Au Revoir

Friends, fellow music lovers, my time here is up. I'm returning to the "real world" (which by this time I'm not sure is any more real than the blogosphere) and am placing my blog on hiatus. If you would like to contact me, just leave a comment on any of my posts and the powers that be will email me about it.
Peace and Love.

Idiomag (4)

Post #1

I recently became inspired (I won’t say by what, or whom) to find the next big Web 2.0 application for musicians and music lovers worldwide. What I found—and I’m so glad I did—was Idiomag. If any of you know what Pandora is (and you should all know what Pandora is because it is amazing), think of Idiomag as Pandora on steroids, without the tantrums and the impotence.

Idiomag is a type of news/music aggregator, but instead of a system like pageflakes, where you have to do all the work, the folks at Idiomag do all the looking for you. In late 2006 they launched their first magazine, and have been honing the site ever since then. The system is simple: you type in the bands you like, and they supply you with an online magazine filled with news and music from those bands. You can decide whether you would like just the bands you want, or recommendations from the Idiomag team based on your preferences. You can also choose the size (up to 6 articles) and frequency (as often as daily) of your mags, and the rest is done.

In terms of finding a social aspect to Idiomag, they are hoping to have a forum up and running soon where intelligent conversations about music will no doubt quickly deteriorate into flame wars over whether Joey Jordison or Neil Peart is the better drummer. Until that day, however, the creators have given us a handy little widget that we can put on our own social networking sites so that we can show all our friends how much cooler we are than them.

Aside from one-uping our friends, Idiomag is a useful tool for anyone in the music industry (or anyone interested in music) because it constantly updates the magazine with current news that is relevant to each person’s field of interest. It’s so much better than trolling the entire interweb for updates on the world of music. And the best part is, since it’s all online, we’re doing our part to save the Amazon and combat global warming.

Although the site is impressive in both its layout and content, the people responsible for it don’t seem to have let that get to their heads. The site is based in England, and the small team that runs it seems quite down to earth, as demonstrated in their wittily composed FAQ page and the fact that they are extremely receptive to help and suggestions. I would encourage all of you to browse around the site, as they have a page for everyone, from bloggers to journalists.

To get a sample of this lovely technology, feel free to check out my personal idiomag. I haven’t had the time to add many artists yet, but I put a few of my favorites and just a couple of fun ones (read: Miley Cyrus) to spice up the mix.

Since most of you probably like pretty visuals to go along with silly old words, I’ve included a video from the Idiomag folks themselves. Enjoy!





Post #2

Idiomag is my new favorite toy. It’s like a sexy, exciting version of an RSS feed. I’ve recently been accused of hating RSS feeds. I don’t know why anyone would say that; I in no way hate RSS feeds. I was starting to get a bit bored, however, so Idiomag found me at the perfect time.

I would suggest that if you have serious work to do, stick with regular RSS feeds. If, however you are like me and need a change of scenery about every four minutes, Idiomag is the perfect tool for you. The news articles it packages up for you are as relevant as any you’d find in a normal blog or news feed, but they are surrounded by lovely songs and videos that make reading the articles so much more fun.

This “online magazine” is also helpful to a person like myself because I never remember to check other news aggregators, such as Google Reader or Pageflakes. With Idiomag, however, I don’t have to remember to check anything because, much like a paper magazine, the “e-mag” is delivered to my inbox every day (or as often as I choose).

I have by no means added as many artists to my Idiomag as plan to, but to start with, I added some artists I like, many of whom are also important to watch because of the way they affect/guide the music industry:
⋆Radiohead (constantly innovating and finding new ways to produce and promote)
⋆Nine Inch Nails (constantly following Radiohead’s lead in innovation, but the awesomeness of Trent’s music is entirely original)
⋆Queens of the Stone Age (I just did this one for the interviews—Josh Homme is so funny)
⋆Marilyn Manson (I just can’t get enough of Mr. Marilyn and his covers)
⋆Coldplay (just a good band)
⋆Madonna (I can’t wait to see what happens with her 360 deal)

I also included Miley Cyrus because I believe she is an important person to watch in the music industry. (Who am I kidding; I just like her. If you don’t find anything catchy about the musical stylings of Ms. Cyrus, you need to get out of denial. Granted, it does get old after about two songs, but those first five minutes are awesome!)

My advice for my readers would be to use Idiomag as a supplement to other news aggregators. Idiomag does make direct deals with journalists, so some of their content is exclusive and could be very helpful. The format is also a welcome change from the static blogs and news articles we often drown in.

Perhaps someday all the news will be in the Idiomag format, or else Idiomag will have so many sources that we won’t have to look elsewhere. Until then, we broaden our horizons by looking in several different places. In the end, isn’t that the best way? We wouldn’t want to be guilty of gorging ourselves on news from one source. Maybe multiple sources are the only way to battle a 1984-esqe dystopia. We shall see.





Post #3

Idiomag - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Idiomag

Since this slide show was originally accompanied by an extensive commentary, I've decided to include some notes for your edification.

Slide #2: These are a few points to keep in mind while you watch the slide show-- this is what Idiomag is all about. Let's take a tour of Idiomag first, then I'll explain what it's all about.

Slide #3: This is what the homepage looks like. One of the quirks with Idiomag is that they make it rather difficult to sign up for their site. On the plus side, you get to try it without signing up for anything, so if you don't like it, you haven't given your information away to anybody. At the bottom, you have the option to sign in to several music radio sites to which you might belong.

Slide #4: Unfortunately, this feature is down right now, so to get started just go ahead and click on the "Nope!" button.

Slide #5: At this point you'll be able to choose two of your favorite artists and type them into the form. Don't worry about antagonizing over just choosing two, because once you're signed up, you can add as many artists as you like.

Slide #6: Then you click on the "Try it Now" button, and it will take you to your free demo version of your first Idiomag.

Slide #7: The front page of your magazine will typically look like this. They have a table of contents so you can skip right away to the article that looks most interesting to you.

