Monthly Archive for June, 2006

What about the Low End?

Published on June 21, 2006 in Blog. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Did you ever notice how all those cell phones, mp3 players, laptop speakers, and most small computer speakers have no bass in the songs you play on them?

Do you think that the perceived value of music might also realted to the fidelity or limtations of the speakers?

Is there something wrong with the fact that most people’s highest quality stereo is in their car?

Maybe this explains some of the trends in the songs that sell well as ringtones.

Or maybe it’s a sad commentary on where we spend the most personal time…

New EFF Public Service Cartoon

Published on June 20, 2006 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .


The above cartoon was made by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit, ACLU-for-the-internet organization. It’s a characterization of Big Entertainment as Super Villains, fighting fair use and crippling gadgets in a single bound. It’s sad because it’s true.
originally published on xnlb.com

Alternative to UPC?

Published on June 20, 2006 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

A new alternative to UPCs has begun to emerge. Where UPC is a closed and regulated system you must by access to, ThingLink, is an open network to identify products. Register with the site, and you can start entering details of your “things” to generate a unique ThingLink code. Intended primarily for “makers” of “things”, this is a low impact tracking system for anything you register with the site.

While it will probably never supplant UPC entirely (or even at all), due to it’s ubiquitous nature, and entire industries and retail outlets already employing Barcode scanners for inventory and checkout procedures, ThingLink is a great idea, and a free alternative to the UPC system. The service will appeal more to artists and artisans that are making limited run items and still want a way for people to find out more about them later.

As an experiment, I’ve registered Polyvibe Records’ first two releases with the site (which seems to be a bit buggy at the moment):

  • Future Funk Collective – Future Funk Collective
  • ? Thing:105ENN
  • A_Scissors – Flux Decapitator
  • ? Thing:742GEM

While the actual releases won’t be labeled with their ThingLinks, future releases might. We’ll still have to register UPCs, as they are required by our distributors, and I don’t expect them to adopt the ThingLink system anytime soon. But there might be some value in registering each release with both Systems. However, if you don’t put a UPC symbol on your stuff, due to cost or other reasons, ThingLink is definitely the way to go.

Spotted on Boing Boing

MusicIP was awarded $2 Million in Venture Capital

Published on June 17, 2006 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

One company is attempting to help music lovers deal with the tidal wave of media that is so prevalent in the digital-age of the internet. MusicIP, which has invented a music recognition and identification technology that can be likened to an acoustical fingerprint, was recently awarded $2 Million in Venture Capital by J.L. Albright Venture Partners to expand their marketing and sales efforts.
MusicIP has been on my radar for a while, but I’ve never quite figured out what they do, outside of the technology they pioneered. The following chart is the most information they’ve got on their music eco-system, and how their technology powers it:

MusicIP Ecosystem

So instead of wondering, I placed a call. The services they provide sound really exciting, with the ListerLink service being the most applicable to Independent Labels. Where Last.fm associates artists to artists based on what their community is listening to, and where Pandora associates albums to albums and artists to artists based on what they have in their catalogue and the humans who stock it, MusicIP gets down to the track level associating moods to other moods regardless of artist, album or even genre. And because it’s all driven by their fingerprint algorithm, it should scale quite nicely as they add new tracks to the mix (about 100,000 or more a month). I’ll post more once I get to play with it, but until then, I suggest signing up for the their ListenerLink program and give it a whirl yourself.
originally published on dr.xnlb.com

Tripwire – Music Blog Aggregator

Published on June 16, 2006 in Blog. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

From the not-so-obvious-places-to-promote-your-music-department:
A new website, The Trip Wire, has emerged that aggregates the week’s top posts in the Music Blogosphere. While it has more of an idie-rock leaning, the articles it posts and re-posts are funny and insightful. Take this tidbit of wisdom:

The Rules Of Indie Rock Success:

Rule #1: Put a hot girl on keyboard or bass.

Rule #2: Cover Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”

The quote, which comes from Music Blog ‘My Old Kentucky Blog‘ is like many of the music bloggers out there. Most are just documenting their own experience in the musical landscape. A quick read of his sidebar lists such diverse artists as Amon Tobin, Modest Mouse, El-P, Ben Folds and Gang of Four. These are excellent opportunities for independent artists and labels to get their music out to the new taste makers. Most of the blogs have contact information (including mailing addresses) to send music to, and if they’re anything like every music lover on the planet, welcome receiving free music. Obviously you want to pair the music with their tastes, and give them shout outs and back links on your site, but other than that, treating these bloggers like your other press contacts is in your best interest. This means don’t just drop ship them a box of CDs, introduce yourself (by email), include one-sheets and other info they can use in their write ups, and then send them the CDs if they show interest. Only by building a relationship with them can you expect to create a report that will carry over in to how well they receive your music.
Music fans are reading these blogs for clues on what’s hot and worth checking out. By browsing these sites yourself, and using The Trip Wire site as a jumping off point, you are sure to find a literal treasure trove of people hungry for new music.
originally published on dr.xnlb.com

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