Author: Press Officer

With the world’s guitarists at your fingertips, Ards and North Down Borough Council is delighted to announce the welcome return of Ards International Guitar Festival. The festival is back with an eclectic mix for every taste. Celebrating all that is brilliant locally with a clever mix of international artists.

From the 6 -10 April Newtownards will be alive with the sound of blues, folk and flamenco. Every genre is covered. Whether you play yourself or just love music there will be a gig for you. Check out the full festival programme at www.ardsguitarfestival.co.uk

Highlights this year include Martin Carthy, Antoine Dufour, Wiktoria Szubelak, No Oil Paintings, Grainne Duffy, The Emerald Armada to name a few.

This is a real opportunity to hear world renowned musicians such as Antoine Dufour. The Montreal guitarist combines jaw-dropping guitar playing skills and artistic soul to craft instrumental compositions that reflect ambient and progressive music that transcends global cultures.

Martin Carthy has for more than 40 years been one of folk music’s greatest innovators. He is a ballad singer and a ground-breaking guitarist. Most significantly, his settings of traditional songs have influenced a generation of artists, including Bob Dylan and Paul Simon

Wiktoria Szubelak is one of Poland’s most talented young classical guitarists. She has performed throughout Europe to outstanding reviews. Her consert repertoire contains solo works by Bach, Giuliani, Barrios, Lobos and others.

Tours of the Avalon guitar factory will provide visitors with an insight into the production line of the handcrafted guitar. While guitar clinics will allow the visitor to learn guitar techniques and also the practical skill of building a pedal. This is a fantastic opportunity to get hands-on with industry professionals.

There are a number of free events for you to come along and enjoy such as Belfast Guitar Orchestra with Colin Reid.

Ards International Guitar Festival is a must for the music enthusiast. For ticket details or to view the full programme please visit the website or alternatively call Ards Arts Centre on 028 9181 0803

24 March, 6.30pm
Roasted Brown Café, Filmbase, Temple Bar
Free entry

The first in a new series of monthly talk events on topics around contemporary music. Part of the Irish Composers on Irish Music series, supported by Arts Council Ireland.

In Conversation is a new series of events by the Association of Irish Composers, as part of their dedication to creating new channels for the discussion and presentation of new music. In Conversation provides opportunities for composers, performers, presenters and the public to get together to discuss aspects of new music openly over a decent coffee. Events will include talks and presentations by guest composers and performers, panel discussions, listening sessions and opportunities for students and researchers in new music to present their work.

This inaugural In Conversation event will be a panel discussion on the Evolving Contemporary Culture, covering questions about how we present new music. Does the environment and culture of a concert hall best reflect the current interests of composers, performers and audiences today? Is the practise of programming classical music alongside other genres outside the concert hall merely a fad, or a gimmick?

Taking part in this discussion will be Sebastian Adams (RTÉ Composer in Residence, founder/director Kirkos Ensemble) and composer Raymond Deane and the AIC’s Peter Moran. All audience members are welcome to join the debate. The panel discussion will last c45-50minutes, and the café will stay open until 8pm, so stick around for Roasted Brown’s great coffee and a chat.

Announcing Open Registration for World’s Largest, One-Day Music Showcase
Winning Artist to Perform at Hard Rock Hotel in Ibiza, Spain

Hard Rock, in partnership with ReverbNation, is turning up the volume for its sixth-annual global music competition, Hard Rock Rising. On Wednesday, June 1, 2016, up-and-coming local artists and music acts will have a chance to rise to international stardom by performing in the world’s largest, one-day music showcase taking place at participating Hard Rock Cafes around the world. Musicians who are interested in participating can register online at HardRockRising.com today through Friday, March 11, 2016, for a chance to win $50,000 USD, a professionally-produced music video, a Fender Instruments prize pack and an all-expenses-paid trip to perform at Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza.

“Live music has been a cornerstone of Hard Rock’s mission since our beginning in 1971,” said Jeff Nolan, Hard Rock International’s resident music guru and Memorabilia Historian. “Hard Rock Rising 2016 is a one day, global celebration of local artists. We hope to raise awareness for these incredible and too-often overlooked acts, while simultaneously providing exposure that helps them breakthrough to the next level of success.”

Rock Local, Win Global
Following open registration, entrants will receive a unique URL to share, encouraging their fans to vote online. The act who receives the largest number of online votes will become the wildcard “winner” for their local Hard Rock. The online voting period runs from Thursday, March 17 to Wednesday, March 23. Fans are able to vote for multiple artists located in any participating city.

The wildcard “winner” will be automatically eligible to participate in the Hard Rock Rising music showcase taking place on Wednesday, June 1, 2016, at the participating Hard Rock Cafe or Hotel location they selected when registering. Three additional acts for each location will be selected to perform by the local Hard Rock Cafe or Hotel team. One winner will be selected from each location by a panel of local industry judges.

A panel of international music industry professionals will then narrow the local cafe winners down to four regional finalists and one global grand prize winner. All will receive a professionally-produced music video that will be added regionally to the Hard Rock video system, a 1,000 count CD/DVD pack of their latest recording and video from Bison Disc, and a Fender Instruments prize pack. The grand prize winner will receive $50,000 USD, have their video added worldwide to the Hard Rock video system and get an all-expenses-paid trip to perform at Hard Rock Hotel Ibiza in September 2016.

