For the second year in a row, Affix Music is pleased to announce its sponsorship of The Next Cool Event on Friday & Saturday, Feb 17- 18, 2012 at the Atlanta Expo Center.

The Next Cool Event (“NCE”) is a celebration of the amazing local Georgia talent involved in many ways in the production of entertainment in the state.  A collaborative design affair, NCE mixes the best and latest from the entertainment, music, interior design and event industries.  Featuring people, places and things that are cutting edge, the event seeks to connect local creative businesses to promote and support the Georgia Tax Incentives benefitting entertainment production.

NCE is the brainchild of Barbara English, founder of TO THE TRADE ONLY, a collective of experienced creative professionals whose main focus is creating liaisons within the creative communities for cross promotion and collective marketing.  The Georgia Tax incentives have been wildly successful in bringing the national and international film and TV industry to Georgia, and NCE was organized to create awareness within those communities of the local infrastructure and resources that exist to support them.

Last year’s inaugural event (titled “The Next Cool Thing), was amazing.  Ozcetera summed it up this way:

Rather than a standard tradeshow, however, The Next Cool Thing was designed to inspire industry professionals to see the creative process in action.  Picture a building the length of a football field, and add a half length more.  Fill it with 300 creative exhibits representing the film & television industry, the interior design industry and the event design industry.  Attach 13,000 industry professionals for the weekend, mix in great food and flowing bards and what you have is the Next Cool Thing.

The compilation of vignettes, each designed around movie and television themes, included Sex and the City, Avatar, Down With Love, Casablanca, and more.

[Show as slideshow]

Expect music to play an even larger part in this year’s event.  Like last year, DJ and Affix music provider Mayhem is providing musical direction services, incorporating movie and television themes related to the exhibits into a custom music soundtrack for the evenings.  Barbara has also tapped The Recording Academy Atlanta Chapter and Georgia Music Partners to provide notable and up-and-coming musical talent, including Affix music provider PKoneday, to perform several songs each live on stage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuwhhG3l_jI

* Promo video features “Bass Turnt Up” from Affix artist The Beat Geeks.

This year the event has more than doubled in size, necessitating a move to the much larger Atlanta Expo Center venue.  Friday night, Feb 17, is Red Carpet Cocktails (7:00P-11:00P), and Saturday night, Feb 18, is the VIP Gala (by invitation only, 8:00P-12:00A).   NCE also has a Saturday daytime venue for the entire family.

This is a ticketed event.  For more information and to check on ticket availability, click here.

Taking the old school arcade-style gameplay of the original NFL Blitz and combining it with the technology of today’s video games, the new NFL Blitz from EA Sports will feature composer and producer Michael Woodruff’s works “Agro” and “Punk”, two ultra-contemporary, intense and high energy tracks, straight from the Affix library.  Whether battling your rival in a 7-on-7 grudge match, fighting your way through the Blitz Gauntlet, or taking over the online Battle Boards in Blitz Battles, Michael Woodruff ‘s tracks scream COMPETITION in each two minute drill.

While composing music for games is one way to enhance the emotional connection with players, it requires large audio budgets and a long lead-time, which are limited for most video games.  Affix provides relevant, dynamic music options that create that connection between screen and player, at a reasonable price and with just minutes of turn around time.  Electronic Arts, a leading international game company, backs that idea by employing the use of Affix’s music in their games.

Expect NFL Blitz to hit shelves and consoles in early 2012.

Promotional videos and trailers get viewers amped for TV episode, movie, and video game releases, and our music makes that happen.

From the Academy Award Winner Brian Grazer, “The Playboy Club” visits the 1960s, where in the center of Chicago lies the legendary and seductive Playboy Club, a living, breathing fantasy world filled with cocktails, music, glitter and of course, beautiful Bunnies. But all that glitters isn’t gold, and in the back rooms and alleys behind the club, life happens – both good and bad.

Web promos for the NBC series were produced by Liquid Soul Media, a lifestyle marketing agency based here in Atlanta, and featured two Affix tracks for two different looks in recent episodes.  Jaspect’s horn-heavy, jazzy “Uppity Negro” is front and center for the “Vegas Style” promotional, joining the ranks of PVD’s “Interlude” in a separate Season One promo.

