Ouch. Ministry of Sound, the British record label that’s perhaps most famous for its annual compilation, conveniently titled The Annual, says it cannot move forward with planed lawsuits against alleged file-sharers. And why cannot it move forward? Because the primary ISP targeted, BT, has deleted 80 percent of the data that would have been necessary for the lawsuits to commence. Hence, ouch. → Read More
Almost a year ago Sellaband, the number one crowd-funding website for musicians went bankrupt. The website was then acquired by a German company and now Public Enemy managed to raise $75,000 despite all the problems of the past. Is this the future of music business? It very well may be. → Read More
Ladies and gentleman, please welcome The Dube into your lives. “What’s The Dube?” Glad you asked. It’ the brainchild of former English international Dion Dublin, best known for his goal-scoring ways at Coventry City and Aston Villa. It’s a percussion instrument—fully customizable, yeah?—that’s set to revolutionize~! the way you envision percussion instruments. → Read More
Vinyl is not dead, friends, and the respected record player is not without modern updates. We’ve seen USB turntables before, but turntables have, historically, been pretty large edifices of technology. That changes today with the Crosley Revolution. Stripped of the cabinetry that traditionally accompanies a turntable, the Revolution is portable features a built-in handle, and can run on six AA batteries. It also features an integrated FM transmitter, so you can enjoy that warm vinyl sound on anything with an FM receiver: your fancy audio system at home or that Sansa in your pocket. Coming soon for $150. → Read More
Sirius XM appears to be at a bit of a crossroads. Howard Stern, arguably the company’s most recognizable on-air talent, has all but decided to negotiate his new contract in public, recently stating that “I do get a little charge out of thinking that in December we might be done. I get a little turned on by that.” Mere negotiating tactics, or a genuine feeling of wanting out? Who’s to say? I’m certainly no mind reader. Stern’s current contract has him making around $100m per year, and that’s something Sirius XM would like to change. → Read More
I love how Sony pretty much ignores the rest of the world, and does whatever they want. Take memory cards for example. Rather then use the industry standard compact flash or SD cards, Sony creates a new format in the memory stick. No one but Sony uses it, and they continue to use the memory stick to this day. Sometimes, admittedly, they win (Blu-ray) and sometimes they lose (Betamax), but they are never afraid to ignore what other people have done and do their own thing. → Read More
Years ago, the music industry could have blamed falling album sales on piracy. “Nobody’s buying the latest Chingy because they’re just downloading a 128CBR rip from Suprnova~!” What’s the excuse now when people have loads of legitimate digital options—iTunes, Zune, Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, etc.—at their fingertips? Oh, right: it’s still piracy. Please update your act. → Read More
They’ve going to try this DJ Hero business one more try, eh? Good on them. If you’re so inclined, here’s the entire track list for the next game, DJ Hero 2, which is due to be released later this year . Look at that: my favorite Deadmau5 song, “I Remember,” is in there. Nice. → Read More
Famous rock band Radiohead released an album a few years ago called In Rainbows. The band initially released the album online for free. Well, not for “free,” per se, but you were given the option to pay whatever you wanted. That promotion only lasted a little while, as the band later teamed up with traditional record labels (like Warner and Sony) to release a physical album. → Read More
Music is like little parts of music put together, right? Now you can sell these little parts – Scratchpacks – on ItchyClips, a brand new site dedicated to sell music to musicians. I bet there are other services like this out there. This one however looks quite capable because you can sell your Ableton Live packs. Maybe one day there will be a website to sell snippets for bloggers. You know, little building blocks of posts. → Read More
Nothing like helping out your fellow man. As you know, copyright infringement, known as “theft” by people looking to spread FUD, is the worst crime a person can commit. I mean, you can be in charge of financial intuitions that rip off people’s money, you can be in charge of an energy company that randomly drills into the planet then feigns ignorance when something goes wrong, but hey, whatever—there are people out there downloading “Oh My Gosh.” This must be stopped! → Read More
Famous rock band Guns N’ Roses released their latest album, Chinese Democracy, in November, 2008. It had been in development for an astonishing 15 years. That’s partially why Kevin Cogill got into so much trouble. You’ll recall that he was caught uploading tracks from the then-unreleased album in June, 2008. While he managed to doge jail time, Cogill was given a year of probation and two months of home confinement. He was also supposed to take part in a public service announcement on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America&mdas;public enemy number one in the eyes of young people around the country.
So here we are in July, 2010, and we’re left wondering: what happened to that PSA? → Read More
Ever since someone wrote down music on more than one page, musicians have struggled. The advances during the Renaissance (i.e. another person turning the pages for you) improved things somewhat, but not until 2010 has a true solution been imagined. Of course, it involves an iPad. Everything does nowadays. → Read More
The world’s most famous artist named M.I.A., Mathangi Arulpragasam, has a new album coming out next week. It’s called Maya, but it’s stylized as /\/\ /\ Y /\ because writing like you’re in an AOL chatroom in 1996 is cool all over again. The album has already leaked online, so let’s discuss it a little bit. Yes, it’s relevant to the wild world of technology. → Read More
In an rare interview granted to The Daily Mirror published earlier today, Prince declares: The internet’s completely over. I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can’t get it. The internet’s like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you. I guess we can’t blame the man for this off-hand nullification of everything that is modern and good, and which in all likelihood have made his career longer and more lucrative. Like other divas led into the intellectual oubliette of narcissism, he has no concept of the world, because his world is himself. → Read More
Are you a Blackberry user? Do you have a healthy iTunes library full of music? Are you tired of lugging a dedicated media player along with your Blackberry? ParkVu’s new Music WithMe app, available today at BlAppWorld for $15, is for you. It wirelessly synchronizes select iTunes playlists with your Blackberry, allowing you to enjoy your favorite mixes using the Blackberry’s default media application. → Read More
“It will be only a matter of time—months rather than years—before the music business establishment completely folds. [It will be] no great loss to the world.” So says Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke, a man who knows a thing or two about how the music industry works. → Read More
Inspired Instruments, makers of a portable, real-string digital guitar dubbed the You Rock Guitar, has raised $1.25 million from a number of private investors in preparation for the launch of the You Rock Guitar platform and to move forward with a line of accessories and software solutions.
The company’s flagship product, the You Rock Guitar, is a mobile digital guitar and game controller that plays nice with the Wii, PlayStation 3, your computer, iPod / iPhone, iPad, your amplifier or stereo and with popular games like Guitar Hero and RockBand. → Read More
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12244413&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=ff9933&fullscreen=1 This is interesting, but you may not enjoy the music (caution: loud) unless you’re a chiptune fan like myself. Tristan Perich put together this album, “1-Bit Symphony,” as a single microchip, with battery and audio jack included in the jewel case. The music itself uses “simple audio waveforms – square waves, 1-bit tones” and, like other well-done chip music, is surprisingly rich considering its limitations. You can read more about it at Tristan’s site, or pre-order the album at his label. → Read More
I don’t know if this is a waste of a good harmonica or a waste of a good NES cartridge but what you see before you is a harmonica hidden inside an honest-to-goodness NES game. The best part? They cost less than the $80 copy of Adventures of Link that the rental place around the corner from my house was selling back in 1988: $34. → Read More
