uPlaya’s Home Recording Studio Contest
Win a Professional Recording Studio for Your Home or Office!
Think of all the great music you could create if you had cutting-edge, easy-to-use recording technology in the comfort of your own home. Record and edit music anytime you want without the hassle of booking an expensive studio.
Enter uPlaya's Home Recording Studio Contest and you could win all the tools you need to create a professional recording of your song.
Cost: Free
Deadline: August 31st, 2011 at 11:59pm EST
The Grand Prize: A Home Recording Studio
iMac 21.5-inch- The Ultimate All In One
A display that turns your desk into a destination. More power than ever before. The world’s first Multi-Touch mouse. The new iMac truly is as good as it looks.
Pro Tools 9- The Next Generation of Pro Audio Production
Open yourself to the possibilities. Pro Tools 9 redefines the world’s most popular, most advanced music and audio production platform with a completely re-architected, open version of Pro Tools software, giving you what you asked for—and so much more.
uPlaya Promotion Package- Get your name in the spotlight! The winner will be promoted on the uPlaya blog and social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. Also included, a customized Music Universe Talent Search Winner widget to help promote the winners music on the web.
Other Prizes
uPlaya Analysis Package
Ten finalists will each win a 15 Song Pack from uPlaya to analyze and promote their music. Finalists will get Premium features and functionality, like the ability to stream clips of their music, as well as 15 contest tickets good for any of uPlaya’s ongoing contests.
uPlaya Promotion Package
Finalists will be promoted on the uPlaya blog and social networks, including Facebook and Twitter
ENTER NOW
Studio costs can range from $50 an hour up to $3,000 an hour. In most cases, you have to get on the waiting list and only get a certain amount of time to spend on your work. That is no way to create powerful music. Don't let the expensive studio owners stifle your creativity and put you in a box - record music whenever you want in the comfort of your own home!
JD Nash Wins Best Live Performance Contest
It was a hard decision. A wide variety performances were submitted to the Best Live Performance Contest, many different styles, genres and languages. But after much deliberation, we settled on a winner with the help of guest judges from our partner, Big Fan Base.
The winner of uPlaya's Best Live Performance Contest is JD Nash for his soulful performance of "One Life, One Chance". Performed in a homey coffee shop, the beautiful lyrics were clearly moving to the audience present and JD Nash represents an artist who loves what he does and reminds his fans of the power and beauty of music.
See more of JD Nash's live performances on his uPlaya Press Kit.
From Nash's uPlaya Press Kit:
JD Nash is an Acoustic Rocker from Sherman Oaks, CA. Originally from Colorado then Arizona, He came to L.A. to start a new life and inspire everyone he meets with his passion and grateful personality. His first goal was to play one show in California and since then he has played in such venues as Whisky A Go-Go, House of Blues (Hollywood), The Viper Room, Sunset Grill and many more.
He believes that we all have one life and one chance to do what we love as people and music is that life and chance for him. Only being out in L.A. a year, he’s very grateful and thankful for every opportunity that has come from just being himself and working harder then most. This is what he wants for the rest of his life and this is all meant to be. Many people have said JD is the nicest and hardest working artist in L.A. JD is a overall fan of music in general and has backgrounds in the genre’s of Metal, Rock, Acoustic, and more.
Add the Like and Send Button to Your Website
Barely a year old, the Facebook Like button lives on more than 2.5 million websites, including more than 80% of the top 100 websites in the US. Now the Web is abuzz over the huge potential of the recently launched “Send” button, the Like button’s new “friend”.
ABOUT THE LIKE BUTTON
The Like button lets users show support for your content and share it with friends on Facebook. When a user clicks the Like button on your site, a story appears in the user’s friends News Feed with a link back to your website. If a user is signed into Facebook when he or she sees the Like button, it will be personalized for him or her and show how many of their friends also Liked the page.
The Facebook Like button turned a year old one week ago and it’s explosive growth has yet to slow down. In it’s first week, 50,000 websites installed the Like button and more than 10,000 websites add the button every day. Practical Ecommerce recently wrote a blog on the 8 benefits to using Facebook Likes that any website owner should check out.
ABOUT THE SEND BUTTON
One of the newest features to Facebook, the Send button, allows users to easily send your content to their friends (much like email). By using the Send button, people will have the option to share your URL through a personal message to one or a few friends or to post it to just a Facebook group. The message will include a link to the URL specified in the send button along with a title, image and a short description of the link.
The Send button drives traffic by letting users send a personalized, short message to the people who would be most interested. They don’t need to leave the web page they’re on and it requires fewer steps and clicks than any other private sharing option.
