GarageSpin

ReverbNation has always impressed me with their breadth of online promotion tools for bands.  If you haven't set up an account with them, I'd seriously consider giving their service a try.

One service they lacked was digital distribution -- they used to have a deal with SnoCap, but as we all know, SnoCap SUCKED.  (Poor service, something like a 50% commission fee for all sales, etc etc.)  But now, ReverbNation offers digital disctribution!  Here are some key details:

• RETAILERS INCLUDED: iTunes Worldwide, eMusic, Rhapsody, Napster, and Amazon.
• ARTIST ROYALTIES: Artists keep 100% of the royalties (ReverbNation doesn't take a cut; actual payouts vary by retailer).
• PRICING:  $34.95 per album per year (Compared to $41.73 for TuneCore, and $55.00 for CD Baby).
• MANAGEMENT TOOLS:  Detailed sales stats provided, and ReverbNation's promo tools are plugged in.
• ISRC & UPC #: Both can be created for you if you don't have one.
  

A few things the service can't do - thought this is the case for most distributoin services:

• SINGLE DOWNLOADS: Can't accept and upload single songs (You can upload a single song, but you would have to pay the "album price" to do it).
  
• PRICE CONTROL: Can't control song pricing.
• SOUNDSCAN: Sales are not reported to SoundScan.
• PHYSICAL GOODS:  You can't sell CDs or merch through this service.

October 11, 2008   Permalink   Comments (0)   Digg It!   Del.icio.us It!   Email it!

I'm heading to the annual "Direct Marketer's Association" conference in Las Vegas tomorrow morning...but won't be attending any of the panels.  Panels are mostly composed of fluffy hot air, anyway.  The week is more about hangin' with people you work with, collecting widgets and gizmos from the trade show floor, and enjoying the ol' L.V.

Ad Tech kicks the DMA's butt.

If you're heading out to the DMA as well, drop me a line.

October 10, 2008   Permalink   Comments (0)   Digg It!   Del.icio.us It!   Email it!

I'm back from WordCamp New York, which was awesome.  I was reminded of several things:

• Damn, I _really_ need to launch the Wordpress-powered GarageSpin.
• There are an overwhelming number of smart people involved in technology.  A lot of them are "consultants" or run a "consulting company."
  
• Meeting and discussing creative stuff with creative folks is like chicken soup for one's creative muse.
• People are interested in many subjects besides digital music. (eh??)
  
• Eight to nine hours of presentations is plenty.
• GarageSpin business cards may be in my future.  (*meh*)
• Matt from Automattic is a cool guy.
• Kaltura is one of the slickest video applications that currently exist.  (seriously)
• The Rio Grande restaurant has great salsa dip.
• At least two other Wordpress users on the East Coast are writing and recording music.

Other awesome folks I had the pleasure of hanging and chatting with included Jeremy of Simian Uprisings and Global Voices' fame (great presentation, dood), Sanford from Contagious Conversations, Jeremiah of Cubicle Punk, Sandira, Cynthia of Media Story, Aaron of Techno Sailor and b5media, Jen the filmmaker, Zac, and Mike.

Thanks to all for a great day of geekage.

October 05, 2008   Permalink   Comments (0)   Digg It!   Del.icio.us It!   Email it!

Because GarageSpin.com is switching from Movable Type to Wordpress...er, some day, anyway...it seemed like a good idea to check out WordCamp NYC to learn more about the paltform's future, and meet some of the folks using it.  And besides, the $30 registration fee includes breakfast, lunch, and a T-shirt...and I like food and tees, so, I'm in.

Jonathan Dingman from Google Inside organized the event, which will be held at Sun Microsystems' office in Manhattan.  Speakers include Matt Mullenweg (founding developer of Wordpress, and founder of Automattic), Aaron Brazell, Shay David, Jeremy Clarke, Michael Hampton, and Jen Simmons.  Tickets were originally sold out...but now seem to available at EventBrite.

If you happen to be going, give me a shout out.

October 04, 2008   Permalink   Comments (0)   Digg It!   Del.icio.us It!   Email it!

