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Tuesday, November 27
Is this the new generation gap?
by
fred
on Tue 27 Nov 2007 11:36 PM PST
Radio broadcasters don't understand this generation. It's a generation that wants control. They are used to getting control. They want what they want when they want it. Baby boomer parents gave it to them that way. The same parents, by the way, who still run America's radio stations. Ironic. Source: Inside Music Media Powered by Qumana Monday, November 26
User Generated Radio
by
fred
on Mon 26 Nov 2007 10:23 AM PST
Baby boomer managers think they can control radio stations by devising formats that different demographics will listen to. It’s always been that way so why not follow the logical conclusion. Source link: Inside Music Media Powered by Qumana
Facebook missed the mark with Beacon
by
fred
on Mon 26 Nov 2007 10:10 AM PST
Facebook has missed out on a tremendous opportunity to use recommendation permissions to annotate their social graph with trust information – that’s an order of magnitude more valuable than the graph itself. They got it wrong. No one is going to say “please show me more ads based on what my friends like.” But plenty of people will ask a friend to recommend digital cameras or books to them. There are subtle and important differences. First, there’s the asking. Asking someone for recommendations puts both parties in a position of giving permission. That changes the feel of the transaction. Source link: ZDNet Powered by Qumana Thursday, November 8
Umair on Contexual vs. Behavioral Advertising
by
fred
on Thu 08 Nov 2007 06:15 PM PST
Why was contextual advertising superior? The economics of behavioral targeting don't make any sense. The benefits are clear for advertisers, but not for audiences. Since behavioral targeting imposes greater costs on users (cost of privacy loss, cost of lost attention from more invasive ads) than contextual targeting does, it must offer audiences greater gains as well. Powered by Qumana Wednesday, October 17
New releases have doubled in the last six years
by
fred
on Wed 17 Oct 2007 08:25 PM PDT
Interesting tidbit from the Unsprung Artists blog: there has been a dramatic increase in the number of new titles released in the last seven years. Sunday, September 23
The next big moneymaker
by
fred
on Sun 23 Sep 2007 12:58 PM PDT
The music business is resisting rather than exploiting the Long Tail. Here’s the lesson from the Web 1.0 bubble - in the long tail - value context over content. A music search application that will let you find the indie artists that you appreciate out of all the terabytes of music available will be the next money maker. And the musicians won’t get rich, but they will get played. The loser: the people who made their money out of artificial scarcity and payola. Powered by Qumana
Important quote from Peter Rojas
by
fred
on Sun 23 Sep 2007 12:44 PM PDT
The Internet, combined with low-cost (or even no-cost) digital tools, has led to an explosion of creativity, with millions of amateurs making music for every conceivable genre, sub-genre, and microgenre, and then sharing their creations online. Andrew Keen might look down on these results, and no doubt 99.9 percent of the music being created today is terrible; but that’s besides the point. Even that one-tenth of one percent means that there is more great music being created than any of us will have time to listen to — and that’s not even taking into account all of the “professional” music that still manages to get made. Many professional artists are discovering that, regardless of how well their music sells, they’re still able to make a healthy living from live appearances, merchandise, and licensing — and the Internet only makes it easier for them to build a fan base. It’s the Britney Spearses of the world that are hit hardest by all of this change. Manufactured pop doesn’t do quite so well when consumers have better options to choose from. The majors thrived in an era of artificial scarcity when they were able to control the production and distribution of music. Today, we have an infinite number of choices available to us, and when content is infinitely abundant, the only scarce commodities are convenience, taste, and trust. The music companies that are successfully shaping the Internet era are recognizing that the real value is in making it easier to buy music than to steal it, helping consumers find other people who share their music tastes, and serving as a trusted source for discovering new music. Powered by Qumana Wednesday, September 19
An important quote from Bob Lefsetz on the music industry
by
fred
on Wed 19 Sep 2007 12:24 PM PDT
The old model is dead. 360 degree deals will be the norm. But with WHOM? New entities. Just like Microsoft supplanted IBM, just like Google supplanted Yahoo, just like Apple supplanted Tower Records, unforeseen entities will eclipse the usual powers and rule in the future. We're in an era of chaos. But it won't last forever. Just like only a handful of the millions of blogs get a disproportionate share of the hits, new companies will control the music sphere. They'll have money. Their charges won't starve on the street. Musicians will give up income to get the reward. But they'll believe they're getting a fair deal. And, they will know exactly what their deal and revenue are. This is what is going to appeal to the musician. This transparency. We're not talking indie labels running on a shoestring here. Rather, well-financed companies that control talent. A veritable cabal out to rape and pillage traditional powers all in the defense of the artist, for the benefit of the fan. You've got to reference Irving Azoff again here. What did the aforementioned Mr. Henley say at the Eagles' induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? "He may be Satan, but he's OUR Satan?" You want Satan on your team. Someone who has a direct interest in your success. And no one at a major label fits this paradigm. Hell, they may not even be there when your record comes out, never mind your fifth. And what can they do for you anyway? The new company, probably controlled by a youngster, will OWN Facebook. I don't mean literally, just that it will be wired in the online sphere. The new company will have a database of every music fan in the genres within which it operates. It will know how to solicit and motivate without overpressuring. It will be in the long haul business, not solely desirous of instant gratification. Powered by Qumana Sunday, September 2
Where do we find out about new things?
by
fred
on Sun 02 Sep 2007 11:46 AM PDT
A quote from a Columbia Music focus group study, called Big Red. Powered by Qumana Friday, August 10
Wow! There are a lot of social networking sites out there!
by
fred
on Fri 10 Aug 2007 01:36 PM PDT
Thanks to the socialsoftwareweblog and Judith Meskil for compiling this list.