The Playboy Club – “Vegas Style”
Featuring Affix Music: “Uppity Negro” by Jaspects

Like many of our clients, Liquid Soul utilizes the Affix licensing platform as a self-serve database and licensing tool, which has proved to be highly efficient for the company.  The platform’s search tool organizes tracks by genre, creator, even tempo and moods, to ensure targeted, quality search results.  Once you’ve found what you like, the platform’s streamlined licensing process makes price quotes and checkout easy.  Of course, Affix also offers full consulting to deliver tracks to you based on your criteria, without your having to spend any time in our database.

Affix has a longstanding and trusted relationship with Turner Broadcasting Networks, providing music for TNT, TBS, and Cartoon Network promos and programming.  The Atlanta-based media tastemaker recognized that the rhythmic nature of a large portion of Affix’s catalog fits their Latin America brand, Boomerang Brazil, beautifully.  The “Capricho Moments Ação” promo features “Love Is Blind”, a track by Atlanta-based producer Brian “B.Stylez” McCarthney.  “Capricho Moments” the TV show highlights 14 fashion school students who compete for an internship at Capricho Magazine.

Capricho Moments – Ação
Featuring Affix Music: “Love Is Blind” by B.Stylez

Capricho Moments - Ação from Vivi Arias on Vimeo.

Vince Lawrence is an internationally recognized innovator in dance music and recognized as co-author of the first recording officially designated “house music”.  Credited with the initial organization of Trax Records, a seminal Chicago House label, Lawrence has exposed some of the dance world’s greatest prodigies, including Marshall Jefferson (Move your Body, Ride the Rhythm, etc.), Adonis, Byron Styngly, Farley Jackmaster Funk, Ron Hardy, Screamin’ Rachel and Jesse Saunders, while inspiring many others.

As founder of Slang Musicgroup, Lawrence has evolved from artist and producer to entrepreneur and marketer. Vince’s intimate relationship with pop culture and lifelong love of music have evolved into a unique insight that is eagerly sought out – from the trend hunters of Madison Avenue to the likes of pop stars the world over. Simon talks with Lawrence about his contributions in the birth of house music, working with R. Kelly and his approach to working with artists and commercial clients.

Click here to listen to Affix’s license-ready playlist of music by Slang Musicgroup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ADrACMSUGw

“Parks and Recreation” is responsible for major primetime placements for Affix, and they’ve come back for Round 2 for the current season. Sam Rhansum’s “Shorty”, “Just Dance” by Sweatbox Productions, and “Get Up” from Tigga Bounce were featured in a late fall episode.

“Teen Mom 2” broke viewership records for any MTV Networks show, with 3.6 million viewers watching the premiere.  “16 and Pregnant” gained just as impressive numbers, and Affix’s music is all over both shows.  “Teen Mom 2” pulled 14 songs over four episodes, just topping “16 and Pregnant”’s double digit usage over multiple episodes in the latest season.

Some projects call for very specific styles and emotions in their musical accompaniment, and others could span a wide variety of types.  VH1’s “The T.O. Show“ provided Affix with a broad description of what music would fit well with each project, and Affix took creative initiative to make suggestions about what would best accompany the show’s programming.  Affix’s expertise shined through – the show is using 13 songs from the catalog, to span six episodes.

ABC’s “Charlie’s Angels” has represented Affix as well, with John Forbes’ Latin-full mix “Bailer-Dance” in a recent episode.

“Trends with Benefits”, a new show on TBS, provides insight and advice from experts on trends on all sorts of topics, such as dating, food and beverages, and pop culture.  The show airs on Saturdays on TBS, with shorter segments available at TrendswithBenefits.com that provide “snackable content and social media commentary focusing on trends from that week’s show.”  Dave Herrero’s song “Swingy Dingy 2” is in the “Popular Apps” episode, and the “Chocolate Pairing” episode showcases “Drifting” by Michael Woodruff.

Trends with Benefits – Popular Apps
Featuring Affix Music: “Swingy Dingy 2″ by Dave Herrero

Trends with Benefits – Chocolate Pairings
Featuring Affix Music: “Drifting” by Michael Woodruff

We’re pleased to continue our Celebrity Playlist Series with musical selections from the Affix catalog chosen by CHAD DAVID SHEARER.  Chad is the creative director & co-owner of Atlanta based publicity firm CAREN WEST PR.  Heading up PR for the majority of the firm’s music accounts, clients have included: Camp Bisco Music & Arts Festival, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Amberland, the Echo Project, the Georgia Theatre, 99X, & ROCK 100 amongst others.  He lives in Atlanta with his 7 year old son, Tristan.

