In a survey of over 200 record label managers, PR agents, producers, artists and promo companies, UK website, DanceTrasmission.co.uk reports that 74.3% of all respondents surveyed cited downloading as having a negative affect on their business. While this is expected, this report uncovers sentiments from a segment of the industry that is rarely polled.

77.6% of respondents said that piracy is hurting dance music more today than it was 5-years ago, with 18% responding that they are not sending out promos in the hopes to stem piracy of their releases. 17.4% and 16.1% use methods like voice overs and low bit rate promos to limit the effects of file sharing and only 18% employ secondary companies to issue take down notices.

Over 65.8% generally take action against sites by issuing take down notices, with 65.5% reporting those efforts are effective some of the time. 65% of respondents surveyed believe that Google should block torrent and pirate sites, but 61.4% said they don’t know how to file a copyright infringement claim with the company. Google’s copyright infringement policy is listed on their web site here: http://www.google.co.uk/dmca.html. Google also owns YouTube, which has a different infringement policy page listed on their web site here: http://www.youtube.com/t/dmca_policy. Both websites state that you must send a written communication of your infringement claim. For legal and process reasons, they don’t offer web forms. If they did, it would be easier for some to make false infringement claims or duplicate claims. At the end of the day, issuing take down notices is labor intensive and only effective half the time. How effective is difficult to measure, because once you issue a take down that to a site, your music can pop up somewhere else. 34% said they take no action, which implies that they either don’t have the resources to deal with the issue or they let it go with the knowledge they are getting some promotional value out of piracy.

62.8% think the UK government should target ISP’s and download sites in an attempt to limit piracty, while only 5.1% think they should target users. But, users are not off the hook. 50.6% think that the UK government should implement a “3-strikes” rule for those who are caught file sharing. What that would look like, we can’t say. The question is then, how much file sharing constitutes one strike? Is it 10 files on one-day or 100 files an hour? It is very difficult to define a law prohibiting file sharing by users, because it’s hard to agree on when to take action.

Sending out promos to blogs and music journalists has always been an important tool to get the word out about new releases. 65.6% say they allow blogs to post their files, but 49.3% report it’s harder to get reviews from links to downloads than from physical copies. 37.5% report it made no difference, but the fact that a majority find it harder can possibly be attributed to the level of email spam. It’s much harder to differentiate spam than it is a physical CD which arrives at your door. At Netmix, we get a ton of digital promos via email, but rarely open or listen to them, mainly because some PR companies and labels send promos through services like MediaFire, which ask you to pay for faster download speeds, or YouSendIt.com, who’s links expire after a few days.. While those services are excellent for tracking open rates, journalists can’t subscribe to all of them for obvious reasons. SoundCloud.com provides a much better solution, and we see the industry moving in that direction.

57.4% saying the no longer send out CD promos. For most independents, it’s not cost effective to invest in CD promos. It’s much easier to use SoundCloud and forward links, but what we see lacking is aggressive follow up. We get a ton of email, but rarely do we get anyone following up with us to see if we posted their music. The reports states that 37.8% of respondents in the survey cited expense as the underlying factor in not using promotion services. In this era of do-it-yourself (DIY), many label upstarts don’t see the benefit if independent dance promotion services. But, it could mean the difference between a hit record or something that falls on deaf ears.

We’d love to get your feedback. Leave us a comment.

To view the poll, please visit http://www.dancetransmission.co.uk.

The tool of the DJ trade are constantly in flux. From turntables (Technics 1200 MKII’s)  and CD players (Pioneer CDJ’s) to digital hardware (Pacemaker DJ), DJ hardware and software devices are getting smaller, while packing in more features than anyone ever thought possible. Today’s digital DJ has at their fingertips the ability to mix beats, set cue points, create loops and apply a myriad of effects that 20-years ago would take up half the rack space in a recording studio. Walk into any club or lounge today and the laptop with DJ software from companies like Rane (Serato), Native Instruments (Traktor Scratch Pro), Atomix (Virutal DJ), and M-Audio (Torq) reigns supreme.

Just when we thought the laptop, which disrupted CD decks that disengaged the turntable market, would be here to stay, along comes the Apple iPad. Weighing in at under a pound, it’s much lighter and more compact than a laptop. The iPad’s multi-touch capability brings vinyl emulation directly to the screen.

