Clipmarks | axgrndr's clips

Record labels, stores make room for vinyl

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 03:23:14 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr

Record labels, stores make room for vinyl

It’s a slogan every record label should endorse. But in the present digital era of CDs and mp3s, sound quality has tanked as labels crank the volume and wash out the dynamic range audiophiles loved about vinyl. Indie labels kept putting out wax by underground artists long after the majors tried to kill off vinyl, but you were out of luck if you wanted to hear that warm bottom end vinyl gave Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top and countless other classic artists whose LPs went out-of-print during the CD boom.

Now, with the second coming of vinyl, the “Sound matters” slogan has been picked up again by Warner Bros. Records to promote a massive slate of big 12-inch reissues. In a strange everything-old-is-new-again twist, Warners and the other desperate majors are sinking money into the format they couldn’t get rid of fast enough in the ’80s.

Tags: music

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Classic Rock

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:41:46 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr
clipper's remarks: Interesting stuff....

Clip Source: fizzlechat.com

1. The mighty final chord of The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life” was played by ten hands in three pianos simultaneously: Lennon’s, Mc Cartney’s, Starr’s, Martin’s (their manager?) and Evan’s (their roadie).

2. In 1968 Jimi Hendrix bought a studio located in the 52 West Eight Street, Greewnwich Village, New York, with the idea of transforming it into a nightclub. His sound technician convinced him of turning it into a studio and in August 27th 1970 “Electric Lady” officially opened it’s doors. Both recording rooms haven’t changed a bit since Jimi jammed there (one still has the same paints hanging on the walls and sofas, and the other -Purple Haze- still has the purple console). When The Clash recorded “Sandinista!” there, they swear Jimi’s spirit added an extra guitar line in the album. That may sound weird (and stoned) but the truth is that doors close on their own, floors creak and a magic can be sensed in the air (or so they say).

Tags: music

Settle the Beef: Does Rush Deserve the Hall of Fame?

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:34:56 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr
clipper's remarks: I say Absolutely!

Clip Source: blog.wired.com

"You are yet to be inducted," Stephen Colbert asked the Canadian power trio on his show in June. "Is there any chance that your next album will be titled That's Bullsh*t?"

A fair, and hilarious, question, and one with legs. In honor of Listening Post's recent Rush tangent, I decided to ask my contact at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland if the institution would field some questions on the matter. They agreed, so here I am, Rush fans and haters, asking for your help.

If you could ask the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame about a Rush candidacy, what would you ask? Tell us below and we'll sift through the queries and lob the best three at Cleveland and see what comes up.

And just because you don't like the band doesn't mean you're not invited. We're taking questions from either side of the Rush divide. A question like "Will you please never induct the band?" can win out over "When will you induct the band?" given enough volume and momentum.

Tags: music

5 Unlikely Music Industry Heroes

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:38:36 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr

Clip Source: www.hypebot.com

1) TRENT REZNOR - Lets' face it, Nine Inch Nails makes music that most of us find about as pleasant as a trip to the dentist. But Reznor markets and sells that music in ways that his fans - from casual to fanatic - relate to; and they reward him with their dollars. If I controlled a major, I'd give him a label to run.

2) JEFF BEZOS - The founder of Amazon proved that people will buy stuff online if you treat them well. When he applied that to music, it meant that he wouldn't sell downloads unless they were DRM-free. Add a dose of variable pricing and a pinch of "lets screw iTunes" and the labels dropped copy protection and came rushing in.

These five men don't follow the unwritten rules of how the music industry (or any industry) is "supposed to" run and because of that they're helping to change it.

Tags: music, new media

Top 5 online music stores

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:23:39 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr
clipper's remarks: I use the top 3..

Clip Source: news.cnet.com

Top 5 online music stores

As one may suspect, working in digital music gives a person a somewhat skewed view about the permeation of online music in the general population. Everyone (aside from audiophiles and vinyl buffs) is getting their music fix though the Web nowadays, right? Wrong. Although digital music is on the rise, it's still well behind CDs in terms of overall sales ($2.8 billion versus $15.9 billion, according to one report).

Another report forecasts that digital music sales won't surpass physical media for another four years. Well, what say we prove some people wrong (always fun) and shave a year or two off that number? To help you sort through the clutter of online music, I've rounded up my Top 5 choices for digital tunes. These selections aren't really in any particular order; rather, each service offers a variety of advantages depending on your personal needs and preferences.