Links:
http://www.carenwestpr.com
http://www.twitter.com/chadavid

Chad writes:

“I chose the tracks in my playlist with running in mind.  I love to run.  More specifically, I love to run through the streets of Atlanta.  Having the right playlist can be everything to a runner.  Your surroundings will melt away, allowing you to think through life’s challenges while temporarily escaping from them.  And while my natural tendency would be to go for the bangers that get the adrenaline pumping and the legs moving, looking back at this particular playlist I opted for more ambient tracks.  The more uptempo tunes definitely will get you moving, but it’s the more ethereal which truly allow you to escape.”

Perfect Project - Buddah Beat

PK Music Group, LLC - Gravity

The Beat Geeks - Bass Turnt Up

Jon Pierre - Crossing the Divide

Jon Pierre - Orchestral Hotness

Buk of Psychodrama - God Bless the Child

Soulphonics & Ruby Velle - Heartlite

Michael Woodruff - Punk

Michael Woodruff - Space Dubb

Weapons of Audio - Boulevard

Michael Woodruff - Working

SMKA - Soul Sonic (Galaxy)

Richelle L. Brown - Sweat

Twentyone - It's Going Down

To access all of the license-ready tracks on this playlist, click here.  Or, check out over more than 2,300 others here.

The use of video on the web is exploding.  At Affix, we’ve certainly seen the uptick across the board in licensing music for use on the Web- from programming to advertising to promos.  We thought we’d take a moment to highlight a few of our favorite, recent examples using Affix music to target audiences effectively.

Web Programming

Push.ca is a Canadian website that creates original video, photo, and written content around skateboarding and snowboarding.  Together with Lenny Rubenovitch at Underexposed Agency, they harness a dedicated crew of writers, bloggers, photographers and filmers to offer up high quality, exclusive entertainment content.  Enjoy their piece on Barry Walsh, part of their 8-part video series on “Living Legends” presented by Degree.

Featuring Affix Music: “Vibe Out”, “QJM” and “Welcome to the Show” by PVD & “Oxy Teacher” by Frankie P

Web Advertising

Social media strategists Everywhere use their experience in social media, advertising, PR, marketing, entertainment, radio, and television to help brands build better social connections everywhere.   Their unique strategy of content and events creation was the concept behind this Martha Stewart Pie Pop-Up Shop piece for Macy’s.

Featuring Affix Music: “You’re My Fur” by Kabao

Since 2008, Whynatte- the cutting-edge, ready-to-drink, coffee-based energy drink- has cultivated a rabid following by blending social situations and social media as the pillars of their brand marketing.   Music has always been a key component of Whynatte’s marketplace connection through support of artists & events that reflect the brand’s attitude.   We were honored when they found our music and licensing solution the perfect combination to promote The 1st Anual Whynatte Mixology Competition.  Oh, and did we mention we’re fans?

Whynatte Mixology Competition 2011 from Whynatte on Vimeo.

Web Promo

In 2010, Tony Rouse launched the Atlanta Food Rave, the city’s ultimate culinary experience featuring the Atlanta’s hottest chefs, best food and most fun all had in one night.  More than a meal, think of it as “Culinary Nightlife.”  Social media played a big part in making the inaugural event award-winning.  Always looking to up his game, Tony looked for the perfect musical complement to his 2011 online announcement video.  We think he found it.  Tickets are on sale for the 2nd annual event on September 23.  Affix will be there.

Featuring Affix Music: “Record Breaker” by Twentyone

User-Generated Content

Teymur Madjderey is a professional photographer based in Cologne, Germany.  Like many photographers, he also enjoys videography.  In March, he traveled the U.S. with Mercedes Benz for their F-Cell World Drive, and along with a friend, decided to make a short film about his experience and share it on his blog.  Check out the first part of the film below:

Featuring Affix Music: “Love Says Goodbye Hello Again” by Spencer Garn & “Neighborhood” by Sam Rhansum

Affix Music offers music licensing solutions designed to make licensing music for the Web easier and more profitable for everyone involved.  As specialists in the field, we understand new media, its music needs and its concerns.  We offer premium, independent commercial music at affordable, published rates for the most common types of web usages and can create custom licenses for clients with more complex rights requirements.  Our licensing platform allows a fast moving media marketplace to license quickly with confidence 24 hours a day.  Price any of our music online at www.affixmusic.com or contact us at (404) 460-8562 x100 or licensing@affixmusic.com.

