released on iTunes. Preview some of the songs and download your copy from

Look for a Q&A with Stu in the coming weeks

Would you pay to be in Guitar Hero?

2008-10-24T21:44:00.002+11:00

There's been a suggestion from some major label CEOs that developers of games such as Guitar Hero aren't paying enough for the music they use.

Activision ceo labels should owe guitar hero not reverse
[from The Daily Swarm]

The developers think that the publicity from being in the game is worth paying for - what do you think? I've put up a poll here so get your votes in!

Would you pay to have your music in Guitar Hero?

Create your own myspace poll

The Monkey is off his back

2008-10-04T13:18:00.001+10:00

It'd take too long to tell you why this hasn't been a great year [so far, I'm still optimistic!] BUT the good news is that with a new machine in tow, OneProudMonkey is back up and running.

Everything from before still stands and there are a few potential deals in the pipeline for getting good independent music out there.

In the meantime, it might interest you to read this...
http://www.thedailyswarm.com/headlines/apple-threatens-itunes-shutdown-over-royalty-ruling/

It surprises me to think that the market for digital music could be so flimsy but then i guess, if you could get a house for free you probably wouldn't shell out money for one of those either...

The Lowdown

2008-08-04T22:52:00.000+10:00

OK. Here it is. The money stuff...

No yearly registration fees.

99c per track / per store - unlike some services I count iTunes as one store, not all the individual countries as a store.

90% pay thru on all royalties. I'll keep 10% for the work I do on your behalf and so you know that I won't stop trying to sell your music once I've got your rego fees :)

You will also need an ISRC for each song and a bar code for each product you wish to sell online. The first I can do (they're free, you should never pay anyone for them), the second I will soon be able to do, but not yet (they're not free, sadly... check out www.gs1au.org for more info).

Questions or abuse? I'm ready :)

Wanna sign up? I'm waiting :)

More Monkey Business

2008-07-04T01:47:00.000+10:00

Hey guys,

Just a little heads up. OneProudMonkey will be offline for about one to two weeks while we move the set up interstate.

When it's all said and done we'll be back with a new price plan to make it even easier and more affordable to get your music online :)

Insight into the music industry

2008-06-03T20:16:00.000+10:00

If you're watching TV in Australia - check this out

Tuesday, June 3 - 7.30pm - SBS
Insight will be doing an episode on the future of the music industry - well worth watching

http://news.sbs.com.au/insight/

Napster never dies

2008-05-21T12:57:00.000+10:00

So Napster are having another crack at it [DRM free Napster]

In a way I feel sorry for the guys behind Napster, they were too early on the scene and don't have the power, like Apple do, to make the industry change.

It brings up some interesting questions - Just what are we trying to achieve with DRM? Given the option, do you release your music with copy protection or without? Does it really matter?

The DRM free tracks on most providers are better quality and the same price, so why would you buy a protected copy. Perhaps at some point you've just gotta trust that what you're selling is good enough for people to buy...

The price of music... The value of music

2008-05-20T22:21:00.000+10:00

As I sat in a coffee shop today wasting time and money waiting for my house to be inspected I started thinking and in my current self important phase thought it might be worthy of sharing... or at least interesting to think about. One of the main reasons people give for downloading illegally is that they can't afford to buy music, independent or otherwise but consider this... At today's prices [according to my local supermarket, coffee shop, iTunes and elsewhere]

A 600ml Coke = 1.71 songs
A medium cappuccino = 2.5 songs
20 litres of unleaded = 18 songs
A month of foxtel = 2.35 albums

I'm sure there's more... it's all about choice too... So what's my point? Not sure but before your mate convinces you he's too poor to pay for music it's something to think about

Lars, Lars, Lars...

2008-05-19T19:24:00.000+10:00

Some of you may have seen this doing the rounds, but I thought it was worth putting the spotlight on. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich had this to say.

"We want to be as free a players as possible ... We've been observing Radiohead and Trent Reznor and in twenty-seven years or however long it takes for the next record, we'll be looking forward to everything in terms of possibilities with the Internet."

So Metallica now likes the internet? :) Welcome to the club - if Lars can be brought around then I'm convinced that there must be a future in this thing... Don't get me wrong, people are allowed to change their minds, I just like pointing it out when it happens [please extend the same courtesy to me]

So now that some of the major players in this industry have caught on to this digital distribution thing what does that mean for the record companies? What about the independent artists for whom this was going to be a massive saviour? I for one am happy with the embracing, the more people like Trent Reznor and even Ulrich who embrace digital distribution the more indie artists will begin to see it as a viable alternative to physical media - it's true, even the most independent among us are allowed to have major label heroes :)

The other thing I wonder about is, what would define success in the digital realm? For NIN it's probably 100,000 copies - for people like you and me... 100? 1000? I'd be interested to get some comments about what you guys are using as a benchmark. Who wants to go first? :)

Monkey Face

2008-04-26T19:47:00.001+10:00

So... One Proud Monkey is on Facebook. Don't you think now would be a great time to become a fan? :)

Well...