Tags: music, new media

Elton John immortalized in Ice Cream by Ben & Jerry.

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:14:32 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr
clipper's remarks: Profits will benefit The Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Clip Source: www.pastemagazine.com

Elton John immortalized in ice cream by Ben & Jerry

What do you suppose Elton John tastes like? Your guess is as good as ours, but those wacky ice creamateers, Ben & Jerry, decided to honor John with their newest flavor.

Calling it Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road (get it?), the Vermont-based company seeks to honor John's first performance in the The Green Mountain State by immortalizing the rocket man in ice cream, for a limited time only.

Profits will benefit The Elton John AIDS Foundation. The butter brickle concoction, containing "an outrageous symphony of decadent chocolate ice cream, peanut butter cookie dough, butter brickle and white chocolate chunks," will be available July 18 to July 25 in Vermont stores.

As far as the next rockstar to be ice creamsicled, our vote goes to Brian Eno, and we've even got the name all figured out: Here Come the Warm Jets of Delicious Hot Fudge...with special rainBowie sprinkles on top. Ben & Jerry, do it now!

Tags: music, food

Pandora Usage Stats Prove It’s iPhone’s Killer App

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:30:39 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr
clipper's remarks: Now I need to hook it up in my car and get home speakers for my iPhone.

Clip Source: www.techcrunch.com

Pandora’s internet radio has always been one of those sites that was really cool in concept, but too inconvenient to ever go mainstream. The service was long tied to computers only, and while it eventually expanded to special internet radios and some mobile phones, it still has yet to become a household name. But with the launch of Pandora’s new iPhone app last Friday, it looks like the service is about to hit critical mass. It’s a free, mobile, digital radio station that only plays music you like and lets you skip the stuff you don’t. And it rocks.

The personalized music service employs a small army of 50 musicians to create a “Music Genome” that describes each song according to 600 attributes. Listeners input a few of their favorite artists, and the site analyzes the Genome to serve up an endless stream of recommended music.

Tags: new media, music

Will "Free Love" Shape Music's Future?

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:43:25 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr
clipper's remarks: NIN has test the waters and shown that give something away for free can pay big dividends in the long run.

Clip Source: www.hypebot.com

Consumer expectations of "free" in exchange for their increasingly divided attention are beginning to shape many music marketing campaigns.

EMI's successful launch of Coldplay with a free track and free concerts is a recent example. Wired's Chris Anderson has also been writing about the rising power of free for more than a year and his forthcoming book may bring the concept into the mainstream.

But a new brief from TrendWatching.com focuses a particularly sharp lense on the reasons behind as well as the potential power of "free" dubbing it "FREE LOVE".

FREE LOVE: the ongoing rise of free, valuable stuff that's available to consumers online and offline. From AirAsia tickets to Wikipedia, and from diapers to music.

FREE LOVE thrives on an all-out war for consumers' ever-scarcer attention and the resulting new business models and marketing techniques, but also benefits from...

Expect FREE LOVE to become an integral if not essential part of doing business.

Tags: music, new media

Zappa Catalog Hits iTunes, Amazon 7/8

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:10:43 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr

Clip Source: www.hypebot.com

The Zappa Family Trust will celebrate Independence Day by making Zappa's "Beat The Boots" series, totaling 148 tracks, for sale online. These will be the only authorized Frank Zappa albums available on iTunes.

Gail Zappa said, "Even though the polar caps are melting away at such a horrendous rate we will probably never need boots again except for wading in worse cacadoody than ever, you can finally get these Beat the Boots on iTunes just in time to be reminded of Liberation of another sort on the 4th of July."

She continued, "We chose to use TuneCore because it's the fastest and easiest way to get Frank Zappa's music into iTunes, while keeping all of our rights and royalties in the process."
Jeff Price, CEO of TuneCore adds, "Excited? What are you kidding me? It's Frank Zappa!"

Tags: music, new media

Rhapsody To Sell MP3s via Web, iLike, MTV and Yahoo

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:12:16 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr
clipper's remarks: Full song previews is a great idea. Try it before you buy it, because not everything makes it to the radio.

Clip Source: blog.wired.com

Rhapsody To Sell MP3s via Web, iLike, MTV and Yahoo

As of today, you no longer have to use the Rhapsody application to purchase music from the company, and all of the single song downloads in its store are available as unprotected MP3s. Rhapsody's offering differs from that of Amazon MP3 because prospective buyers can preview full tracks -- up to 25 of them per month -- before deciding whether or not to purchase them on Rhapsody or one of its partner sites. The new service will roll out to Rhapsody's new partners as well, iLike, MTV Networks and Yahoo.

