Our friends over at www.datatransmission.co.uk will celebrate their third birthday this week.

Following their third rammed session at The Silver Bullet with Beardyman and Grum, their 3rd Birthday party held this Friday 21st January sees the DT crew head  to the hospitable Old Queen’s Head on Essex Road in Angel for Data Transmission Presents…The Class Of 2011 – a chance to check out some of their hot tips for the new year and celebrate the 3rd Birthday at the same time.

Headlining is the excellent Hijack, hero of the chunky ‘n’ filter house scene and head of Jack Union Records, with two first-rate other DJs in the form of Ninja Tune’s future garage signings and remixers to The xx Dark Sky and Rinse FM’s eclectic bass hero Marco Del Horno, with his potent blend of house, dubstep, electro, garage and UK funky.

Entry is free before 8PM (the venue is open all day) and just £4 (no advance tickets) with the event running from 8PM – 2AM.

Get yourself in the mood with DT’s podcasts from Hijack and Dark Sky and look out for Marco’s Podcast, coming mid January…

For full events details, visit Datatransmission.co.uk

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Good afternoon! As promised here is part 2 of our interview with Andi Durrant where he gives his thoughts on the music industry in 2011.

How easy/difficult was it to be a music artist in 2010.  Do you think it will get easier/harder in 2011? Why?

I’d say it was very difficult – especially if you’re just starting out and trying to get recognized for your work. It used to be the case that only a very small amount of people could use a recording studio, or even afford to hire one.  Now for around £200 and a laptop you can do virtually everything, which is why I’m now receiving an average of 400 new tracks a week to listen to. Trying to stand out from that huge crowd is no mean feat.

Social Media has exploded over the last few years.  Do you find tools such as Twitter and Facebook useful as an artist or just something you have to be on these days?

I absolutely love Twitter. I was scathing at first (“Who wants to know what salad Ashton Kutcher had for his lunch?”) but then I got the point of it – you only follow the people you’re genuinely interested in and its opened up a new world to me. I’m on there all day every day catching up and chatting with the rest of the electronic music community. I actually think it’s brought us together a bit more and strengthened the scene. DJs and dance music artists have really embraced Twitter and come off all the better for it. As for Facebook, I see that more of a promotional tool. It often seems a bit too personal sharing all your pictures with the world, and is ruined by people spamming your wall and trying to make you play imaginary farm games.

2010 has seen a rise in the popularity of cloud music services such as Spotify.  Do you see them breaking in to the mainstream in 2011 and becoming the new way we consume music?

I’m sitting on the fence on this one – I really wouldn’t like to guess. The Spotify business model isn’t working for artists at the moment, and I don’t see that changing very soon… but then a new service might pop up next week and change the whole thing again!

How important do you think mobile technology and apps will be for the music industry in 2011?

VERY important.  We’re nearly all living our lives through iPhones, iPods and Blackberrys these days, so those artists who have the best online presence, the most up to date and interesting Apps and websites, and make their music the easiest to access will come out on top.

Finally, do you think 2011 will be the year that the music industry will ‘get fixed’?

The music industry was probably broken the day it began. It’ll never be fixed and I’m not sure any of us want it that way even if it could be.

Some great insights from Andi. Share your thoughts with us about the state of the music industry in 2011 on Twitter @pokerpr

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Happy New Year one and all!

We kick start 2011 with a special guest blog interview with Andi Durrant. As presenter of the biggest dance music show in the UK on a Saturday night – formerly on Galaxy FM and today rebranded to Capital FM – and one half of DJ and Production duo Riley & Durrant; we couldn’t think of anyone better to provide their insights into the music industry for 2011.

Who do you think really made their mark in 2010 / who impressed you in 2010?

In terms of dance music, 2010 was the year of the Swedish House Mafia – Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso. From their massive Monday night residency at Pacha in Ibiza every week over summer, to selling out clubs, stadiums and festivals all over world, to collaborating with some huge A List singers and stars.

They went from being three relatively unknown DJs from Sweden to worldwide Popstars, so whether you like their music or not, you’ve got to respect their drive.

What’s your stand out album/track of 2010?

The tracks we’ve played most in our DJ sets and on my radio shows all seem to have been by Thomas Gold this year. He’s a DJ and Producer from Munich and is behind some brilliant dance floor destroying weapons at the moment.

