SETLIST: Apple, Spotify...and my fan club idea :(

Calm Down, Apple Isn't Starting a Real Streaming Music Service - Which of the behemoths will get into the streaming music business first...Google?  Apple?  It's true, streaming subscriptions would eat into iTunes sales.  

Spotify Signs EMI Music to U.S. Deal | AllThingsD - I finally got some proxy access to Spotify (here in the states)...so far, so good.  Can't wait for it to be official.  

Mozes launches mobile technology to let musicians sell merch at live events | Los Angeles Times

You’ve Got a Fan Club? Network and Mobilize It | New York Times - Great idea...that I had a few months back but was too slow and inept to act on.  I will be interested to see how fan club develop in the digital age.


“Can you put food on the table with music? Probably not. I see music as a really great hobby for most people in five or 10 years. I see everybody I know, some of them really important artists, studying how to do other jobs.”

– Cake lead singer John McCrea talking to NPR, via Digital Music News. Showroom of Compassion, Cake’s most recent release, is the lowest-selling number-one album of all time.

SETLIST: Unique Releases (Radiohead, Flaming Lips)

Radiohead Readies King of Limbs, the ‘World’s First Newspaper Album’ | Wired.com - Besides my obsession with the music of greatest band ever, I'm also quite interested in Radiohead as attempt new models of distribution and marketing.  Is the King of Limbs an LP...an EP...or maybe the first of a recurring, monthly music subscription (ala a newspaper model)?


The Flaming Lips Release Song via 12 YouTube Videos


Roqbot Is A Jukebox On Your iPhone

Get your MUSIC GroupON

Another day and yet another way to promote digital distribution of music.  Today's Grouponicous Groupon is pushing a full download of Rihanna's new album, "LOUD", for $5 (50% off).  While the record sales may be losing money from the discount, the very popular daily deal site sends such deals via email to millions of subscribers so in essence that money comes out of the marketing budget (see the $11 million Gap Groupon story).  It will be interesting to see how many more album sales this adds to Rihanna's first week.  A similar price-scheme for Arcade Fire's last album on Amazon led it to be #1 on the charts in its opening week.

Small Bands & Big Concert Growth

"The great power of digital distribution is that it’s much easier to discover and listen to new bands. Back when we had to hunt down physical albums in stores, our rate of new artist discovery was much, much lower. That means a new band can build a widespread following much more efficiently than back-in-the-day, and can therefore do a world tour a lot earlier in their career, whereas huge, popular acts like U2 and Rolling Stones are already big as ever, and won’t benefit from this additional digital distribution."

Songkick.com has started to comb through its user-generated database of over 1.8 million concerts to pull out some interesting data.  I've been a big fan and user of the site to keep track of shows that I've gone to and be alerted to shows when they get announced so it's great to see them point out some interesting trends.  I agree with their point that widespread digital distribution makes it more efficient for small bands to develop a following and to put on a world tour...but I'm sure the devil's advocate might say that these bands are more affected by the piracy of digital distribution and need to do more shows in order to make up for that lost revenue.  Related to this idea of efficiency, GigsWiz is a service that generates social media analytics for bands to see where their biggest followings are so that they know exactly what cities to play in.  Conversely, the service can also be used by venues to book bands that are popular in their area.  Interesting idea...

SETLIST: Kill the Walkman

Sony Kills The Cassette Walkman On The iPod's Birthday  [GIZMODO] - Sony stops making cassette walkmens finally and it turns out to coincide with the iPod's 9th Bday...yeah, I had no idea they were still making cassette anythings.  It was a good 30 years Walkman...I'll never forget you bulky yellow version!


Live Nation to Power Concert Listings, Ticket Sales in iTunes 10 [TECHCRUNCH] - Makes sense that these two massive corporations would get together.  I didn't mention it above but the social network will also have concert listings/recommendations.

We don't need no stinking instruments

What do you do if you all your band's instruments get stolen?  Buy 4 iPhones I guess.  Pretty good song considering the circumstances...

I'm sure they won't be the last to use the iPhone as their instrument but I'm also glad to read about the new Rock Band 3 that's coming out next week and actually teaches people how to play a REAL guitar:

"You're actually playing the real notes, which is amazing in the sense that you can go and play that song after you're done learning it on your console."  [Gizmodo]

Follow the link to watch a video demo of the new 'more than just 5 buttons' guitar.

Belle and Sebastian with the Best Music Promo Ever (so far...)

Inside every copy of Belle and Sebastian’s new album Write About Love is a unique code which you will enter here and then write 300 words about love, in any sense of the word. Why you love. Who you love. What you love. Where you love. Anything. Just write about love.

Then Belle and Sebastian will pick a winner (henceforth referred to as “Lucky”) and Stuart Murdoch will fly out to Lucky’s hometown, hang out with Lucky for an afternoon, and write and record a song about Lucky which will then be released on an exclusive Belle and Sebastian 7″ later in 2011. [Matador Records]

Awesome and creative. I'm sure we'll see more and more bands do things like this to get people to actually buy music.

