tag:piccolomusic.co.uk,2005:/blogs/our-new-blog-what-to-expectThe Piccolo Parrot2022-11-09T12:05:05+00:00Sing with Piccolofalsetag:piccolomusic.co.uk,2005:Post/70984942022-11-09T12:05:05+00:002024-02-26T09:39:48+00:00How Rhyme Can Be Incorporated Into Your Bedtime Routine<p>Bedtime routines can often be hard to master. After a busy day for both parent and child, it is important to recognise the time before your child goes to bed as a period in which both you and your child can unwind and connect. </p>
<p>Rhyme and song are a great way to connect and use as a resource to encourage imagination, while unwinding from the day. Whether this be by incorporating it into your bath time routine by getting your child to imagine their bath is as a sail boat while you sing <a contents="“The Big Ship Sails”" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://songwhip.com/piccolo-music/the-big-ship-sails-on-the-ally-ally-oh" target="_blank">“The Big Ship Sails”</a> with them, or during the time they un-wind before bed, where you can sing songs from our <a contents="“Twinkle-Twinkle (Little Star)” " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://songwhip.com/piccolo-music/twinkle-twinkle-little-star-extended-album-extended-album" target="_blank">“Twinkle-Twinkle (Little Star)” </a>extended album, perfect for children of all ages. It is this time that is cherished by many children and parents and allows for connection within the business of everyday life. </p>
<p>We have chosen to take this idea of singing with your child during their bedtime routine a step further. How have we done this? We believe it is important for your child to be able to express themselves both through song and speech but also physicality. While this might seem peculiar in the fact night time routines should encourage an air of calm, and physicality usually being associated with the opposite, we use a method called “Sing and Draw” this does not involve drawing in the usual sense, as we encourage the children (with your permission) to use either you, the parent or a teddy bear of your child’s choice to draw with their finger on yours or the bears back, telling the story of the song they are listening to. </p>
<p>This method is a great way of communication without the use of words and encourages your child to get creative with the ideas of the shapes and actions they are using to represent the different words of the song. The idea was originally developed as <a contents="“Story Massage”" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.storymassage.co.uk/" target="_blank">“Story Massage”</a> but we have taken this further, using rhymes as the inspiration for the stories being told. This method encourages children to listen to the words of the rhyme and understand both the meaning of the song and how they can associate actions with words.</p>Sing with Piccolotag:piccolomusic.co.uk,2005:Post/70896222022-10-28T09:48:02+01:002023-12-10T19:27:55+00:00What’s in a rhyme? How rhymes can be used as both a Creative and Mindfulness tool<p>Life can often be stressful, with everyday worries building, it is important to take a moment to reflect and build connection in times that can often feel uncertain. Ten-minutes spent singing with your child while they bathe or go to sleep can seem like a rather simple task, but it allows you to focus on the sole activity of creating connection with your child. </p>
<p>For me, some of my most cherished moments between my grandmother and I, came from when she would sing to me in the bath as a child. It was no longer a mundane activity, but rather an exploration of play and creativity! The bath would often become a ship, the ducks my crew and myself the Captain, as my Grandmother would sing <a contents="“A Sailor went to sea!”" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://songwhip.com/piccolo-music/the-big-ship-sails-on-the-ally-ally-oh" target="_blank">“A Sailor went to sea!”</a>. It was in these moments my creative development started to flourish, the words of the song allowed for a creative catalyst to erupt within me, using the lyrics from the rhyme as a spring board for ideas. While both me and most likely my Grandmother were unaware of the influence these memories would go on to have on me, it has stuck with me, and allowed for both memories and creativity to flourish, through the motif of rhyme. </p>
<p>At the time, <a contents="mindfulness" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.mindful.org/meditation/mindfulness-getting-started/" target="_blank">mindfulness</a> was a faraway notion, with very little understanding of the term. We can now however, apply these moments with mindfulness in mind. <a contents="Nursery Rhymes" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://piccolomusic.co.uk/our-story" target="_blank">Nursery Rhymes</a> allow for you as the caregiver to have a moment with your child in complete serendipity, with fun and creativity sprinkled through. By singing with your child, you are giving them the opportunity to bring their own understanding to the lyrics, while giving yourself a moment with your child away from the stresses of everyday routine. </p>