Slide #8: There is a whole toolbar on the side, where you can save the article so you can come back to it later, share it with friends, see why the folks at Idiomag decided they should include it in your daily magazine, or see more articles like it. They also have a section at the bottom where you can rate an article as "love it" or "bin it," so future magazines will beter know your tastes.

Slide #9: After you've been with Idiomag for at least a week, they build a table of contents for you, so you can see what you've accumulated over the past week. From there, you can reach any article you like, either a new one or one you saw recently that you'd like to watch again.

Slide #10: Here is what a typical article will look like in Idiomag. A lot of times the articles will be relevant to my topic of the changing world of music. Take, for example, this article about Trent Reznor, of Nine Inch Nails (one of my favorite bands). It talks about how Trent is trying to take the music industry one step further by making a television show based on his latest album.

Slide #11: Idiomag is far from being all about business, though. At the bottom of the screen here, there is a music player that plays music based on the artists you typed in when you signed up. Just like the articles, they play music that you specifically like as well as suggestions of artists that they think you will like based on your preferences. The music comes from the Idiomag site, so you don't have to worry about glitches as long as Idiomag is up and running. You can also customize your preferences so that the music either changes to match each separate article, or continues to play on its own, uninterrupted.

Slide #12: In addition to the articles, Idiomag also includes relevant videos to complete your magazine viewing experience. The videos are either paired with a related article, or simply placed on their own as an interview or news clip.

Slide #13: If you take a closer look at this slide, we can return to our first point-- Idiomag is a news and music aggregator. This particular article was originally from Yahoo Music, but the folks at Idiomag pulled it and formatted it to fit into their magazine style.

Slide #14: Unfortunately, not every source is as reliable as Yahoo Music. Idiomag also pulls its articles from less reliable sources and writers. Take, for example, this complete sentence from an article by a staff writer at Idiomag: "brothers' band, Mecano Pig, to study music at City University." I hate to say it, but I don't see Idiomag becoming a power player in the music industry until the site becomes more streamlined and gets rid of travesties like this article.

Slide #15: If you will return to our "Points to remember" with me, you'll remember that the second point was that Idiomag helps to introduce new artists to the public consciousness. Neither Aqualung nor the Dandy Warhols were artists that I specifically stated as being favorites of mine, but Idiomag noticed that they were similar to some of the artists that I like, so they included them with the rest of my articles.

Slide #16: Part of the draw of an online magazine is its environmentalism. Idiomag takes up zero paper and thus helps to save the rainforest. If you find recycling too hard, or can't bring yourself to turn down your air conditioning, at least cancel your subscription to Blender. You'll even save money, because Idiomag is absolutely free.

Slide #17: So why is Idiomag such a big deal? What makes it better than other news aggregators? If you're like me, with the attention span of a five-year-old, you find most news aggregators boring and stuffy. Sure, the article might be interesting, but there's nothing else going on to grab your attention. Idiomag takes care of that problem by streaming exciting music and video interviews along with the articles you read. The environment is much less academic and more of good plain fun. That having been said, I would not recommend Idiomag for a serious academic project. The site is too faulty to be able to trust implicitly, although much of its material is true, interesting, and informative.

Slide #18: Let's recap-- After you submit your favorite artists, Idiomag does all the work for you, so you don't have to go searching for specific blogs and websites that match your interests. It also revolutionizes RSS feeds, adding music and a certain "zazziness" of design that updates the RSS feed for 2008.

Slide #19: If you still have doubts about Idiomag, here are some statistics from Alexa, showing how many people use it. It's still a fairly new site (launched in late 2006), but the numbers are growing.

Slide #20: Thanks so much for watching my slide show, and please check out Idiomag and my blog if you're interested!

Idiomag Powerpoint

Idiomag - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: Idiomag

Slightly Incoherent

In all the spare time I have between school, work, and my newly rekindled social life, I’ve been reading Live from Death Row, by Mumia Abu-Jamal. I’m completely embarrassed to admit this, but Dashboard Confessional just came on my iTunes shuffle, and I’m so tempted to just spill out a load of pseudo-philosophical crap about life, death, and the fact that Mumia has been on death row for 26 (yes, you read that right, twenty-six) years.

However, I belong to the school of thought that the world would have been a much better place had Live Journal not been invented, and so I’m going to attempt to keep this blog centered on the changing world of music (although I’m doing a great job of taking up your time explaining all of this).

I bring up Mumia and his book because it is essentially a chronicle of the injustices of the American government, and it is impossible to read it without feeling loads of passions ranging from pity to anger to helplessness.

Over the past half hour, I’ve listened to Infected Mushroom, Rammstein, Andrea Bocelli, and Dylan. And, just as Mumia’s book inspired me, all of these artists stir emotions within me that new [signed] bands just can’t invoke. All four of those artists are relatively huge, and all signed to labels. Why haven’t there been any big modern bands that make me feel?

Just listen to the watery gruel that is anything on which Chad Kroeger slaps his “talents.” It can be catchy, but that's all. Does that inspire anyone to do anything other than turn off the radio? I know it’s unfair of me to ask where the Jimi Hendrixes of today are, but I’m asking anyway. Music used to have soul. Anthony Kiedis couldn’t sing some notes if his life depended on it, but his music captures the heart and leaves you wanting more. Plus, he puts on a damn good show.

I saw Mae a few months ago and it was so bad I left the concert after the first song. As I've said before, record labels are too afraid to sign any bands with soul, because they might be a mistake. If they sign a band that doesn't sound like everybody else, they run the risk of selling fewer albums. Perhaps they should take a cue from Michael Cohl and try something new.

Until they figure that out, I think I'll stick to my 20th century tunes.




This is a good example of Kiedis' and Flea's awesomeness. Also of Nirvana's stage presence. The music is actually kind of awful but you can tell it was an amazing show.

