It is said that the music genre of Hip-Hop was born the night of August 11, 1973, when a young DJ named Kool Herc organized a party in the recreation room of a housing development at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue (New York Magazine story). 36-years have passed since that seminal moment in music history and African-American culture, and various efforts along the way have tried to capture Hip-Hop’s momentous contribution in the form of a museum. No one has gotten as far as the current organizers of the movement to create the National Museum of Hip-Hop. (Facebook | Twitter).

For the past five years, the museum’s organizers have been painstakingly planning a physical, interactive museum and cultural center to cement Hip-Hop’s rightful place in history. From meetings with Hip-Hop’s early pioneers to New York City’s office of Economic Development, the NMoH team are working through the process to make the museum a reality.

Prior efforts to create a Hip-Hop institution have been dogged by lack of funds, political issues, or the absence of a qualified team to pull it all together. Many of the pioneers of Hip-Hop had been unable or unwilling to agree to participate for one reason or another. Some of the early stars of Hip-Hop, who never enjoyed the financial success of today’s rap superstars, understandably want to make sure they are compensated for their participation. On the business side, label executives see the possible financial upside of a commercial enterprise, advocate for a Hip-Hop Hall of Fame, where they can clearly monetize Hip-Hop through a flagship restaurant, merchandise and other commercial activities.

On the political side, there’s heated discussion about where the museum should be located. In the Bronx, the birthplace of Hip-Hop? Brooklyn, where Jay-Z and Biggie emanated from? Or, Queens where Run D.M.C. were born? And, Staten Island is always a long shot, because of ease of access. All signs are pointing to Manhattan for now. Hip-Hop is a global phenomenon. Although the museum would certainly benefit any borough, the political and financial realities of a Manhattan location, with possible smaller borough-based satellites makes sense economically. Tourism will be an important driver and the museum’s success depends on being accessible to visitors from around the world.

To kick off fund raising for construction of the museum and drive awareness for the museum’s cultural programs and community-based initiatives, the organizers are planning a black-tie event, slated for February 9th at M2 UltraLounge on Manhattan’s West Side. Chuck D and KRS-One will host the star-studded event. Confirmed guests include Big Daddy Kane, the Cold Crush Brothers, members of the Rock Steady Crew, MC Lyte, Rakim, DJ Red Alert, Ralph McDaniels, The Roots, and Redman. The events co-chairs include, Bill Adler, Dr. Ben Chavis, Andre Harrell, Afrika Bambaataa, Terry Stewart and Jim Fricke.

“The timing is perfect for the development of a museum that will preserve the great culture of Hip-Hop, a museum that will serve as not only a beacon for Hip-Hop’s achievements but also as a hub for community enlistment,” said NMoH President Craig Wilson.

The project’s Advisory Board includes Def Jam Records co-founder Russell Simmons; political activist Dr. Ben Chavis; Uptown Records founder Andre Harrell; Leyla Turkkan, C.E.O. and President of PR/Marketing firm The Catalyst Group; Hip-Hop curator, journalist and publicist Bill Adler; Bob Santelli, executive director of the Grammy Museum; and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s President and C.E.O. Terry Stewart.

For more information on the National Museum of Hip, please sign up on their Facebook page located at http://www.facebook.com/hiphopmuseum or follow their announcements through @NMoH on Twitter. NHoH’s proper web site is coming soon at http://www.hiphopmuseum.org.

(Disclosure: Netmix founder, Tony Zeoli, is also acting Director of Interactive for the National Museum of Hip-Hop.)

The Empire Hotel’s roof top played host to the One Night in St Tropez Tour on Thursday evening. Dane Cook rolled in with an impressive entourage after his performance at Madison Square Garden, the Sex in the City cast was in attendance as were Janeane Garofalo and Mike Epps with entourage in tow. Promoter / hosts Jewels Ferante, Jon Paul Pezzo, Poppa Pri and Eric Scucci get a boat load of credit for tastefully juggled the paparazzi, models and socialites all night. The late great DJ AM had plans to work on future One Night in St Tropez events. All but being handed the thrown, DJ Kenny Summit rocked the celebrity filled gala in a very impressive manner, spinning everything from early 90s hiphop to daft punk, rock, house and everything in between (all while wearing a RIP DJ AM pin on his shirt).

