December 31, 2009

Happy New Year
















A quick message to all Jango Airplayers wishing you the happiest of New Years and an incredibly prosperous 2010. To all of you playing gigs tonight...knock 'em dead. And most of all, have fun, be safe and remeber these wise words of T.S. Eliot...

'Last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice.'

December 30, 2009

More On PopScore - How It Works

After two weeks of PopScore we're thrilled with how much interest it has generated. We have awarded hundreds of thousand of Play Credits and have received a tremendous amount of positive feedback. There have also been a fair number of questions. Three recurring questions that we will try and answer below are:

- How is the PopScore calculated?
- What’s a good PopScore?
- How can I improve my PopScore?












So here's the lowdown:

How is the PopSc
ore calculated?

As some of you probably know, each time we play your song to one of Jango's 7 Million listeners we ask them to rate your song. We do this through the use of a pop up window (the Make’m or Break ‘em overlay).










When listening to your song the listener can give a thumbs up, thumbs down, become your fan, leave a comment and more. We enter all these listener reactions into a formula to determine which songs, and therefore which bands, are most popular with our listeners. In simple terms the PopScore is a ratio computed by total number of plays as well as ratings, both positive and negative.

To go into further detail:

You need at least 100 paid plays in the calender week (Mon – Sun) on at least one song to receive a PopScore. In other words, your band will get a PopScore if you have two songs with 100 paid plays each, or one song with 100 paid plays, or 5 songs with 500 paid plays each, but your band will not get a PopScore if you have three songs with only 99 paid plays each. So, if you want to make sure you get a PopScore each week make sure you allocate a minimum of 100 plays a week to at least one of your songs.

With that said, the more plays you have in a week, the more people will hear your music and the more new fans you will get. Also, the more paid plays you have in a week, the more accurate your PopScore becomes. However, because we look at both positive and negative ratings, you simply can not buy your your way to a higher PopScore.

What’s a good PopScore?

The best possible PopScore is 100 and the top 1000 bands receive some amount of bonus Play Credits. The higher the PopScore, the more bonus Play Credits.

How can I improve my PopScore?

Good question (and one that is difficult to answer). There are many things that affect your PopScore. This includes:

- Basic Targeting
At the most fundamental level it does not make sense for a country artist to target fans of Metallica. Similarly, a hip hop artist should not expect to fare well if targeting fans of Kenny Rogers. Your targeting is important so make sure to examine your Fan Overlap Report which is accessible from within your Reports Tab.

- Premium Targeting
Premium Targeting allows you to target specific groups of people. By targeting your plays to people in certain states or countries age groups or gender, you make sure that your songs are only played to people that correspond to your selected targets. Premium Targeting may help you achieve a higher PopScore so keep trying. Premium Targeting is available under your Targeting Tab.

- Presentation
Overal presentation is always important. This can be anything from high quality mastering of your tacks to a great press shot or album cover. When we ask listeners to rate your music we tell them not only your band name but we also show your default picture. Being visually interesting and sounding great always helps.

- Your Music
This goes without saying perhaps but your music is obviously of great importance. Some of us Jugglers play in bands in our spare time so we know that writing music is hard and writing music that people respond to is even harder.

- Experiment!
You know this, music is an art not a science, and while there is some science at work within the Jango PopScore a lot of it has to do with subjective tastes of millions of people. So how do you write a number one hit? Perhaps by never giving up.

We're here to help, answer any questions you might have and to listen to your feedback but we see our role as providing great tools for the emerging band. How you use the tools we provide, and what you do with them is up to you.

Our ears are open !!!

- Jango Jugglers

Hip Hop Pioneer Almighty Kay Gee on Airplay














Almighty Kay Gee learned to rap in 1974 after he heard GrandMaster Flash and the Furious 3’s. During this time Kay Gee became a member of the all Jamaican “Cheeba Crew” where he learned to emcee and DJ simultaneously. He met DJ Charlie Chase in 1978 at an emcee convention and in 1979, after practice, became a part of the legendary Cold Crush Brothers.

