The Musician’s Census – Key Findings

These challenges are immediately put into sharp focus with 40% of respondents admitting, “I honestly don’t know if I get paid the money I’m owed.” A further 22% report “I definitely don’t get paid what I’m owed.” It’s hard to imagine many other categories of work where fair payment is such a challenge. 

Beyond payment ‘Getting music heard’ remains the most significant challenge for most respondents (54%). Meanwhile over two-thirds (68%) of respondents believe it’s becoming harder to be an independent musician. When asked why three major themes emerge:

1. Oversaturation of the market: The sheer volume of new music being released daily makes it difficult to get noticed.
2. AI-generated music: The rise of AI-generated music is contributing to the difficulty for independent artists. The presence of low-quality acts or AI-generated content is diluting the music landscape.
3. Challenges in building a fanbase: The continued difficulty of gaining a loyal following and leveraging social media effectively.

The research highlights the lengths independent artists go to, to promote their music. It’s a time-consuming,  multi-channel process. On average artists report using five different social media platforms. Instagram dominates as the primary promotional channel. 

In addition to social media, artists typically use five more services.  A music distribution service was the most frequently mentioned, followed by a Link Page provider and a Press/promotion service. DistroKid was the most recognised distribution service, but also the most polarising, reported as the most liked and disliked service.

In return for completing the survey, artists were entered into a competition to win Free promotion across Musosoup, Right Chord Music and Major Labl Artist Club. Congratulations to US dream-pop band Waltzerr who scooped the prize. Discover them on our Explorer, new music playlist.

Read the Musician’s Census

• Read the full report here.
• Download the full report here.

Listen to the Podcast of the report

Discover more on Right Chord Music

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• Music Marketing vs Music Promotion Avoid These Three Mistakes

Words Mark Knight

The post The Musician’s Census: “It’s Becoming Harder To Be An Independent Artist.” appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

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As an independent artist navigating the ever-evolving landscape of the music industry, the quest for recognition and sustainability is a thrilling yet daunting journey. In today’s digital age, carving out a distinct presence demands creativity and innovation. However, amidst the sea of digital releases, vinyl not only cultivates a devoted fanbase but also enriches your revenue stream while offering something tangible: the realm of physical music formats.

The Tangible Essence of Music

In a world where music often exists as digital files streamed or downloaded, the allure of physical formats like vinyl records offers a palpable and intimate connection between artists and their audience. Holding a vinyl record, admiring its artwork, and experiencing the analogue sound on a turntable crafts an intimate and tactile bond that transcends the digital realm, fostering a profound relationship between the artist’s creation and the listener’s experience.

The Challenge for Independent Artists

For independent musicians, the prospect of pressing vinyl records has historically been both financially daunting and logistically complex. The expenses associated with production, coupled with uncertainties about demand and distribution, have deterred many talented artists from exploring this enriching avenue for their music.

Introducing Diggers Factory

Enter Diggers Factory, an innovative platform dedicated to empowering independent musicians to bring their music into physical formats effortlessly. This groundbreaking solution opens doors for artists who previously deemed vinyl production unattainable.

• Revolutionising Vinyl Production:

Diggers Factory facilitates a paradigm shift by adopting a crowdfunding model, enabling artists to gauge demand before embarking on production. With pre-order goals as low as 100 copies, artists can fund their vinyl projects without upfront costs, mitigating financial risks associated with traditional production methods.

• Comprehensive Support:

Beyond crowdfunding, Diggers Factory extends comprehensive support throughout the entire production and distribution journey. From access to production facilities, logistics, and distribution networks to services encompassing mastering, graphic design, and more, artists receive invaluable assistance at every step.

• Crafting Exclusive Collectibles:

Diggers Factory specializes not only in standard vinyl production but also in crafting exclusive limited-edition releases. These unique editions boast distinctive designs and carefully curated tracks, offering fans and collectors an added allure and exclusivity.

Expanding Revenue Horizons

Beyond fostering emotional connections, vinyl records represent a substantial revenue stream for independent artists. With the resurgence in vinyl sales and fans’ willingness to invest in physical copies of cherished music, partnering with Diggers Factory empowers artists to tap into this market, diversifying their income streams and reinvesting in their musical endeavours.