- Contributed to Netmix by Oscar for Katrina Public Relations

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Defected Records founder, Simon Dunmore, takes you 10-years of Defected’s history with the release of Defected Clubland Adventures Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.. From Ministry of Sound to Il Divino, Pacha to the Winter Music Conference, and the 100 Club, Dunmore showcases the label’s highlights, from its early roots through its recent partnership with Strictly Rhythm Records and signings of David Penn, Yass, Chocolate Puma, Hardsoul, David Bovie & Roy Rox, and the Martinez Brothers. Besides tossing in a few mix compilations like Def Con 1, Jay J & Miguel Migs – In The House, and Giles Peterson – In The House, the video features some of the best house music ever made, including:

• 1999 – Soulsearcher – I Can’t Get Enough
• 1999 – Onephatdeeva – In And Out Of My Life
• 1999 – M.A.W. feat. India – To Be In Love
• 2000 – Bob Sinclair - I Feel For You
• 2000 – ATFC – Bad Habit
• 2001 – Roger Sanchez - Another Chance
• 2001 – Kings Of Tomorrow feat. Julie McKnight – Finally
• 2001 – Dubtribe Soundsystem – Do It Now
• 2002 – Shakedown – At Night
• 2003 – Junior Jack - E Samba
• 2004 – Martin Solveig – Sur La Terre and I’m a Good Man
• 2005 – Soul Central feat. Kathy Brown - Strings Of Life
• 2005 – Bob Sinclair feat. Gary Pine – Love Generation
• 2006 – Blaze feat. Barbar Tucker - Most Precious Love
• 2006 – Bob Sinclair feat. Steve Edwards - World Hold On
• 2007 – Dennis Ferrer - The World As I See It
• 2007 – Bob Sinclair feat. Dollarman & Big Ali – Rock This Party
• 2007 – Junior Jack – Stupid Disco
• 2008 – Marc Evans – The Way You Love Me

All tracks can be heard gotten on both Defected Clubland Adventures Vol. 1 (not available on iTunes) and Vol. 2 (buy the full length mix by Simon Dunmore) through at Defected.com.

Check out this track by PJ Hanke feat. Dee Clay, Future Of Our Love., which is featured in this YouTube video for an Acura TSX commercial. To date, it’s got over 21,000 spins.

The original and remix are available for licensing for compilations. You can contact Netmix directly to inquire about the music for your upcoming release.

Here’s the remix on SoundCloud.com:

Armin Van Buuren

Every year, DJ Magazine publishes a poll of the Top 100 DJs as voted by dance music fans around the globe. We don’t really know if it’s all that scientific or not, but it’s pretty fun to watch who gets added, who moves up or down and who gets bumped. New York City’s Ultra Records, a label that has somehow survived the tragedy that has beset other labels through three economic downturns in the last 10-years, releases records from many of the artists that top the polls. With Strictly Rhythm a shell of its former self and Tommy Boy and Robbins chasing pop radio, Ultra latched onto the trance movement, while also releasing a few house records here and there. Although they do chase radio as well, they’ve been able to bridge the gap between radio cheese and quality dance music, and almost always with a vocal. Dance music producers take note: You want to make long lasting records that sell across the globe? Get yourself a vocalist−period!

Because we’re a blog and not the New York Times, we’re not going to recap history here. It’s always easier to simply publish the label’s own self-promotion. But, what we did do was link everything up for you. That, in itself, takes a good hour to complete. While you read, we’re off to have a brew and kick some beats.

Ultra Records Press Release

New York, NY – Ultra Records is proud to be the home for a staggering number of artists and DJs who have placed on this year’s annual DJMag Top 100 DJs Poll, the biggest music poll on earth. Results were announced Wednesday night from a star-studded gala event at Ministry of Sound in London.

Armin van Buuren and Tiësto, at #s 1 and 2, are non-movers this year, and with Above & Beyond (#4), Paul van Dyk (#5), deadmau5 (#6), Ferry Corsten (#7), Markus Schulz (#8), and Sander van Doorn (#10), dominate the Top 10 with eight of the total places. Three-time champ Tiësto is still celebrating the successful release of his new artist album Kaleidoscope (Ultra Records) with a multi-city North American tour scheduled to hit Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco, Phoenix, Vancouver, and LA in the coming weeks, wrapping up with a New Year’s Eve extravaganza in Las Vegas.

Above & Beyond squeak into the Top 5 at #4, just in time for their Anjunabeats Volume 7 (Ultra Records) release party at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom on Halloween. Completing the Top 5 is DJ Paul van Dyk, whose career-spanning best-of collection Volume was released by Ultra Records earlier this summer. Just missing the Top 5 at #6 is 28-year-old Canadian dance music phenomenon deadmau5, known for wearing a big mouse head, on the heels of the release of his critically-acclaimed For Lack of a Better Name (Ultra Records) album.

At #19 is Cosmic Gate, whose move up 49 places makes them the poll’s Highest Climber.

Ultra Records represents a total 20 artists who placed in the top 100 this year, including Ultra recording artist Kaskade who entered the chart for the first time at #51, as did DJ Sharam at #73, whose Get Wild album was released on Ultra earlier this year. Robbie Rivera re-enters this year’s poll just in time for the release of his new artist album, Closer to the Sun, out on Ultra November 3.