As the popularity and profitability of web video rise, rights owners and others are closely monitoring the integration of copyrighted music in online programming and advertising.  Don’t let your productions get caught in the crossfire; Affix offers solutions.

The promise of the Internet becoming a home’s video hub is close to being realized. 60% of people between the ages of 18 and 29 are either leaning towards or are seriously considering giving up paid television.  Video is slated to exceed 91% of global IP traffic by 2014.  With high connection speeds, seemingly unlimited bandwidth, and higher resolution computer screens than TVs, the Internet is at the helm of programming, and its quality gets better everyday. Sites like Hulu, Vevo, and Netflix bring the high-quality programming of paid television w are used to, and networks are now developing original online programming, in addition to nascent offerings of simultaneous online streams of their TV broadcast wares.

It’s not just major corporations who are raising the online programming video bar; small business and individuals are contributing content, as well.  Small businesses are harnessing the Web to get their messages out from Vblogs to video tutorials. In other instances, small business publishes the content while individuals create it.  The online video portal Funny or Die launched with five employees in 2007 with both original and user-generated content (“UGC”).  In a testament to the power and profitability of online video, their first video received over 70 million views, leading to venture funding from Sequoia Capital later that year and an HBO partnership in 2008.  (cite) UGC is the most pervasive new media trend; there are over 170 million blogs on the Internet, and as of May 2011, YouTube claims over 48 hours of video is uploaded to its site every 60 seconds, a 37% increase over the prior 6 months.

With increased quantity of online programming comes viewers, and with viewers comes advertising.  Revenue from online advertising spiked to a new high in the first quarter of 2011, a gain of 23% over 2010’s first quarter numbers and a trend that spotlights the shift of advertising dollars away from traditional media and toward the Internet.  Today’s technology allows advertisers today to better employ video and rich media online.  As a result, interactive marketing agencies have begun to grab a larger slice of corporate advertising budgets, and traditional agencies are striving to boost their digital marketing capabilities.  Small businesses are taking advantage of online video advertising, too, with over 25% now using video on their homepage.  Production companies have sprung up just to service the web video needs of small companies- from more formal corporate identity pieces to external/internal marketing pieces.

Music has always been a major component in good TV programming and advertising.  Online video is no different.  Engaging video requires quality music in its soundtrack. Today, viewers don’t give online video a pass on quality just because it is “online”; they now demand similar quality as broadcast.

Original online video content faces some unique challenges in its use of music.  Though additional resources are now being allocated to online content, production budgets are still typically a small fraction of their TV counterparts.  Record labels and music publishers licensing their music for the Web have yet to fully reconcile with the reality of the significantly lower music budgets and tight deadlines of online content producers. Licensing directly from independent artists can offer the quality that the content demands, as well as cost savings in terms licensing fees, but identifying and finding the owners and negotiating with all the rights holders can easily negate the savings. Additionally, smaller content producers may not have the resources, personnel or expertise to perform the nuanced rights clearances necessary to license commercial music for their online productions. Some producers have instead turned to one-stop stock music offerings for their affordability and ease of licensing, but with quality music an increasingly important component, these are not an attractive alternative for serious content.  Given the challenges, content producers as licensees and music owners as licensors often find that the time, effort and money necessary to properly license quality music for online productions can be prohibitive for both sides.

Music licensing has never been the most intuitive business, and the legalities of using music in online video can be particularly tricky, especially for those unfamiliar with the process. The complicated nature of the process can itself contribute to infringement.  Potential licensees may lack the knowledge to even know where to start. Other times, infringement occurs because of an incorrect belief that a license is not necessary (e.g. using only small samples of the music, using for non-commercial uses, etc).  And, of course, plenty of people knowingly infringe, willing to roll the dice of not paying under the assumption they simply won’t be caught (e.g. personal use, internal business use).

