Bombtune

Pocket Change

As a digital buyer, always carry pocket change. 

No need for hard dollars.  Micro-payments are the future.  

Songs should never be above 99 cents thanks to the iTunes establishment.  $1.29 is a faulty price point for singles unless you're a record label trying to increase revenues over units.

Regardless, a dollar a track is a fact and forever ingrained in the customer psyche. 

No To Three-Strikes

Why sue your best customer? 

That's the question donned on the record industry since day one of file-sharing. 

But now it's looking less likely that any laws will pass which is good news because the provision is confusing.

With the emergence of artist free downloads (see Bandcamp), how will the ISP be able to tell when you download an illicit track? 

Consumers and the courts will fight against graduated response.  That's a guarantee. 

The Irony

What is ironic is the reemergence of vinyl and the reversion of the record industry back to singles. 

It's almost right back where it just started, except the record stores are gone and have been replaced by social networking sites.

The whole industry did a 360.  And now it's doing 360 deals to survive. 

Don't you see the irony?  I do, and it's not a bad thing; it's a transition period with a lot of potential. 

Code Organ

Code Organ is a flash application that converts any web page into music.  

fakedjs.com plays an organ and a drum beat.

Bombtune.com plays an African tribal sound with synth strings.  

Try any website you wish. 

I don't know the purpose behind Code Organ but it's certainly a cool application. 

Extension FM

As you can see, Extension FM is both an in browser player and downloading tool. 

Seek any site with MP3s and it automatically scours the page for them and adds them to the Extension FM player.  It also links you to a buy download feature to Amazon or iTunes.

Extension FM is yet another way to collect MP3s offered on the Internet.   

Sign up here.

Public Enemy Falls Short/Sellaband

SellaBand is reporting that Public Enemy raised $70k of their needed $250k, 72% short of the money required to create a new album.

What is demonstrates is that the record label route is still the safe way for some established artists. However, I recommend trying SellaBand if you're an independent artist willing to sell under 10,000 units. Go ahead, use the CD as a promotional tool for other stuff like touring and merchandise. You can make a high-quality sounding album for $10,000. At least an EP. 

And then your claim to fame will be that SellaBand jump-started your career to stardom.

When Cloud Music Goes Out

One of the central problems about having your music in the cloud is that it could get disconnected any second and stay down, leaving your music ears hungry for tunes.

This is what happened to Spotify this weekend. Its network went down and subscribers lost access to their playlists.

Again, this is why I'm a proponent of download-to-own. You never have to worry about network loss or your playlists going down. Everything is just there, accessible.

So you're better off buying and storing tracks from iTunes instead of subscribing to them. At least that's my opinion.

iPhone Simultaneous Apps

Has anyone else noticed that the only simultaneous app you can run on the iPhone is iTunes?

You can search the web and play app games while running music in the background but try running the web and a gaming app at the same time and you have to choose one over the other.

This is an extreme barrier to entry. You should be able to run multiple windows at the same time, like a PC.

Maybe the iPhone can't handle the RAM? In other words, it's a technological issue. But at least the iPad should be much more advanced than this. If anything is different from the iPad and iPhone operating systems it should be that you can run simultaneous apps on the former.

Green Fields of Opportunity on Facebook

No on doubts the green fields of opportunity on Facebook for a music service.

LaLa has endeavored to get into the space by offering virtual songs as gifts.

I think Facebook has hesitated to begin its own music service lest it turn into Myspace.

It's third-party widget strategy is a wise move but why haven't any third parties really dominated this space?

iTunes should ally with Facebook like it does with American Idol. Create a pact, allow song streams, allow gift giving, send everyone to iTunes. Or Apple could expand LaLa even further by making it the go-to for all Facebook music seekers.

Facebook is a different social system than Myspace so it requires a unique approach, no one which of course has figured out yet.

The Album Experience

I haven't listened to a full album in its entirety since Radiohead In Rainbows.

However, when I finally picked up the Massive Attack CD my pattern changed. I listened to the new Massive Attack from start to finish.

Some bands are just in the business of making albums and telling a story. Most bands are in it for the singles and thus botch the track listing when it comes time to put it together.

The album should ebb and flow. Like a paper, it should have an intro, a body, and a conclusion. Radiohead has mastered this process which is why it's in the business of making albums, not singles.

What are your listening patterns? Do you mix up your behavior depending on the format in which you bought the album or is a listen artist based? The more you respect an artist, the more chances you'll listen from track 1 to the end.