The Top 100 DJs Poll annually attracts over 350,000 voting fans from around the globe and is powered by Trackitdown.net. Artists placing on the Poll and represented by Ultra Records are listed below. For the full list, visit http://www.djmag.com/top100djs/

1. Armin van Buuren (non-mover)
2. Tiësto (non-mover)
4. Above & Beyond (non-mover)
5. Paul van Dyk (down 2)
6. deadmau5 (up 5)
7. Ferry Corsten (down 1)
8. Markus Schulz (non-mover)
10. Sander van Doorn (up 3)
14. Axwell (up 6)
19. Cosmic Gate (up 43)
26. Benny Benassi (up 13)
29. Fedde Le Grand (non-mover)
34. Eric Prydz (down 13)
49. Richard Durand (up 17)
51. Kaskade (new entry)
60. Roger Sanchez (down 3)
66. Laurent Wolf (up 1)
70. Sander Kleinenberg (down 11)
73. Sharam (new entry)
95. Robbie Rivera (re-entry)

About Ultra Records
Ultra Records is an American independent electronic dance music record label, voted Winter Music Conference’s IDMA “Best American Dance Label” (2006-2009) and Billboard’s Dance Airplay Label of the Year (2005-2008). Ultra was formed in New York City in 1995 by former Polygram and Virgin Records executive Patrick Moxey, who is still the owner. Ultra’s current roster includes American artists Markus Schulz, Steve Smooth, Kaskade, Sharam, Cedric Gervais, and international artists Tiësto, Paul Oakenfold, Above & Beyond, The Young Punx, Benny Benassi, Ferry Corsten, Armin van Buuren, Kraak & Smaak, Morcheeba, Fedde le Grand, Enur and others in North America. Ultra has featured releases from the aforementioned artists and many others such as Pitbull, Paul van Dyk, The Crystal Method, Timo Maas, Sasha & John Digweed, 4 Strings, Panjabi MC, Despina Vandi and Junkie XL. In the U.S., Ultra Records is distributed by Alternative Distribution Alliance/Warner; elsewhere, Ultra is distributed by EMI Canada and Vital UK.

Web site: www.ultrarecords.com

[flickr]3853009836[/flickr]

It’s Sunday morning. You’re just waking up from a night spent dancing at the club. You know you want to get out of bed, make yourself some breakfast, and then hit the gym. But, you need a stimulus. Something to move your body. Here’s a little something to start your day, courtesy of Netmix and 8tracks.com.

I always loved Arrested Development for their socially inspired rhythms. Here’s the premier of their latest video, “The World Is Changing.” For more on Arrested Development, check out their web site at http://www.arresteddevelopmentmusic.com

– by Tony Zeoli

Google and Facebook will be adding music to their offerings through agreements with iLike.com, Lala.com and Imeem.com. According to a NY Times blog post, next Wednesday, Google will announce a new feature of its popular search engine that will return with search results music files hosted by a iLike and Lala. If a user types in a search for Tiesto or Kaskade, the search results will provide links to pop-up music players and the user may stream the tracks directly from the search engine, without having to go to the sites themselves.

Facebook will add Lala to its Gifts shop. Many Facebook users already purchase credits to send personalized messages to friends, like birthday e-cards. User will soon be able to purchase tracks for 10-cents and share them with friends to stream or simply purchase tracks for $1 and then download.

In related news, MySpace announced that videos from recently acquired, iLike.com, will appear on throughout the Facebook platform.

For more on these stories, check the following sites:

• http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/hot-on-heels-of-google-facebook-to-take-first-step-int-music/
• http://mashable.com/2009/10/21/facebook-lala/
• http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Google-MySpace-Facebook-make-apf-2162130000.html?x=0&.v=9

On the Grind…Building!

For the past six week, some of you may have noticed a bit of a slowdown in posting to the Netmix blog. It’s not for lack of trying, I’ll tell you that much. It’s simply because I’ve been insanely busy with a couple of projects, and I have been too frazzled to sit and crank out a few posting.

I know, you say, “too busy?” Yes, too busy. In face, so busy that I missed the Electric Zoo Festival, which was something I was really looking forward to. Too busy, that in the last 30 days, I think I pulled a few 12-hour days and one 19-hour day. The latter killed me, because I didn’t leave my office until 7:30 AM, which was 19-hours after I’d gotten to the office the day before. Okay, I cheated by 1.5 hours. I took a little break to share a plate of Calimari with some friends at a local eatery. Rest assured, I jumped right back into work shortly thereafter.

What’s one to do when you’re so busy you can’t post to your own blog? I tried to enlist the help of a Wordpress plug-in, FeedWordpress, which enabled me to aggregate RSS feeds from other sites to post to Netmix, but I stopped using it for a couple of reasons.

First, while FeedWordpress did a great job of ingesting posts from other sites for display on Netmix, it took the entire post from Billboard.com’s RSS service, which included both text and photos, instead of just a summary. I can’t be sure, but it seems as if Billboard.com’s RSS is displaying the full text with images of articles, and not the text summary. For legal reason, I did not want to infringe on Billboard’s copyright by using their content without permission. Because it was an automated tool, I didn’t have the time to go in and credit each news service pinged. After adding multiple services, I realized there were so many posts, it would have just taken way too much time to go through each one to post an attribution, so I gave it the old heave-ho and deleted it.