Using Idiomag

Idiomag is my new favorite toy. It’s like a sexy, exciting version of an RSS feed. I’ve recently been accused of hating RSS feeds. I don’t know why anyone would say that; I in no way hate RSS feeds. I was starting to get a bit bored, however, so Idiomag found me at the perfect time.

I would suggest that if you have serious work to do, stick with regular RSS feeds. If, however you are like me and need a change of scenery about every four minutes, Idiomag is the perfect tool for you. The news articles it packages up for you are as relevant as any you’d find in a normal blog or news feed, but they are surrounded by lovely songs and videos that make reading the articles so much more fun.

This “online magazine” is also helpful to a person like myself because I never remember to check other news aggregators, such as Google Reader or Pageflakes. With Idiomag, however, I don’t have to remember to check anything because, much like a paper magazine, the “e-mag” is delivered to my inbox every day (or as often as I choose).

I have by no means added as many artists to my Idiomag as plan to, but to start with, I added some artists I like, many of whom are also important to watch because of the way they affect/guide the music industry:
⋆Radiohead (constantly innovating and finding new ways to produce and promote)
⋆Nine Inch Nails (constantly following Radiohead’s lead in innovation, but the awesomeness of Trent’s music is entirely original)
⋆Queens of the Stone Age (I just did this one for the interviews—Josh Homme is so funny)
⋆Marilyn Manson (I just can’t get enough of Mr. Marilyn and his covers)
⋆Coldplay (just a good band)
⋆Madonna (I can’t wait to see what happens with her 360 deal)

I also included Miley Cyrus because I believe she is an important person to watch in the music industry. (Who am I kidding; I just like her. If you don’t find anything catchy about the musical stylings of Ms. Cyrus, you need to get out of denial. Granted, it does get old after about two songs, but those first five minutes are awesome!)

My advice for my readers would be to use Idiomag as a supplement to other news aggregators. Idiomag does make direct deals with journalists, so some of their content is exclusive and could be very helpful. The format is also a welcome change from the static blogs and news articles we often drown in.

Perhaps someday all the news will be in the Idiomag format, or else Idiomag will have so many sources that we won’t have to look elsewhere. Until then, we broaden our horizons by looking in several different places. In the end, isn’t that the best way? We wouldn’t want to be guilty of gorging ourselves on news from one source. Maybe multiple sources are the only way to battle a 1984esqe dystopia. We shall see.

My Killa App

I recently became inspired (I won’t say by what, or whom) to find the next big Web 2.0 application for musicians and music lovers worldwide. What I found—and I’m so glad I did—was Idiomag. If any of you know what Pandora is (and you should all know what Pandora is because it is amazing), think of Idiomag as Pandora on steroids, without the tantrums and the impotence.

Idiomag is a type of news/music aggregator, but instead of a system like pageflakes, where you have to do all the work, the folks at Idiomag do all the looking for you. In late 2006 they launched their first magazine, and have been honing the site ever since then. The system works like so: you type in the bands you like, and they supply you with an online magazine filled with news and music from those bands. You can decide whether you would like just the bands you want, or recommendations from the Idiomag team based on your preferences. You can also choose the size (up to 6 articles) and frequency (as often as daily) of your mags, and the rest is done.

In terms of finding a social aspect to Idiomag, they are hoping to have a forum up and running soon where intelligent conversations about music will no doubt quickly deteriorate into flame wars over whether Joey Jordison or Neil Peart is the better drummer. Until that day, however, the creators have given us a handy little widget that we can put on our own social networking sites so that we can show all our friends how much cooler we are than them.

Aside from one-uping our friends, Idiomag is a useful tool for anyone in the music industry (or anyone interested in music) because it constantly updates the magazine with current news that is relevant to each person’s field of interest. It’s so much better than trolling the entire interweb for updates on the world of music. And the best part is, since it’s all online, we’re doing our part to save the Amazon and combat global warming.

Although the site is impressive in both its layout and content, the people responsible for it don’t seem to have let that get to their heads. The site is based in England, and the small team that runs it seems quite down to earth, as demonstrated in their wittily composed FAQ page and the fact that they are extremely receptive to help and suggestions. I would encourage all of you to browse around the site, as they have a page for everyone, from bloggers to journalists.

To get a sample of this lovely technology, feel free to check out my personal idiomag. I haven’t had the time to add many artists yet, but I put a few of my favorites and just a couple of fun ones (read: Miley Cyrus) to spice up the mix.

Since most of you probably like pretty visuals to go along with silly old words, I’ve included a video from the Idiomag folks themselves. Enjoy!

Temporary Truce

Those who believe too much in their own abilities can go far, but eventually must fail. This doesn’t mean they continue to fail (they could turn it into a learning experience, not that the record industry knows what that means). However, it’s pretty inevitable.

Michael Cohl is very sure of himself and his ideas. Thus it follows that he is bound to fail eventually.

Then again, I tend to run on the safe side. In high school I made elaborate plans to run away and move in with my boyfriend in Venice and scraped them every single time because I decided going to college, getting the hell out of suburbia and actually making something out of my life was more important than an adventure. I will try anything once (I draw the line at insects), but I’m the kind of person who goes to Baja Fresh, looks at the menu for ten minutes, and orders the Baja Burrito with Chicken anyway.

Maybe the Michael Cohls of the world are necessary. At least he was putting his money where his mouth was, or vice versa I guess (he owns the most Live Nation stock out of anyone). I certainly wouldn’t risk that much of my money on a relatively untested plan, but hey, maybe that’s why I’m scraping by on a student salary.

If this means the music industry is learning to innovate rather than micromanage, I’m all for it. I’m only afraid that they’re over-correcting now and going too far off the deep end. (God this post is just FULL of hackneyed clichés, isn’t it.) But for now, I will ignore my nay-saying inner voice.

In a rare moment of condescension, I’m going to root for Cohl. By next post I’ll probably be back to wondering what the hell is wrong with him and his kind, but for now I’m feeling adventurous. And even if he is bound to fail, who says it’s going to be this time around!

