Baby steps for crowdfunding: ToGather.Asia raises US$2,555 for Indonesian band The Tree & The Wild

It’s one small step for crowdfunding in Southeast Asia as Singapore-based site ToGather.Asia has today concluded a campaign that raised US$2,555 for Indonesian band The Tree & The Wild (TTATW).

The money helps fund a mini-European tour in Finland and Estonia, which they will embark on after performing at the Reeperbahn Festival in Germany.

The amount isn’t much — especially when compared to American sites like Kickstarter, which can sometimes raise millions in a campaign. But for a region that remains largely unaware about the possibilities of crowdfunding,  a minor success is a giant leap. Read more

X-Factor USA winner Melanie Amaro launches debut single on TwitMusic

Melanie Amaro, champion of X-Factor USA season one, a reality TV singing contest started by media mogul Simon Cowell, has released her debut single “Don’t Fail Me Now” on TwitMusic, a service which lets users discover and share music uploaded by artists.

Her single, which was let loose last week, has garnered over 6,500 plays on the platform, making her one of the more popular singers there. To listen to the new song, users are required to sign in to Twitter and tweet about it using a preset hashtag.

TwitMusic was officially launched in January 2012 by CEO Stefano Fazzini and CTO Christian Fazzini who recently moved from the Philippines to Silicon Valley to join 500 Startups, a well-known accelerator and venture fund.  Since its founding, the service has been used by over 9,000 artists.

According to the company, the platform has reached out to about 44 million people, and experienced 348% growth in registered artists and a 638% increase in engagements since January this year. ‘Engagements’ involve people retweeting a song, commenting on it, clicking ‘love’, and using the #nowplaying hashtag.

Another fairly well-known artist on TwitMusic is Carly Rae Jepsen, whose hit single “Call Me Maybe” has been getting heavy airplay recently. It has gotten over 8,000 listens on the platform.

Music video startup AtticTV takes on YouTube

Music lovers who want to get their daily fix now have another way to get it — via AtticTV, an online music channel that aims to be an MTV for the Internet generation.

Founded by Malaysians Johnson Goh and Grey Ang, who had previously worked together on another startup that didn’t take off, AtticTV is their second venture together. It allows users to lean back and discover new music videos from YouTube.

The website essentially streams users a constant diet of music videos — it’s like watching MTV the old-school way. You consume clip after clip, making a mental note of those you like (or don’t). Read more

Music To Our Ears: Straits Records Brings Local Music to the Community

Look beyond the Kebab-serving and Shisha-smoking restaurants that crowd Bali Lane and you will find a slice of Singaporean identity that’s been misplaced for the longest time – local music.

Located at 24 Bali Lane, Straits Records is both a record label and retail space that prides itself on promoting the underground music scene in Singapore. The place reveals a different side of our sunny island, where music lovers can escape from the monotony of their daily lives, to share ideas about their passion for music and immerse themselves in an alternative lifestyle.

Promoting local music to audiences

Wan, the down-to-earth and wise soul running Straits Records, works together with a collective of music lovers to provide a platform for local bands to showcase their music and performances. On their CD racks you will find all genres of music, but Straits champions local and regional music and carries more than 60% of it in their inventory. This is a clear departure from other music stores in Singapore, which typically carry 90% of international music with bits and pieces of local artistes. Read more

The Pigeonhole – A Cafe With More Than Meets The Eye

The Pigeonhole always has a pleasant surprise in store for you.

The Pigeonhole @ Duxton Road

Looking in through its glass panels and doors, those walking along 52 & 53 Duxton Road may be a little confused about what this place does. A creative space lovingly fitted with bookshelves, eclectic furniture and painted with a scarlet floor, the Pigeonhole is a cosy cafe that attracts visitors with more than its aromatic espressos and delectable desserts. Read more

The Creative Crew March 2010 Meetup

The Creative Crew Singapore March 2010 Meetup will be happening on 9 March 2010 (Tuesday) in Marine Parade Community Building from 6:45 – 8:45pm. You can sign up via facebook here. Check out here for the event: (Editor’s note: There is an update of the program dated March 4) Read more

eJAMMING AUDiiO – Collaborative Network For Musicians

eJAMMING AUDiiO is a platform that connects musicians and their friends so they can create, play and record together LIVE, in real time, over the Internet with minimal latency — no matter where in the world they are. Read more

65Bits Episode 107 : The one w/o Fari…

Our friends at Tech65 start their weekly podcast on the following issues that dominated the tech landscape last week: [1] RIAction – Register here, [2] Android’s Vulnerabilities?? – Maybe Not!, [3] No more PalmOS devices to be released by Palm, [4] Nokia’s “Comes with Music” service to launch in Singapore, [5] Singapore-made “Super chip”, [6] Kindle2 is out, and finally the Byte of the Week: Google Sync. Do click and check out their podcast.