Our mission is, and will always be, to illuminate and accelerate the path between unconnected people. Now that mission is even more focused as we work to connect people in music specifically. We realized over almost three years of operations that people are looking for two distinct things on our platform – opportunity and feedback. People are interested in interacting with icons in the industry, but are ultimately looking for ways to elevate. We want to change lives by allowing for talented customers to grow in their respective craft and be discovered by someone that can help elevate them to realize their dreams. Being focused on music helps us to zero in on that purpose and really deliver.

Here at Blazetrak, we are most inspired when lives are changed – record deals, productions deals, song placements, artists discovered. When those kinds of things occur on a regular basis it is like fuel for our mission.

We were very delighted to launch Blazetrak 3.0, back in April of this year and felt it necessary to do a formal introduction of the changes and updates. First and foremost, you will notice the aesthetics of the entire site have changed. We updated the user account and professional profiles to display transaction and profile data in a more organized fashion.

The search module was revamped to include the sorting of professionals and opportunities based on professions, categories, and genres. We integrated a user-friendly video chat platform for both users and pros to communicate directly with each other in a group fashion, or individually. We also introduced Blazetrak premium accounts. As a premium member, users have the ability to skip their Blazetrak submissions to the front of the line, receive credits back any time before a response is completed, and view a live feed that encompasses all public responses from professionals across the entire platform. Last but not least, we updated our video processing technology to allow all videos (welcome and responses) to be viewed on mobile devices.

We will be growing, and realize that our platform has great potential in other verticals as well. Going forward each vertical will have its own platform and brand. Owning and operating an innovative company takes a great deal of humility. In the end, we believe that our products and services should be a reflection of the wants and desires of our valued customers. Great business revolves around user driven design.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet ARK the God Given MC.

This talented rapper and lyricist came to our attention when Blazetrak Pro Symbolyc One chose her to work with him in the studio. Clearly not your typical club-track rapper; her aim is to encourage people to think independently. Yes, she knows this isn’t a strong suit of the commercial music industry; and no, she doesn’t mind being out on a limb by herself. ARK, who calls herself a “professional loner,” moved around a lot because her stepfather was in the military; places she’s lived include Atlanta, California, Italy, and Switzerland. These experiences broadened her perspectives as a person and as an artist. She’s now back in Texas, where she was born, but people often assume she’s from somewhere else. Remember when you were a little kid and the adults in the room started spelling out words so you wouldn’t know what they were saying? ARK’s mother used to do that, and ARK felt like literacy was a kind of “secret society.” It ignited her desire to learn to read and write. Encouraged by her mom, ARK first picked up her pen around the age of five, writing down her feelings and emotions. When she was about 12 years old, she began practicing her skills as an emcee. Jazz has had a powerful influence on the development of ARK, who has no formal training, as an artist. She loves the fluidity and freedom of jazz: “It’s disorganized chaos that complements each instrument and every other note played to just make this whole … ensemble of … beautifulness,” she laughs. She names Nina Simone, Queen Latifah and Lauryn Hill among her musical heroes.

Taye, ARK’s manager, found out about Blazetrak and suggested they try it out. It was a quick, easy and professional way to get ARK heard, so they jumped in and submitted to Symbolyc One multiple times. This was before he had won his first Grammy award — talk about being able to pick a winner! ARK was motivated by S1’s responses, saying he “made me feel like I was going in the right direction just because he was so enthused about [the music].”

The video attached to this blog gives you a glimpse at what happens when these two talented Texans get together in the studio — but of course we couldn’t let the whole interview go by without hearing from S1 himself.

