If you enjoyed listening to rap music then there will come a time when you think “I wonder how difficult it is to produce your own music?”, maybe you have already thought about it?

Well a lot of people get to this stage and start looking up some information on how to do this.

Then you start to find that it can cost quite a lot for the equipment that you will need, on top of that there’s a lot more than what you think goes into the sampling and the recording of the beats that you hear.

So you’ll probably have to do some swatting up on music production as well!

A lot of us are not in a position to start forking out for a fully functional recording studio, so if this sounds where you are at the moment I have some good news for you.

There’s a software package that has been released called Dub Turbo and basically it is the first online DAW which stands for digital audio WorkStation.

So in essence it is like having a complete recording studio on your computer.

Is packed with thousands of beats that you can use, and contains everything that a real recording studio does!

You have drum kits, keyboard, samplers, sequencers and loads more...

It is also been made and designed for the complete beginner so no matter what level you are you can get up and running with Dub Turbo in under 1 hour!

You can even burn your new music on to CD and take it with you to impress friends or listen to in the car!

See how easy is to make hip hop music >>

in this article will tell you how you can quickly and easily get started making some beats on your computer. If you have done any research on how to make rap and hip hop beats you will see that although there is the odd forum with a few bits of advice, there is not really a step by step guide for the newbie to get started.

This is because mostly to make the sort of beats that you hear in your favorite tunes you would need a recording studio to get the same king of quality.

This is where you can run into problems, of course if you have the money and the time to learn all about music production then it could be the start of your new favorite hobby, however sadly alot of us are not in that position.

Which leads us to the question: “How can I get started making rap beats fast?”

Well you may be in luck as there is a new software package that is taking the web by storm!

It is called Dub Turbo and the reason that it is proving so popular is because it gives you a complete solution to start making your own beats from home with ease!

If you think of other products on the market for instance you have Cubase, Fruity Loops which are good desktop music studios they will cost you an arm and a leg and you need to know about music production to even get a tune out of them!

Dub Turbo is the first DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) that sites on your desktop and gives you all the functionality of a real recording studio!

You can also make any sort of music that you want!

You can make rap or hip hop, dance music, R&B, drum and bass the possibilities are endless!

Make your first studio quality beat in just 10 minutes >>

If you are interested in making your own music online then you can do is search about and you’ll find a lot of information on how to make rap beats. The problem comes when you realize that to do this and make some good sounding beats you will need a lot of expensive equipment such as a recording studio.

Also the knowledge that you need to be able to produce music can be extensive, and it can leave your head spinning!

Well I have some good news for you!

If you are looking to get started making rap beats there is the perfect solution for beginners and professionals alike.

It is a software package called Dub Turbo and basically this is the equivalent of a DAW (digital audio WorkStation) on your computer.

It has everything you need to start producing your own rap music, hip hop beats and the best thing is that you can create any different style that you want. You can even go further and start creating dance music if you wish.

You will be able to pick from thousands of different samples and put them together, and even add embellishments into the music such as special affects –fade outs, reverb etc...

It even has a fully functional keyboard in the program so you can make an awesome piano backing track as well.

Probably the best thing about Dub Turbo is that it allows the complete beginner to start producing some very cool sounding rap music, or come to think of it any music that you want!

The software package is also fully updated with new beats to pick from every month so your musical creations will never sound stale!

After you’ve made your masterpiece you can even burn it on to CD and take you with you to show to friends, or listen in the car!

Check out Dub Turbo and start making awesome sounding music today >>

For someone who is interested in electronic music and urban beats you’ve probably looked into making your own music online.

If you have a look around you can actually see the a few different flash games and programs that are fun enough to play, a bit like DJ Hero, although when you get down to it you will not be making any real music with these sorts of games.

The truth is that to make good quality music online you will need a proper recording studio, some good samples and also quite a bit of knowledge about music production.

You may also find that you need some expensive equipment as well if you want to do this properly!

Well all of us are not in the position to do this, so if that sounds like you read on, and I will tell you how you can get started making music online.

Of course you can do this using the method above if you have the time and money, but a far simpler solution is to use a program like Dub Turbo.

Dub Turbo is a complete online Digital Audio Workstation and you can use it to create pretty much any sort of urban or electronic beat.

It has thousands of beats to choose from and also you can use the software to put your music together as well.

The best thing about the software is that it enables a beginner to get up and running fast and start learning how to make their own beats, then once you have learnt the basics you can move on and start making some more complex music!

If you ever wanted to make your own tunes then this is the time!