ABOUT OPEN GRAPH META TAGS
If you’re really savvy, you can add some Open Graph meta tags to your page which will help Facebook categorize your content and make relevant connections to the “Likes” and “Interests” in that user’s profile page. This means your link will show up in more places. For example, if you added the “music” tag, when someone Likes your page, your link will then show up in the “Favorite Music” section of their profile page.
HOW TO GET THE LIKE AND THE SEND BUTTON
Facebook offers an easy-to-use formula to calculate the perfect code, you can even customize the button and layout to better match your site. Decide how the information is presented, the appropriate width, whether or not you would like to show the faces of fans who have Liked the page, if you want the button to say “Like” vs. “Recommend”, the color scheme and the font.
If you would like to have the Send button, make sure you check the box that says “Send Button”. If you would like only the Send button, you can get a stand-alone here.
Below the formula for creating your Like/Send button code, you’ll also see a formula for adding Open Graph tags to your site. Try some out to enable Facebook to make more meaningful connections between you and potential new fans.
Lyrical. Socially Aware. Hip Hop.
Introducing Baltimore Ledge, a lyrical, socially aware hip-hop artist reminiscent of 90s hip hop and R&B.
Baltimore Ledge’s mission might be typical of an average hip hop artist, to “be an established musician that the world knows and loves”, but Ledge is one of the few urban artists who channeling his energies into positive messages through relevant rhymes. Ledge describes the music as “a mixture of B.O.B., Wale, Kid Cudi and J. Cole”.
Check out the video for their uplifting track "One Life to Live"...
So do it
We could all learn a thing or two from Sadie…
“You know why I’m showing you these pictures? Cause I’m trying to encourage you to do something you know that you can do. Do something you want to do. Cause you know what? Even though you may not know who the heck I am, you know what? Everyone is all connected, so when we’re connected, it means we all believe in each other. And I believe that you can do whatever you want, whenever you want. And all the time. So do it.”
Even the most successful musicians struggled at one point. Instead of selecting a more traditional profession with stability, benefits and a 401K, they went with their gut and followed a passion. It’s a scary thing – most musicians fail a hundred times before they succeed. But in the end, those are the ones who have no regrets.
So if you are putting yourself out there giving it it all to a project you’re crazy about, congrats. This little girl would be proud of you.
If not, press the replay button.
Extending Facebook Fan Appreciation
We think Facebook Fan Appreciation Week might be one of the best ideas we've ever had on our Facebook page. We got the chance to talk with lots of artists in our community and show our appreciation by giving them some analysis and promotion tools for one of their songs. We even made a lot of new friends and added to our Facebook community.
That's why we're extending it. If you still haven't claimed your free upload as one of our Facebook fans - no worries! You can still visit our Facebook page and get your free upload right now. Thanks again and we look forward to more discussions, games and advice sharing.
Announcing the Spring Editions of WeLoveYourSongs Competitions!
The Spring editions the We Love Your Songs Best New Unsigned Artist and of the Best New Song competitions have now started! uPlaya is once again sponsoring the competitions and providing some cool prizing - analysis and promotion tools for your music! The winners will also be featured on WeLoveYourSongs.com and the uPlaya Blog and social networks.
It's free to enter and you could win BIG! Enter here.
Check out Roman Holiday and Tyrannosaurus Grace, two previous winners of WeLoveYourSongs competitions.
How to Enter uPlaya’s Video Contest on Facebook
Having trouble entering our video contest?
Please let us know if you are having any issues entering any of our contests - we will do whatever we can to get the issue resolved immediately.
How to Enter uPlaya's Video Contests on Facebook
1. Visit the contest page and click “Enter the Contest”. (The Best Live Performance Contest)
2. Fill out the first page of the Entry Form.
- Input your Artist Name, the Title of your Performance/Song/Video, the country in which you are located, your Email Address and your Date of Birth.
- Select the box that says “I have read and agree to the Official Rules and the following Terms & Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy”
- Click the “Continue” Button to be redirected to the second page of the Entry Form.
3. Fill out the second page of the Entry Form.
- Select if you would like to upload videos to/from your YouTube account or your Facebook account
- If you select YouTube, input your YouTube Username, your YouTube password, and title your video.
- If your video is not already on your YouTube account, you can upload the file from your computer and it will be hosted on your Youtube account. If your video is already on your YouTube account, check this box and you can simply input the URL of the video.
- Click the “Continue to Upload” button to be redirected to the third and final page.
4. Get votes and views! Publish the contest to your wall to encourage friends/fans to view and vote on your video and also make comments. You can also use it as a challenge! If you are particularly confident about your video, challenge your colleagues to enter the contest to settle once and for all who has the best live performance.
If you need any assistance at all, please let us know!
uPlaya’s Best Live Performance Contest
Are you known for your awe-inspiring live music performances?