Until the recent appearance of touch-screen technology, digital DJs emulated the old school way of spinning records by employing the turntable to control the playback of an MP3.  Using special digitally encoded vinyl plates and a MIDI hardware interface connected to a laptop running DJ software, information about the location of the turntable’s needle is sent to the software, which then plays back the MP3 based on the needle location.  Since most laptops do not have touch screen technology, the screens face you, and are not flat, it was improbable to create an effective vinyl emulator without resorting to hardware controllers.

That is all about to change with the advent of Mixr, a new vinyl DJ emulator from Noe Ruiz & Ben Stahlhood II at iPadMixr.com. The ipadmixr.com web site states that they hope the Mixr app will become the first iPad DJ application in the iPad app store.

You can see from the screen shots below, Mixr features two turntables, cue, play, pitch, and volume controls. There is a cross-fader and switches to reverse the direction of the fader and controls for effects processing. We’re anxiously awaiting release of this application to see it for ourselves. There are a few DJs who are using two iPads to control currently available loop and beat creation software, but this is the first vinyl emulator we’ve seen so far.

Turntables with cross fader, switches and controllers

Tune rowser to select tracks from iTunes library

Tools to set various effects

Cover Flow view of tracks

Spotify has announced a new player with a variety of new social features that allow users to connect and share music on Facebook. You’ll be able to post the music you love and play lists you create to your Facebook profile, as well as pull your friend’s profiles from Facebook. You’ll can see what you’re friends are doing on Spotify, then drag and drop music on their profile Inbox to share your music, or pull music from their profiles to your own profile.

You’ll also be able to sync your mobile device over your wireless connection. No USB cables are needed. And, you’ll now be able to upload your own tracks to Spotify. The service will match your tracks against its catalog and provide album cover art and other data if none existed, as well as show you other titles by the same artist.

Check out these really cool new features and more on the Spotify blog. Or, watch the video below.

RightsFlow, a leading provider of bulk mechanical licensing and royalty services, recently announced a deal to provide global reporting services for Beatport, one of the world’s leading international dance and electronic music digital aggregators.

This deal offers Beatport a comprehensive solution for reporting to rights societies around the world so that they can continue to make sure that musicians and songwriters are properly paid for their work. The deal will also enable Beatport to focus on their historically challenging customer service, an area of weakness that has improved as of late, rather than the time consuming and detailed processes required in accurately reporting metrics.

Beatport is a popular international online music service, offering hi-speed, quality dance and electronic music downloads to DJs and fans alike. It is a site known for its ease of use; as a web information architect, I applaud them on their superior user interface.

This partnership is significant;  DJs and producers will feel more confident that their work will be compensated with a global reach in a timely manner. Additionally, my hope is that Beatport will continue to ramp up its customer service processes to rectify any issues in an equally timely manner.

See the full story  on Mi2n.com here.

Ovum Records celebrates 15-years with their 14th-annual Ovum Party on Wednesday, March 24th. The festivities take place at Shine nightclub in the Shelborne Beach Resort Hotel from 10 pm to 5 am. In the main room, Josh Wink vs. Steve Bug, Nic Fanciulli vs. Joris Voorn, David Squillace vs D’Julz and Luis Bacchetti. DJ Sneak, Doc Martin and Manik are in the lounge.

Josh Wink recently announced the opening of the Josh Wink store online, where you can pick up the Banana T-shirt to show your a fan of Josh’s new studio album, When A Banana Was Just A Banana.”

Follow Ovum on Facebook Page: ovumrecordings or on Twitter @ovumrecordings. Follow Josh Wink on Facebook: JoshWinkOfficial or Twitter @JoshWink1.

Take a listen to these tracks from the new album in the Beatport player below.

Josh Wink Resident Advisor Podcast

We’ve got a tip from DJ Ming that his new remixes of Lady Gaga’s Telephone track were posted to Soundcloud. Check them out, right here on Netmix! You’ll find extended, dub and radio mixes from Ming and an extended and instrumental mix collaboration with Chad North.

