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New New Musical Express - February 2008

 
    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 31 Jan 2008, 17:28

    New New Musical Express - February 2008




    * Journal: New Music February 2008, by Nialloleary
    * Exposure: Pete and the Pirates
    * The Beatles Across The Universe To Beam Across The Universe
    * Sci/Tech: Is DAB radio the next Betamax?
    * Sci/Tech: Ofcom agrees to public radio spectrum sell-off
    * Hot Chip Album
    * Guillemots Unveil 'Kriss-Kross'
    * Video: Does It Offend You, Yeah? - We Are Rockstars
    * Video: The Duke Spirit - The Step and The Walk
    * Later... with Jools Holland celebrates 200th show
    * Last.fm Free the Music - follow up Q&A
    * Video: Clinic - Free Not Free
    * Journal: A Brief History Of... series by BadgerJohn31
    * Journal: Why the Major Labels Should Be Dancing in the Street., by Woodshed1
    * Journal: A Brief History Of...Metal, by BadgerJohn31
    * Sci/Tech: Personalised Radio
    * Blog: Why Social Ads Don’t Work
    * Journal: Madonna - 'Filth and Wisdom' debuts at Berlinale 2008, by Babs_05
    * Next Big Things - Highlights Feb 08
    * Exposure: Tigerstyle
    * Exposure: SugaRush Beat Company
    * Exposure: The Imagined Village

    Page 2

    * Exposure: Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong
    * Video: The Imagined Village - Cold Hailey Rainy Night (Live on Later)
    * Exposure: The Gutter Twins
    * Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree on MySpace
    * Journal: A Brief History Of...Punk, by BadgerJohn31
    * Journal: A Brief History Of...Post-Punk, by BadgerJohn31
    * Journal: A Brief History Of...Old-School Hip-Hop, by BadgerJohn31
    * Business: Little harmony in music download debate
    * Exposure: Emily Loizeau
    * Entertainment: EMI 'accidentally' release Art Brut single
    * Track: DJ Finn - That's The Way, by Cowfoot
    * Journal: M83 – New single, New album, New tour, by Champersnova
    * Exposure: The Opiates
    * Tea Break: Rogue Traders - Voodoo Child
    * Journal: A Brief History of Post-Disco, by BadgerJohn31
    * Exposure: NEON NEON
    * Exposure: DJ Dolores
    * Exposure: Cadence Weapon
    * Charity - Crisis Consequences
    * Free Downloads - Various Artists in contemporary classical, avant-garde, jazz
    * Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim
    * The Kills - Midnight Boom
    * Beach House - Devotion
    * Autechre - Quaristice
    * Exposure: Correcto

    Page 3

    * Exposure: Human Bell
    * One More Grain - Isle of Grain
    * Exposure: The Coal Porters
    * Exposure: Melody Gardot
    * Exposure: Hotpants Romance
    * Exposure: The Young Republic
    * Exposure: Grant Campbell
    * Exposure: Aidan John Moffat
    * Exposure: Dawn Kinnard

    Edited by Babs_05 on 2 Mar 2008, 20:46
    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 31 Jan 2008, 18:05

    Journal: New Music February 2008, by Nialloleary

    New Music February 2008, by Nialloleary.

    Extract:

    I'm planning to use this Journal Entry to log all the new interesting bands/music I come across in the media/radio etc to research at a later time. If anybody has an pointers or advice on tracks/albums/bands please do let me know or make a comment.

    The Observer Music Monthly January 2008

    To view the online version of this months Observer Music Monthly check the following link;

    http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm

    Ten Bands To Watch For 2008

    Primary 1

    Feelgood future funk from 21-year-old Joe Flory, signed to Erol Alkan's label Phantasy Sound.

    The Ting Tings

    Mancunian power-pop duo. Their slinky, sassy single 'That's Not My Name' is an anthem in the making.

    Hadouken!

    Kamikaze metal-indie-disco-grimers who play fast and loose with convention. Toytown fun.

    Crystal Castles

    Toronto electro geeks who tweak digital shrapnel from computer game soundchips.

    Fuck Buttons

    A joyous racket of swirling atmospherics and percussive gunfire from the West Country. Metronomy Eighties-fixated electro prog-pop. Rolo Tomassi Youthful Sheffield makers of half-human, half-robot screamo metal.

    Santogold

    Bjork favourite who's collaborated with Spank Rock and Diplo.

