Official Radio Flote Blog

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[radioflote]

New artists on the Flote-2

The culture of every country/place is very unique. Music forms a key role in expressing the culture, beliefs and their way of life. I have mostly listened in Indian forms of music and never felt the need to explore outside. Listening to these bands has made me appreciate not only their music, but also their cultural background.

Here is a short introduction about them-

Urban Underground- Their music is mainly instrumental and for the most part it is without vocals. Although a small part of it features spoken words, their live performances are usually extremely spontaneous with lots of improvisation and unplanned elements. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/band/urban-underground.

White City- It is the first band to play in post-Taliban. Encouraged by reactions from Afghan and international audiences to original material, the band went on tour in 2011, playing every country ending in 'stan – Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/White%20City

Riseback- Riseback is an Alternative Metal band from Istanbul/TR. The band is founded in Istanbul Feb’10. Riseback is influenced by contemporary rock/ metal formations and created its own musical style. The genre definition can be made as Alternative Metal, Modern and Gothic. But since we are born we are influenced by all kinds of music that touched our souls and than we formed our own musical speach using all these melodic and harmonic elements both technical and emotional. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Riseback

Kraton- It is a Singapore-based Javanese Symphonic Metal band that fuses traditional Javanese elements with symphonic metal. First hit single on Singapore's national radio, Fanaq, paved the introduction of the band to the public in 2010. The band released 4 radio singles since 2010 and released their full album in June 2013. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Kraton.

The Myers Brothers- Canada's Juke Joint Kings - The Myers Brothers Band perform house-rocking boogie grooves and 'Deep Blues' inspired by the Mississippi delta's urban and hillcountry juke joints on a hot Saturday night. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Myers%20Brothers%20Band.

Orblood- Orkan ATAK a.k.a "Orblood" was born in1985 İstanbul. He is the son of the founder member and bass player of “Grup Lokomotif” Tansu Atak. His interest in music grew when introduced to Rap music at the age of 13-14. Later he started his professional career in music. After years of hard work, in 2006 he founded his band "Infinity Law" with his producer and brother Orkut Atak. Here is the link to his profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Orkan%20Atak.

Mute- MUTE the band motive is to provide the world a better class of music. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Mute%20The%20Band.

Brad Curtis & The SOME x 6 Band- Brad Curtis and The SOME x 6 Band have just released their latest album called " The Devil's In My Pocket " (2013) It is receiving airplay worlwide in The U.K. , USA, Russia, Canada, India, Australia, and other countries. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Brad%20Curtis.

Dip- First, in 2007 the band formed as Rondo. Producing metal music. In national music competitions, Rondo had several degrees and trophies. Than, 3 years later, the band started to make more soften, blues songs. The name changed as "Fiuv Band" came from whistle sound. Fiuv Band also make success but after a short time, they found their line on Alternative Rock. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Dip.

Karthick Iyer- Karthick Iyer Live explores the natural connection between melodies across different cultures. See how the classical violin teams up with the edgy rock guitar, classical vocals and mridangam joins force with Afro Cuban rhythms to create contemporary soulful Indian music. Here is the link to his profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Karthick%20Iyer.

Charulatha Mani- Charulatha Mani has been performing since she was 18 and she has become a huge success both in India and abroad. Here is the link to her profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Charulatha%20Mani.

[radioflote]

New artists on the Flote-2

The culture of every country/place is very unique. Music forms a key role in expressing the culture, beliefs and their way of life. I have mostly listened in Indian forms of music and never felt the need to explore outside. Listening to these bands has made me appreciate not only their music, but also their cultural background.

Here is a short introduction about them-

Urban Underground- Their music is mainly instrumental and for the most part it is without vocals. Although a small part of it features spoken words, their live performances are usually extremely spontaneous with lots of improvisation and unplanned elements. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/band/urban-underground.

