PRESS RELEASE - MARSTROPOLIS PROLIFERATES For Immediate Release ROB ASTOR'S Concept Album MARSTROPOLIS Spreads Across Cyberspace Since the release of his new instrumental double CD MARSTROPOLIS in September 2005, Rob Astor has been very happy with opportunities and his success. "I didn't know digital distribution would be so rewarding," Rob says. "I'm completely surprised by the number of downloads compared to physical CD sales. What I'm experiencing firsthand is the advent of the Internet as a powerful musical outlet. It's taking on and surpassing traditional record companies in terms of exposure for undiscovered artists." Rob's CD was released through the primarily Internet based company CDBaby.com. Based in Portland, Oregon, CDBaby mainly sells it's titles through a website store. In addition, artists are also distributed to more than two dozen legal digital download sites including big names like Apple's iTunes (who recently surpassed one billion in download sales), Rhapsody, and the new and improved legal version of Napster. "You can't imagine what a thrill it was for me to browse iTunes one night and find my music there." Rob is very excited. "I was listed quicker than I thought I would be, but I'm not complaining!" He's amassing a listing of his most popular downloaded tracks. The success of MARSTROPOLIS has also been dependent upon many other digital sites where Rob is listed. Mindawn.com is one of those places, utilizing the Vorbiss FLAC and OGG formats for its site content. "FLAC files are very similar to the M4A files Apple uses. It's a 'lossless' format where sound quality isn't sacrificed when converting standard AIFF files to something the size of a great sounding MP3 file," Rob explains. Several of Rob's MARSTROPOLIS tracks have been very popular on Yahoo! Music. "The titles which are way ahead in the pack are more dance oriented. Someday, I might have an excuse to do a greatest hits collection!" Rob jokes. However, he doesn't see this happening anytime soon. "I still have too much music to create!" Yahoo! Music is a part of AOL's MusicNet which also includes Tower Records. "I was equally as trilled to find myself at the Tower Records site as I was to be on iTunes." The Virgin Records and FYE download sites are both a part of this grouping. "CDBaby really does have its perks." One of those is a recent partnership with Best Buy where independent musicians can be found by searching the store at BestBuy.com. "I've also set up on a few newer download sites that aren't included in the CDBaby distribution package. One of them is Audiri.com." Since joining, Rob has been a strong presence on the download charts kept at the site. Along with many of his MARSTROPOLIS tracks, Rob has listed three brand new tracks; the New Age "Tropic Of Antarctica", the mellow Middle Eastern flavored groove of "Aphrodite's Belly Dance", and the party-like "Monkey Down". These new tracks will appear on future projects. For the time being, they are only available at Audiri.com. "For a while, 'Tropic Of Antarctica' was doing the best." The track has a beautifully arranged 12-string guitar layer Rob is very proud of. "Currently, 'Aphrodite's Belly Dance' has been the strongest seller." It has been firmly placed in the top 15 of the monthly sales charts and peeked at number 2 on the daily charts. Another site Rob will soon be a part of is ANK Dance Music Portal, a digital site based in the U.K. "I was invited to join the site by the owner who heard some of my music on MySpace.com. The Internet as a promotional tool is very powerful. It's amazing to me what's happened since MARSTROPOLIS came out." The first of these unique opportunities was offered to Rob thanks to his sites at MySpace.com. "I was contacted by a company called Jun Group. They were producing a film for the Coca-Cola Company, one of the 'lifestyles' shorts you might have seen advertised in theaters last summer. They liked a track they heard on cNet. I was asked to submit music for use in this movie. I sent them a dozen or so tracks and was given the offer to continue submitting music for future projects." Rob firmly believes in taking every opportunity, as well as creating some of his own. "MARSTROPOLIS was inspired by a video game called SimMars, based on the popular SimCity games. I submitted the whole CD for consideration of inclusion in this game. So far, they like six of my compositions. I'm working on additional music for SimMars at this time. It will be released later this year." Besides submitting music for the SimMars game, Rob has submitted MARSTROPOLIS to a few other places to gain more exposure. "Currently, Adult Swim of the Cartoon Network is asking for musical submissions. I'm a hit with teenagers and video game players. It couldn't hurt to be on TV for fifteen seconds or so." A second place Rob chose to send music to is Pump Audio. "Pump Audio acts like an agent. They connect people in TV and other media outlets to musicians and market music for those projects. It's a way for musicians to have their work possibly be used as the soundtrack for a TV program, for example." Lastly, Rob also sent his music to Magnatune Recordings. Magnatune helps market musicians through an on-line database and through merchandising. "You don't have to worry about having an exclusive agreement with either Pump Audio or Magnatune. With both companies, you're completely free to continue promoting and marketing your music in any way you want." "Holographic Nightclub (Dance Of The Boytaurs)", a track from MARSTROPOLIS, was inspired by a scene in a science fiction short story written by Rob. Look for "The Mirror Crack'd" at TwistedShift.com in the very near future. Rob plans to send another to the L. Ron Hubbard's Writer's Of The Future Contest this Spring. What lies ahead in Rob's near future? "I'm actually working on three musical projects at this time. There's the SimMars music, which will be packaged as BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS. I'm also recording a proper third CD leaning heavily on Neo-Classical and Classical influences called XENOPHOBIA. I recently finished a symphonic track in two movements called 'Tyrant Lizard' which brought me to the realization that I can continue to expand my horizons. And, there's also an EP of sorts that will have tracks on it, which weren't quite finished from 1999 up to 2005. It's a very creative period for me!" If you're missing out on Rob's music, be sure to look for him on iTunes, Audiri.com, CDBaby.com Yahoo! Music, TowerRecords.com. BestBuy.com, Mindawn.com. You won't be disappointed! Visit Rob Astor on the Internet at these sites: CDBaby.com/cd/robastor2 Audiri.com/RobAstor MySpace.com/soloartistrobastor MySpace.com/robastor Music.download.com/RobAstor Links of related interest: CDBaby.com Mindawn.com PumpAudio.com Magnatune.com