    Findo Gask]

    Check out the extraordinary gossamer falsetto of Glaswegian Gerard Black.

    Cool Kids

    Chicago rappers who met via MySpace and nod to the Beasties.

    Also Mentioned

    Foals, These New Puritans and Lightspeed Champion

  • Exposure: Pete and the Pirates


    With the debut album, 'Little Death' released this month, it's about time I said a-plenty about them.
    They define everything that still exists as a good thing in indie music: confidence, attictiveness and hand-claps.
    Although not yet breaking through into the mainstream, it could be for that reason that their fan-base ranges so wide.
    They're a big favourite of the essential alternative music magazine, plan B.
    After a few listens to their debut, it's a definite purchase and more than just that - it could go down as one of the best British releases this year.

    That's all you need to know so far although you'll be inevitably finding out an awful lot more in the coming months...

    PETE AND THE PIRATES - COME ON FEET




    "And once I knew, I was not magnificent"

    MFM ///MUSIC FAN'S MIC
    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 1 Feb 2008, 12:38

    The Beatles Across The Universe To Beam Across The Universe



    The Beatles Let It Be classic Across the Universe will be beamed 2,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles into space.

    The US space agency NASA will shoot The Beatles' song to Polaris (The North Star) on February 4th. The journey is expected to take 431 years, arriving in the year 2439AD.

    Paul McCartney, who is listed as co-composer of the song with John Lennon (although John wrote the song) said in a statement "Amazing! Well done NASA! Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul".

    John's wife Yoko Ono is equally excited. "I see that this is the beginning of the new age in which we will communicate with billions of planets across the universe," she said.

    Martin Lewis from Springtime has organized the project and has declared February 4th Across The Universe Day.

    A website for the event has been set up at www.acrosstheuniverseday.com


    Source and more on the story: Undercover HD News

    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 1 Feb 2008, 13:16

    Sci/Tech: Is DAB radio the next Betamax?



    Digital audio broadcasting (DAB) may end up to radio what Betamax was to video, warns a report published today.

    The report, by media and telecoms specialist Enders Analysis, said the launch of the second national commercial digital radio multiplex, headed by Channel 4, might exacerbate the problems rather than solve them, and warned that media regulator Ofcom would face a public outcry if DAB failed.

    Enders Analysis added that the high cost of DAB transmission and slow growth in revenue had combined to undermine confidence in the new medium and led to the closure of a string of national digital stations.

    ... "The exodus of stations from the DAB platform is starting to look like a stampede," said the Enders report, written by Grant Goddard.

    "With three of the largest radio groups having reduced their commitment to the DAB platform in recent months, their stations having been replaced by a mix of ethnic, religious and non-commercial broadcasters, the future health of the DAB platform must be under question."

    Goddard's report ends with a chilling prediction from Richard Wheatley, the chief executive of the Local Radio Company, to analysts last month: "DAB is the Betamax of radio."

    National digital stations that have closed include GCap Media's Core, UBC's Oneword and Virgin Radio's Groove. GCap's Chill and Fun Radio have also been scaled back, while Virgin scrapped plans for a new national digital station, Virgin Radio Viva.

    The report said the launch of digital stations such as Polish Radio London, Rainbow Radio and BFBS Radio, owned by the British Armed Forces, had worrying echoes of the decline of the AM waveband at the end of the last century.

    "The DAB platform of 2008, particularly in London, is already starting to resemble the AM platform of 1998, suggesting that DAB might have already been written off by the sector as a means to reach the 'mass market' audiences that national advertisers desire from the medium," it added.



    Goddard said the launch of the second national commercial digital multiplex, headed by Channel 4, was unhelpful at a time when the first - run by Digital One - was struggling to fill its capacity.

    "Channel 4 is faced with the task of imminently launching a brand new DAB multiplex in the middle of a snowstorm around the future of the whole platform," his report stated.

    "By the end of 2007, it was evident that the 'masterplan' for DAB which the radio industry had clung to since the mid-1990s was simply not going to work.

    "The closure of two longstanding national digital-only stations - Core and Oneword - combined with reductions in the service of several other digital brands helped to crystallise the problems: too much spectrum, not enough consumer hardware takeup, and not enough enthusiasm for DAB from listeners or advertisers."

