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    Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
    Showing posts with label music. Show all posts

    Monday, February 23, 2009

    Wikipedia Band Names - A Social Viral observation



    So everywhere i go i hear about the social virtues of media and how cool it is to do viral work. Personally i hate the term viral. Its beyond contrived, its just a bad misnomer. Its not some replication bit we cant control, its something humans pass onto each other. Sort like being social....Humans are social, media isnt.

    Lesson done. I saw this funny social experiment on Buzzfeed. It states a rather humorous and interesting method to create a new band name and create an album cover.

    Go to “Wikipedia.” Hit “random” and the first article you get is the name of your band. Then go to “Random Quotations” and the last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. Then, go to Flickr and click on “Explore the Last Seven Days” and the third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

    Gwyther Irwin was my name, pretty badass no doubt. Ive always had a thing for the origin of band names, and while this takes the symbolics out of it, it adds some much needed hilarity.

    NameYourBand

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    Friday, April 18, 2008

    Lifefilter Links 4.14.08 - 4.18.08

    Lifefilter's Links for w/o April 14th:



    Fiji Water to Go Carbon Negative
    Fiji Water has just announced its going to not only reduce its environ-footprint, but through renewable energy products reduce carbon in the air. Finally a company gets it right!

    The New News Process
    Jeff Jarvis has a great article on the new ecosystem of news publishing; changing from a press-centric to proactive consumer model.

    iPhone Gets a Visual Search Engine
    Google may finally have a run for its money. A visual search (already available in Japan), is coming to the iPhone to let us track the things that dazzle us.

    Packaging Goodness
    Can a package be virtuous? Ya know, like you and me? TheDieLine debates.

    Wine by the Tube
    I can’t help to think it looks like makeup, but apparently wine samples in tubes are the latest and greatest. First the cork, now this!

    Sneaker Vending Machine
    Onisuka Tiger has created the world’s first vending machine filled with shoes, and is taking it on a national tour of the UK. Hello Nike isn’t this your territory?

    Muxtape
    Remember the mixtape, the most perfect gift for anyone, anytime. Muxtape brings it back in a digitally friendly format.

    The NYC Farm
    New York Magazine asked 4 architects to create buildings for land on Canal and Varick. See their concepts.

    Oakley’s Red Camera Prototypes
    Oakley’s innovative Red Camera division continues to pump out HD pro-grade consumer cameras. Calling all movie directors.

    Raw Chocolate
    A new artisan chocolate aims at preserving the raw vitality of things like electrolytes and anti-oxidants through a low-heat creation process.

    The Endangered Record Store
    This may come as no surprise, but everyone’s favorite aural curator is going the way of the dinosaur. Be afraid.

    Accenture’s Television in Transition report
    In an interesting consumer report asked consumers about TV, and surprise – they listed commercials as the worst part of Live TV. What can advertisers do before they lose their audience?

    Best Margaritas in Midtown
    Glorious weather means good times to be had outside. Gridskipper tells us about a few hotspots for sippin on Margaritas.

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    Thursday, January 24, 2008

    Death of Garage Bands = Value in Space


    Anyone living in a mega-city is painfully aware of the lack of space. It's quickly obvious to those who move that life is slightly different when space is removed from the equation. I have continually asked myself where do the musician's practice without the basement or garage?

    Super interesting article in the NYtimes about the lack of affordable spaces for musicians. NYC is the one place that has largely ignored the real estate trend, with continual rising prices. NYC Performing Arts Spaces runs a site where musicians can book practice time in rehearsal studios, ranging from $10 to $50 an hour.

    Famed historical club CBGB's was closed last year due to rent issues, now to return as a clothing brand. (Slight painful and certainly selling out.) It would seem that music is on the unfortunate side of a struggling economy. Raising rents are forcing musicans out like never before. But its a bit of a paradox situation. We live in an era of technology, where anyone with a computer can grab and mix samples to become the next Dangermouse. Music has seen a revolution of power, with independent artists creating their own fame and fortune (i.e. Merge's Arcade Fire). Radiohead just said F U to the labels, iTunes models by setting its own price. Music can be free. So the value must lie elsewhere.