Affinity Engines, Appiir*, Business Parc, BusinessPartnerships.ca*, Contact Network, Doostang*, ecademy, eConozco, Eliyon, EntreMate, eXtremeNetworking.biz*, Friendly Favors, GoingProfessional, Growth Company, I'm Not From Here, InterAction, ITmob, ItsNotWhatYouKnow, Join Network PLUS, LLC, Kickstart-Connect*, Konnects, LinkedIn, Link Silicon Valley, matcheroo, Mediabistro, Monster Networking, NetMiner, Netmodular Community, Networking For Professionals, Online Business Networking Resource, Open Business Club (openBC), OrderGenerator, PeopleThatClick*, Point Relevance, Polypol, PowerMingle, RealContacts, ReferNet, Reunion, Ryze, SelectMinds, Senior Management Network*, Shortcut, Silicon Valley Pipeline, Spoke Software, Sullivan Executive Networking Community, Tacit - ActiveNet, TENG, Viaduc*, Visible Path, WisdomBuilder, Zerendipity Networks, Zerodegrees. common interest networking sites50 Something.com, 50Yearsplus.com, ANTfriender, ArtistNow!, AveMariaSingles, Bigcampus.net, BookCrossing, Buzznet, CampusNetwork*, Classmates, Collegester, Community Zero, Company of Friends, ConnectU*, DeanSpace, Delphi Forums, Digital Squeeze, Downelink, FilmTrust*, Foodsters, FunHi, GamersGlue, Globe Alive, gradFinder, HRTS - Hollywood Radio & Television Society, Jewster*, LDS Circle*, Mediabuddies, Meet Me at HOT or NOT?, naboe*, Netplaya Burning Man Community, Neurona, PayDemocracy, quad5, Schoolster, SongBuddy, Talk City, Thefacebook, TheSquare, threedegrees, TimeBucks*, UpMyStreet, UrScouted*, UUSwap*, Wealink*, Xfire*, Yelp!*. dating sitesAfroRomance, ajewishdatingsite, americansingles, Amigos, AsiaFriendFinder, Berkzter, BlackPlanet, BUZZSession, Cherish, collegeluv.com, ChristiansTogether , Country Singles, Cupid, Cupids Database, Date.com, Date the UK, Dating.dk, Dating Jewish Singles, eHarmony, Equally Yoked, FriendFinder, Gay Christian Dating, Gay Jewish Dating, Gay Military M4M, GermanFriendFinder, HookUP*, hotsaints, IndianFriendFinder, InterMingle, Introducing, It'sJustCoffee*, jdate.com, JewishCafe, JewishFriendfinder, JewishLoveMatch, Jewish Matchmaker, Jewish Personals, JMatch, Lavalife, LDS Singles Mingle, LDS Singles Network, LDS Singles SingleSaints, Love, M4M Seniors, Magoori, Match.com, Mature Dating.org, meetic, MyCountryMatch, MyEMatch, Overweight Date, Passion, POP! PeopleOnPage, PlanetOut Partners, Inc., RateOrDate, RedDate, Relationship Exchange, RogueConnect*, Senior Dating Exchange, SeniorFriendFinder, SeniorsCircle, SingleJew, Single Seniors, SpeedDating Online-Jewish Dating, Spicy Senior Singles, Swappster, Totally Jewish-Dating Channel, TrueBeginnings, uDate, UrbanTraditional, Vegetarian singles, webdate, Yahoo! Personals, YID - Single Jewish Dating. face-to-face meeting facilitation sites8minuteDating, Evite, First Tuesday, Food and Friends*, GeekDinner, HurryDate, The Lunch Club NYC, Lunch Partners, MEETin*, MeetUp, MixerMixer, Netparty, new-in-town, Social Circles, WhizSpark. friend networking sitesBackwash, bobojam*, Breedster, BuddyBridge, Chia Friend, ChosenNet,Christianster, Click2Friends, easeek, eFriendsnet, enCentra, everyonesconnected, FriendFan, Friendity, Friend MAP, Friendoo, friendsand, friendsbay.de, Friends of Friends, Friends Reunited, Friendset, Friends of Friends, Friendster, Friend Surfer, Friendsync, Friendzy, Gruuve, HeiYou, hi5, hipstir, Huminity, HummingBoard, The Impersonals, iSocialite, Korea Data House, LDS LinkUp, LianQu, LinkEstadao*, linkyourfriends, Living Directory, MeineFreunde*, Metails, mrNeighborhood, myfriends, Myspace, NetFriendships, Neurofriends, orkut, PalJunction, peeps nation, qpengyou, Ringo, saywhatz, Swirve*, The Bomb*, Tickle by Emode, ticqle, Tribe.net, TribungPinoy*, UUFriends, Wallop, WiW, WorldShine, YeeYoo, YOYO, zenetwork. MoSoSo sitesActiveMatch, AirCQ, asphaltgames, awaRE, BEDD, Beliefnet Mobile, BusyThumbs*, BuZZone, CrowdSurfer, Dodgeball, Earthcomber*, Encounter Bubbles, Flickr, Fluidtime, Hocman*, IcyPole, ImaHima, Jabberwocky, JAMDAT, Jukola*, Mamjam, MeetingPoint*, Meetup, Mobido*, MobiLuck, mobster, Mooble, modus, MTONE, nTAG*, PeepsNation, Playtxt.net*, Plink Mobile, Plazes*, Pocketster, Portabible*, proxidating, Proxpro, PurpleAce*, Saw-You, Serendipity, socialight, Socializer, SoundPryer*, Speck, TagText*, Traces