Copyright infringement of music on the Web is, however, becoming easier to discover, track and trace.  The viral nature of web video means that human identification is more likely as more people see the infringing use, and today’s automated monitoring technology is highly effective and likely to get even better.  Declining overall revenues in the music industry have placed an increased importance on the development of tools to monitor and monetize performances of music across all platforms.  The music identification business is estimated to grow to $500M in 2012, and digital fingerprinting and watermarking companies, backed by heavy weights such as Phillips Electronics (Civolution), BMI (Landmark Digital) and ASCAP (Mediaguide), are being contracted by copyright owners to find and identify unlicensed uses in Internet broadcasts.  YouTube uses its own audio identification technology called “ContentID” to help identify songs on behalf of copyright owners. When ContentID finds an upload video has elements of copyright content in it, YouTube performs one of three actions dictated in advance by the copyright owner: block it, leave it up or monetize it.  If blocking has been selected, it is automatic, difficult to contest and certainly more than a simple inconvenience for video producers.  However, copyright owners can also file a separate copyright claim with YouTube that adds a “strike” to the video creator’s account.  Three infringement strikes will terminate a user’s account, and users “with terminated accounts are prohibited from creating new accounts or accessing the site’s community features.”

The law provides for much stiffer penalties for infringement should copyright owners wish to pursue them.  Infringement can lead to the threat of, or an actual, lawsuit against all parties involved.  Such parties can include everyone from the brand or video owner to the advertising or marketing agency to the production house that created the video and more.  In Grant Crowell’s excellent ReelSEO.com episode on using music in online video, IP attorney Daliah Saper paints a fairly bleak picture for those found guilty of infringement.  Properly registered copyright owners have the right to pursue not only lost profits and other regular damages, but also statutory damages.  Statutory damages can range from a minimum of $750 per infringement up to $150,000 per infringement depending on the judge’s discretion.  Winning litigants may even collect attorney’s fees.

Even more alarming are newly proposed criminal penalties for infringement.  Senate Bill 978 seeks to make illegal streaming of copyrighted works a felony.  The bill seeks to add “illegal public performance by electronic means” to the current No Electronic Theft Act felony offenses of unauthorized copying and distribution, even when infringers do not necessarily profit financially from the infringement.  Regardless of whether or not it becomes law, the bill emphasizes the seriousness by which copyright owners and their advocates are now approaching online infringement.  The bottom line is that the Internet, once the Wild Wild West of intellectual property enforcement, is becoming more tamed with real civil and criminal consequences for those who don’t pay attention.

Legally and affordably licensing quality music for online video use does not have to be hard.  Affix Music offers solutions designed to make licensing music for the Web easier and more profitable for everyone involved.  As specialists in the field, we understand new media, its music needs and its concerns.  We offer premium, independent commercial music at affordable, published rates for the most common types of web usages and can create custom licenses for clients with more complex rights requirements.  Our licensing platform allows a fast moving media marketplace  to license quickly with confidence 24 hours a day.  Price any of our music online at www.affixmusic.com or contact us at (404) 460-8562 x100 or licensing@affixmusic.com.

* Special thanks to Samantha Parvin for co-authoring this post.

Warner Brothers Pictures recently chose “Amante Del Vino” by Michael J.  Thomas from the Affix catalog for the new Matt Damon action-thriller Contagion.

The Steven Soderberg directed film centers around the threat from the outbreak of a deadly disease and the CDC team chosen to deal with problem.  The star-studded film includes Lawrence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet.

Contagion brought in $23.1M last weekend making it #1 at the box office.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sYSyuuLk5g

Michael J. Thomas is a North Florida Smooth Jazz Saxophonist who has performed with Dave Koz, Richard Elliot and many others.   At Affix, we’re proud to represent Michael’s work, including “I Think About Amy” which was recently the most added song nationwide on Smooth Jazz radio.  Click here to listen to Affix’s license-ready playlist of Michael’s music.

Based in Manila, Sam Rhansum is an artist in every sense of the word.  His talents as an MC, producer, lyricist, and DJ have landed him placements with MTV, ESPN, EA Games, BET, E! Channel, Nike, and Archlight Films, among many others.

Sam took some time out of his busy schedule to video chat with Affix partner, Simon Horrocks, about the genesis of his career, his creative methods, and how he’s able to make an impact on the U.S. music business from halfway around the globe.

Click here to listen to Affix’s license-ready playlist of Sam’s music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFLF2613Op4