    While technology makes music easier to share (not necessarily achieve) it adds value most to what it eliminates. Physical space. Revenue leaves formats, it must reappear somewhere else. That means marketing, experiences, live events, art etc. Quite strange for an aural experience.

    But for the garage band who whose physical space is merely to practice, and not to churn profits this is death. What was once free, is now the ultimate luxury and a point of emphasis to generate profit. What will the impact be of a loss of creative spaces? Is this a music revolution or evolution? Many would argue now is music's greatest age, an era of freedom and privateering. But what is the price? Interesting times ahead

    DFlat

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    Tuesday, October 23, 2007

    Oink Update: Shutdown


    Nearly 9 months ago, we reported on a ground breaking site called Oink. Well it seems all good things must come to an end. A special message greeted some of the estimated 180,000 paid members of music file-sharing Web site OiNK.cd when they tried to access it on Tuesday: "This site has been closed as a result of a criminal investigation by IFPI [International Federation of the Phonographic Industry], BPI [British Phonographic Industry], Cleveland [U.K.] police and the Fiscal Investigation Unit of the Dutch police, into suspected illegal music distribution.

    The site —is apparently the world's biggest source of pirated pre-release albums — had been the subject of a two-year investigation overseen by Interpol and known as "Operation Ark Royal". The site relied on donations, but was apparently extremely lucrative. Over 60 major pre-release albums this year were released on it, prompting the shutdown.

    While Oink started as a place to share obscure music, it seems the promise of a being an illegal distribution center for pre-release albums was too great. I for one had believed a nice elite barter system was in place, and having not visited after the first day i signed up, was unaware of the rampant piracy. Its no surprise that a few would spoil it for the rest of us for the quickly shared spoils on the internet.

    I for one wonder what this means for legitimate bartering over the net. While certain sectors won't die, it seems that technology(especially music) is still figuring out what is acceptable and what isnt in the digital age. While another music site will pop up to download JT albums, im not sure something as communal and open will show anytime soon.





    At least i dont have to worry about membership requests.
    OinkOink

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    Thursday, October 04, 2007

    Complementary Experiences - Music Fights Back



    Boing Boing had a really interesting tidbit about Slacker.com creating a streaming playlist of punk songs that go along with the current Spin magazine's October issue, "1977: The Year Punk Exploded!" While it supposdly "consists of handpicked songs representing the most influential punk music spanning three decades", it is designated as the musical counterpart to the punk rock articles.

    History lessons aside in great tunage, this is a great idea and one that seems to be emerging in the world of music. I believe music has really lost its sense of intimacy as we continue in this digital age. Everyone can download songs, and while that encourages diversity, it eliminated the dreamlike sequence we had when we listened to a CD from start to finish. Gone are the B-side tracks, and the (often-annoying) skits seemed to have lost their relevance as well. All of those though bite at the creative genius musicians used to harness, as well as how consumers immerse themselves in the music.

    Gareth has a nice thread going about Radiohead's new model system which lets people choose the scale of content you want. All of this circumvents the iTunes model as well.

    I'm very proud to see how the music industry is seeming to swing back with these creative marketing and alternative models. While sales are plummeting due to digital, its nice to see it not completely roll over. What really brings me in is how this plays into complementariness. (if thats even a word). I'm beginning to feel that brand experiences are truly multi-sensory or at least should be. I also think that different brands can carry conversations between each other of these sorts as well. Music is starting to play with things that capture consumers outside of the listening experience. The Slacker playlist brings music to a publication in a specific way that complements to create the full/ aka full experience(music publication + music for that publication =aural bliss). Thats what people are reading the magazine for anyways.