of Fire, tunA, TxtMob*, Urban Plexus*, Wavemarket, weemee, WhoAt, WiFi.Bedouin, Wow Friends*. pet networking sitesBackwash for Pets, Catster*, Dogster, HAMSTERster, KissyKat, Neopets. photo sharing emphasis sitesBuzznet, Expressions, Findapix, Flickr, FotoAmigo*, Fotolog.net, Fotothing, FriendBlend, MyShoots*, Nokia Lifeblog, PictureM*, PixParty, smugmug, SocialCanvas, Textamerica, Webshots, Zorpia, Zoto. social networking 'plus' and/or 'edge cases'Blogpod, BuddyZoo, clevercactus*, del.icio.us, dodgeball, Dude Check This Out!, eTwine, Eurekster!, eventSherpa, fonetango, Funchain.com, Gush, HelloWorld, Home Exchange, HomeLink, imeem*, InsiderPages*, Intervac, JournURL, KnowMates, LiveJournal, MixedNutz.net, Mooble, Mosuki*, motime*, M-Tone, Multiply, Nioki, The Opinion Exchange, Palbook, PeopleAggregator, RepCheck, SmallPlanet, Small World Project, Social Grid, Splinder*, Squiby, StumbleUpon, TXTParty, Upcoming.org, WiredReach, Xanga, Yafro Moblog, Zdarmanet, Zopto. Powered by Qumana Sunday, June 10
A Very Relevant Comment
by
fred
on Sun 10 Jun 2007 12:10 PM PDT
From a Globe and Mail article by Matthew Ingram: Powered by Qumana Friday, June 1
Master List of Revenue Sources for Your Blog
by
fred
on Fri 01 Jun 2007 09:47 AM PDT
Thanks to Ryan Shamus for creating this comprehensive list. I am copying the whole thing as opposed to linking to just so I know i will have it in the future. Google Adsense - definintely one of the most popular ways to make money on the internet, easy to be accepted and easy to blend in with your site. Kontera ContentLink - A contextually relevant keyword that is discovered in real-time on a web page from within Kontera´s vast network of publishers, and is automatically turned into a link to the most relevant ad from among Kontera´s thousands of advertisers. Very popular with bloggers. Bloggerwave - Give your valuable feedback to advertisers with respect to their web sites, products, services, and companies and get paid for it. Disclosure required. SponsoredReviews - Earn cash by writing honest reviews about our advertiser’s products and services. ReviewMe -Earn cash by writing honest reviews about our advertiser’s products and services. Auction Ads - Auction Ads allows you to monetize your website by displaying live eBay auctions next to your related copy. Ebay Affiliate - Drive your traffic to eBay and get paid for it. Generous commissions. Ebay Reseller - The Reseller Marketplace by eBay is a business-to-business (B2B) liquidation site where eBay PowerSellers can acquire inventory for resale. Amazon Assosciate - By linking to Amazon products and services you can make money online with your blog or website. Yahoo Publishers - Simply display ads that are relevant to the content of your site and earn money from qualified clicks Bidvertiser - Make money online by adding the BidVertiser ads to your site or blog and get paid for clicks Text Link Ads - they sell text link ads from your website/blog TTZ Media - JohnChows ad network - shopping/comparison network. AGLOCO - Use the Agloco Viewbar and get paid (not sure how well this one is working atm..) FeedBurner Ad Network - ads in your RSS feed. Feedvertising - uses Feedvertising technology (TLA feature) to run text link ads in your RSS feed. Thanks to JohnChow for this list of primarily CPM based Ad Networks: Phorm Thanks to John Chow for having a list of the following: AdForce Powered by Qumana Tuesday, May 8
The 7 Levels of Revenue for your Blog
by
fred
on Tue 08 May 2007 11:54 PM PDT
Copied from Chad Randall, director of sales with b5media, the seven different levels of blog advertising Powered by Qumana Wednesday, April 25
What's wrong with the music business?
