Archive for the 'technology' CategoryPage 21 of 26

The Magic of Looping: David Ford, One Take, One Camera.

published
on April 21, 2008
by
Sandra
in artist/album reviews, music, technology, and video
. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Looping is clearly one of the fundamental aspects of digital music making. From watching friends play with Fruity Loops in college to seeing an ex-roommate perform a live looping concert for New Years last year, I’ve become increasingly interested in the magic of looping.

Thanks to one of my favorite bloggers, Eliot Van Buskirk of the Listening Post, I discovered this video of David Ford, in which he records his song “Go To Hell” – in one take – using looping and household kitchen appliances, in addition to instruments and a microphone. Badass.

A perfect example of the modern multi-instrumental recording artist looking for creative new ways to make music. He would do well as a MixMatchArtist. To compare this rendition to the original, click here. I think I like the homemade one better.

Microfinancing Musicians: How to Skip the Middleman and Pay the Artist

published
on April 2, 2008
by
Sandra
in culture, music, and technology
. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

After exploring options for where musicians can sell their music online, I wanted to step into the shoes of the fans – the fans who would rather support their favorite artists and help them make more music by paying them directly as opposed to paying a label or music store.

I touched on it briefly in the 5 predictions for digital music trends post mentioning that “services like Slicethepie and Sellaband are paving the way for a more direct financial and emotional connection between creators and consumers”, but after discovering a few more services I think this topic warrants its own post. It’s one thing to buy a CD or iTunes single or a concert ticket. It’s another to just give money to the artist.

Here are the sites I’ve found (so far) that allow you to do so. They each operate a little differently. Some also allow you to make money while supporting the artist.

Sellaband
“You are the record company”
The Deal: The Believer picks an artist they like. Each artist issues 50,000 Parts at $10 each. Believers (fans) have to cumulatively raise $50,000 to get their Artist in the studio. Fans can withdraw their Parts and get their money back at any time up until they reach the 50K, at which point the Artist gets hooked up with a studio and an A&R person and the Partholders get to watch the magic happen. Advertising revenues and net profits from sales are split evenly between the Artist, the Believers, and Sellaband. And Believers can open a Shop to sell related products from their Artist and earn commission.

Slicethepie
“Help yourself to a piece of the music industry”
The deal: Every fan is a music label and can become “emotionally and financially involved at all levels of the music industry – scouting, breaking, investing in and influencing real artists” by sending them through the various stages of Slicethepie – Arenas, Scout Rooms, and Showcases. Fans listen to tracks, write reviews, vote for, and finance the artist by buying Backstage Passes, which give them exclusive access to the artist and the right to buy Contracts at a discount. Then, the Contracts (tradable on the Slicethepie Exchange) give investors a return over a 2 yr period.

CASH Music: A Coalition of Artists and Stake Holders
“A platform for engagement”
The deal: Not totally sure yet, as they are quite new, but in a nutshell it is “an open-source platform for the new, distributed music business” where artists and audiences can interact and support one another creatively. Projects are by invitation-only for now.

Calabash Music
“Tune Your World”
The deal: “Peer-to-peer microfinancing of new music projects.” Positioning themselves as “the leading international music download service and the world’s first fair trade music company”, they focus on international artists and even have a partnership with National Geographic, using Calabash’s catalog to access world music and put these artists in front of the 10 million monthly viewers of nationalgeographic.com. Pick an artist, make a minimum $15 sponsorship, and download advance copies of the artist’s recordings. Money is transferred to the musician once their goal is reached.

ArtistShare
“Where the fans are making it happen”
The deal: Around since 2003, ArtistShare is probably the oldest player in the field. In exchange for funding their favorite artists, fans receive “access to the creative process, LTD Edition recordings, VIP access to recording sessions and even credit listing on the CD.” Another cool feature is RadioShare, which allows radio stations to access music from ArtistShare.