Check out Dub Turbo and learn how to make your own tunes today >>

Artists Join Music Industry's DC Fly-In to Advocate for Music Education

CARLSBAD, Calif., March 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 19 and 20, artists Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bernie Williams, former NY Yankee and Latin Grammy-nominated jazz guitarist join leaders of the music instrument and products industry in Washington, D.C. to lobby Congress on the importance of comprehensive music education in our nation's schools.

The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) organizes the annual Advocacy Fly-In on behalf of school music education programs in public schools, to promote the benefits that playing music can have for children and teens, and to assure that federal education policy and funding advance access to music learning for all children.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130306/LA71913)

Smith, long known for his music-education advocacy efforts adds his voice to NAMM's Advocacy Fly-In and efforts to support music in America's schools. "I am a perfect example of someone who's been musically educated exclusively throughout grade school, middle school and high school by the public school system," the GRAMMY-winning drummer said. "If there hadn't been a music program in my public schools, I would not be where I am today. Every kid – and I mean everyone – needs a chance to learn and grow with music." Smith also works with the Percussion Marketing Council's (PMC) "Percussion In The Schools" program, The Boys Club of Milwaukee, The Collective School of Music, Harlem NYC Jazz, Fender Music Foundation, Little Kids Rock and as an ambassador for Music Drives Us.

Pressure on funding for school music programs continue as many districts struggle with budgets and regulations that force schools to narrow their scholastic offerings at the expense of important core academic subjects, music and arts education.

The issue of music education in schools is also close to the heart of longtime music-education advocate and gifted jazz guitarist Williams, who attended previous NAMM Advocacy Fly-in and has taken up the cause as a national advocate for music education. "As a student, music was available to me in my public school in Puerto Rico. It fostered discipline in me, and the ability to perform under pressure," he said. "A lot of what music taught me led to my success in other areas - including professional baseball. Music has a profound effect on kids, and education must include music and the arts."

According to a Harris Poll, school principals report higher graduation rates in schools with robust music and art programs than do those without programs (90.2% as compared to 72.9%). In addition, those that rate their programs as "excellent" or "very good" have an even higher graduation rate (90.9%). Schools that have music programs have significantly higher attendance rates than do those without programs (93.3% as compared to 84.9%). 

Nearly 30 NAMM Members, executive committee and industry representatives will join Smith, Williams and NAMM president and CEO Joe Lamond for this year's DC Fly-In March 18-20. "NAMM Members envision a world in which every child has a deep desire to learn music and a recognized right to be taught; and in which every adult is a passionate champion and defender of that right," Lamond said. "Our work in Washington seeks to further that aim."

NAMM's annual Advocacy Fly-In gives NAMM Members the opportunity to advocate to their Members of Congress for policy and funding to support music and arts education. This advocacy effort includes one day of preparation at the Kennedy Center and another day of personal meetings with representatives and other influencers. Sessions are preceded by an issues briefing and training, after which NAMM Members hit the halls of the U.S. Capitol and Congressional office buildings to lobby their representatives about the importance of music education and needed changes to assure access for music learning. During the trip NAMM Members are also trained on developing state-level advocacy efforts for music and arts education that they can take back to their communities in time for school budget season.

About NAMM
The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) is the not-for-profit association with a mission to strengthen the $16.3 billion music products industry and promote the pleasures and benefits of making music. NAMM's activities and programs are designed to promote music making to people of all ages. NAMM is comprised of approximately 8,500 Member companies located in more than 94 countries. For more information about NAMM or the proven benefits of making music, interested parties can visit www.namm.org, call 800-767-NAMM (6266) or follow the organization on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

NAMM Public Relations Director

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TastemakerX Introduces Collections, Music Fantasy Leagues, New Personal Listening Experience

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - Mar 7, 2013) - TastemakerX, the leading social game for music discovery, today introduced a new user experience that spotlights members' music tastes evolving toward a new 'Collections' motif, and delivers a powerful new listening experience powered by Spotify, Songkick, SoundCloud and YouTube. The platform enables fan-powered music discovery via the first Fantasy Leagues platform for music, which is available for private leagues and as a white-labeled platform for partners. The new TastemakerX experience is available immediately; and TastemakerX will host a special showcase at SXSW in Austin, Texas at Speakeasy on March 11, from 9pm - 2am, featuring Lord Huron, The Joy Formidable, St. Lucia and others.

TastemakerX also announced that it has taken on an additional $1.25M in funding from Baseline, True, Guggenheim, and AOL. The new funding will be used to continue to evolve social music discovery via platform innovation and partnerships.

"With exponentially more music being made today than 30 years ago, music discovery has gotten considerably more difficult despite technology's great advances," said Marc Ruxin, founder and CEO, TastemakerX. "Games inspire people to search harder and accumulate more knowledge, and therefore force discovery in new ways. By enhancing the discovery elements of TastemakerX, along with the playback experience, we're coming out of Beta with a product our users can really dig into and expand their music enjoyment."

