A couple weeks back, I was driving to work, skipping through songs on my iPhone, lamenting my inability to listen to more than one song during the brief jaunt between my wife's office and mine. I considered creating a playlist of similar song clips for a medley, but then I thought, to paraphrase Apple's marketing, there ought to be an app for that.
With the upcoming iPhone OS 3.0 release, developers will be able to tap the iPhone's iPod for audio playback, so how about an app that can play random clips of songs from a given album or playlist? Clips will be anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute, woven together with a little crossfade, all user-determined, of course.
A really adventurous developer could even get a little Genius-generated play listing going and maybe offer links to similar songs on iTunes and scoop a small commission in the process. I don't know all the ins and outs, but I know Pandora gets a cut when they sell songs.
Anyway, I initially tossed the idea to friend of the blog Mike V., but apparently he has a job to do or something, so I'm tossing it out to anyone. If you use it, do me a favor and send me a copy. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
I wasn't planning on downloading iTunes 8 (http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/) tonight, but that was before I learned they were rolling out free high-def episodes of some of my favorite shows to promote the launch. The new version of iTunes is required to download TV shows in HD, so I upgraded. Episodes of Monk, 30 Rock, Psych, and The Office are downloading in high-def right now. I can only hope they finish overnight. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
The most used service on my iPhone by a mile is Pandora (http://www.pandora.com/). It is an intelligent - no, brilliant! - music streaming service that delivers songs similar to a song or artist I name, not just broad or vague genres like other stations, determined by 400 distinct characteristics and judged by trained music analysts. It is absolutely amazing.
Yet, their ground-breaking service may be shuttered by royalty rates (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/15/AR2008081503367.html) that are outrageously disproportionate compared to those of conventional radio. The folks at Pandora have cried foul and many have joined them. I agree, but I also have to ask, why aren't you pushing more ads on me?
I listen to Pandora all day on a device I must occasionally look at. Shoot me a commercial jingle every twenty minutes. Roll a banner ad over that album art. Send me a sponsored email once or twice a week. I'm locked in. Show me some ads
I understand you want to protect the integrity of the service, but a banner above the album art won't ruin my listening experience. Doesn't even need to click-through. Just show me something I might want to buy, like a soft drink. Hit me with a "brought to you by" message every four songs, or a reminder that a TV show is on tonight.
While you've at it, collect more data on me. You already know what music I like. Feel free to ask for more. If it'll help you sell ads and hopefully send me ads that will interest me, I'll fill in any field you add to my profile. Just make them optional to assuage the privacy fanatics.
The bottom line is you have a targeted service with three avenues through which advertisers can reach me, but I haven't seen, heard, or read a single ad. Regardless of royalty rate, you can't stay in business that way. I must have listened to well over 100 hours of your music this month, and near as I can tell, you've no revenue to show for that. You need to turn that around.
And hey, I'll do my part too. I assume you get a piece of any song you sell, so I'll try to be more diligent in my song bookmaking and when there's one It want, I'll buy it through Pandora. And if this isn't a source of revenue for you, I will hardcore smack you. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
Tanya happened to catch CBS Sunday Morning (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89_2UivtEhs) this week and learned the tale of Arnel Pineda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnel_Pineda), singer from the Philippines and new frontman for the band Journey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_%28band%29).
Basically, the band needed a new singer since they were not on speaking terms with former frontman Steve Perry. So they hit, get this, YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88nfiZ-yy5Q), and found Pineda belting out Journey classics with his cover band. They auditioned him and signed him for a new album.
It's an amazing story in part because it shows the potential of YouTube and the digital age, but also because of Pineda's personal story as a poor man from a poor country who is now touring the world and entertaining millions. And there's the small fact that the man can sing. The man is 40 and he sounds like Perry did back in the day. Simply incredible.
The new album is a 3-disc release with one CD of new tracks, one CD of classics re-recorded with Pineda, and a DVD. It's a Wal-Mart (http://www.walmart.com/) exclusive, but if you're not interested in the DVD (or going into Wal-Mart), the music is available for download, Only $10.88 for all 22 songs. Totally worth it, and not just because there's no Wal-Mart in Reston. Been playing it in the background all day at work. Definitely keeping it in rotation. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
I missed the release last week, but it's still cool that Beatallica (http://www.beatallica.org/) managed to overcome the legal obstacles before them and release a new CD, Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band (http://1800coolcds.stores.yahoo.net/891442.html).
For those who don't know Beatallica is a tribute band of sorts, performing mash-up Beatles and Metallica songs in the style of Metallica. They were halted from releasing CDs by the guys who managed the Beatles catalog, but apparently they cut a deal and the new album is on sale (http://1800coolcds.stores.yahoo.net/891442.html). (at Amazon (http://tinyurl.com/25qzfo) and iTunes (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=259361717&s=143441) too) Good stuff for anyone who likes The Beatles as performed by Metallica.