How Do You Teach Boy Scouts About Downloading Music? By Pretending It Doesn't Exist

How Do You Teach Boy Scouts About Downloading Music? By Pretending It Doesn't Exist:

"So how can Scouters teach ethical behavior related to music downloading? One way: Set a good example. When you haul around Scouts in your car, for example, only play CDs that you've purchased. If you play CDs that you've burned-even if they're legal-your Scouts may not recognize the difference between those and the pirated CDs friends have given them." [Gizmodo]

Is Video Killing the Concert Vibe? [WSJ]

At most concerts these days, when the houselights go down, the tiny glowing screens go up. As more fans mark the moments with smartphones, cameras and pocket-sized video recorders, a new kind of digital divide is emerging. Music lovers who try to document and share the essence of concerts are squaring off against those who think that just defeats the purpose. The debate is drawing participants from both sides of the stage. [WSJ]

John Jurgensen's recent WSJ article touches on an interesting debate that I've had with myself on a number of occasions.  I love concerts and I love photography, so yes, I'm often one of the 100 people at your show taking pictures and some video of your band up on stage.  Am I the guy that takes a thousand images of the same basic shot?  No.  Am I the guy that takes pictures of himself in front of the band as they play to prove to his friends that he was there?  Definitely not.  Nor am I the guy that takes a picture and then has to show it to all the people around them.  Each of those things is FRIGGIN' annoying...everyone agrees.  But beyond the affect on the people around you, if you are too busy with your camera, you are missing out on enjoying the show.  Mind you, at least in LA, I'd say there are about a good 40+% that aren't there to listen to the band...but that's another post for another time.

In the past, I've found myself so consumed with capturing the moment (for my own memory) that I was no longer enjoying the show for the show itself.  I wasn't living in the moment, I was living in the 10 moments in the future when I'd look at those pictures.  I now realize that's not worth it.  So what I do now...and what I propose to all amateur concert photographers...let's do what the pro's do.  You always see professional photographers for music mags or music blogs (like Sung from LosAnjealous or MySugarSpun) taking their shots for the first 3 songs or so...then they are escorted out of the photographer's pit.  I now limit myself to pics from the first few songs...and maybe 1 video.  Then I put the camera away, and focus on building my own memory of the band, the music and the people and not the aperture of my Canon s90.  

Google Instant-ized iTunes

Stephen Ou, a 15-year-old developer from the Bay Area, whipped up iTunes Instant as an alternative, and it's pretty much perfect: streamlined, minimalist iTunes searching and absolutely nothing else.

[Gizmodo]

SETLIST: iTunes' PING, Google Music Hiring, Ashes

Ping, a Social Network for iTunes  [LA TIMES] - Pretty interesting new edition of iTunes is out today.  Biggest change is its' music-centered social network, PING.  Basically its a Facebook-like feed of your friends and followees music purchases, reviews and recommendations.  Has potential to be a very important new music recommendation service for people and will definitely be huge for Apple as any new music your friend likes, can easily be purchased within iTunes.  One cool feature is a sidebar that aggregates the top songs purchased/liked by people in your "network".  This probably is not good for one of my favorite companies, Last.FM.


[UPDATE:  Scratch that...Ping will die.  Just found out it only takes into account music you purchase via iTunes.  I can easily say that less than 1% of my collection has come via the iTunes Store]

Live Nation to Power Concert Listings, Ticket Sales in iTunes 10 [TECHCRUNCH] - Makes sense that these two massive corporations would get together.  I didn't mention it above but the social network will also have concert listings/recommendations.

Why the Music Business Needs a New iTunes [ALL THINGS DIGITAL] - Universal Music Group saw sales continue to drop in Q2 (-2.8%) despite increasing digital revenues.  Go share some UMG bands with your friends on Ping and make them less sad.

Google Goes Hunting for Music Boss [ALL THINGS DIGITAL] - Oh to have a job combining my love of music and Google.  Too much pressure and too many expectations though...Lets hope they find someone good.  

When Drinking Means You Formed a Band  [HOLIDAY MATINEE] - I have always been a fan of using a half empty beer bottle as a musical instrument...dying to see what this musically demarcated bottles really sound like.  Could be the most amazing or most beautiful night at a bar if every drunkard was harmonizing.

Ashes to Vinyl [GIZMODO] - I now know how I want my remains taken care of when I die.  Not even joking, I am SO doing this.  Great Grandchildren...prepare to listen to OK Computer as heard through my ashes.  (I was going for humor but that actually gave me chills...the good kind)

Ticketmaster is trying to make friends...

