Category: Music (Page 3 of 11)

      My experience with subscription music services

      August 17, 2010 /

      MOG logo.I constantly struggle to find new music. Yes, there are a million resources out there – blogs, fan sites, news and reviews, venues, torrents, etc. etc. – but there’s so much music in the world that a lot of it ends up sounding the same, and I don’t want something that always sounds the same.

      I decided I was going to try a streaming service for the sheer amount of music available. Pandora isn’t on-demand so that was out. I gave Rdio a shot because it was free and had just launched but their selection was woefully slim (they were missing big names like The Arcade Fire among some lesser stuff I was hoping for). From there I turned to MOG and I’ve been fairly impressed. Their selection is good, the iPhone app is passable, as is their web-based player, but I don’t think I’ve discovered all that much.

      MOG does have a feature on the web player that allows you to broaden your horizons by including similar artists to the one at the top of your playlist, but it’s just not diverse. It’s the same thing with Pandora. What I want is some sort of discovery mode, where the player throws a wide selection of stuff at you, based not just on the music you’re listening to, but what other people interested in that selection listen to. I would love if it there was even some sort of blacklist feature so that you wouldn’t get the same old mix.

      As a for instance, I’m listening to The Hold Steady right now. The similar artist list is about what you’d expect – Modest Mouse, A.C. Newman, Spoon, White Rabbits – all bands that someone listening to The Hold Steady would probably say, “Hey, you’d like these guys, too.” I don’t need that kind of guarantee, though. I want to hear a mix of stuff I might not like and might like and might be surprised I like, and I haven’t found a music service that provides that.

      I probably won’t renew my MOG subscription beyond a month because I’m not getting a whole lot more from it than I can get from a Pandora. The on-demand is nice, but the web-player is a little clunky, and I have plenty of music to get through on my own.

      Apps, Music

      New iPod Touch face has a spot for FaceTime

      August 5, 2010 /

      iPhone 4th gen screen.MacRumors has pictures of what could very well be the screen and bezel from the new iPod Touch. The most notable feature you can see is the little pinhole near the top that looks to be the spot for a FaceTime camera.

      None of this is really exciting, considering we already knew that FaceTime would be moving to non-iPhone devices some time this year and that it would start relying on email addresses instead of phone numbers to connect users. From what we know so far, it looks like the fourth-generation Touch could be on track for a september release.

      Apple, Music, News

      Convicted filesharing grad student has penalty reduced by 90 percent

      July 10, 2010 /

      Anti-RIAAYou may remember the story of a grad student last summer who, after a bout with the RIAA, was served a $670,000 fine for illegally downloading 30 songs. A judge ruled this past week to reduce that penalty by 90 percent, all the way down to $67,000. Unfortunately, the student says, that fine is just as unpayable as the first.

      The judge did say the new fine was still “severe, even harsh,” to which the RIAA gave its usual “profound economic and artistic harm” defense. Regardless of where you stand on the moral points of the story, I think it’s fair to say that making a spectacle of one individual to scare off the masses isn’t the best use of our judicial system. Piracy is still a huge deal, but when I see the lifestyle most musicians lead, I’m less inclined to give a shit when they get ripped off a couple times. We’ve heard time and time again that tours are where artists can really make some money.

      For the RIAA, here’s a thought: find a new way to monetize your options. There are, I dunno, a billion ways you can make cash that won’t piss off the people who love the music you supposedly protect. Find a way to work the free market. Create a convenient and comprehensive streaming service. Do something, anything but cry foul when the internet finds a way to distribute media for free. It will happen for the rest of your lives. Get around it.

      Music, News

      Hercules DJ Control MP3 e2: A beginner’s turntable for wannabe DJs

      June 12, 2010 /

      dj_control

      For anyone who’s ever wanted to try their hand at DJing but didn’t have the cash to invest in a turntable and record collection, Hercules has created a pretty nifty solution. Although it’s not the first of its kind, the DJ Control MP3 e2 (not exactly the sexiest name for a gadget) is one of the cheaper and more portable DJ units on the market. It contains everything you’ll need to get the party started, including two jog wheels to navigate your tracks, as well as a cross fader and two volume faders for mixing. You can also add automatic loops and sound effects, control the pitch of each track, and even scratch using the jog wheels, but chances are, most beginners won’t have any idea how a lot of that stuff works.

      It’s nice to see that Hercules has included these features in case users want to play around with more advanced techniques in the future, but it’s hard to imagine the DJ Control being used for anything other than casual parties and wedding receptions. This is not a professional unit, nor is it meant to be, but it is pretty user friendly and incredibly well-made for its price. It’s lightweight but sturdy, and can easily be carried around in a backpack with the confidence that it’ll survive the trip in one piece thanks to the inclusion of a tight-fitting, plastic protective cover.

      The Virtual DJ software also plays a big part in its accessibility, because while you might not want to mess with all of the knobs and buttons on the actual unit, the drag-and-drop nature of selecting songs from your computer practically guarantees that just about anyone can assume the role of DJ within minutes. Those who upgrade to the Pro version of the software will notice some cool enhancements (namely, the ability to mix music without having to plug the DJ Control into your computer), but it’s really not worth the extra $250 unless you’re really serious about it, in which case you should probably be using a better MP3 turntable.

      So is the DJ Control MP3 e2 just an expensive toy? Not exactly. While you’ll need to spend some money to reap the full benefits of the unit (especially if you don’t have a 5.1-channel sound card), it does just enough to warrant its $129 price tag. It’s hard to recommend to those who only plan on using it for simple mixing at parties, but if you also want to record your own tracks and learn the basics of DJing before graduating to something bigger and better, Hercules’ DJ Control does it all without breaking the bank.

      Digital Media, Music, Reviews

      Python code sets any song a-swingin’

      May 27, 2010 /

      Don’t Stop Believin’ (Swing Version) by plamere

      This has to be one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Well, heard, really. Most of the time when you think of audio manipulation, it’s means marring the sound in some awful way. The pitch changes or the sound just goes all to hell. That’s what makes this process so special. It can swing a song, any song. You should recognize the example above.

      The code comes courtesy of Music Machinery. Be sure to check out the other examples they’ve got.

      Music, Websites

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