    Agencies keep wanting to look at what consumers doing and ideate off of that versus creative executions that often come off as a bit of announcements, shouting matches and never really in synch with consumer behavior in the first place. We need more things like this, that create fuller, richer, deeper experiences based on what current consumer behavior is doing. The Slacker/Spin playlist is an excellent idea because it incorporates a passion with a behavior in a complimentary way to create a total branded experience. Radiohead are using consumer involvement with a passion to create an experience as total (or minimal) as the consumer wants it. Brilliant use of consumer integration.

    Will more brands seek complementary ideas that create total experiences? Targeting the senses is certainly one way for a singular brand. Using passions and technology are another. Inter-branded is one of the more intriguing, and im hopeful we can see that in the future.

    Music is an interesting field which has been forced to really look at itself and undergo a revinvention of sorts with the digital dawn. Music is forever and I for one, am excited about Music 2.0.


    PunkExplosion

    [Ed. Note] - The Seminal tackles this too, more eloquently

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    Wednesday, September 19, 2007

    Sonic Bliss

    These days music can often feel like the "lost" media with so many innovations, new fangled communications, and brand discussions going on out there. I know my own habits have changed significantly over the last 6 years in terms of finding, listening and sharing music. These two artists though have really blown my mind as of late and i cant seem to get them off of repeat on the ipod.



    Kanye West - Graduation


    Matthew Dear - AsaBreed

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    Sunday, June 24, 2007

    The Thrill of Shopping



    Apple is now the 3rd largest music retailer in the country behind Wal-Mart and Best Buy. "With a 10% market share, Apple sits close behind #1 retailer Wal-mart (15.8%) and #2 Best Buy (13.8%). All findings were recently reported by NPD Group and are based upon their survey of 400,000 people age 13 and older." And thats a pretty sizable chunk I have to say considering around age 13 kids start flexing that consumer muscle.

    Significant for several reasons-

    1) RIP CD: Both of the top retailers mostly sell music in the CD format. Online store bestbuy.com has a 1.1 percent market share with sales of both CDs and digital music. iTunes is strictly digital. This signals a fairly significant shift in consumer behavior to the digital medium, but its one we have seen coming for quite some time. Will movies and videogames be headed this way? You betcha. Check out Xbox Live and you can already see it happening.

    2) Death of Retail: consumers still aren't emtionally tied into online offerings. Very few online sites can really get people excited the way a sale, promotion, or retail experience can. Face it people like real-world connections. People visit BestBuy just to check out the products, not even buy anything and the brand has been smart to encourage it. Typically consumers prefer making purchases in person, and will always place a higher value on products they can see in person, but digital commodities such as movies, music, and games are changing that. Companies like Freshdirect have made it acceptable to use digital for everyday things outside of media. Look for this to expand in the future.

    3) Product Power: Apple is a rare brand indeed that has been uniform in its messaging online and off. The iPod has become ubiquitous with many things beyond music, and purchasing one has extended iTunes to greater depth. Nothing like having the number 1 product in your category and getting consumers to switch to your service. Cingular is banking on this with the Jesus iPhone. Don't bet on it.

    4) Uniform branding: Apple has a sizeable advantage on BestBuy and Walmart in its branding. Those two brands are retailers with many products, while Apple creates simple propositions for all of its own products. It has become synonymous with cool, music, and even more up the ladder, digital lifestyle. Apple has been working hard to bridge the gap between offline and on. Events in its stores which feature up-and-coming bands, are the smartest thing I have seen from them in awhile. As Apple grows, and digital music, consumers habits are clearing shift but their emotions will always lie within the physical space. Figuring out how to turn digital behavior into physical results could enhance itunes as well as Apple. Look for integration of iTunes in physical space to be the next powerplay for Apple. All made that much easier with a clear branding proposition.

    Unless an iPod killer comes out of left-field look for Apple to take the top spot eventually, may take 5 years or so, but who even thought they would be here as of 2000? How did owning a mac become hip? Is this killing shopping, all this online purchasing? Not so much, if anything it is fragmenting how consumers actually make their purchases. One could argue though that is has hurt music in creating generations of folks who only purchase singles, forgoing b-sides after they hear a 30 clip they dont fancy. It will be interesting to see how consumer's emotional connection to digital shopping changes in this new era, and how brands will be forced to adopt retail to digital as well as vice-versa.

