M.I.K.E. to release NYC-themed compilation

M.I.K.E. will be releasing a new compilation album on June 7, entitled New York City Nights.

The track list for the album has not come out yet, but it will be interesting to see if any local producers are featured in the mix.

Five days after New York City Nights comes out, M.I.K.E. will be playing alongside DJ Eco and The Thrillseekers at Webster Hall.


[Image credit: Trance.nu]

Weekly shows update

Last week I didn't do one of these, since there really was nothing to mention. But it's back this week, with a couple tidbits of news.

Upcoming:

- Deadmau5 has updated his tour page with dozens of dates for shows this summer, two of which will be in New Jersey. On July 5 he'll play at Harrah's Pool at the casino in Atlantic City, and on July 27, he has a show at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair.

This week:

- Friday: Jason Jollins at Pacha

- Saturday: Brad Miller begins his Push The Night series of shows at Stay with Frank Chiarello and Harji & Watson

More special events in store at Afterhours.fm

Afterhours.fm is hosting two special events this week, both of which highlight the talents of DJ's from two different labels.

Thursday - Enhanced Recordings Day

Starting at 2:00 with Estiva and ending with Daniel Kandi is a great block of artists that have had no shortage of excellent uplifting, melodic, and progressive releases on Enhanced, Anjunabeats, and other related labels.

Friday - Unearthed Recordings Day

I haven't heard of as many of the artists on this day, but definitely tune into Manuel Le Saux, one of my favorite uplifting DJ's, for a mix with ridiculously catchy tunes.

And for both of these days, if you miss a set, click on the links above for each day to download any show you missed. The sets are usually posted a couple days after an event.

[Flyer credit: Afterhours.fm]

Beatport sale (again)

From today until Thursday, April 29, Beatport is lowering the prices of their $1.49 tracks to $.99 each.

If you still have the 25% off coupon that I wrote about earlier this week, you can apply the discount to this sale. I was able to purchase three tracks for $2.25.

This is the first time in recent memory that Beatport has done two discounts in one week.

[Image credit: Beatportal.com]

Beatport coupon offer valid through Saturday

If you shop on Beatport and check your email, chances are you might find a coupon that looks like this, allowing you to earn 25% off your next purchase:

I'm not sure if they are sending this coupon to every user, but I'm certain I received it since I haven't purchased a track from them in over a month.

Normal Beatport downloads cost $1.50 per track. With the coupon applied, you can get a single track for $1.12. If you purchase more tracks, the savings will increase. 

[Image credit: Beatport.com]

The 1000 best trance songs of all time

In case you haven't heard already, Armada Music and the Dance Foundation have launched a new web site asking users to fill out their top 10 trance tracks of all time, with the goal of compiling a list of the top 1000 tracks. The results will be posted in the fall.

Although this is a cool idea, it's not hard to see that it's an obvious marketing tool for both sponsors, in the fact that they can:

- Find out who are the most popular artists not signed by Armada

- Survey what type of trance is the most popular with listeners

- Possibly make some CD compilation out of this?

Anyway, here is my top 10. Click on the links to listen.

1. Solarstone - Seven Cities (can't find the version I like on YouTube...too many mistagged videos)
2. Rank 1 - Airwave
3. Arctic Moon - True Romance
4. Solarstone - Late Summer Fields (Rain Stars Eternal Album Version)
5. Reconceal & Andy Blueman - The World To Come (Andy Blueman Remix)
6. Evbointh - One Wish (Daniel Kandi & Mark Andrez Remix)
7. Ferry Corsten - Galaxia (Aly & Fila Rework)
8. Solarstone - The Calling (RAM Remix)
9. Paul Van Dyk - Home
10. Oceania - Never Forget (Arctic Moon Remix)

Agree with this list? Disagree? What are your top 10 tracks? 

The profitability of being a musician in the digital age

Information is Beautiful, a web site specializing in graphics based on data, recently created this interesting chart on how much a musician really makes through sales of their work online.

Click the image above to expand.

Judging by the numbers in the image, it's no surprise that more musicians are going the label-less route and producing and releasing their albums independantly, as that area is more profitable. The chart also reinforces the fact that artists make most of their money from touring rather than through releasing material.

Weekly shows update

Upcoming:

- Contorto, The Midnight Society, and Lorant Duzgun will play Home Sweet Home on April 26.

- Brad Miller's Push The Night party series, which he hinted about in his interview not too long ago, are beginning May 1 at Stay with him, Frank Chiarello, and Harji & Watson. The theme of the show will be techno.

The second event, a trance theme, will be at Santos Party House on May 5, with support from Wayde Rafnel and Mike Saint-Jules.

- Sean Tyas and Simon Patterson will be at Webster Hall on May 15.

- DJ Eco, The Thrillseekers, and M.I.K.E. will play Webster Hall on June 12.

This week:

Friday: Gareth Emery, Glenn Morrison, and Zack Roth @ Pacha.

Saturday: Gui Boratto and Brad Miller @ Love, Victor Calderone @ Pacha

[Flyer credit: Massive Event]

Beatport releases iPhone app

Beatport, one of the largest distributors of dance music on the internet, has recently released an official iPhone and iPod Touch application.

 

The app allows users to purchase and download songs from Beatport's music catalog, listen to song previews from a built-in audio player, and access other content on their web site.

Beatport has also posted a tutorial on how to use the app, and so far, it's been getting good reviews from users on TranceAddict. 

[Image credit: Apple.com]

Final ASOT 450 show in Poland postponed

The fifth and final installment of A State of Trance 450, which was scheduled to begin now in Wrocraw, Poland, has been postponed in respect to a horrific plane crash this morning that left the country's president and 95 others dead.

Beatsmedia is reporting that the show is going to be rescheduled for April 24, but with a different lineup.

Although there has been no official announcement on whether or not the aforementioned changes are true, I can see them being valid. With the schedule that most DJ's tour with, which requires them to be in several countries across the world on any given week, it would be difficult to have the same group of artists in Poland on a future date.

The show will still be broadcasted in audio and video formats on A State of Trance's web site.

Weekly shows update

A lighter schedule this week after last week's jam-packed lineup.

Upcoming:

- Judge Jules and Christopher Lawerence will play Pacha on April 23.

- Danny Tenaglia and Jason Jollins will celebrating their birthdays at Pacha on April 24 and April 30.

- Benny Benassi and Steve Aoki will be at Pacha on May 21.

- Water Taxi Beach is starting up their summer party series with Carl Cox on June 20 and Victor Calderone on July 5. 

This weekend:

- Thursday: Sander Van Doorn @ Cielo

First acts for Electric Zoo 2010 announced

After months of Made Event keeping the 2010 Electric Zoo festival's lineup under wraps, they have finally leaked the first wave of artists appearing onstage at the two day event.

Saturday:

The Chemical Brothers
Paul van Dyk
Benny Benassi
ATB

Sunday:

Armin Van Buuren
Above & Beyond
John Digweed
Fedde Le Grand

So far, Sunday's lineup this year is leaning towards a trance sound, while Saturday's lineup has a nice variety of genres. England's The Chemical Brothers will be headlining Saturday in support of their new album, with the festival being only one of two United States dates on their summer schedule.

Click here to order early-bird tickets.

[Image credit: MadeEvent.com]