Almighty Kay Gee influenced Chuck D, who he considers a “powerful emcee” as well as Kool Keith, who Kay Gee met in the third grade. He has collaborated with such artists as C&C Music Factory, KRS-1, Funk Master Flex, Doug E Fresh and more.

Almighty Kay Gee now brings you Allmighty Entertainment his new label which is set to bring forth a wide range of music with a collection of Hip Hop, Rock, Metal, Dance Hall, Country, R&B and Praise artists.





















Dainjamental (Dance Hall); Lost Legacy (Metal); Mansin (Hip Hop) & Raphael Lundy AKA Guy Lundy(R&B) are some of the artists scheduled for release fall 2009 and are all available to listen to on Jango.

Almighty Kay Gee has been in the business a long time and has seen the good, the bad and the ugly of it all. Here's what he has to say about using Jango Airplay to promote the artists on his label...

'Jango is the best thing for music in a long time I will be putting up my music and you should too, thanks Jango' - Almighty Kay Gee

December 29, 2009

Featured Artists - PopScore Top 5

Here we are again with this weeks featured artists.

The featured artists are chosen by top PopScore each week so check them out here and see who's resonating the most with Jango's listeners. Each of these artists also receives 5000 Play Credits to continue to promote their music on Jango.com

Artist: Nina Yasmineh
Nina Yasmineh is an emerging artist with
a background in classical voice, piano and
guitar.This six song EP, her first release,
is now available on iTunes.

Click to hear Nina Yasmineh:
Peace Of Mind
Artist: Lune Jay vs Codespo
Lune Jay vs Codespo are a dance duo
hailing from Italy and Australia. Sergio
Lunedei aka Lune Jay started his career
as a DJ at the age of 15 in Rome, while
vocalist Joe Codespoti aka Codespo, has
been a musician since the age of 5.

Click to hear Lune Jay vs. Codespo:
On My Mind
Artist: Natural Habitz
Hailing from the backwoods of
Chattanooga Tennessee is Natural
Habitz, a group that embodies the
feeling of classic hip hop, with an
exciting stage presence and explosive
rhymes.

Click to hear Natural Habitz:
Reason To Smile F. Rebekka
Artist: Revolutionary Lion
Revolutionary Lion is the moniker of
Chicago guitarist and songwriter Ted
Schuster. Making music since he was
fourteen, Long After The Dark is this
project's first album.

Click to hear Revolutionary Lion:
Gold Coast
Artist: Abraxas
ABRAXAS was formed in May 2009
with the intent to play old school Death
Metal. In June/July 2009 a 4 song promo
CD was recorded, and a full length album
is currently in the works which promises
to be even more
crushing!

Click to hear Abraxas:
Eternally Erased

Next Year On jango Airplay

We take our holidays seriously here at Jango, and New Years is no exception. Last week we looked back, so this week we're looking forward...












To another year of bringing you valuable promotion in as many ways as we can dream up! With all the recent developments around things like Targeting and PopScore, Jango Airplay is becoming a better tool every day, and that's the momentum we'd like to maintain into 2010.

We can't let on how quite yet, but we're doing our best to expand the promotional opportunities available into as many arenas as possible (things like the advertising and PopScore sync programs are just the beginning).

December 25, 2009

Twas the Night Before Airplay...

Courtesy of Chris, our CTO -

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the 'Net, there were
bands whose music had not been heard yet!

They all had one wish for Santa this year: have their music play
somewhere that people would hear!

Then out on the web there was posting and tweeting about a place where
new artists and fans were all meeting!

And what to their wondering ears had evolved? The future of internet
radio was solved!

Have your music played to seven million new ears, the process is fast
- you'll be on by new years.

Pick artists that sound like the music you've made, and we'll put them
all together when stations are played.

It's music discovery where everyone wins - you can find great new
music while the Bands get their spins!

And after 50 plays you'll get a PopScore, which can give you free
plays, sync deals and more.

Target plays to just people who like you the best, by gender, by age,
in Boston or Budapest.

It's called Jango Airplay, and we hope it spreads cheer, sharing more
new songs with the world next year!