<p>Classic nursery rhymes have been bestowed upon us from generation to generation. Often simple in rhythm and verse, these little songs create a world full of imagination for youngsters and stay with us into adulthood. Rhymes can often hold cherished childhood memories and encourage creativity from a young age, they allow for <a contents="expression and articulation " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://pambarnhill.com/nursery-rhyme-benefits/" target="_blank">expression and articulation </a>and can now be used as a mindfulness tool for parents while they sing to their children. </p>
<p>It is important to note how important creativity and imagination are within a child’s early development, especially when it can be created through memories with a loved one. It is now more important than ever to build relationships with those you love through memories and encourage early-stage creativity. The simple action of including singing a nursery rhyme with your child during you every-day routine allow for this. </p>
<p>On a final note, to quote Katherine Catmull, from her 2012 novel <a contents='"Summer and Bird"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Summer-Bird-Katherine-Catmull/dp/0142425052" target="_blank">"Summer and Bird"</a>; "A nursery rhyme shapes your bones and nerves, and it shapes your mind, they are powerful.” and I believe I am testament to this, as nursery rhymes welcomed imagination into my world and has stuck around ever since…</p>Sing with Piccolotag:piccolomusic.co.uk,2005:Post/68288202021-12-03T11:09:10+00:002022-05-30T14:57:38+01:00Children's party games you can play at home this Christmas!<h3> </h3>
<p><strong><span class="font_large">What did you enjoy about parties as a child? </span></strong></p>
<p>I consider myself lucky to have had Birthdays with party games, party food, party rings and jelly! While other class mates invited the whole class to the soft play or bowling parties, I was allowed to choose ten friends to come to my party where we would play games, have party food, laugh (lots!) and be silly in my own house. </p>
<p>Yes, it was tough to choose 10 friends. Yes it was hard to send the invites knowing that they were ‘just’ coming to my house. But actually, really truly, they were great and I have such fond memories of those parties. My mum always pulled the stops out. She made the cake and would organise all the games - some were serious, some competitive and some messy. And when I had children, I experienced all of this from the ‘other side’ as an adult. </p>
<p>There I was in the playground talking to the mums and dads about the next child’s party. They would start at MacDonalds or a local pub chain and then progress -inviting magicians, discos, football parties, bowling parties, princess parties, fire engine parties, limousines, the list is endless. Don’t get me wrong, they were brilliant and I take my hat off to the parents who did organise these and the money they invested each year. But me personally? I found it difficult enough to organise my children’s daily routine let alone anything like that. </p>
<p>But traditional parties with games and party food in the house? As I type, I feel like I’m wrapping myself in a blanket of fun times and special moments that were simple to create and in their manner allowed for improvisation and adaptability, which is an essential tool when dealing with children. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">"I feel like I’m wrapping myself in a blanket of fun times"</span></strong></p>
<p>At these parties you got to play games with your friends and family. Games that you could all take part in whatever your age or ability. Even that annoying little brother or sister or the older sibling who could enjoy taking a lead role in some of the games. And more often than not they were simple, quick, often funny and also with music. </p>
<p>And for a parent, the party games were so easy to arrange and play. I remember other parents looking at me in horror and saying but ‘you have to lead the games’. Children naturally play. Children live in their own little worlds most of the time. Give them an idea and permission to explore, have a go and they are off. </p>
<p><strong><span class="font_large">Run up to Christmas</span></strong></p>
<p>Exciting and fun, but often a lot to do and arrange on top of all of your daily routine. You may feel you don’t have as much time to spend with the children, and it’s possible they can feel this. The busier you become, the more demanding they become. And in addition, their excitement is cranking up as they open advent calendar windows, practise Christmas shows at school, see all the decorations and lights and feel the magic of Christmas in the air. They want the attention you want to give, but you can’t see how you can find the time.</p>
<p>So I say to you, why not try taking five minutes out to play a party game? With a little effort, you are transported back to your own childhood and find yourself laughing and playing with all the family. And that five minutes can trigger your child’s imagination. Afterwards they might disappear and explore their own games and ideas and start to play together. And another time they can share their new games with you. This is the beautiful magic of play. </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><span class="font_large">"Children naturally play"</span></strong></p>
<p>It is true. Parties can require a lot of preparation, buying and cooking food, buying the presents for party bags, deciding on the guest list, sending invitations and following them up, wondering what to wear, the decorations…I could go on… </p>