Grammy-award winning producer Symbolyc One (S1) has been having a pretty good year. His first major album placement won him his first Grammy (he and Kanye West co-produced the song “Power” from West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy); he’s looking to add more trophies to his shelf in the near future; and, oh yes, he’s finding some amazing talent on Blazetrak.com. S1’s name is derived from a hip hop group called Symbolyc Elementz which S1 and his cousin were part of when he was in college. He actually started out as a rapper (and still raps, with his group Strange Fruit Project), but the fact that Symbolyc Elementz had to use other people’s beats got him to look at other possibilities too. “We were rappers and we didn’t have any beats to rhyme on.” He started finding out how beats were made, buying equipment, and practicing. The 35-year-old producer (whose real name is Larry Griffin, Jr) was born and raised in Texas, and now lives in Dallas. Texas is also where he got his associate’s degree in Audio Technology.

Blazetrak Co-Founder and Chief Sales Officer Ron Harrison told S1 about the site in 2011, and S1 sees it as “the best way to manage submissions, absolutely.” You can imagine he gets a lot of submissions, and the more successful he becomes, the less time he has to work with little-known and unknown artists. So he’s currently running a contest where every three months he chooses his favorite Blazetrak user from the previous quarter’s submissions to his page, and they’re given the chance to work with him in the studio on new music. “It was really my idea of giving back to the independent community,” he explains. Think you’ve got what it takes to be S1’s next winner? He has a few tips to consider. “Make sure that [your] material is quality. I’d much rather get a song that’s finished and mixed as opposed to getting a song that’s incomplete … Your first impression is everything and presentation is everything.” So really critique it carefully; and before you hit that Send button, “get someone else outside of your circle to give you input.”

S1 is thrilled to have found ARK on Blazetrak; he recalls one submission in particular where “she submitted five or six songs, and each song that she submitted was completely different from the previous song. So it really showed her range and she killed every one of them.” He sees her as one of the next great female rappers. ARK does plan to make waves in the music world. “The industry has just become a factory,” she muses, “a fast-food chain of expression.” She sees herself as being in a prime position to create change, because as an independent artist with creative control over her work, “I’m able to do whatever I want to do as opposed to the artist who’s not able to think for themselves, let alone tell other people to think for themselves.” And she’s encouraging you to try using Blazetrak to get where you want to be. “Blazetrak is awesome, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without you guys, so thank you so much for the opportunity … and get on Blazetrak!” S1’s parting words were “I appreciate the love that people have been showing me, and appreciate everyone that’s been submitting to my Blazetrak, I’ve been having fun listening to all the submissions and giving honest feedback.” In fact, he’d love to give you some honest feedback right now! S1 will keep choosing Blazetrak users to collaborate with, so if your material is tight, let him hear it. You might be on a plane sooner than you think.

In the meantime, keep your ears open for new music from ARK the God Given MC and Symbolyc One, and stay tuned for our next Blazetrak success story!

Click here to follow ARK on Twitter

Click here to visit ARK’s website

Click here to follow S1 on Twitter

Click here to submit to S1 on Blazetrak

Click here to visit S1’s website

If you’re trying to prove that you’re the whole package, it’s important to remember the, uh, packaging. That is, your image — you need to know whether your photos, videos, and website(s) are saying “Sign me!” or “Skip me!”

Just ask Stoic, aka Marty O’Neill. This young rapper and lyricist, who has secured his first major deal thanks to Blazetrak, knows how important it is to sound and look good; he owns Drastic Grafix, a one-stop shop for graphics, web design, studio connections, etc. We chatted with him about his success, his suggestions for other aspiring artists, and what the future holds.

O’Neill, 25 years old, has signed a licensing agreement with Blazetrak Pro DJ Skee’s company, Build Destroy Music. “They are taking the tracks I submit to them and placing them in movies and TV shows and commercials, and giving me an outlet for my stuff to be heard and to start generating some royalties,” he explains; other perks include free recording time, awesome networking opportunities, and having a built-in support system when he moves to Los Angeles.

Born and bred in Buffalo, NY, O’Neill has been writing and rapping since the age of 18 and doing graphic design for the past 5 years. “At this point in my career I’m operating pretty much as my own label … Moving forward, I definitely want to grow into a legitimate label.”

