 I would like to announce that I am now part of a team of composers who write soundtracks for films and TV.
The company, EML (Electronic Music Library) is founded by Chris Payne and Nigel Bates, both of which have worked with many electronic icons such as Gary Numan and film soundtracks such as Terminator 2. It is a production music company specialising in electronic music and sound design for TV, radio, film and multi media. My first project with EML is to compose music for a german film. To say I am excited about this is an understatement! My bio is now on their website, under composers, the website will be officially launched in March 2016. Electronic Music Library At the same time I shall be writing songs for my new album called War Torn, which is due for release later in 2016. Thank you all for your kind comments on my Facebook page regarding EML. SGC Newsletter will be out shortly. It will be sent to you quarterly (March, June, September, December) for 2016, instead of being monthly. If you are not part of the mailing list, please add yourself, so you can be in with a chance to win CDs and receive exclusive links to videos. Bye for now... Manchine xx
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Hello and welcome to the latest blog by She's Got Claws!
I hope you are almost ready for the forthcoming festivities, it is a magical time of the year as we are about to enter a new year with lots of new music, including new music by She's Got Claws. I can announce exclusively to this blog that there will be a release of a mini album in 2016, this album is yet to be named. Songs in line to be considered for this album is firstly a track called 'War Torn', which is about being in a relationship with someone who has a cynical approach to love, so it is an uphill battle to make them believe. Other tracks are: Toxic Candy, Renewed (which didn't make Synthetic Emotion as it was too confrontational). Expect to hear a more punky aggressive edge to She's Got Claws in 2016, akin to early Gary Numan with The Tubeway Army. For now I am very proud to announce that Electronic Sound Magazine has done a review of Synthetic Emotion! Here is a quote lifted from their review in December's hardcopy; "A one woman powerhouse, refining of her musical urges to the classic Numan/Foxx/League and Ultravox era of synth pop." - Electronic Sound Magazine (Dec 2015) You can subscribe to Electronic Sound Magazine online or buy a hard copy from retailers. If you would like to be entered into a competition to win a free gift for Christmas, all you have to do is sign up to the mailing list before 10th December. May I be the first to wish you a very Merry Christmas :) Bye for now Micci xx  Hi, I would like to talk to you about streaming and my experiences regarding this. I released my debut album in 2012 with EmuBands. With EmuBands thankfully you can choose where you can sell your product and if you would like to use the streaming services such as Spotify and Deezer. Initially I agreed to sell it everywhere, even for my album to be streamed as I believed the spiel you are given, i.e. 'this will help raise your profile'. So my album was available globally to every download site. When receiving my royalty statements, I noticed the statement showed a huge long list of streams via Spotify, this to me was a success regarding raising awareness. However on further investigation, the payment I had earned was a very tiny amount, I was only being paid less than 1p per stream. Is this what all my hard work was worth? I have 9 songs on my debut album, so my album is only worth less than 9p in total? I immediately challenged this with EmuBands, who told me that they could not do anything about this other than deleting my album off Spotify. So I agreed to take my album off Spotify and also to check each website to make sure they were not streaming my songs for less than 1p each.  Recently I checked Amazon MP3 to read the feedback from customers. To my horror, Amazon have decided to sell my album for free if you sign up to their Amazon Prime. I challenged this with EmuBands and I received the same reply stating that they can not do anything other than pull my album from Amazon altogether. Is this what music is generally worth in the eyes of these large corporations? I am left with a dilemma. If I pull my album from Amazon MP3 then customers will no longer be able to buy my debut, as there is no option for the musician to choose to opt out of the streaming and/or giving your music away for free on Amazon Prime. Apple are doing the same with people's hard work with their Apple Music. Bands like U2 are doing music absolutely no favours by giving away their album for free via Apple, this is devaluing music in the eyes of the consumer and encouraging many to take music for granted. U2 can afford to do this kind of publicity stunt but they are not seeing the full picture and consequences of their actions. All these large companies say they are paying the artist but realistically they are not, as they are giving less than 1p per song streamed. Would you go to work for less than 1p per hour for example? Or work for over 1 year on a project, only to be told you are not getting paid and for another company to make a healthy profit from you? This needs to stop. In my opinion the only way this can stop is for customers to stop using these services and to truly support music by actually buying the song and albums, then these companies will stop using music as a cheap carrot to get your money. Most of the money you are giving is not filtering its way to the artist and smaller artists are suffering because of this situation. Do you actually care if the money you are giving to subscribe to these services is not actually going to the musicians who are the ones who create the entertainment for these companies to exploit?  My EP, which was released this year, called Synthetic Emotion is distributed by Spinnup. As a distributor they give you absolutely no options to opt out of any download site.