Aw yeah.  I "won" (as eBay's marketing department tells us we do when we bid high) an auction for a pair of factory matched, Rode NT5 small condenser microphones for $152.50 with 40 seconds left in the auction (they're $400+ new).  YAAARRRRGGHH, that's me booty now!!

I've wanted a pair of small condenser microphones for some time.  They're great for acoustic guitars, and especially so when used in stereo in an X-Y configuration.  (Seriously, for all you home recordists, if you don't already, try recording acoustic guitars in stereo -- the difference in sound richness is just plain stupid.  Or, record twice and pan your recordings left and right.  Or, both record in stereo AND record twice!)

My next song (song #3) will be entirely acoustic, so it seemed as good a time as any to invest in a couple solid mics, though I was hoping to stick to a budget of $200 max.  After doing some research, I was reading a lot of good things about these small condenser mics:

• AT4041 ($500/2; $350 eBay)
• Rode NT5 ($430/2; $310 eBay)
• Studio Projects C4 ($350/2; $350 ebay)
• Shure's SM81 ($530/2)
• AKG's C1000S ($297/2)
• Audio-Technica's AT3528 ($259/2)

They were all over my budget, so I checked eBay next, and voila, there sat a couple of used, factory matched (meaning, sonically equal...like-model mics can vary in sound response) Rode NT5 microphones with only a single, solitary bid made.  AFter watching and waited for two days, I pounced like an eBay ninja with 40 seconds left.

Beware the eBay Ninja...beware.  Not to be confused with Ask a Ninja, my favorite YouTube advice column.

September 29, 2008   Permalink   Comments (4)   Digg It!   Del.icio.us It!   Email it!

In case you missed the many, many, many, many posts announcing the launch, T-Mobile launched the first Google Android powered mobile phone, the T-Mobile G1.

It actually looks quite cool.  A great hands-on review is at Gizmodo, and you can check out the phone's official site here.

Music fans, however, will be annoyed -- there is NO HEADPHONE JACK.  You will actually have to buy a USB adaptor to plug in headphones, or some such nonsense.  Sigh.

September 24, 2008   Permalink   Comments (0)   Digg It!   Del.icio.us It!   Email it!

There seems to be ever more crowdsourced, consumer media generation, web 2.0, music wiki craziness going on these days.  (I like fuzzy buzz words.)  Not that I'm complaining; I LOVE Wikipedia, and am always psyched for the next music wiki blip to pop up on my radar.

So far, music wikis tend to each have their own approach or focus; they're worth checking out, and if nothing else, are easy sources of links for your band or music blog (...I need to get on that).  Here's a quick look at some of them:

A Music Wiki Smackdown:

• Wikipedia: "Music" -- When in doubt, start with the grandfather "music" wiki of all wikis.
  
• WikiMusicGuide - Simple and to the point, it's "the music fan site anyone can edit."  If you're not careful, you may think you're at Wikipedia.  Which I don't mind, 'cause I like the scheme and process of the original.  The forums aren't too active, but there seems to be a good amount of content.
  
• Wikia Music Wiki - Not exactly a focused wiki, this one is a "music wiki devoted to creating the definite music encyclopedia which includes aspects of all music topics."  The site is a little ad heavy, but you can create a free login account to view the music wiki ad free.
  
• SoundUwound -- Amazon's music wiki, launched on 9/1/2008.  It's young, but it's very visible, and even IMDB is contributing.  However, their "we own everything written here" take on the effort is pushing a lot of wiki purists away.  Contribute as long as you don't mind someone else owning what you write.  (I still recommend adding your band as an entry.)
  
• S21 New New Music Wiki --  This site's goal is to create "...a reader-created community/encylopedia of new music composers, performers, history, schools, and important works."  They encourage bands and musicians to contribute...however, there doesn't seem to be a lot of activity here.
• Wiki Recording -- An audio recording music wiki that's a "...free online guide to audio recording, editing, mixing, and mastering that anyone can edit."  A cool idea, but it doesn't seem to have gotten a ton of traction.  Honestly, most pro and/or home recordists probably prefer a forum/discussion format to share ideas.
  
