Virtual Mix Tapes
A very cool idea from MixWit.com.
articles (18 articles)
October 28, 2008
October 08, 2008
The Indie Band Survival Guide
Looks cool. And they sure know how to use an ampersand.
The Indie Band Survival Guide: The Complete Resource for the Do-It-Yourself Musician - Beta
The Indie Band Survival Guide Can Help You"The Guide" is an open & free resource created for & by indie musicians. We collect & share all the useful services, tools & knowledge that can help you win fans globally by getting your music created, distributed, noticed, & heard. So join us today, share what you know & get connected with the rest of the Indie Community.
September 29, 2008
Pandora Radio needs your help
From the Pandora blog...
Pandora: CONGRESSIONAL EMERGENCY!!!
Listeners we need your help... NOW!After a yearlong negotiation, Pandora, artists and record companies are finally optimistic about reaching an agreement on royalties that would save Pandora and Internet radio. But just as we've gotten close, large traditional broadcast radio companies have launched a covert lobbying campaign to sabotage our progress.
Yesterday, Congressman Jay Inslee, and several co-sponsors, introduced legislation to give us the extra time we need but the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), which represents radio broadcasters such as Clear Channel, has begun intensively pressuring lawmakers to kill the bill. We have just a day or two to keep this from collapsing.
This is a blatant attempt by large radio companies to suffocate the webcasting industry that is just beginning to offer an alternative to their monopoly of the airwaves.
Please call your Congressperson right now and ask them to support H.R. 7084, the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008 - and to not capitulate to pressure from the NAB. Congress is currently working extended hours, so even calls this evening and over the weekend should get answered.
September 22, 2008
Meme Breaks 1.0
Jamie Wilkinson has compiled Meme Breaks 1.0 featuring some of Internet’s most famous audio samples in a handy DJ-friendly format.
Internet Meme Scratch Attack from jamiew on Vimeo.
June 09, 2008
Daft Punk's Helmets
Very cool Fader article from 2007 on the origin of Daft Punk and the philosophy behind their disguises.
The FADER - USA: DAFT PUNK IS HERE!
There were always people eager to expose the group’s faces. (This element still exists, as a video of the undisguised duo DJing at a Milwaukee rave in 1996 recently appeared online.) In 2001, Daft Punk hoped to eradicate this problem when they debuted their robot costumes along with their second album and first masterpiece, Discovery. Devised by directors Alex & Martin and built by make up and animatronics effects creator Tony Gardner (whose credits range from Three Kings to Seed of Chucky), the robots gave them a way to hide their identities, but were bizarre enough to keep Daft Punk culturally compelling. The press played along, dutifully printing quotes from the group stating “We are robots now,” and recounting their story about how their bodies were irreparably damaged on September 9, 1999, when a sampler in their studio exploded.
May 20, 2008
Pitchfork Music Festival Three-Day Passes Sold Out
Still time to get the one-day passes. It's happening July 18-20 at Chicago's Union Park. Dinosaur Jr. and Caribou will be there. Also the Fuck Buttons.
http://www.pitchforkmusicfestival.com/
As of right now, three-day passes for the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival are no longer available. Those suckers sold out! That'll happen with tickets to the only festival that offers the remote possibility of witnessing an interaction between Les Savy Fav frontman Tim Harrington and Public Enemy jester/VH1 reality star Flavor Flav.But never fear, dear snoozers, you haven't lost out yet. Still available are $50 two-day passes for the Saturday and Sunday portion of the festival as well as $30 individual tickets for all three days. We recommend making your way to TicketWeb sooner rather than later.
March 11, 2008
Leningrad Cowboys and Red Army Choir
Sing "Sweet Home Alabama". Pretty surreal.
YouTube - Leningrad Cowboys & Red Army Choir - SWEET HOME ALABAMA
March 10, 2008
Using the Creative Commons Music Sharing License
Good info on how what it's good for and how to use it.
The Creative Commons music license helps you:
- Mark It Legal: Mark your music with the CC logo so fans know that you own your copyright, but give permission to download, file-share, copy, and webcast — but not to sell, alter, or make any other commercial uses. Here's an example of how it would look on a band's web page and here's a short comic describing how fans might legally use your music.
- Promote It: Register your music at Common Content so people can contact you to purchase commercial rights to the composition or sound recording. Or, have it hosted for free at the Internet Archive.
- Make It Searchable: Make your music searchable within the Creative Commons audio search engine.
Gratisvibes - Creative Commons music
A very cool resource for "some rights reserved" music.