As the music 2.0 movement continues to evolve, I will be watching with great interest to see which services become widely adopted and which trends prevail. Choose-your-price and pay-the-musician-directly are definitely two of the concepts I think will continue to gain popularity. And rest assured, among the many great features (including those that facilitate compensation for musicians) that will soon be available to MixMatchers, the ability to throw money in a tip jar to show some love for the artists you dig will be there.

Where to Sell Your Music Online

published
on March 25, 2008
by
Sandra
in culture, music, and technology
. 13 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

As I’ve been watching the big record labels crumble and the music industry evolve, I’ve become more and more intrigued by the ease with which independent musicians (and big name artists like Radiohead and NIN) are taking matters into their own hands. Record music without the use of a professional studio? Easy. Promote your work on social networking and music discovery sites? No problem. The next question in my mind is: what are the best places to sell your music online? Thus, I’ve compiled a list of sites to do just that. I’m sure it is by no means complete, so feel free to let me know who I’ve missed. In no particular order:

CD Baby – I first heard of CD Baby years ago when my childhood friend and accomplished musician, Mike Stocksdale, let his friends know that his album was available for purchase through them. The “little online record store that sells albums by independent musicians” has been around for a decade and, according to New Music Ideas, has become “one of the biggest digital distributors on the planet.” As you can see on their about page, artists make $6-$12 per album and get paid weekly.

Amie Street – If you weren’t already familiar with Amie Street, you may have seen them mentioned in conjunction with the Eliot Spitzer scandal. Ashley Alexandra Dupré not only posted a few of her songs on her MySpace, but also adroitly thought to post them on Amie Street where “all songs start free and rise in price the more they are purchased.” Predictably, a bunch of people – being the victims of morbid curiosity that we silly humans are – bought the songs, which subsequently rose to the $.98 max. The company gives 70% of song sales back to the artists.

MixPal – Though I only recently discovered (and briefly blogged about) this service, it’s probably one of my favorites. The idea of being able to set your own price, keep most of the proceeds, be paid immediately though PayPal, and even place a MixLink on any other website makes their approach a very attractive one.

BlastMyMusic – Another site that is all about fans supporting the artists directly, BlastMyMusic lets you buy singles OR albums on the artist’s profile on the site or through the “Music Blaster” on the artist’s website(s). Yes, the Music Blaster is also a facebook app – one where “fans can earn 5% for each song they sell and at the same time help gain further exposure for their favorite bands” to boot! Though artists only get 65% of the profit using BlastMyMusic, the widgetized aspect is pretty sweet.

Stage.FM – Formerly known as Audiri and based on the old mp3.com model, Stage.FM allows you to search for music using a tag cloud and tends to emphasize free music. In a great concise review of the site, New Music Ideas notes that while still a bit buggy, the site is great because: “Stage.FM lets artists sell tracks through the site and keep 100% of the sale price. Artists can set the price for each track, from $0.20 to $1.60, or let visitors download it for free. Money from sales is transferred to the artist’s PayPal account every month. And the Stage.FM music player widget lets artists sell their tracks from their own domain and social networks too.” I also like the “find bands near you” feature.

There are far too many services out there to make a comprehensive list, but if your favorite is not listed above, feel free to leave a comment and name your preferred service – with a link to your profile of course!

Also, stay tuned for some revolutionary new ways to sell your music online (piecemeal, for example) through MixMatchMusic, coming soon to a computer near you.

Meetup.com – Niche Social Networking in Real Life

published
on March 12, 2008
by
Sandra
in culture, music, and technology
. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Ever wish you knew more people in your city who shared that weird hobby of yours? Or want to find some contacts in your industry to meet and network with during free time on your next business trip? These things and much much more are now becoming very feasible thanks to the wonderful little service called Meetup, which describes itself as the “world’s largest network of self-organized clubs and community groups.”

meetup_logo_291.gif

I first discovered Meetup several years ago while searching for a local group to practice Danish with since….ya, there usually aren’t very many Danish speakers around. Well, that endeavor never came to fruition. Despite significant local interest no one took the initiative to actually start the group (and no, I wasn’t about to be that ambitious myself). But, I kept them in mind as a resource. A year or two later I finally attended a Meetup for Europhiles, where I met lots of people and had a great time blablabla, but it was basically just a social event.