White City- It is the first band to play in post-Taliban. Encouraged by reactions from Afghan and international audiences to original material, the band went on tour in 2011, playing every country ending in 'stan – Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/White%20City

Riseback- Riseback is an Alternative Metal band from Istanbul/TR. The band is founded in Istanbul Feb’10. Riseback is influenced by contemporary rock/ metal formations and created its own musical style. The genre definition can be made as Alternative Metal, Modern and Gothic. But since we are born we are influenced by all kinds of music that touched our souls and than we formed our own musical speach using all these melodic and harmonic elements both technical and emotional. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Riseback

Kraton- It is a Singapore-based Javanese Symphonic Metal band that fuses traditional Javanese elements with symphonic metal. First hit single on Singapore's national radio, Fanaq, paved the introduction of the band to the public in 2010. The band released 4 radio singles since 2010 and released their full album in June 2013. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Kraton.

The Myers Brothers- Canada's Juke Joint Kings - The Myers Brothers Band perform house-rocking boogie grooves and 'Deep Blues' inspired by the Mississippi delta's urban and hillcountry juke joints on a hot Saturday night. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Myers%20Brothers%20Band.

Orblood- Orkan ATAK a.k.a "Orblood" was born in1985 İstanbul. He is the son of the founder member and bass player of “Grup Lokomotif” Tansu Atak. His interest in music grew when introduced to Rap music at the age of 13-14. Later he started his professional career in music. After years of hard work, in 2006 he founded his band "Infinity Law" with his producer and brother Orkut Atak. Here is the link to his profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Orkan%20Atak.

Mute- MUTE the band motive is to provide the world a better class of music. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Mute%20The%20Band.

Brad Curtis & The SOME x 6 Band- Brad Curtis and The SOME x 6 Band have just released their latest album called " The Devil's In My Pocket " (2013) It is receiving airplay worlwide in The U.K. , USA, Russia, Canada, India, Australia, and other countries. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Brad%20Curtis.

Dip- First, in 2007 the band formed as Rondo. Producing metal music. In national music competitions, Rondo had several degrees and trophies. Than, 3 years later, the band started to make more soften, blues songs. The name changed as "Fiuv Band" came from whistle sound. Fiuv Band also make success but after a short time, they found their line on Alternative Rock. Here is the link to their profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Dip.

Karthick Iyer- Karthick Iyer Live explores the natural connection between melodies across different cultures. See how the classical violin teams up with the edgy rock guitar, classical vocals and mridangam joins force with Afro Cuban rhythms to create contemporary soulful Indian music. He has recently come up with a new song that is his first song, which even has vocals. It is called ‘At the theatres’. Here is the link to his profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Karthick%20Iyer.

Charulatha Mani- Charulatha Mani has been performing since she was 18 and she has become a huge success both in India and abroad. Here is the link to her profile on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/search/Charulatha%20Mani.

[radioflote]

New Artists on the Flote-1

Music is beautiful, irrespective of where it originates from. So Radio Flote has opened up for international artists. Now we are having artists from various countries.

Here is a short list about them-

Amanda Palmer- She rose to fame as a lead singer, composer, lyricist and a pianist. She started out as a solo artist with a band format in 2007. She raised money for her Grand Theft Orchestra via Kickstarter in 2012. She is from New York. This is the link to her songs on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/band/amanda-palmer.

Baiju Dharmajan Syndicate- Baiju Dharmajan is a guitarist, producer, composer and music director from India widely recognized for his unique ability of seamlessly fusing overtones of Carnatic music with rock. This is the link to his songs on Radio Flote- http://radioflote.com/band/baiju-dharmajan.

UNK: The Radha Thomas Ensemble- A contemporary, cutting-edge jazz / world music band from Bangalore consisting of experienced musicians from India, the USA, England and France who have performed all over the world. It is India’s first such format, led by a vocalist and UNK is now one of India’s most sought-after live music bands in the genre. UNK is based out of Bangalore. This is the link to their songs on Radio Flote- http://radioflote.com/band/unk-the-radha-thomas-ensemble.

