It’s funny to think of Amazon as old school, when mentioned in the same breath with Muzak, and perhaps funnier to mention them in the same breath at all. But it’s true; Amazon is old school, albeit as an online presence. Rolling into it’s second decade as an disruptor, Amazon is undoubtedly upsetting the music [...]
Tagged amazon, ipod, muzak, napsterIs seems like there’s been a lot going on in digital music since I last wrote, so much so that I’m beginning to feel the air of a new revolution in our midst. Oddly, it’s a couple of old school companies that have been at the forefront of my mind. One of those companies is [...]
Tagged abc news, mood media, muzakPhil Collins has long passed his prime of popularity, but the news of his retirement is meaningful to me. After his initial stint as lead vocalist for Genesis, he shocked the radio airwaves with In the Air Tonight. He did so by bringing drums to the forefront of a song, in a way that hadn’t [...]
Tagged chester thompson, la times, robert plantThe outdoor clothing company Patagonia recently launched the Patagonia Music Collective, a charitable organization that contributes proceeds from online music downloads. Songwriter musicians have the ability to designate a charity that benefits from downloads of its music. Among the artists who are contributing music are Jack Johnson, Bonnie Raitt, Mason Jennings, Pearl Jam, Maroon 5, [...]
Tagged Bonnie Raitt, Earthjustice, Freedom to Roam, Jack Johnson, K?kua Hawai'i Foundation, Maroon 5, Mason Jennings, music mix, patagonia, pearl jam, SOLV, Urban Farming, zac brown bandI didn’t realize all these years that George Harrison’s birthday falls just one day before that of my own wife. When I saw the Washington Post article, George Harrison’s birthday celebrated with streaming concert, I took a moment to watch for the first time, the opening monologue by Eric Clapton and performance by Anoushka Shankar. I’m [...]
Music execs are stressed (again) about revenue loss, and the problem has been a moving technology driven target. This year at the Digital Music Forum East conference held Thursday in New York, industry execs are blaming free streaming services as the big reason behind revenue loss. While great services and sites like Rdio and thesixtyone offer [...]
Tagged digital music forum east, pc worldThe subscription based Rdio has brought a new on demand music source to the ever expanding world of music source choices. The device new device Roku, not only gives owners set-top access to services like Pandora and Rdio, it streams all the cool stuff (Netflix, Hulu Plus, etc.). The prices are right too, ranging from [...]
Tagged gigaom, hulu plus, netflix, pandora, rokuWhile the music industry has decided that the biggest culprit of declining revenues is free streaming music, The Kansas City Star (a most unlikely source) anoints Thesixtyone.com as site of the week. I must admit that it streams some great music. TheSixtyOne is also unique in terms of user experience. Like most streaming sites, it [...]
Tagged highway 61, kansas city starWhile most would argue that no one’s buying CDs, other sources tell us that CDs still make up 76 percent of album sales; but who’s into albums these days? In step with last week’s Radiohead release, iTunes and other download channels are beginning to offer higher quality downloads. The quality in some cases include WAV [...]
Tagged itunes, radioheadThis guy is a well known rock drummer, admired by many. I admire his choice in publicist. This pic first caught my eye, then I see he’s allegedly dating Rihanna. I see Travis Barker in the news every week. Granted, he’s not making world news headlines, he is a headliner in entertainment, music and drum [...]
Tagged blink, dj whoo, rihanna, travis barkerDW recently announced that it plans to move all drum production to its facility in Oxnard, CA. This will bring a close to production that’s been done in its Ensenada, Mexico facility. The transition will begin in March. According to DW’s Director of Operations, the decision is, “the result of an ongoing campaign to improve [...]
Tagged dave grohl, Drum Workshop, jason bonham, Matt Sorum, Roger Taylor, Sheila EDespite the fact that Swedish streaming service Spotify is raising a strong round of funding, Apple’s App Store subscription fee is said to threaten derailment of the companies business model. Without even trying, I’ve seen multiple subscription services complain openly about the 30 percent fee. What this likely means is that most subscription services wouldn’t [...]
Tagged spotify