Gratisvibes - The Creative Commons-Licensed Electronic Music Blog
Gratisvibes aims to lead readers to the best of Creative Commons-licensed Electronic Music on the web, spreading the word for greater musical freedom for both artists and listeners alike.
February 06, 2008
Jack Chick parody video by Alice Donut
This is one awesome video and an excellent song by Alice Donut.
January 30, 2008
DJs vote for your favourite club
Best club in the world? That's one hell of a title.
DJs vote for your favourite club in the Top 100 Club Awards | trance.nu
DJs worldwide are invited to shape DJmag's Top 100 Clubs Poll by simply voting for their top three clubs on the planet. While their long-running and controversial Top 100 DJs Poll offers clubbers the opportunity to vote for their favourite DJs, this is a chance for DJs to speak out - with the aim to create a definitive list of the best dance clubs and rave spots the world has to offer.Following the success of the past two years, DJmag's clubs poll is expanding from 50 to 100, allowing us to discover even more must-visit clubs around the globe.
London club Fabric was crowned Best Club In The World in 2006, before Space in Ibiza lifted the title last year. With more corners of the world opening up to dance music and air travel making the world a much smaller place, will DJs continue to vote for established venues or will some new clubs from off-the-beaten tracks make an appearance in this year's poll?
January 18, 2008
Top 10 Songs Protesting Bush & the War in Iraq
Neat list. I should see if I can get some samples of these tunes.
Protest Songs - Best Protest Songs Against the Iraq War and George W. Bush
I've seen a lot on blogs all over the Web recently where people have been complaining that there are so few musicians writing new protest songs these days, particularly given our current political climate. Of course there are plenty of new songs coming out that were written in protest to the war and the Bush administration, this list touches on just a few of the great new topical tunes out there.1. "Homeland (I Want My Country Back)" - Greg Brown
This great song was something Greg Brown was pulling out at his shows, but wasn't available on CD until 2005's In the Hills of California. In Greg's most earnest, easy way, the final verse of this song says, "Blind engineer, war train on the track. Many, many a heart is sore. We want our country back; we want to feel at home here once more."
May 17, 2007
Pandora banned from streaming to Canada
This sucks....
Much to our chagrin, on the heels of our being forced to block virtually our entire international listening audience, we now have to add Canada to the list (beginning May 16th). We had been hopeful that the licensing situation with our Northern friends might have some hope of imminent resolution. However, after a tough week, and in the wake of the substantial attention the blocking has clearly brought to this issue, it's been made clear to us that we cannot continue streaming into Canada.
No need to reiterate just how difficult this is. It's just a terrible thing for music that there's not even a licensing structure available that would allow a webcaster to stream legally outside the U.S.
I'll reiterate our commitment to fighting as hard as we can to fix this absurd problem - we only hope that reform will come soon so that we can get back to the business of listening and discovery.
My sincerest apologies.
Tim (Founder)
May 03, 2007
Songs that sound alike
Ever listen to a song only to swear that you've heard that melody before ... possibly in another song? Ever wonder if someone's intentionally ripping someone else off? How much do you have to sound like someone else before you step past that "influenced by" label and gain the less praiseful "derivative" moniker?
Here's a cool website which does side-by-side comparisons of some famous songs that sound alike. Here are some interesting examples::
"Inbetweener" by Sleeper vs. "Superman" by Five For Fighting
"Different Kind" of Tension by The Buzzcocks vs. "Bruise Violet" by Babes in Toyland
"Tra La La" by The Banana Splits vs. "Buffalo Soldier" by Bob Marley
"Let Me Down Easy" by Chris Isaak vs. "Take Me Home" by The Tuesdays
Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho Theme" by Bernard Herrmann vs. "Re-Animator's Main Title" by Richard Band
January 18, 2007
LoudCity - keeping your stream legal
Sounds good if you're hosting in the US. Unfortunately, it looks like you have to run your stream through their access point so they can monitor the stream.
LoudCity - Internet Radio Licensing
Keeping Internet Radio Legal, Affordable and Independent
The easy and affordable way to legally broadcast music online.
LEGAL
Operate your Internet radio station legally without the hassles of paperwork.
AFFORDABLE
LoudCity offers competitive rates based on your station’s revenue, music usage, expenses and web stats. No contracts. Service is offered on a month to month subscription basis.
INDEPENDENT
LoudCity does not interfere with the content of your stream or your station identity. We guarantee no forced in-stream advertising and no required listener registration.
If you are going to webcast music protected by copyright within the United States, then you’ll need to obtain permission to webcast each work of music.