Save 10% On Vinyl Record Production With Diggers Factory & RCM

For independent artists aspiring to grant their music a tangible presence and offer their supporters something extraordinary, Diggers Factory stands as the gateway to endless possibilities. Use the code RCM10 for a 10% discount on your Diggers Factory vinyl production costs, making this transformative step even more accessible.

The post Best Vinyl Record Production appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

Peacock Method – I Provide

Do you ever long for the days of The Cure, The Smiths, REM? There’s a specific type of melancholy yet upbeat indie sound that has never gone out of fashion with a particular audience. Well, look no further for your latest fix, as Peacock Method are paying full tribute to that sound with their new release, appropriately titled ‘I Provide’. 

Peacock Method are a four-piece hailing from Manchester. Having begun releasing in 2021, they’ve been enjoying building a following and watching their streaming numbers rise.

‘I Provide’ is a melodic guitar-led indie tune, touching on love and insecurity yet still going down easy.

‘In my mind, I’m still yours’, sing the confessional lyrics with their husky yet accessible lead vocals. The melodies have plenty of ease to them as the lyrics express admiration for a lover – ‘she’s super, she’s a trouper’ – combined with seeming confusion at their situation – ‘I don’t know what else to suggest’. Yet the chorus concedes to some tenderness and insecurity – ‘I can’t disguise the feelings that I provide…I don’t wanna be here on my own.’

The production centres around jangling guitars, bringing to mind all of those aforementioned beloved indie bands of the 80s. There are some characterful guitar lines, playful bass, and beats that encourage, if not full-blown dancing, then definitely some kind of sway or shuffle. Effects give the vocals faraway or distorted feelings at times, but it works for the track and is supported by some nice harmonies. Fans of the style will love it, and even if it’s not your thing, this track won’t be any hardship to listen to.

Discover more from Peacock Method

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Words Eden Tredwell

The post Peacock Method Don’t Want To Be Alone On ‘I Provide’ appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

Chris Moyles – DJ

I must confess I grew up listening to Chris Moyles, first on the early breakfast show, then Saturday mornings, and drive time before ultimately the breakfast show on BBC Radio 1. Back in 1998, he was a blast of fresh air, he made radio exciting, unpredictable and occasionally dangerous. But it was evident from the start that he wasn’t a music DJ and to be fair he never pretended he was. His remit was entertainment, he left the serious music chat to Jo Wiley and Steve Lamacq.

When he joined Radio X in 2015 it felt like a predictable and safe choice. You see in its previous incarnation, Radio X was XFM a radio station that purposely set out to play new and exciting indie and alternative music. For a few years, it was utterly wonderful with the likes of Eddy Temple-Morris and John Kennedy ruling the airwaves. Where else could you hear the likes of Fugazzi and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs during the daytime schedule?

Sadly the halcyon days didn’t last, and when ‘niche’ stopped paying the bills. XFM’s spirit and purpose were gutted and sold to the kings of banal, mainstream radio ‘Global.’ Cutting-edge new and alternative music was replaced with safe indie fodder on repeat and Chris Moyles was the new king. True indie fans switched off, and while Global grew the business, the new Radio X became little more than a ‘bit of rough’ for bored Capital FM listeners on their Greater London school run.

So you see, while I applaud the listener for challenging Chris Moyles to play new music, he was never going to win with a DJ that prefers his own voice to music and a station that stopped playing new music in 1998.

“Most unsigned bands are crap”

There is a lot of music in the world and a lot of musicians making it. A staggering 57,000,000 people agree with the statement “I consider myself a musician or audio creator.” across just five countries (US, UK, Canada, Germany & France) according to Global Web Index.

It’s also never been easier to make and distribute music to streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. So it’s no surprise when the barriers to entry drop, so can the quality. For every great artist and musician, there are a ton more that don’t sound as good. Chris Moyles‘ assertion that most‘ unsigned bands are crap was lazy. The counter argument is that there are millions of incredible artists that just get overlooked and that’s the biggest crime. After all every artist starts unsigned and stays unsigned until they are discovered.

Radio has failed new music discovery

While it would be foolish and inaccurate to blame Chris Moyles for the lack of new music on the radio, he is just a DJ after all. It’s clear commercial radio stations bosses and their respective heads of music have utterly failed new music discovery in this country for decades.