by
fred
on Wed 25 Apr 2007 08:54 AM PDT
It’s not like music has lost its power, it’s not like people don’t want tunes. Hell, more people possess more tracks than ever before. So great artists are now going it alone. The music landscape will be ruled in the future by a completely different coterie. People who are trustworthy, who aren’t into winning through intimidation. They’ll gain their toehold via the Internet that still has majors scratching their heads. They’ll use the new systems to deliver desirable music to niches however small. They’ll realize we’re living in a golden era of opportunity. Powered by Qumana Friday, April 20
Here is the Focus
by
fred
on Fri 20 Apr 2007 11:48 PM PDT
But now all the old systems have broken down, we’re rebuilding. And we’ve got to start with not how you look, not whether you fit the slot, the niche, the potential marketing possibilities, but the MUSIC! You’ve got to concentrate on the music. It’s got to reach people in their heads and hearts. And if it does, you’re on the road, to success, to riches. Powered by Qumana Thursday, April 12
The new rules of the music business
by
fred
on Thu 12 Apr 2007 12:24 PM PDT
From Bob Lefsetz: This is a problem. Not only does the consumer want control over what he buys, he has control over the price too, which is free. Not a good business model. You’d think those in power would address this, for this goes to the core of their revenue stream, but they’d rather try to sue their consumers back to the twentieth century, and go on about the good old days. There is a model for monetization of Web acquisition, by licensing P2P, whether an individual service or at the ISP level. Then again, you can’t monetize hard drive swapping and IM transfer, so the boat leaks. Bad if you’re in the recorded music business. Not necessarily bad if you’re in the music business. Creators should get paid for their work. But this is problematic today. So, musicians must turn to other revenue streams. Like live and merch. This is fact. One can rail about the injustice, how it was better when you could live off recorded music sales, but that world is in disarray. In the heyday of MTV, the way to get people to come to the gig was to get airplay of your video. It was cause and effect, airplay begat attendees. Not necessarily long term fans, but if you had a hit you could book short term revenue. But now MTV plays no videos. And radio listenership is down. So it’s harder to drive revenue streams, not only recorded music, but live and merch. So, you’ve got to go another way. Some people employ corporate endorsements and/or advertising/TV/movie synchs. Corporate cash is short term, it runs out. And, you can only usually get it if you’re big already. Advertising…it hurts your cred. TV and movie synchs, not bad, but there aren’t that many slots, and there isn’t that much repetition. In other words, it’s hard to get your music heard without selling out. And even if you do sell out, it’s still hard to get your music heard. That’s why when you’re a wannabe, when you’re starting out, you give your music away for free. Forget the fact that you want to be paid. The problem is, nobody knows who you are to buy your music. Your free campaign is a way to get traction. Revenue is down the pike! Kind of like Google. There was no revenue at first. Just the truly great search engine. They got eyeballs, and then they came up with their advertising model. There’s already a business model in music, live, merch and the recorded music sales you can garner, but it pays to look at Google. Google is constantly releasing new products, that are free to use. Google News. Google Earth. Google Video, Blogs and a whole host of other features. You see they want you hooked, they want you to be a member of the club. They’ll figure out how to make money off you later. Funny, but this strategy not only decimated Yahoo, it put a huge dent in Microsoft’s online strategy. Once again, why was Google successful? Because its search engine worked quickly and came up with the correct result right away. And you didn’t have to wade through ads, you weren’t bombarded by come-ons. You got what you came for, nothing more unless you so desired. This is why the endorsement/commercial tie-in aspect of music is so problematic. It undermines the experience and the trust. Sure, it gets the message out, but it muddies the cred and the belief and the bond. Google’s bond is so good that searchers see the ads on the side as a bonus, a benefit! And isn’t it interesting that Google doesn’t sell the ads to the highest bidder. Oh, they do at first. But if a subsidiary ad gets more traffic, it ascends the ladder. Insanely great thought and execution. If only Yahoo could duplicate it. It can’t. There aren’t that many good bands out there. It doesn’t matter if you sell out or play for cred, if you suck, you’re not going to make it. But if you are good, manage your cred, and your mailing list. Pay attention to the bond with your fans, nurture it. People will do anything for you as long as you don’t trick them, if they believe in you. Have great music, create a fan base, and then collect the money. Yes, this does mean you’ll starve or leave money on the table at first. But if you give it away for free up front, or cheap, it’ll pay dividends later. This is the benefit of Arcade Fire staying indie, of having cheap shows, their fans love them. It’s more than the music. And it has to be more than the music to have longevity today. Remember, bond first, money second. Powered by Qumana Monday, April 9
Are you a musician or an entertainer?
