Iokua Promotions

This post I bring you info on a new show coming to NBC called The Voice. It is based of the show The Voice of Holland. And as they say, "It's all about the Voice and only the best need apply!".

So you may be thinking "Okay another singing competition show, what makes it different than American Idol?". Well with American Idol, viewers have argued that contestants aren't just chosen based on their talent, but their looks too. When in a singing competition, it should be the person's talent that matters most. The Voice has a strategy to assure that only the most talented are chosen, and that they aren't chosen based on their looks, which is sometimes just done subconsciously. This strategy is the Blind Auditions. During these auditions the judges won't be able to see what the contestants look like, so they aren't distracted or influenced by appearance. After these auditions, the selected contestants then will be mentored by the judges, who are industry professionals, to help further their voices and get closer to winning the grand prize of a recording contract.

Open auditions are starting next Friday and they kick off in Chicago, IL. They will continue all over the nation. See locations and dates below:

• Chicago, IL - January 14, 2011
  Superior St - 2744 W. Superior St., Chicago, IL 60612 
• New York, NY - January 15, 2011
  S.I.R. Studios - 520 W 25th St. (b/n 11th & 12th Ave), New York, NY 10001 
• Miami, FL - January 21, 2011
  S.I.R. Studios - 12200 NE 14th Ave., No. Miami, FL 33161 
• Nashville, TN - January 22, 2011
  S.I.R. Studios - 1101 Cherry Ave., Nashville, TN 37203 
• Minneapolis, MN - January 28, 2011
  Taylor Sound - 2921 N. 2nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55411 
• Austin, TX - January 29, 2011
  Music Lab - 500 E Saint Elmo Rd., Austin, TX 78745 
• Los Angeles, CA - February 4, 2011
  CenterStaging - 3350 Winona Ave, Burbank, CA 91504 
• Seattle, WA - February 11, 2011
  S.I.R. Studios - 3631 Interlake Ave North, Seattle, WA 98103

If you cannot make it to any of the locations for the auditions, contact them. Don't quote me on this, but I believe I read somewhere that they may be making other arrangements for those that can't make it to these. I don't know what these other arrangements may be but I think it would be great if they held YouTube auditions, like America's Got Talent has done in the past. It doesn't hurt to email them and find out!

I see a great amount of potential in this show, especially since American Idol seems to be dieing out, with all the judge changes. I recommend that all of you YouTube artists (min age 18) try out for this when it is near you! For more info and to register, go to: NBC's The Voice. To end, here is the new promo for The Voice:




Thanks for reading! Please don't forget to follow Iokua Promos on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. Retweet and tell your friends!

First post of the new year! Meant for it to be sooner, but things have been a little hectic, but here you go!

If you are as passionate/obsessed with YouTube artists as I am then there is no way that you haven't heard of Tyler Ward. But for those of you that haven't heard of him, I consider him to be the "top dog" of YouTube artists. So who is this Tyler Ward????

Tyler Ward is a singer/songwriter from Colorado. The thing is, he originally was pursuing football. He soon realized in college that his calling was music. He often skipped classes and football practices so he could finish writing his songs. He first realized that he wanted to become a national recording artist when he opened for The Fray, Jonas Brothers, Gavin Degraw, Augustana, and Ryan Cabrera. His talent in songwriting and singing has even attracted some major label professionals.


YouTube

Tyler Ward's presence on YouTube is phenomenal. He has around 340,000 subscribers and 85 million total upload views. That is an incredible feat for a YouTube musician. Recently he has discovered that he has a large following in Germany and in recent videos has done some shout outs to his German fans.

Most of his YouTube videos consist of him doing covers of popular mainstream songs, but he does have originals that he posts pretty often. He has good control over his voice and it is very marketable. I haven't found one song of his yet that I do not like. Labels would be stupid not to sign him.

What I admire about him the most is his ability to work with and help fellow artists. He held the Tyler Ward's USA Live Lounge contest that allowed other YouTube artists to compete to win the prize of flying to Colorado and recording with him. Kaitlyn Rosenblum won that contest (You can read my post about her here). Tyler constantly does collaborations with other artists, and he is rarely seen doing a video by himself. He often collaborates with artists from other channels, but he is most of the time seen with his "crew".

The Crew



Julia is often thought of to be Tyler's girlfriend, and as much as the fans want it to be true, they are NOT together. But they do have magnificent chemistry together when performing. On her own, Julia has a powerful voice and makes every cover she sings her own. She also is very talented at songwriting. The originals that she has released have been mostly about relationships and they are written in a way that just about everyone can relate to. This is one of my favorites of hers, an original called "Far Away" ft Kevin Littlefield






Eppic is the rapper of the crew. In the covers he doesn't just rap the same thing as the original, but he often makes his own that fits perfectly into the song. He is passionate and serious about what he does, and he is great at it. Here he is performing his original song "Doubt" ft Julia Sheer.