At least the BBC try although tokenistic gestures like BBC Introducing don’t do enough. Let’s be clear no new artist has ever broken through on the radio with one or two plays at midnight on a Tuesday on a regional radio station.

The ‘unsigned’ perception problem

One of the biggest challenges facing ‘unsigned music’ is the word ‘unsigned’ itself. That’s because years of low quality production (music, video and imagery) have resulted in negative associations.

For lots of people, including Chris Moyles ‘unsigned’ means grubby, crap and unprofessional. Sadly there is still a lot of evidence to support this assumption, but hopefully that is changing slowly.

When I started Right Chord Music in 2010 one of my biggest motivations was to prove that unsigned didn’t mean unprofessional. That meant every artist we shared on our blog had to look and sound professional.

When we received lazy submissions with missing biographies or photos they are immediately deleted. Sadly when it comes to music, you can judge a book by it’s cover. When music looks bad, it inevitably sounds bad too.

When unsigned music lets itself down

Here are some examples of the worst images that have accompanied submissions to the Right Chord Music Blog. These images only perpetuate the idea that ‘unsigned music is crap’.

But back in 2010 looking and sounding professional was definitely harder. Back then we would also get our fair share of dodgy demo CDs in the post. They would have the names of the tracks scrawled on the front in marker pen, and if you listened carefully you could normally hear their dog barking in the background.

Incredible independent artists

Fast forward to 2023 and now we have smartphones that shoot HD video and take professional-grade images. We have online design tools like Canva that have levelled the playing field. Now there is literally no excuse to submit music that doesn’t at least look and sound professional.

There is no doubt during this time we’ve seen the rise of the Independent artist. Indie has gone on to become much more than just a genre. Indie now represents a spirit, a work ethic and a style. While ‘Unsigned’ bands sit around waiting to be signed. ‘Independent’ artists are out there making it happen for themselves. They write the music, produce the music, design the artwork, shoot and edit the video, produce the social content and promote themselves.

In the last 12 years, the Right Chord Music Blog has discovered so many incredible independent artists and it’s validated our theory that you don’t need to be signed to a record label to make incredible music and art.

But if you’re Chris Moyles a non-music-centric DJ that has never explored this scene or played great indie music it’s easy to see why the old grubby stereotype of ‘unsigned’ is perpetuated.

We would dearly love to change this perception and would urge Chris Moyles to spend some time flicking through the pages of this blog, our Explorer playlist or even our Instagram feed.

But in the meantime, the onus remains on you the artists. I would continue to urge every ‘unsigned’ artist to become the best ‘independent’ version of themselves. Give yourself the chance to cut through by ensuring every piece of content you put into the world looks and sounds professional. Remember you are not only representing yourself but every other new musician out there.

Discover more on RCM

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• The Daydream Club Get It So Right On You’ve Got It Wrong
• Blackchords Make Their Feelings Known With No Place No Be
• Leon Stanford’s soul convinces us that ‘Love Is A Colour’

Words Mark Knight

The post In Response To Chris Moyles ‘Most Unsigned Bands Are Crap’ appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

Lucy Lane – Back To Me

‘I’ve been waiting to see how this goes, I’ve been wearing your old clothes’ run the opening lines of Lucy Lane’s ‘Back To Me’. It’s the slightly deranged statement of the ex who hasn’t given up hope yet, and perhaps uncomfortably relatable to a lot of us. But don’t worry, it’s boppy enough to offset that. 

Lucy Lane is a London-based singer-songwriter who made a confident entrance at the beginning of 2022, the pandemic having inspired her to start taking music seriously finally. Refusing to let age or experience hold her back, this marks her third release.

‘Back to Me’ is a grunge mid-tempo love song, led by guitars and a bittersweet tone.

Lane’s lyrics alternate between wry and sincere, as she admits that she’s ‘not accepting the things that I know’ and cries ‘I can’t get over you if I’m chasing the memory’. She tells the story of the limbo state of a relationship which has ended but not been moved on from – ‘wasting day after day…still anticipating.’ The natural melodies are delivered in her gutsy vocals with a hint of drawl and rasp. 