by
fred
on Mon 09 Apr 2007 12:23 PM PDT
This may sound oversimplified, but many bands overlook it. Fans want to have fun. They work all day. They want to go out and have a good time. That's why they came to the club in the first place. Are you prepared to give them a good time? How do you intend to do this? Practicing your music in a place other than your basement is not fun. (I call it practicing in front of people when bands don't do anything any differently at their show than they do in their practice space). This is 99% of the bands. Imagine your buddy who'll sit through your practice. He usually ends up falling asleep halfway through it. What makes him go nuts at your live show? Think about the difference. Powered by Qumana
You recorded your first album in your home studio. what do you do now?
by
fred
on Mon 09 Apr 2007 11:32 AM PDT
Brandon Drury from Recording Review has some very good starting points on "Getting Started With Music Marketing". Powered by Qumana Thursday, April 5
Quote To Remember
by
fred
on Thu 05 Apr 2007 07:28 PM PDT
Traditional media's entire advertising model is under fire. Advertising that's produced and pushed to consumers will be shunned, he argues. "Old media is nervous because traditional paid-for-by-the-company push-it-out-to-users advertising has lost its credibility and because the viewer community is fragmenting. Any form of paid-push advertising will be ignored."
Powered by Qumana Wednesday, March 28
Untitled
by
fred
on Wed 28 Mar 2007 04:48 PM PDT
So the mystery of the GPhone has finally sorta been solved - and as Engadget suggests it’s a phone with Google, not a Google phone. It turns out the mysterious Asian hardware supplier is LG Electronics, which will load up a bunch of Google services (Google Maps, GMail and Blogger) into millions of mobile phones. LG and Google will jointly market the devices - with at least 10 coming out this year. Perhaps even more intriguing is the plan for both companies to collaborate to “develop digitized homes in the future” - the GHome? Powered by Qumana Monday, February 26
Competing with Adsense
by
fred
on Mon 26 Feb 2007 02:36 PM PST
From a comment on a TechCrunch post: One other consideration – algorithmic keyword-based targeting is pretty hit-or-miss based on the product category. In our space, very few of the top CPC advertisers participate in it based on the low conversion rates, creating low CPC payouts for AdSense." Source link: http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/25/yahoo-publisher-networks-trojan-horse/ Powered by Qumana
Can Yahoo catch up to Google?
by
fred
on Mon 26 Feb 2007 02:32 PM PST
Google has a hefty lead in getting small publishers to put Google-powered ads on their websites. There is no negotiated deal - advertisers agree to take whatever Google decides to give them. Revenue share terms are not disclosed to these small publishers. The publisher simply places a piece of JavaScript code in the code of their website, the ads appear, and a check comes in the mail. For some, this is easy — for most, they don’t know the first thing about getting code into other code; so they likely hire someone to do this for them, then just leave it alone. Monday, January 8
Saturday, December 2
Random Thought
by
fred
on Sat 02 Dec 2006 12:51 PM PST
I think what drives me crazy these days is that so many of the activities I do now are centered around this computer. Work, writing, creating presentations, communicating with colleagues, communicating with friends, Skype, online chat, looking up information on something you want to get, other research, booking reservations, paying the bills, banking, getting the news, storing and looking at the photos you take, now that includes videos, entertaining yourself with other stuff such as YouTube videos, blogs about goofy stuff, music and let’s not forget the odd risque photo site, games, getting the music you want, editing music, kid’s homework, watching a show that you missed on TV, catching the updates on a conference that you wanted to attend, and so much more. Sadly, I was even on the computer in my dreams last night. Isn’t this ridiculous? I really am getting tired of looking at this computer screen. I had some interesting thoughts over the last couple of days that I wanted to keep track of and share. I would like to spend more time writing down these thoughts but it really is difficult. Don’t you think something has to change? Of course, I have my Blackberry. Powered by Qumana Friday, November 3
Thursday, November 2
Test for Bunchball
by
fred
on Thu 02 Nov 2006 08:26 AM PST
Thursday, October 26
Monday, October 23
Thursday, September 28
Project Opus
by
fred
on Thu 28 Sep 2006 02:34 PM PDT
Wednesday, September 6
Barenaked Ladies - New Album
by
fred