From one music lover to another, Mr. Cohl, good luck.

Boys who Fight like Girls

The topic of 360 deals has risen in importance recently due to reports of Live Nation Chairman Michael Cohl possibly resigning over conflicts over how to deal with the new system. According to Reuters, Cohl is already making preparations to leave the touring giant, and “could be gone as soon as next week” (which was actually about two weeks ago, and I haven’t heard any new developments since then).

As the story goes, CEO Michael Rapino wanted to slow down and see how the original 360 deals develop over time, and Cohl wanted to snap up fifteen more artists right away. The argument escalated until the men were no longer talking and Cohl began making preparations to leave. The board stepped in and told them to play nice, but it’s too early yet to see how that turned out. Cohl petulantly threatened to take his friends (granted, those friends were Bono and the Rolling Stones) with him if he leaves, only to be reminded that he is not allowed to.

As far as I can tell, Rapino is being the intelligent one here. Live Nation’s stock has plummeted since the Madonna deal last year, and waiting to see how the deals pan out seems like a good idea. Cohl’s risky, entrepreneurial thinking is probably a good thing to have in some situations, but this is way too much money to be leaving so much to chance.

I only hope Live Nation’s next tea party goes well; maybe then the boys will unbunch their panties and start speaking to each other.

Going 360

With album sales at record lows and in the face of a recession, record companies are changing the way they do business. The age of the 360 deal has arrived. The hype that exploded when Live Nation inked a 360 deal with Madonna last fall has continued at relatively high levels. But is this new craze all it is cracked up to be?

Ron Fair, Chairman of Geffen Records, explained how the first 360 deal came about. Berry Gordy created it when he founded Motown Records. The way his company worked, Motown took care of everything from dressing the artists to recording the albums. Motown undeniably changed the music industry of the 60s, and now many industry people are looking to the 360 deal to change today’s industry.

Listening Post’s Eliot Van Buskirk quotes BPI’s (British Phonographic Industry) CEO Geoff Taylor:

Increasingly new streams of revenue are coming into the picture. As consumption patterns change, music companies are finding new ways to recoup the huge investments they make in music. They are using new technology to find new audiences and offer consumers more choice. Today’s record business is unrecognizable to that of five years ago. Labels have rapidly evolved into digitally literate businesses that generate significant revenues through licensing.

The British might have “evolved into digitally literate businesses that generate significant revenues,” but as far as I can tell, the American companies have a lot of catching up to do. Labels are beginning to lose (or at least rumored to be losing) major clients like Madonna, U2, and the Rolling Stones (that was the rumored one).

U2 could not join a new craze without adding its own spin, of course, and they pulled a pretty smart move this time. Instead of trusting the inexperienced Live Nation to produce their records, they signed another recording contract with their label, and are letting Live Nation cover everything else. With the amount of promotion experience Live Nation has under its belt, everyone ends up winning (except whoever was doing U2’s promotion before the new deal).

This hedging of bets by U2 calls into question the wisdom of putting all of one’s musical eggs into one greedy company basket. Live Nation is spending money like it’s going out of style, causing splits between the risk-takers and the more conservative higher-ups.

They’re saying to wait and see what happens to Madonna to see if this kind of deal is profitable. I, for one, totally agree. I’m so happy to see the music industry coming up with new ideas (finally), but before throwing all available funds into the new system, make sure it works! The beeper was a great invention, but what if we had all invested in it? Where would we be now?

I'm excited to see what actually happens in future of 360 deals. If they fail, the repercussions will be great. If, on the other hand, the deals actually work, it will be an important move towards the integration of the music industry into the modern world. We shall see.

On all things Asian, Democratic, and Very Late

My RSS feeds have exploded over the last couple of days with news about Chinese Democracy. Again. But this time, Axl Rose is absolutely not involved in the controversy. Apparently a blogger named “Skwerl” posted nine unreleased tracks from the long-awaited album on Antiquiet. (How long has it been now? Thirty years?)

The songs quickly disappeared after FBI showed up at the blogger's work to "ask him a few questions." I would probably pee my pants if the FBI showed up at my work, but according to Listening Post,

[Skwerl is] not too worried about getting his ass handed to him in a court of law. "It may be a legal gray area since it wasn't for download; it wasn't a finished product," he said. "We aren't sure who owns the recordings. I feel like I might survive this."

I can not wait to see what happens to him.

Judging from the nature of the comments on the Aniquiet site, early reviews of the songs seem split right down the middle, with half the listeners loving the new songs, and the other half wanting to tear their ears off after listening. I was not fortunate enough to find the site before the FBI and Axl’s people forced asked Skwerl to cease and desist, so as of now I have no comment.

Perhaps someday the album will actually come out. In my humble opinion, Axl knows he waited too long, and is terrified of releasing an album that will never live up to GnR fans’ expectations. Or maybe he is just biding his time, waiting until the time is ripe. For now, dear friends, we wait, until the next Skwerl leaks the tracks (and then will someone please tell me before the FBI gets involved!)

Pageflake!

We were sitting on the dance floor, surrounded by glo-sticks and scantily-clad ravers, when Matt had the glorious idea to make a homepage that had everything you could want at your fingertips! It was the perfect plan. We were going to be rich. Unfortunately, the folks at Pageflakes beat us to it. I was introduced to Pageflakes a few weeks ago, and have not been able to keep my fingers off it since then. (Well, except for the first few days, when I was too busy cursing the Pageflakes crew for slaughtering my dreams of wealth.) It has all my needs, from Sudoku when I need a brain tease, to a "Hot or Not" rating machine for when I need a laugh. If you can't find your perfect flake, don't sweat it, simply make one with the "anything flake." To get you started, I'm going to give you a tour of my Music pageflake. Enjoy!

