Call For Sponsors: AirPlay Direct’s Jazz / Latin Jazz / World Artist Contest 2008
AirPlay Direct has confirmed the date for our “All Things Digital Jazz / Latin Jazz / World” Artist Contest for the month of July 2008.
We have confirmed our first few Co-Sponsors for the event and are looking for additional Co-Sponsors in the following Areas:
- PR / Media firms
- Radio stations (announce & feature the winner with an on-air performance and interview)
- Equipment manufacturers or retailers that can contribute an instrument package
- Print publications that can run an ads and do a feature story on the winner of our contest
- Merchandise manufacturers, t-shirts, hats, stickers, etc.
- Festival / live-performance opportunities
- CD / DVD manufacturers
- Video companies to shoot a video
- Photographers / artist photo shoot
- Recording studio / studio time / production services
- A song placement in Film / TV / Music Supervisors
- Web Development / Graphics firm
AirPlay Direct’s Sponsorship / Contest programs are a valuable exposure and marketing tool that serve to help our Sponsors gain new clients, increase their corporate revenue, expose and grow their brand and company, and help them to develop a stronger global corporate presence and digital distribution footprint.
Our Sponsorship / Contest programs really do bring a lot more to the table in the way of press and media impressions, versus just a pure advertising play. These events receive a lot of press and exposure and create tremendous “good-will” and business opportunities within the industry for our Sponsors.
If you are interested in more information on this exciting opportunity, please contact us for more information.
Very best regards,
Mike Kreher
Director of Business Development
AirPlay Direct
Airplay Direct Delivers Exclusive Country Music Content To Radio Globally
IMI Records has chosen AirPlay Direct to be the exclusive digital delivery platform for their radio promotion efforts on the new Bill Anderson & Friends CD.
Listen to and download “broadcast-quality” tracks at www.airplaydirect.com/BillAndersonandFriends
There are many great bluegrass musicians who played on this album. Mandolin and fiddle player Andy Leftwich is a member of Ricky Skaggs’ Grammy winning Kentucky Thunder band. Les Singer (acoustic guitar) has been a member of Bill Anderson’s band since 1980, while Charlie Chadwick (upright bass) and Mike Toppins (acoustic guitar, dobro, and banjo) have also played in Bill Anderson’s band for many years. Producer Steve Ivey (acoustic guitar, piano, and backing vocals) is a Billboard # 1 producer with over 100 recording projects and music for TV and film that have garnered him both Grammy and Emmy awards and nominations, Tele Awards and many other accolades. Rob Ickes (dobro) rounds out this talented group.
Several guest artists make these recordings even more memorable: Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Willie Nelson, Wendy and Keith Sewell, Jon Randal, and long time duet partner Jan Howard.
Rainy Day Records has chose AirPlay Direct to be the exclusive digital delivery platform for their radio promotion efforts on the new Gene Autry Tribute By Country Music Legends CD.
Listen to and download “broadcast-quality” tracks at www.airplaydirect.com/GeneAutryTributeByCountryLegends
Some of the greatest names in Country music come together to help commemorate the “Centennial Celebration” of Gene Autry’s birth and pay tribute to Gene and his music, while also benefiting the Autry National Center in Los Angeles. The album includes performances by Glen Campbell, Charlie Daniels, John Anderson, Ian Tyson, Pam Tillis, Marty Stuart, Connie Smith, Jim Lauderdale, Kim McLean, T. Graham Brown, Alan Autry, Restless Heart, The Time Jumpers, The Texoma All-Stars, and Riders In The Sky, as well as another “Favorite Son of Oklahoma” Vince Gill. Gene’s cousin, Charlotte Autry, an independent artist from Oklahoma, has also performed. The album includes a historic posthumous duet with Gene by Randy Owen, from the legendary Country band, Alabama!
AirPlay Direct… go straight to the source!
For more information on AirPlay Direct please visit www.AirPlayDirect.com
AirPlay Director Founder Robert Weingartz Discusses Digital Music Delivery with Amplifier Magazine
It wasn’t long ago that the notion of delivering broadcast-quality music to radio stations via the internet was an exciting, albeit unattainable concept. Thanks to evolving technology and ever-broadening bandwidths, the service is now here - much to the pleasure of independent artists and radio promotion companies who spend most of their toiling hours pressing promo CDs, preparing expensive press kits, and dumping a good percentage of their budget into postage costs.