    Goddard said the issue of DAB overcapacity had to be "urgently resolved" by Ofcom, Digital One, Channel 4 and transmission business Arqiva. He added: "Put bluntly, can the UK commercial radio sector really support two DAB multiplexes?

    "Ofcom faces a public outcry if the DAB platform were to fail, with owners of the 6.45 million DAB receivers sold to date demanding a refund of their purchases (remember ITV Digital?)."

    A working group on the future of digital radio set up by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was due to meet for the first time this week.


    Source: The Guardian

    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 1 Feb 2008, 13:25

    Sci/Tech: Ofcom agrees to public radio spectrum sell-off

    Ofcom, the media and telecoms watchdog, has given the all-clear for public bodies to sell their radio spectrum through a market mechanism, with the Ministry of Defence set to be the big winner. The market for public sector spectrum is potentially worth more than £20bn.

    Ofcom said it planned to implement proposals to allow the Government, its agencies and other public organisations to share, trade or release their radio spectrum holdings. It said it was using market mechanisms to improve how spectrum was managed.

    Radio spectrum is needed for everything from mobile phones and television broadcasting to emergency service communications. The Independent Audit of Spectrum Holdings, led by Professor Martin Cave and published in December 2005, estimated that the spectrum held by the public sector could have a market value of between £3bn and £20bn.

    Public bodies use up about half of the spectrum below 15GHz, the most sought-after frequencies. Ofcom said it expects the new arrangements "to free up some of the most valuable spectrum for new wireless services for the benefit of citizens and consumers".

    Ed Richards, chief executive of Ofcom, said: "By working with these organisations we are enabling them to trade and release this spectrum which will create new opportunities for the development of wireless services for the whole country."

    The dominant body in the public sector is the Ministry of Defence, which holds 75 per cent of public spectrum. The MoD has already committed to sharing and releasing a significant proportion of its holdings and will consult on proposals over the next three months.

    The regulator launched a consultation for spectrum relating to public bodies in 2007 to consider how best to hand out the spectrum, eventually settling on an auction after input from 50 companies. It decided that companies that pay most to secure the rights will most likely use it more efficiently.

    The exact mechanism for selling the spectrum is not yet in place. Ofcom will introduce public spectrum trading by issuing new regulations. It will consult on these in the summer. The regulator added that the Government will take responsibility to ensure that in trading and releasing public spectrum, defence, national security and public safety would remain paramount.

    These proposals are part of a broader initiative run by the Government and Ofcom to secure the best use of radio spectrum through the application of market mechanisms. The regulator said spectrum underpins 3 per cent of UK gross domestic product and its value to the economy has grown by 50 per cent in real terms since 2002 to over £40bn a year.

    In December, the regulator decided to auction the spectrum freed up by the digital TV switchover. Mr Richards said at the time: "This statement is one of the most important Ofcom has ever made... Radio spectrum is an essential but finite resource. Its use accounts for nearly one pound in every 30 in the UK economy and it delivers a plethora of services to UK citizens and consumers... this is the most important spectrum to be released in the past 40 years and likely to be the most important spectrum release in the UK in the next 20 years."


    Source: The Independent

  • Hot Chip Album

    Hi All,

    Interested in your thoughts on the NME review of the Hot Chip's-Made In The Dark album (6/10)-I'm sure you've all heard it by now & imho it's pretty good. But I can't escape the nagging feeling something is lacking. I think the feeling in NME is & I quote "they have swapped the songwriting-for "a higgledy-piggledy tappestry of musical ideas"

  • Guillemots Unveil 'Kriss-Kross'


    In terms of an opening track of an album - it beats 'Little Bear' hands down despite the hidden beauty of the latter's climax.
    Here, the opener of new album 'Red', Fyfe Dangerfield can only describe it as "massive". I'll make more sense of it. It's got a Spanish feel to it, it sounds in places like the soundtrack to 'The Mummy', it has a delightful typically-Guillemots chorus, Fyfe Dangerfield goes abnormally high pitched. But yes, it is MASSIVE.

    Expect the whole album to have tracks with individual strengths, but none as stunning and jaw-dropping as those on 'Kriss Kross'.

    go on the guillemots myspace, click somewhere in the background, sign up to the mailing list and adore it all.

