Twitter Xmas Single Part Deux #txs2

Brenda Drumm ‏@BrendaDrumm

So what about a #twitterxmassingle2 ? Christmas number 1? Who is in? #xmasfactor "Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum ...." RT#txs2 [Tweeted on Saturday 20 October]

So the tweet has been tweeted and we have @ICallanan on board as musical director and @ckennedyPR on board as PR and overnight we have 39 people signed up to take part in the choir and/or as soloists. 

So TwitterXmasSingle2 or #TXS2 to use the hashtag we have created is officially ON!

For those who were not involved last year this is what happened:

TwitterXmasSingle1

• TwitterXmasSingle came about following a tweet by @BrendaDrumm on 19 November 2011. The song Winter Song was chosen on Twitter and the charity to benefit was Unit 8 Neonatal Unit in Holles Street in Dublin
• We had 140+ characters involved in the recording  of the song
• Winter Song was recorded in the Westin Hotel in Dublin on 27 November 2011
• The song and video were launched on Sunday 4 December
• Winter Song/#twitterxmassingle went to number 1 on iTunes on Sunday 4 December and stayed there for several days beating Rhianna and others
• The bookies had us tipped to be number 1 for Christmas
• When the official IRMA charts came out the week after the launch we entered the charts as a new entry at number 8 – we made it to the top ten.
• We made a short documentary about the making of the #twitterxmassingle which has had over 1,200 views on YouTube
• The official video has had over 4,500 views on YouTube
• The writers of the song Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson loved what we did and tweeted @brendadrumm and @icallanan about the song.
• Media outlets which covered the story: TV3 News, Xpose, Ireland AM and Morning Show. RTE: John Murray Show, Morning Ireland, RTE TV 9pm News and 2FM. Today FM, Newstalk News and the Global Village. Spirit Radio. East Coast FM. KFM. Dublin City FM. Irish Independent. Daily Mail. RSVP. Woman’s Way. Anglo Celt. Kildare Post, Leinster Leader and Kildare Nationalist. Classic Hits 4FM. BBC Radio Ulster. U105 Radio. Entertainment.ie and so many blogs about it we lost count. Also Hot Press Magazine. Radio Snowflake.
• We raised money and a lot of awareness for Unit 8 in Holles Street but #twitterxmassingle was about  the goodwill and generosity of so many people, it was about giving the hardworking staff in Holles Street a much needed lift. It was about giving the parents of premature babies a sign to say that people are thinking about you and what you are going through. It was ultimately about the real meaning of Christmas. It was unique.

So we decided this year, why not do it again? Thanks to the wonderful support of so many people in the last twelve hours, we are doing it again and we would like as many people as possible on board.

Here is what we need:

1. Venue for recording the song - needs to be as soundproof as possible from the outside world 
2. Venue for the launch: would need to have good capacity and screen to show video etc [we are now sorted for this and will have details shortly] 
3. Media outlets to get involved to tell people what we are doing [this can happen later] 
4. Musicians with experience
5. A designer to design a new CD image for us and other little designs as well
6. Singers for the choir
7. Soloists
8. Studio time
9. A sponsor to fund the cost of producing CDs this year [about €6,000]
10. Engineers to assist with the recording and to man the desk while @icallanan gets us into shape for singing 
11. Someone to design and produce some banners or visuals for use on the day of the recording and for the launch 
12. Anyone who could supply Santa hats for at least 100 people
13. Anyone who could design and produce some Twitter props for us 
14. A videographer to make a video to go with the song which would need to be recorded on 11 November and maybe one or two other studio sessions and ready to be viewed online on Sunday 9 December

We have a charity in mind which is very deserving and it is a cause which affects so many people here in Ireland. We will let you have details as soon as we get a nod from them that they want to come on board.

The song is an original song which is currently being signed off on and we will let you have details on that as soon as possible. I am already going around singing so that can't be a bad thing. 

We are hoping to record the choir on Sunday 11 November so please save that date if you are interested in taking part. This year everyone needs to opt in to the recording and launch as we are not adding any names automatically - if you want to take part you have to tweet us to let us know and we will add you to the list on Twitter. 

Our email is twitterxmassingle@gmail.com 

We are on Facebook at Twitter Xmas Single 

The blog is here at www.twitterxmassingle.blogspot.ie

If you are a musician who would like to help us to record the track then please email us with a link to where we can hear your work. We will have a very quick turnaround on this so musicians need to have experience.

We would love to have as many people from last year involved, if you can, but there were so many people who could not get involved last year and we look forward to your involvement this year. 