Julia and Eppic are the two main people in Tyler Ward's "crew" but often other talented artists will join him to create many masterpieces. Their videos are well produced and each cover song has its own Tyler Ward and Crew twist to it, and in every video they make it fun, you can't help but smile. I know that Tyler Ward and all the artists that are a part of his crew have the talent to make it big and I hope the best for them. To end it, here is a fun one of theirs which is a cover of Far East Movement's "Like A G6"








Dont forget to subscribe to each of their channels!

www.youtube.com/user/TylerWardMusic
www.youtube.com/user/JuliaSheer
www.youtube.com/user/EppicTV


Also please become a fan of the Iokua Promotions Facebook Page! And follow on Twitter! Thanks for reading!

Through my courses in school I found out about the site BandMix.com. It is a great way for artists to find band members, musicians to find bands to play with, and other music industry resources. It is the largest and highest rated musicians classifieds on the internet.

What's so good?

The one thing that stands out the most is the detailed search options. Of course there is the normal criteria for searches such as state/zip code, but you can refine your search much more. You are able to narrow down the search to the specific instrument. For example, if you play a certain instrument, you can find a band that is looking for someone who plays it. Same goes if you are band, you can search for people who play the instrument you are looking for. Also, you can narrow it down by the genre, which is very helpful when searching for musicians because everyone plays different genres. Not only can you search for bands/musicians but you can search for other people in the industry that you might need. Such as photographers, songwriters, managers, lighting experts, and much more.

Another great thing about BandMix are the articles that can help any artist. Such as articles about writing up a press release and other tips for things like promotion, finding the right studio, and how to watch out for scams.

If you are an individual musician, or a band, this site is one of the best ways for you to get connected with other musicians and industry professionals. If you need more to convince you to use the site, just check out the testimonials.


Thanks for reading! Please be a fan of the Iokua Promos Facebook Page and follow on Twitter. Thank you!

For the past week or so I have been listening to Kaitlyn Rosenblum's music non-stop and have constantly been sharing her videos, so it only seemed appropriate that I do my first featured artist post about her.

I found out about Kaitlyn Rosenblum through Tyler Ward's USA Live Lounge contest, in which she was the winner. After beating out many other talented YouTube artists, Kaitlyn proved that she has the talent to win. What did she win? She was able to fly to Colorado and perform two covers with fellow YouTube artist Tyler Ward (He will be my next featured artist). The two covers that they did were "Empire State of Mind" (Alicia Keys) and "Jar of Hearts" (Christina Perry). I bought both of these covers on ITunes and it was worth every penny. Kaitlyn has a smooth, beautiful voice, and has amazing control. The video for the "Jar of Hearts" cover was just released today, and the first word that comes to mind is beautiful. She sings with so much passion and I can feel every word that she sings. Her voice just pulls you in wanting more. The video for it helps even more to feel connected to her singing. I have a lot of respect for her because it is not easy to pull in the audience through songs that aren't your own, but Kaitlyn makes each song her own which is amazing. Here is the video for "Jar of Hearts":




It was Kaitlyn's cover of Katy Perry's "Firework" that really got my attention. To tell you the truth, I didn't listen to Katy Perry's version until after I heard Kaitlyn's cover. Kaitlyn's cover of "Firework" is far better than Katy Perry's. I hate comparing cover songs to the originals because often they are both different but great in their own way. But I think if Kaitlyn's cover was put to Katy Perry's music video for "Firework", then the message would get across even better. There is something unique and magnificent about Kaitlyn's voice. It is soothing and pure. I felt every word she sang, but once she hit the chorus I was almost in tears, it was so powerful. I can honestly say that this was one of the most beautiful covers of any song that I have ever heard. Listen to the cover:




I look forward to hearing more from Kaitlyn and I hope her the best in her singing career, I know her voice will take her very far. Please subscribe to her YouTube and don't forget to buy her music on ITunes!

http://www.youtube.com/user/KaitlynAnnnn

I have been aware of Kickstarter for a while now, but it was recently brought to my attention again through my Talent Management class. Kickstarter is one of the best ways for artists to get funding for their projects.