A second and equally important reason, is because FeedWordpress was causing a harsh php scriptiong error affecting the Netmix home page load incorrectly. Each time the page loaded with php parsing error, it affected Netmix’s page view stats with our analytics program. Certainly a very serious issue.

Lastly, the content coming through these feeds was of relatively little interest to the DJ culture community. It’s all pop crap, right? Netmix has always been committed first and foremost to DJ culture and not general music news. There are a few competitors out there already that do a pretty good job of covering music news. You know, Billboard, MTV, Yahoo! Music, AOL Music and the like. Yeah, I could go head to head, but…er…no, thank you. I’m just kidding, of course. It’s just little’ol me plugging away on Netmix whenever the urge arises. I couldn’t be bothered covering what a “jackass” Kanye West was, who’s getting divorced, or whic faux pas some superstar artist committed. Not my bag, man. We’ll stick to DJ oriented stuff here.

What’s New

There’s a few new things I want to tell you about.

1. 20dot20

20dot20.com

The first is an industry networking event the guys and Habitat Music and I launched four months ago. I know—not a peep here about it on Netmix. Crazy, right? That’s what happens when you’re juggling multiple Twitter feeds (@djtonyz, @netmix, @twiijdj and @eroticdisco, blogs, my Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, Orkut, Tribe.com, Ping.fm, LinkedIn, Plaxo and all the other Web 2.0 sites that are keeping me crazy busy.

Fortunately, we’ve been documenting everything over at 20dot20’s web site (http://www.2odot20.com). We’re very proud of this event, which is the buzz of the advertising music industry.

The event takes place the last Thursday of the month. We were located at 20 W. 20th, however, we just gave up the space and are moving the event to 95 Morton St. in the interim. Check the 20dot20.com Web site for event details and to sign up to the event or receive email notifications of future events. Here is the invite link: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/431022199

2. National Museum of Hip Hop

For the past four months, I’ve been assisting the organizers of the National Museum of Hip Hop with their online strategy. We’re in the process of developing their Web site, which will be tentatively located at http://www.hiphopmuseum.org. The group is planning its fund raising campaign with a a gala event on November 10 at M2 UltraLounge in New York City. Stay tuned for more details and the Web site launch in just a week or so!

3. Twiij.com

Twiij

In the spirit of UltraLight Startups, a New York City small business networking event focused on entrepreneurs bootstrapping their ideas with a few bucks and some wind at their backs, I threw $500 an idea at the wall and got Twiij.com to show for it. What’s Twiij? It’s a Twitter-based music promotion service, where anyone can Tweet their tracks to DJs following our Twitter account: @TwiijDJ. With hundreds of DJs following, you can simply fill out the form. Twiij shortens your URL using the Bit.ly API, and through an online form service creates all the hash (#) tags. Hit submit and watch your Tweet roll out in our feed, where DJs following can pick up on the new music. Think of it as the first Twitter record pool for DJs. Just go to http://www.twiij.com to Tweet your track.

4. EroticDisco

There’s been an explosion of talented female DJs around the world. You can find a few sites dedicated wholly to female DJs, like the popular SheJay.com. One day last year, I was putzing around the Web, thinking up ideas for new sites. I’d been listing to an old Vanessa Dauo album, inspired by the poetry of Erica Jong. That gave the idea for EroticDisco. I completely understand that some people think the word “erotic” followed by the word “disco,” means that it’s some kind of porno site, but that’s the furthest thing from my mind. However, I do want to focus on the fashion of female DJs, because I think that’s going to be a driver for young women who are interested in DJ culture.

EroticDisco.com Tamara Sky

My girlfriend, bless her heart, thinks that EroticDisco.com should cover ALL female DJs, no matter what they look like. Well, that’s what SheJay is for. We’re trying to be a little different and focus on the fashion, the style AND the music. It’s my editorial vision for the site to focus on stylish, attractive women who are also slamming DJs. Call it whatever you want. If you’re not feeling it, then may I suggest that you start your own Web site. There are thousands of ways to launch your own Web site nowadays, it shouldn’t be too hard. Just don’t hate the player, hate the game! We’re just trying to have a little fun in all the seriousness.

Wrap-Up

Yes, we’ve been GRINDING it out this summer! That’s for sure. If that wasn’t enough, I’ve been in the studio with DJ Ming working on some music. And, I’ve been helping my friends with their sites: TrendyMommies.com, 622Photography.com, and MelibeeGlobal.com.

I’ve also started developing our NetmixMedia.com corporate site, which is the parent org of this site, Netmix.com, and Twiij.com, DJGig.com (coming soon) and SoundsSocial (also coming soon).

This, and all the work I’m doing with Zaah Technologies at Lead User Experience Architect, which includes a bunch of sites that I can’t disclose, but they are all pretty big projects and we’re doing some fun stuff!

That’s a wrap. Stay tuned, because I’m going to be kicking it a bit more here on the blog in the next few weeks! Apologies for disappearing for a minute, but you can see why. It’s been mad hectic, for sure!

