New song! And this time it has been sung by me (lol)! Please enjoy it here: [Youtube Video]
Category Archives: Music
K-Pop is taking over the World
While you are reading this you have been probably impacted by one of PSY’s videos on Youtube. And some time ago perhaps you were impacted by one of Girls Generation Youtube videos, or 2NE1. And the truth is that Kpop or South Korean Pop is virtually taking over the World.
There have been a couple of Korean entertainment companies (like SMEnt) which have raised these years and have managed to make those Korean artists on top of the World pop culture. In fact, they haven’t spent many money on advertising; they have spent money in making their videos appealing: the make-up, the choreographies… Some people said that Girls Generation girls were trained to dance like if they were on the Army (LOL).
Perhaps this is the beginning, perhaps it’s the end, but I haven’t seen such a rise on the artistic field in many time. Now we must wait until the Red Dragon wakes up in terms of culture (China).
Free Music Update
I’ve updated my free music section with 5 new tracks!!!
In this update you will find 4 classical tunes + 1 upbeat tune. I have included these in my own classification of my music (LOL). There are two new Songs I like most updates, two new Footage classical music and one Upbeat songs I like most.
Talking a littlebit about this classification… I should say that the first group (Songs I like most) includes music which in my opinion is very good and could be used for a main vid/videogame theme (you know, that tune that helps the vid/game boost and obtain popularity). The group Footage music is for songs whose melody is weaker, and are most likely to fit in a particular part of a vid/game. But of course, this is my own classification of my own music (LOL), so you might find a great tune in the second group or something you don’t like in the first group. Opinions are free!
Five tracks are not just a few tracks, it’s almost an entire album. I’ve decided to upload these songs because I’m seeing that people from many places of the world are really liking my music and they want to use it, which is great news for me. I hope you like them.
Internet broke art barriers to entry
The internet is a cool place. Everybody knows it. And there are many reasons why it is so cool. One of them is that it has definitely changed the way artistic content is known by the general public and it has turned upside down the previous model.
In the old days, if you were a musician, you had one way: first, create art. Second, show it to music labels A&Rs. Third, pray for A&Rs to choose your work. Fourth, in case you are choosen, pray for the public to like it.
This way has improved with the internet and it is more or less the opposite: First, you create content. Second, show it to the world. Third, if the public likes it or you manage to get many views, music labels will call you. Fourth, you choose to stay on your own or to join a music label. It’s that simple!
The art barriers to entry have been broken. You don’t need to make an A&R like you, you must make the public like you. And this is so good because new artistic content is rising, but beware! Now that you can create content and show it to the world, you may think there’s room for everyone in art, and there isn’t. As in the previous model, only the best succeed, but now A&Rs have much less power, or no power at all, in the content pipeline. There are other things that affect this pipeline, and I will tell you in separate articles.
Hatsune Miku, rewriting the rules of marketing
I’m living out of this World. There is something I’ve discovered yesterday, and now everything makes sense. It’s the PC software called Miku Miku Dance (MMD).
With it, you can make 3D Hatsune Miku custom videos and put some music behind so she can dance, walk, talk, or whatever you want her to do. It’s not very difficult to use and you can import movements and stuff from the net in case you get stuck with it. Then you can export AVI files and make videos with your favorite video editor, like Windows Movie Maker (comes for free by default on any Windows platform). Here’s the link to the official page (English).
With this tool, Hatsune Miku creators and marketeers have assured that they will have a big amount of fans creating stuff and uploading it to Youtube, for instance. What’s the final effect? Hatsune Miku everywhere, and the rules of marketing changed.
Hatsune Miku has perfectly understood the upcoming changes in content distribution, thanks to the internet, and has used it on her advantage. Instead of prohibiting fans to create fan arts (like the old school), she is currently encouraging fans to make videos of herself! As long as they are not commercial and offensive to the brand, YOU ARE ALLOWED TO UPLOAD ANYTHING YOU LIKE HATSUNE MIKU RELATED. This is a main change from the old school, where it was forbidden to use the character without permission. The result, as I have said above, is that Hatsune Miku is everywhere, and the fan effect is multiplying. Not only they allow you to do so, THEY ARE CREATING TOOLS FOR YOU TO DO IT, like MMD.
My computer is a bit old, and doesn’t work very well with 3D technologies, but yes! I’ve made my first Miku Miku Dance video with a song of my own: MMD – Hatsune Miku – The Whistle Song (link to Youtube video). What do you think of it?
Today, Art is the message
Long post ahead about art! I’ve realised that today, art is almost the message, the true art or what it was called before, has disappeared, vanished, faded away, gone with the wind.