And there’s a good chance that the look of his future label will be designed largely, if not entirely, by O’Neill himself. This Graphic Design student (Full Sail University) relates that “The division between the amateur and the pro a lot of the time is the cover. You know, people in the music industry are judging the book by the cover all day long, so I knew my stuff had to look professional in order for people to listen to it and from there the quality had to be such that it sounded professional. I’ve never had a problem investing in myself, and I think that’s one of my biggest strengths. Even when I was 17, 18 years old, I was taking most of my paycheque to the studio, and to producers, to have it never sound amateurish like it was coming out of a basement. That’s definitely a piece of advice that I’d give to other artists because that’s Step 1, Phase 1, you have to be willing to invest in yourself before anybody else is.”

O’Neill’s first Blazetrak submission was in April 2011, and he got “really phenomenal feedback” from Steve Rifkind (who is, ironically, DJ Skee’s mentor). Between then and January 2012 O’Neill submitted music to more Pros, getting positive responses from all of them and building relationships, “but nobody had given me what I really was looking for as far as an outlet.”

Persistence, and patience, and having a thick skin, were key. “First of all you can’t take anything that these Pros say personally. Really only use it as motivation … There’s no money in burning any bridges, you have to take it very impersonally and push. It took me, you know, 25 submissions to get what I was looking for and I had the same songs the whole time, for the most part.” He remembers being discouraged at times when “people would really, really build up my hopes … and then it didn’t end up panning out, and I remember my wife saying ‘If it takes 30 more submissions we’re just going to keep submitting til something happens, ‘cause something’s gonna happen.’ And then my next submission was Skee. And it happened.”

O’Neill sent a batch of songs to DJ Skee in late January, and got positive feedback, but nothing else. “So I did what I always do and as soon as I received his response, I sent another submission.” DJ Skee liked that one even more. O’Neill got a call from Skee’s camp on March 8th, while he was vacationing in Myrtle Beach (sidebar: while on vacation he was writing new material and preparing to send that in as a third submission, along with some graphics he created for them — no days off!), and he was offered his deal.

It’s so important to understand how to use Blazetrak as a tool, and get from it exactly what you want. Before submitting anything, O’Neill researches our Pros. “When I really started looking into Skee,” he says, “and learning about his management company and seeing what’s he’s doing for Nipsey Hussle and seeing what he’s all about, the videos he’s shot, his radio presence, his relevance to the West Coast and to hip hop and the entertainment industry period, it occurred to me that it was a perfect fit.” Knowing some people are deterred by the fact that our submission process requires you to buy credits, O’Neill only recommends the site to “really serious” artists. “Blazetrak isn’t expensive compared to studio time … so it’s a much smarter place to put your money.”

Blazetrak users, you may want to take notes, because O’Neill has lots of tips for you. Make the most of Twitter. Submit quality material. Send images and videos along with your audio files. Make sure all your online presences look professional. And, “One of the biggest pieces of advice that I got about submitting on Blazetrak came from Mayne [Zayne] of The Runners down in Orlando, and the best thing you can do is submit a sample of several of your tracks. My first couple of submissions were just one track that I thought was my best track. But it’s much smarter to do like a verse-hook-verse-hook-verse-hook, get off three, four, five tracks in one submission.”

O’Neill is preparing to make more submissions to labels that have recently joined Blazetrak; then he’s going to LA to work with DJ Skee and find himself a breakout single. So you can definitely expect to hear more in the very near future from Stoic.

And his “last words”?

“I really intend on being the poster boy for Blazetrak and the first artist to come out of Blazetrak to reach superstardom … Blazetrak is ultimately, in my opinion, going to be the thing that does it for me. And already pretty much has.”

