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Who says Arizona doesn’t have celebrities? Maybe if you’re in Phoenix, you probably saw DMX fly past you on the local suburban highway, known as the AZ-101, at 114MPH. Of course, the incident happened on January 21, almost five months later, he was arrested on several charges.
As if times at AOL Radio weren’t bad enough, a legal decision will now require three of the Internet’s content distributors to pay for proper licensing to ASCAP for music they streamed to Web users. This decision serves as a legal precedent for enforcing licensing of music over the Web. I have a hunch that AOL Radio is going to either get fully stocked with ads or will punch out of the Streaming Music market — or both. More »
Tags: aol, internet, money, music
AOL Radio, a popular free streaming music service for AOL users, has discontinued their partnership with XM Radio, effective April 30, 2008 (today). The announcement was communicated to users of AOL Radio throughout the month, but the ISP boasting more than 20M users did not provide details as to reason for the termination of the partnership. [UPDATED 8:19PM MST] More »
Last week, Microsoft announced to MSN Music users that they would be discontinuing their online music service — including not honoring licensed music by means of legitimate paid DRM keys. The decision not only hurts their users, it also serves as a case study for how content distributors should not protect digital media. More »
Flobots - Handlebars
I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars
I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars
Look at me, look at me
hands in the air like it’s good to be
ALIVE
and I’m a famous rapper
even when the paths’re all crookedy
I can show you how to do-si-do
I can show you how to scratch a record
I can take apart the remote control
And I can almost put it back together
I can tie a knot in a cherry stem
I can tell you about Leif Ericson
I know all the words to “De Colores”
And “I’m Proud to be an American”
Me and my friend saw a platypus
Me and my friend made a comic book
And guess how long it took
I can do anything that I want cuz, look:
I can keep rhythm with no metronome
No metronome
No metronome
I can see your face on the telephone
On the telephone
On the telephone
Look at me
Look at me
Just called to say that it’s good to be
ALIVE
In such a small world
All curled up with a book to read
I can raise funds open up a thrift store
I can make a living off a magazine
I can design an engine sixty four
Miles to a gallon of gasoline
I can make new antibiotics
I can make computers survive aquatic conditions
I know how to run a business
And I can make you wanna buy a product
Movers shakers and producers
Me and my friends understand the future
I see the strings that control the systems
I can do anything with no assistance
I can change the nation with a microphone
With a microphone
With a microphone
I can split the atoms of a molecule
Of a molecule
Of a molecule
Look at me
Look at me
Driving and I won’t stop
And it feels so good to be
Alive and on top
My reach is global
My tower secure
My cause is noble
My power is pure
I can hand out a million vaccinations
Or let’em all die in exasperation
Have’em all grilled leavin lacerations
Have’em all killed by assassination
I can make anybody go to prison
Just because I don’t like’em and
I can do anything with no permission
I have it all under my command
I can guide a missile by satellite
By satellite
By satellite
and I can hit a target through a telescope
Through a telescope
Through a telescope
and I can end the planet in a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust
In a holocaust
I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handle bars
No handlebars
I can ride my bike with no handlebars
No handlebars
No handlebars
QTrax is a startup that allegedly had agreements with three large record labels to allow legitimate, free and legal music downloads for users via Peer to Peer (P2P) technology. The blogosphere buzzed about it, then once they found out the deals fell through, the recanted twice as fast.
[Qtrax Really Blows Its Launch, Link via Techmeme]
However, this small battle doesn’t justify declaring a total loss on the war against consumers with digital media. I think this illustrates that there’s still a strong interest among internet users to acquire legally-obtained music for free, in exchange for advertisements being shown. This service would be a direct threat to Apple’s iTunes, but I imagine that it would allow music companies to capture lost revenue from otherwise illegal downloads.
The main problem, which I can understand, is lack of accountability. Most numbers that are tossed around are purely anecdotal and speculative — think of “cooking the books” — in favor of getting deals from record companies. From the record company’s perspective, they’re spending money to “invest” into a new media with minimal proof that it made profit. At least with iTunes, they can keep track of inventory. Much like in court, prosecutors can’t prove that you didn’t do something, only that you did beyond a reasonable doubt.