    Big Bite Apple


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    Tuesday, April 03, 2007

    Future of the Rock Band




    Yesterday was a fairly important announcement when it comes to video games. Ok not just video games but rock n roll. Guitar Hero has been an enormously successful game on video game platforms, allowing players to "play" a simplified guitar to real songs, making it the karaoke of music games. Peripheral games have been leading the innovation charge as of late in the video game category.

    Now comes Rock Band. Created by EA and MTV "Rock Band is to completely change the way people interact with and enjoy the music they love," said Jeff Yapp, EVP, MTV Program Enterprises. "By joining forces with EA and the music industry's largest record labels and publishers, we are striving to create a groundbreaking new platform that allows people to connect with their favorite music and artists in ways they never have before."

    Rock Band will allow gamers to perform music from the world's biggest rock artists with their friends as a virtual band using drum, bass/lead guitar and microphone peripherals, in addition to offering deep online connectivity. Built on unprecedented deals with the world's biggest record labels and music publishers, the music featured in Rock Band will span all genres of rock. EMI Music Publishing and Warner/Chappell Mussic will be opening up their catalogs for the game and EMI, Hollywood Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Enterprises and Rhino Entertainment are going to be supplying master recordings for the game.

    Rock Band represents a huge evolution in video games, but also in music and the MTV model. MTV has capitalized on the social aspect of music to build a huge (often mis-managed brand that sometimes doesn't resemble music) that continues to remain cool. This is the perfect marriage of social networks with music, allowing the ultimate connection of consumers in gaming activity to create their idol music fantasies. MTV is really taking the idol trend to a new level and by combining it with video games is genius. With the legitimization of air guitar, who knows MTV may be finding new talent from this. All in all a brilliant idea!

    Legendary

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    Friday, March 30, 2007

    Chapel Hill Music Spotlight: WXYC and Cat's Cradle


    I received a nice gift today from WXYC, my hometown student radio station in Chapel Hill. So i feel obligated to bring a in a few more listeners and let the people in on a little secret. WXYC 89.3 FM is the "non-commercial student-run radio station of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They broadcast at 400 watts from the student union on the UNC campus, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The coverage area encompasses approximately 370 square miles in central North Carolina." In November 1994, WXYC became the first radio station in the world to rebroadcast its signal over the Internet. And who says nothing ever happens in the South? The station has won numerous awards and has a freeform(at) which is chosen by the disc jockeys. There mission statement states the desire to "illustrate the relationships between seemingly disparate types of music. We believe that our free-format is the best way to accomplish this mission. Our disc jockeys harness the almighty power of the segue to draw musical linkages across time, culture, and pure sound." The station survives on donations and public funding, so if you would like to help visit here. The station also holds an annual 80's dance that is hosted down at another venue..

    On Main Street in Carrboro ("Paris of the Piedmont") is the legendary Cat's Cradle. The music venue has been around for over 37 years(1969) supporting artists from local high school bands to world famous concert arena bands. Owner Frank Heath is probably the most respected and intelligent club owner in America (cool as the other side of the pillow). Nirvana, the Offspring, KRS-One, Wu-Tang, Sonic Youth,Cheap Trick, Archers Of Loaf, Indigo Girls, the Replacements, etc. Just to put it like this, Pearl Jam hangs out here when they come to town for shows 30 minutes away. The Cradle is one of the premier music destinations in the south, with acts asking to play. In the next month the lineup includes Clipse, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Sean Lennon, Ratatatat, RJ-D2 and more. The venue holds only a couple hundred folks which make the shows all that more lively while still intimate and only add to the lore. Tickets are usually cheap, running from $10 to $30 dollars. The venue is also actively involved in supporting the Carnivore Preservation Trust and Piedmont Wildlife Center. The crowds are always an appreciative crew, with native Chapel Hillians and Carrborians turning out in force!

