Sometimes we need just a little motivation, whether its whilst on a summer morning run that we want to push that little bit harder to that essay that you are making no headway with.

This music had helped the no number of different people, from basketball playing werewolves to heavyweight boxers, from spoilt teen dancers to drug trafficking overlords. A montage is for everyone. Here are some of the best montage videos to come out of the 80’s;

Gonna Fly Now – Bill Conti

Who can forget the Rocky training montage scenes throughout the spectacular career of Rocky Balboa, the videos still bring a tear of emotional ‘you can do anything’ inspiration. The Rocky movies will never be remembered for their spectacular acting or superior scripting, but no one can dispute the heart of the movie.

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What’s this another music review, yes indeed folks they are coming in now aren’t they, you remember the other day I reviewed an album by Pink Floyd Floydhead which was Pink Floyd with an electronica twist, so this week I’m brining you an electronica EP that was brought to my attention whilst reading my Twitter timeline and was mentioned by my good friend @Dave_Radcliffe the 7 track EP in question is Mono by S13.

So I shot by the S13 website to check out the album and boy oh boy, it’s just the kind of music I love, so after paying the £1.50 for the download, yes I know that’s so cheap, I added it to my iTunes and started playing it through my sound system. It sounded even better!

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Cover of The Floydian Propulsion Project

If you’re like me when it comes to music, then there are usually that many albums that you want to get your hands on that on the odd occasion, you let one slip by, you’ve simply not got enough cash to get it or, as this one did with me, you just completely forgot about it.

So the other day, while going through my personal wish list of albums that I wanted to get my hands on, I came across The Floydian Propulsion Project by Pink Floyd Floydhead, an album which had been overlooked and quite frankly it shouldn’t have been.

I’m a big fan of Pink Floyd and have nearly every album, except the compilation ones, so this album, though not by Pink Floyd, was one that I was really looking forward to getting hold of.

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A recent study entitled “The Do Re Mi’s of Everyday Life: The Structure and Personality Correlates of Music Preferences” found that there is a direct correlation between one’s musical preferences and his personality type. They categorized music personalities into four groups – Reflective and Complex, Intense and Rebellious, Upbeat and Conventional, Energetic and Rhythmic. Combining this information with the Myers Briggs Personality Types, which guide career choices based on one’s personality traits, one can correlate musical preference with occupation. So, while you may be considering a nursing degree, criminal justice degree, or it degree, think about what kind of music you like and how that may relate to a possible career path.

Top careers for Reflective and Complex individuals include communications, counseling, and designing. The music that inspires these individuals includes Classical, Jazz, Blues, and Folk:

• Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5
• Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture
• Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik: Allegro
• Don’t Know Why by Norah Jones
• What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
• Feeling Good by Nina Simone
• At Last by Etta James
• Shelter Me by Tab Benoit and Louisiana’s LeRoux,
• Dust Bowl by Joe Bonamassa,
• Mr. Tambourine Man by the Byrds
• Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan
• California Dreamin by the Mamas and the Papas

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Marketing to your fans is essential for your music business and your success totally depends on when and how you do it. How can you send out a newsletter with the upcoming tour dates, a blog post or a new video to create maximum buzz? This part should go smoothly if you are doing a good job at constantly updating your fans with the latest things going on in your band.

Image by bingisser via Flickr

First, Get To Know Your Fans

Make it your no. 1 priority to find out who are the ones that come to your shows, buy your CDs, download your music and visit your website. Those people are your most valuable asset outside of your songs.

Start observing your fans’ lifestyles which will greatly help you make money with your music. This is because when you discover who they are, your fans’ habits will inspire you to find new ways to reach them. To help you do that, here are some questions to ask yourself about your fans:

-        How old are they?

-        What gender is dominant?

-        Do they come from one specific ethnic group or is there a mix?

-        Do they drive to work, or take public transportation, ride bikes, etc?

-        Are they religious people?

-        Where do they shop for clothes?

-        What kind of hobbies/interests do they have?

-        What other music do they listen to?

-        When they travel and how do they do that?

-        Do they do any volunteer work?

-        What websites do they visit regularly?

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Growing up I was never into pop music. While other girls my age were listening to Britney Spears, I was happier rocking out to Metallica. Although I’ve mellowed out in my slightly older age, whenever I look at groups of teenagers clad all in black I remember my own group of friends from high school. Perhaps this is because of a particular clothing choice, which was just as fashionable a decade ago as it is today; the Kurt Cobain t-shirt.

As much as I appreciate the music of Nirvana, I find it concerning that teenage boys and girls look up to the troubled front man as a role model. Yes, Cobain epitomises the attitude of the outsider and is someone that marginalised youngsters can identify with, but my main problem with him is that he was a quitter. Excuse me for being controversial, but I really believe that another member of Nirvana should be the celebrated hero: Dave Grohl.

Imagine if you arrived at work on Monday morning only to find that your office had been reduced to rubble with the CEO inside; the CEO who also happened to be a very close friend of yours. You no longer have a job, and your friend is dead. What do you do?

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Remergence – Wide Open Space

An Album That Sneaks Up On You

I have to admit “Wide Open Space” has a sound that sneaks up on you. Over the past few months I’ve been listening to various tracks of other music by Remergence but never listened to anything from start to finish. Yes, I would listen to songs from start to finish, but when it came to listening to a complete album, I never stuck with just one. Instead I jumped from album selection to album selection listening to a track here and a track there.

When I finally decided to listen to something by Remergence from start to finish, I was not disappointed at all. Now here I am writing a review of “Wide Open Space”. As mentioned in the heading, “Wide Open Space” sneaks up on you. The title cut starts off rather quiet. It almost makes you strain to hear what’s going on. It’s a very effective method of grabbing the listener right out of the gate. However, as you move from track to track, there’s a great build up of sounds. The amazing thing is, the subtle ebb and flow of various sounds actually end up reaching out at times through your speakers grabbing your attention and demanding you listen. In what’s probably best described as a techno-pop sound, “Wide Open Space” is captivating from start to finish.

Find out more by reading the rest of this album review