Hard Rock Rising is hosted, in partnership with ReverbNation, the global leader in providing independent musicians with the tools to manage every aspect of their careers. ReverbNation’s unique platform and extensive community of more than 4 million artists in over 100 countries worldwide provides undiscovered artists with a chance to catapult their music careers and expose themselves to Hard Rock’s global audience.

“The opportunity for ReverbNation to partner with and support Hard Rock Rising for another year highlights our passion and dedication to providing emerging artists with the tools they need to evolve their music careers,” said Mike Doernberg of ReverbNation. “By utilizing our unique platform and curation capabilities, we are able to expose the talented musicians of the ReverbNation community and introduce them to Hard Rock’s global audience.”

For full rules and a list of participating locations, visit www.HardRockRising.com

About ReverbNation
ReverbNation is the global leader in providing independent musicians the tools to manage every aspect of their careers. Since 2006, ReverbNation’s complete career management solution has built a community of over 4 million artists. This unrivalled access to today’s emerging talent, added to an industry leading curation capability, and a growing online audience of millions of fans, allows ReverbNation to play a pivotal role in the early identification and development of the next generation of successful artists.

For more information, visit ReverbNation.com and follow ReverbNation on Twitter at Twitter.com/ReverbNation.

About Bison Disc
Bison disc is a leader in music CD and CD package manufacturing. With 22 years of experience, Bison Disc works to provide thousands of order to musicians worldwide. Bison Disc is known for its legendary quality, large selection of packaging options and exclusive customer service.

About Hard Rock International
With venues in 68 countries, including 162 cafes, 23 hotels and 11 casinos, Hard Rock International (HRI) is one of the most globally recognized companies. Beginning with an Eric Clapton guitar, Hard Rock owns the world’s greatest collection of music memorabilia, which is displayed at its locations around the globe. Hard Rock is also known for its collectible fashion and music-related merchandise, Hard Rock Live performance venues and an award-winning website. HRI owns the global trademark for all Hard Rock brands. The company owns, operates and franchises Cafes in iconic cities including London, New York, San Francisco, Sydney and Dubai. HRI also owns, licenses and/or manages hotel/casino properties worldwide. Destinations include the company’s two most successful Hotel and Casino properties in Tampa and Hollywood, Fl., both owned and operated by HRI parent company The Seminole Tribe of Florida, as well as other exciting locations including Bali, Chicago, Cancun, Ibiza, Las Vegas, Macau and San Diego. Upcoming new Hard Rock Cafe locations include San Juan, Reykjavik and Gran Canaria, Spain. New Hard Rock Hotel projects include Atlanta, Berlin, Daytona Beach, Dubai, Los Cabos, Tenerife, Abu Dhabi, and Shenzhen and Haikou in China.

For more information on Hard Rock International, visit www.hardrock.com

IMRO members can now experience the exciting new features that Inflyte have just rolled out for their label clients, DJs and tastemakers.

Inflyte is a mobile-first promo platform for record labels to securely push watermarked digital promos to industry Inflyte tastemakers mobile devices. Inflyte combines push-notification technology and Dropbox integration to provide an unrivalled user-experience for both labels and tastemakers, designed to increase engagement and deliver superior campaign performance.

Label managers access rich analytics and data through an online dashboard that create efficiencies at every step of the promo process while reducing administrative overhead. Launched in October 2014, Inflyte’s streamlined approach to digital promo delivery has seen the company quickly establish itself as the main service provider for hundreds of leading UK and European labels including Defected, Cocoon, Get Physical.

The updated app (which is now live in the App Store) if just one of the new additions along with the rolling-out of a brand new website and their new Pay As You Go rates for labels and PR agencies, which offer even better value for money.

Inflyte have also added a powerful new email alias tool to ensure labels are always delivering promos to the most up-to-date address for their recipients. DJs and tastemakers can now add all their old email addresses to their Inflyte account and the service will filter all communications through to the correct address for them.

The new features include:

• Beautiful New Visual Design
• In-App Dropbox Integration
• Endless Promo Paging
• In-App Format Preferences
• Promo Search
• Track Waveform Displays
• Sort by Sender

If you want more information regarding the service you can click on the link to the Info Pack.

As an exclusive offer run in partnership with IMRO, Inflyte are offering record labels 25% off their monthly subscriptions for the first 3 months.

Connect via www.inflyteapp.com and quote IMRO15 to secure your discount!

Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble, in conjunction with the Peter Rosser Foundation, announce the first ever Peter Rosser Composition Award, in memory of their esteemed colleague and friend.

The award is open to composers born or domicile in N. Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, regardless of age Submissions from emerging composers are particularly welcome.

Composers are invited to write a piece for Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble of 5-8 minutes duration.
All shortlisted works will be workshopped, performed and recorded (as well as video streamed) by HRSE at a special event in Red Box Recording Studio, Belfast on Friday 27th May 2016.