Click here to follow Stoic on Twitter

Click here to hear Stoic’s music

Click here to see Stoic’s Drastic Grafix website

Click here to submit to DJ Skee on Blazetrak

Click here to follow DJ Skee on Twitter

Click here to follow Build Destroy Music on Twitter

Evans, who grew up in Spanish Harlem, writes and sings and raps. Now 21, he has been writing since he was 11 — “I’m the youngest veteran songwriter ever,” he jokes. Over eight months or so, Evans submitted to various Blazetrak Pros, and he was a finalist in our recent competition with Andre Harrell. He eventually asked David Gray, our Director of Support (through our Live Chat feature), for advice on who to submit to. Gray directed Evans to Shawn Campbell, and Evans didn’t have to wait long for a response. “I submitted to him and like a day later I had a [message]  saying ‘Hey this is Shawn Campbell, I haven’t sent you a video response yet but you are amazing and we have to get you out here to do some writing,’ and to this day I still get on him because he still hasn’t sent me that video!” They met for the first time in New York, and within weeks Evans was on a plane to LA to work with Campbell for a few days. He came back home briefly before moving to LA, where he’s now writing up a storm.

“The thing I love the most about Blazetrak,” says Evans, “and why I think it’s the greatest site hands down in the history of mankind ever created, is because people get a direct response. Before, you could submit something to somebody but you’d never know if they look at it… And Blazetrak bridges the gap.” It’s important to realize the value in that, even when the response you get from a Pro isn’t the response you were hoping for: “Even if people say, well, they don’t like my stuff, or right now wasn’t the right time for it, you still feel accomplished because you’re like ‘That person recognized me.’ ” How would he describe Blazetrak to someone who had never heard of it before? “It’s like getting the key to go to Mount Olympus for a day.” Or, “It’s like telling somebody they can go backstage on a studio set or a film set, or go to the recording studio with Lil Wayne for a day. The exact same experience.”

His ultimate goal is to release his own album, through AnimalHouse, as an artist. When asked whether he has any “last words” for our readers, Kiplin Evans responded — with a smile I could hear through the phone — “Blazetrak is real; if you need any advice or if you think it’s fake, hit me up, it’s free, and I will tell you that it’s real, and I’ll show you how real it can actually get!”

One person who is already well aware of how real Blazetrak can get is Grammy nominee Shawn Campbell. He’s been producing music for more than a decade, and the last few years of his career have allowed him to focus more on artist development. He recently hosted the My Dream competition, looking for the best performers and music-makers Blazetrak has to offer, and the winners were Tom O’Halloran of Australia (in the writer/producer category) and, in the artist category, Legendary Circle from California.

“I’m always amazed and overwhelmed by how many super-talented people are out there are who aren’t actually in the business,” he muses, “and I love the Blazetrak model because it literally gives me, an executive who has no time to listen to music … direct access, and so I thought this contest would be a great way for me to find new superstars. I’ve been able to get two acts signed to major record labels in the last two years; one of them is Cody Simpson (Atlantic Records) and another one is Alabama Capital who just received an offer from Columbia, and now I need more. I need to find more stars and I can’t find a better venue to do it than Blazetrak.”

Campbell’s come across similar sites, but Blazetrak stands out to him because of our guarantee and the access we provide; also, because we’re recognized, and used, by numerous other insiders: “Most of my industry working connections or partners are aware of it and the majority of them actually use it and I don’t hear any other name.”

Of course, it will take more than just being a Blazetrak user to get his attention. If you’re wondering why Kiplin Evans was whisked off to LA practically as soon as he hit the Send button, prepare to take notes! Campbell praises Evans for three main things: talent, “unbridled enthusiasm,” and commitment. A great submission won’t get you far without a killer work ethic to back it up; Campbell was working on multiple projects simultaneously when Evans came to LA, and “I believe in a five-day span [Evans] wrote 12 to 13 songs.  He was a beast, it was incredible.”

Campbell’s succinct description of Blazetrak is “Heaven’s gates. It’s just access to all the things that you thought were inaccessible, and actually were for many years… I know I sound like an old grandfather who says back in my day, but back in my day when I first came up in the music business you didn’t just email an executive and get a response, much less a video response. I had to move to New York City, sleep on a park bench, run coffee, work for less than minimum wage, volunteer, build people’s studios for free, just to actually have the opportunity to play my music for an executive.”