    I was so lucky to grow up in such a great spot that continues to remain dedicated to the growth and promotion of fantastic music. I urge everyone to support the music in their community today!

    Cradle Schedule

    [ed. note] Another great music spot not to be ignored is Schoolkids Records down on Franklin Street. Another post fellas!

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    Friday, February 16, 2007

    Is American Idol Bigger Than Music?


    An interesting thing occurred the other night but i have been too busy to speak about till now. The other night was the 49th annual Grammy Awards. It was also an American Idol night. Im not really a fan of either, with the Grammy's always ignoring my favorite category of electronica, and nominating bunk artists with terrible songs. Is madonna electronica's finest? Um not even slightly. I won't get started but i tend to the think the award show is more for publicity and well-known folks. Ive never been a big fan of idol either, but its ratings continue to average 30 million plus viewers. I digress...The "Idol" audience on Fox was 28.3 million while the Grammy Awards were being watched by 15.1 million people from 8 to 9 p.m. EST, Nielsen said.

    Wow. So that means people would rather watch a contest about making it to the industry instead of seeing the industry heavyweights themselves? Several things are at play here:

    1)Consumer Decides- This is a Nike maxim, but as seen from Time's person of the year to the lame cop-out ads for "design your own Super Bowl ad!". Clearly their interests lie with a more compelling story of American Idol than with a star-studded event like the Grammy's.

    2)Authenticity- While American Idol seems somewhat contrived to me, consumer's love it when they show the terrible singers. Everyone identifies with it and LOVES it. Hey i am that terrible singer. And people have more in common with that than Beyonce gyrating on stage. Also the celebrities shown at the Grammy's really don't reflect society. Do we need to pay them more?

    3)Story- Idol catalogs every aspect of the contestants lives from the initial stages on to the end. Everyone loves a story, better brands tell better(or have) stories, and its takes something of interest to grab consumers attention and affect their behavior. The Grammys are just about hoopla and performance. How could they do a better job of captivating the audience and convincing them to watch?

    4)Landscape- I thought this was the death of Music as so the industry says?- Music is now consumed digitally, not in record stores. How does the changing landscape matter in this? DIY consumers are everywhere, meaning Idol is a legitimate platform for them to strive for and reach the mainstream. In fact it seems like the most attainable way to get a deal, judging by the numbers of contestants. Why aren't there more platforms for people to strike it in the industry?

    5)Access- This may be under the story category, but Americans love reality tv. Clearly with sitcoms falling by the wayside and everything being "real-life" this is part of culture. Idol is able to go behind-the-scenes. Grammy's are the glossy paint job on the brand new car. While fans know what went into the albums up for awards, there is little time or look into the history of albums or anything behind the music. Providing access to even the album of the year nominees could capture a greater audience's share.

    6)Personality- We know more than we could ever have asked for about the judges. Sometimes they even outshine the contestants on idol. Grammy's have none. Nuff said..

    So what do the Grammy's do?
    Involvement- Things like Justin Timberlake's duet generated massive amounts of chatter. Involving consumers in the process, show and behind the scenes would go a long way to establish the Grammy's as an award show for the people. Two-way conversations are how brands and consumers should interact.

    Point of Difference- The Grammy's need to do a better job celebrating why American Music is special, different and how it can continue to grow. Make me want to absolutely not miss a minute of the Grammys.

    Reason- Award shows are a dime a dozen. Don't be afraid to embrace change. Consumers adopted downloading without you. While they won't run away, they will turn their heads and their attention. I should want to talk about it the next day at work.


