Salme

You may not know who Salme Dahlstrom is, but you’ve probably heard her music. The savvy singer, who knows a thing or two about earning in an era of declining recording sales, licensed every song on her latest album “The Acid Cowboy Audio Trade” for use in films, TV shows and commercials — a rare feat. According to Luke Eddins of Luke Hits, who placed some of Dahlstrom’s music, only Moby has succeeded in out-licensing an entire album.

Bank of America, Buick/Pontiac, Miller, Nike, Subaru, Suave, Virgin Mobile and Vodaphone, as well as production companies for 14 TV shows and 13 films, were among those who secured the rights for the album’s 10 big beats electronica meets hook-heavy pop songs.

“Licensing has become my business,” Dahlstrom told me. Not that providing songs for soundtracks, trailers and commercials was her goal when she began making the album. “No, I wanted to sell a million copies. I wanted a platinum record and I don’t know where it went. Where did it go?”

She wrote and recorded the album by herself in her home studio in New York City, playing keyboards, guitar, bass and drums to create her own samples for use in her mixes. She promoted it via MySpace and YouTube. Eddins first found her on www.garageband.com.

Dahlstrom says “The Acid Cowboy Audio Trade” is selling well for an independent album, with licensing providing a nice bump. “That Suave commercial,” she said. “It’s done more for my sales than any PR campaign or making an expensive video.” Suave’s used of “C’mon Y’all,” she said, resulted in 1,000 downloads of the song

(Original post link:
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/07/27/salme-dahlstrom-music-licensing-queen/ - The Wall Street Journal

It seemed like a culture shift when, 10 years ago, Moby famously managed to license every track off his Play album for use in commercials, TV or film. Not that it was an isolated phenomenon even then—Fatboy Slim had come close to the same feat with You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, released the year before Play. But the upshot was that the tired baby boomer notion of “selling out” was officially chucked out the window. And given the dwindling revenue sources for musicians these days, it’s a damn good thing.

Now comes Salme Dahlstrom, who claims as of this month to have repeated Moby’s accomplishment by licensing every track of her 2008 LP, The Acid Cowgirl Audio Trade. Dahlstrom produced the album in her own NYC studio, creating a DIY version of Lady Gaga or mid-period Goldfrapp, then placed songs in ads for Quiznos, Subaru, Nike, Bank of America, Vodafone and others, as well as TV shows like One Tree Hill, Laguna Beach and The Hills.

Now Salme’s releasing a third single from the record called “Hello California.” We were curious about a sound that sells so well to ad execs and TV producers. So we got a free MP3 for y’all. It’s a remix of “Hello California” by Latvian duo Quadrat Beat. Download and enjoy.


Original post link:

http://www.playboy.com/articles/free-music-alert-salme-dahlstrom/index.html - Playboy Magazine

- "One of the best dance albums I've heard in 2008. It should end up on some critic's end of year top 10 list"
-WILDY'S WORLD

"The album is relentless, bounding dance music. Nonstop uptempo party tunes that demand to be played LOUD" - Berkeley Place - Various

EP - Bible Bombastik - Salme Dahlstrom

Band / Artist : Salme Dahlstrom

Genre : Pop / Rock

Sample Track Download : Hello California

Buy CD : N/A

Buy Digital Download : Band Shop

Rating : 8.5 out of 10

At 5' 11", Salme is a smorgasbord of good looks, great singing and catchy tunes, what more can you ask for. Well a few hundred thousand and a Porsche 911 would be good, but who am I kidding. Hailing originally from Sweden, Salme has made the US her home and Bible Bombastik marks her second release.

One thing that can ease the pain of poor songs, is a voice that oozes sexual chemistry. However when you combine that sexual chemistry with great songs, that are both upbeat and oh so catchy, you have a winner on your hands, or rather Salme does. The more I listen to this EP, the more it feels like the sounds of Summer. Not wishing to put these songs in the same class as those awful songs that become popular in European holiday destinations during the summer, but they are every bit as catchy as the Macarena and the Birdy song, but so much more accomplished (I can't believe I just compared Salme to the Birdy song.. errr sorry Salme).

I have to say my favorite song on this EP is predictably "Hello California", it's just so damn catchy. What is surprising about this track, is that Salme wrote it for consideration as the theme tune for the popular TV show, Joey. They chose not to use it, but their loss is our gain. A couple of other tracks I particularly love are "Thinking About It... Baby" with it's almost Elvis like jangly guitar intro and "Take It Off Baby", cracking stuff.

Conclusion : Spring has arrived and this EP brings a reminder of what the summer brings. With this pumping out of your car stereo, the summer can come a few months early. - Indie Launchpad Apr 06