That's all for the moment. If you can help with any of the above, please tweet @BrendaDrumm or email twitterxmassingle@gmail.com

TwitterXmasSingle was one of the best experiences ever - ask anyone who was involved. We made memories to last a lifetime and made lots of new friends on the way. 

Watch the video of the making of #twitterxmassingle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9JwaNtViLM&feature=relmfu

Watch the video to go with the song at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87lDRkFpBaU

Join in for #tx2

Brenda Drumm

#TwitterXmasSingle Sums

Well the sums are in for some of the sales of Winter Song, the first ever #twitterxmassingle. We launched the song online on Sunday 4^th December 2011 and they full report was made available to me on Monday of this week [5 February 2012]. We used Tunecore to distribute our song online and as you know we were not able to get a licence in time to produce cds for the Christmas market.

The sums and totals we have are for sales on iTunes and they are listed for iTunes in different countries – see list below.

In terms of what we have in figures to date please note the following:

We sold 2,379 downloads of the single to date. The bulk of the sales are from iTunes and the countries these are from are listed below. There were some sales on other platforms which are included too and there may still be other sales to be accounted for and which will be notified to us in the next report.

After iTunes commission the balance in our account is currently 2119.99 US dollars and after this is changed into euros we will have a total of approximately 1,600 euros.  Please note that this figure might change slightly depending on exchange rates on the day the money is transferred from us to Holles Street.

We received a donation of €200 on the day of the recording and the Army Number 1 band sang for us on College Green during Christmas week and raised around 1,000 euro [to be confirmed].

Overall it’s a job well done. It was also a huge amount of fun, all for a very serious cause – the babies in Unit 8 in Holles Street. The bulk of the sales were made in the week after we launched the song and if we had had the CDs then we would have had a very good chance at the Christmas number 1 but we did not have time to get the licence processed. 

 I am told that our total sales are very good for just making it available as a download so we should all be very proud. If we had more time in the run up to Christmas who knows what we could have achieved.

The very interesting thing to note is that we are still selling copies of the song on iTunes here and there so do keep plugging it on Facebook and Twitter and we will keep passing on the money.

All that remains is for me to say a huge thank you to everyone who was involved – all the singers and supporters and to everyone who tweeted for us. Special thanks goes to Ian Callanan [@icallanan] for sharing his musical genius with us and to the Westin Hotel in Dublin for hosting us, not once, but twice during the project.

I have been very humbled by all that has happened and by the generosity of people with their time and their talents so thanks again.

We were never going to raise millions but the awareness we have raised is priceless to Unit 8 in Holles Street and hopefully what we have done has given them a head start for a new fundraising drive for all they want to do to make Unit 8 and the hospital the best there is! A special thanks to the staff, parents and residents of Unit 8 for welcoming the madness that was #twitterxmassingle with open arms.

Which of us could have known this time last year that before the end of the year we would have a top ten single and a number one on iTunes? Certainly not me! So  all that remains is for me to ask – are you up for #twitterxmassingle2?

Postscript Summer 2012:
We just call a call to say we raised just over one thousand euro from radio air play of Winter Song, the twitterxmassingle and the cheque has gone directly to Holles Street. 

Brenda

xxxxx

Downloads on iTunes listed as per the Tunecore report:

·         USA                                                       225 downloads

·         Australia/New Zealand                           10 downloads

·         Canada                                                 17 downloads

·         Denmark                                               1 download

·         Italy                                                      1 download

·         CH                                                       2 downloads

·         Belgium                                                1 download

·         France                                                  1 download

·         Estonia                                                 1 download

·         Ireland                                                  140 downloads

·         Norway                                                1 download

·         Ireland                                                  1894 downloads

·         Netherlands                                          4 downloads

·         Denmark                                              7 downloads

·         Great Britain                                         73 downloads

·         Japan                                                    1 downloads

Background to #TwitterXmasSingle:

·         TwitterXmasSingle came about following a tweet by @BrendaDrumm on 19 November 2011The song Winter Song was chosen on Twitter and the charity to benefit was Unit 8 Neonatal Unit in Holles Street in Dublin

·         We had 140+ characters involved in the recording  of the song

·         Winter Song was recorded in the Westin Hotel in Dublin on 27 November 2011

·         The song and video were launched on Sunday 4 December

·         Winter Song/#twitterxmassingle went to number 1 on iTunes on Sunday 4 December and stayed there for several days beating Rhianna and others

·         The bookies had us tipped to be number 1 for Christmas

·         When the official IRMA charts came out the week after the launch we entered the charts as a new entry at number 8 – we made it to the top ten.