Yes, it’s been a minute between posts, but I’ve been insanely busy working on projects with my new digital consultancy, Digital Strategy Works.

Netmix has been this pro-hobby, if that makes any sense. I’ve actually been working full time and going to school at NYU for the last 5-years. I graduated in May with a Bachelor Degree in Digital Communications and Media.

While I love writing this blog, it hasn’t been my first priority. I know that shows given the time between posts, but I try my best to update when I can. Given the economic turmoil we’ve faced over the last few years and the demise of the music business as we once knew it, I knew it was important to focus on work first and the hobby second. I always say, you have to have a base from which to work.

Okay, so even though I always say it, I ended up throwing that advice out the window—sort of.

In November, I left my full-time job. Yes, in this economy, I actually LEFT my job! I know. Call me crazy. I’d been working for a web development company in Long Island, but I really missed the New York City digital media and music scene. Long Island just wasn’t where I wanted to be every day. I felt really disconnected from the community. It was time to make a change.

I was passing up so many opportunities making the 3-hour+ commute. I’d been running myself ragged going back and forth. Not only was I missing out on all the nightly Meetup.com events and other entrepreneur and start-up gatherings, I was wearing myself down in the process.

If that wasn’t enough to do, I’d also taken on the side role of Director of Interactive for the National Museum of Hip-Hop. And, along with DJ Ming, Harold Stephan and DJ Chad North, we’ve been running 20dot20, a monthly networking event for the interactive and advertising music industry. Between driving back and forth to Long Island, Netmix, and my other extracurricular activities, I decided to go back to entrepreneurship.

Given my 15-years of web development experience, I thought I might as well just launch Digital Strategy Works and put that knowledge to work. This new addition to the Netmix Media portfolio provides strategy digital media consulting services to individuals, entrepreneurs, start-ups and corporations with a focus on the media & entertainment industry, including music, nightlife, fashion, film and television. We’re building web sites on WordPress and Drupal, e-commerce platforms on Magento, and mobile applications for Apple’s iPhone and iPad.

It all starts with the planning and execution of a measurable end-to-end digital strategy that makes an impact. In today’s competitive online marketplace, an effective digital strategy is executed across an array of online and mobile applications. This includes nformation architecture and user experience design, creative direction and graphic design, web and mobile development, search engine optimization, e-commerce and monetization, and social media and online marketing. There are so many things to know. Since that’s what we do everyday, we’ve become experts in the field and are passing on that knowledge to you.

Please visit the web site at http://www.digitalstrategyworks.com to read more about Netmix Media’s latest addition. We’re currently offering 2-hours of WordPress consultation through March 31 for $250.

Check out this YouTube video mashup of the Top 25 Billboard Hits for 2009 by DJ Earworm.

Download the mp3 | Visit DJ Earworm’s web site.

Track Listing:

• The Black Eyed Peas – BOOM BOOM POW
• Lady Gaga – POKER FACE
• Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O’Donis – JUST DANCE
• The Black Eyed Peas – I GOTTA FEELING
• Taylor Swift – LOVE STORY
• Flo Rida – RIGHT ROUND
• Jason Mraz – I’M YOURS
• Beyonce – SINGLE LADIES (PUT A RING ON IT)
• Kanye West – HEARTLESS
• The All-American Rejects – GIVES YOU HELL
• Taylor Swift – YOU BELONG WITH ME
• T.I. Featuring Justin Timberlake – DEAD AND GONE
• The Fray – YOU FOUND ME
• Kings Of Leon – USE SOMEBODY
• Keri Hilson Featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo – KNOCK YOU DOWN
• Jamie Foxx Featuring T-Pain – BLAME IT
• Pitbull – I KNOW YOU WANT ME (CALLE OCHO)
• T.I. Featuring Rihanna – LIVE YOUR LIFE
• Soulja Boy Tell ‘em Featuring Sammie – KISS ME THRU THE PHONE
• Jay Sean Featuring Lil Wayne – DOWN
• Miley Cyrus – THE CLIMB
• Drake – BEST I EVER HAD
• Kelly Clarkson – MY LIFE WOULD SUCK WITHOUT YOU
• Beyonce – HALO
• Katy Perry – HOT N COLD

I received an email reminder today about this video from Brooklyn indie-rock artist, Ariel Aparicio; it’s a cover of the Psychedlic Furs punk classic Pretty In Pink. The original rock number featured on his latest album, All These Brillian Things, is a beautiful ode to a friend stricken with cancer. Pocketknife turned that sweet, melodic version into a synthetic house number with a noticeably darker, tougher,  yet resonant flavor. Ariel’s guitarist from his back up band provided a few licks over Pocketknife’s sublime, moody electronic instrumentation.