<p>Impromptu ‘parties’ i.e the games themselves, the spirit of the party, the fun, the music, the laughter, the singing. These can happen whenever and wherever you like. They can require little or no prep. Just some music, from a speaker or your own voice , maybe a few things from around the house, and as little or as much time as you can spare. </p>
<p><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/314f3b70921a4f2be8435f7254ff73d461bf268b/original/tip-pic-for-blog.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>Right then, enough chit chat let’s get down to the games you can play. Here are some simple ideas to get you started: </p>
<p> </p>
<h3>Ideas for Children's Party Games at Home</h3>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font_regular"><strong>MUSICAL CUSHIONS/HATS </strong></span></p>
<p>This is a version of musical chairs without having to move the furniture. Throw cushions or hats on the floor and when the music stops you have to sit on a cushion or put on a hat. Each round take away one of the cushions / hats. </p>
<p>Never played musical chairs? <a contents="Find out how to play!" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.playworks.org/game-library/musical-chairs/">Find out how to play!</a></p>
<p><strong>PASS THE BAG </strong></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/6520df7c370067b96a9cfb9e3653ef7d1168b9b0/original/drum-pic-spoons.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_none" alt="" />This does require a small bag, pillow case or something to put some things in. The game is like pass the parcel without having to do layers of wrapping. When the music stops, you look in the bag. If you have some percussion instruments from the toy-box great. If not here’s some alternatives you could use (basically anything that can make a bit of noise) : </p>
<ul> <li>2 saucepan lids for cymbals </li> <li>A lid or saucepan </li> <li>a wooden spoon for a drum </li> <li>2 wooden spoons rhythm sticks </li> <li>jar of rice/salt/coffee to shake for maracas </li> <li>keys to jangle for bells. </li>
</ul>
<p>Don’t have time to look for these things? Make finding these items part of the game and involve the children by challenging them to find 2 things each that make a noise. </p>
<p>Once you have your items, put them in the bag. Pass the bag around the circle and when the music stops, whoever has the bag, takes out an instrument and stands up to play their instrument while everyone claps. When the music stops, pass the bag again and off you go! </p>
<p>There are many variations to this, one includes putting in objects and when the music stops, the person with the bag has to close their eyes and put their hand in the bag. Ask them to describe what they are feeling and try to guess what it is. </p>
<p><strong>MUSICAL STATUES </strong></p>
<p>Turn on the music and start to dance. When the music stops, you all freeze and count to 10. Nobody needs to be out unless you want to make it competitive. Have someone take turns to do the music. You could also have the first one to move has to do a forfeit (see below for forfeit ideas!). </p>
<p>Looking for good music to play for your game? <a contents="Find it here!" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://songwhip.com/piccolo-music">Find it here!</a></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/afd492991c5327996cd4ebe3470d97cd29ed5576/original/dancing-pic.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_none" alt="" />Variation of Musical statues: </p>
<p>When the music stops, freeze into the shape which relates to the word the leader calls out e.g Square, Circle, Tall, Small, Tiny, Monster, Spiky, Ball, Star, Curvy, Short, Long. Depending on how many people are playing, these shapes could be made on your own or you have to find a partner to make the shape together. </p>
<p><strong>MUSICAL BUMPS </strong></p>
<p>When the music stops sit on the ground. First one down gets to be in charge of the music. Or you can use the forfeits. If you have treats - chocolate buttons/healthy snacks in the house one can be given to the first one to sit down. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>ONLY TWO OF YOU TO PLAY? </strong></p>
<p>You can both play musical statues together, making shapes when the music stops. Dance around the kitchen with your baby and make a shape when the the music stops or tickle/cuddle/kiss/swing/spin round with your baby when the music stops. </p>
<p>Each grab an instrument e.g. pots, pans, kitchen roll tubes as a trumpet and march around the house while playing and singing along to your favourite songs. Whoever is the leader can choose how to move. You could start by marching, then you could shuffle, tiptoe, dance ... </p>
<p>Choose your favourite song and turn it into a clapping game (you can find out clapping games for World Nursery Rhyme Week <a contents="HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://piccolomusic.co.uk/wnrw-21">HERE</a>) Teach your child to clap and pat - pat a cake and off you go! You can clap and pat as you sing, then introduce different actions as you sing. You'll be amazed how quickly those games in the playground come flooding back! </p>
<p><strong>TEN FORFEITS</strong> - a few to get you started! </p>