·         We made a short documentary about the making of the #twitterxmassingle which has had over 1,200 views on YouTube

·         The official video has had over 3,000 views on YouTube

·         The writers of the song Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson loved what we did and tweeted @brendadrumm and @icallanan about the song.

·         Media outlets which covered the story: TV3 News, Xpose, Ireland AM and Morning Show. RTE: John Murray Show, Morning Ireland, RTE TV 9pm News and 2FM. Today FM, Newstalk News and the Global Village. Spirit Radio. East Coast FM. KFM. Dublin City FM. Irish Independent. Daily Mail. RSVP. Woman’s Way. Anglo Celt. Kildare Post, Leinster Leader and Kildare Nationalist. Classic Hits 4FM. BBC Radio Ulster. U105 Radio. Entertainment.ie and so many blogs about it we lost count. Also Hot Press Magazine. Radio Snowflake.

Ends

The Tweeps who came to the Westin for the recording 27 Nov 2011

This is a list in the order of people arriving to the Westin Hotel, Dublin for the recording of the #twitterxmassingle:

@BrendaDrumm
@ciaramcduffman
Bob Cullen
Fiona Balfe
@Bingobaa
Robert Heaven
@barbaraedwards1
Christopher Edwards
@ckennedypr
@sineadk
Ciara Cullen
@randomirishnews
@claudia_martin
@maryroche
@emilycoco
@pekalton
@carnsoreboxer
@david_ferrie
@bry_glen
@jenjenriordan
@miriamahern
@cathriordan
@cesarLP
@bourgeoiseout
@jellabel
@angharadw
@theismnessment
@ciara1975
@meadejonathan
@susancondon
@doalty
@tynanhooper
@fleurman
@mariondublin
@dilw
Saoirse Sparkes [can't read Twitter ID - DM to correct]
Diane Magee [dm Twitter id please]
@jennyfoxe
John [Holles Street]
@ciazzaficaton
@derirdre_mac
@tangentfairy
Cora Clarke
Susan McInerney
Dean Leacy
@embergreen
Moira Murphy
@aisling_larkin
@hollyfrodo
@barbarascully
@sevenoZ
@jackien23
@phil_garland
@hitparade
@ldocaust
@piperhawk
@host_pr
Dr Rhona Mahony {Holles Street}
Maura Donohoe
Cathy Allen
@lizziejayyy
@juneshannon
@735songs
@am_flynn
@funkygoddessirl
@cagssoc
@eileen27
@NABCIrl
@tiamcs
@enda_lee
@swimmerdonegal
@curtainqueen
@shane_murphy
Alex Seery Peter Mark
@legaleaglestar
@lisabaldwinBG
@spneedsparents
@lightnessalways
@mduffywriter
@elizabethAF
@andrewmmadden
@maeveos
Jillian Godsil
@maudmonaghan
@JFTAXI
@ridgeridoo
@janemahony
@3namcc
@ainebodley
Bill Hughes
@tina_browne
@aligrehan
@nessymon
@sineaddesmond
Debbie O'Donnell
Nicole Bermingham
Tony Breen

If there are some we have missed please let us know but these are all the people who signed in on Sunday 27 November.

Brenda
x

Thank You

I can't fit everyone in here and I don't want to start listing individuals in case I miss someone. There are groups and individuals who have to be thanked so here goes:

Musical Director:
Ian Callanan @icallanan who made the tweet come alive in a real single. Without his talent and patience last Sunday would not have created an amazing record. To Paul who came along and did all the recording and the technical stuff.

Song Credits:

Song Title: Winter Song
Composers - Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson
Artist - TwitterXMasSingle
Label - Holles Street Neonatal Unit

Executive Producer - Brenda Drumm
Producer - Ian Callanan
Arranged by Ian Callanan

Instrumentalists:
Anne Cullen - Piano
Paddy Kiernan - Bass
Ian Callanan - Synthesizer and Programming
Darragh Ó Héiligh - Bodhrán, Whistles and Uilleann Pipes
Guitar - David Byrne
Violin - Christopher Edwards
Viola - Nicola Bermingham
Cello - Róisín Magee

Instrumentation recorded at Ian Callanan Studios (www.iancallanan.com)
Engineered by Ian Callanan
Choir and Soloists recorded at The Westin Hotel, Dublin on Sunday 27th November 2011
Engineered by Paul Keegan (www.retreatrecordingstudio.com)
Choir Director - Ian Callanan
Mixed by Paul Keegan at Retreat Recording Studio (www.retreatrecordingstudio.com


Setting and backgrounds:
To the wonderful people at the Westin Hotel in Dublin. Thanks for the amazing venue - the Banking Hall is incredible. Thanks for looking after us so well and for arranging for the room to be dressed so beautifully.