Funny, I was thinking, Ariel, hmmmm? Do I know this guy? I dug a little deeper and found out that yes, I do know Ariel! He and his partner co-own two of the hottest Thai restaurants in Brooklyn, JOYA and SONG.

When I lived around the corner from the JOYA in Carrol Gardens, I was a regular. The food…fantastic! The atmosphere is modern and industrial with exposed brick that is softened with local artwork and floral arrangements. Both restaurants feature DJs on the weekends. In fact, I loved the place so much, I even had my wedding reception there. The marriage didn’t last, but the memories of all my great friends from Brooklyn and others who came in from around the country to celebrate, as well as the inspirational sounds of DJ Ray Velasquez, will live with me forever.

That being said, Ariel is one of the sweetest, most genuine human beings I’ve ever hard the pleasure to meet. Although his first album didn’t catch my fancy so many years ago, it’s great to see that he’s kept at it and is hitting his stride. Like that spicy thai cooking emanating from the kitchens at JOYA and SONG, this one is just is as spicy.

The video is currently being spun on MTV’s LOGO channel. It held the number one spot on the channel’s The Click List program, and has since been nominated to The Click List Top 10 of 2009.

Download the House Mix of Pretty In Pink from

Nice to see someone’s investing in music videos for dance music artists. Although we wish the director would have gotten Guetta to do more than just shill for Nokia and make love signs with his hands, it’s all good. The track is cool and the dance routine isn’t half bad. Thumbs up!

After a long break, I’m back with a new 180-minute Netmix Global House Sessions Podcast. Has it been a year already? I guess so. Life kind of got in the way. I’m brushing off the laptop cobwebs and putting together a hot mix for the holidays.

There are 29 tracks in this mix, which is approximately 3 hours and 8 minutes. I inadvertently used Lukas Greenberg’s “A New System” twice. I don’t know what I was thinking, but enjoy it two times around, because it is a slammin track!

1. No Turning Back – Original Mix – Gui Boratto – Kompakt
2. Libellules – Original Mix – Agoria – InFine Music
3. Praise You – Fatboy Slim vs. Fedde Le Grand Remix – Fatboy Slim, Fedde Le Grand – Skint Records
4. Feels Like I’m Dancin – Ahmet Sendil Remix – Ahmet Sendil, Sivana – Bazooka
5. 73 Tomtom Avenue – Jimpster Mix – Jimpster, David K – Tsuba
6. The Rhythm Track – Jimpster Remix – Jimpster, Milton Jackson – Freerange Records
7. A New System – Lukas Greenberg ‘Drift’ Mix – Ross Couch, Lukas Greenberg – Body Rhythm Records
8. Stoppage Time – Reshuffle Remix – Guy Gerber, Niv Hadas – Bedrock Records
9. Dance Bits – Original Mix – Tek DiLuxe – Overline Records
10. Acid – Lost In Acid Ausfahrt Mix – David Tort – Strictly Rhythm
11. Good Life – Original Mix – Kim Fai – Size Records
12. I Like House Music – Original Mix – DJ PP – Soulman Music
13. I’m Gonna Get You – Remix – Bizarre Inc. – S2
14. Rhythm Is A Dancer – Tee’s Mix – Snap – Arista
15. Rhythm Is A Dancer – Armand Van Helden Remix – Snap – N/A
16. Balearic – Original Mix – Submission DJ – Tribal Spain
17. Can I Get……?! – Matthias Meyer Remix – Matthias Meyer, Alex Niggemann – Supernature
18. That Feeling – DJ Chus 2010 Revisited Mix – DJ Chus, The Groove Foundation     Defected
19. Amalfino – Original Mix – Kaiserdisco – MBF
20. Wobble Night – Original Mix – Remerc – Greelpound
21. Je T’aime – Carlo Lio Mix – Kolombo, Carlo Lio – Hotfingers
22. Empty Trash – Original Mix – Joris Voorn – Rejected
23. A New System – Lukas Greenberg ‘Drift’ Mix – Ross Couch, Lukas Greenberg – Body Rhythm Records
24. Matter – Original Vocal Mix – Matteo Marini – Deeperfect Records
25. To The Six – Original Mix – Boom Jinx, Andrew Bayer – Anjunadeep
26. Who Dares To Believe In Me? – Martijn Ten Velden Remix – Martijn Ten Velden, The Believers – Strictly Rhythm
27. Joy – Original Mix – Butch – Bangbang!
28. Celebrate – Original Mix – Manuel De La Mare, Matteo Matteini – Hotfingers
29. Hidden Source – Original Mix – Daniele Papini – Break New Soil

