Tonight their weekly Subliminal Sessions Voodoo Nights at Pacha in Ibiza plays host to hip hop legend P. Diddy.

The party is one of the key events of the summer on the island, that has already seen Kylie launch her album at Pacha, and ahead of BBC Radio 1’s annual blow out this weekend featuring Underworld.

Diddy is a Twitter legend, with over 2.7 million followers and daily tweeting habit. Check out his live (and very lively) feed below to keep up with the action if (like us!) you’re not luck enough to be on the island tonight.

Alchemy Content provides a stream of fresh news content for erickmorillo.com and subliminalrecords.com including artist interviews and release/event news, as well as managing all associated social media profiles and campaigns.

With Erick playing 5 gigs a week across Europe throughout August, on top of hosting the likes of Diddy at his weekly home in Ibiza, there is plenty to talk about with his fast growing online community.

Subliminal Records is also back in a big way as a 100% digital concern, releasing monster tracks each and every week. Check out this amazing video for Erick’s ‘Live Your Life’ single for a taste of the output and the Subliminal parties around the world.

FeedWind

The package contains no less than 3 different remixes from X-Press 2 and has already been given full support by the trio in their sets and charts, plus picked up on by a wide range of international DJs since first emerging at Miami WMC back in March. For this key release, content assets include streams of the track, images and a doc containing interviews with Hakan and Rocky for press/bloggers to use for quotations or in their entirity. All supported across Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and beyond.

There’s plenty more to come from SOUNDZ and it’s legendary house music-focused sister label, Slip N Slide, over the coming months. As online streaming, Twitter and mobile all become increasingly central to the promotion of new tracks, the importance of a good content generation and management package becomes ever more obvious.

@buzzin_fly DJ Ben Watt posted what turned out to be the first online news of redundancies at the vitally important London venue. Within an hour there was plenty of RT action of his original post and the usual overexcited Twitter chatter confusing the issue. By the end of the afternoon things were getting fairly heated on the clubbing forums, forcing Ben to make a statement earlier today.

The one voice that everyone wanted/needed to hear remained deafeningly silent. In fact, as opposed to posting a statement on either their homepage news feed or blog, @fabriclondon contacted Ben and asked him to remove his earlier tweets. As anyone using Twitter (and indeed any web media tools) should really be aware, this is an utterly pointless exercise. It also fuels the gossipmongers no end.

There is still no mention of the rumours – which have of course now spread far beyond Twitter and the forums – on any of Fabric’s online profiles. This late reaction will do more damage to their reputation than gossip ever could. We questioned why it took so long for an official statement to go up on the Matter website last week, but with the venue’s closure and staff being given their marching orders, it was understandable that getting online was probably not the most pressing issue. It’s different this time though. The Fabric blog is still being updated with info about this weekend’s parties, so the wall of silence makes the situation seem dire, when clearly every effort will be being put into making sure the club continues to open as usual, if this is possible.

During times of internal turbulence, no company really wants to have to stand up in front of the public and make a statement until the dust at least begins to settle. But it’s an absolute necessity these days. And it can be done quite effectively in 140 characters. A chatty “will clear up all rumours shortly, open as usual” would have been good. Instead there is confusion leading up to one of the most lucrative holiday weekends in the clubbing year, inflicting both short and long-term damage to the club and it’s fantastic international brand.

It serves as a stark example of how even the most apparently slick, youthful media operations – that are fully blogged, Twittered and Facebooked up – are still a long way off having the digital strategy required to react properly to today’s real time web.

It is not enough to simply be using all these tools, our entire approach towards communications needs to be rethought in order to cope with them. Adapting is proving difficult for most people aged over 25 and most companies with managers over 25, but this absolutely needs to be embraced.

Hopefully Fabric and the many observers of this incident will use it to improve their digital strategy in the ways we often advocate here. Long may the club continue.

All this week we’re out in Mayrhofen, Austria, producing a real-time stream of news content for the official Snowbombing festival iPhone app by Eristoff – Vodka from the Land of the Wolf.

If you’ve got an iPhone or iPod Touch, download it for free while the event is taking place and let us know what you think. You’ll find news, gossip and interviews direct from the week-long festival, which sees artists like The Enemy, Editors, 2ManyDJs, De La Soul, Fatboy Slim, Vitalic, Doves and Friendly Fires playing to 6000 fancy dressed loons high up the Tyrolean alps.

Live Feeds

The app makes use of Alchemy Content’s specialist experience of developing and running mobile applications that go beyond the gimmicks; providing a useful, always up-to-date information service that’s constantly available in a user’s pocket.

