Which digital-distribution service is cheapest? | Webware. Last week, I blogged about digital distributor RouteNote and did a brief comparison with CD Baby and Tunecore, two better-known services that help independent artists place their songs in online music stores such as iTunes and Amazon MP3. Now RouteNote has one-upped me on its own blog and run a detailed--and very helpful--mathematical comparison of itself versus CD Baby, Tunecore, The Orchard, and Musicadium. You can check out a direct comparison of up-front charges and ongoing revenue splits, as well as a chart showing how much money the artist will earn after selling specific numbers of songs.
RouteNote acknowledges when its service might not be the best deal--basically, when you get up to about 5,000 track sales, TuneCore and Musicadium offer more money to the artist, and at 30,000, CD Baby begins to show a slight advantage. How to discover new and interesting music online - Ars Technica. Everyone has faced this conundrum at one point or another: you're sick and tired of the music in your library, but you can't stand commercial radio. As a result, you haven't been exposed to new music in quite a while. How do you find new things to listen to that you won't hate? Or, even better, music that you might actually like? Aside from the brute force approach—just listen to everything! —there are numerous ways to discover new music right at your fingertips that are a little more intuitive. Thanks to an explosion of online streaming services, you can often listen to a plethora of recommendations based on what you already like without even opening your wallet—at least until you're ready to commit to downloading.
The obvious Most Internet users are already aware of Pandora, a streaming music service based on the Music Genome Project. When I casually inquired on Twitter about how my followers discover new music, Pandora got the most mentions by a landslide. Crowdsourced recommendations. Digital Music Market Singing that Old Ad Song. Since Napster and the advent of peer-to-peer sharing, the music industry has been frustrated by consumers operating outside legitimate channels. Ad-supported models may offer a solution. The “TEMPO Digital Music Discovery & Purchase Process” report from Ipsos MediaCT shows that in late 2008, only 19% of US digital music consumers participated in the fee-based market (that is, iTunes or Rhapsody).
The ad-supported market, represented in this study by MySpace Music, is already bigger than that, with 22% of respondents. “The ad-supported models are proving to be an effective means of expanding the broader, legitimate market beyond just the fee-based realm,” said Karl Joyce, the report’s lead author. When respondents were asked to imagine their music consumption habits in a world without file-sharing, ad-supported formats proved even more attractive. More than one-half of users who currently take advantage of peer-to-peer sharing said they would look to services such as MySpace Music. DopplerPad: Music Remixing and Sampling on the iPhone. We knew you could make great music on the iPhone. With instrument apps such as Smule's Ocarina and Leaf Trombone. Still, while they're cool and surprisingly rich mobile instruments, they're not all that practical for creating, sampling, and recording musical compositions on the fly. DopplerPad [iTunes Link] is a turntable-like instrument iPhone app built by one of the two creators of FourTrack [iTunes Link].
Unlike some other apps, this one doesn't feature just one instrument - it has 37. It doesn't just play notes; it lets you sample them, no matter where you are. DopplerPad takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of its interface, there's actually a lot you can do. Once you're ready, the key to it is picking a beat count, a tempo, and recording your music. Each time you touch the screen while recording, DopplerPad remembers it and plays it back the next time around. At $9.99 though, this app may be a bit too expensive for most people's tastes. Search engines for the music lover | Webware. If you have trouble finding music on the Web, you'll be happy to know there are search engines designed specifically for finding your favorite tunes. They can help you stream everything from Top 40 hits to classics.
Find your music MP3 Realm is a music search engine that helps you find MP3 tracks from across the Web. To do so, you'll need to search the site for either an artist or a song. Project Playlist is one of the most convenient music search engines on the Web. After you find the track you're looking for, you can stream it or add it to your playlist for future listening. SkreemR won't blow you away with its design. Songza allows you to search for artists or songs. My top 2 1. 2. The Rise of Social Music: How the Web Transformed Audio.
Not even 15 years ago, we were listening to our favorite tunes on compact discs, lugging around our Walkmans, and singing along to the FM radio (Collective Soul, anyone?). But with the rise of the web and social media, music has been transformed into an even more vibrant and accessible art. No longer do you have to be signed by a major label or own a massive collection of CDs to dive into the world of music. So how has the web impacted music? At the beginning, it was simply a tool for easier access to music. Turning music digital made it possible to burn CDs and make your own music mix. It was also the rise of a pirating culture - peer to peer networks like Napster and Kazaa made it possible for people to circumvent legal purchases in favor of illegal downloads. But the early, lawless web also saw the rise of innovations such as online radio, RealAudio, and the MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 format, which we all know commonly as the MP3. The rise of social music Unique innovations.
20 Free Role Playing Games for the iPhone. We've focused on games that use the iPhone's accelerometer and free music based games for the iPhone, and now we're bringing you 20 of our favorite free role playing games for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Role playing games have always been a popular way to kill time on computers, and now you can play them on the go. You can run your own mob crew, slay dragons, or even "assassinate" your friends with your camera. Some of the games listed below offer paid upgrades if you really like them, but for now, give the free versions a spin and see what tickles your fancy. Have your own favorite to add to the list? Agency Wars Lite - Play the role of a secret agent for agencies such as the CIA, KGB or MI6, taking on dangerous missions around the globe with up to five other players. Assassin - Assassin is essentially T.A.G. - The Assassination Game updated for the 21st century. 1112 Episode 01 Lite - An episodic mystery game about a man who is experiencing constant headaches and strange dreams.
