By: Alex Carmenates
It's 2013 we're back on the horse and a major change has occurred. The NLRPDA is now reporting to DJ Times Magazine on a brand new Latin Dance Top 20 National Chart! Let me just remind you... The record pools are still breaking music in their respective markets. Both major and independent artists.
Around 20% of all pool members (DJs) in the US have not made their move to playing off a computer. They still play and preferred the old fashion CD format.
When a company sends the record pool an mp3, the pool director has to wait until he/she has enough music to fill an 80 minutes/750 MB CDrom to burn it for those members that do not use computers and need the music on a CD. Find out how many pools need CDs and the quantities may surprise you. It's not as many as it used to be, it's around 300 CDs or so.
We're are swamped with work as is, but if a company send us an mp3 that is not properly tagged, then we have to spend more of our time re-tagging the mp3 for our members. Remember, that all pools require quality mp3s. 128 kbps, nor 160, are acceptable and good quality. These types of mp3 are trashed and not even serviced to our membership.
We need for the record companies to service our pools with mp3s no less than 320 kbps ripped from the original wav file or master. DO NOT TRY to convert a 128 kbps mp3 into a 320 mp3 just to pass it off as a good quality mp3. We can hear the difference in the clubs, and a poorly compressed mp3 sounds like crap when amplified in a club. The DJs will end up not playing it.
Record Companies, do yourself a favor... don't jeopardize your possibilities of club play and make your label look bad by servicing a poor quality mp3. Wavs are preferred, but a good 320 mp3 is the norm. If you don't know how to correctly tag an mp3, please call me and I will let you know how to do it. There are many free mp3 tagging software available on the net for downloading.
When the record pool is sent an mp3 with a watermark, we are prohibited by law to distribute this specific file to our members. Unless we receive written or verbal permission to distribute this file amongst our members, once the file leaves our computer we cannot be held responsible for any type of file sharing that may occur after that.
Many DJs have been making copies of their promo CDs in order to back up their original CDs for years and some will share these copies with DJ friends that do not belong to the record pools, and even the internet at large. There is no way to regulate this. Once the watermark file is processed through many different software programs available, the watermark is removed.
Therefore, we strongly suggest that companies save their money and efforts to watermark mp3s when they are used for promotional purpose. While we appreciate the service and support the products, it is just useless to protect it.
Yes, we still need, look for and support remixes. The remix phenomenon is still very strong in the Latin market, and it's not just a "gay market" tool. 100% of the DJs that play remixes are looking for quality products. Please send us as many versions as possible!
The full album service is highly appreciated, but we still work with the single by single radio method. All pools are also looking for video service. Please send us videos any time one is available. MP4 format is our preference.
There are 12 Latin record pools still open that are members of the NLRPDA. To receive an updated list of all the record pools with their contact information please e-mail me at salsamania.promotions@gmail.com or dial (281) 235-5764.
As always, Keep It Latin!
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Nunca Olvidamos a Gretchen G!
