LIGHTS EVOLVES HER ARTIST SITE WITH FACEBOOK CONNECT!

The Facebook party is winding down, and LIGHTS blew away an always tough industry crowd. It was hard to resist her energy, even if you missed the announcement that LIGHTS launched what could be the first ever artist site using facebook connect.

It was more than an industry showcase! Convincing Artist’s to take a chance on new technology can be tough (thats a big part of my job!). They need to have an understanding of where things are going to truly apply new ideas to their art. Its often a riskier proposition than people realize. But when an Artist has a vision for new music AND new media – you can create the perfect storm of innovation the music business needs.

The “Connect” technology is amazing – and it has that feel good moment when you log into LIGHT’S site with your facebook account. But it never would have happened if the Artist didn’t have a strong enough vision for herself to try something new.

LIGHTS is the future, as much as facebook connect is the future!

Thanks to LIGHTS, Ethan Kaplan, and Raquel and Dave at Facebook, for making the show, the art, and the tech happen! When they work together, things evolve.

LIGHTS PERFORMS AT SXSW FACEBOOK PARTY

While SXSW is mostly know for music, I’ve found the interactive portion is much more exciting. It is the ultimate in music and social networking, as everyone here is twittering, blogging. It’s the only time all year, I fell like I can’t keep up with it all! There are so many people here using leading edge social technologies that it gives you a taste of what it will be like if they catch on. SXSW interactive was the first place i discovered Twitter several years ago – and it only got me excited because everyone here used it – so you got a taste of what it COULD be. So more than just the panels, it’s a chance to be a part of a hyper connected future, while enjoying some good music.

This year, “LIGHTS”, one of my favorite artists on Warner Bros, is playing at the invite only Facebook party. It will be a great party, and a great show, so if your down at sxsw, hit me via twitter, and I’ll see what I can do to get you in.

www.facebook.com/lights

NOKIA MUSIC EVENT AND WHY IT MATTERS!

Not much coverage in the US music press about the nokia muisc event today.
It wasn’t groundbreaking but it was siginigcant:

1.) Three new music phones – any company the size of Nokia producing cool phones with an attempt to monetize music is a big deal. The phones are cool!. Music service may need some work, but its a great start.

2.) Nokia is Planning a Virtual Music Store in India – india is a very tough market to “Sell” music in, so again when someone like Nokia is opening any type of Music store – it’s is a good sign. Nokia launched a similar service in UK and got a good response.

And where will “Comes With Music” launch next? If your an iphone user, stay tuned for the 5800 review, and see what your missing!

NOKIA, IPHONE AND THE FUTURE OF MOBILE MUSIC

Nokia is a close second to apple when it comes to gadget lust. They seem to pump phones out so fast and there is always a new model that seems to challenge convention. Bad ass, like a mac, yet uniquely “Nokia”.

And performance wise they score – GREAT battery life, and usually better than aveage reception.

From a US perspective, they don’t get enough respect. The next series of posts will examine Nokia’s newest designs, music capabilities, and potential role in the future of the business of music.

It was the 6800 in 2003 that first hipped me to the fact nokia was trying to innovate outside the box!
Nokia 6800
Such a simple design – a small functional Nokia “candy” bar style, but access to full keyboard when needed. Great engineering to solution!

Nokia made video a focal point of their designs very early. This thing flipped my mind when it came out 3 years ago. Definitely pushing limits of a phone/camera combo.

Nokia N92

And this n90 never got the repsect in the US for beautiful design of a music phone.
Nokia n91

Next up my look at the 5800 – the first nokia touch screen phone / music device:
Nokia 5800

TOP 5 CONCEPTS FROM FROM DIGITAL MUSIC EAST 2009

Capturing Some important concepts from the discussion, presentations, and panels at DME 2009.

1.) Music in the Background – increasingly music is a background activity (while surfing, while playing video games). Online activity and music fuse into a “new” “combo” state of mind between communication and music. Important to understand this context.

2.) Hard Drives are filling up? Russ Crupnic from NPD floated that some stats may indicate people are loaded up with more music than they can handle on their computers and devices. If Hard drives and devices get full, watch the change in acquisition behavior. I think this was the first i’d heard people discussing the reality of this concept in 2009.

3.) Power of Radio – still massive motivator of top downloads and social net discussion of music. Shows up as top source fro music discovery in many demos. Traditional radios power is a reminder that no matter where you are in digital music, online strategy must take into consideration all media. Online radio’s untapped potential – people like radio as a medium if done right. Explosive growth could be starting.

4.) “It’s a fact of life: If your business model depends on controlling or getting paid for copies of zeros and ones, you may need to look at a new business model” (Jim Griffin).

Increased discussion about charging at the isp level from Jim Griffin (transcript here) , and The Isle of man project.

5.) Sometimes when it comes to music, you just have to get lucky in the studio (Richard Gottehrer, CEO of the orchard digital service, and a songwriter whose hits included “My. Boyfriend’s Back”)

If you twitter search Digital Music East, you’ll get a good sense of what everyone else there was thinking!

Ted Cohen’s intro was brief but accurate, and the presentations were all interesting.

My panel “The State of the Digital Union” was after the first hour intro. The twiiter feed from the audience was streaming behind us, and I made sure to watch it a few times during the panel. Problem was no ATT service at all in the room, so I couldn’t participate later on.

Hyebot posts a recap of the panel and my Metalica example – some liked it some didn’t!

HERE’S HOW TO CRACK THE SKYE WITH MASTODON!