To Tom Clements of RPDLTD who made us banners and backdrops. They really made the event feel real and they added a touch of colour and professionalism to the room. Thank you.

To Fran at Made in Hollywood for adding so much fun to the day. He created some amazing styrofoam pieces of Twitter words and birds and they were great props for the pics and the video. One of them ended up on the Luas. Thanks Fran.

Styling and Make-Up
To the amazing guys from Peter Mark style club Cathal Keaveney and Darren who gave up their Sunday to come along and to the very talented make up artists especially Majella Carmody who added a touch of glamour to the girls on the day.

Singers
To the choir and the soloists. You were truly amazing and we have a professional, polished piece thanks to your amazing talents.

Hair, make up artists and others

Bairbre Power Irish Independent 

LA Make Up   

Zoe Clark 

Tracey Dunne 

stephanie king 

Deirdre O'Reilly 

Laura Kay 

Kenny Oyedipe 

Daphne Costa Lopes

Ciara Kerins 

Melissa Waters 

Majella Carmody 

Julie Sheridan 

Joyce Porto  

kate feighan 

Amanda O’Dwyer 

Susan Maxwell

Susan McInerney

Photogrpahers:

Random Irish Photos

David Ferrie 

Shane Murphy 

Emily Gallagher 

Media & PR

Caroline Kennedy, Kennedy PR

Santa Hats

Tom Moloney Joke Shop

Names will be added as we are reminded who we have left out.

Brenda
x

Update on the eve of the launch of #twitterxmassingle

It has been a rollercoaster of a fortnight since I first tweeted the idea to do a Christmas single on Twitter. The song was recorded last Sunday in Dublin and it sounds amazing. We had somewhere between 100 and 140 characters from all over Ireland and all over Twitter who came together to record with some very talented soloists and musicians.

The song will be launched tomorrow at 2pm in the Westin Hotel in Dublin who have been amazing to us. We are launching it in the Banking Hall which is a stunning venue.

The song is Winter Song or Twinter Song as some of us have nick named it and it sounds sublime. We have a wonderful choir who just gel so well together and the solo performances are stunning.

The song will be available for download from all the usual places and spaces online and I hope that you buy it to support the Neonatal Unit in Holles Street, the National Maternity Street.

The other incredible news is that we are tipped to be the Christmas number one in Ireland. Not bad for a little late night tweet.

More updates tomorrow post launch.

Thanks for being with us on this journey.

Brenda

xx

#TwitterXmasSingle

Last night [19 November 2011] I had an idea to record a christmas charity single through Twitter - using contacts, singers etc from our Twitter streams. The idea has taken legs and at 11.15am on Sunday morning we have a stylist, a studio, a videographer, a PR person, some TV presenters and personalities and a very willing and wonderful group of people or tweeps from Twitter to do the singing and organising. The list is growing all the time but so far this is who we have:

1. @brendadrumm
2. @juneshannon
3. @carnsoreboxer
4. @am_flynn
5. @jennyfoxe
6. @derekf03
7. @funkygoddessirl
8. @irlguide
9. @maryroche
10. @avineoconnor
11. @legaleaglestar
12. @niamhybe
13. @clearer_skies
14. @Lou_McCartney [whom I hope can sing like Paul McCartney]
15. @TrichDee
16. @MacAnBhaird
17. @Enda_Lee
18. @cathalkeogh
19. @reclaimthevoice
20. @NABCIrl
21. @SpNeedsParents
22. @JFTAXI
23. @olda3
24. @MissBLT
25. @bsweetmanmorris
26. @thebedsite
27. @CKennedyPr
28. @embergreen
29. @jewelw
30. @jojowalsh [A tenor]
31. @sineaddesmond [TV3]
32. @berminghamlaura [stylist, TV presenter and just wow]
33. @markrock [@Audioboo]
34. @juniperjools
35. @barbarascully
36. @markpower1978
37. @sineadk
38. @andrewmmadden 
39. @jezzie7
40. @bourgeoisieout
41. @doalty
42. Sheena Darcy
43. Ian Callanan
44. Anna Keegan
45. Carmel Murphy
46. Emma Tobin
47. @hotcrossmum 
48. @sarasnelling 
49. @janetravers 
50. @firflopireland 
51. @foxeinsocks 
52. @crowleyniamh 
53. @tangentfairy
54. @davidod
55. @handforged
56. @deebpress
57. @Mariondublin
58. @phil_garland
59. @darrtanian
60. @sineadkeogh
61. JohnCoughlan
62. @barbaraedwards1
63. @ailishlynch
64. @delilah_cat
65. @debbie_odonnell [Xpose]
66. @chrismallingart
67. @marketmusic
68. @johnivory
69. @hollyfrodo 
70. @reclaimthevoice 
71. @RPDLTD
72. @tina_browne
73. @1LouiseKennedy [the fab designer]
74. @soniaharrisPR
75. @ciara1975 
76. @EleanorFitz
77. @JenJenRiordan
78. @heatherbetsy
79. @grmoneill
80. @clearerskies
81. @mauradonohoe
82. @sharonshambles
83. David O'Connor [singer]
84. @jilliangodsil 
85. @susancondon
86. @cagssoc
87. CelineGarvey [KFM Arts Show]
88. @colettecaddle [Writer]
89. @umnumnum_cork
90. @dcbedwards
91. @nessymon
92. @maeve_10
93. @curtainqueen
94. @designdiva_
95. @MDRN1
96. @bingobaa
97. @pdrgmrdt
98. @liam_coburn 
99. @mduffywriter 
100. @DiamondsIRL [our 100th person to offer help] 
101. @greenclouds4
102. @sheenadarcy
103. @ocarrollconsult
104. @tsjohnsmyth
105. Moira Murphy [Brown Thomas]
106. Aisling Larkin [Brown Thomas]
107. Louis Walsh [yes the real one]
108. @aideenblackwood
109. @xcelbusiness
110. @regs33
111. @alisonwells
112. @ciaramcduffman
113. @karenmaleady
114. @crosscare1
115. @simonrprepublic
116. @carolewhelan
117. @maeveos
118. @rLombardvance
119. @MaudMonaghan
120. @paddystarbucks
121. @noelcuddy
122. @tomhappens
123. @mar1em
124. @missyu
125. @stormie869
126. @stresskills
127. @eileen27
128. @carolinesimons
129. @balcourier10
130. @chahoward
131. @LA_Make_Up
132. @ZoeClarkeMakeUp
133. @bngr
134. @katymcguinness
135. @ultrasoundbite
136. @wicklowmusdrama
137. @piperhawk
138. @MyOMark
139. @Caz_Collins
140. The Westin Hotel  {YAHOO WE ARE AT 140 characters - just like Twitter!]
141. @curlybubble
142. Pembroke Communications
143. @jilliangodsil

We have loads more names to add and we will do it asap! The list keeps growing.

There were so many amazing charities mentioned and they are all very deserving causes. Cancer is one that is very close to my heart because I have been living with it since 2007 - just about to hit the five year's diagnosed mark on 10 Jan 2012. We also had mental health and homelessness mentioned and women's refuge and so many other fantastic charities.

As of this afternoon Sunday 20 November, the majority of votes coming in have been for the charity single to benefit premature babies here in Ireland. Christmas is all about children and our single and the cause would see to be a match made in heaven. We will have exact details shortly about the charity so keep in touch.

This time yesterday I had not even thought of the idea and now this afternoon we have a group of 61 people who are involved and this is growing all the time, we have a song [details shortly], we have someone whi has arranged the song and we have set Sunday next 27 November as the date to record.

There is lots that we need help with. We need iTunes to get on board and make sure all the money goes to the charity, we need a few professional singers, we need studio space and a photographer and just lots lots more. Anyone interested?

Then join the conversation on Twitter at #twitterxmassingle

We have announced the charity which is to benefit and it is an amazing cause the Neo Natal Unit at the National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street Hospital. The unit is best known as "Unit 8" by parents whose babies have needed special care there. 

What better time of year to focus on children.......it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas and like the #twitterxmassingle which is so appropriate when you listen to the lyrics......

It's all happening on Twitter so come and get us trending and join in.

UPDATE: Monday 21 November - We are recording at 1pm on Sunday next 27 November. We are finalising the venue at the moment. Anyone who wants to support us, sing, make tea, take names, promote it, video it, interview us, make a music video - please follow the hashtag #twitterxmassingle on Twitter or leave your email here in a comment. Venue will be Dublin city but just finalising logistics and will announce soon.

UPDATE Wednesday 23 November: We have the venue since yesterday. The 5 star Westin Hotel on Westmoreland Street, Dublin 2. The Banking Hall is the space we have been given. Thanks to the team there for being so accommodating and amazing. 


UPDATE: Check out our interviews on Morning Ireland home page - keep spreading the word.

More news coming tweet by tweet. Keep in touch #twitterxmassingle 

Brenda 
XXXXX