<ol> <li>Touch your nose with your toe </li> <li>Tap your elbows together </li> <li>Lie on your back and pretend you are riding a bike to be tickled </li> <li>To run upstairs and bring back something of a given shape or colour </li> <li>Pull a funny face </li> <li>Recite the alphabet </li> <li>Sing a song </li> <li>Count backwards from 10 </li> <li>Sing/say something while gargling water</li>
</ol>
<p> </p>
<p>I hope you have lots of laughter and fun playing these games and that they encourage you to adapt them and come up with your own ideas! I'll be back soon with some more Christmas ideas soon and until then... Happy playing!</p>
<p> </p>Sing with Piccolotag:piccolomusic.co.uk,2005:Post/64658452020-10-30T12:52:26+00:002024-02-26T09:39:48+00:00Amazon Music For Artists, The Ultimate guide - find out how your listeners are engaging with your music, how to get on Amazon Prime and how to get your music on Amazon stations and Playlists<h3> </h3>
<h3> </h3>
<h3>Everything you need to know about Amazon Music for Artists, the platform's new features and some tips on how you can get your music onto Amazon Prime as well as official Amazon playlists and stations. </h3>
<p> </p>
<h4><a contents="Claim Your Profile" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://artists.amazonmusic.com/"><span style="color:#e2336d;"><span class="font_large">Claim Your Profile</span></span></a></h4>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/f99a8eacf374f45350c7e60ef0ca37f9daf4019b/original/1.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>First things first, if you haven't already, you need to claim your official artists profile. To do this it's really simple: </p>
<ul> <li>Head over to the Google/<a contents="Apple" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/amazon-music-for-artists/id1475021574">Apple</a> app store and Download the App</li> <li>Follow the instructions and get verified</li> <li>If you distribute music through CD Baby you can integrate it now</li> <li>Submit and await confirmation email</li> <li>You're good to go</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<h4> </h4>
<h4> </h4>
<h4> </h4>
<h4><span style="color:#e2336d;"><span class="font_large">Amazon's Tiers - What does this mean for your Music streams?</span></span></h4>
<p><a contents="Amazon Music" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://music.amazon.co.uk/home" target="_blank">Amazon Music</a> has 3 music tiers: </p>
<p><strong>Amazon Free </strong>and <strong>Amazon Prime</strong> music are currently the most popular tiers. Both tiers include a pick of around 2 million hand-curated songs, the free version containing ads and not requiring a subscription, while Prime coming with an Amazon Prime subscription. </p>
<p><strong>Amazon Music Unlimited</strong> is Amazon's premium music subscription, with over 50 million songs, no ads, unlimited skips and there's also an option for the listener to upgrade to HD for higher quality audio.</p>
<p>With Amazon Music Free and Prime containing a catalogue of the 2 million most listened to songs on the Amazon platforms, this is where you want to be trying to get your releases onto. However, streams on Amazon Unlimited fetch higher payout per stream so it's important to consider the pros and cons. </p>
<p>For example, if a listener without an Amazon Music Unlimited subscription asked Alexa to play your song and your music was placed only on the premium tier (50 million songs) then Alexa won't be be able to play your song. </p>
<p>By getting your music added to Amazon Prime, your listeners are guaranteed to hear your music, and even better if they are listening from a premium account, you can expect a higher payout per stream... </p>
<p>Read on to find out how you can get your music added to Amazon Prime Music further down. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<h4><span style="color:#e2336d;"><span class="font_large">The App.</span></span></h4>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/f282e47a102807c8e32208cc1d04be3bf5a545fb/original/3.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_right border_" /></p>
<p>The interface of <a contents="Amazon Music for Artists" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://artists.amazonmusic.com/" target="_blank">Amazon Music for Artists</a> is broken down into five areas: </p>
<ul> <li><strong>Overview</strong></li> <li><strong>Songs</strong></li> <li><strong>Fans</strong></li> <li><strong>Voice</strong></li> <li><strong>Programming</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>All of these areas help to analyse your music's performance and help to tell you different things about how your music is being interacted with. </p>
<p>I'm going to quickly run through what each of them are and how they can help you learn more about the engagement with your music. </p>
<p> </p>
<h4> </h4>
<h4> </h4>
<h4> </h4>
<h4><span style="color:#e2336d;"><span class="font_large">Overview</span></span></h4>
<h4><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/c80e1d26b651ef315b6e28ae6d6caab55c7ce3b8/original/4.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_" /></h4>
<p>The <strong>overview</strong> is like the home page of the app. </p>
<p>It gives you a general view of how your music is performing on a whole in terms of: </p>
<ul> <li>Total Streams</li> <li>Total Listeners</li> <li>Album performance </li> <li>Ratios </li>
</ul>
<p>You can also choose the timescale of how you view these factors. For example, over the last 24 hours, the last 7 days or custom dates. </p>