Submit a video of you performing live to uPlaya’s
BEST LIVE PERFORMANCE CONTEST
And win featured promotions through Big Fan Base and uPlaya!
Deadline: Friday, April 29 at 11:59 p.m.
Cost: FREE
SUBMIT YOUR YOUTUBE VIDEO TO THE CONTEST
The winner gets …
- Music promotions through Big Fan Base. Get featured placement and a professional music review on BigFanBase.com, including placement on their home page.
- Analysis and Promotion Pack from uPlaya. An analysis and promotion package from uPlaya.com for 15 song uploads. Each upload includes the proven Hit Song Science analysis, digital marketing tools, contest tickets and more.
- Featured Promotions through uPlaya. Get promoted on the uPlaya blog and social networks, including Facebook and Twitter.
More Details
The video clip must
(1) be your original work.
(2) feature an artist or musician performing music in a live setting .
(3) be between 45 seconds and 5 minutes long.
Quality recording, professional music, interesting angles, and a large and lively audience are preferred. Bonus consideration will be given to artists who have the video featured in their uPlaya Press Kit.
The more professional, interesting and entertaining the live performance clip is the better.
SUBMIT YOUR VIDEO NOW
Are you known for your awe-inspiring live music performances?
Submit a video of you performing live music to uPlaya’s
BEST LIVE PERFORMANCE CONTEST
And win featured promotions through Big Fan Base and uPlaya!
Deadline: Friday, April 29
Cost: FREE
The winner gets …
· Music promotions through Big Fan Base. Get featured placement and a professional music review on BigFanBase.com, including placement on their home page.
· Analysis and Promotion Pack from uPlaya. An analysis and promotion package from uPlaya.com for 15 song uploads. Each upload includes the proven Hit Song Science analysis, digital marketing tools, contest tickets and more.
· Featured Promotions through uPlaya. Get promoted on the uPlaya blog and social networks, including Facebook and Twitter.
More Details
The video clip must
(1) be your original work.
(2) feature an artist or musician performing music in a live setting .
(3) be between 45 seconds and 5 minutes long.
Quality recording, professional music, interesting angles, and a large and lively audience are preferred. Bonus consideration will be given to artists who have the video featured in their uPlaya Press Kit.
The more professional, interesting and entertaining the live performance clip is the better.
SUBMIT YOUR VIDEO NOW
Should You Upgrade to Pro Tools 9?
A few weeks ago, Avid announced the release of ProTools 9 and we want to know – what’s the difference?
According to the site, the ninth installment leverages the same core functionality as the previous versions. The new version adheres to the same promise of enabling professional-quality recording, editing and mixing features in home or project studios.
According to online reviews, the addition of the automatic delay compensation and the MP3 export seem to be the biggest advantages of upgrade. Pro Tools 9 is also compatible with more interfaces, which facilitates greater collaboration with other artists.
Pro Tools 9 will be offered as a standalone for use with select M-Audio interfaces, as well as in all-new, value packed bundles. Bundling options include MobilePre, Fast Track Pro and Fast Track Ultra (learn more about the bundles here).
Pro Tools 9 HD is the premium, top-of-the-line option, boasting the most features and all-around highest quality of recording options. The significant additions that have been made from Pro Tools HD 8 are:
- AAF/OMF/MXF file interchange
- Core Audio/ASIO support (up to 32 channels)
- MP3 export
- Variable stereo pan depth
- An updated 7.1 surround panner
So ... Should you upgrade?
It’s up to you and your unique needs as an artist. Once you know precisely what you need and, more importantly, what you’re able to spend, it doesn’t hurt to do the research to see what you may be missing out on. Avid posts a nice side-by-side comparison of their products. If you believe the added features will pay for themselves, you should definitely consider investing in anything that will improve the quality of your work.
Expert Insight from one of our Featured Artists, Olesya Star
:
"PT9 is worth upgrading mainly for one reason, ADC Automatic Delay Compensation, previously only in PTHD.... Although Ableton and others have had it in for ages, it helps massively when you use lots of Virtual Instruments and RTAS plugins al...l chained. Saves me time away from the calculator. Have you tried Presonus Studio one/pro? not really for the VI's as PT's are far far better, but the overall mix quality is absolutely jaw-dropping and the built in studio toys (compressors/limiters/delays) just seem to sound better than the ones in PT. Worth considering before an upgrade. Even though, when all said and done though, Pro Tools just rocks. Period."
Pro Tools 9 is priced at $299.95, but existing Pro Tools users can upgrade for $199.95. It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to check out Ebay for other pricing options.
Just starting out and want to find out the best product for you? Check out this resource.