on Wed 06 Sep 2006 07:57 PM PDT
Friday, August 25
Hurricaine season
by
fred
on Fri 25 Aug 2006 03:11 PM PDT
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Tropical Storm Ernesto formed Friday over the Caribbean as it moved toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands and could develop into the first hurricane of the 2006 Atlantic season, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. "The essential message to the public is to continue to monitor the system carefully, listen to local media," said Education Minister Alden McLaughlin. At 5 p.m. ET Friday, Ernesto had maximum sustained winds near 40 mph. The fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season was centered 300 miles south-southwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and 660 miles east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. Powered by Qumana
Jill Carroll: Promises, threats, panic
by
fred
on Fri 25 Aug 2006 02:45 PM PDT
Here are my comments!! Jill Carroll: Promises, threats, panic Jill Carroll was wondering what Ink Eyes wanted. She hadn't seen him for three weeks and back then he'd promised he would release her soon. Similar promises had proven worthless during her months-long captivity in Iraq. This time was different. She was rushed to a car and began to panic. "Now we're going to kill you," Ink Eyes said. Powered By Qumana
mhgcxl1v.jr3hvj
by
fred
on Fri 25 Aug 2006 02:27 PM PDT
MyFabrik, loosely related to Maxtor, is a new online data storing/sharing/organizing application that lets you manage files remotely with just a web browser. You can upload and download pictures, music, videos and documents privately or publicly, depending on what permissions you set. The Web 2.0-ness of the web-app comes from tagging, sharing with others, and the ability to quickly post the files you choose onto eBay and MySpace. Powered by Qumana |
My Favorite Web Logs
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The Barenaked Ladies are set to release yet another self produced studio album. Susan Rogers, their producer from earlier albums that threw the Ladies into the public eye is also helping them out the this new release. On September 12 "Are We" will hit the stores. As well, their first single "Easy" will hit the air. Compared to previous albums "Are We" shows no disappointment. To be honest the single "Easy" is pretty similar to their older songs. However the tune is catchy and could easy be a hit even though the acoustic guitar riff throughout the whole song with exception of one key change does get a little too repetitious. But if your a Barenaked Ladies fan you will probably love it. So don't take my word for it pick up the album and see for yourself on September 12.
I always try to write articles that help both artists and labels. Usually I focus on marketing and leveraging the power of the Internet. However, for this post, I want to talk about dirt sifting. Have you ever seen a large-scale dirt processing plant - sifters, conveyors, shakers, trucks, hoppers and dust overwhelm the landscape?
Prior to modern dirt processing, man had to sort his dirt by hand. Imagine sifting tons and tons of dirt, sticks and stones into separate piles organized by size and weight. The process was hard and messy and it took forever.
Music is like dirt. There’s tons of it, and the process of sifting through it was hard and it took forever. Then came digital music technology – ah the modern dirt processing plant for music. It neatly allowed us to sort out the sticks and stones, and pile them into little neat folders by mood, genre, tempo, artist, or into any pile we could imagine.
You know the mechanized dirt processing plant put the human dirt sorters out of business; but the dirt sorters didn’t quit, they learned how to drive tractors and trucks and how to run the sifters and sorters.
Then the dirt sorters grew the dirt market, and it grew and grew and grew, and now you can get every type of dirt, stone and wood chip imaginable; blue rocks mixed with white rocks, yellow wood chips, pink sand; if you can imagine it, you can probably buy it.
The dirt sorters were smart; they learned how to run the machines that made the neat little piles, and how to rapidly move the piles to the people that longed for different types of dirt, stone and chips. And, they made a lot of money. And they didn’t have to get dirty any more.
So, if you are an artist you should know that if you can find the exact pile to put your stones into, someone will eventually buy that pile. And, if you are a record label, go down to the dirt farm, watch the dirt processor, ask questions, learn from the dirt farmer, and you will see – he is clean and he prospers.
Bruce Warila – Unsprung Artists
— Posted by Bruce Warila