Some people would hear that and wonder, All that just to try to get a break in the industry? Why is making music so important? And Campbell gave one of the best responses I’ve ever heard.

“I’ve come to the opinion that if music is in you, you literally don’t have a choice but to do it. Some people use the word ‘important’ … as if it’s a hobby, but when people who God has given the creative gift try to work outside of it, it’s oftentimes the equivalent of a toaster trying to be a VCR; you’re never fulfilled, you’re never happy, you never feel like you’re in the right place… Creative people, we don’t have a choice.”

With that in mind, he does have some tips.

“One of the things I always do and I ask for all people who submit to do, is pre hate. Make sure you look at your music with a critical eye or ear; and just because you made it, don’t fall in love with it. For a moment step away, and listen to it as if it came from another person. And if after doing that it still strikes you as ‘wow that’s amazing,’ then send it, I want to hear it.” He also prefers that people submit no more than three or four songs. “Pick your favorite ones, your absolute favorite ones. And the last thing is, I know it’s hard, but be professional and make sure to let the music speak for itself.” That is, your submission shouldn’t be about the difficulties you’ve encountered or the struggles you’re going through; it should just be about the excellent work you’re doing, and that should be evident in your submission. Aside from submission tips, Campbell (who grew up in Virginia Beach before moving to New York and eventually to Los Angeles) advises up-and-comers to “Move to where the work is.” And to stay committed to your craft, because it’s all worth it in the end.

“When I first started everyone said ‘don’t do it’ because we’ve all heard the term ‘starving artist;’ it’s a lot of work but there’s literally nothing more fulfilling and I wish the life that God’s been able to give me on every single person. It’s a tradeoff, it’s a lot of pain and struggling, but for those who are beating their head against a wall right now, I’d encourage them because when you get past it, it’s definitely worth everything you’ve encountered, so I encourage people to keep going and not drop out.”

To submit to Shawn Campbell, click here

Follow Kiplin Evans on Twitter

Follow Shawn Campbell on Twitter

Check it out:

On May 5^th we will be doing a “Blazetrak Credit Giveaway” to every Premium Member.  Regular customers that become a Premium Member before midnight on the 5^th will also be eligible.

In addition – we will be randomly giving away Premium Memberships to 5 non-Premium-Members that purchase any credit package between 12am EST May 1st and 12 am EST May 6th.

Just think – if this is what we are giving away for Cinco de Mayo – what is Christmas going to be like J.

Benefits of Premium Membership - http://www.blazetrak.com/premium.php

Cheers,

The Blazetrak Team

Like many of you reading this, Guy Furious (Aman Sahota) is on Blazetrak in hopes of making it as a respected music producer; he wants to share his art for everyone to appreciate. “Just the thought of the lucky producers around the world who have the success of being able to make music their 9 to 5 is incredibly inspiring to me,” he says. I would love to achieve that.” He became a music-maker at the age of 13, having been influenced by his family and their love of music.

In the video announcing the result, Harrell praised Sahota for “his diversity, originality in terms of his music; and the quality of production. He really sounded like he could make any kind of music forever.”

When asked about his win, Sahota says “I’m still shocked! Its so surreal for me. Coming from England, trying to break into the American music industry is so hard, especially being young and millions of miles away. So to be given the opportunity of a helping hand and also the prospect of a publishing deal, especially from such a prestigious character of the music business, is just incredible! I feel so inspired and motivated and feel like I am creating the best music of my life because of it. I can’t wait to prove myself and keep coming with great music for Mr. Harrell.”

This talented producer and songwriter is creating new singles with Harrell Music for their new R&B group “Hamilton Park.” But when asked about what the next few months will bring, he says it’s “a mystery,” acknowledging that he hopes to be “flying out to the States.”

Aside from winning this competition, Sahota has been working on several projects.  You can check out his video blog series on YouTube, which chronicles his journey as a producer. Be sure to also check out his EPs on SoundCloud.

Congratulations again to Guy Furious! And remember that we’re always here to help you “Get Closer” to your dreams!