• TheMusicSnob Wiki --  The self-proclaimed "...most innovative directory of music industry resources and the insights of the people who use them."  The site feels a little more like a yellow pages directory listing of businesses than a community generated site, but at least it's a stab at a need serving bands and musicians.
  
• Fuse Artist Wiki -- Kind of self-explanatory, it's Fuse TV's artist wiki.  Writers can talk about shows, albums, music, etc.  Not the most aesthetic option.

September 15, 2008   Permalink   Comments (0)   Digg It!   Del.icio.us It!   Email it!

One of my DIY heroes, Brad Sucks, is releasing his second album, Out of It, next week.  Absolutely check it out; I'm pretty psyched about it myself.  Lovin' the album cover art.  

Nice job, Brad.

You know an album is good when it makes you want to record more music.

September 04, 2008   Permalink   Comments (2)   Digg It!   Del.icio.us It!   Email it!

Three things have recently led to my sudden interest in iPhone Apps: 1) my trusty 20 GB iPod recently ceased to function, 2) my Cingular phone plan is up for renewal, and 3) I discovered the iPhone app store and some of the "iPhone hacks" Google groups.

The growing catalog of iPhone 3G apps is pretty impressive, especially since it's only the first wave in what will become a stream of new music iPhone software to follow.  (Crowdsourced software development rules -- thanks Apple)  Some of the best iPhone apps are apps for musicians, bands, and music fans that foster great iPhone experiences...and are quite useful as well.  Following are some of the key free iPhone applications (and non-free) worth checking out immediately.

iPhone Apps for Music Creation

MooCowMusic Band

MooCowMusic Band is iPhone application simulating a bunch of different instruments, including drum kits, a keyboard, bass, and an electric guitar.  Theoretically, you arm an entire band with this iPhone app...and aparently, it's been done (more on that).  Costs $9.99.  (MooCow also released iPhone Drummer, which is one of many free iPhone apps available.)

BeatMaker

The Intua BeatMaker combines beatboxes, loop samplers and software sequencers to become a "mobile music creation studio" where you can compose, record, arrange, and tweak your music through the iPhone touch-sensitive interface.  I totally want this...it be great for those ho-hum marketing planning meetings taking place these days...  Costs $19.99.

MixMeister Scratch

The MixMeister Scratch iPhone application lets you choose vinyl sound samples to scratch with on top of any song you're listening to.  Flip a bird to all the sound engineers trying to sweeten portable music sound quality by tearing up with oh-so-scratchy goodness.  Nice.  One of many great free iPhone applications.

PocketGuitar

The Pocket Guitar iPhone App let's you play guitar on the iPhone by sensing guitar chord fingerings and chord strumming.  Instruments include acoustic guitar, electric guitar, classical guitar, muted guitar, bass and ukulele.  Also included are effects such as distortion, chorus and delay.  Pretty sweet...although I might just stick with the real thing for a while.  Or at least with Guitar Hero.  (This was originally an iPhone hack, requiring a jailbreak iPhone, but will now be one of several free iPhone apps.)

Noise for iPhone

The Noise for iPhone music app is what it does.  (Is "soundfart" a word?)  According to Amidio, its synthesizer application can create any kind of noise-based sound including mechanical noises, mystic creatures, space engines, swoorls and swooshes, bizarre inventions, blasters and spindles, eerie whistles, howls and growls, intergalactic swirls, flaps and blips, and seas and winds.  How can anyone turn that down?  That'd especially be perfect for those 'undesired' phone calls you wish you had an excuse to drop.  "Oh, sorry, the wind is picking up...I'm losing reception [queue noise generator]...gotta go, bye!"  (Cost TBD, likely not a free iphone app.)

iPhone Synth

Another audio synthesizer application, but a pretty basic one.  It's not actually an "official" iPhone app yet, but keep an eye on it as it gets developed further.  (One of several free iphone applications...might as well grab it.)