December 21, 2009

Happy Holidays From Jango Airplay!


It's been a big year for Jango Airplay. Since launching in March, we've added dozens of features, sent hundreds of emails, and played thousands of songs to millions of people...

But none of that would have happened without you.

Without the support of our bands and your listeners, Jango Airplay doesn't work.

So thank you! We hope you continue to find the service useful and rewarding.

December 18, 2009

Christmas Comes Early - Bonus Play Credits

Today, we awarded the first round of bonus Play Credits to bands based on their Jango PopScore. This week we've awarded 125,000 credits (a $5,000) value to airplay bands. Login to airplay.jango.com to see your PopScore for the week.

Every band or artist with a PopScore for the week over 80 received bonus Play Credits. Don't worry - we'll be doing this every week and as long as you have 50 paid plays for at least one song, you will be in the running.

The top five bands each week receive 5,000 bonus Play Credits to use as they wish... here are the five top scoring bands for this week:

Jocelyn Scofield

Young X

The Vandon Arms

Ryan Holley

Jill Andrews

Friday Afternoon Club - Staff Favorites

It's Friday again and this week we're rocking out to a new favorite Airplay Artist...



It's just too bad that there's only one song on their page because we want to hear more !!!

Check their Jango profile HERE

December 17, 2009

Make It As Effective As Possible



We came into the office today and found a great article had been published on Musformation.com titled 'How To Put Your Music On Jango And Make It As Effective As Possible.' We love it when people write these articles as they often explain things about Jango Airplay better than we can, and this is certainly the case here. Thanks Jesse Cannon for the insights...Read the whole article HERE

Connect With Soundcloud

You may have noticed a new button in your songs tab that says 'Connect With SoundCloud'. A new partner of Jango Airplay, SoundCloud is a platform for hosting and delivering your music in and around the web. If you have an account you can sync your music straight from SoundCloud to your Jango Airplay account. If you don't have a SoundCloud account it's time to get one...it's FREE and you get it at SoundCloud.com

December 16, 2009

More Info On PopScore

Currently in beta testing, Jango PopScore is a rating based on the popularity of your songs among Jango's 7 Million listeners. The better people respond to your music, the higher your PopScore.

Every week you can earn free Play Credits based on this score, and the higher it is, the more free credits you get. About $5,000 worth of airplay will be given away each week!


How it works: Your Jango PopScore is based on weekly plays (Monday to Sunday). We publish the scores and credit the winners every Monday. Only Paid Plays count towards the Jango PopScore, and only songs that received at least 50 paid plays are eligible.

Premium Targeting


Top scoring bands will not only receive free Play Credits, but also promotion on Jango.com and our partner sites (in the form of charts, newsletter placement and more). In addition, top bands will be selected for sync licensing opportunities.

Featured Artists

Arist: Neverest Songs
Neverest Songs is the work of Luke
Twyman, an English musician and
songwriter based in Margate UK. The
first album "Small Voyages" is due for
release December 9th.

Click to hear Neverest Songs:
Maria's Clockwork Spirit
Arist: Kev Da Khemist
A producer, engineer & artist, Kev has
been making hip-hop going on five years,
lately with up-and-comers Hood Surgeon,
Young and Paypa.

Click to hear Kev Da Khemist:
It's A New Dawn
Arist: Rod Dowsett
Hailing from Australia, Rod Dowsett makes
"fine, hand-crafted Australian alternative
country music with nothing to hide." His
material is powerfully visual, and very
well-delivered.

Click to hear Rod Dowsett:
Hands On Deck

December 10, 2009

Jango PopScore





Every week your band can earn free Play Credits based on your Jango PopScore. The higher your PopScore, the more free credits you get. We will give away about $5,000 worth of airplay weekly.

Top scoring bands will not only receive free Play Credits, but also receive promotion on Jango.com and our partner sites (in the form of charts, newsletter inclusions and more). In addition - the top bands will be selected for Sync Licensing Opportunities.

Your PopScore is based on the popularity of your songs among Jango's 7 Million listeners. The better the listeners respond to you, the higher your PopScore.