How it works

You can start a Kickstarter project to fund just about anything for you as an artist. Such as, a debut album. You set a goal amount that you feel is how much you need for funding. Your fans are your funding. They are called "backers" and you can set amounts with prizes as incentives. For example, for donating $10, the backer will get a digital copy of your album when it comes out. Theses incentives can be whatever you want and can range at any price.

Tips for starting a project

• Start a project: It can be anything you want, as long as it is reasonable and pertains to you as an artist. For example, musicians usually have a project for their debut/next album or even funding for touring.
• Setting a time frame: Usually the time is for 30 days. It can go as long as 90 days, but since todays culture is on impulse, people do things right at the moment. So extending your project for longer does not mean you will make more money.
• Setting your goal amount: Do your research. Research the costs to fund your project. It does not have to be exact, but your best estimate. Do not just throw any number out there. Keep in mind that Kickstarter does take a small percentage of your goal amount.
• Backer incentives: Get creative. Of course you want to include general things such as, a copy of the album. But you will get higher backers if you create an incentive that allows the fans to better connect with you as an artist.

This all sounds great, so whats the catch?

The only con about Kickstarter is that you have to meet the goal amount you set within the time period, or you don't get any of it. It is all or nothing.  Of course if you go over your goal amount, you get all of it, but if you go under, you don't get a penny. Don't worry, anyone who did back you doesn't pay a thing unless the project is successful and reaches its goal. Kickstarter does this because if you know your project is a $5,000 project but you only get $2,000, you fans that did back you wouldn't really want anything less than a $5,000 project.

An example project that has done well is AJ Rafael's First Full-Length Album

Kickstarter is a great opportunity for funding for new artists and can really help new starving artists, but be smart when putting the project together. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about Kickstarter, as I have used it previously.

***Post transferred from Tumblr blog

 
Normally I choose what I write about but this time Rachel Wong asked me to write a review of her album Curtain Fall and I am happy to do it.

When I first listened to Curtain Fall, I could imagine just relaxing around a campfire listening to the songs, and maybe even people singing along. All the songs have that catchy acoustic theme that everyone loves. There is no doubt that you will relate to just about every one of the songs just because they are about everyday life experiences. Rachel draws influences from artists John Mayer, Sara Bareilles, and others like them. You can definitely hear that when you listen to this album. If I was to pick a favorite song I would say it would be “Disease”. It is about how love is a welcomed disease and it is an interesting way to look at love. Back in Bellevue, WA I heard Rachel perform this song live and it is great to hear it again.

Rachel Wong is a very talented singer/songwriter. I look forward to hearing more music from her. Anyone reading this review should go and buy her album NOW!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/curtain-fall/id403804523

I dedicated this past Friday night to a concert at The Chicago Theatre. The artists consisted of Lifehouse, Kris Allen, and Alyssa Bernal.

First up, YouTube sensation Alyssa Bernal. This was my second time seeing her perform, the last time was over the summer at Newport High School in Bellevue, WA. The setting was completely different because there were only about 50 people people but here in Chicago there were thousands. If you want to see my review of that performance you can click on this link. This was her first time in Chicago and her first national tour and she definitely held her own on stage. She performed tracks that are from her upcoming album. The tracks varied from the slow and heart felt songs to funky songs that make you want to dance. She has an amazing voice and great stage presence. Chances are that the majority of the audience did not know who she was but there is no doubt that she has gained many more fans from this performance. If I had to compare her performance in Bellevue to her performance in Chicago, I would say they were both amazing in their own ways. In Bellevue, it was more of an intimate setting so everyone felt more a greater connection with her. In Chicago, it was less intimate but it was great seeing her on the big stage and rocking it. It shows that no matter how big or small the stage is, she always gives an amazing performance. I look forward to watching her music career progress.

Next up, Kris Allen. Kris won over the crowd with his passionate and energetic songs. What makes him so great us that he involves the crowd in his performance. Everyone had multiple opportunities to sing parts of the songs with Kris, and for the final song Kris walked into the audience and performed the song from there which makes the audience feel even more connected with him. There is no doubt that Kris Allen is a born performer.

Now for the main act, Lifehouse. Lifehouse rocked the stage with both old and new hits. The crowd, including myself, loved every minute of their performance. Just about every song was memorized by the audience and that proves they have very passionate fans. What blew me away was when they performed their classic hit "You and Me". The band and the entire crowd sung it loud and proud, like the lyrics were imprinted into their souls, it was truly amazing. What really impressed me was the lead singer got on stage by himself with his acoustic guitar and spent about 10 minutes and just took requests of which songs he should sing little snippets of. I was not a huge fan of Lifehouse before this show, but now I want to listen to their music over and over.