<p>This means you can measure growth over specific periods of time, which you can correlate with activities you have been doing such as marketing campaigns and performances, to gain an understanding of how you are driving your streams. </p>
<p>When I say ratios I mean the source of where the streams are being placed on the Amazon Music platform, whether it be: Stations, Playlists, User Libraries and playlists or Search and Browse. These are displayed as a percentage. </p>
<p> </p>
<h4> </h4>
<h4>
<span style="color:#e2336d;"><span class="font_large">Songs</span></span><br><span style="color:#75cee3;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/a9fda0d5999e84e74f3da50add22fdee802b9105/original/5.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_right border_" /></span></span>
</h4>
<p> </p>
<p>This part of the app allows you to analyse in more detail the analytics of individual tracks. </p>
<p>You can scroll through your full released catalogue's performance and even see your very own top charts. By tapping on a song you are able to see its total streams and listeners for your chosen period, as well as any Amazon playlists and Stations that they are placed on (more on them soon...). </p>
<p>Again you are able to gain an insight of how listeners are interacting with your music through the ratios I just mentioned, but this time more specifically, for each individual track. </p>
<p>It's important to focus on trying to grow a strong percentage of user generated and search related source of streams as these are streams from listeners finding you as an artist organically. These are your 'best' type of streams as they are coming from listeners who are finding you directly - meaning your music promotion and music marketing is working. </p>
<p>Obviously, it's great to get lots of streams from Playlists and Stations, but remember these sources of streams are great while they are flying, but they can always dwindle fast! </p>
<p> </p>
<h4> </h4>
<h4><span style="color:#e2336d;"><span class="font_large">Fans </span></span></h4>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/b2009769c70286051cabcd02f20c24eb936c5a1e/original/7.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_left border_" />In Amazon Music an artist has two types of more highly engaged listeners: </p>
<ul> <li>
<strong>Fans</strong> </li> <li><strong>Superfans</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Fans</strong> are followers who are actively returning to your Amazon Music Profile within the month, listening to your music, adding you to their libraries and playlists. </p>
<p><strong>Superfans</strong> absolutely LOVE you. They are a small group of super passionate fans and, on average, they drive about a a third of your streams. </p>
<p>I'd love Amazon to come up with some more ways in which artists can directly engage with their most valued listeners (cough Jeff Bezos if you're listening) but there is already a pretty cool feature for releasing new music. </p>
<p>When you release new music, if your Fans/Superfans have an Alexa, their Alexa will light-up yellow on release day. If they then ask their Alexa "What are my notifications?" Alexa will tell them about your music and they can start listening. Like I said, pretty cool. </p>
<p>In the Fans section, the app also tells you the top countries in which your music is being played, over the last 60 days. This is great data to use when <a contents="running targeted ad campaigns" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/facebook-paid-ad-checklist" target="_blank">running targeted ad campaigns</a> on platforms such as Facebook Ads. If you know where you need to increase listenership, then you know where to advertise. </p>
<h4> </h4>
<h4> </h4>
<h4><span style="color:#75cee3;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/ff8f4b4b6b996d974e17f36a66788b6b25c76600/original/9.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_right border_" /></span></span></h4>
<h4><span style="color:#e2336d;"><span class="font_large">Voice </span></span></h4>
<p> </p>
<h4>Now this is probably our favourite part of the App, that being the Daily Voice Index. </h4>
<p>Here you can see your level of voice requests compared to related artists in a similar genre and at a similar level to you. </p>
<p>The bar ranges from <strong>Cool</strong>, through to <strong>Warm</strong>, <strong>Hot</strong> and<strong> ON FIRE</strong>. </p>
<p>When you're "On Fire" it means you are receiving significantly more voice requests than other related artists, and you can pop the Prosecco open!</p>
<p>You are also able to understand how listeners are requesting your music, is it by your Artist name? Song title? Or are they uttering lyrics to part of your song in the hope that Alexa plays it?</p>
<p>This will information will help to inform how you decide to market particular songs when planning your marketing campaigns for your releases. By gaining an understanding of the words your fans are using to find your music, you are then able to develop your music promotion around slogans your listeners are familiar with.</p>