Drown Silence- Drown Silence is a rock outfit from Bangalore consisting of two friends. The band started spontaneously after recording a song, for fun, one fateful day in late 2011. The band has since been composing and recording regularly at the guitarist's apartment. This is the link to their songs on Radio Flote- http://radioflote.com/band/drown-silence.

NJ Nandini- She is the granddaughter of Prof Vechur Harihara Subramania Iyer. She has won many prestigious awards and was also conferred the title of ‘Ragaratnam’ in 2009. This is the link to her songs on Radio Flote - http://radioflote.com/band/nj-nandini.

Nadhamuni Gayatri- She is a young and a talented artist who has been learning music since the age of 3. This is the link to her songs on Radio Flote -http://radioflote.com/band/nadhamuni-gayatri.

Prince Rama Verma- He is a South Indian classical musician, a performing vocalist, veena player and writer. Prince Rama Varma is a member of the Travancore Royal Family, the erstwhile rulers of Travancore State. This is the link to his songs on Radio Flote- http://radioflote.com/band/prince-rama-varma

State of Bengal- Sam Zaman recording as State of Bengal, who is a Pakistani-born British DJ and music producer associated with the U.K. and Asian Underground movement. In 1987, Zaman set up the “State of Bengal” group in London after a visit to Noakhali,Bangladesh, where he interacted with traditional folk musicians and dancers. Original members of the group included his brother Deedar Zaman (later associated with the Asian Dub Foundation), and MC Mustaq (lead rapper for Fun-Da-Mental). Outside of the State of Bengal project, Zaman also worked with British Asian youth groups, setting up music training workshops This is the link to his songs on Radio Flote- http://radioflote.com/band/state-of-bengal

Bicycle Days- The Bicycle Days is a confluence of varied approaches to music and the idea of a song. “Calamitunes” their  first LP is the expression that contains their perception of the contemporary world. There are social commentaries , dialogues, soundscapes, haunting vocals, opinions and plenty of elements to connect with. This is the link to their songs on Radio Flote-http://radioflote.com/band/bicycle-days

Bluesanova- Bluesanova a.k.a. Darshan Lodaya is an Indian producer and has been producing his brand of music for over 15 years. In addition to production, Bluesanova is also a skilled guitar player and a soulful singer. Living in Bombay has had its massive influence- making his music urban and existential. This is the link to his songs on Radio Flote-http://radioflote.com/band/bluesanova

Indra J- Indra J (Ij, Former Grahan Chronicles) is an Ethnic Electronica Dj/Producer with Chill Om Records who pioneered the rise of Edm/Idm in his State and has since gained National and International acclaim for his music and performances. This is the link to his songs on Radio Flote- http://radioflote.com/band/indra-j

 These are some of the bands that we got recently. Many more such wonderful bands coming up soon. Keep reading our blogs and checking our websites- www.radioflote.com. 

[radioflote]

What Radio Flote Is All About

Avinash Rajendan: i was speaking to a musician friend of mine today and was curious on how musicians and artists view piracy. Since you interact with them so closely, could you shed more light on what they actually feel about people seeding their music. I assume it must be mixed, i want to still know how much pain it actually causes them.

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: artists don't consider recorded music as a source of income anymore, so, its gone beyond pain, those who can perform, survive...those who can't eventually find another career

Avinash Rajendran: so its like mtv has become youtube, which has its impact on the number and quality of music videos being made. Is there a similar impact on music due to the income from recorded music dwindling?

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: yeah, musicians have now started doing everything on their own

labels / tv / radio fall on the hate list for a lot of them

so they avoid them at all costs

Avinash Rajendran: What do you do? Do u always buy music? Both Indian and international?

Why does radio fall on the hate list though?