MooCowMusic Piano

I talked about MooCowMusic Band, why not Piano?  The music app's name is kind of self-explanatory.  Costs $5.99.

iPhone Apps for Listening to Music

Pandora

Pandora is pretty much my all-time favorite source of streamed music online, as well as where I go to discover new bands.  In case you're unfamiliar with it (shame on you!) Pandora plays constant music based on bands and songs you like.  This iPhone music app is a no-brainer.  (Especially since it's part of the free iphone apps brigade of software.)

AOL Radio

The AOL Radio iPhone application is what it is -- AOL Radio on the iPhone.  It includes something like 200 radio stations, some of which are quite good.  And it's also free.  Absolutely worth checking out if you ever get tired Pandora's meanderings into less popular music, or want a playlist that less engine-generated.  (As with Pandora, it's one of many free iphone applications.)

Last.FM

Last.FM, the awesome combination internat radio station, recommendation engine, and social network (now owned by CBS) created its own music iPhone application.  It's actually even more feature-rich than the preceding apps above...scrobbling rules.  And, once again, it's a free iPhone app.  Definitely worth checking out.

iPhone Apps for Music Listening Enhancement

TuneWiki

TuneWiki kicks serious butt.  While you're listening to any song on your iPhone, TuneWiki displays all the song lyrics to the song in Real Time, like a karaoke machine.  This would have come in handy during the grunge era 90s.  However, this is less of an iPhone "App", and definitely more of a iPhone hack.  You'll need to "jailbreak" your iPhone first to install it.  (Enter at your own risk...)

Midomi

Midomi is a cool little song identification iPhone application that can name a song by "listening" to you either hum it, whistle it, or recite its lyrics.  (Neat.)  The core site is also a social network of sorts, where community members find each other based on musical interests.  (Throw this one in the desirable "free iPhone apps" category.)

Simplify Media

Simplify Media is free software that enables the sharing of iTunes-managed music...it actually provides a "legal" means of sharing one's home music library with others over the internet.  The iPhone app lets you, ta-da, do so with an iPhone.  This is actually pretty cool, especially if you've completely maxed out the 8-16 GB of space on your iPhone...now you're no longer limited by the storage space on your iPhone.  Very cool.  Add this to the other free iphone applications.

SeeqPod

SeeqPod is a cool media search engine that presents immediately playable search results in the form of audio and video clips, tracks, and presentations.  The media can be played, embedded, or shared anywhere, and even merchandise can be purchased.  A good iPhone application if you're looking for specific music or video online.

Shazam

A cute little iPhone app that will identify a song that's playing...but not if it's playing on your iPhone?  You actually hold the iPhone's microphone up to an audio source for 10 seconds, and Shazam will provide title, artist, and track info.  Not quite as cool as Midomi.  (Another addition to the free iphone applications catalog.)

iPhone Apps as Music Tools

Guitar Toolkit

This may very well be the first iPhone App I'd buy once I get an iPhone.  It includes a chromatic tuner with 40 alternate tunings (great for getting beyond the 3 I always use), a chord finder (great for finding Jonathan Coulton-ish chord progressions), and metronome with both BPM (beats per minute) controls and tap-driven sense technology.  That's two less gig items required for gigs for guitarists...sweet.  Costs $9.99.

ClearTune

ClearTune is a multi-instrument tuner. Musicians can use its "note wheel" interface to tune any instrument using the built-in iPhone microphone.  Definitely useful for non-guitarists.  Costs $3.99.

Stay In Tune

The Sonzea Stay In Tune is yet another tonal iPhone application that provides musicians with tuning capability.  Stay In Tune contains 8 pre-set string tuning settings for instruments including guitar, banjo, cello and chromatic.  Costs $4.99.

OmniTuner

Another guitar tuner iPhone application from Mauvila.  (What can I say, I'm a guitar player.  I like tuners.)  Like Stay In Tune, it provides multiple tuning settings for multiple instruments, including guitar, mandolyn, banjo, and others.  Costs $4.99.