    "And once I knew, I was not magnificent"

    MFM ///MUSIC FAN'S MIC
    Edited by Jambo234 on 1 Feb 2008, 20:58
  • Guillemots Unveil 'Kriss-Kross'

    In terms of an opening track of an album - it beats 'Little Bear' hands down despite the hidden beauty of the latter's climax.
    Here, the opener of new album 'Red', Fyfe Dangerfield can only describe it as "massive". I'll make more sense of it. It's got a Spanish feel to it, it sounds in places like the soundtrack to 'The Mummy', it has a delightful typically-Guillemots chorus, Fyfe Dangerfield goes abnormally high pitched. But yes, it is MASSIVE.

    Expect the whole album to have tracks with individual strengths, but none as stunning and jaw-dropping as those on 'Kriss Kross'.

    "And once I knew, I was not magnificent"

    MFM ///MUSIC FAN'S MIC
    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 1 Feb 2008, 22:19

    Re: Hot Chip Album

    Nialloleary said:
    Hi All,

    Interested in your thoughts on the NME review of the Hot Chip's-Made In The Dark album (6/10)-I'm sure you've all heard it by now & imho it's pretty good. But I can't escape the nagging feeling something is lacking. I think the feeling in NME is & I quote "they have swapped the songwriting-for "a higgledy-piggledy tappestry of musical ideas"



    Discussion thread started here.

    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 2 Feb 2008, 17:26

    Video: Does It Offend You, Yeah? - We Are Rockstars

    Ridiculous name but my word, what a choon this single is! It's like math rock meets electro.

    We Are Rockstars is the new single taken from Does It Offend You, Yeah?'s debut album, 'You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into', due for UK release 17 March.

    I've put two versions of Let's Make Out in the new February Streamers playlist. Legal to download if you want them.

    Video

    Edited by Babs_05 on 17 Feb 2008, 18:04
    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 3 Feb 2008, 15:09

    Video: The Duke Spirit - The Step and The Walk

    Tags: , , ,

    I love music that borrows from the 60s. Not everyone updates it successfully however. I think The Duke Spirit do. I can't think of another band who made me think 'post-punk 60s girl' as much as they have.

    'The Step and The Walk' is the new single taken from their new album, Neptune, out tomorrow. The band have uploaded a sampler here. As soon as it is available properly, I'll tag it so it appears in our 08 featured albums radio.

    Amazon.co.uk

    MySpace
    Official band site

    The Step And The Walk

    Video

    Edited by Babs_05 on 17 Feb 2008, 18:07
    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 3 Feb 2008, 16:35

    Later... with Jools Holland celebrates 200th show

    Later... with Jools Holland has been my music show of choice right from the start. I always liked Jools, from when he was with Squeeze, to when he presented Channel 4's The Tube through to today. He's a good guy with interesting and varied tastes. Thanks to him, my own musical horizons expanded to incorporate styles such as Amadou & Mariam, Seasick Steve and from Mariza.

    Jools celebrated his 200th show* last Friday (1st Feb) with guests including Cat Power, Feist, Radiohead and Dionne Warwick. Dionne Warwick didn't sing, unfortunately, I'd have liked that, but the others gave us flawless performances. I'm going to indulge myself and anyone who shares my tastes with a few clippets care of YouTube. Enjoy.

    * UK viewers can watch the show again online until Friday. click here


    Cat Power - New York (the best version I think I've ever heard)

    Video


    Cat Power - Lost Someone

    Video


    Radiohead - Bodysnatchers

    Video


    Radiohead - Weird Fishes/Arpeggi

    Video


    Radiohead - 15 Step

    Video


    Feist - Sealion

    Video


    Dionne Warwick - Walk On By

    Video

    Edited by Babs_05 on 17 Feb 2008, 18:19
    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 3 Feb 2008, 23:48

    Last.fm Free the Music - follow up Q&A

    Posted last week, 28 Jan, a few answers to some questions users posed:

    How does this affect the radio – does it restrict radio tracks at all?

    Nope. There are no new limits to our existing radio services. The 3 play restriction only applies to on-demand listening. Listening to a track 3 times using the in-page preview doesn’t prevent it from playing on your radio, and of course you can also still listen to it as a 30 seconds preview instead of a full-length one.

    We haven’t taken anything away by introducing this new service – your radio stations and playlists will continue to function as before.

    When will I be able to stream full-length tracks in some other / my country ?

    We don’t have any fixed dates for you yet – but we are looking to expand the free on-demand service to other countries and are working on roll-out plans. Watch the blog for future announcements.

