Fripperies on Friday – The Boombox
My first boombox was called a Tensai Rhytm Machine. It looked like a standard boombox but it also allowed you to split the stereo into two recordable mono tracks and included five or six pre-set rhythms, which if you held two of the buttons down together allowed to ‘mix’ the rhythms. Prior to the invention...
What a bunch of Twitters…
Many artists seem to have taken to Twitter like ducks to water. While some musicians found the idea of keeping a blog going too daunting, Twitter provided an easy way to connect with their fans. Even Nine Inch Nails Trent Reznor, who recently claimed he was giving up on social media, just couldn’t stay away...
Fripperies on Friday
The sun is shining and it’s looking like it’s going to a lovely weekend. So what better than a bit of fun to make the rest of the working day go just a little bit quicker… This weeks Fripperies On Friday is powered by some of the new technology that is being developed in the...
VV Brown : Banner Ad
Now I am not a big fan of banner ads from music companies. The belief that a banner will lead to immediate sales ( behold the one-click sales strategy) is thankfully being seen for what it is. Merely the pitch of a Direct Marketing company selling their wares. As click-through rates disappear out of sight,...
Last.fm+Youtube = the coolest music channel in the world
I love mashups when they do something really simple and really smart. Tim Bowman’s clear little mashup takes the technology behind Last.fm to recommend a whole load of videos for you to watch from You Tube. You simply type in an artist or a last.fm username and you get an instant video channel, rather than...
Vox Pop Record Store and more in Manchester UK
Nick and I took a trip to Manchester UK to meet up with a number of people. First stop Gary McClarnan. We met up at his great record store Vox Pop. Also sells the best cup of coffee in Manchester plus some great Tees. Then headed off for an evening listening to people discuss the...
Napster gives customers free music
Napster has struck a deal to allow AT&T wireless customers to download music for free, to do with what they want, for a year. This may not sound like much — but it harkens back to all those mistakes that the music industry made in dealing with the Internet a few years back. Music execs...
Gaming is for life, CD is for a second…
I have been posting a lot on the recent Understanding Digital Youth conference over on the citizenbay blog. At the conference, there were a panel of young people who were bombarded by questions from the conference attendees. Not exactly a true insight into youth culture and thinking, but of more worht than a staged focus...
Death By Powerpoint?
Last week I spent two days at Marketing Week’s Interactive Summit in London. Part of the reason for attending is that New Media Age and Marketing Week have kindly asked to be programme director at this years Online Marketing Show, and I wanted to check out some potential speakers. As with most conferences I seem...
Goodbye independent record shop?
Really interesting post on the death of music retail by Andrew Dubber, degree leader of Music Industries at UCE Birmingham. His suggestion is for the independent stores to give up the ghost and go online, creating your community there. Very thoughtful piece from someone who clearly loves the independent store but fears for their future...
Just hum a little tune…
I like this idea. You hum a tune into the computer microphone for 10-15 seconds, a clever bit of software from Nayio.com will match your attempt to Napster’s library of music. They will get a free listen to the song and will also be able to buy the tune from Napster. I am off to...
I confess, I am a MOG addict
I joined MOG thanks to John Ingham, but don’t know whether to laugh or cry. For those not in the know, it is a fantastic little place to share your music and discover new music from others. Nothing new I guess, but it really is great. Once MOG took hold of my iTunes library, I...