If we take into account what art meant in centuries like 17th or 16th, where many of the greatest works of art were made, like the ones created by Michelangelo, we’ll see that the main purpose of art was to be alike reality, with a littlebit of style. That’s why Velázquez was a good painter, or Rembrandt. But since the photography appeared, the meaning of art has dramatically changed in most disciplines. And today we can state that along with the ‘quality’ of the art, there are other things that make it great like the message, or the ability of the creator to make us think his/her creations are valuable. Please forgive me if you are reading this from an Eastern country… I’m not specialised in Eastern art… but you can post a comment or email me if you want to add anything 
If we take a look at the most successful artists right now, we must say that they send a strong message. Let’s talk about Lady Gaga, for instance. Aside from a bunch of dance songs, we must say that she’s capitalised the costume art, and she’s always breaking the news with a meditated eccentricity. If we take a look at some of the most successful deviantART accounts, we’ll find that although great artists like Kerem Beyit have many views on their profiles, there are other making weird stuff that have far more views than Kerem. If you listen to the radio, or take a look at the latest Youtube music video, you’ll find out that the quality of the song itself is totally insignificant. The important part of the whole thing is the message the artist is sending to the audience. In the painting field it is the same today, painter and sculptor Damien Hirst is blowing us away with sculptures in which the artistic technique is irrelevant. And what do you think of Marilyn Manson?
So, what happened to the art technique and the quality of the art itself? Gone with the wind, as I said before (LOL). That was a joke. Although it is important, today it is secondary. You can find few good artists in this field, but a true artist today has a strong message to share with the World. There is another point, and it is the ability of the artist to make us think his/her art is valuable, as I also said before. Some make a strategy to make their art become viral, sometimes the way they obtain this is the artistic point.
So what’s the future and how can I improve my art? Perhaps what I’m going to say is not politically correct, but instead of going to art school you should better think of something to come up with, something that is interesting, new, and in most cases, eccentric. Your make-up, your hair style, the theme of a work of art, the lyrics of a song. And oh, I forgot! Maybe by reading this blog you can improve! Welcome to the XXI century!!
Madonna vs. Lady Gaga
Today it’s time to take a moment and think about the latest media duel: Madonna vs. Lady Gaga. In music, where the message you send to your fans is crucial to sell more, there are two messages that are overlapping: Madonna’s and Lady Gaga’s.
It’s crystal clear that when Madonna started her career in music all her irreverence was very similar to current Lady Gaga’s. I think they both know it, and Madonna has waited a bit to release an album so Gaga’s one was exploited to the maximum.
Is there space for both artist in the current music universe? Answer is… I don’t know, so we’ll see what happens.
Youtube young musician hordes
Guess what? While I’m writing this article I’m listening to some music on Youtube. Now it’s the turn of Jordan Jansen, a male kid that is currently rocking a bit on the video platform. But there are more. Many more. Seems like parents are trying to make a Justin Bieber out of their children!
And there are other who are older, 18 or so, like Tiffany Alvord, or Christina Grimmie. And many teenagers, like Sabrina Carpenter, or Maria Aragon, or Connie Talbot…
It’s easy. You fall in love, have a child. When he is nine, you teach him how to sing. If he/she sings well, then you upload a video of him/her singing to Youtube and voila! Justin Bieber. But you have to be careful, because, as some people say, what is born on Youtube, stays on Youtube. Though we mustn’t underestimate the power of that video platform.
Deconstructing Lana Del Rey
I do not usually talk about mega mainstream artists, but I will make an exception with Lana del Rey, because I like her music and because her success was built on the net (and isn’t this a blog about internet culture?).
Whatever. I must admit I like her style a lot. It has taken 8 months or so for this girl to directly place herself on top of the star ecosystem. And she deserves it. She’s fresh, original, she’s not the same. When I listen to the radio, I’m always hearing those commercial music themes, with a built-in dance rhythm and some vocals on it. But this is different. I wish all musicians were like her, so original, so special. And, of course, she uses violins, harps, some instruments that were banished from the pop scene a long time ago (Since the 60′s, 70′s of the latest century)!
In sum, I don’t know why she is so successful; I like her music a lot and I hope she does well. Long live Lana del Rey!
This summer to Saint Tropez – Da di da ra
Here’s a music theme I’ve composed for this summer, it’s called Da di da ra and with it we’re going to Saint Tropez and we’ll make a stop over in Ibiza, from Almería. Here’s the link to the Youtube video, and here’s the link to the high quality mp3. Have fun!