Our Professionals took home three of the six GRAMMYs for which they were nominated, all in major categories.

S1 “Symbolyc One” beat out fellow Bt pros Kane Beatz and Needlz, receiving his first GRAMMY as a co-producer of the hit single”Power” on Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, winner of Best Rap Album.

Following an impressive performance, the award for Best R&B Album went to Chris Brown for F.A.M.E., which boasts producing and songwriting credits for Harvey Mason Jr., Harmony, Amber “Se7en” Streeter, Brian Kennedy, and Andre Merritt.

Later in the show, Lady Antebellum accepted the GRAMMY for Best Country Album for Own The Night, acknowledging producer and Blazetrak Pro Paul Worley in their speech.

We want to again congratulate all of the nominated Bt Pros and we wish you all continued success this year!

Rihanna’s Loud is up for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, which boasts producing credits for Cri$tyle, Makeba Riddick, and The Runners, while Kane Beatz has a 2 in 5 shot at Best Rap Album, as producer on Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday and sharing producing credits with Needlz on Lupe Fiasco’s Lasers. Joining the race for Best Rap Album is S1 “Symbolyc One,” who co-produced Kanye West’s hit single “Power” for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Blazetrak is also strongly represented for Best R&B Album with five Pros splitting songwriter (Harvey Mason Jr., Harmony, Amber “Se7en” Streeter, Brian Kennedy, and Andre Merritt) and producer (Harmony and Brian Kennedy) duties for Chris Brown’s F.A.M.E. album.

Gospel is another award genre with a strong Bt presence.  Pros Tammi Haddon and Gerald Haddon share songwriter and producer credits for Best Gospel Album nominee Something Big by Mary Mary.  They are also co-writers of “Sitting With Me,” a Best Gospel Song nominee from that album.  The Haddons will go up against fellow Bt Pro Mathew Knowles, who produced Angel & Chanelle Deluxe Edition by Trin-I-Tee 5:7, also a Best Gospel Album nominee.

Rounding out the impressive list of Blazetrak Pro nominees is super-producer Paul Worley, whose success with Lady Antebellum continues with this year’s GRAMMY nod for Best Country Album for Own The Night.

We wish all of the Pros and artists good luck and will be tuning in when the 54^th Annual GRAMMY Awards air Sunday, February 12 at 8/7c on CBS!

Follow Blazetrak Blogger Casey on Twitter to join in the GRAMMY conversation while the awards are airing!  @caseyharvilla

“R&B Spotlight” is hosted monthly at BB King’s Blues Club and Grill in the heart of Times Square.  The event provides a platform for local, emerging artists to unveil their talents and gain exposure in the R&B community. Previous hosts and guests of include Lil Mo, SWV, Changing Faces, and RL of Next.

SWV and Cory Taylor on stage at the R&B Spotlight event (Photo Credits: Vibe Vixen)

“R&B Spotlight” will facilitate a search for artists using Blazetrak.com as its host site December 12, 2012 through January 12, 2012.  The winning artist(s) will have the opportunity to perform “live” on stage during the January edition of “R&B Spotlight,” accompanying a major national recording artist or group.

Artists are invited to submit a video performance (not to exceed 5 minutes) and an audio clip of music to Blazetrak.com. All submissions will be reviewed and critiqued by Cory Taylor, the founder of “R&B Spotlight,” and celebrity guest judges, R&B trio, SWV.  The judges will respond with remarks captured on video for each entry submitted.

“We are enthusiastic about this creative partnership with such a unique digital medium,” Taylor stated. “Through this partnership, we hope to expand and broaden our horizons in 2012 from a regional scope to one that will reach an international audience in 2012.”

“We are very excited about working with R&B Spotlight,” Corey Stanford, Co-Founder of Blazetrak said in a statement. “Our goal is to expand the reach and depth of the talent search via technology, and expose the opportunity to aspiring R&B artists internationally.”

For more information, visit:
http://www.blazetrak.com/rnbspotlight