Tags: new media, music

'Music 2.0 Manager' Sets Off Into the Wild Unknown

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:12:11 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr
clipper's remarks: Artists as brands.

Clip Source: adage.com

British music business development network MusicTank and Terry McBride -- "music business 2.0" manager of Avril Lavigne, Barenaked Ladies and CEO of Nettwerk Music Group -- are kicking off a unique, year-long project that will generate from scratch a mold-breaking 360-degree road map for an up-and-coming British act.

The initiative follows McBride's recent MusicTank report that showed how management and labels need to alter their mind-sets in order to cater to the behavior of the millennial generation -- generally defined as those born in the early 1980s who demand content to be available across multiple platforms simultaneously.

Constant experimentation is the key to success. This is a common theme for McBride, who has achieved a high degree of success for his acts by developing "unconventional" but thoughtful marketing approaches.

Tags: newmedia, music2.0

30 Movies that Define Cool

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:10:23 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr
clipper's remarks: Great List. Check the list to see the rest

Clip Source: www.ploomy.com

30 Movies that Define Cool

Nothing says cool like a good guy movie. Especially ones with car chases, egg-eating contests, underground brawls, hit men, and foxy leading ladies. We’ve compiled a list of 30 cool movies that should be on every guy’s must-see list this summer.

The Professional (Leon)

Leon is a hit man, who is content with his life. When a young girl comes home to find her family has been killed by a drug dealer, she seeks help by going to Leon. When the girl discovers he is a hit man, she asks him to teach her the skills to take her revenge.

Bullitt

A no nonsense cop named Frank Bullitt, and two other cops, are assigned to what seems like a normal case: to watch a witness for 48 hours before he goes to trial on Monday. When the officers and the witness are killed, Bullitt vows to catch the killer.

Tags: movies

5 Unexpected Ways To Clean With Vinegar

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 20:59:09 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr

Clip Source: www.dumblittleman.com

Throw a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water into a spray bottle and you've got a substitute general purpose cleaner. You won't have to worry about the dog licking it or ruining fabrics because it's less harsh than bleach. It also cuts through grease better and handles foul odors.

If your microwave looks like that scene from gremlins, try heating a bowl of 50/50 vinegar and water on high for 3 minutes. Then wait 3 more minutes for everything to soak in and wipe with a wet sponge. Everything comes off like it was never there and even the burned popcorn smell will disappear. By the way, this also works in the oven if you use a metal bowl.

If your shower pressure is getting so bad that you'd be better off dribbling on yourself, try taking your shower head apart and soaking the pieces in a bowl of vinegar. After about 20 minutes, rinse, wipe and put back together. It's like getting a brand new one.

Note: Here is a pdf from the Vinegar Institute that lists dozens of additional uses for vinegar.

Bands, Fans Share Couches and Crash Pads.

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:14:16 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr
clipper's remarks: Great resource for indie bands who can't afford the gas.

Clip Source: blog.wired.com

Bands, Fans Share Couches and Crash Pads

Adventurous travelers have already leveraged social networking to create a couch surfing network, and now touring bands looking to continue touring despite rising gas prices can use a similar network to find free places to stay on the road: Better Than The Van, from the same people who run Drummer Hunter.

So far, only a handful of people are offering up places to stay on the site. I searched for a place to stay within 99 miles of New York and San Francisco, and nothing turned up. But it only soft-launched on Thursday, so it will take a while for the networks to start to build up. Austin, Texas fared better, with two locations already offering up space for bands to crash.

The Terms of Service states that "any abuse or weirdness will result in the user's account being terminated" and mentions that "carpet is better than wood floors, and a warm breakfast for a band is always welcome."

Tags: music

30+ Must Have Firefox Extensions

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:50:44 GMT

clipped by: axgrndr
clipper's remarks: I'm enjoying Firefox 3. Much better than 2 on my Mac.

Clip Source: mashable.com

30+ Must-Have Updated Firefox 3 Extensions

We’ve put together a list of 30+ must-have Firefox 3 extensions that we know you’ll enjoy, whether you’ve upgraded to Firefox 3 and are looking for something new to add to your browser, or have yet to make the upgrade and are looking for a reason.

We cover everything from useful tools to social bookmarking and more. Let us know which extensions are your favorites.

Tags: browsers