<p>Ai technology is transforming the way people are listening to music, especially with the rise of Amazon's 'Alexa' and the "Google Home mini'. It's so important that you make some time to go over your <a contents="metadata" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcharts.com/blog/music-metadata" target="_blank">metadata</a> (especially when releasing new music) and make sure it is all correct so that Alexa can find your music when listeners request it. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<h4><span style="color:#e2336d;"><span class="font_large">Programming</span></span></h4>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/4866ddda4e1454abb3efcac867974a27d96f43af/original/11.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_right border_" /></p>
<p>The final part of the app's interface, and tells you how your music is being discovered on a whole. </p>
<p>In this area you can track and measure the growth of your tracks on various Amazon playlists and stations. </p>
<p>Amazon Playlists and Stations are huge assets for driving your listenership, but what's the difference between them? </p>
<p>Both sets are handpicked by Amazon Music curators however there are some big differences in the way they function. </p>
<p>Amazon Playlists are fixed lists of songs of which curators can choose any type of playlist they make, e.g "Traditional Nursery Rhymes", "Top Children's Music", "Best Dinner Songs". These playlists are updated regularly, with higher performing tracks ranking on more popular playlists. </p>
<p>In contrast, Amazon Stations are a curated mix of top songs in a genre, mood , theme. This means unlike Amazon playlists, stations will go on forever unless you stop the music. Examples could be a station that plays "Children's Music" or "Tech House". Songs are rated either heavily, moderately or lightly. The most popular songs at their peak being played more in the station while light songs could be on their way out or up. </p>
<p>This means that in stations there is more gradual growth and decline in your tracks, while on Amazon Playlists there can be sudden spikes if your music is added to a playlist, however the adverse of this is just as dramatic. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<h4><span style="color:#e2336d;"><span class="font_large">Latest features - Amazon Music for Artists</span></span></h4>
<p>As Amazon Music for Artists is a pretty new platform, there are constant developments to the platform. </p>
<p>The most recent, and probably biggest change, is the <strong>desktop version</strong> that they have now made available. We have been longing to see this for a while now as although the App boasts solid features, it is much easier to analyse large bits of data through the desktop. </p>
<p>With this big move, I'd like to see some features where artists are able to download reports off the platform as a CSV file (like on Cd Baby) so that they can be put into spreadsheets. I do believe we will see more of these features now Amazon Music for Artists is desktop compatible. </p>
<p>Another cool thing about the desktop version, is that they've made it SO much easier to change your artist profile image and banner. Previously, to change these you had to contact Amazon by email with your images and this created long wait times. Now however, you can see your artist images updated, with in 24 hours of changing them. Well done Amazon!</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<h4><span style="color:#e2336d;"><span class="font_large">How to Get Your Music On Amazon Playlists and Stations</span></span></h4>
<p> </p>
<p>That's right, there's always a way! Just like on Spotify for Artists where you can fill in a mission form to <a contents=" pitch your songs to playlists" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.dittomusic.com/blog/6-tips-for-promoting-your-music-on-spotify" target="_blank">pitch your songs to playlists</a>, Amazon Music offer the same opportunity (that is also a lot quicker than Spotify). </p>
<p>Another advantage is that, unlike Spotify, you are able to send music to be considered that has already been released. As you may know you can only pitch music to Spotify pre-release and only if the music has never been released on the platform. Amazon Music's programming team do not limit you in this way.</p>
<p>All you have to do is submit the music you wish to be considered to the email below. Make sure you include your song info such as Artist Name, track name, label, track length and genre/s. Although they don't ask for them, I would recommend including your ISRC code/s if you have them as the more info you give them the better!</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/092a37c7a0e8bdab888b11910fe2c0f10befac89/original/12.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p> </p>
<h4><span style="color:#e2336d;"><span class="font_large">Get Your Music on Prime </span></span></h4>
<p><span style="color:#75cee3;"><span class="font_large"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/210a942291d0aeed3decbfe1af6ffa9ce0cde45e/original/amazon-artists-presentation-1.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Your best chance of getting your Music onto Amazon Prime is talking to your label or distributor, unless you have an inside man at Amazon...</p>
<p>Talk to them about why you want the music on Prime, how it will benefit the platform, and ask them to push your most valued music. </p>
<p> </p>
<h4><span style="color:#e2336d;"><span class="font_large">Want More of This? </span></span></h4>
<p> </p>
<p>Yes we're a children's music company BUT we have so much more to offer.</p>
