June 2008
Just Browsing, Thanks
Web browsers abound, but which is the right one?
THE BIG IDEAS TOPIC: A browser is essentially a viewer, the window through which we “see” the Internet. As online computing has increased dramatically in the last several years, the available web browsers have multiplied in corresponding fashion. The Big Idea behind browsers is [...]
Nashville Star’s promising sixth season got underway last night (6/9) on a new network—NBC—and clearly separated itself from past iterations. Production values are noticeably improved, but in reality, it’s the show’s professional cast that turns straw into gold. The 90-minute weekly episodes are judged by industry icons Jewel, John Rich and Jeffrey Steele. Billy Ray [...]
John Rich’s Get Rich Talent Search hosted its second competition at 12th & Porter last night (4/29). Nine acts competed for fame and glory, plus cash prizes in front of eight industry judges including ASCAP’s Connie Bradley, Warner Bros. A&R VP Tracy Gershon, CMA leader Tammy Genovese, Manager Marc Oswald, Billboard writer Ken Tucker, Producer/Warner [...]
Friends,
Below is an essay I’ve written in response to a recent article by Jon Pareles in the NY Times about SXSW. I hope you’ll give it a read. I may well be off the mark on some of my thoughts, but they reflect what I—at least at this moment—believe to be true. [...]
The drive for a paperless planet may soon receive a boost—from travelers. A handful of U.S. airlines are set to begin testing a form of electronic check-in bar codes which are scanned directly from passenger mobile devices. “We definitely see this as the wave of the future,” said Andrea McCauley, a T.S.A. spokeswoman. “It’s something [...]
Hopefully everyone reading this is at least somewhat familiar with the debate that started a couple of weeks ago in congress concerning future royalty rates. If not, then you need to get your head out of whatever hole it’s been in and start educating yourself.
Not to alarm anyone, but our very existence could very well [...]
Five years ago this writer offered a plan, bravely titled Digital Manifesto, designed to insure the economic survival of record companies, artists, songwriters, publishers, producers, musicians and other creative members of the music industry. To be successful such a plan should be uncomplicated, require little or no enforcement and wholeheartedly embrace the consumer and technological [...]
Universal, Warner Bros. and Sony BMG have been holding back DRM-free license approval from iTunes while extending that approval to Amazon.com and some other startups. Only EMI has offered its music in DRM-free, MP3 format to both vendors. This marketplace inequality appears to be a punitive measure against Apple, for refusing to agree to label [...]
Attempts to promote and distribute albums online without the backing of a major record company shows that labels do have value.
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Don’t you love those ATT wireless commercials that claim they will deliver “more bars in more places?” As much as I love having an iPhone, one must admit that the AT&T system has at least three dead spots in and around the Music Row area. Are you tired of dropping calls on 16th Ave. S.? Can you [...]