    Take On Me
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    Tuesday, January 16, 2007

    Sony's Monkey Got Me Into Advertising



    Well not really, but a bit of sad nostalgia today. When i was a young(er) lad back at UNC, i really had no clue where i wanted my life to take me. I did take an introduction to advertising class and i remember seeing this powerful spot that made me want to learn the ad gig. I was actually moved by a monkey listening to music.. Sad to report that Choromatsu, the "meditating monkey" who starred in a Sony spot that eventually won best commercial in the late 1980s, died this past Sunday after living for 29 years. Im not sure how "monkey years" go, but my first thought at seeing this spot was h#$y S$%t thats a real monkey. Course i was seeing the spot about a decade after it aired, but I still gravitated towards it. Good advertising tells stories that captivate you and really get your noggin going. The Sony Walkman was such a revolutionary piece of electronics, its probably a couple notches higher than the iPod since it introduced portable music and really started the whole smaller, more accessible, roomier format explosion that we see today in its digital form. I don't think this is the exact spot i remember seeing, but very similar. I seem to recall it having lots of "gorillas in the mist" feeling and water. RIP my monkey-friend, you can now live forever on YouTube.



    Walkmonkey

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    Friday, January 05, 2007

    OiNK


    Oink is a new private torrent site in the UK that caters to those rare b-sides and hard to find tracks on P2P networks. The service is fairly balanced in that people must be sharing to be receiving. Its invite only (please send us one at lifefilter@gmail.com) right now, so you will really have to work or know someone to get on board. The net is buzzing with people trying to join this elite circle of music lovers. This sounds like the crate digging, indie scene record crowd, so the tracks inside are probably top-notch audible delights, hence the clamor. Keep your eyes peeled for more things like this in the future as technology will further enable niche groups to segment themselves from the mass. This really spins the idea of P2P on its head, but private p2p networks could be a sign of things to come.
    Oinkoink

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    Monday, October 23, 2006

    The Sound of Music: CBGBs closes


    A sad note to those of you living in a cave; its unfortunately true that the legendary CBGB's, birthplace of the Ramones has been closed for good. Now, while we bemoan the legendary rock and roll venue, you need to check the truth of this statement made by the landlord:

    The Bowery Residents' Committee, landlord of the building on the Bowery, "believes it is in the best interest of our clients — the homeless and neediest New Yorkers — to sever this relationship," BRC executive director Muzzy Rosenblatt said. If thats true, how does the closure of CBGB's help the homeless of New York?

    While thats besides the point, and the typical banter towards both parties this that of "selling out". This was truly a one-of-a-kind music venue that helped establish rock and roll. hell the Ramones career came out of here. I was privileged enough to experience it, and see my friend's band play. My hometown Cat's Cradle is the closest thing to this, shout-out for those Hillians out there. Rumor has it that CGBG's may reopen in Vegas (?). This could create quite an interesting brand story. --> Brand venue goes kaput yet lives on vicariously through satellite venues, clothing and online world. Stranger things have happened.

    Yahoo has a pretty cool slide show on this piece of Americana. Click the link.

    JAM

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    Tuesday, October 03, 2006

    New Pretty Things


    Whoa.. Some of you just may be seeing stars right now. As many of you can tell the Lifefilter has upgraded quite a few options on the site such as

    -Tagging EVERYTHING
    -Email
    -Links
    -Archiving
    -Improved coding for browser compatability issues
    -More Ads! (sweeeeet) -*Come on. All you ad people are rejoicing i know it.

    Let us know what you think (if you arent stumbling on for the first time) or better yet even if you are, tell us your thoughts. Subscribe to the email listserv and stay in touch even when you can't visit the site. Who knows we may even have a few goodies to send your way.