– by Tony Z.

I just came across this blog post on Boston.com’s Metro Desk: Defendant’s lawyer puts on a show in illegal downloading case. Globe staff writer, Jonathan Salzman, describes the courtroom antics, he writes, that “Charles Nesson, the flamboyant Harvard Law School professor defending a college student accused of illegally downloading and sharing music online,” has used to make the case that his client is not responsible for copyright infringement. At the time of this post, there were over 40 comments to the original article. I wanted to share my two cents on the subject, which I posted in the comments section earlier tonight. I’ve fixed a few errors and added a few words to this, but it remains pretty much intact from my original comment.

When someone says that music is not a tangible thing, I tend to disagree. When you can take digital bits of information and move them using a USB drive from one computer to another, although it seems as if you’re moving air, you’re actually migrating a process that thousands of man hours went into creating.

Digital music is a “physical” product. When we think of the CD, we think that is the physical product, when in all actuality, it is simply the transport mechanism, not unlike an MP3 device is today. I believe that if I make a song and it is converted into digital format, then it is a product that is my property. If I choose to share that property with others as “open source,” then that’s my choice. If I choose to restrict access to my product, that’s also my choice. The copyright laws in this country protect that choice.

What most people don’t think about is this: One day you download someone’s music file and then place it on your computer. You allow open access to your computer through a file sharing network. Others then come and take and share that file through their computers. All of a sudden, that file has been downloaded a million times, usurping the ability of the content owner to generate revenue based on their production of that music. The next day, you write a blog post about that music, then someone copies your blog post and puts it on a hundred web sites, which they are monetizing with Google’s Adsense program. You get angry and say, “that’s unfair! I wrote that article about that song that I downloaded…for FREE!” And, the cycle continues.

What happens then? How do you generate revenue? Well, most people think today that the creative process is really just a driver for sales of tickets to the live performance and a piece of your life in the form of merchandise and other stuff that people will buy, and therefore support your life. In today’s world, if you’re a musician and you’re not monetizing your life in other ways than just through the sale of your music, then you’re not very entrepreneurial.

Sell the right to have dinner with you and talk about music with one of your most ardent fans. Provide inside access to a recording session and sell the right to be there to a fan. Let that word of mouth about how cool you are translate into more people who are interested in you and then watch that word of mouth, viral marketing strategy take off. Get innovative.

Stop depending on music sales, which were NEVER your bread and butter anyway. The less we sell music, the more we sell access to our world. We’ve always given music to radio and they’ve profited handsomely by only paying ASCAP and BMI, but not the other entities that are arguing they should be paid today. If you want money, go after radio, who play your music and play commercials in between every song, or go after a file sharing networks profits from advertising around your music. But once you start suing your constituency, you tell them they are not valuable to you. That they can be tossed into the cesspool at any time for simply wanting to support the music by freely sharing it unencumbered.

It’s tragic that the major labels continue to sue their way into oblivion. All that money gone to lawyers, when it could have gone back into the business of music and generating new pathways. I can totally understand the desire for control, but haven’t we learned that there will always be leaks? Haven’t we learned that it’s so hard to control human behavior? You can try to kill all the mice in a house, but one always gets away, only to start a new family somewhere else.

There is surely another way to embrace and not destroy your audience. A way to give them what they want, when they want it, and find other ways to profit from their use of your copyright. Look at companies like Wordpress. They have found a freemium model of giving away the software, but providing fee based support services around that model.

I know some labels are starting to become more like boutique agencies that are hired by their artists, instead of artists being signed to them. The better they do, the better the artist does and everyone wins in the end. The new paradigm that being a label isn’t really being a product provider, it’s become being a service provider. That’s where the world is headed and these stupid lawsuits are just postponing the inevitable demise of the old model.

If you took all the money and invested it into the service model, which is what Live Nation and Ticketmaster are sort of doing, that could be (a decent) solution. Hire your label, not the other way around. Say, I don’t want to be signed, I want to hire you to be my label and work for me. If they don’t, then you can fire them and move onto another group more to your liking.

There you have it! My take on what ails the industry and a possible other way of looking at what it means to be a recording artist today, and why you have to change they way you think about the label system. The old way is dead. There’s no looking back. The new paradigm is “software as a service.” or SAAS. Giving software away for free and providing services around that. Music companies need to think about how software companies are giving away the product, while providing value on the other end. If Wordpress, Movable Type, Jomla!, Drupal, and a ton of other Open Source companies can do it, why can’t we do it in the music business?

– by Tony Z.

If you don’t know Dubspot, the music production and DJ school has quickly entrenched itself as the defacto spot to learn the tools, tips and techniques for the DJ trade. Whether it’s making music with Ableton Live, scratch classes using Serato, or DJing with the Pioneer DVJ mixing console using DVD’s, the school has a class for you.