The TastemakerX platform evolution includes the following features:

Fan-powered music discovery: Algorithms are efficient, but finding new music based on what your community loves is targeted, and fun. TastemakerX has been rebuilt to empower users to dig into new music based on social recommendations. A brand new 'Collections' motif has replaced the pre-existing stock market metaphor: Let the world know you were a fan since before the beginning, and show off your musical and cultural depth! A new listening experience driven by tight integrations with Spotify, Songkick, SoundCloud and YouTube. Spotify playlists generated by your Collection allow you to stream directly via TastemakerX.

TastemakerX is also introducing, for the first time ever, Fantasy Leagues for Music.

"Fantasy sports have proven to be the only successful long-term gamification of anything, ever," said Ruxin. "People join leagues with friends and strangers, and invest tons of time into knowing everything about anyone in a given sport. The forcing function of having to 'make moves' and make trades keeps players sharp and active. TastemakerX is delivering a new experience to compel music fans to be similarly proactive about the music they listen to and the artists they keep up on, not just around the occasional new music itch to scratch. We see this as a game changer for discovery."

For more information and to start using TastemakerX today, please visit www.tastemakerx.com.

About TastemakerX
TastemakerX is a social gaming platform for music fans. The game encourages players to discover new artists, trends and inspiration; listen to playlists of their Collections via Spotify, Songkick, SoundCloud and YouTube; compete in Fantasy Leagues against other tastemakers; and share experiences through geo-tagging, commentary and photo sharing.

TastemakerX was founded in 2011 by Marc Ruxin and Sandro Pugliese and is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. Investors include Guggenheim Partners, Baseline Ventures, True Ventures, AOL Ventures, Tekton Ventures. Angel investors and advisors include John Battelle, Marc Geiger, Andrew Anker, Mich Mathews, Michael Kassan, Ian Rogers, Paul Bricault, Ted Rheingold and Mike Lazerow.

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Apple and Google's huge streaming music gamble

With new streaming music services, Apple and Google would be entering a very saturated industry.

Fortune reported this week that Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) is planning a YouTube subscription music service. Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) is also reportedly negotiating terms with music labels to add a streaming option to iTunes.

But their would-be competitors already make up an extremely long list: Pandora (P), Spotify, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, Rdio, Mog, Muve and Daisy are just a small sampling.

"The world does not need dozens of streaming services," says Russ Crupnick, a streaming media analyst at NPD. "There will be tremendous challenges to get some elbow room in the marketplace."

Apple and Google could be well positioned to gain success in streaming music because of the companies' sheer size and brand recognition.

But merely being a household name may not be enough. MySpace has fallen from grace, and Microsoft's (MSFT, Fortune 500) Xbox Music debuted in the fall to mixed reviews. Napster couldn't survive its post-piracy life and sold to rival Rhapsody in December 2011.

The big advantage Apple and Google have is the synergy with device businesses. Both could promote their streaming services as pre-loaded apps on iPhones, iPads, iPods or Android devices.

Still, smaller companies like Pandora and Spotify have already carved out their own impressive subscriber figures. Pandora is the third highest-grossing app in Apple's iTunes App Store, driving significant in-app sales of music and premium services.

Crupnick thinks Apple and Google have a shot at success, but the window of opportunity is closing fast: There will ultimately be between three and five successful streaming services, he says, "and it will be hard to name No. 6, 8, 10, or 25."

Who makes it to that top-five list could depend on which companies can differentiate their services from the crowd.

"The ones who have carved out a niche have done well for themselves," said Paul Resnikoff, the founder and publisher of the trade publication Digital Music News. "The jack of all trades approach usually isn't the best."

For example, Leap Wireless' (LEAP) Muve Music service, available on all Cricket phones, now has 1.4 million subscribers. Leap says Muve is the largest subscription music service in the United States. Pandora, which had nearly 66 million listeners in January, doesn't break out numbers for paid subscribers.

"[Muve is] an amazing grab on a very mobile focused, lower-income marketplace that no one else has tapped," Resnikoff said.

Related story: How Billboard saved the music video

Yet mainstream brands like Google and Apple are unlikely to settle for a niche audience. Marketing relevant music, events and advertisements to users could be a massively successful enterprise -- particularly for Apple and Google, who can easily leverage that information across their various existing services like iTunes and Google's giant advertising business.

Despite the sheer amount of competition in the space, industry experts say the potential revenue opportunity makes the gamble worth a shot for Apple and Google.

"That data is precious," Crupnick said. "If you know what I'm searching for ... you can feed me more ads that are more effective, and inform me about concerts and shows. Anyone who can unlock that could be a screaming success."

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