My favourite non-dance floor track was probably the Shazam remix of Bertie Blackman “Black Cats”. I must have played that 100 times and still not got bored of it.

On the album front, I think it was pretty spectacular for Daft Punk to score the Tron movie. They came up with something I wasn’t wholly expecting, and although the soundtrack album isn’t an easy listen, it represents how far electronic music has come in the last 20 years.

What Producer or DJ do you have your eye on in 2011?

Dirty Secretz - a male/female DJ and production duo from Leicester who’ve been sending us LOADS of brilliant house music over the last 6 months. We asked them to remix a track for our Electrik Playground label, and we’ll be booking them for our events in 2011. I really hope they break through and get the recognition they deserve.

What new musical trends do you see coming through in 2011?

I think they’ll probably be some more dubstep tracks and acts crossing over into the charts as we see that scene go much more mainstream. It’s never worked that well in the clubs outside of London (except for 3 or 4 specialist nights that do really well) but it seems to have found its feet on the radio so I reckon people like Katy B will become big pop stars rather than niche urban acts.

Do you think there’s any room for dance music to go any more mainstream in 2011 than it has already in 2010?

The weird thing with electronic music is one man’s “dance” track is another man’s cheesy pop record… is another man’s underground… Take the Black Eyed Peas “Dirty Bit / Time of My Life” thing. I really don’t like that track – it’s a simple mass-market product for children or people who don’t really like music very much, but some people will say it’s “dance” music because it’s got electro synths and a big kick drum. It’s not though. Real dance and electronic music is thriving and more popular than ever.

Stay tuned as tomorrow we’ll be posting part 2 of the interview where we will be looking forward in to the state of the music industry in 2011.

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MN2S are the latest electronic dance music brand to enter the mobile app world. Their official iPhone app, developed by Poker PR’s sister company Scribble, is now live in the app store and is available to download for free

The app gives the user access to all the latest happenings in the world of MN2S including live news updates, the option to listen, or buy and download music straight to your iPhone from any of the MN2S labels or artists on the day of release, plus upfront event details from some of the biggest names in dance music.

App users also have the option to browse through the infamous MN2S roster of legendary DJs and live artists including Fedde Le Grand, Martin Solveig, Alex Gaudino, Joey Negro , Kenny Dope, Bodyrox and many more; scroll through music videos or spot yourself in MN2S party photos.

For promoters, the app boasts a function to send a booking enquiry for any MNS2 artist direct to their team of agents.

To celebrate going mobile, MN2S are giving away an iPhone 4. To enter, click here

This app is the latest solution from app developers Scribble who created the app for Pete Tong’s IMS conference and for artists Riley & Durrant.  Scribble’s other app solutions include events, record labels and festival brands, all now created for Android phones too.

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Poker PR is thrilled to have bagged the online music promotion for Phonetic Recording’s debut Ibiza compilation – Phonetic Ibiza 2010 mixed by Leigh Devlin and label boss, hit producer, award winning A&R man and DJ Rob Roar, respectively.

Despite Phonetic having more number 1 hit records in Ibiza than any other label, this is their first compilation.  Due for digital release on 26th July and physical release on 8th August the album boasts over 17 world exclusives and a sharp track selection from scene leaders Axwell, Deadmau5, Michael Gray, Paul Harris (Dirty Vegas), Dave Seaman, and Martijn ten Velden.

Phonetic Ibiza gets its own launch party on Sunday 8th August at Sands, Playa den Bossa, Ibiza – just opposite Space – where Rob Roar and a collection of superstar guests from the Phonetic  label will appear.

The two disc Night and Day Compilation is another feather in Phonetic’s already impressive cap.  That said, with someone as instrumental to the house scene as Rob Roar at the helm, it was never going to be anything else…

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It’s quite remarkable how bad news travels so fast, but even more alarming how bad news with no actual truth travels even faster.

This morning, a whole host of sites reported that our beloved trance God Tiesto had tragically died in a car crash in California. Some reports even went as far to say how the memorial services would be a closed casket due to his horrific head injuries!

Before getting too upset though, Tiesto himself piped up on Twitter to say calm down people, “I’m very much alive”!

So where do these rumours start – bitter rival DJs? Lonely chat rooms surfers? Or could it be the work of a twisted, but albeit effective publicity stunt? After all, Tiesto IS playing at Victoria Park, London in just a few weeks… 30th July if you want the exact date.