Dubspot’s 2009 Summer registration is under way and you’ll need to jump on it quick, because I hear that classes are filling up. According to a recent NYTimes article about DJing in the dowturn, Dubspot enrollment has doubled to 300 since last year. Since the economy took a turn for the worse, it’s always good to use the time to pick up a new skill. While some are transitioning to nursing and health care or other sectors, you might be thinking about leaving the corporate carer behind to do something infinitely more creative than crunching spreadsheets and building Power Point presentations.

Recently, Dubspot celebrated its two-year anniversary with a weekend long event from June 25th to the 28th. I wasn’t able to attend, but the folks at Dubspot and Plexi PR were able to provide this wrap up:

DubSpot, New York City’s home for dynamic electronic music production and DJ education, celebrated its 2 Year anniversary with a long weekend June 25th-28th.  In addition to hosting three individual birthday parties, DubSpot also brought its Live 8 U.S. Sessions Tour in for its home stop, with Ableton Live 8 production and performance workshops.  An abundance of high profile artists were involved throughout the events, and the weekend has received enthusiastic praise from all participants not only for its ingenuity, but also its originality and high standard of quality.  Full workshop videos with techno auteurs Richie Hawtin & Ambivalent, Dub pioneer Scientist, Peter Kirn of CreateDigitalMusic.com and much more to be made available online soon.  Check out the DubSpot blog here for updates.

The first of DubSpot’s 2 Year Anniversary parties was the Funk Aid for Africa NYC release party.  The album, and the fundraising effort in general, had been riding high already from a 4 star review from Time Out New York, and DJ sets from OBaH, Reborn and Ticklah carried the party late into the night. The second of DubSpot’s 2 Year Anniversary Parties was held at Love, and saw Minus’ Richie Hawtin take to the decks for a special 4-hour set.  Hawtin set the place ablaze in an all too rare club appearance in New York.  Working with our partner, NYC techno promoters  Blk|Market Membership, DubSpot packed the house with instructors, students and friends, and danced until dawn to the banging beats of world-class techno. Sunday night’s Hi-Fidelity DubSpot Sessions kept the momentum going late, as Scientist mixed Dub Is A Weapon live, plus sets from Badawi, DJ Kiva, Matt Shadetek, and DJ Rupture.  The show was widely enjoyed and appreciated as a world-class night of music and community.

Below are a list of classes and dates. I’ve included the recent July dates just in case there’s an opportunity to join in late, since they only started a week ago. Click the links for more information.

DubSpot Upcoming Class Start Dates : Summer 2009
Registration is open for DubSpot’s summer sessions. Get started on bringing your musical ambitions to life.

July 21: DJ Beginner & Extensive packages Tuesdays will begin with DJ OBaH at 7:15pm.
July 21: Turntablism classes meeting on Tuesday will begin with 2007 DMC World Supremacy champ DJ Shiftee at 5:15pm.
July 23 Music Production package B: encompassing Reason Ableton & Logic Thurs 6:15 taught by Chris Petti of the Reason Users group.
August 2nd Ableton Live with Jon Margulies: Sundays at 4:00pm Can be taken separately or as part of our year long Ableton certificate program
August 7th Ableton Live with Jon Margulies: Class will meet Wednesdays and Fridays at 6:15pm. Can be taken separately or as part of our year long Ableton certificate program
August 14th  Logic Intensive with Matt Shadetek of Dutty Artz – Mondays Wednesdays Fridays 10:15am
August 18th Ableton Live: Class will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:15pm. Can be taken separately or as part of our year long Ableton certificate program
August 18th DJing with Video class with Lars of DVJ Vision begins Tuesdays at 5:15pm.

In just two short years, DubSpot has fully emerged as a force in the electronic music world.  The Live 8 U.S. Sessions Tour will continue this Fall in Los Angeles in October, then move on to 5 other cities including Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, Austin and Washington D.C.  And that’s just this first round.  The tour will continue to grow, and continue to be the ambassador of DubSpot’s devotion to excellence in electronic music.  By providing unique opportunities for established and aspiring artists alike to develop their knowledge, careers, and production and performance abilities,DubSpot will secure and advance its position on the cutting edge of electronic music education! – Quote courtesy, Plexi PR

DubSpot 348 West 14th Street New York, NY 10014
212.242.2100 // info@dubSpot.com
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- by Tony Z.

Okay, we all know the power Twitter now wields over unfettered thought on the web. However, if you’re a company who has set up their first Twitter feed, only to find that competitors and those who either hate you or want to see you fail start posting things you might not want your mother to see, then check out two new services that will allow you to moderate Tweets before they hit your feed.

TweetRiver.com recently provided moderation services for the first Twitter conference, TWTRCON, in San Francisco. A few bloggers are already talking about the service.

From their web site:

TweetRiver delivers innovative and exciting solutions for a broad spectrum of companies and organizations. Some customers are simply trying to get a moderated Twitter stream onto their website. Some are trying to redefine how they engage customers from first-touch through customer support.

We know that each of our customers has individual needs. What solution can we deliver for you?