Start with an amazing new album from Mastodon (out 03.24.09)
Get a team of people to run Mastadon’s site who LOVE the band and LOVE the fans
Create an amazing direct to fan piece that ties directly into the concept of the album
Get Paul Romano to help design it 🙂
Make a kick as web site that contains the experience of the package and the album!

Mastodon

I’m so excited to work on stuff like this every day. Something special is happening with this band, and getting to make their web store, a special fan piece, and their site, all tie to the concept of the music is a dream – and we’re almost sold out of all of the special pieces 5 weeks before street date!

Check out Pitchforks review “Mastodon LP Gets Release Date, Badass Special Edition”
Pre-order the package here
Check out the Cracke the sky experience site here (ok it takes awhile to load, but we decided to sacrifice load time to give fans something they could feel!!)

“STATE OF THE DIGITAL UNION” PANEL AT DIGITAL MUSIC EAST!

Ill be speaking at the “state of the digital union” panel at Digital Music East next week. The site says “This panel of industry experts will discuss the hot button issues of day, including the debate over digital music pricing, online and mobile music product offerings and business models….”. Thats the agenda – curious to know any topics you’d like to hear discussed?

THE BEST WAY TO HEAR THE TOP TEN SONGS FOR FREE EVERY WEEK!

Hear the top 10 songs for free every week, across itunes, p2p, and radio.

I make the playlists from the radio charts, big champagne (p2p file-sharing), and itunes. The top 10 doesn’t always represent the best music, but i think its interesting to keep up with what the gatekeepers are playing, and what the fans are buying (and stealing). Some of its really good, some of its really funny, And over time the top lists do flow with different sounds.

TOP 20 FILE SHARING (BIG CHAMPAGNE)

TOP 20 P2P/FILE SHARING DOWNLOADS (WEEK ENDING 1-29-09)
TOP 10 ITUNES SALES (WEEK ENDING 1-29-09)
RADIO – TOP 10 ROCK FORMAT
RADIO TOP 15 URBAN

FULL LIST ON MY IMEEM PAGE HTTP://IMEEM.COM/JBLOGG

RATATAT BIZARRE VIDEO MASHUP

I found out about ratatat through some random surfing. I dont know much about him, but hes a producer and remixer and I like his style!

RATATAT MYSPACE

But what really caught me were these videos on his site. They both have a very simple effect added to the exsiting clip, repurposing it into somethign startling, and bizarre.

I recognize the paul simon video, but not the first one.

And from his myspace, you findAudio Dregs, a record label and DIY music and art collective with a myspace page worth checking out!

NEIL YOUNG – FORK IN THE ROAD FOR A LEGEND!

When it came to the fork in the road for new media vs old, Neil Young went the new way, while keeping the music as good as ever! I cant believe I get to work on his projects, and in some small way, have helped him move into the new world. There’s an amazing guy named Jeff on the new media team who has a great relationship with Neil and has helped Neil use the internet. Now Neil does it all. It started a few years ago with blogging, and now it’s visual. Neil just shows up with new material, and we help him get the word out! Oh yeah – he’s also revolutionizing the auto industry! http://www.lincvolt.com/

This video and new album just showed up at WBR and we cant wait to get it out to you!
Neil Young – Fork In The Road

NEW MEDIA EVANGELISM – LINKS FOR 01/13/08

Part of my job is to make sure I distribute info on trends and the changing new media landscape to the rest of my company. Change is constant. You need to put the info, trends, and new thoughts in front of people EVERY DAY. As “New Media” has speed up it seems as soon as people in more traditional role get into a concept it shifts. A few years ago it felt like you had 3-6 months to get your head around a new trend or partner, but no more! Heres what I am sending today:

Time Magazine on future of Media

“ In other words, the media business needs to see that the shovel it got whacked with–the change in the way people communicate and the spreading of that power–is not necessarily a weapon or a means to make our graves. It’s just a tool. Time to start digging.”

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1869219,00.html

Here are some numbers that show how big the numbers are and how important the net is to the music biz or any artist!

http://www.thefuturebuzz.com/2009/01/12/social-media-web-20-internet-numbers-stats/

Mobile – good illustration of how powerful mobile is. Most music fans wont be this aggressive, but this is “engagement” gone crazy. Clearly the next horizon for music biz:

GIRL, 13, SENDS 14,528 TEXTS IN A MONTH

http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2009/01/022295.htm

AND MOMS ARE IN ON IT TOO!

http://www.moconews.net/entry/419-ces-moms-part-of-early-adopters-for-nokias-comes-with-music-service/

A FUTURE LEANING LOOK AT SUBSCRIPTIONS AND ISP’S

Information Age: How the Music Industry Can Get Digital Satisfaction – WSJ.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123172053495272329.html

DEBATE OVER FREE MUSIC PART 2

Mixed in with the year end spin on numbers, NIN is back as the poster child for free music. Lots of interesting stories about how the free NIN album was top of Amazon sales charts.

Digital Music news says “perhaps a more fine-tuned example of how free often leads to paid in the modern music business”.

Its so easy to go to this oversimplification on one example as the “new model” for the music biz. I wish it were as easy as free leading to paid! The NIN “free” model is not scaleable for most and lets not forget – they are Nine Inch Nails and the new record was GOOD! NIN’s music at one point was the most revolutionary sound to appear in years. That’s the model! Innovative music and great songs lead to “paid”.

See Digital Music news Story Here
Read my post on Free, and some great links to the debate over free music