    I played a track but only got a 30-second clip – why?

    There are four possible reasons for this:

    1. We don’t have the track in our catalogue, or we don’t have the rights to it yet – we are working to license everything so you don’t have to worry about this, but these things take time.
    2. You are not in the US, UK or Germany – our current free full-length streaming deals only cover these 3 countries. (We’re working on it, see the previous question!). There are lots of full-length tracks available globally, but the major-label stuff is currently only in these three countries.
    3. You already played it 3 times. We are working on ways to lift this restriction, and we are also planning to offer a subscription service.
    4. You’re playing it in the Last.fm desktop software (see below).

    Thousands of artists and labels sign up to Last.fm every week, so we are continually adding new content available as full-length tracks. If your favourite band hasn’t made their content available yet, check back soon – hopefully it will be in the pipeline.

    Can I play these free full-length tracks in the downloadable Last.fm software?

    Currently the free full-length tracks are only available on the website. The downloadable app will scrobble your music taste to build up charts (an awesome way to track your music taste and discover new music), and give you access to Last.fm radio. If you’re currently getting clips in the software, you can change your playback settings here.

    We pay the artists every time you play a track on Last.fm, based on a share of advertising revenue. We think ads in desktop software suck, so we aren’t currently playing full-length tracks on the desktop. That said, we are committed to doing wonderful things for music on the desktop this year, and will unveil our plans in the coming months.

    How much will the subscription service cost?
    Don’t have a figure for you yet, sorry. The best answer we can give about the price right now is that we are doing our best to offer Last.fm users a competitively priced subscription service.

    What about existing subscribers?
    We will continue to offer our current subscription package – the “unlimited listening” subscription will be a new, additional service.

    Our existing subscribers will get various options to upgrade or otherwise change their subscription to take advantage of the new services. And yes, we will add a variety of useful options for the new subscription, like full album playback, playing track charts and so on.

    What about the thousands of free full-length-preview (FLP) tracks?

    Artists can still set their tracks to be made available completely free – globally accessible with no three-play limit, no subscription required – just as before. Artists and labels can set FLP permissions from the Music Manager interface.

    At present, these tracks look the same as others – so if you find you can play a track more than three times in full-length, the artist or label will have explicitly set those permissions.

    Outro
    That’s it for now. I’ll update this post throughout the week to answer any other questions that come up.



    Source: Last.fm Blog

    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 4 Feb 2008, 16:00

    Video: Clinic - Free Not Free

    New single from Clinic, Free Not Free, out today.

    ? Maybe ? Just as the Guillemots new single, Kriss Kross, meanders through genres (above), so does this one.

    Clinic's new album, Do It, is due in April.

    MySpace

    Good video. They're still wearing masks but we can see a little more of their faces.

    Video

    Edited by Babs_05 on 17 Feb 2008, 18:20
    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 8 Feb 2008, 17:34

    Journal: A Brief History Of... series by BadgerJohn31

    BadgerJohn31 is a radio DJ on WSUM 91.7fm Madison (the University of Wisconsin's radio station). He and his friend started a new series called 'A Brief History Of...' describing trends in modern popular music, first airing in September 2007.

    From the introductory journal, A Brief History Of... radio show

    The goal of the show was to give a (brief) overview of a different genre or sub-genre of music in our one-hour timeslot each week. As you might imagine, it's a bit difficult to select the best, most important, or just representative songs for any genre and fit them all into less than an hour. Moreover, we try to place the genres into their historical context, both musically and socially. In the end we usually end up with about 50 minutes of music and 10 minutes of explanation, which is about how we wanted it.

    In addition to the show, BadgerJohn has been writing up journals in Last.fm, outlining the themes and listing the tracks in the each playlist.

    The playlists are by no means exhaustive and there are limiting constraints - track length, the length of each show for a start. They are what they say they are, a brief history, and a good starting point for anyone interested in finding out more.