With its grunge, growling guitars, there’s more than a hint of 90s here, bringing to mind bands like Nirvana and the riot grrl movement. But there’s also some 80s in the sharp, echoing drums, with Lane citing INXS and Fleetwood Mac amongst influences. Add in some twinkly synth strings and a rhythmic acoustic guitar, along with some wide-open-space reverb and you’ve got a track that’s easy on the ears, and ready for some long road trip and a couple of bad decisions. 

Discover more from Lucy Lane

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Words Eden Tredwell

The post Lucy Lane Chases ‘Back To Me’ appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

Black Friday / Give Back Friday

Is it just me or does everyone just want your money on Black Friday?! It’s relentless and let’s face it most of us don’t have too much money to give at the moment. In recognition of the realities of life and economic struggles, we’re renaming ‘Black Friday’ to become ‘Give Back Friday’ and we’re giving £50 of our own money back to promote one an incredible independent artist or band.

What’s The Prize?

The Right Chord Music editors will pick one independent artist or band who will win.

• A featured review on the Right Chord Music Blog
• We’ll make a bespoke piece of social content which will be shared across our socials
• We’ll spend £50 promoting you and your music with a paid Meta ad

How To Enter

For your chance to win, you just need to visit our Give Back Friday competition page and submit your music. We only want original music and released music available on Spotify. In addition to sending us great music, we also want you to tell us an interesting story about you and your music. Think of something that will inspire us to feature you! Entry is free and you have until Saturday 26th November at midday. The entrance is open to artists anywhere in the world. The judge’s decision is final. The winner will be announced on the Right Chord Music Blog soon.

About Right Chord Music

Right Chord Music (RCM) is an unsigned music blog. We’ve been championing incredible unsigned and independent artists since 2010. We are proud to be ranked in the Top 5 independent music blogs and websites by Feedspot. Our mission is to get music heard by more people, more often.

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Words Mark Knight

The post Independent Artist? Win £50 of Free Promo As Black Friday Becomes Give Back Friday appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

The broader problem with playlist promotion

If we rewind a few years, the playlist industry was even more like the wild west than it is today. So-called independent playlist pluggers were everywhere all promising to plug your music to Spotify’s editorial playlist teams. Most if not all had zero influence, yet this morally bankrupt group of scammers were happily preying on the dreams of independent musicians and taking their money.

Then out of nowhere Spotify stepped up and killed this sub-industry in one fell swoop by building their own editorial playlist pitching form into Spotify For Artists. Now every musician had the chance to pitch their upcoming release to Spotify’s editorial playlist teams.

That should have been the end of it, but unfortunately not. While Spotify’s own editorial playlists were now out of bounds, all the scammers and fraudsters turned their attention to the independent playlists. The plan was simple, drive up the number of playlist followers using bots and click farms and start charging independent artists to feature on these playlists instead.

While Spotify editorial playlists often feel out of reach for many independent artists, these independent playlists are much more accessible. The pitch is simple:

Pay some money, get put on a huge playlist, get a huge boost to your streams, earn more money and alert Spotify to your music, which will increase your chances of future editorial support. Who wouldn’t want this?!

It’s easy to see why so many starry-eyed independent artists hand over their hard-earned money to these companies, I mean it works right? Most of the time you do get more streams, which means you do get more money and that does make you look more successful. But when you scratch below the surface you quickly realise, this ‘success’ is built on sand. Here are three reasons why these playlists fail independent artists.

An influential playlist needs to have listeners not just followers. (But what is an acceptable number of listeners?!)

There is an assumption that a playlist with 200,000 Followers will have a similar number of listeners, but sadly that is very rarely true. The problem is Spotify don’t publish the number of playlist listeners up-front, they only publish the number of followers.

Only once an artist has paid a playlist pitching company paid the playlister and been placed on the playlist do they actually get to see the number of plays that playlist is generating in their stats.

Normally at this point, you see one of two reactions. 1) The artist is hugely underwhelmed as they realise the playlist is driving almost zero plays despite having thousand of followers Or 2) The playlist is driving an unfeasibly high number of streams, more than actually follow the playlist! Both scenarios are bad, but with the latter, you realise there is a genuine chance your music could be blocked or pulled from Spotify for fraud!