I conclude with the fact that consumers are still in control. Music lovers will declare whether it’s profitable to go free. Users are ultimately the ones who pay. Is free P2P music sharing doomed, or is there still an opportunity yet to be seized?
Tags: consumers, music, News, Social Networking, technologyI was looking around at my friend’s profiles on Myspace and such, and I’ve noticed a few of them have a pretty cool music widget that has tons of their favorite music on their profile. ProjectPlaylist is the widget I’m talking about — it’s free and holds up to 75 songs.
Widgets, in this context, are objects that you can take from one site with you and utilize on another Web site. For example, YouTube has an embeddable video widget — something you have to copy and paste for it to be played on your own site. ProjectPlaylist is no different, and because the playlist is in the widget, you could put it on multiple places like a blog or a profile.
ProjectPlaylist is a pretty straightforward Web site, you add the music and it builds a list for you. You can instantly preview it to make sure you got the right song. When you’re finished, you are guided through a process of customizing the widget (auto play, color, custom skin, and where you’re hosting it).
First time confusion: It was slightly confusing at first, because if you add songs, but there’s not a playlist, you added nothing and it doesn’t store your session activity so you essentially wasted the time that you invested into building a playlist. It would be really cool to simply lay out the three steps: sign up, make a playlist, add music and have that on the right rail. Clearly it was my fault, but I wasted 15 minutes, and for a Web user, that’s too much time to waste. 
So here is my playlist — with no ads (where’s the monetization?!), and is pretty good on resources. Here’s my playlist that I stayed up too late to fill in:
Tags: media, music, music playlist, profile code, Social Networking, web 2.0, widget
You know you’re in Tucson when the local alt-rock station has their semi-annual rock concert featuring several newer bands and a couple headliners. Further, it will be at either the Pima County Fairgrounds or at the Tucson Electric Park (home of the Diamondbacks spring training and Arizona Sidewinders).
Instead of boring my mind out of bands I don’t know, my sister, Seth and I went around 5PM. ‘Against Me’ was just getting done with their set, then some non-live music and then Cypress Hill went on stage.
Also, I love how Tucson concerts always are kicked off with “F!&@ Tucson!” and some other crowd-pleasers. Surprisingly (note: sarcasm), despite the high presence of police, I smelled a lot of smoke that wasn’t from tobacco. CH performed quite well and played their most popular songs as well as classics.
Next up was Smashing Pumpkins who was the main headliner. Clouds moved in and thunder rocked the folks, but the show went on as planned. People squeezed in together and moshed for a bit. While I don’t (and can’t) crowd-surf, I figured I can help the younger patrons enjoy it by me giving them a lift. It was pretty fun, and I felt like I was 16 again.
“RAIN OR SHINE” was printed on the ticket for good reason. Rain came in from the south and started as a sprinkle but resulted in a downfall of a couple inches (in Tucson?!), and the concert was interrupted. Judging from the people, the show kept going on with the numerous jumping, flailing arms and screaming minors. After a few minutes and fans getting soaked, the chants began; when I even helped start a few since I felt very “viral” that moment:
“We Want More!” , “Smashing Pumpkins!” , “Rain or Shine!” , “Booo!” , and other jeering chants. Eventually, Billy Corgan responded, telling people to relax, stop throwing trash at the band, and to have patience as they check all the equipment. Everyone cheered and basically people just waited as it poured. Then the show resumed, everyone went wild and the moshing resumed. Three songs later, SP ended off with a mediocre slower song; and that was it.
On the way out, it was gridlock with no assistance from the local law enforcement. I always question why the police never seem to be there for traffic control or to assist in moving a large volume of people. Instead, they just do paperwork in their car, put their ‘red and blues’ on collect their overtime pay for the special event.
Made it home, tired, wet, cold, but very satisfied. I’ll be working tomorrow, but it’s my birthday. I didn’t put a lot of foresight into that, but I’m sure my managers will give me a little break and only expect me to check e-mail periodically. My manager’s boss’ boss gave me a birthday balloon on Facebook, which was a nice treat to end off tonight. 
Back to watching Cops on CourtTV.