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    Tuesday, August 08, 2006

    Cool Hunting Summer 2006: 10 minutes of Ideas


    I used to do quite a bit of cool hunting back at my last agency. NYC is the perfect town for it, and i quite never had as much fun sending out my interns to do the dirty work. Chuco/JWT has a nice cool hunting video which gives you the latest in under 10 minutes. And i didn't even break a sweat from the office. Some are great creative, some are just cool and some are actually great ideas that work.
    Cool Hunt
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    Tuesday, December 13, 2005

    Musical Signatures


    Ever wonder if you took your whole itunes libary and turned it into a signature? Me neither. But someone did. iTunes Signature Maker (iTSM) analyzes your music collection and creates a short audio signature to represent who you are and what you listen to. After it checks your system configuration and asks you a few simple questions, iTSM will spend a few minutes analyzing your collection and generating the audio signature. SM selects a small number of your "favorite" tracks based on some simple selection criteria, such as the number of times you have played them or the rating you have assigned them. Then it analyzes the audio content of these files, combining a small bit of each of them to create the signature. Oh and my signature is waaaay cooler than that. Just ask meghan.
    Herbie Hancock

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    Tuesday, September 06, 2005

    Old Skoool


    This site has old school hip hop fliers from new york city in the early 1980s. While i was busy learning to walk, the whole hip hop scene was jumping off. Check em out. Some are hilarious some are down right wicked.
    The Source

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    Monday, July 25, 2005

    mixwell


    Numark this week announced its iDJ two-channel mixer, which can turn an everyday dual-iPod owner into Sir Digital-Mix-A-Lot. But in doing so, the company triggered an online debate about deejaying between the vinyl purists and those more apt to embrace technology. And so it begins...the traditionalists vs. the new agers...The iDJ features, among other things, two docking stations that accept all model iPods with a bottom connector, a dedicated microphone input with tone and level control, USB connectivity and a turntable spindle receptacle. It won't ship until September and has a suggested price of $399. At least one retailer, however, IDJnow.com, is already selling it for $249. It has no pitch control though!!!!! um how can you leave that out???????? i will leave it at that before i piss someone else off.
    scratch

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    Wednesday, June 29, 2005

    The freshest thing in town


    Thanks to cool hunting for finding out what i already knew. When i lived in san fran, we would go down to this market all the time. It used to be only thurs and saturday, but it sounds like its popularity continues to grow. This is THE MECCA for organics. It had the most incredible vegetables, meats, and assortment of goods in the usa. I have yet to see anything on par with this in new york. A couple hills down from me, it was a secret san franciscan treat. The ambience here at night would be fantastic, so i have to say the idea to extend this into the evening was a no-brainer. If in San Fran, this is one place not on the guide to check out.

    "San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace is a compendium of gourmet food vendors, restaurants, and retail naturally evolved from the longstanding farmer's market that was held in the Embarcadero locale. If you find yourself downtown, the soaring ceilings leftover from the building's past as a terminal for transbay ferries make for a great destination to shop European-style or to lunch on some of California's finest artisanal foods.

    During Summer months from 4pm-8pm the Ferry Building hosts a Thursday Night Market, an event that gathers a cast of local farmers and merchants in what has become something of a tradition for farmer's markets. Running through at least Ocotber, it's a perfect appetizer for dinner at the famed Vietnamese spot The Slanted Door which is also housed in the building."
    fresh

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    Saturday, May 07, 2005

    Vanilla Ice: Genius or Gonzo?


    I spent the other night wasting my time watching Vh1's The Remaking of Vanilla Ice. The purpose of the show is to give Rob Van Winkle another chance at a career by showing he was serious into the comeback. They gave him the opportunity to escape the past by changing his music, recording style, wardrobe and choreography. Yet on the whole show Vanilla didnt listen to any suggestions from his "experts". Stick it to em Vanilla. In fact Vanilla didn't trust his group trust coach or his life coach, and learned all the exercises by watching. Vanilla had clashes with everyone and his quip the whole show "i just dont want to be thrown under the bus ( neither do i buddy), made everyone weary and disgusted. Vanilla was still plain ol Vanilla at his "arrival" show.. OR did he pull a fast one and just get a free concert out of Vh1? His new cd was his second cd remade. Wow i think he showed them. sorta like calling domino's and pretending you have a free coupon. tv show. free. concert. free. cd. free. sticking it to vh1 so he doesn't get thrown under the bus.priceless
    Stop, collaborate, and listen...Ice is back with the same ol rendition

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