Your Jango PopScore is based on your weekly plays (Monday to Sunday). We publish the scores (and credit the winners) every Monday. Only Paid Plays count towards the Jango PopScore and only songs that received at least 50 paid plays are eligible.

Targeting Success

We want to pause this week and share with you a technique that several artists have reported very good success with: super-targeting plays.

By engaging all the possible criteria available through Premium Targeting, these artists are able to get multiple plays of a song to the same person. Now exposure is great, but familiarity is even better. The first time a person hears a track they like, they may be willing to up-vote and comment, but by the second or third time they start wanting to buy, join a mailing list, etc. And if they don't like it, our system prevents it from being played to them again, so no wasted plays!


So head over to airplay.jango.com, and take a look at the Premium options available to you in the "Targeting" section. The functionality there can help you make your plays as effective as possible.

December 7, 2009

Apple Confirms Purchase of La La

Apple Inc. has purchased online music retailer Lala.com, a Silicon Valley startup that has threatened ''the end of the MP3'' with its fast song-streaming application...Read More - New York Times


December 4, 2009

Friday Afternoon Club - Staff Favorites

Welcome to the 'Friday Afternoon Club' where we share with you which Airplay artists are rockin' Jango HQ as we get ready for the weekend. This week we have great picks from Chris & Mattias, two of our founders.

Chris says - Mooli reminds me of a modern, hipper blend of Joan Armatrading and Shawn Colvin. There's something about the way all three of these artists sing that seems to pack more emotion into a song than most performers. Her track "Not the one" is beautifully simple, focusing on vocals, and leaves me with the impression that it's autobiographical simply because of how much she seems to be feeling as she sings it. In addition to the fact that I love her style of singing, she has a fun, funky way of branding herself with the "Concubine" album cover that I think goes well with her music. Mooli is the whole package!

Check her Jango profile HERE



Mattias says - Caleb Collins has a great voice and somehow manages to comea accross both as contemporaily urban and timlessly classy. Great smooth listening.


Check his Jango profile HERE

And Now...The News


Does Free Music Still Have Value - Hypebot

A free sample track to share has become the price of entry for every new artist as well as many more established acts. But will giving away music free still have value if everyone is doing it?...Read More





The Vinyl Frontier - Why Record Sales Are Soaring Again - The Guardian

Record geeks rarely need a reason to feel smug, but vinyl hoarders worldwide had reassuring news the other week as Nielsen SoundScan released figures predicting that sales of proper, old-fashioned albums will top 2.8m by the end of 2009. This will mean an increase of almost 1m on last year and the highest annual figure for vinyl sales since SoundScan began tracking them in 1991....Read More

December 3, 2009

The Indie Bible - 2010 Edition

The Indie Bible 2010 addition is available now...Get It HERE












ALL genres of music are covered! So check it out now and save yourself months of research.

The Indie Bible is the ONLY resource that is TOTALLY dedicated to Musicians and Songwriters that have recorded a CD or a Demo.

The brand new 11th Edition of the Indie Bible contains:
- 4200 publications to REVIEW your CD!
- 3400 radio stations
- 600 vendors and services to SELL your music!
- 330 sites where you can UPLOAD your MP3 files!
- 500 resources where you can PROMOTE!
- 52 articles that will help your career!

GET IT NOW !!!

There's also the 'Indie Venue Bible' which is an electronic publication with 32,000 venues and 3500 agents ready to book your band now...get it HERE.

A Whole New Look
















Yes, the rumors are true, it's a whole new look on the Jango Airplay Dashboard! No more looking around for, well, anything at all.

Now, as soon as you log in to Airplay Home you're immediately greated by a wealth of neatly-organized information including your account status, allocated & available play credits, targeting settings, weekly activity including plays, fans, messages & comments, and all the latest headlines from the Jango Airplay blog. If that isn't service, then I don't know what is.

Hopefully consolidating all this information in one place will make it that much easier for you to effectively manage your Airplay campaign, so check it out for yourself at airplay.jango.com.