Then, last fall I discovered the SF New Tech Meetup group, which blew me away. Though I’ve only been to one meeting so far due to scheduling conflicts, seeing first hand the caliber of people in that group inspired me to join a crapload of other local tech/entrepreneur Meetup groups. Not only are there countless events to choose from, but some of the mailing lists that hit my inbox are full of great resources and opportunities.

Sidenote: I highly recommend that anyone looking for tech-related job opportunities get on these mailing lists as members are constantly posting about positions they need filled.

Last weekend the San Francisco Webeneur Meetup held a blogging workshop with Ted Prodromou (social media guru), during which it became clear to me just how powerful Meetups can be. Organizer Bill Ayers certainly has the vision and the energy to guide local entrepreneurs to success. This entry of his blog has a picture of a few of us during workshop (from left to right, Johanna, Ted, and me).

What I found so inspiring was that other than the content of the workshop (which rocked), the 6 of us attendees grew increasingly more enthusiastic about one another’s businesses and were blurting out suggestions all day long – some brilliant, some absurd. I kept thinking that if we could collectively accomplish this much with just 8 entrepreneurial-minded people in the room, imagine the possibilities when you have a couple hundred people putting their minds together, with their respective educational backgrounds and networks of contacts to draw from. Now I’ve joined 10+ other meetups also related to tech/music stuff and my only complaint is that I can’t attend meetups full-time.

What about people who aren’t into emerging technology? What if you’re more interested in breakdancing or culinary arts? Improv acting or religious debates? Trust me people – it’s all there.

So. Let’s look at some examples of meetups related to music.

  • Maybe you’re a DJ in New York looking to connect with other kick-ass DJs to collaborate with. The New York DJ Meetup has 105 people for you to hit up.
  • That djembe is sitting in your apartment in Atlanta collecting dust and you want to find a place to jam and meet people? Then the Atlanta Drum Circle Meetup is for you.

So, don’t be afraid. No matter how obscure your interests are, chances are there is probably a meetup somewhere out there for you. And if there is not, you can start one yourself.

If you are currently in any meetup groups, I’d love to hear which ones! Leave a comment or email me.

The SanFran MusicTech Summit: Rockstars, Lawyers, Nerds and Me

published
on March 5, 2008
by
Sandra
in culture, music, nerd, startups, and technology
. 10 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Last week, a few of us attended the SanFran MusicTech Summit to worship learn from some of the innovative leaders in our rapidly evolving and still young(ish) industry. After nearly breaking off my big toe during a confused jog through Japantown, I limped into Hotel Kabuki armed and ready for note-taking, question-asking, and hand-shaking.

The group I found there was a rather predictable (yet lovable) mix of demographics including your standard socially awkward tech geeks (my favorite), the token I-was-born-for-networking (and my-Rolodex-is-bigger-than-yours) schmoozers, some badass rocker chicks turned marketing gurus, the young and fearless CEO/CTO/COO/founders of countless startups, the smartypants intellectual property attorneys (bless their souls – I’d rather be forced to listen to Mariah Carey* on repeat for a year while locked in a windowless room than be in their shoes), career musicians and producers, and a smattering of randoms. Each hour we had the choice of attending one of two panels or general schmoozing in the lobby.
* To be fair, I think she has an amazing voice, I just hate her music. A lot.

Halfway through one of the panels I noticed someone on their laptop twittering. Of course! I thought. Twitter! This is the perfect time to twitter. (Until then, I had only used the service a few times to say mundane things like “sore from working out” or “yay iPhones” or some such nonsense, and when you only have two people following you that seems pretty pointless). Suddenly it was starting to sink in how Twitter can be a very powerful tool. I quickly logged on and found the SFMusicTech live feed which, to my pleasant surprise, was filled with commentary ranging from concise updates about the panels (helpful for those not at the summit or just in the other room) to snarky comments about the speakers. It felt like a cross between real-time news coverage and anonymous chatroom blather.