When you visit my pageflake, it is broken down into several categories which I will in turn break down for you right here:

My RSS Feeds
One of the advantages of the "blogroll" feature on most blogs is that they open up so many different paths to research for material. Most of the RSS feeds on my pageflake were found through other blogs, not by searching directly. They are all connected through this network of "blogrolling." I will often see one blog from my roll quoting another blog from my roll. It's almost like a little club for music bloggers. The disadvantage of this is that the news from the blogs is often exactly the same.

This is where the beauty of blogging comes in, because each blogger takes what is often the same news and makes it his or her own. I did a blog a few weeks ago about the differing voices from the Listening Post, and how the same qualities that give each writer unique voices make otherwise repetitive posts interesting every time. Headlines like "Dead Men Do Sell Nikes" are so much more intriguing than "Converse Puts Out New Product."

Listening Post is my favorite out of all the RSS flakes because the contributors update it several times per day and they have a plethora of material from which I can pull my topics. Another favorite is Coolfer, which also updates daily and is a great source for music business news. Recording Industry vs. the People is perfect because it focuses on the interminable debate over the legality of downloading. FutureMusic and AfterDawn both focus on music-related technology, which is important because a some of the other sites are more internet-centered.

Hypebot and Inside Music Media are more personal blogs with a lot of opinion from the writers, which helps me by making sure I have different viewpoints and can see multiple sides of an issue. Music Marketing provides helpful tips to aspiring musicians and has avenues for them to post their work online. Play and NYT Music are news blogs with a broad coverage of all things music-related. Cyberextazy is kind of useless because it hasn't been updated since January, so I'm going to have to replace that.

My Active Searches
For my active searches section, I have two awesome flakes: one called Universal News Search and one called Universal Blog Search. I've filtered each search with the keywords "music," "industry" and "digital." These keywords ensure that the news and blogs that appear daily in the flakes are relevant to my subject matter. Throwing in the keyword "digital" reinforces the technology themed part of my blog: how the internet is changing the music industry.

My Zotero Bibliography
You most likely will not find this on many other pageflakes (they don't even have a biblio-flake yet). My bibliography section is a grouping of four sources (two books and two scholarly articles) that supplement my research. The books (whose annotations can also be found in the previous post) are about the future of digital music and its effect on the industry. One essay is an example of a successful music industry (in Sweden) and the other is a prediction of what will happen to the future of touring.

My Diigo Bookmarks
My Diigo Bookmarks is just one pageflake, but it's very important. When I find something online that I think might be useful, I just bookmark it to my Diigo account and continue browsing uninterrupted. The Diigo pageflake helps me to keep track of all those little tidbits that might be useful sooner or later, by using an RSS feed to constantly update my flake every time I add a new bookmark.

My Social Bookmarking Soulmate
My bookmarking soulmate is also just one pageflake, however helpful he might be. It is the equivalent of a Diigo pageflake for another person with my same interests (my soul mate). Read my previous post all about him for more information.


Now it's your turn! Have fun!

Abstracts

The following are excerpts from an annotated bibliography I'm working on, placed here for your edification.


Burkart, Patrick, and Tom McCourt. Digital Music Wars: Ownership and Control of the Celestial Jukebox. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. Digital Music Wars deals with the potentially unstable structure of the music industry in the context of file sharing sites and the concept of copyright. According to the book, the industry would like the public to believe that the concept of a “Celestial Jukebox” is a good idea and would benefit the general public. What they don’t tell you, however, is the fact that the owners of the jukebox control who gets what for how much, meaning that they can impose separate levels of subscriptions, and retain certain media for those willing to pay higher prices. The authors, both professors at separate universities, seem to be aiming at people already in the music industry, or academics interested in it. While the prose is clear and quite readable, the book is set up in a somewhat boring, academic-themed way. The authors cite their works religiously, providing a large index and in-depth bibliographies at the end of each chapter and at the end of the book. Readers of the book will find it useful for finding other sources on the music industry in general and the future of digital music in particular. The authors seem slanted towards the artists and opposed to the conglomeration of music labels that currently exists. However, here is something to think about before I continue to the next book: despite all the support the authors seem to give to the concept of free speech, Digital Music Wars is copyrighted.


Kusek, David, Gerd Leonhard, and Susan Gedutis Lindsay. The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution. Boston: Berklee Press, 2005. The Future of Music attempts to chart a map of where the digital music boom is headed, claiming that in ten or fifteen years, music will be as ubiquitous as water. The authors also detail the reasons for the record label’s troubles, share legal downloading sites and “inside” information about the music industry, and explain the psychology behind how labels market the music and how consumers choose what to buy. Kuesk, a musician, inventor, software developer, and professor, and Leonhard, a speaker, musician, business and technology expert, and self proclaimed “futurist” are experienced in the ways of writing. Everything about this book, down to the font itself, is designed to make it marketable to anyone who owns any type of music playing device. Although the authors obviously aimed for people who are already interested in the music industry, anyone who picks it up would probably find it interesting and easy to read, due to the short paragraphs, inclusive prose, and multiple journeys through the authors’ imaginations. Readers will benefit from the suggestions the authors give about finding the best sites and software for digital downloading, and from the “insider” viewpoint of the industry. They also share interesting facts, such as how instrumental video games have been in the promotion of certain artists’ work. The authors’ emphasis on this “music like water” theory almost makes one wonder if they’re planning on releasing a beta version of it soon. That aside, though, the book is enjoyable and informative, with interesting information and a great voice.

I especially liked The Future of Music. As of this writing, I haven't finished reading either book, but I'm looking forward to exploring more of Kusek and Leonhard's imaginations.

Embracing the Stalker Within

The more information I dredge up about the internet and its cornucopia of tools and applications, the more I believe the concept of privacy has ceased to exist. The web is no longer safe. I have discovered social bookmarking sites.

It makes me wonder about the consequences of my actions. What if I attempt to privately bookmark a page and I accidently make it public? I’d be completely exposed. The entire world could find out about my fascination with this video. (Ten points for Curious George, twenty negative points for Jack Johnsuck.) I would lose my street cred in an instant. It would be like catching The Game at a Hannah Montana concert.