Leading the charge on internet delivery of music to radio is AirPlay Direct (http://www.AirPlayDirect.com), an Atlanta-based company birthed from the passions of a few hard-working veterans from the music industry. The service is a no-nonsense, easy-to-use interface to link record labels, radio promo firms, and independent artists with radio stations (terrestrial and internet) worldwide.
On the back-end, labels and artists can upload broadcast quality tracks and create extensive profiles and digital press kits. The front-end of the service is specifically designed for radio station programmers to stream and/or download tracks from all artists signed on - all in a secure, copyright-protected environment. As of now, the service is free for both front and back-end users.
The ultimate objective of APD is to create an online exchange where artists and record labels can deliver new music to radio stations without the labor and expense of sending out CDs and press kits. I had a moment to sit down (virtually!) with AirPlay Direct Founder and Chief Marketing Officer Robert Weingartz to discuss the revolutionary concept of digital music delivery and APD’s role in its ever-shifting landscape.
What prompted you to start Airplay Direct?
I had produced and released an album on an Americana artist I manage, Clay DuBose, in early 2005. We had a very successful domestic radio campaign with the album breaking into the “Top 10″ and going all the way to #6 on the AMA/ Radio & Records Americana chart. But there was no budget to send out hard copy artist packages to all of the stations globally that were requesting the record. I started thinking about how much of a problem and an expense radio distribution was for all Indie artists globally and believed that I could create an easy to use digital distribution platform that would solve those problems. A few days later I Founded and started AirPlay Direct.
What is your ultimate vision for APD? Do you see massive growth potential?
Ultimately AirPlay Direct will evolve into an artist development and advocacy platform that will focus on helping artists and record labels to continue to educate themselves on the industry and grow their businesses. With respect to growth potential, there is no limit.
Are there other online venues for digital music delivery to radio? And if so, how does APD differ from them?
There are only a handful of companies globally doing digital distribution to radio. The biggest difference between AirPlay Direct and them is that our services are free to our members. AirPlay Direct is the only company in the world that offers our suite of digital “smart-tools” free of charge to our members.
With the exception of a handful of major label artists, APD’s roster is almost exclusively unsigned nd independent artists. Do you feel your model is sustainable under this scenario…or is your long-term success dependent on getting more well-known indie and/or major label artists on board?
Yes AirPlay Direct is focused on the Indie artist community. However we are seeing more and more wellknown artists and record labels utilizing our services. I do not believe that our long-term success depends on us attracting major label artists. More so I believe our long-term success will be dependent upon our on-going commitment to indie artists and labels and AirPlay Direct’s continuing commitment to create, develop and deploy exciting new ’smart tools’ aimed at helping to educate and empower the professional independent music community.
What are your current thoughts/predictions on the current music industry landscape? Do you see massive changes ahead due to the increased ease of digital music delivery across the internet?
Well the music industry is obviously in a very transitional state at this juncture. It is a very unstable and confused global marketplace currently. I believe there will be unprecedented changes and opportunities in the industry over the coming months with respect to the way new artist deals are structured and how labels will bundle and deliver products for sale.
Labels will want a percentage of all of the artist’s income streams such as touring, merchandise, publishing, etc. They will also start bundling products as never before; a strong blend of physical products (CDs, t-shirts, concert tickets, etc.) and digital products (music downloads, ring tones, videos, etc.) will be the way of the future. As an industry I believe we will also finally learn how to incorporate more consumer/fan input into our sales and marketing efforts.
Most importantly artists and labels will be looking to cut costs, increase their global distribution footprint and increase their speed to market. Digital music delivery to radio is a service perfectly positioned for this purpose and I predict it will be a major force in helping to shape a newly digitally evolved music industry.
–Jeff Shelton
For more information on AirPlay Direct please visit www.AirPlayDirect.com
AirPlay Direct… go straight to the source!