Full disclosure. We have a playlist and our ‘largest’ playlist at the time of writing has 557 followers. There was a time when we listed our playlist on a service. To get on the playlist musicians were instructed to follow us in order to contact us to request placement. We never charged for playlist placement and we stopped using the service when we realised the inflated follow number was misleading. Now we find and select the music for our playlists without external influence. Our playlists are now simply where we save our favourite blog discoveries. We regularly share the playlist on our socials and if you want to listen you can. But we don’t ever promise to boost your streams by a certain number.

Fake streams ruin audience data.

When you grow a fanbase organically you can look at your Spotify stats and understand who is listening, where they are listening from and what else they are listening to. All this information can inform future marketing efforts. If you know your listeners are predominantly 18-25, live in London and Manchester and also love electro artists that can really help. But when your music is added to a big fake playlist where plays are powered by banks of computers set up all over the world, your stats quickly become skewed with meaningless data. Now you have almost no idea who is actually listening and who the real fans are. And it’s not just you that doesn’t know, Spotify doesn’t know either, when the data is so scrambled, even their algorithms can’t work out who your music is actually attracting.

Short-term streams don’t equate to long-term fans.

When chasing the dream of a bump in streams, many musicians forget about fans. The real metrics of success are not the number of streams but the ‘save rate’ (how many people that listened saved your tracks so they can listen again) and the ‘streams per listener’ IE did they listen once and never again or listen 5 times? Both of these are better indicators of possible fandom. What we consistently see if both of these metrics are considerably lower when a musician has used playlist promotion. As a consequence when the promotion ends, all the listeners disappear and there are few new fans left behind. When you use playlist promotion you are constantly running to stand still.

So what about PlaylistSupply?

PlaylistSupply reached out to us via Instagram and we connected via email with the aim of setting up a telephone call.

I flagged my concerns to them upfront in this email:

PlaylistSupply replied with this:

“I absolutely understand your scepticism about playlisting and that is exactly why we created PlaylistSupply. Our tool is not a pitching service it is a software data aggregator or search engine for all existing Spotify playlists. I would love to hop on a call to show you exactly how our tool works and how it solves the grey area in the playlisting world.“

The moment they mentioned they had a way to solve my concerns, I was keen to speak to them. On the call, I quickly understood how it works. For all their claims of advanced technology, it’s really just a live database of playlisters and email addresses which musicians pay £19.99 a month to access. It seems expensive when you consider it’s only $9.99 a month for Spotify. But if it saves musicians the manual trawl of finding the email addresses individually, I can see why they might conclude it’s worth paying for at least a month to get some contact details before cancelling.

I then pushed them to explain how it overcame my initial challenges and quickly realised it doesn’t at all. I was hoping to hear they had found a way to track how many people actually listen to the playlists on their database, they don’t. In fact, they can’t as they were quick to point out Spotify doesn’t share this information.

While I can’t really blame PlaylistSupply for this, I was disappointed they hadn’t found a solution. But I’m equally frustrated with Spotify, if they shared the number of people listening to playlists in the last week or month, they would kill 90% of these scammers overnight, and you have to begin wondering why they don’t. The conclusion must be they are scared to show how few people actually listen to their own playlists. After all their business is built around the power of the playlist.

Next, I asked PlaylistSupply how they tackled bots and fake streams. “We have a solution to that the salesman excitedly exclaimed!” Great I thought! So what exactly does PlaylistSupply do?…

Well because they constantly track the same playlists they are able to monitor how many new followers are added each day. This allows them to spot any obvious irregularities, for example, if a playlist typically gets 5 new followers a day and suddenly gets 20,000 it’s flagged, alternative if a playlist always adds the exact same number of new followers every day then it’s also flagged.

This felt like a positive solution until I realised that despite having this information they didn’t do anything with it. Fraudulent playlists aren’t blocked or removed from their database, they are just highlighted in RED!

So let’s be clear when PlaylistSupply says on its blog that they index over 4 billion playlists on Spotify and that’s why you should be paying $19.99 a month to access them it’s a bit of a stretch. While they might index 4 billion playlists, you wonder how many would be left once all the fraudulent ones are removed, and PlayList Supply could do this! They could clean up Spotify so musicians only got access to Playlists that were worth contacting. But they don’t! and that feels unforgivable.