But like most slightly depressing ideas, these stalker sites have a plus side. Because along with social bookmarking sites, I have also discovered (drum roll, please) RSS FEEDS. And, with the help of an ungodly tech-savvy person, I’ve discovered that combining the two saves me a ton of research.

My new best friend is Miguel Caetano. He doesn’t know I exist yet; in fact, his website is entirely in Portuguese (I think). But thanks to the combined efforts of del.icio.us and pageflakes, he has already directed me towards several glorious pages that will help me save the music industry. Alright, maybe they’ll just save my blog, but that’s a noble cause too, because someday my blog will help save the industry.

Miguel has a del.icio.us page where all his bookmarks are visible to anyone with a del.icio.us account. As of 24 hours ago, that includes me, too. He has thousands of sites bookmarked on del.icio.us, and adds several more daily. For those of you who know what “bundles” are, he only has one, and it only has one tag in it, which makes getting through his many topics a bit more difficult. There is one tag on fascism, and there are 1,566 tags on music, with hundreds of tags on everything from direito to Web 2.0 in between the two.

The only thing Miguel is consistent about is that he always writes a description of the webpage. Sometimes it is the first sentence of the page, and sometimes it is his own summary. Sometimes it is in English, sometimes, Italian. I would love to know exactly how many languages Mr. Caetano is fluent in. Here is one example:

If society members are to consider if there were ‘another way’, an intuitive response might be to ask if Societies could and should pursue equity relationships with nascent firms.

I found a ton of pages through Miguel that I will be checking up on again, but the one that stood out from the rest was Rolling Stone. “Rolling Stone?!” I can taste the indie faction of my legions of readers seething with betrayal. “How can you use them for your blog?” I have to admit, going to the suits for information had never crossed my mind. Why would I want to go to a corporate magazine for information I can get elsewhere? However, I am a staunch advocate of getting every viewpoint, even if said viewpoint is probably getting paid off to only print certain stories.

So, dear readers, congratulate me for trying to stay unbiased, do not shun me for selling out. In fact, I make no money from this, so selling out is literally impossible. Check out Miguel’s page; check out Rolling Stone’s blogs; I am sick and tired of the internet and I am going to go sit on my porch and pretend there are stars upon which to gaze in the smoggy skies of South Central.

Blogorama

(Post #1)

I have climbed highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run
I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for

U2's chart-topping anthem (and one of my personal favorite songs) sums up eloquently what all of us here on planet Earth are feeling: a sense of searching. Some people turn to religion to fill the gaping emptiness; some turn to drugs so they just don't notice it anymore. And some people go to the internet. After all, Google is the best search engine.

The internet has everything a person needs to distract from his meaningless life, from soul mates to shopping. Interested parties can find websites and blogs dedicated to subjects as diverse as world politics and as obscure as horticulture. I have little interest in horticulture; however, I have followed with marked interest the changes the internet has made in the music industry.

Since the appearance of Napster and subsequent sites like Kazaa and Limewire, record labels have struggled to adapt. For years they tried cracking down on downloading fiends worldwide. You probably remember that crooked twelve-year-old who made headlines when a record company sued her for thousands of dollars for downloading songs. Then iTunes made downloading legal. At least then the companies could make some money off of the downloading. However, it didn’t solve one big change that the internet brought upon the companies.

In the early ‘90s, if a person heard a song on the radio that he just had to have, he went out and bought the entire CD. If he was lucky, he might have been able to buy the single. Today, if a person hears a song he likes, she just downloads it for a dollar (or for free), and probably never even thinks about the other songs. This is especially true of one hit wonders like Jet or Strawberry Alarm Clock, and songs like “Low” by Flo-rida and "Crank That" by Soulja Boy. The songs are great and people are downloading them like crazy, but the rest of the album goes virtually unnoticed except by die-hard fans.

So why am I, a mere college student, blogging about the problems the industry is having?

Like most teenagers growing up in the Los Angeles area, I fancied myself a sort of music connoisseur amongst the sheep of my generation. I listened to the Mars Volta, not Blink 182. I saw bands in coffee shops and garages, not the Gibson Amphitheatre. I was so proud of my knowledge of superior music of which the masses knew nothing. My bubble burst when I discovered that most of the “indie” bands I paid tribute to were in fact Billboard Top 100 hits, often reaching as high as gold and platinum. I finally conceded that I was just another member of the flock.

In spite of my decidedly bourgeois tastes, I’ve always wanted to be a part of the music industry. I wanted to be an A&R rep so I could spend all my time at concerts, looking for great new bands. But with record companies so afraid of losing even more money, the A&R reps aren’t really allowed to sign bands that aren’t generic and sure to bring in lots of preteen fans. Entire genres have devolved into a bland, homogenized soup. Thus another effect of the internet on the music industry has been the thwarting of my childhood aspirations.

The survival of the music industry ultimately depends on the innovation of the music industry. Maybe the record labels will think of a way to utilize the internet to their benefit. Right now they are always one (or two or three hundred) steps behind it. Perhaps someday they will get it right. Until then, I will faithfully blog about their misadventures in the ever changing world of music.


(Post#2)

Perusing the interweb the other day, I found this lovely blog from which I will be pulling some information in the future. The name is Coolfer , and it's all about the business aspect of the music industry. The author flaunts himself as a seasoned professional:

Glenn Peoples has worked in the music industry for over eight years and founded Coolfer.com while working and living in New York City. He currently lives in Nashville and attends Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management.

Although Glen lives in Nashville, the blog touts itself as being "New York-based," perhaps to lend a sense of credibility. Nashville is a huge music metropolis as well, so maybe he just liked the sound of New York better. He started the blog in 2003, with the intention of exposing "the fledgling blogosphere to the insights of a person within the music industry." Well well well, Mr. Hoity Toity.