DEADLINE: 4pm Friday 29th April 2016

1st Prize: £1000
2nd Prize: £500
3rd Prize: £250

For full competition rules and submission guidelines, please click here

The search for Ireland’s greatest cover version begins afresh on January 17 with the return of the hugely popular Le Crunch Apple of My Eye Song Contest. Super healthy apple brand Le Crunch from France have teamed up with JOE.ie to launch a nationwide search for Ireland’s best undiscovered musical talent.

Thousands of aspiring musicians and singers have entered the competition to date, showcasing an immense depth of talent from the four corners of Ireland. Amazing interpretations of well-known songs have wowed past judges, and now Le Crunch from France and JOE.ie are asking the public to record their favourite cover version (on video or MP3) and enter it to be in with a chance of winning €2,500 in cash prizes.

The public will be asked to enter the competition through Joe.ie and a panel of music industry judges – Niamh Farrell (HamsandwicH), Paddy McKenna (RTE and Joe.ie) and Shane Dunne (Indiependence Festival Director) – will select the top ten tunes to go through to a National Semi-Final. The public will then be given the opportunity to vote for the final five.

Dublin’s most iconic music venue, Whelan’s, will host a National Final on Wednesday, March 9, featuring the judges’ favourite five in front of a live audience.

“It’s a great opportunity for budding Irish artists to have their talents showcased to a huge audience,” says Paddy McKenna, “and also have their song checked out by some influential people from the Irish music industry. We’re looking forward to hearing what is out there and during the competition we’ll be hosting some of the best songs and videos on JOE.ie and Her.ie.”

Sandrine Gaborieau, Marketing Director of Le Crunch from France, said, “We’ve been thrilled with the quality and amount of entries that the competition has received in previous years and it has been a privilege to help discover such new and exciting talent. We’re once again looking forward to hearing another superb batch of songs.”

The Le Crunch Apple of My Eye Song Contest 2016 opens for submissions on Monday, January 17 through JOE.ie and the deadline for entries is Friday, February 12.

www.ouitolecrunch.com

Spotify have recently teamed up with Genius to add annotations to songs featuring in their ‘Behind The Lyrics’ playlists.

Genius currently has the world’s largest collection of song lyrics and crowdsourced musical knowledge, which will add a new dimension to the Spotify experience and change the service from that of a passive experience to something much more immersive.

At the moment the service is restricted to the above playlist subset but it is thought that future collaboration with Genius will result in lyric writers being able to annotate their works and give fans of the songs an insight into the creative process, fun facts or the story behind the song across all licensed catalogue on the platform.

IMRO members can access the Genius website to see what the service has to offer in the meantime.

Grand Prize Has Been Increased To $20,000 Cash (US)

January 26, 2016 – Unsigned Only Music Competition announced today its judging panel for the 2016 competition, which is now accepting entries. The panel consists of high-profile recording artists and journalists who will select the winners in 13 categories representing a wide variety of genres of music.

Unsigned Only is open to solo artists, bands, and singers who are not signed to a major label record company. Unsigned Only is looking for outstanding, talented artists, newcomers or veterans, and accepts both original and cover songs.

This year, Unsigned Only has increased its Grand Prize to $20,000 in cash (US) this year – plus additional merchandise. The Grand Prize winner will also receive one-on-one mentoring from a group of music industry executives, ranging from label presidents to heads of A&R. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to directly network with the top record company professionals and get advice, guidance, feedback, and networking opportunities. A First, Second, and Third Place winner will also be selected in each category.

Artists may enter into any of the following categories: Adult Album Alternative (AAA) Adult Contemporary (AC); Americana; Christian; Country; EDM (Electronic Dance Music); Folk/Singer-Songwriter; R&B/Hip-Hop; Rock; Pop/Top 40; Screen Shot; Teen; and Vocal Performance.

“We are thrilled to be able to give away $20,000 this year to our Grand Prize winner,” say Founders/Directors Candace Avery and Jim Morgan. “What all artists need the most is cash, and $20,000 can go a long way toward helping them with a new CD, a tour, a van, or whatever they might need.”

Judges include: Aimee Mann; R. City; The Killers; Bone Thugs N Harmony; The Struts; Dustin Lynch; Kelly Price; Darryl McDaniels (Run DMC); Aaron Shust; Rapsody; Hayes Carll; Kool and the Gang; David Crowder; Lucero; Colt Ford; The Turnpike Troubadours; Frank Foster; Kyle Anderson (Senior Writer, Entertainment Weekly); Josh Jackson (Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief, Paste Magazine); Anthony DeCurtis (Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone); Zach Long (Associate Editor, Time Out Chicago); Michael Molenda (Editor-In-Chief, Guitar Player); Jim Farber (Music Critic); Lyndsey Parker (Managing Editor, Yahoo Music); Jed Gottlieb (Music & Theater Writer, Boston Herald); Matthew Meadow (Editor-In-Chief, Your EDM); Kevin McNeese (President, NewReleaseToday); Andy Herman (Music Editor, LA Weekly); Sarah Jones (Editor, Electronic Musician Magazine); Chelsea Perry; Sasha Geffen (Consequence of Sound); and more.

For entry and general information, please go to http://www.unsignedonly.com