    The series so far:

    * A Brief History Of...Hillbilly Music

    * A Brief History Of...The Origins of Rock & Roll

    * A Brief History Of...Rock & Roll

    * A Brief History Of...The Day the Music Died

    * A Brief History Of...The British Invasion

    * A Brief History Of...Loneliness in Classic Country

    * A Brief History Of...Motown

    * A Brief History Of...Southern Soul

    * A Brief History Of...The Development of Reggae

    * A Brief History Of...The Psychedelic Era

    * A Brief History Of...Progressive Rock

    * A Brief History Of...Singer / Songwriters

    * A Brief History Of...Funk

    * A Brief History Of...The Rise of Disco

    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 9 Feb 2008, 00:53

    Journal: Why the Major Labels Should Be Dancing in the Street., by Woodshed1

    Why the Major Labels Should Be Dancing in the Street., by Woodshed1

    Extract:

    There are two things I'm a nerd for: music and economics. I should be in hog-heaven with all the music biz statistics flying around at the moment. Unfortunately, the facts are being used so badly I just end up screaming with rage.

    I don't suppose many people will be as interested in the statistics, so here's what you normal people can take away: if an article mentions how far revenue has fallen in the music business, they are bullshitting you. If an article tells you physical sales are going down or gives you the impression total sales are falling, they are bullshitting you.

    ... The amount of music sold ROSE in 2006 and 2007. More music was bought in 2007 than in 2006, more was bought in 2006 than 2005. 14% growth may not be as good as 19% but it's still pretty fantastic. The economy of China (the world's currrent economic miracle) is growing at 10% per year.

    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 10 Feb 2008, 01:56

    Journal: A Brief History Of...Metal, by BadgerJohn31

    A Brief History Of...Metal, by BadgerJohn31

    Extract:

    (Because of open scheduling at WSUM over Winter Break, we were able to do two consecutive hours - which a genre as long-lasting as metal absolutely deserves.)

    A Brief History of...Metal follows the trends in one of rock's most stable genres from its origins to its peak as a popular genre. The first segment of the show analyzes metal's origins in that period of great creative musical expansion, 1966-9, and attempts to explain the broader original definition of "metal." The first hour of the show traces the rise of metal. The second hour looks at the various forms of popular metal and ends with the backlash against pop-metal. Throughout the show, the major emphasis is on Metal as the genre that took Chuck Berry's electric guitar to its extreme. Metal was a genre that required true virtuosity of its players.

    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 11 Feb 2008, 15:55

    Sci/Tech: Personalised Radio

    Technology killed the radio star

    The days of turning on the radio to hear inane DJs rambling, or the same irritating adverts being repeated hour after hour, could almost be over.

    New gadgets capable of learning your musical tastes and piping relevant songs to you via the internet have arrived.

    Logitech’s Squeezebox Duet (£279, available in March) plugs into your hi-fi and connects wirelessly to your computer using a home wi-fi network. You will then need to set up your computer to receive songs over the internet from a “personalised” station such as Last.fm (www.last.fm). Older Squeezebox models may also work, though a bit of tinkering may be required.

    Last.fm works by tracking what you’re already listening to with your computer, whether that’s on iTunes, on CD or online. It then compares your musical choices to those of 20m people around the world and, when it finds someone similar, automatically selects new songs that you’re likely to enjoy from a library of more than 3m, creating a station tailored for you.

    Other personalised radio stations, such as Mi-Xfm (tinyurl.com/2yubkb), need a little more interaction, asking you to rate each tune they play and altering their playlist to match.

    A million Brits are now tuning in to personalised stations online every week, and many are also tuning out traditional radio. Logitech’s new gadget takes it one step further by allowing you to listen through your hi-fi instead of through your computer. If you want your own personalised programme, though, you’ll have to pay Last.fm a £1.50 per month subscription for the privilege.

    Making the leap from the PC to the living room will give a huge boost to the new radio services, believes Christian Ward of Last.fm: “The move this year is all about getting personalised radio into the home, in a simple way, and then onto mobile phones and beyond.”

    The sound quality of Last.fm is acceptable – every bit as good as that of the best DAB stations.

    Taking personalised radio fully mobile, although it’s available only in the US for now, is Slacker.com’s Portable Radio Player (from $200/£100). Launched this week, it comes preloaded with up to 40 stations containing thousands of tracks. As you rate individual tracks, Slacker learns your tastes and refreshes the player’s built-in memory with other songs, using your wi-fi connection.

    A 4in screen lets you browse playlists and view album artwork – although it will also screen a couple of adverts each hour if you don’t upgrade to a $7.50 (£3.75) monthly fee. The subscription also allows you to skip tracks or save them to the player to listen to again. Slacker.com doesn’t yet know how soon its service will be on offer in Britain.