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: we just air the songs, we don't buy them...we build relationships with artists directly, radio doesn't pay royalty they promise

Avinash Rajendran: is that the same with other big radio sites like soptify, pandora, grooveshark etc?

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: kinda...if you look at all of them, the money doesn't reach the artist. Take apple itself: 70% to artist? no 70% to label, label doesn't have to pay the artist...so Apple ended up making things worse for the artists since labels lost 30% of revenue to Apple

Avinash Rajendran: so 0% to the artist? how is that even fair? thats as bad as piracy

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: very very low....take Spotify...4 Million listens fetches you around $1500

Avinash Rajendran: oh man... they must be making so much more off of the subscriptions and ads. How much does Spotify pay the labels to get the songs? %wise?

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: thats the core of the issue...its the labels...when they enter any new distribution they're nice and sweet...after a while Spotify's 80% of the listenership comes from the labels...thats when the labels start pulling strings, Spotify is actually struggling, and has its investors pretty worried

Avinash Rajendran: are there any sites which provide a direct venue to contribute or support an artist, other than kickstarter or bandpage

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: thats exactly what we plan to do, all our relationships are directly with artists

Avinash Rajendran: how does someone support an artist though through your site

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: as of now...its just about popularity...so the more people share and listen to the songs, the more it spreads the better, we're planning to bring in subscription options exactly like Spotify down the lane, we'll also bring ads in, in all cases, monetization is 70% directly to the artist

Avinash Rajendran: wow thats cool, what are your sources of revenue presently?

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: no revenue, we're surviving on investments

Avinash Rajendran: investments from?

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: via startup accelerator and their mentors

http://themorpheus.com

Avinash Rajendran: its cool what u are doing man.

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: thanks man...hope we succeed...could make a world of difference

Avinash Rajendran: I dont think piracy will ever end, but its kinda sad knowing someones selling their car to record their music and we dont think twice before clickign a button to download it

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: yes man...but I think piracy is also a convenience problem...its easier to get a song via pirated means than legally

Avinash Rajendran: very true, its also one of the best sources to sample music, in the absence of radio channels that would do that for you

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: right...thats why I think the Spotify strategy is so much better

Avinash Rajendran: it is.. i thought spotify, grooveshark etc were a welcome change, didnt know the artist gets next to nithing from them

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: i know...the worst part is that people who buy the music think they are supporting artists...that single misconception is what the recording industry is thriving on right now

Avinash Rajendran: how else do we support them? merchandise?

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: as of now? go for their shows...and yes, merchandize for sure

Avinash Rajendran: hmmm, a little tough when the band you want to support is a tiny swedish one, works for indian bands though and others that are brought down by bangalore open air etc

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: yeah, we're planning to push monetization features soon

so that should be another option, oh also, we're now getting artists from all over the world

so its not only india anymore

Avinash Rajendran: oh cool. What kind of monetization features?

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: subscriptions for now, like pay a monthly fee to choose and listen to the songs you want, radio remains free, we might support it with audio ads

Avinash Rajendran: go for it, great stuff .. looking forward to it

Mahadevan Kalyanaraman: thanks man

Nothing could have captured what Radio Flote is all about better.

Lets build a sustainable environment for musicians, you and us: its a tough journey, but every person makes a difference.

Thank you Avinash Rajendran, for waking up, we hope more people do.

[radioflote]

Most of the time, a product will be dumped in your hands, and you'll be expected to use it as is.

But one of the most amazing aspects of using a product in its infancy, is the fact that you can provide feedback and help make features the way you want it.

From the countless mails, chats and phone calls, we know that a lot of you like to tell us what you want, and what you expect from Radio Flote. But the problem with things like mails, chats and phone calls, is that over time, the feedback just gets buried under a pile of mails or forgotten.

We decided to do something about this, so starting today, we're launching a live site, where all new features on Radio Flote are currently being experimented with. 

Its a site you can always spy to check out the latest features on Radio Flote at any point of time. 