News & Media

• Publish a moderated news feed on your website
• Interact with an online community or fan group
• Curate tweets (or links in tweets) about news and events
• Aggregate tweets from multiple personalities into a single stream

Technology

• Notify customers and prospects of news or events
• Publish a moderated product feed on your website
• Respond to customer support issues
• Capture product, service, or company recommendations
• Power digital signage with tweets from customers or about your market

Large Enterprise

• Personalize a brand with tweets from key employees or executives
• Drive thought leadership about products or solutions
• Augment the call center with the crowd conversation
• Enable customers to collaborate via social media

Retail

• Cross-promote links and keywords from tweets to your website
• Publish buzz about new products or events
• Feature tweets from key influencers on your website
• Respond to local product and service requests

Not to be outdone, there’s a newbie on the block. TidyTweet.com promises to do the following:

• Automatic or Manual Approval of Tweets
• Custom Bad Word Filtering
• Whitelist or Blacklist Twitter Users
• Auto-rejection of Tweets from New Accounts
• Auto-rejection of Tweets with Multiple Trending Topics

TidyTweet is currently in private beta. Sign up for an account to test it out. It looks like it will be free for personal users. Business customers will have to fork over the toll.

– djtonyz

As we’re all now aware of, the music legend, recording artist Michael Jackson, passed away at the age of 50 from a heart attack in his rented LA home on June 25, 2009. Michael’s impact as a pop-superstar who affected millions, if not billions of music fans worldwide with his music will be felt for generations. Like the Beatles, Elvis Presely and Frank Sinatra, Jackson is an American icon who transcended race to make music for the masses that carved out a musical niche very few ever realize. In today’s music industry, a transformational entertainment icon is hard to come by. Because music has become disposable, artists like Michael Jackson are few and far between. It is now a question as to whether anyone can ever attain the stature Michael Jackson enjoyed throughout his 40-year musical career.

This post is not meant to be a retrospective on MJJ’s life. My intent is to simply convey the important Michale Jackson had on DJ culture in America and around the world. As a DJ since 1979, MJJ’s music played an integral role in my career development. Any DJ worth his salt understood that dropping an MJJ record, whether as part of the Jackson 5 or as a solo artist, would bring a lulled crowd to a dancing frenzy. In the midst of of a set, when you were looking for that perfect record that would help you build a rapport with your crowd, pulling out an MJJ record at the exact, right moment transformed you from just another DJ to everyone’s favorite DJ. Knowing when, where, why and how to play an MJJ record is an art within the art or music. It’s nothing you can teach, just something you understand as you watch other DJs ply their trade.

I could go through the list of MJJ records that were the primary drivers on and off the dance floor, but I won’t do that in this post, because everyone and their brother are running tribute shows on the radio, over the web and on television that testify to his musical legacy. What I will say is that through MJJ’s musical genius and the talent of the producers he worked with, DJs were handed instant hit records that built their careers. For that, all DJs should be grateful to Michael Jackson’s legacy, which gave us so much to use to fuel our careers, generate revenues and build on.

My favorite Michael Jackson record of all time: “Get On The Floor.” Why? It’s casual, laid back and smooth, simple cool gave you that simple enticement to move your body. The words themselves we’ve all heard in one way or another, but the way Jackson delivered them in such an innocent, boyish way made it possible for so many to say to themselves, “sure…how hard can dancing be?” As a young DJ at Spin-Off roller skating Disco in Boston, MA, “Get On The Floor” was my anthem. Every skate session I worked, that was the record I’d launch my set with. It was a call to humanity to just let yourself go and feel the rhythm. That’s what Michael Jackson represents to me. Just feeling the rhythm and going with it.

Later on, while working at an 80’s club, Culture Club in New York City, I’d pull out the 12″ version of “Smooth Criminal.” This record was the definition of cool. Who doesn’t want to be a “Smooth Criminal?” It told us, hey, you can be cool and get away with things, if you just do it in such a way that you don’t get caught. You just slide through it all.

I am forever grateful to MJJ for giving me the music ammunition on which to build my career. Despite his controversies, his hard work and dedication to the music and his understanding of how to create transformational experiences, whether live or recorded, can never be replicated or duplicated.

He will be missed.

– by Tony Z.

Octavia St. Laurent (Courtesy NYTimes.com)

Daryl Marcus presents GROOVY at Bar 13. Tonight’s event is a fundraiser to benefit the familes of Octavia Saint Laurent a fixture in the house music scene for over 20 years. Octavia passed away on May 17, 2009. As far as we’re aware, no details have surfaced as to the cause of death.

The event showcases 20 different Guest DJs on 3 floors of music from house to hip hop. There will be surprise vocal performances all night on the Bar 13 rooftop (moved inside if it rains). DJs Jellybean Benitez and Hex Hector wlil be spinning with Andre Collins of The Warehouse and Better Days. More surprise DJs are in the works, but no news yet from the Daryl on who those will be. I guess you should show up to find out. Work!

Octavia St. Laurent Benefit Party Flyer

Octavia St. Laurent is a transgendered fashion model, nightlife maven and activist featured in the 1990 film, Paris is Burning, by Jenne Livingston.

Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, it chronicles the ball culture of New York City and the poor, African American and Latino gay and transgendered community involved in it. Many consider Paris Is Burning to be an invaluable documentary of the end of the “Golden Age” of New York City drag balls, as well as a thoughtful exploration of race, class, and gender in America. – (from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Is_Burning_(film))

St. Laurent was a fixture in the transgender, gay, lesbian and bi-sexual “ballroom” community also known as “ball culture.”

Ball culture, the house system, the ballroom community and similar terms describe the underground LGBT subculture in the United States in which people “walk” (i.e. compete) for trophies and prizes at events known as balls. Those who walk often also dance and vogue while in various genres of drag often trying to pass as a specific gender and social class. Most people involved with ball culture belong to “houses” led by a single leader. – (from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_culture).

Why is “ball culture” important? From the early 70’s to the today, the LGBT community has driven dance music and DJ culture in the United States and around the world. Growing out of the Disco movement of the 70’s, House Music and the nightclubs, bars and other indoor and outdoor events and venues that feature the music have been part of the social fabric of this specific community, which influences the larger electronic music movement world wide. As mainstream Ameria has turned to Hip Hop and Rap as it’s primary form of popular music, the LGBT community has never wavered from its support of Dance and Eectronic music. It’s important to understand how this group’s embrace of DJ culture fueled and continues to support the music and the lifestyle. Individuals like Octavia St. Laurent are notable for their celebrity status within house music sub-culture, as they are the drivers of the fasion, dance (Vogue) and attitude that supports nightlife as part of the entertainment arts that we continue to enjoy today.

Here are some links for you to check out:

• Michael Musto / Village Voice
• The Vine
• Octavia Saint Laurent – Wikipedia
• IMDB – Octavia Saint Laurent
• Brooklyn Blues Blog
• TransGRiot Video Clips Collection

Watch the YouTube video from Paris Is Burning:

– by Tony Z.

Last Wednesday night, despite the lingering rain that has been pestering New Yorkers for the last month or so, I decided to venture out to the newly revamped Mansion, which is now known as M2 UltraLounge–the stealthy moniker that is cover for what’s supposed to be Ministry of Sound’s new NYC effort. If Pacha can bring the funk to New York, then Ministry of Sound sure can too, even if it it takes over a space that has seen it’s better days. I wasn’t much of a fan of Crobar, the club’s original incarnation. But, I must say the venue’s design team have given a touch of class to a huge room that was sorely lacking sophistication.

Showing up to Bacardi’s B-Live was, for me, an off, then on again affair. It was 11 pm and I’d just arrived to my friend’s house across the Hudson in Guttenberg, NJ, where I’m staying for the month to be closer to the city. I knew I had to get up for work early, because I commute about 1.5 hours each way to the office in Long Island. As I sat down to check my Facebook messages, I saw a friend sent me an earlier note asking if I was going to go. If so, she was wondering if I was going to take some shots that she could use for a publication she writes for. Despite my better judgement, I knew she needed my help. I got my butt up off the couch, jumped in the car and shot into the city to see what I could come up with. After all, she’s a great gal and I don’t mind doing a favor for a friend.

Remember, I’m supposed to get up at 6:30 AM to make my way to Long Island for my day job. Staying out late on a Wednesday night is not something I’m accustomed to, but it was for a good cause. Plus, I got some great video and ran into some friends, including Armand Van Helden and my man Ricky and his production partner, Ray, who are working on some tracks as Housing Project (MySpace). More on new music from that crew another time, for sure.

The night was definitely jackin. I go there just in time for the last 1/2 hour of Jazzy Jeff’s set. Every element of every track dropped in that 30 minutes was a bomb that warmed up the crowd for A-Trak, who broke out a big beat infused set of electronic, rock and urban rhythms that kept the crowd jumping until around 3 am. Then, it was DJ AM’s turn to take the wheels. After a few intro tracks, he dropped Notorious B.I.G. and the late night revelers kicked into gear once again.

For Bacardi, this certainly was a highly successful branding experiment. To pack an NYC venue on a Wednesday night until the wee hours of the morning says something about the talent and the offering. Bacardi staffers were everywhere throughout the venue, directing punters to get the pics taken in the Bacardi photo booth, have a custom T-Shirt printed on-the-spot, or grab a rock inspired poster. Throughout the venue, Bacardi imagery was in full effect. Of course, the sure winner was the HUGE, fully lit boom-box, which backed the DJs on the stage. I saw some walking around with messenger bags with a boom box pic printed on the flap. For a commercial effort, they got it right. People dug it and it wasn’t too obtrusive. Even the tour bus out front was hot, which photos of the DJs plasted on the sides.

All in, it was a pretty exciting night for Bacardi and NYC. Definitely a hot event. If B-Live is coming to a city near you, I wouldn’t miss it.

Check out the videos and photos below of Bacardi’s B-Live stop in NYC.

[Show as slideshow]

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