Looks like Ticketmaster is trying play nice nicer.  Not only are they now BLOGGING (not sure who gets to do that job...or who came up with the blog name, Ticketology) but they have also started a few practices that they are alleging to be "for the people".  First off, those hated TM fees that we all hate will now be included right off the bat in the very first ticket price you see when looking for tickets.  This would lessen the instant hatred that erupts every time we see that ticket price grow as we proceed through the purchase...but its still there!  Additionally, some shows will have an interactive map that allows you to select your exact seat.  That will be nice but only really useful with shows that are slow sellers...no way would I take my time handpicking a seat to a Radiohead show that would sell out instantly.  The third and last change is rather interesting.  Apparently they are now offering a 3 day window for you to return your tickets (provided its not less than 1 week before the show).  This will be interesting to see how scalpers play with this.  Who knows if any of this will benefit the consumer but at least its a nice change to see them even seem concerned with the audience.

Music: 1990 vs 2010

One more way Ticketmaster could screw you...

Haha..."Fine Ticketmaster, you win"

YOUR BRAIN ON COMPUTERS [NY Times]

YOUR BRAIN ON COMPUTERS [NY Times]

It is a debate that has become increasingly common as technology has redefined the notion of what is “urgent.” How soon do people need to get information and respond to it? The believers in the group say the drumbeat of incoming data has created a false sense of urgency that can affect people’s ability to focus.

Matt Richtel raises an interesting question...are we better or worse off today with the deluge of emails, cellphones, and digital everything?  Like every philosophical question, I'm sure the answer is a very complicated yes and no.  I guess two steps forward and one step back is better than no steps forward though, right?  

Related to this, I've wondered how us music lovers are staying afloat among all this "free" music that is so easily accessible.  First off, there has to be more music out there since its easy for just about anyone to create and distribute these days.  That probably just means more crap to wade through.  Then of course the ease of collecting music means my iTunes library is getting increasingly bloated.  I probably currently have 90+ GB's of music and I'm sure a quarter of it I've yet to hear.  But I'm not complaining.  Despite all this noise, I definitely feel more satisfied and totally happy with too many options and too much music.  And the benefit to the artist?  Increased revenue from all these concerts I'm into thanks to world wide webosphere. 

SETLIST: Pitchfork, Live Nation, Azoff Tweets

How Pitchfork Struck a Note in Indie Music [Time]  - I definitely agree that Pitchfork has become a force within the Indie Music scene...yet I hardly ever read any of their stuff.  My outside view is that alot of fans find their reviews either uber-critical or too gushing.  Either way, Taste-makers like Pitchfork are clearly getting more and more important.

Live Nation posts a second quarter loss on sagging ticket sales [LA Times]  - Uhoh,  maybe the revenue from live shows won't save the music industry.  Then again, this is for the quarter leading up to the end of June.  Perhaps the 3Q Summer numbers will be more telling.  I still feel like they should be reporting Shell Oil kinda numbers with all those damn fees they rape us with.

OMG! Ticketmaster head Irving Azoff throws down a Twitter gauntlet [LA Times]  - I love when old people try out new technology and totall embarrass themselves :)  You have to give it up for old Irving.  He's worked hard and built quite a nice little empire there for himself.  Nonetheless, seems like a total a**hole.  If you want to read more about the rise of Irving and behind the scenes of Ticketmaster/Live Nation monster, check out David Segal's article from the NYT, Calling Almost Everyone's Tune.

A Big Fat Thanks to Record Execs

[more at icanhasinternets]

Lifehacker's Streaming Music Roundup

Image via Wikipedia

Very comprehensive article over at Lifehacker giving you all the details of the major music streaming services (Spotify, Rdio, Rhapsody, MOG, Napster, Grooveshark, Pandora, Last.FM, Slacker Radio).  Their top recommendations?

"The Best Services For:
• Global availability: MOG and Grooveshark
• Pricing per track available: MOG
• Multi-platform availability: Spotify and Pandora
• Offline availability: Spotify and Rdio—though without knowing the limits on Rdio's offline syncing.
• Most offered for free: Grooveshark, Last.fm, and Slacker Radio
• Ease of use: Pandora"

 Battle of the Streaming Music Services [Lifehacker]

Double (In) Rainbows

Image by Rick Rey via Flickr

Bloggers Ordered to Take Down Radiohead Songs That Were Once Free

So can you actually steal something that was once free? In most cases, yes. One commenter summed it up nicely, writing that posting songs that were once available for free but now aren't, is a bit like "a shop giving away a free drink with a sandwich as a special offer one week, and then you go in and shoplift the same drink a week after the promotion has ended."

Read more: Time.com

I'm an American, I want Spotify

Spotify Reboots U.S. Label Negotiations [Billboard.com]: Regarding the licensing status, Parks said “We are in fact in a good place with our label negotiations. We’re confident in our U.S. launch later this year.”  This quote comes after news that the company had to restart its negotiations with the US labels.  I have yet to try or even see Spotify in action but I'm eager to test it out.  Will the over-hyped music streaming service disappoint or is this what the future of music looks like?  Think of it as iTunes except you can stream much more than just the 30 second snippets.  I'll be trying out the freemium ad-based version but if its good, I would definitely pay to stream.  While I'm not a fan of Rdio, I do recommend Grooveshark in the interim.  I may even buy a Grooveshark T-shirt (*w/ 1 yr free!).