At this point, we have to conclude PlaylistSupply is not addressing any of the problems. In fact, I would suggest they are far worse, they are complicit to the problems and are just turning their back to make a quick buck from hard-working musicians. And the money is staggering, according to their website they have over 5,000 customers paying $19.99 a month. Shame on you.

It’s made worse when you read their website About page from founder Benjamin Stein who claims after lots of shady experiences as a veteran artist manager he decided to create his own solution. When it comes to shady experiences, PlaylistSupply is no better.

Hey Benjamin, I know this wasn’t the glowing testimonial you wanted us to write, but here at Right Chord Music we only put our name to services that genuinely support independent musicians and we would never endorse PlaylistSupply.

Words Mark Knight, Founder Right Chord Music.

Discover more on RCM

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• Music Promotion. 10 Ways To Build Engagement As A DIY Musician

The post Why PlaylistSupply Are Part of The Problem, Not Part of The Solution appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

The Cookie Jar Complot unveils the delicious opus ‘Cookies’

The story of this peculiar duo from Luxembourg started more than ten years ago, with Sven (guitarist) and Gilles (drummer) going on and off crafting music that unfortunately never left the rehearsal space, however that changed after a vocalist-based project that inspired these two performers to get back on action, honing their skills with mind-blowing compositions that fall in the realm of Post Rock and Math Rock.

Following the release of their acclaimed EP Caviar Capital and the subsequent singles NEO and Sweet Dreams, the next step comes in the form of Cookies, an instrumental masterpiece that exhibits the expertise on drums and guitar of this pair, Gilles drums add an immeasurable boost of adrenaline, while Sven’s guitar passages are rich and colourful, the many intricate and exciting patterns feel ecstatic and grant this piece with a distinctive flair even for a genre as versatile as Post Rock can be.

Overall listening to this jam is as satisfying as eating a jar full of cookies all by yourself (yeah, I know, that was a bad pun, but that doesn’t make it any less true, right?).

Discover more from The Cookie Jar Complot

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The Hybris unleash their ‘Silent Violence’

Covered in an aura of mysticism, The Hybris is an alternative rock trio with an international flavour, hailing from Nice, Los Angeles, and Cologne. Luckily for this group of friends, the distance has only added more lore to the mythos of this uncanny outfit.

Comprised of three talented musicians under masks, they perform as the characters Ringo Rabbit, Beanie Bison, and Malcolm Mandrill, with their true identities remaining a well-kept secret.

Silent Violence is the first single off their debut album Music, Vol.1, this track is a stone cold Rock banger with attitude, delivering a stunning hook that feels like the most satisfying slap of sonic aggressiveness straight to your brain, thanks to its emphatic lyrics and marvellous performance.

In a world where the presentation counts more than ever, The Hybris has capitalized splendidly on this department, making them an act worth your time.

Discover more from The Hybris

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Moses Mikheyev celebrates love with ‘Black Sky, White Moon’

Making a slight change of gears into his usual prog sound, L. A singer, songwriter, and novelist Moses Mikheyev has premiered his newest offering Black Sky, White Moon, a beautiful folk-oriented song that focuses on a personal experience in Moses’ life regarding a girl he fell in love with a couple of years ago.

Such strong emotions needed an equally intense production, a requirement flawlessly achieved by this performer. This melody starts softly with Moses’ deep voice and the chill acoustic guitar riffs, evoking that sensation of walking on clouds while being in love, erupting in the second half with solid drums and bass, accentuating that sentiment exponentially. If you need a song to dedicate to that special someone, Black Sky, White Moon is what you’ve been looking for.

BSWM will be part of the upcoming album I Only Have A Hundred Years To Love You, the debut record for this multifaceted artist.

Discover more from Moses Mikheyev

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Tarn PK wishes to find a ‘Simple Love’

Our next stop takes us to Wellington, New Zealand, the homeland of a familiar name in the RCM ranks. Tarn PK is a musician, producer, and songwriter with several achievements on his record, having thousands of streams on Spotify, thanks to extraordinary singles like Serenity and Cheap Ecstasy, as well as his well-received EPs Fantasy (2019) and Monarch (2021).

After such an overwhelming response, Tarn has opted to explore new sonic frontiers, not shying away from experimentation, his newest offering Simple Love follows in the steps of his previous single Street Noise by adventuring himself into the lands of Hyper pop and Electro pop once more.

