#choosic

[tbbrown90]

Laying down to good tunes today. #choosic #nowplaying🎧 (at Columbia , South Carolina)

[androidflagship]

Find New Music on your Android device with Choosic

Find New Music on your Android device with Choosic

You don’t need me to tell you that resources for finding new music are all around us, but this is not guaranty that we’ll get what we truly want. There are plenty of Android apps out there and they all have options to discover new music on your smartphone, but there’s a big problem that I’ve noticed about them. They work great when it comes to established artists, but what about the less popular…

View On WordPress

[choosic-blog]

Interview With Ever

Creating and releasing music in an industry that’s fallen victim to streaming, and illegal torrenting and downloads, can be a little disheartening. However, singer songwriter Ever hasn’t allowed such details to deter her from her creative path.

 Mixing influences from Laura Marling to Grimes to Kimbra, she’s created whimiscal, dreamy pop music, with rich lyrical content that is poetic in form, which she brings to life with her haunting yet sweet vocals. We spoke about to Ever about musical influences and how difficult it is as an emerging artist, who releases their first EP, for free in the industry’s current state.

Can you introduce yourself for those who may not have heard of you before?

I’m Ever, a musician from the South of England. As well as writing music I love to do embroidery and knit; I like to make my own merchandise, so I embroider lyrics and frame them, and I’m hoping to knit some stuff for the winter to add to the site. I also like to write poetry and paint occasionally.

Want to read the rest of our interview with Ever? Head over to our blog here to get the full interview.

[thisisever]

Check out the interview I did with the lovely Jess at Choosic!

[choosic-blog]

This Week’s Top Track: The Kills

British and American indie-rock duo The Kills are well-known, thanks to their incredible partnership, as well as their own respective and fruitful careers with other bands and projects. Frontwoman Alison Mosshart lends her raw, husky vocals to gutiarist Jamie Hince’s gritty and powerful riffs, which is demonstrated perfectly in ‘Future Starts Slow’. This strong relationship has seen them gain critical acclaim for their first three albums, ‘Keep On Your Mean Side’, ‘No Wow’, and ‘Midnight Rock’. Their last album, ‘Blood Pressures’, was released in 2011 and, after a tour with Queens Of the Stone Age at the end of 2013, the duo confirmed that they were due to hit the studio to record their fifth album.

You can keep up-to-date with The Kills by liking them on Facebook, following them on Twitter, and liking their pretty pictures on Instagram. You can download their latest album ‘Blood Pressures’ on iTunes, along with their other releases.

[choosic-blog]

How to...Be a Music Journalist, Pt. I

In today’s world of music, cracking into the industry, in whatever shape or form, can be incredibly tricky, especially if you don’t have a starting point.

But here at Choosic, we’ve been gathering interviews with members of the music industry who work within various different aspects of music – journalists, PR, managers, sound engineers, radio presenters, and more. We’ve asked all these people how they became involved with the work that they’re currently doing, in the hopes that you might pick up tips on how to gain internships and/or work within your dream career.

This week, we spoke to various different journalists about how they became a journalist. But first, what exactly is a music journalist? Music journalists are usually freelancers, which is how they initially start out, but that’s not to say that you can’t be a full-time staff member as a journalist too! Journalists mostly work on the following:

·         Band/Artist Features – these tend to involve a variety of photos, alongside an interview.

·         Musical Trends Features – as the name suggests, these features look at the latest and emerging bands/artists that you need to be listening to.

·         News – like normal news, but centred around music e.g. who’s announced a tour/new album, the release of a music video, etc.

·         Album/EP/Single Reviews

·         Gig Reviews

·         Opinion Features – features in which a journalist shares their opinion of a matter, personal experience, or theory.

Getting your foot in the door is the first part. To get your career started, some start out with a journalism degree from university. James Hingle (@Jingle1991), a freelance writer for Kerrang!, says, “I studied Journalism at the University of Portsmouth and, I started a radio show with my best mate, which is where my career really started. I started writing for as many online publications as I possibly could once I left university, as having a degree just isn't enough these days.”

However, you don’t necessarily need a degree in journalism which, even if you do have, isn’t always strong enough on its own. You need to combine it with enough experience to make yourself stand out. Jessica Bridgeman (@JessBridgeman), Blog Editor and Manager at Ticketmaster UK, said, “I began contributing to local music magazines and free websites for experience, and from there, eventually caught the attention of editors at Kerrang! Magazine, and threw myself at every opportunity going.”

The best way to become a music journalist, if you don’t want to follow the traditional route of going to university to gain a journalism degree, is to simply practise writing. Already Heard editor, Sean Reid (@seanreid86), explains that he “kind of fell into it by accident. I just started randomly writing reviews for no reason online one day.”

Metal Hammer freelancer Ali Cooper (@alizombie_) agrees: “I started writing short album reviews on my own blog and decided to take it seriously a few months later. Once I’d found my feet and worked out how to shorten reviews from 400 words down to 100, I sent off a few pieces to Metal Hammer and the rest is history.” 

 Rock Sound freelancer Candice Haridimou (@candii_h) also believes that writing reviews on a blog, be it your own, or one that belongs to someone else is beneficial. “I wasn't 100% sure of which area of the music industry I wanted to work in initially, so I applied for non-paid/work experience positions,” she explains. “I spotted a job advert for unpaid, freelance writers for a website called AltSounds. They covered all things music related and for all genres, including news, interviews, and reviews. And as I had always loved to write and done some review work in school I thought I'd give it a go.”

Work experience is also a great way to get your foot in the door, especially if you can gain a placement at a well-known music magazine. Emily Carter (@emilycrtr), Kerrang!’s Digital Contributing Editor, did just that, and demonstrates how important it is to network whilst interning. “I made as many contacts as I could at Kerrang!, and got as much work experience as possible at various publications – I did several months of unpaid work experience. Eventually, after showing my face around and keep in touch with people for long enough, I got taken on as a freelancer,” she explains. 

 Part two of this feature will be published on Friday 14 August - keep your eyes peeled for it!

[choosic-blog]

Choosic are proud to announce that the company has been short-listed for The Duke of York New Entrepreneur of the Year award, for the 2015 Lloyds Bank National Business Awards UK. 

The company, founded by Chris Underdown, and run by both himself and Alessia Sannazzaro, was selected among other finalists from hundreds of businesses that were either entered or nominated for an award, across 18 different categories. 

Co-founder Alessia said, “Being short-listed is an amazing opportunity for us to show how far we’ve gone and how much we’ve managed to achieve. This is just the beginning, and we still have a lot to achieve.”

Live presentations will be prepared, before expert judges decide who the overall winners are at the awards ceremony on Tuesday 10 November. The ceremony will be held at Park Lane’s Grosvenor House Hotel, in London.

For a full list of all finalists and details on how to attend the event, visit nationalbusinessawards.co.uk.