Live feeds of high-quality custom content give people a reason to refer to the branded application repeatedly throughout their time at the event. For Snowbombing, we’ve devised an additional Eristoff Secrets feed, offering exclusive calls to action on things like VIP party access, ticket competitions and insider tips for getting the most from the resort.

Intense Usage

Mobile apps based around intense periods of usage, like major events or holiday locations work particularly well, so the Eristoff Snowbombing app is an ideal use of the technology and Alchemy Content’s editorial and project management services. See our Clubber’s Guide to Ibiza app for more.

GPS maps pinpointing and recommending local businesses, a fully searchable events schedule including artist profiles, plus user generated community feeds from YouTube, Flickr and Twitter all add to the application being an essential download for anyone – whether out at Snowbombing or not – with an interest in the artists or wanting an interactive guide to the best of Mayrhofen’s après ski.

Download the Eristoff Snowbombing app for iPhone or iPod Touch.

Electronic music’s most legendary mix CD series and its associated record label, Global Underground, has just completely relaunched its online presence, with Alchemy Content now providing regular editorial feeds and social media management for the brand.

GU was way ahead of the game in terms of building a passionate fan community on its site over a decade ago, but little much had changed about the basic site design over the years.
The brand new Globalunderground.co.uk has a completely fresh visual identity, a strong new Heritage section telling its history via those infamous City Series mix CDs, less intrusive but more comprehensive e-commerce for buying music and merchandise, plus new Tours, News and Forum sections to make the most of the strong community, rather than hiding it away as before.

The famously acerbic regulars on the GU forums have been quick to make their opinions felt, but the 2-way conversational approach of the new site is already paying dividends, opening up a real dialogue with the loyal fanbase to help provide the facilities they actually want. It’s a really exciting project that should see the label fully take advantage of today’s digital media tools to build upon its amazing international following.

Alchemy Content will be producing short regular magazine-style content and social media activity for GU, with the next big milestones being the return of the club residency at London’s Ministry of Sound on March 6th and the annual WMC party at Mynt in Miami on March 24th.

A key aim of all this ecleticism is to bring classical music to a younger audience by breaking away from some of the more stuffy conventions of such events. Therefore performers will join the audience for informal chats at the bar, everyone can bring drinks in to the main space and the music will be accompanied by striking visuals.

Having spent recent weeks working on the social media campaign for the series, and in the process interviewing many of the key artists, we’ve been inspired by the wide variety of creativity and enthusiasm there is towards removing these historical barriers.

From the passionate conductor Charles Hazelwood enthusing “saying someone who likes Drum & Bass won’t like Wagner or a fan opera of can’t appreciate R&B is bollocks” to Madonna’s favourite pianists the Labeque sisters speaking about creating their foundation to connect young people to classical piano music via graphics and videos, and composer Rolf Hind discussing his plans for balancing experiments in audience participation with the need not to appear patronising or gimmicky.

SUNNATA excerpt – Rolf Hind by AlchemyContent

These stars of the classical world are very keen to engage their music with a thoroughly contemporary audience, and judging by their approach, there is no reason why the crossover need be awkward or contrived. They are more in tune with today’s young audiences than many pop or obscure underground artists of the moment. And you’ll find them Twittering about it too…

Join the Reverb @ The Roundhouse Facebook Group for daily updates and links to some amazing examples of what’s in store. There’s also a group ticket discount and some events are free for under 26’s. For full program details plus info on the workshops and talks around the concerts, check the Roundhouse website.

Over recent weeks I’ve had 2 very different customer service experiences. Admittedly pitting the boutique online printers Moo against electronics behemoth Sony isn’t really a fair match. But online, every brand should be ticking these essential boxes in the same way, or risk rapid damage to their reputation – whatever their size.

Moo: Good

We use Moo for our business cards, and the latest batch came back with a slight cutting error. Finding out how to contact customer service was stupidly easy. Every step of the transaction had already been reported by automatic email. The box contained re-order codes, a helpful returns sticky label and the website is clear from clutter, making navigation a breeze.

I sent an email, got a response and the reprints we on my desk at no cost – financial or emotional – to me, the customer. (Makes you want to write a positive blog post by way of a thank you, really).

Sony: Not Very Good

Meanwhile, the door on my Sony camcorder suddenly wouldn’t close, with or without a Mini DV cassette in it. Seeking assistance for this was the polar opposite experience. Googling the error code produced reams of forum posts slagging off Sony, this apparently common fault and their inability to communicate with customers on it other than charging them a lot of money to fix it.

Trying to find Sony’s own customer services for any official info was painful. Searches under a number of different terms pulled up variously unhelpful results: North American only help centres, drop down ‘help’ menus that didn’t list my particular camera model, vast FAQ pages.