Tarn’s distorted vocals add even more texture to the layered effects, creating an artificial atmosphere that contrasts magnificently with the idea of just wishing love was simpler.

With such a level of production, it’s safe to say that this jammer is anything but simple.

Discover more from Tarn PK

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Kabinett announces ‘Mackie’s Comin”

Germany’s five-piece Kabinett has dropped their fifth gem of the year Mackie’s Comin’, a short and sweet Indie-Rock piece with a  captivating story behind it. Inspired by the fictional character Mackie Messer created by the German poet Bertolt Brecht almost 100 years ago, this tune thrives by turning one of the cruellest characters into one of the most infectious earworms you will hear this year.

This musical work has all the ingredients to become your new favourite Indie hymn, featuring two and a half minutes of tight drums, an oddly pleasing bass line, killer riffs, a contagious synth, and the cherry on top, a stellar vocal performance courtesy of Josê Sommer.

Mackie’s Comin’ is the final release before Kabinett’s debut EP Not About Us, which is a perfect way to close what’s been 2022 full of great moments for this quintet. We hope this is just the beginning of great things to come for this terrific act.

Discover more from Kabinett

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Grace Power displays vulnerability on ‘Break Me’

Our final guest for this edition of The Music Reviews Mixtape is an exciting newcomer making her official debut. Grace Power is a multidisciplinary artist from Los Angeles with a knack for honest and upfront lyrics. Her hard work and talent have taken her to perform at remarkable stages like The Carnegie Hall and Polish Cathedrals.

Her single Break Me is a tender pop track emphasizing the need to overcome any anxieties and insecurities that might come while falling in love, this concept gets illustrated through heavenly synths, an enchanting chord progression, and a gorgeous harp arrangement blending astonishingly well with the chorus. All these elements tie in with the lovely lyrics, an asset that arguably is the strongest component of this composition, showcasing Grace’s formidable skills as a songwriter.

Grace Power has made an impactful statement with her first delivery, producing a song that will have even the most exigent listeners asking for an encore.

Discover more from Grace Power

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    • Spotify 

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Words Javier Rodriguez

The post Discover The Music Review Mixtape Vol. 9 appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.

Will Langston Sees The Bigger Picture On ‘If I Should Fall’

London-based Will Langston is a 25-year-old songwriter with some remarkable experience already, as a former member of the Indie-Pop band milkd and also as a solo artist collaborating with the renowned producer Cadien Lake James. Despite having some singles out there which received positive feedback, his most recent musical adventure If I Should Fall, is a special one, marking Will’s first official piece produced in its entirety by this young performer.

If I Should Fall keeps the similar Indie Pop traits that Will has displayed in previous instalments. His soft and calming voice successfully captures the essence of the troubled period in Will’s life that served as the main inspiration for this track, and while this might give the impression that this is a sad tune, the main message in this work is to appreciate what is important during these type of situations.

Inspiring and positively reassuring, this melody consolidates Langston as a promising act to keep an eye on.

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Ketsyha Is Ready To ‘Jump into the Cold Water’

Bringing good vibes and optimism through the power of music, Puerto Rican singer and songwriter Ketsia J. Cardona aka Ketsyha is an R&B/Soul artist whose talent has made her win several awards and recognitions. Among some of these accolades, we can mention the Best Music Video at Beyond The Curve International Film Festival in Paris for the music clip of Move On, as well as being part of the Hot 100 Unsigned Artists and Bands of 2020 by the Music Connection Magazine.

Jump Into The Cold Water is an encouraging anthem inviting people to take a leap of faith, leave fear behind, and fight for their dreams. Accompanied by a conglomerate of professional musicians from Los Angeles and Puerto Rico, Ketsyha’s impressive vocal range steals the show, making this track a perfect fit for a “try not to dance” challenge. Funky, vibrant, and cheerful, JITCW is an antidote for pessimism.

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DURA LUNE Brings The Rhythm On ‘I Fly Alone’

DURA LUNE is a Swedish electronic duo consisting of musicians Simon Duchén and Mateo Raspudic, their similar backgrounds and passion for DJing are evident in their knack for experimenting and fusing different genres into their music. Mateo started as a DJ in 2016, performing all over the west coast of his native Sweden, while Simon began playing in rock and metal bands before transitioning into EDM. Since 2017 they have been creating songs and remixes, cutting their teeth as the talented producers they are.