When I twittered later in the day noting that most of the food on the snack table was yellow, someone promptly reiterated my observation and wondered if there was a hidden symbolism we were missing. Later one of the panelists messaged me directly and thanked me for quoting her earlier. That’s when I suddenly felt like part of some sort of cozy little invisible family. Want to join my twitter family? Follow me here.

Here are some highlights from the day:

  • During the “Future of Radio” panel – major trends include personalization and recommendation (think Pandora and Last.fm) and mobility (internet radio integrated into your car stereo, tabletop devices, on your phone, in your stereo etc).
  • During the “Creator’s Perspective on Technology” panel – Creeper Lagoon‘s Sharky Laguana talked about a cool service he created called MixPal. MixPal allows you to upload your music, choose the price, place a “MixLink” anywhere online (website, blog, MySpace, whatever) and you keep almost all the proceeds (they get 10% commission). Look at how their pricing compares to iTunes and Snocap. Since they’re non-exclusive you can use them in addition to any other service you use. MixPal is simple, straightforward and all about letting the musician decide.
  • Also during “Creator’s Perspective…” – panel moderator and summit co-producer Shoshana Zisk commented that now in the music tech industry “People don’t have to learn the language to speak music”, which resonated with me because that is very much one of the things that MixMatchMusic is facilitating – allowing non-musicians and music fans to participate in the creative process too.
  • During the “Social Networking and Music” panel – Ali Partovi, CEO of iLike, noted that they DO compete with MySpace Music. He recommended that artists keep a MySpace presence, but also use iLike because they will find far more fans on the latter.* Also interesting – apparently, people who use iLike purchase 250% more music online than people who don’t! I bet the ringtone companies love them… Toward the end of the panel, Ali asked with a note of exasperation in his voice why there isn’t just a “buy this” button anywhere and everywhere that you find music?? Excellent point. Anyone know if this is a realistic expectation in the future?

*Are you a musician who has a profile on both iLike and MySpace (and/or other sites)? I’d be curious to hear where you feel you’ve established a larger fan base. Leave a comment or email me.

  • During the “Business Models That Work…and Those That Don’t” panel – moderator Andrew Stess, CEO of Music IP, mused that someone should build a choose-your-own-price service for concert tickets a la Radiohead. I so agree. In the meantime, Inticketing, one of the summit sponsors, has a great online ticketing system and event management solution (not to mention a green business) with clients like Burning Man, the Great American Music Hall (where our buddy Scott recently performed), Yoshi’s, and Victor Wooten.

After the panels ended, we were unleashed into the boozing and networking portion of the event, which also included a performance by singer-songwriter Samantha Murphy. Though I had to run off to my own weekly musical endeavor, in the hour or so I was there I met some interesting people. One musician/student I was chatting with about MMM emailed me later to say he was delighted to see that I had blogged about the Bubblegum Sequencer. Turns out he is one of the Berkeley students that made it! Small world.

Overall, I found the Summit to be helpful and inspiring. What struck me was how nobody really knows where the music industry (especially the online music industry) is going. Licensing, copyright, distribution…these areas are rapidly being dismantled and slowly rebuilt without any concrete blueprint. Or vague guideline for that matter. All I know is that I’m excited to be riding the wave that is technology and I can’t wait to see what kind of distant exotic shore it dumps us on.

Social media, which wikipedia says uses “the ‘wisdom of crowds’ to connect information in a collaborative manner” is redefining the way that we interact with technology, one another, and our environment. I think this is especially true for those of us who are building something online (a fan base, a website, a blog, a clientèle, an identity) or those of us who simply enjoy being a prosumer/producer/content creator/participant (via blogging, twittering, digging, social networking, posting YouTube videos etc) rather than just a consumer. Passivity is so…well, passè. But it’s not just a matter of getting involved. Once you’re involved, you have to participate. And regularly. Let’s face it – no one is going to read a blog that you update once a year.

Ariel Hyatt of Ariel Publicity put it best when she said: “New media is like an endless garden – you can’t just plant it and walk away”.