<p>Marketing services, music promotion, Website Design, SEO, social media marketing are just a few of things we love to discuss, advise and offer! </p>
<p>For queries, requests or even a friendly chat:</p>
<p>email: admin@piccolomusic.co.uk</p>
<p>Phone: 0191 251 8740</p>
<p>Instagram: @sing_with_Piccolo</p>
<p>Facebook: @Singwithpiccolo</p>
<p> </p>
<p>P.S. If you are interested in using our Music, head <a contents="HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/WantToUseOurMusic">HERE</a> to get your <a contents="Free Music License" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/WantToUseOurMusic">Free Music License</a> to use our catalogue of over 200 award-winning songs in venues and online...</p>
<p> </p>Sing with Piccolotag:piccolomusic.co.uk,2005:Post/63672092020-06-30T10:02:37+01:002022-09-13T21:03:57+01:00Featured Artists this Month- What's going on in the genre?<p>This is our first edition of our featured artists monthly thread.</p>
<p>We plan to name and showcase a few artists each month (in the children's music industry) that we've shown an interest in, so that others can connect and keep up to date with the genre.</p>
<p>And well, because we're all doing so much and I don't get why no one is really doing this already! So straight into it, who's the spotlight on this month?</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Stephanie Leavell (Music for Kiddos)</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/8a9fb77f25f460719930621f173c64657f1940b0/original/stephanie-leavell.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Music therapist and children's music singer/songwriter Stephanie Leavell, to our surprise came onto our radar only recently, but we're delighted to have found her! Evidently a committed songwriter, Stephanie is consistently writing children's songs in her warm acoustic tone of which many are performed through her social media. Although her portfolio is aimed at very young ages, due to her style of hearty and modern chord progressions her music is adaptable to slightly older kids, which she explains when performing one of her new Hello songs on her <a contents="Instagram" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/musicforkiddosinsta">Instagram</a>.</p>
<p>What we really like is the interactive nature of Stephanie's songwriting that incorporates singing and storytelling (which will be the next big thing coming through everybody's Alexas in the near future!) as well as many action songs and, her Spring Songwriting challenge last month which was a great idea. She also runs a free <a contents='"song of the month club" ' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/Musicforkiddosnewsletter">"song of the month club" </a>of which members get access to professionally recorded songs as well as chords and lyrics. Our favourite song by Stephanie is probably one for a bit later in the year but catchy enough to stay with you till then - <a contents="I Love Halloween" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/musicforkiddoshalloween">I Love Halloween</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Ollie Tumner (Beat Goes On)</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/126b908f6d528212241bafe8d7c1adc8a9be812c/original/ollie-tumner.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.jpg" class="size_m justify_center border_" /> </p>
<p>A former member of the world renowned percussion group STOMP, Ollie's concentration has turned to body percussion under his brand <a contents='"Beat Goes On"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/beatgoesonblog">"Beat Goes On"</a>. Ollie does workshops with many schools and it's clear his work is adaptable to all ages. There's some really cool videos on his YouTube channel that are definitely worth a watch, not only to see what some of his workshops look like but also just to see him in action.</p>
<p>We like to use body percussion to get children involved in the stories of songs, examples being <a contents="Clickety Clack" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/clicketyclack1">Clickety Clack</a> and <a contents="Three Little Pigs" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/3lilpigs1">Three Little Pigs</a>. Interestingly this is something Ollie has been involved in- exploring literacy and creative writing using body percussion based on their work with Pie Corbett from Talk4Writing. In more recent months he has but some demos up of a couple of Nursery Rhymes and how you can use repetitive body percussion to help you make Nursery rhymes more educational. These are great for skills like coordination and rhythm, not to mention ideas for <a contents="World Nursery Rhyme Week" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/wnrwblog">World Nursery Rhyme Week</a> 2020 (Olly has just done a <a contents="video for Hickory Dickory" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/hickorydickorytumner">video for Hickory Dickory</a>, one this years Rhymes).</p>