Digital Content Strategy

A proper digital content strategy would see Sony not only simplifying and promoting the path to reach them direct, but also managing and reacting to the user comments about their products on other sites. It’s ridiculous that no representative from the company has contributed to those forums. Their reputation is being raked through the mud on there unchecked. The commercial missed opportunity is there for all to see.

Ok, so Moo may have a little too much Innocent Smoothiesque folksiness about them for some tastes, but all that chumminess is just a presentation style that works well for their type of business. The same principle of effective and rapid customer service can be handled in a totally corporate way with equally good results.

Help Them ‘Get It’

It all goes to show the huge culture shift that is going to have to take place very rapidly at ‘old’ companies as the general public increasingly seek answers to their issues online. It’s unfortunate but unsurprising that the brands that really ‘get it’ are those built for the new digital space.

At least helping all the others catch up presents a wealth of opportunity for a new breed of media companies. As ever, seeing it unfold around us is a very interesting process. Even though I still haven’t worked out how to get my camcorder to close.

We were over in Holland for the Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE09) recently, and despite growing in size and importance since I was last there in 2004, the conference and associated parties still really do deliver.

The dance industry generally, begrudgingly, agrees that their once traditional meeting place of Miami in March has been hijacked by the need for that city’s many nightclubs to turn a huge profit over WMC week from flash spring break kids, rather than cater to hob-nobbing industry professionals. And with other calendar fixtures like Popkomm in Berlin not happening in ‘09, expectations for ADE as the year’s real business-focused event seemed higher than ever.

This and the wider economic situation gave a real sense of urgency to the business meetings out there, with people keen to strike deals rather than simply talk a load of big talk.
We were speaking to lots of labels and artists about their digital content strategy, from to creating and managing mobile phone apps (a platform all are keen to be involved in), to social media marketing and producing bespoke, branded magazine-style content. It looks to have been a very productive trip.

The nightlife is also a real joy, with hassle-free doors and crowds, plus stunning industrial spaces like the new Trouw ensuring that Amsterdam is an ideal destination for such a dance music event, one that now brings over 90,000 people into the city to party.
Every party we checked out was happily full. Read the selection of ADE party reviews I wrote for Resident Advisor here, and plan your visit for 2010, whether for business or pleasure…

We’re proud to say that Alchemy Content was a winner at the Mobile Content Awards 09 on Thursday night. Our work on the Ministry of Sound Clubbers Guide to Ibiza iPhone app saw us take the Silver Award for ‘Best Handset Application’, with the Financial Times taking the Gold.

This was great recognition from the mobile industry that our custom editorial production and management services are exactly the kind of innovation they wish to see more of on handsets in the future. As providers of all kinds of digital content and proponents of an editorial ‘feed culture’ this couldn’t be a more appropriate accolade, so we were very pleased to collect our award with Tom Bulwer representing MSHK/Ministry of Sound.

The final winners in the Best Handset Application category were:
Gold – Financial Times for FT iPhone App
Silver – Alchemy Content / MSHK for Ministry of Sound Clubbers Guide to Ibiza iPhone App
Bronze – Airborne Mobile for Homes on Mobile Phones Real Estate App

Great Feedback

While we’re banging the drum for the app, we’ve been particularly pleased with the feedback from users too. Here’s a sample of the kind of emails we’ve received:

“The app is brilliant. I used it in July and check it most days over here in the UK too. And these competitions are excellent!” Isla

“The iPhone app has been REALLY useful even in the run up to the holiday and I am sure it will be even more useful once we are out there.” Mark

And a couple from the iTunes App Store reviews, where the average rating is 4 out of 5 stars:

“This app is SO good! Totally essential if you are on your way out there, you lucky git!” banarydan

“I don’t normally ever write reviews but I got this 2 weeks before I’m due to go, was a bit apprehensive whilst downloading but it’s well worth it. Tells u all that is going on in the main clubs and how to get there too, and other studff like news and what’s on tonight… seriously get this.” Mamba man

Thanks go to Patrick Hagenaar for the original commission and Elliot Bowes at Active Guru for the development. If you’d like to speak to Alchemy Content about managing a content based mobile project like this then we’re ready to help and full of new ideas. Here’s to more awards and content innovation…

More details on the Clubbers Guide to Ibiza iPhone app.

The app is up for ‘Best Handset Application’, facing some healthy competition from the other nominees in the category including the Financial Times, Mobile Money Services, Airborne Mobile Inc and UMU Limited.

Feedback on the app has been overwhelmingly positive and the live feeds of news, special offers and over 50 free guestlist places a week have really captured the users imaginations.
The nomination is a great result for one of our key projects in this, our first year of operation.

Check out the promo video and download the app if you’ve got an iPhone. There’s still plenty of time to fly over for the Closing parties in September!