    Personalised broadcasts of the future will probably have either advertising or a price tag attached, just as they do today. But once your radio knows exactly what you want to hear, the idea of a human DJ – however cheeky his banter – might start to sound a little dated.

    In Germany last week, Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), the service that offers easier tuning and catchup facilities to radio listeners, had its funding cut because of poor take-up. One reason was that consumers were switching to listening online, a classic case of a new technology being overtaken by an even newer one before it has had a chance to take hold (remember how laser discs were overtaken by DVDs?).

    In Britain, a survey by Rajar, the research organisation, revealed that one in six listeners to personalised radio were listening to less live radio than ever before. Might this all signal the beginning of the end for music radio as we know it?


    Source: Times Online

    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 11 Feb 2008, 16:10

    Blog: Why Social Ads Don’t Work

    There’s been lots of talk recently about the ineffectiveness of advertisements in social media properties like MySpace and Facebook. During their recent quarterly earnings results, Google explained that they are not making as much money from ads on social network sites as they had predicted. Even though this was a blip on an otherwise stellar quarter, Google’s stock took a serious beating.

    Why is this so? Why is it that Google monetizes so well on Search while having a hard time on social properties? Given an equal amount of views on Google vs. MySpace, shouldn’t they be able to get about the same number of click-throughs and thus ad revenue?

    The difference, of course, is that when people go to Google, they’re actively looking for something. That something isn’t on Google. They are performing a search activity. Thus their task will be to click on a link that seems to promise what it is they’re looking for. It may be the organic results, or it may be an ad that seems close to what they want.

    When people are on MySpace, the activity they’re doing isn’t search. It’s something akin to “hanging out” or “networking”. Their task is almost the opposite of search. They are already on the site they want to be on. They don’t need to click on links to take them where they want to go.

    In other words, the context is entirely different. When you’re in search mode, you are playing by different rules.

    Social ads don’t work as well because people are being social, not searching for something.

    Advertisements live along a spectrum that goes from “irrelevant and distracting” to “relevant and interesting”. When ads are well-placed, they actually serve to help the user find what they’re looking for, or they’re interesting enough to grab the person’s attention away from whatever else they were doing. It would seem that this is what social ads have to do…they have to be interesting enough to get you away from socializing. Or, perhaps they are simply for brand-building purposes…you see the brand and it has a subconscious effect…you don’t change what you were doing but the brand is somehow strengthened in your mind from the ad impression.

    Here’s a question: What if the activity you’re doing actually does determine your willingness to click on ads? This is what is being suggested by the early returns on ads in social networks. If this is so, then we can start by making a list of activities in which it would make sense that people are most accepting of ads.

    * Searching
    * Shopping
    * Traveling

    These activities all share something in common. People are on the move, and are actively looking for products and services to help them along their way.

    There is a reason why Google wants super short time-per-visit and Facebook wants super long time-per-visit. It’s because the services support two completely different activities. Google wants a tremendous number of incredibly short visits. They want you to find good results immediately and leave the site. Facebook wants you to stay forever.

    A fundamental problem with monetizing social sites is that the very reason why they have long time-on-site that makes them less effective places for advertising. They have provided a comfortable third place…people are already where they want to be!

    Social network audiences are less like searchers and more like homebodies. The ads that will work best aren’t those where people have to leave the site, but those which allow you to stay and keep hanging out. But trivial things like games and contests can only be novel for so long…

    In addition, since we are dealing with social capital as much as economic capital, the advertisements don’t make as much sense. Imagine if every time you talked with your friends they were trying to sell you something. They wouldn’t last long as your friend.

    Facebook, in particular, is pushing the envelope here, as well they should, and hopefully learning a lot along the way. I hope, also, that we can learn from what they’re doing. My big takeaway so far is a renewed focus on the activity at hand. What activities people are engaging in says as much about their behavior as their innate constitution.

    This might also suggest why Yahoo and Microsoft have a harder time monetizing their ads on their various properties. They’re trying to monetize ads on Mail, Groups, and other places where people are doing non-search activities. That’s why Google continues to rule the roost, because they have the most searchers. People, when they want to search for something, go to Google. Google = Search.

    No matter how well Microsoft thinks it can monetize Yahoo’s non-search properties, it won’t be able to do as well as if it had more searchers coming to its site. However, Yahoo does have some interesting travel properties, so those should provide better results. I’m sure that these companies know down to the nano-percentages which types of properties work and which don’t. I would bet that it all depends on the context of use within those properties.