Tags: alternative rock, concert, cypress hill, fun, kfma, local, music, rain or shine, smashing pumpkins, tep, tucsonI’m pwnt. Sorta. I’ve been quite busy at work so I haven’t really had a lot of extra time to focus on my personal blog. Watch out, cause I’ve dedicated some time this weekend to catch up on it.
In my daily grind, I work very closely with current events, such as celebrity news and other major news — but not in publishing or editing (thank god!), but rather the community management aspect of it. For example, cleaning up the distasteful commentary from visitors, and helping make for a positive user experience. At times, I find it necessary to vent simply because of the fact I get wrapped up in the drama, and I also maintain equality in my moderation so, y’know. That said, here is my response to various news topics:
That’s all the news I’ll dish on for now.
I also have been playing researching Facebook and it’s many qualities (and limitations) as a social network. I was thinking of making a “Facebook Vs. MySpace” chart, but in all honesty, you can’t compare social networks this way because of the varying dynamics that can’t be explained in a spreadsheet. Sure, I can put down the numbers like monetization, users, and growth but who really cares about that? You can check out my Facebook profile, additionally, you can visit my updated MySpace profile, if you’re interested.
Earlier this week, I went to the Fall Out Boy concert. It was fun and I was happily delighted to be blasted with watts and watts of bass from Paul Wall, too. I admit, that it was was odd to have Paul Wall at an Emo concert, but it looked like everyone had a good time. I waited in the pouring rain to get in and I snapped 240+ pictures like an overzealous photographer. All in all Sarah and I had fun. She blogged about it, without me suggesting it. Yay!
Just to test if anyone of my family actually reads my blog, I’d like to confess that I’ve smoked cigarettes even though I know it is completely antithetical for me to do so. Personally, I enjoy Djarium Blacks and despise American cig’s. I know they are a waste of money, bad for you, and will kill you. Sometimes, we all need a little poison to end off a long day. Snarkily, there you have it. I’m not lying, though I do feel eerily guilty. :: Innocent grin ::
On a related thought — I haven’t gotten piss-ass Irish (yes, I know I’m Italian) drunk in a long time. Damn, I crave some Irish Car-Bombs, Jaeger-Bomb, and Vodka. You know you are a real drunk when you start planning your future vacation around which bars you will be going to. Haha, I kid.
Thanks for making it this far in this entry. Will you be kind enough to share your thoughts in the comments below?
Tags: music, News, Weekly RoundupI was reading the story that NY Times ran on Pandora and the impact of Copyright Royalty Board’s royalty rate increase. I predict that the Internet Radio Equality Act will die in the House. There is just too large of a gap between politicians and Internet users. Don’t believe me?
…Ask Senator Ted Stevens. Alright, I’ll keep off the Series of Tubes meme…
Never fear. Restrictions like this force innovation. It happened with Napster, Suprnova, and now Internet Radio. Well, if you were a good musical thief, you should have gigs and gigs of music to share with other people. Winamp (has finally) caught up to making it easy to remotely broadcast over your broadband connection with Winamp Remote. This allows you to listen to your collection of music for free via the internet. The caveat is that its intended for single-use.
Setup your own online radio station (albeit soon to be illegal) with Shoutcast. You can queue up all your music and let listeners find you. This takes a little more skill to setup and more bandwidth to run, but hell, go for it. At least you are fighting for your digital freedom.
Now, if that isn’t for you, you can try downloading music of course from Limewire (Gnutella network). The only thing there, is that you run the risk of getting a ‘DMCA Takedown Notice’ and possible termination from your provider. You are essentially biting the hand that feeds your downloading if you go that route.
Finally, you can also go old school with burning it and trading it with friends. The updated way of doing this so it doesn’t look like you’re a birdman, is to lend your iPod to a buddy and load songs with iTunes. It’s fast, friendly and is somewhat cool.
Anyhow the purpose of my semi-educational/mischievous entry today is that no matter what restrictions are placed, the average person can still circumvent them. This is the Windows Genuine Advantage of Internet Radio, it will slow it down but not eliminate it. I mean, it was only hours until WGA was bypassed. We don’t need to panic.
Leave me your reactions to this, as I compare prices on DVD-Rs.