I searched for days to find a distributor who gave you options, but this is something that is very rare. The reason why I decided to sign up to them is because they came highly recommended and reliable as a distributor, plus they have scouts who you can contact directly. The agreement only lasts for 1 year at a time, so I have decided my EP is now only available until July 2016, then it will no longer be for sale from download sites. Until these companies start to appreciate music, I am personally reluctant to release any other product with them. I have found that EmuBands is the only distributor who gives you the option, however not everything is under your control. I've heard too many "sorry we can't" from this distributor, so unless you don't mind giving your music away for free, then selling your music directly from your own website is the best way of earning from all your hard work. So to give this blog a happy conclusion, I am going to sell my next album (due for release in 2016) directly from my website. Thank you for reading this blog. I look forward to reading your comments :) Micci xx P.s. There is a competition in October's newsletter (Issue 6) to win the only hardcopy of my debut album. You need to subscribe to the mailing list to be in with a chance on getting your hands on this.
On Wednesday I decided to make another performance video live in my studio for the third song from my Synthetic Emotion EP.
It was shot on my iPhone and uploaded to You Tube via You Tube Capture App, which is a great App to have as it is very simple and quick to use. There are no edits or overdubbing of audio on this video, so what you see is what naturally happened when Chris (Mechanical PR) pressed 'video' on my phone. I am not, as yet, prepared to go out live. I would need two keyboard players who have a strong understanding of programming and drum machines, along with being able to sing backing vocals. So in the meantime I am beginning to write more songs and as I mentioned in my latest Newsletter (which you should have received if you have joined the mailing list) I am in the process of compiling songs and ideas for a forthcoming album which I would like to be released in 2016. Before this new album release, I would like to release a single which shall include two exclusive remixes of one song taken from my debut album and one song taken from mySynthetic Emotion EP. These songs I have not as yet decided on. So in the meantime, I hope you enjoy the releases which are on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play etc and the performance videos for Manchine and the one I filmed 3 months ago for 'I Die For You'. Bye for now :) M.I.C.C.I. She's Got Claws x #shesgotclaws #syntheticemotion #garynuman #electronicmusic #dancemusic #newmusic #amazon #google #itunes  Hi, August's newsletter which is sent out to everybody who has joined the mailing list is now on it's way to all members.
It isn't too late to receive August's newsletter, if you join in August you will be sent August's newsletter, which gives you info regarding SGC and Andy McCluskey (OMD), also lots of exciting info about SGC and her potential involvement with a Channel 4 series. There will be a competition shortly, so this is another great reason to join the mailing list as you will get preference over getting to know news and be in with a greater chance of winning goodies! Facebook - The likes are going up steadily, as this is the page SGC uses to get more up close and personal with her fans, so you can contact her directly from this page. If you like this page, SGC will happily reply to your direct messages and comments left on her posts. Twitter - This is linked to the SGC Facebook Page, so whatever is posted on Facebook is automatically posted onto SGC's Twitter page, plus SGC often posts up new photos and retweets - @shesgotclaws Sales of She's Got Claws concept EP 'Synthetic Emotion' is going amazingly well, with loads of great feedback being received every day from very happy fans who have downloaded the EP and have picked out their favourite song. I Die For You is the winner so far, do you have a favourite? Direct links to iTunes, Amazon & Google Play on SGC's Music page. Bye for now!  Here is the first front cover by Hull Mag, which goes out to over 75k across the East Riding area. Inside the magazine you will find a 2 page spread of the interview I did along with a photo of Andy McCluskey from OMD, who recently reviewed my EP. I am about to send him his copy of this magazine, so cannot wait to hear his response!  I have attached them here and also as part of my Press page, as some of you will not be able to grab a copy across the UK.
