Tag: I’s Cube

I met with Kana (I’s CUBE’s manager) yesterday at a Starbuck’s in Hiroo. I brought my laptop intending to show her music.podshow.com and hopefully convince her to upload some tracks to it. But Starbucks here don’t have wireless access (campers aren’t profitable) and I couldn’t siphon off enough bandwidth from an nearby unsecured access point. One of these days I’m going to have to buy myself a card with an external antenna jack that I can plug into a Pringle’s can.

We talked about the legal issues that come with playing and recording music. She’s far more familiar with the details than most artists are about their own music and warned me to be very careful. On of the things I want to do is help indy artists sell their music online, either by setting up a Zen Cart store or by helping them take advantage of iTunes, CD Baby, etc. by helping them getting set up with TuneCore. The question for me right now is, how do I find the time? I barely have enough time to even blog.

She also sent me a song from I’s CUBE that I’ll play on my next podcast–the one I recorded last night but need to edit.

Kana is someone I feel lucky to know. Her drive to achieve her goals is greater than her sense of fear–something I’m working on, so it’s good to have a role model. She president of her own record label to promote the bands she loves the most. This is no small feat, considering that the music industry is rife with organized crime and profits are small unless you have a runaway hit. But I have a strong feeling that she has what it takes to be successful. I doubt she’s the kind of person who looks at herself in the mirror every morning and repeats affirmation mantras. She seems to just naturally have confidence. (For the record, I force myself to fake it, kicking and screaming all the way.)

I just heard from Kana Tokura, I’s CUBE‘s manager when they were at Yamaha records. I lost touch with Kana when I dropped off the face of the earth last year, but she just sent me an e-mail with good news.

Kana started a new company and took I’s CUBE with her. She understands much better than Yamaha Records that people are changing what they listen to, the way they acquire music and how they listen to it. That being said, you can sample I’s CUBE’s latest CD online and purchase it via Paypal.

Show ’em your fandom (and make Kana all happy and giggly) by friending One Up Music and I’s CUBE on MySpace.