Glenn posts nearly every day (at least every weekday, and often more than one post per day). He’s quite dedicated to his blog, often writing lengthy and detailed posts on his topics. The posts tend to stick to the realm of business. Glen makes it clear to his readers that "Coolfer.com does not review albums or concerts." He only will mention an album if it is related to music business.

The technorati authority rank of Coolfer is not as high as some blogs (it sits at 288), but it is highly regarded by such industry types as senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine Nathan Bracket , and claims to be "a respected and widely read source of news and opinion."

Glenn’s business school background bleeds into his writing—he often blogs about the consequences that certain actions will have on whatever business it is he happens to be discussing. He is professional about it, however, admitting weak points in his arguments when they do appear, and keeping his observations concise and on topic.

Out of Glenn’s more recent posts, two stood out to me as being particularly interesting and relevant to my blog. The first was his EMI Recap: Hands' Letter To Investors, Rumors About Recorded Music, which chronicled the troubling debt of media giant EMI. The second was A Familiar Dilemma, in which he compared the plight of an author who was tricked into leaking his book over the internet to record companies who do not know how to deal with the file-sharing world on the internet. This comparison of art forms in trouble intrigued me because it created a means for closer assessment of just how much the record industry is struggling.

Both these posts were relevant to mine because they deal with problems in the music industry which the internet caused by changing the status quo. Future posts will delve more deeply into these issues, but for now I merely point out these posts for your own edification and interest.

Although I will be checking for new information on Coolfer, my blog will differ in that it will not be limited only to the business side of the industry. I will also discuss the technological components of the industry and the effects they have on it.

Having said that, music business is still part of my blog and I will definitely be writing about the troubles that record labels continue to immerse themselves in. God knows they will give me ample fodder for my posts.


(Post #3)

Who would have ever thought that sites entirely dedicated to music could be stuffy? Such is the case, however, in most of the blogs that are directly relatable to my topic: technology and the music industry. Many read like newspaper articles, informing the readers of new developments in the world of music, without infusing any soul into the words themselves. Listening Post is one blog that stands out from the inexpressive crowd. It benefits from having several contributors who add unique voices to the site.

Eliot van Buskirk is the editor of the site, and he focuses more on the news and technology posts on the blog. Van Buskirk knows the value of letting his news speak for itself. Take, for example, this post about Stonehenge. Any attempt at comedy would have paled in comparison to the videos themselves, so he very wisely chose to simply explain the videos and post them. Nobody outwits Christopher Guest.



(If you like Spinal Tap at all, you need to watch these videos. Mr. Guest has once again outdone himself. Here are the other four.)

Van Buskirk does manage to slip in subtle humor into most of his posts, however newsy they might be. His wit is dry and often of the ironic persuasion, as shown at the end of his post “Dead Men Do Sell Nikes:

No doubt this would have been a huge hit with Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Jerry Garcia and Jim Morrison, who are, of course, all widely remembered for their love of synergistic marketing, product endorsements and co-branding opportunities.

(I bet they're all really laughing about this. Kurt is, anyway. He always loved messing with his fans.)

The rest of his post, however, reads like the straight newspaper article-style of writing so popular with other industry news bloggers. He sticks to the facts, supporting them with direct quotes and links to his sources. His posts are well-proofread, grammatically correct, and intelligent-sounding, while still easy to read (again going back to the newspaper feel).

Another favorite van Buskirk line of mine comes in the post “Fans Rip Metallica a New One.” He spends the entire blog quoting outraged fans who claim that Metallica has done “too little, too late” in making their new website, Mission: Metallica, a more direct-to-fan program. The quotes tend to run along the lines of "Lars is a douche bag" and "Metallica...I hope your music rots on store shelves." Van Buskirk follows all this up with a sarcastic, "People -- tell us how you really feel.”

Van Buskirk’s subtlety contrasts with the other bloggers on the site, such as Scott Thill, whose posts are more artist-centered, giving him much more room for development of a personality and voice in his writing. He is bolder with his posts, suggesting in one that his readers attend an exhibit “naked, in the spirit of ‘Gobbledigook.’” If van Buskirk is the news reporter of Listening Post, then Thill is the odd one with the weekly column.

I loved perusing the posts on Listening Post and they will inspire anyone interested in music in general and the industry in particular. The writers know a lot about the business and they choose a wide variety of editorial treats to appeal to every palate.

Listening Post is multivocal

Who would have ever thought that sites entirely dedicated to music could be stuffy? Such is the case, however, in most of the blogs that are directly relatable to my topic: technology and the music industry. Many read like a newspaper article, informing the readers of new developments in the world of music, without infusing any soul into the blog itself. Listening Post benefits from having several contributors who add separate elements to the site.


Eliot van Buskirk is the editor of the site, and he focuses more on the news and technology posts on the blog. The subject matter of van Buskirk’s posts is often hilarious enough on its own to make too much of an attempt at added humor seem superfluous. Take, for example, this post about Stonehenge. Any attempt at comedy would have paled in comparison to the videos themselves, so he very wisely chose to simply explain the videos and post them. Nobody outwits Christopher Guest.



(If you are a Spinal Tap fan at all, I highly recommend watching these videos. There are links to the other four on YouTube.)

Van Buskirk does, however, manage to slip in subtle humor into most of his posts, however newsy they might be. His wit is dry and often of the ironic persuasion, as shown at the end of his post “Dead Men Do Sell Nikes:”

No doubt this would have been a huge hit with Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Jerry Garcia and Jim Morrison, who are, of course, all widely remembered for their love of synergistic marketing, product endorsements and co-branding opportunities.

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last 50 years, all of the abovementioned artists were outspoken opponents of the corporatocracy.

The rest of his post, however, sticks to the straight newspaper article-style of writing so popular with other industry news bloggers; he sticks to the facts, supporting them with direct quotes and links to his sources. His posts are well-proofread, grammatically correct, and intelligent-sounding, while still easy to read (again going back to the newspaper feel).