Coming as their official debut, I Fly Alone comes off as a feel-good dance track, with special guest Christine Ringborg providing the magnificent vocals in this melody. In addition, their usage of acoustic and electronic sounds grants this piece exuberant energy, turning this song into an ideal complement for these sultry summer nights.

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Gabrielle Ornate Dives Deep Into ‘The Undying Sleep’

Crossing the line between alternative rock and pop, British performer Gabrielle Ornate has made some jaws drop since her debut last year with the acclaimed tune The March of The Caterpillars, followed by a series of well-received songs. Accurately baptized as a “Bohemian queen” her unconventional and eclectic sound has drawn the attention of several blogs in the underground music scene.

The Undying Sleep is as dreamy and trippy as the name could imply, being one of her most free-spirited singles so far. Abstract lyrics meet with an upbeat production rich in texture, conformed by mesmerizing synths and addictive riffs, all this beautifully adorned with a charming siren-Esque voice that glides on a dreamscape scenario. Ambitious but never forced, this melody is as good as it gets, propelling the listener into a higher plain of ethereal extravagance.

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PARAFFIN Tries To Let Go On Exciting New Track ‘Call Me Over’

After their debut in 2018, Portsmouth’s five-piece PARAFFIN went on a streak of meaningful achievements, releasing four singles and headlining sold-out shows at The Wedgwood Rooms in their native Portsmouth and The Joiners in Southampton.

Being another newcomer act that suffered from the lockdowns, their latest track, Call Me Over, is in many ways a fresh start, consolidating not only their long-awaited return but also incorporating Jake Saunders (drums) and Tim Beavis (bass) forming the current iteration of the group.

On top of all this, this tune also has a history with this band that goes back to the adolescence of Tyler Adam (guitar), the period in which he wrote the riff, subsequently, Tom Chapman (guitar) added the lyrics in 2019, Jake and Tim helped to give shape to this song when they joined this project, the cherry on top was Billy Tee’s vocals which gave this piece its distinctive adrenaline infused vibe.

The final result is this consummated effort with a soaring chorus and a highly infectious hook that will have you craving for more.

With this fantastic new composition, PARAFFIN has demonstrated that what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.

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Lily Juniper Sheds The Weight Off Her ‘Shoulders’

Graduate from The BRIT school, Lily Juniper has worked behind the scenes with illustrious artists like Frederic Robinson, Bakar, and PBR Streetgang. Her sonorous style blends pleasant vocal harmonies with elements of experimental electronic music, a great example of this is her first official release Shoulders.

The lyrics in this piece are a brilliant showcase of honest fragility gliding delicately through a chill downtempo beat, crafting one of the most satisfying auditive experiences you will hear in a while. And talking about the words on this record, this track is about getting rid of that extra weight that comes with other people’s expectations, needs, or impressions of you, something that makes a lot of sense considering how this gorgeous tune was conceived during the pandemic days, a time that brought a lot of pressure on people’s lives.

With such credentials and that level of experience this early in her career, you can be sure that we have only seen a small dose of what Lily is capable of.

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Betty Reed Proves Her Doubters Wrong On ‘Without You’

We close this edition of The Music Reviews Mixtape with an absolute blast courtesy of Betty Reed, hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, this outstanding singer is a graduate of Berklee College of Music with a BA in vocal performance. Since 2020 Betty has worked non-stop, releasing a considerate number of singles that go from Country Pop to Electropop, as well as a 6-track EP called “Mistakes Made, Lessons Learned.” exhibiting the multifaceted side of this artist.

This new piece distances itself from its predecessors, taking a more rock-focused approach, which in hindsight is the right call, considering the emotion needed to express what this work talks about. Without You is the ultimate response to the naysayers, the haters, and just those people who want to bring you down. Based on real-life experiences, Betty displays her most encouraging facet with an assertive attitude, fast-paced guitar riffs, and a wild rhythm section guaranteed to make some heads bang.

If there is a song in her catalogue that could be considered her most empowering warcry is certainly this one.

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Words Javier Rodriguez

The post Discover The Music Review Mixtape Vol. 8 appeared first on Right Chord Music Blog.