Aussies making waves in the world of dance music? Nahhhh! Well, then again…
We're often so immersed in the mind-boggling volume of things coming out of the USA these days, we don't take the opportunity to look outside the bubble and see there actually is a LOT going on elsewhere in the world. So much in fact, some of the biggest things making headlines today (for the right reasons) are found more than 10,000 miles away from New York - literally on the other side of the world.
For instance there's Black Caviar - this months world-record winning sprinter at Royal Ascot and undefeated champion in the world of horse racing. And in music circles, take Gotye's 'Somebody That I Used To Know', which is about to tick over a cool 265 million hits on youtube and is one of the best selling digital singles of all time. Take Dirty South, the double grammy award nominated artist fast rising to the top echelon of global house music with back-to-back international hits. And all these things hailing from the land down under, Australia, with a very pocket-sized population of 22 million people; about 7% the size of the USA.
The list of Aussies in dance music goes on - Nervo, Tommy Trash, Sarah Main, Yolanda Be Cool, Sneaky Sound System and TV Rock. Some would claim Carl Kennedy as an Aussie of sorts and of course even Erick Morillo's beautiful new wife comes from the white sands of the land from the deep south. In the world of dance music, the little Aussie army makes its mark and makes it boldly. However, there's something else that sports the Aussie tag, a name you won't see in the Beatport Top 10 or an artist main stage at Ultra or EDC. This brand however is so instrumental in the engine room of dance music, it's sourcing and promoting the very tracks, the DJ champions of the world play week in and week out at these very festivals and clubs worldwide.
Welcome to Musik Lounge! The brainchild of Tim Waugh, formerly Erick Morillo's tour/music manager for 4 years up to 2009. Born and bred in Sydney, Waugh has been tightly integrated in the international dance music community since his days with Morillo. His artist and tour management company works regularly with international artists such as Dirty South and Sneaky Sound System. But it's Musik Lounge, that really has his attention and time these days.
In essence, Musik Lounge is a dance music promotions service. But as you strip back the layers of this new concept launched officially in May 2012 after 2 years of intense development, you realize you're only at the tip of the iceberg. It's a phenomenally designed online interactive platform and it's sitting underneath what we can only describe as the world's most exclusive network of internationally recognized tastemakers. So much in fact, it's hard not to akin it to driving a Ferrari. And here's why. The platform is so simple and fast - it's clear when you log in, you're there for 1 reason and 1 reason only - to preview, feedback and download music. You're not bogged down, getting holed up in all the fuzz. You're in, you get what you need and you're out, loaded of course with a memory stick full of new exclusive tracks.
And then there's the music itself. And this is where that little Aussie comes back into the story. For many years Tim Waugh was the man working behind the scenes on Erick Morillo's music and tours. Downloading, compiling, preparing, filtering up to 500 promos & demos a week for Morillo in the days when today's superstars David Guetta, Avicci and the Sweedes were mere spectators at the now legendary Morillo club nights of the mid 00s such as his (still running) Subliminal Sessions at Pacha Ibiza. It was in this time when Tim developed his ear for sourcing new house music, started building his network of music contacts (the world's most talented emerging producers and global titans of the DJ world) and strategized on how he could pull this all together and package it in one simple, effective concept. And this is how Musik Lounge was born!
To give credit where credit's due, the business has been open a mere 2 months and already boasts 4 tracks it's worked on hitting the top 5 on the overall Beatport charts. That's quite an achievement in the world of music promotions. But little wonder when you have a network as strong as Musik Lounge and a platform capable of delivering the finest quality house music to the earphones of the world's biggest DJs at the speed of sound. The latest track to get the Musik Lounge treatment and hit it big is EDX's - Sunset Miracles, a classic progressive summer-vibe anthem trending large on the Musik Lounge charts well before its official release date. And this is the beauty of Musik Lounge for the 500 invite only members of the service lucky enough to get a taste of what Musik Lounge coin ' tomorrow's musik today'.
And so when we decided to write a piece on Musik Lounge and put their music to the test, we asked for a taste of an upcoming track for House Music TV. And so yet again continuing on our newfound appreciation of anything Aussie we got a sneak peak into Sneaky Sound System's latest track currently being promoted at Musik Lounge and likely to be doing big things internationally in July. It's the Norman Doray remix of Sneaky Sound System's 'Friends'. And here's a preview just for you;
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Musik Lounge have also positioned themselves as 'artist promoters' not just music promoters, and Tim tells us there's some new never-before-done features that Musik Lounge will be offering emerging producers to get themselves in the spotlight in months to come. Anyone can start the submission/approval process to get their music promoted at Musik Lounge at www.musiklounge.net or if you really think you're hitting the big league and want to apply for a membership you can email membership@musiklounge.net with all your details.
www.musiklounge.net
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