But the real fun starts, when you click on the "?" symbol at the bottom right. From there, you can not only give us feedback, but you can vote for various features so that we can prioritize what you want us to do, and deliver those features first.

So get involved, you never know, you might end up being one of those lucky few who say, "It was me who suggested this awesome idea", when your friend talks a about a feature on Radio Flote.

Visit our beta site, and better yet, bookmark it, and let the fun begin!

[radioflote]

Song Release - Meenakshi By Prahlad Prasad

A couple of weeks back, we announced the "beta songs" program for songs. The idea was that, similar to the software world(remember the infamous gmail beta which went on for 3 years?), we wanted to have artists put out beta versions of their songs on their profile pages, and allow listeners to comment on the version, and help them improve their songs.

We're proud that today, one of our first betas, Prahlad Prasad's Meenakshi, graduates into a release! Massive kudos and pride for all the listeners who participated in the beta, and to Prahlad Prasad for being a sport and releasing the song today.

All of you who participated in the beta, you'll be proud to know that your comments have been preserved and can be seen in the comments section, in the release version.

We'll keep you posted about new betas as and when we receive them from the artists.

Thanks a lot everyone.

[radioflote]

The Eastern Electronic Show III - Shaanti

Tune in to The Eastern Electronic Show on the EESHOW Channel. Presented by Sharnita from Shaanti who'll be playing 100% new and emerging music from the EDM scene. Championing a new-beat generation and future pioneers of the electronic dance and alternative music scene. 

On this week's show, she'll be dropping tracks from Etched, James Blake, Jitter, Seafloor, Sharfla, Hekmah & Sykotix and loads more. The show also presents guest artists Paul Vollmer from Germany. He will headlining this weeks' EE Mix for an exclusive underground techo-mix so, if you're into progressive, house, trap, electronica, experimental dance and underground bass then don't forget to tune in via Radio Flote.

[radioflote]

The Eastern Electronic Show II - Shaanti

Sharnita is back again this wednesday with The Eastern Electronic Show, a two hour show featuring fresh sounds from emerging artists in the global electronical scene.

The first hour of the show features 17 tracks, and this time around, she has chosen minimal sounding, industrial drum n' bass mixes.

This is followed by the customary, but very amazing EE Mix.

The show will remain on air the whole week until next wednesday, so be sure to tune-in and check out the channel before that.

If you have any comments, or suggestions about the show, just drop them in the comments section below

[radioflote]

Move over men, this one is only for the women!

The Indiearth Channel is updated with a new show dedicated to women artists on Indiearth. 

On an interesting note, this was planned much before the Nirbhaya trial and sentencing and is a happy co-incidence.

Double reason for all the women out there to celebrate anyways!

To listen to the channel, please visit our Indiearth channel

[radioflote]

Beta Song Releases

Starting this week, we're launching a new initiative for musicians to release their songs, and get feedback from all you listeners out there, so they can make last minute changes, improvements and fix bloopers before launching their songs.

How it works: 

artists send us pre-release versions of their songs

the songs appear under the "BETA RELEASES" section on the artist profile

you can listen to the songs under this section

add your feedback and comments right under the song to help the artist improve their song before release.

Example: Prahlad Prasad's New Beta Release, Meenakshi (see pic attached)

How to make your feedback count: 

Give obvious feedback, your feedback need not be unique or awesome...in fact, many people repeating the same feedback re-inforces the need to make a change

If you'd like to give specific feedback about a certain section of the song, you can use the player's elapsed time display to refer to the time-range in the song(see pic attached)

Point out sections of the song that sound amazing, it helps the artist know which parts to stay away from while modifying his/her track

[radioflote]

Updates Galore

Welcome to the Official Radio Flote blog. We'll be posting updates about the Radio Flote platform along with cool stuff that our team keeps bumping into.

In our typical style, all posts will be short, simple and sweet.

Follow us or be left behind...just kidding, please follow us ;)