Whoever the sicko behind it – the grim reaper should not be messed with! It’s just another reminder not to believe everything you read and to do some research before sharing information scraped-up from the murky corners of the web.

Long live Tiesto!

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We’ve just returned from what we believe to be the best International Music Summit conference to date. The event excelled itself from last year with regards to the list of delegates, speakers, and panel subjects.

It’s the only electronic music conference where the best in the industry all come together to talk, well… business, which is why the event’s tagline ‘back to business’ is so very apt. This is not a big party in Ibiza, this is about people coming together to share ideas, make new contacts, engage with existing ones, and to come away feeling invigorated about our industry. The Grand Finale held at the stunning setting of Dalt Villa, with Pete Tong, Mark Ronson, and Buraka Som Sistema was yet again an example of quality and originality from the events organisers.

The conference provided an invaulable platform to launch our new Burn Studios project to a group of enthusiasts and professionals allowing us to gather on-the-spot feedback. And our IMS iPhone App built by our company Scribble received hundreds of downloads and much positive feedback.

Myself and Poker MD David Mitchell met a load of faces old and new. We’d be delighted to hear from you all again so please get in touch.

By Nicola Freitas

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Live from the IMS Conference in sunny Ibiza we’ve just officially announced the launch of a cutting edge creative community platform – Burn Studios.

Supported by leading producers and brought to fruition by Burn energy drink Burn Studios will be a global destination where professionals and raw talent can come together to share musical brilliance, have access to authentic state-of-the-art music making tools, link into support of tailored mentoring sessions by some of the biggest names in electronic music and connect creatively with peers through a cloud-based digital platform.

International producers Richie Hawtin -and  Cassius  have agreed to become Ambassadors for the platform, making Burn Studios the hottest property available to anyone with a desire in up-front music making.

Cassius is also creating the IMS Ibiza 2010 anthem which will then be remixed by Arthur Baker. When finished anyone can download the parts to create their own remix. The winning remixer will have their track released on Cassius’ label.

So far it looks like the concept is going down well. 85.7% of the audience here at the IMS said they would be up to join the mentoring part of the programme and 68.9% agreed that cloud technology will have a significant impact on music. As such we would really appreciate your thoughts and feedback. Come and speak to us or contact us through Twitter@pokerpr or leave a comment and tell us what you think.

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Poker PR has uprooted from the offices in England to embark on one of the most forward thinking electronic music conferences of our time – the International Music Summit.

This is our second year at the conference founded by Ben Turner of Graphite Media and Radio 1’s Pete Tong among others. Our involvement this year is three fold. Let me explain.

Poker MD David Mitchell will speak on a panel this afternoon at 17:10-18:10 titled “Our Community is Our Brand” alongside heavyweight www.beatport.com and the innovative social music store www.mflow.com

Poker’s latest project ‘Burn Studios’ will be unveiled during the event from 11:10-11:40 on Thursday 27^th May in a live press conference. We’ll be there to answer all your questions on this ground breaking new project.

And lastly, Poker’s sister company Scribble has built the iPhone App for the conference.  Anyone can download the app for free in the app store and gain access to live news feeds, program schedules, event info, plus music and video content and much more.

If you’re at the conference and fancy hooking up, contact us via Twitter @pokerpr. See you by the pool!

By Nicola Freitas

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Poker PR has re branded and we would like to introduce our brand spanking new Scribble: site.  A brief introduction from us is in order as you’re probably wondering, who is Scribble:?  Well we are a digital media agency based in Brighton.  We provide communication services to clients across the world within the music and entertainment industry. We specialise in mobile applications, digital media, social media as well as website design & development.

We are very happy to announce the launch of our brand new, exciting and innovative iPhone application, Scribble: App.  It has been in the pipeline for a while now but after a lot of effort and hard work it is ready and set to revolutionise the music industry.

The first app version is an interactive communication tool for music artists, DJs and bands.  With their very own branded Scribble: App artists, DJs and bands have the power to create a unique user experience and stronger connection with fans and followers. Through the app they can promote their music, videos, photos and events as well syndicate their social media activity ultimately increasing their exposure.

With over 3 billion Apps downloaded to 14 million iPhones, and 4.5 billion mobiles used worldwide, we believe that mobile technology will soon be the dominant delivery mechanism for content and entertainment.

We are very proud of Scribble: App and we hope you think it’s as exciting as we do.  For a full list of features follow the link.  http://www.scribbleuk.com/apps

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