One way to obtain permission is to contact the copyright owner for each musical work. Generally, you’ll have to get permission from both the song writer/publisher and the record label. This can be a logistical nightmare for most internet radio station owners.
A more efficient alternative is to obtain an internet radio license from ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and SoundExchange. These organizations represent the vast majority of songwriters, music publishers and record labels. However, the annual combined annual fees of these organizations cost $2,800/year at a minimum for small internet radio stations seeking internet radio licensing. That is well beyond the budget of most small stations. Additionally, the administration of these internet radio station licenses can be overwhelming.
A third method is to work with LoudCity. LoudCity maintains internet radio station licenses with ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and SoundExchange. Once you are a LoudCity customer, your broadcast can be made available through our network for as little as $19.05 per month, and best of all, you won’t have to fill out any paperwork or compile music usage logs.
January 17, 2007
How to start an internet radio station
Here in the US , owning a terrestrial radio station is beyond the reach of the average person. That's okay though, because terrestrial radio stations are losing listeners... not just to satellite and cable radio, but Internet Radio too.
In fact, the latest statistics show that Internet Radio is poised to become one of the main sources of supplemental audio entertainment over the next 10 years.
In this article, we're not going to promise great riches. If you're interested in starting your own radio station for profit, you'll face the same challenges and hurdles that any other online business has to overcome. Good luck with that. But most Internet Radio stations are hobbies. They don't make much, or any money... they do, however, bring enjoyment to operators and listeners alike. And how do you put a price on that?
Shoutcast Hosting, Web Hosting, Media Servers, Shoutcast Servers -- SleepyEngineers.com
September 21, 2006
fccfu.com
Protest and activism take many forms. Some people write their Congressperson... some initiate and sign petitions... some organize and participate in marches. Many donate their time, energy and hard-earned money. Many work toward fighting injustice by keeping others informed.
Others protest through humor, and by attempting to inject their political message into the popular culture – in hopes that popular opinion will begin to change or crystallize, and then result in more “true” activism, as described above.
FCCFU.com falls primarily into the latter category. But, because we understand how crucial the former category is, we’ve attempted to bring all of these elements together into one website.
Our dream is to spread our message through the Internet and the Mass Media; to have as many people as possible singing and sharing our song, proudly wearing the message on our merchandise... and taking the first crucial step toward that most American of all activities: political protest in the name of Free Speech.
April 27, 2006
A new voice for Canadian music artists
Canadian Music Creators Coalition
We are a growing coalition of Canadian music creators who share the common goal of having our voices heard about the laws and policies that affect our livelihoods. We are the people who actually create Canadian music. Without us, there would be no music for copyright laws to protect.
Until now, a group of multinational record labels has done most of the talking about what Canadian artists need out of copyright. Record companies and music publishers are not our enemies, but let’s be clear: lobbyists for major labels are looking out for their shareholders, and seldom speak for Canadian artists. Legislative proposals that would facilitate lawsuits against our fans or increase the labels’ control over the enjoyment of music are made not in our names, but on behalf of the labels’ foreign parent companies.
It is the government’s responsibility to protect Canadian artists from exploitation. This requires a firm commitment to programs that support Canadian music talent, and a fresh approach to copyright law reform. Canadian music creators have identified three principles that should guide the copyright reform process.
1. Suing Our Fans is Destructive and Hypocritical
Artists do not want to sue music fans. The labels have been suing our fans against our will, and laws enabling these suits cannot be justified in our names. We oppose any copyright reforms that would make it easier for record companies to do this. The government should repeal provisions of the Copyright Act that allow labels to unfairly punish fans who share music for non-commercial purposes with statutory damages of $500 to $20,000 per song.
2. Digital Locks are Risky and Counterproductive
Artists do not support using digital locks to increase the labels’ control over the distribution, use and enjoyment of music or laws that prohibit circumvention of such technological measures. The government should not blindly implement decade-old treaties designed to give control to major labels and take choices away from artists and consumers. Laws should protect artists and consumers, not restrictive technologies. Consumers should be able to transfer the music they buy to other formats under a right of fair use, without having to pay twice.
3. Cultural Policy Should Support Actual Canadian Artists
The vast majority of new Canadian music is not promoted by major labels, which focus mostly on foreign artists. The government should use other policy tools to support actual Canadian artists and a thriving musical and cultural scene. The government should make a long-term commitment to grow support mechanisms like the Canada Music Fund and FACTOR, invest in music training and education, create limited tax shelters for copyright royalties, protect artists from inequalities in bargaining power and make collecting societies more transparent.