B. Rossin

 In addition to the many projects and events we have on our plate we have also been prepping for a major Beat Shop overhaul.  This includes a new look, easier shopping and of course more beats.  We be starting from scratch with a fresh pallet of sounds that are more reflective of our current sounds and style.  This means no more ZHip Hop Beats.

1.  Choose your beat.  Browse through our large library and find something you like.  Head bopping and toe tapping are usually good indicators that you like it.

2.  Buy the beat seculry via PayPal.  Please don’t send us envelopes stuffed with cash.

3.  You will receive an email from us after your purchase thanking you and asking you to select another beat.

4.  Then choose anther beat you like.

5.  Reply to the email with the name of the beat you like.

We will reply with a download link.  And we will probably thank you again or provide some encouraging words as you begin the writing process.

Repeat steps 1-5 if you like what you hear.

And that’s it!    Just go to http://www.theblackoutbeat.com/beatshop to see what we have!

-B. Rossin

-m

We finally saw X-Men First Class. It was awesome. Go see it a few times if you haven’t

"Life seems so bleek and empty now that we don't have X-Men First Class to look forward to. What is left for me in this world?"

already (I’m about to see it for a third time). So now that the movie/biggest thing of the year has come and gone its time to get back to The Blackout Beat, the other thing Armando and I are really known for.

While some search desperately for direction in life after X-Men First Class other give up on it completely. .

So without further delay, here are our updates.

1. Blog

First is the blog, the same blog your reading right now… The Blackout Blog.
Throughout our move we were temporarily unable to make music, record, continue FREE Song Friday and almost anything that would help us to get our name out. The move was long, grueling and enormously frustrating. But despite that roadblock, our blog flourished. Our subscriptions and hits grew daily.

For us, our blog is a great way to connect with our fans, updating them on Blackout and things that are important to us. We try to put as much of our personality (magnetic and awesome) into it as we can. I feel that its is key.

So one of our first priorities is to keep the blog going and to revamp it a bit. We want to post at least 6 times a week, expand our topic range with more local focus, try to spend a bit more time to make each post more entertaining. We have some really great posts coming later this week to jump things off. Additionally, we will be revamping the look and feel of the blog which brings me to our next update…

2. Look and Feel of Everything Blackout

We are working with a very talented graphic design firm to redesign our logo, website, marketing and promo materials as well as this blog. We want to create a motif that translates well to everything we have out there, whether its our website or a brochure about our production and recording services. Our new logo and look will reflect our personality much better than our current logo and look. The motif we are sticking to is very original and I’d love to expand on that but I think it speaks well for itself. Can’t wait for you all to see! To coincide with the image revamp we will be doing new photo shoots that will include new pics of Armando and me, artists we frequent in the studio and our new studio itself.

Yes your read correctly. We are about to get even sexier.

3. Marcos Solo EP Project

That’s right. I’m starting a solo project that we intend to release before the summer is over. We are thinking of doing somewhere near 6 songs.  The sound and feel of this project will be much different from TBA and the recent songs I have done.  I want to put the some of the Latin flavor back into our music as well as do tracks with Armando that will go beyond what we did together on TBA.  I’m also doing a track for it that takes our listeners back to the days of The Revolution in a very clever way that fans of  Lexie might like.  I’m actually in the studio now and after this blog is done I’m going to go back in the booth to finish vocals for the first song. We will document the entire thing via a video diary/blog that we will release weekly to build anticipation for the project. We are looking at selling the EP for a few dollars online were all or most of the proceeds goes to a charity or cause that we feel passionate about. Also, as Armando and I work on my project we will be simultaneously working on a EP project for Colorado Springs Hip Hop artist and frequent collaborator Reflecshaun.

4. Reflecshaun EP Project
One of our favorite artists to work with will be returning to our studio to do a brand new project. We have been trying to coordinate something with Reflecshaun for the last 6 months

Reflecshaun, Marcos and Armando reunite in the studio. (Armando not pictured. Someone had to take the picture)

and it looks like we finally figured out how we are going to be able to make this work. We will  be documenting the making of this project to keep a buzz growing. We are also tossing an idea around to include a track on both projects that features both Marcos and Reflecsuan and it could be used as the first single off both projects.

5. Blackout Week

This one is so big that it might end up as its own blog/article later. Blackout week is going to be our official jump off week were we will announce new projects, premier new music, help out a cause that’s important to us as well as party like only we can.  Blackout week will take place in the 2nd week of July and it will be a week full of events (both online and at our studio) that will celebrate the launch of our new space and new projects. Each day will feature an event that includes free digital releases, video premiers, workshops in our studio for artists, song writers and producers and a Salsa fundraiser for our great friends at 5280 Comic Book Classroom. This is all leading up to our open house party that will include live performances from us and artists we work with, drinks that make you feel good, dancing to very loud music and great networking. Yea.. this is a pretty big thing so we will definitely be doing a separate post about this soon that breaks down each day.  If your from out of town start making travel arrangements.  Its gonna be a good one and we’d love to have you here!

You can bring your dog to our events because we have a pet friendly building (unless you try to keep a dog as a pet). Note: Party hats for dogs are not optional or negotiable, they are required.

6. The Beat Shop

I’ll make this one quick.  A ton of awesome new beats+New look and feel+New and intense marketing efforts+New prices and sales = Updated Beat Shop

7. Other things..

Yes.. there is more. Quite a bit more in fact. So here is the gist of it…

Armando is already working in the studio with new artists (singers and bands) and producers. Expect to see some video and hear some amazing new music from Armando soon. Speaking of new music, Armando and I are currently gearing up to get back in the studio with R&B group BKO to start work on their second project, their first full length album that follows their 7 track EP that we also produced. And speaking of that EP… we will be releasing that project in its entirety very soon, maybe during next months Blackout Week event. Lastly, you can expect a truck load of new video content from us that covers all our projects and events.

Imagine all the video content we can load into that truck!

8. Conclusion

So that’s our update. I think its safe to say that we have a pretty full plate (full of things that we love).

Fries = new music, salad = events, and other thing, maybe chicken=everything else we are doing.

I always like to close these updates by reflecting on what came before and thanking everyone who has and continues to support us and our dreams. We are still here and we are not giving up. It has been a interesting (to say the least) few months prior to the move. We grew professionally and personally as a result and we also made some pretty significant steps forward despite some annoying setbacks. We are truly blessed to be able to do work that we love and to do it with people that pretty much rock.

Thanks for reading,

-m

-m

-m

Artist browse through a large selection of original beats then download however many they want (and pay securely via PayPay Checkout).  They can then use them to write their own songs that they could then record in any recording studio of their choice with any recording software.  There are beats that have a limited license, meaning that multiple artists can purchase them and make their own unique songs to the beat.  We also have exclusive license beats.  This means that whoever buys the beat is the only owner and they will be the only person who can make a song with that beat.

One feature that helps to distinguish The Blackout Beat’s Beat Shop is that we have beats that include artist features!  Choruses, bridges, rap verses and even ad libs!  The best thing about this is that all vocals for these tracks where recorded and written by The Blackout Beat!  So when you buy one of these tracks you are really getting the Blackout experience.

We will be constantly updating the catalog on The Beat Shop so that artists from all over the world can evolve their sound as we do ours!

The  Beat Shop launches on March 25th on theblackoutbeat.com

-m