The release of my fifth solo album, Season – my most personal album to date
Mark Stent · Jul 21, 2022
Category: Music
Today is my birthday. It is also the launch of my fifth solo album, Season. A very emotional album for me and one that I am most proud of. I approached its creation differently from the others. It’s been an iterative process, refining, shaping and coming to life over months of work. I am in […]
Read MoreBig data and the music industry
Mark Stent · Jan 14, 2022
Category: Music
For a long time, the music industry suffered from the internet boom, failing to keep up with the fast pace of technology growth. As a result, musicians and labels sustained damage due to piracy and a decline in physical record sales. Then streaming came along, allowing music consumers to legally and cheaply listen to music. […]
Read MoreDance music, DJ’s and the pandemic – the good, the bad and the bankrupt
Mark Stent · Mar 29, 2021
It’s December 2019, the busiest month on the gig calendar for many South African and international artists. It’s a time of ‘stocking up’ on gigs and making money for the quieter parts of the coming year. Catching flights, late nights, little sleep and a growing bank balance is the standard outlook for active circuit DJ’s […]
Read MoreThe new ‘crate-digging’: how Spotify uses artificial intelligence to find you new music
Mark Stent · Feb 19, 2021
Category: Music Industry
One of the best parts of being a DJ in the vinyl era was ‘crate-digging’ – the act of searching through ‘crates’ of records to find new music. It was fun and exciting. I would go to my favourite record shop and spend a morning listening and sifting through hundreds of tracks to find the […]
Read MoreSocial Media, Data and the new music industry.
Mark Stent · Feb 12, 2021
Category: Music Industry
think it’s safe to say that most artists know and understand that the music landscape has ,and is, changing at an exponential rate. In the past music was made according to the likes and creativity of a said artist, it was picked up by a label, the label released it in the hope…
Read MoreThe evolution of music
Mark Stent · Feb 05, 2021
Category: Music Industry
I remember buying my first vinyl record so many years ago. I remember the tactile feeling of holding that record, going into my favourite record shop, playing the record on the shop’s turntables and being proud of my selection.
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