(Lady Gaga manager) Troy Carter’s music management group Atom Factory will launch a new electronic music division. This division, Atom Empire, will be led by veteran music manager Stephanie LaFera, who will run the division representing DJs in the electronic genre. Talent already signed to the brand includes major players, including Kaskade, Ming, Le Castle Vania, Late Night Alumni, Haley and Digital LAB. Atom Factory’s management roster includes Greyson Chance and Mindless Behavior as well as Gaga herself. LaFera most recently ran her own music venture Little Empire Music, managing a wide range of international recording artists such as Kaskade. Prior to Little Empire Music, LaFera was an artist manager at MCT Management, where she worked with Moby, Rufus Wainwright and Taylor McFerrin, among others. Watch out for more.

Its been a crazy past couple months for Habitat Music producer Ming, who has been bangin’ out some amazing remixes for Ellie Goulding, Beyoncé and Kaskade.

Plus, if that wasn’t keeping him busy enough, he’s just launched his Hood Famous Music label!

Habitat Music will be providing the score for commercials from automotive powerhouse Dodge Cars.  Working with Dodge’s Forida-based advertising agency, Habitat will help them marry imagery of the iconic vehicles with music that sets the Dodge brand apart from competitors. For a brand that’s “Never Neutral”, Habitat’s making sure the music also defies neutrality.

It’s been a blast working on a spot (airing this fall) with a cat that refuses to go barefoot and has quite the appetite.  More details to come soon, but we can’t let the cat out of the bag yet…

What do Katy Perry, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas, American Idol’s Big Mike & The IRS Have In Common?

Habitat Music.

We believe strength in today’s music industry requires multiple outlets for the creator. Here are some highlights of the past year: Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl” Ming remix for Victoria’s Secret; Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” Ming remix with Beyonce for Interscope; The Black Eyed Peas’ “Rock That Body” Ming remix for Interscope; Big Mike’s first full length album & 3 years of artist development preparing him for his big moment on American Idol; Commercial spots for IRS’ “E-File” & Bulova’s newest watch line, among others. Thanks for a great year.


Available on iTunes and Amazon Now!!!

Lady Gaga – Ming’s Telephone Remixes by ming

“A while ago, SoundCloud stumbled upon a video on Emusician.com in which producer Aaron Albano talks about using SoundCloud to send and receive files during the production process of Toby Martin from Youth Group’s upcoming album. Remote collaboration, NYC-Sydney-style, united by the Cloud.

Wanting to know more, we reached out to Aaron with a couple of questions about how he uses SoundCloud.” Read More Here

'Big Mike' Lynche

Longtime Habitat Music and Hood Famous Music collaborator Michael Lynche made it to Hollywood on American Idol last night. Habitat composer/producer Aaron Albano (a.k.a. Ming) helped “Big Mike” craft his unique blend of high-energy music called the “Dirty Blues”–where gritty southern soul meets dirty south hip-hop. The sound can best be described as a cross between Gnarls Barkley, Outkast and R. Kelly. We’ll be anxiously watching Idol along with the rest of America as the competition unfolds!

Check out some of his past work with Habitat writer/producer, Ming. Track 4 “Pimp Beat” features a keyboard riff from yours truly.

Ming's Video Blog

Ming’s monthly video blog “In the studio with Ming” is featured on the front page Electronic Musician’s site. Each month he will be interviewing the artists that come through the studio and speaking about some of the production techniques used these in sessions.  Check for interview with Toby Lightman, Michael Lynche and more..

Habitat composer Chad North is currently recording for UK-based electro-house label Erase Records and has his debut single with the label set to drop June 1st.

This third collaboration with San Francisco-based DJ Aaron Pope will be available as an exclusive release on Beatport first – with a wider release to follow.

The track, entitled The Grind, is an electro-breaks hip-hop influenced banger that has already been storming clubs on the West coast. The package was mastered at Habitat Music by Ming and features vocals by Australian-based hip-hop artist Estae.

The Grind is packaged with the equally mighty You Got What as the b-side – very much in fashion with the current trend in fidget and electro-house. The remix package will follow later in the month with mixes by Scott Cooper (Potty Mouth Records), Wasabi (Erase Records), and Mike Hulme (Lot49, U&A).

Preview the tracks at www.soundcloud.com/chad-north.

I’m lucky to have been born at a time when music was much more than a download, ring-tone or background for a car commercial. As a teen, I would spend hours listening to my favorite albums, from start to finish, poring over the album jacket, art work and liner notes for any hint that would give me insight into an artist’s world. So to get a chance to see once of the greatest Prog Rock bands of all time live, for what could be their last ever tour, was monumental.



First, I must thank Tom Rutherford (who just happens to be the guitar/bass player of Genesis, Mike Rutherford’s son) for the most amazing tickets. I brought my buddy Mario, another record producer, and we were seated smack in the center, about 8 rows back. It was like our own private concert. Now the band was great indeed, but Phil Collins was a god. His voice was perfect and he commanded the stage and the audience with incredible skill. They performed all their greatest songs, which left me in awe as to just how many amazing songs Genesis has created. They went way back, digging into the early years, pulling out material that I had never heard, as well as all of the songs that I remember listening to in the back of my mom’s car (radio, remember that?). The staging was cool and the crowd was fun; the whole scene reminded me of how many phenomenal shows I have witnessed at the great Madison Square Garden in my youth. Phil and drumming great Chester Thomson even did a tandem drum solo. Who gets to do that anymore?

Before the Pay-Per-Views, HBO, and the televised event, there was the live show. That live show provided the closest connection to your favorite artist and the anticipation of being in the same venue as the artist themselves was incomparable. The energy at the show was electric and it made memories of seeing my favorite bands even greater. This show was no different. It brought me back to the time when seeing an artist live was paramount; no amount of video or celebrity could ever surpass the feeling of being there in the moment. Great music is even better live!!! And what is better than a song that defines a generation? The concerts that hammer those songs into history.

So my thanks to men of Genesis for reminding me of why great music is transcendent. I aspire to leave a musical legacy as outstanding as yours.