Become a fan!

Some answers

2008-04-04T17:27:00.000+11:00

Just thought I’d answer a few questions I’ve been getting about the requirements for uploading your music.

First of all, all the songs you submit will require an ISRC or International Standard Recording Code. These are free and you can get them [in Australia] from ARIA. Contact me if you’d like more info.

Each product, i.e. a single, EP or album will also require its own barcode. There are many places that you can get a bar code from, some are more reputable than others. Some places are charging quite a bit as well. I am currently looking into having One Proud Monkey provide bar codes at a very reasonable price, again, get in touch if you have any questions.

Now get out and make some music :)

Back Catalogue

2008-03-30T11:38:00.000+11:00

That’s right, I’m interested in your back catalogue, and no that’s not a euphemism...

Thinking about the 350 copies of my debut EP sitting in my Mum’s garage I got to thinking that perhaps some of you have older releases that you might be interested in selling through iTunes... If this applies to you and you’re interested to know how it can be done, get in touch.

I’m uploading mine now - maybe, just maybe, I can make enough to hire a trailer to take the rest of my CDs to the recycling plant :)

Take it easy,

Clint

iTunes is go! One Proud Monkey is online!

2008-03-05T20:36:00.000+11:00

The email came this morning. It was from iTunes and it said [more or less] - Welcome.

And with that I am now able to upload music to the Australian iTunes store, with UK and Europe coming in the next month.

Want more details? Get in touch :D

The Longest Time...

2008-02-22T23:06:00.000+11:00

This is taking sooooo long... A month ago I got all excited and mailed my freshly executed contracts to California for the good ol' iTunes sign off. I know they got there, Australia Post told me so [before you express shock, note that I paid them $38 for the priviledge].

I'm now told that it will take "significantly longer than 2 weeks" for the admin on their side. I can only say thank you to the people who are still showing interest - it will get done...

Anyway, in the meantime I've been listening to a lot of great music... I recommend checking out the new[ish] stuff from Dead Letter Circus, Daysend and Mammal... and hopefully I'll have some good news soon.

Clint

One Small Step for Monkey

2008-01-09T18:31:00.000+11:00

The contracts are signed!

So, after all this time, I am officially, completely, in business. I can now do deals and actually be a record company!

If you want some more details, I'm more than happy to provide.

I hope to have my first Australian/NZ releases uploaded by month's end and I'll soon be able to take submissions from around the world. Feels good don't it?

One Proud Monkey is a dot com

2007-07-27T18:48:00.000+10:00

While I'm waiting for something to happen, I figured it was about time I re-registered www.oneproudmonkey.com- it's pointing to my blogger page at the moment... and that's about all the news I have right now :)

From today...

2007-07-27T16:11:00.000+10:00

From today, all of the news about One Proud Monkey will be coming from the myspace page via RSS, it's musc easier for me to manage. The .com will redirect here for the time being - anyway, hopefully it's all that much closer!

APRA Update

2007-02-05T14:43:00.000+11:00

Spoke to a couple of people at APRA today to get info about getting the legal/business side of things up and running. All looks good on that side.

I'm hoping that we can have a bit of an info night somewhere around Newcastle for interested parties. All new info will be posted here.

Another Step

2007-02-01T18:43:00.000+11:00

It occurs to me that Apple and the other digital music providers may not be so keen to come on board until I establish a potential roster and with this in mind I'm considering having some kind of information night in Newcastle to gauge interest in this little project.

If it's the sort of thing anyone would be interested in, contact me through this page.

Clint

The Beginning...

2007-01-08T10:21:00.001+11:00

Hopefully this is the start of something quite cool and very rewarding for both me and the artists involved.

After witnessing some of the moves with digital music when I was in London I’ve decided to set up my own “digital only” label, dedicated to the music of my hometown – Newcastle, Australia.

For many years there has been a strong and creative music vibe around these parts and there is no lack of musicians looking to contribute.

Even though they are fantastic, I’m not into finding the next silverchair or the next anything really. It’s all about letting independent bands get their music out. I have contacted iTunes and hope to hear something shortly.

Let there be rock.