<p>He's been featured on Television for programmes on the BBC like the One show and I imagine we'll see more and more of his ideas across Social Media. I'm not sure if he's on TikTok but if he isn't, he needs to tap into that because the sort of content he produces would be PERFECT for the platform. Ollie's book <a contents='"Body Beats"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/bodybeats">"Body Beats"</a> looks a great insight into the art of body percussion which looks to build on resources used in his workshops nationwide. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>Katie Wardrobe (Midnight Music)</strong></p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/477548/98c82b49d90454de63c394bdc9b4f18565618a5d/original/katie-wardrobe-pic.png/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsIm1lZGl1bSJdXQ==.png" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Focussing more on training I know but I couldn't resist a feature about Katie for this month. Katie's work falls bang into the modern era of music and what is happening right now, as she concentrates on teaching music leaders how they can use technology to inspire creativity in music and enhance learning. Her website <a contents="Midnight Music" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/midnightmusicblog">Midnight Music</a> is current and FULL of informative content. I really like the help on utilising tech such as Ipads, Chromebooks and Macs. I think a lot of Schools out there invest in this kind of technology such as a load of Ipads for a class, and then don't really know how to incorporate them into lessons, apart from making kids google some research.</p>
<p>However, Katie demonstrates how these pieces of kit can be used in a music classroom and how teachers can get the best out of them. In terms of her course content I haven't actually enrolled on anything myself yet but, the packages look packed with resources so definitely worth considering. <a contents="Her blog" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/midnightmusicblog2">Her blog</a> is also worth a scroll with some interesting reads from some guest bloggers as well as Katie herself. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hopefully these people have the same impact on you that they have had on us and that you've been able to check some of the cool stuff they're up to at the moment. I'll be showcasing some more work again next month so if you having something exciting going on feel free to drop us an email (admin@piccolomusic.co.uk) for the chance to be featured.</p>
<p>If you want to see what the next few posts will be about then have read of the first <a contents="introductory post" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://bit.ly/introblogpm">introductory post</a> and you'll find all the info there.</p>
<p>As always Singing Days are Happy Days </p>
<p>Best Wishes </p>
<p>Alfie Briggs, Sing with Piccolo</p>Sing with Piccolotag:piccolomusic.co.uk,2005:Post/63633312020-06-23T14:01:08+01:002023-12-10T16:54:33+00:00Our New Blog- What to Expect<p>Sing with Piccolo is starting our first ever blog! After the launch of our new website and new single last week, along with re-branding our social media platforms over the last couple of months, we're finally at the point to start up a blog. </p>
<p>Although our main focus is children's music, and I assure you we will give updates about what's happening with us, I want to not only write about and feature artists and leaders in the industry to help growth, but also talk honestly about the struggles we have and are having on a daily basis in this ever changing industry. </p>
<p>Anyone linked to music in any way knows that streaming and digitalisation has completely transformed the way we are operating as a music business. This means we are swimming in completely new waters with entirely different fish. Gone are the days where we would set up a CD stand in our music sessions, now we have to search and compare which distributors are most efficient to promote our music and on which platforms. There's so much out there at the moment for comparing distributors, how to market yourself as a musician and how to playlist yourself. BUT what does this mean for a children's music artist? The problem is with all of these articles is that they're written heavily for the 'traditional' musician and 'indie' artists- what we want to do is write and discuss how WE adapt this to our genre. </p>
<p>I could rabble on but I know we're all busy. So to put it simply and easily here's what the first few articles will be about: </p>
<ul> <li>Amazon Music - Why is my Music on Unlimited and not Prime? How can I get my Music on Prime? Amazon Artists, how do I get it and how does it work? Amazon's Children's Stations and Radio - How can they grow you as a children's music Artist?</li> <li>Licensing- What Licenses do I actually need as a Children's music Leader running classes? What license do I need for my classes online? What Licenses (packages- we offer more than just music) do we offer for use of our songs?</li> <li>Impact of Lockdown on Music- How will delivery of music classes change after Lockdown? How can we adapt sessions to social change? Are Zoom/Online classes working? </li> <li>Featured Artists- Our top Artists in the genre at the moment, a bit about them and a showcase of their music. </li>
</ul>
<p>To get an update about when these go out and links to the articles follow us on your preferred social media. Or, if you really love us then follow us on all of them! If you don't want to then I guess you'll have to check our website everyday (something I hate doing) to see if an article is out... </p>
<p>As always Singing Days are Happy Days </p>
<p>Best Wishes </p>
<p>Alfie Briggs, Marketing Assistant</p>
<p> </p>Sing with Piccolo