Click this link to subscribe to the Podcast Feed.

Or listen by choosing a play icon below. You can also right click on the download link and Save As, but we prefer that you subscribe to the podcast, so that we can keep tracks of downloads and plays. Thanks!

Download

Just a slight little change this week. We’ve recently added a comment system and moderation tool from the folks at Disqus.com. If you click into a post, you will see the Disqus logo towards the bottom. This should make things more interesting on the pages of Netmix. We’re going to try it out for a few weeks and see how it helps and then post our findings.

In the meantime, any times you see something on Netmix, now you’ll be able to comment on it in an easier and more efficient way. Your participation is integral to the growth of this blog and we hope you’ll contribute something back.

Thanks to @jeffcarvalho for posting this on his Twitter feed. This tune is gorgeous. We love the video from the Cinnamon Chasers called Luv Deluxe, which was shot with a Cannon 5D Mark II. It’s genius. This track is going to be a car commercial soon, you watch.

Luv Deluxe by Cinnamon Chasers
Album: A Million Miles From Home
Directed by: Saman Keshavarz
Produced by: Francis Pollara
© Modus Records / Koch Entertainment 2009

Looking for something to do on Thanksgiving Eve next week? The Bowery, Pacha NYC and Terminal 5 have teamed up to bring you and evening of hyped beats and funky sounds from everyone’s musical maestro of the moment, Deadmau5. Alongside will be U.K. funkmaster, BURNS, who’s Parisian-style funk melded with UK disco-filtered house is rocking dance floors around the world.

BURNS has been busy remixing the sounds of Ladyhawke, Jack Spalsh feat. Missy Elliot, Passion Pit, The Gossip, Kasabian, White Lies, FrankMusic, and Calvin Harris.

Take a listen to BURNS Pre Party Jamz set recently featured on NickyDigital.com.

NickyDigital_Pre_Pre_Party_Jamz_ BURNS

Now for something we didn’t know…Birmingham U.K. producer/dj, Kim Fai! He’s listed on the bill along with Sleepy & Boo. This cat is sick! We just checked out his tracks on his MySpace. What! Yo…crazy! His remix of the balearic classics Inner City Good Life and the Paul Thomas & Myke Smith remake of Atlantic Ocean Waterfall are incredible. He’s got a bunch of tracks out, including Drug Music 2009 with Mark Knight from Toolroom Knights on the vocal. We hadn’t heard his remix of Funkagenda’s “What the F*@&k.” We found the YouTube track and it’s served up in this post. Very deep, dark and certainly underground.

Jon Allegro

We put an APB out for mixes and got this one from Ibiza’s Kanya Bar resident, Jon Allegro. From the intro, we concluded it was a featured mix on Judge Jules BBC Radio 1 program. Jules has been banging Allegro’s Jack Jones track, which is out now on Stylus Recordings. We’ve featured that track here too.

Allegro’s got a bunch of top chunes under his remix belt, including Dennis Ferrer’s P 2 Da J on 2008′s Bargrooves – Disco Heat series from Ministry of Sound.

When not spinning on the sunny isle of Ibiza, he’s been known to drop a set or two at Dubai’s 360. If that’s not enough, he won DJ Mag’s Turnmills competition. Jon Allegro is definitely one to watch in 2010.