Techno - SoundUnwound. 50 Ways The Music Industry is Changing - Even Metallica is Downl. 10 Free Music Based Games for the iPhone. Music-based games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band have become wildly popular, so it only makes sense that similar games are being created for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Both devices have a plethora of gaming apps, but only a handful of those are free and based around music. Here are 10 - perfect for long hours stuck in airports, commuter trains, and so on. What are some of your favorite music-based games for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and which do you wish existed? Aero Drum Free While it may not be as exciting as beating the skins of an actual drum kit, Aero Drum Free will still help you work out some of your frustrations by beating out a sick rhythm.
Just follow the dots to play snare, cymbal and bass drum and try to beat the scores. As with all of the "X Game Free" versions, this is a trial version, and there are more features in the paid app. Aero Guitar Free Another rhythm action game, but at least it makes you feel like you are doing more than just tapping. Aero Synth Free Chrimbell. Social Music: Top 5 Music Recommendation Services. The Social Music series is supported by Blive Share Beta, hosts of the Groove Armada mini album.
Finding great new music can be the most rewarding experience, but sometimes the effort that goes into music discovery often thwarts even the most determined of us. Pandora is great for listening to music online, but without having any foresight or direct say over upcoming tracks, it's certainly not the best there is if you're looking to achieve playlist perfection. So we've put together a list of the top music recommendation services available to help you hone in on new numbers, old favorites, perfect playlist partners, and visual matches.
These 5 stellar services will transform your music listening experiences into music learning courses, and help you expand your auditory horizons. 1. MyStrands The MyStrands website isn't a great solution for actually listening to music, but if music discovery is your goal then the recommendation engine is top notch. 2. iTunes Genius 3. iLike 4. 5. Auditorium - The Online Experience. Social Music: 5 of the Best Free iPhone Apps. The Social Music series is supported by BLive Share, a platform for online music sharing and host of the Groove Armada mini album. By now you know where to find the best sites to build a playlist, get great music recommendations, and find local concerts. So, we thought we'd switch things up a bit and focus on social music on the go. These social music apps aren't just for listening to music, but instead for experiencing it. We think each offering has its own unique advantage that sets it apart from the music apps you may already know and love. 1.
By now you've no doubt heard about Tap Tap Revenge, but if you're not playing this fantastic and über addicting iPhone game, it's time to ask yourself, why not? Tap Tap Revenge is like a mobile version of Rock Band or Guitar Hero that lets you use your fingers to become a masterful performer, and it's the most social way to enjoy music and have a blast on your iPhone. 2. The app works best if you start by fine tuning the genres of music you like. Social Music: Top 5 Sites to Build a Playlist. The Social Music series is supported by BLive Share, a platform for online music sharing and host of the Groove Armada mini album. Ah, the perfect playlist.
In the quest to find a musical oasis where track after track is a pleasant reprieve from the surrounding world, even the best of efforts are often thwarted by limited song selection, an overly complicated user interface, or the lack of insight into upcoming songs. So we've scoured the web to find only the best musical offerings and we've put together a list of five sites that make playlist building a joy. You may notice that we've left Pandora and Last.fm off our top 5 list. Although we love each site for separate purposes, they both, in their own way, complicate the process of hand selecting and fine tuning playlists that are musical masterpieces. 1.
One of Slacker's greatest features is the huge assortment of pre-fabricated stations covering all music genres. Tired of listening to the same old pop songs? 2. 3. 4. 8tracks 5. Social Music: 5 Ways to Find Concerts Near You. The Social Music series is supported by BLive Share, a platform for online music sharing and host of the Groove Armada mini album. We've shared the top five sites for building a playlist and getting music recommendations, plus we gave you a musical melee between Last.fm and Slacker, and now that we've helped you narrow down your choices for online music, we want to help you find the artists you love in your hometown.
We've handpicked five fantastic services that put your concert needs first. So take some time to check out these sites and then head over to your favorite to keep up to date on must-see performances happening right in your backyard. 1. ConcertAttack ConcertAttack is a concert community where concert experience, news, and social media meet with the goal of letting you share your live music moments and giving you instant access to your favorite bands and their touring schedules. ConcertAttack also offers users a few concert and band related options. 2. 3. 4. 5. Social Sites Spur Use of Mobile Music. Social networks are going mobile as aficionados tap into and update their profiles on the run. If mobile music services integrated some social network features, they too might gain more traction among consumers. In a survey of telecom industry professionals worldwide conducted by Informa Telecoms & Media, 71% of respondents said social networks and community services would have a significant impact on driving adoption of peer-to-peer mobile content, such as downloads of music tracks, albums and videos.
Mobile music providers are feeling pressure to incorporate popular social networking functions—the ability to connect and chat with friends, along with creating, editing and “publishing” content—to make their services more user-friendly. “It makes complete sense for mobile music services to allow consumers to socialize while they’re interacting with music,” said Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst. Songza: The music search engine.