Another favorite van Buskirk line of mine comes in the post “Fans Rip Metallica a New One.” He has spent the entire blog quoting outraged fans who claim that Metallica has done “too little, too late” in making their new website, Mission: Metallica, a more direct-to-fan program. He follows all this up with, "People -- tell us how you really feel.”

Van Buskirk’s subtlety contrasts with the other bloggers on the site, such as Scott Thill, whose posts are more artist-centered, giving him much more room for development of a personality and voice in his writing. He is bolder with his posts, suggesting in one that his readers attend an exhibit “naked, in the spirit of ‘Gobbledigook.’” If van Buskirk is the newspaper reporter of Listening Post, then Thill is the odd one with the weekly column.

I very much enjoyed reading through the blogs on Listening Post and I recommend it to anyone interested in music in general and the industry in particular. The writers are knowledgeable and they choose a wide variety of treats to appeal to every palate.

Spot on, Coolfer

For this next post, I am going to profile a similar blog which from which I will be pulling some information in the future. The blog is called Coolfer , and its description reads:

Coolfer is a New York-based blog that covers music and the music industry. Started in August of 2003 as a way to expose the fledgling blogosphere to the insights of a person within the music industry, Coolfer.com has grown to become a respected and widely read source of news and opinion.

Also located in the about section of the site is a description of the blogger behind it:

Glenn Peoples has worked in the music industry for over eight years and founded Coolfer.com while working and living in New York City. He currently lives in Nashville and attends Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management.

Glenn posts nearly every day (at least every weekday, and often more than one post per day). He’s quite dedicated to his blog, often writing lengthy and detailed posts on his topics. He generally keeps his posts to the realm of business, and makes this clear to his readers. He explains:

Coolfer.com does not review albums or concerts. If there is an interesting business-related aspect to a new release, Coolfer.com will try to mention it.

The technorati authority rank of Coolfer is not as high as some blogs (it sits at 288), but it is highly regarded by such industry types as senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine Nathan Bracket. Glenn’s business school background is quite apparent in his writing—he often blogs about the consequences that certain actions will have on whatever business it is he happens to be discussing. He is professional about it, however, admitting weak points in his arguments when they do appear, and keeping his observations concise and on topic.

Out of Glenn’s more recent posts, two stood out to me as being particularly interesting and relevant to my blog. The first was his EMI Recap: Hands' Letter To Investors, Rumors About Recorded Music, which chronicled the troubling debt of media giant EMI.

The second was A Familiar Dilemma, in which he compared the plight of an author who was tricked into leaking his book over the internet to record companies who do not know how to deal with the file-sharing world on the internet.

Both these blogs were relevant to mine because they deal with problems in the music industry which were brought by the internet changing the way things are done. Future blogs will delve more deeply into these issues, but for now I’m merely pointing out these topics on Coolfer as interesting and worth reading.

Although I will be checking for new information on Coolfer, my blog will differ in that it will not be limited only to the business side of the industry. This is, of course, a huge part of my blog and I will often blog about the troubles that companies like the abovementioned labels continue to immerse themselves in; however, I will also discuss the technological components of the industry and the effects they have on it.

I enjoyed stumbling upon Coolfer and I hope you will check it out too!

The Industry in Danger

The internet changes everything it touches. In these times, that means absolutely everything. Interested parties can find websites and blogs dedicated to subjects as diverse as world politics and as obscure as horticulture. I have little interest in horticulture; however, I have followed with marked interest the changes the internet has made in the music industry.

Since the appearance of Napster and subsequent sites like Kazaa and Limewire, record labels have struggled to adapt. For years they tried cracking down on the downloaders worldwide. A twelve-year-old girl made headlines when a record company sued her for thousands of dollars for downloading songs. Then iTunes made downloading legal. In some ways it helped, because at least the companies could make some money off of the downloading. However, it didn’t solve one big change that the internet brought upon the companies.

That change was the manner in which consumers bought music. In the early ‘90s, if a person heard a song on the radio that he just had to have, he went out and bought the entire CD. If he was lucky, he might have been able to buy the single. Today, however, if a person hears a song he likes, he just downloads it for a dollar or less, and often never even thinks about the other songs. This is especially true in the cases of one hit wonders like Jet, and songs like “Low” by Flo-rida. The songs go off the charts and people are downloading them like crazy, but the rest of the album goes virtually unnoticed except by die-hard fans.

Why would someone virtually unconnected with the music industry want to blog about the problems it is having?

Like most teenagers growing up in the Los Angeles area, I fancied myself a sort of music connoisseur amongst the sheep of my generation. I listened to the Mars Volta, not Blink 182. I saw bands in coffee shops and garages, not the Gibson Amphitheatre. I was so proud of my knowledge of superior music of which the masses knew nothing. My bubble burst when I discovered that most of the “indie” bands I paid tribute to were in fact Billboard Top 100 hits, often reaching as high as gold and platinum. I finally conceded that I was just another member of the flock.

Despite this shortcoming, I’ve always wanted to be a part of the music industry. I wanted to be an A&R rep so I could spend all my time at concerts, looking for great new bands. But with record companies so afraid of losing even more money, the A&R reps aren’t really allowed to sign bands that aren’t generic and sure to bring in lots of preteen fans. Thus another affect of the internet on the music industry has been the thwarting of my childhood aspirations.

The survival of the music industry ultimately depends on the innovativeness of the music industry. Maybe the record labels will think of a way to utilize the internet to their benefit. Right now they are always one (or two or three hundred) steps behind it. I’m excited to embark on the journey of researching the industry’s attempts at both fighting against and merging with the world wide web. I hope you will join me and give me any feedback you feel compelled to give me (whether or not it really is necessary).

Signing off for now,

Vengeur

Post 1.0

This is my first blog; it's going to be about the effect of technology and the internet on the music industry. I'll be posting more soon!