Hull Mag is also available online so you can have a good read of all the great articles in this edition and many other issues... Hull Mag - Issue 22 (She's Got Claws front cover & interview) Enjoy! Here's to many more front covers! Bye for now Manchine xx  It is finally here, after months of preparation and loads of time spent in the studio writing and re-writing songs, to make sure that I am giving you the very best to enjoy, Synthetic Emotion EP is officially released now on iTunes, Amazon and many other download sites across the globe.
Humans - A few weeks ago I was delighted to see the broadcast of the Channel 4 series 'Humans' as it touches on the subject of Synthetic Emotion. It confirms to me that I am not the only one who is thinking about the future of our technology and how synthetic humans will become part of everybody's lives. Synthetic Emotion is about the creation of the first humanoid who is programmed to feel human emotion and to develop as a human being through experiencing love, loss and loneliness. So my EP seems to be bang on trend with lots of interest and reviews. To say that this is an exciting moment is an understatement and yet it's a little nerve wracking. I would love to hear from you and your comments regarding the EP and what your favourite song is. Competition - If would like to be in with a chance to win a limited edition hardcopy of Synthetic Emotion then log into your Facebook and/or Twitter and share/retweet She's Got Claws posts. Every person who has actively shown support via these sites have been noted, so the more you share, the more you are in with a strong chance of finding this limited edition EP delivered directly to you. T-Shirts - There are also t-shirts available from Mechanical-Me of the front cover of Synthetic Emotion. You can choose between a black or white t-shirt (Mens or Womens) for the high quality print to be printed onto. Looking forward to reading your comments and thank you for your support, Manchine xx Hello, From today you can now pre-order Synthetic Emotion from Amazon for only £3.16 which is an absolute bargain for this new EP! You can also listen to a sample of each song on the Amazon page too. Please check it out and pre-order your copy today...   "The fact is that, as any self-respecting Numanoid will acknowledge ‘She’s Got Claws’ was a song penned by pop pioneer himself Mr Numan. It comes as little surprise, then, that electronica is at the heart of this eclectic act. But that’s just the start: Ricocheting NIN-esque hardcore sensibilities collide with sultry, sometimes hauntingly vulnerable, vocals throughout Synthetic Emotion. Conceptually, it has touches of Bowie’s emotional explorations with Brian Eno, with some slightly dark humour a la Daft Punk or Air. Keeping it real and minimal so as not to detract from the off the wall story of human and machine relationships is an essential consideration in the sharp instrumentation, powerful vocals and truly off the wall soundscapes contained here. Completely performed, composed and produced by She’s Got Claws’ own Automata studios, using no additional musicians or sampled drum loops, this is clearly made by someone with overwhelming talent and originality. The robot-esque vocals without use of vocoder or other such manipulation are wonderfully organic. Despite my, and others comparisons, Synthetic Emotion is a unique piece of post-modern, verging on gritty electronica not to be underrated." -Nick Serre (Formerly of Future Music/ Guitarist/ Rhythm) Synthetic Emotion EP - 4 July 2015 on iTunes, Amazon & Google Play.
Join the Mailing List now to be in with a chance to win a limited edition hard copy of the EP. Here are 2 screen grabs of the review and interview by Brutal Resonance. Overall a very favourable review of the forthcoming release Synthetic Emotion and I had a fun time answering the questions for the interview. "She's Got Claws has crafted a good four track EP that fulfills the story she wants to tell." Many thanks to Brutal Resonance, truly appreciate their support. Click onto the screen grabs below to take you to the interview and review. Manchine xx   |
MicciHello, this is my Blog for my electronic music which goes under the name She's Got Claws. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Please get in touch, it would be fab to hear from you xx "Gritty and engaging synth pop" The Electricity Club
"A one woman electronic powerhouse" Electronic Sound Magazine
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