Random iPhone App Notes

• My personal picks would include the MooCowMusic Band, Noise for iPhone (or BeatMaker), Pandora, and Guitar Toolkit iPhone applications.  But honestly, by the time I make to the nearest Cingular store, I'm sure there'll be a ton of new iPhone apps to choose from.
• Peter Kirn is doing a great job of tracking new development around iPhone music applications at Create Digital Music (as well as a thousand other pieces of gear, software, and juicy DIY craziness).
• Apparently, there's already a band touting the fact that they create all their music with iPhones, called iBand.   Kind of a cheesy idea...but I wish I'd thought of it first.  :)

August 25, 2008   Permalink   Comments (0)   Digg It!   Del.icio.us It!   Email it!

The other day, we were playing random songs on a guitar, and somehow, "Blackbird" by the Beatles was followed by the "free credit report" song about pirates from the Freecreditreport.com commercial.  Amazingly, we collectively knew about 80% of the lyrics...who knew a credit-related jingle could be such an ear worm.  I was inspired to post all of the free credit report commercials and lyrics for your enjoyment...ta-da.

Free credit report song: "ROCK STAR" COMMERCIAL

Free credit report .com song: "ROCK STAR" LYRICS

When you're a rock star
You get to party hard
Champagne and caviar
Tricked out exotic cars

It's just now I thought I'd be
'Xcept the party's not for me
Cause some punk opened a credit card
With my ID

Free -- What?
Free Credit, Report.com
That's the site I'm gonna hit
When I go home

They know how credit works
They send email alerts
Now I'm findin out
How bad reality hurts

Free credit report song: "BIKE" COMMERCIAL

Free credit report .com song: "BIKE" LYRICS

Check it out Gas prices blowin up sky high,
Ditched my used subcompact for a two wheeled ride,
Now I'm rollin Eco-friendly but i still look bad,
When the bike store saw my credit they said, "This was all they had,"
I'm singin,
F to the R to the E to the E,
To the C to the R to the E D I T,
RE to the PORT to the DOT to the COM,
Come on everybody grab your bike and sing along it's easy...

Free credit report commercial: "PIRATE IN RESTAURANT" Video

Free credit report.com commercial: "PIRATE IN RESTAURANT" Lyrics

Well they say a man should always dress for the job he wants
So why am i dressed up like a pirate in this restaurant
Its all because some hacker stole my identity
Now I'm in every evening serving chowder and ice tea
Shoulda gone to free credit report dot com
I coulda seen this comin' at me like an atom bomb
They monitor your credit and send you e-mail alerts
So you don't end up selling fish to tourists in t shirts

Free credit report.com song: "NEW CAR" Commercial

Free credit report.com music: "NEW CAR" Lyrics

While I was shoppin' for a new car, which one's me?
A cool Convertible or an SUV?
Too bad I didn't know my credit was whack,
Cuz' now I'm drivin' off a lot in a used Subcompact.
F-R-E-E that spells free,
Credit report dot com baby.
Saw their ads on my T.V.
Thought about going, but was too lazy.
Now instead of lookin' fly n rollin' phat,
My legs are sticking to the vinyl and my posse's gettin' laughed at.
F-R-E-E that spells free,
Credit report dot com baby.

Free credit report comercial: "DREAMGIRL" Commercial

Free credit commercial: "DREAMGIRL" Lyrics

Well I married my dream girl.
I married my dream girl.
But she didnt tell me her credit was bad.
so now instead of living in a pleasant suburb.
we're living in the basement at her mom and dads.
No we cant get a loan
for a respectable home.
Just because my girl defaulted on some old credit card.
If we'd gone to free credit report dot com,
I'd be a happy bachelor with a dog and a yard.

Random Notes:

• David Muhlenfeld = Songwriter behind all the jingles.  (Interview here)
  
• Eric Violette = Free Credit Report dot com Guy
  
• The Martin Agency = Ad Agency that created the commercials
• FreeCreditReport.com = is not totally free.  According to the website:
  

"When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial membership in Triple Advantage Credit Monitoring. If you don't cancel your membership within the 7-day trial period**, you will be billed $14.95 for each month that you continue your membership."

Doesn't hurt to try, I suppose. At least the jingles make me bop my head up and down...

August 17, 2008   Permalink   Comments (19)   Digg It!   Del.icio.us It!   Email it!