    In terms of design, which is our focus, what does this mean? Well, it means that we need to investigate what contexts people are in as they use our web applications. Are they looking for something, or would they use our service as part of the activity of looking for something? Are they primed for ads? If not, then we’re better off providing value in some other way, like increasing productivity, etc.

    This simple list also suggests why Google is investing a ton of energy into mobile, because when people are mobile we’re in unfamiliar places with the same old needs. We’re searching not only for our destination, but services that will help us along the way. So that’s why every time you turn around there’s some new quiet feature in Google Maps, because maps and mobile are the future of advertising.


    Source: http://bokardo.com/archives/why-social-ads-dont-work/

    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 13 Feb 2008, 20:24

    Journal: Madonna - 'Filth and Wisdom' debuts at Berlinale 2008, by Babs_05

    Madonna - 'Filth and Wisdom' debuts at Berlinale 2008, by me.

    Extract:

    The first screening of Madonna's directorial debut, Filth and Wisdom, a romantic comedy / musical, took place earlier this afternoon, 13 February, at the Berlin Film Festival 2008, followed by an international press conference.

    The questions asked were pretty bog standard and disappointing by and large, but a few elicited interesting responses. Most of the music featured in the film was by Eugene Hütz's uncle. Also featured in the soundtrack is Britney Spears. The press picked up the scent like wolves but Madonna deflected them by saying Britney and other featured artists were all friends of hers and weren't going to charge her too much to use their music. (Madonna also used her own music, Erotica, because she wasn't going to charge herself.)

    Madonna said she's looking at new ways of releasing the film, possibly via the internet first.



    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 13 Feb 2008, 20:34

    Next Big Things - Highlights Feb 08

    As leader of Next Big Things - NBTs, I get to check out everyone's suggestions and add them to the group if I agree.

    I really like some of the proposed NBTs so I've started a thread highlighting who I think are particularly good. Here's the first one for Feb 08.

    Remember, the point of the group is to predict who's going to make it big, not which genre is better than another or even whether we like them. Mainstream right now is indie, followed by electro-pop, so most of the recommended artists will be along those lines.

    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 14 Feb 2008, 01:38

    Exposure: Tigerstyle



    Tigerstyle are two Scottish brothers who have been fusing , , and sounds, particularly folk traditions of punjabi music, for over a decade. They have produced mixes for artists such as Eminem, 50 Cent, M.I.A. and Busta Rhymes. More recently, they've been collaborating with guest vocalists such as Gunjan and Canadian rapper Blitzkrieg, and musicians to mix it up even more.

    From their MySpace:

    Tigerstyle are one of the few Asian acts to have ever recorded a live session for the legendary late Sir John Peel. They were given the opportunity to showcase material from their forthcoming album supported by a full band at the first ever BBC Electric Proms in September 2006, and were selected out of 1000s of bands to perform on the first ever BBC Introducing Stage at the Glastonbury Festival in July 2007.

    More tracks on their MySpace. I've attached a few videos below.

    Live performance by Tigerstyle at the BBC Electric Proms 2006 - Maiya, slow, over 8 mins long, the singer is Gunjan.

    Video


    From the same performance, Jadhoo, which brings in R&B.

    Video


    Mele Wich Wajde, which is more bhangra.

    Video

    Edited by Babs_05 on 17 Feb 2008, 18:24
    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 16 Feb 2008, 01:06

    Exposure: SugaRush Beat Company

    Continuing the fusion theme I seem to be on, here's SugaRush Beat Company, who were on tonight's 'Later... with Jools Holland'.

    The music is mostly soul, (nu-soul, neo-soul) with added flavour from other genres. Band members are from U.S.A, U.K, Denmark and Australia. There's nothing in Last.fm yet, but there are samples of a few tracks on their MySpace.

    I'll upload tonight's performances as soon I find them in YouTube.


    • Babs_05 said...
    • Forum Moderator
    • 16 Feb 2008, 01:32

    Exposure: The Imagined Village

    Also on the Jools Holland show were The Imagined Village, the biggest yet most coherent fusion project I think I've ever come across.

    The Imagined Village, who appeared at Womad 2007, are a project led by Simon Emmerson, with contributions from folk royalty across the cultures, reflecting multiculturalism in the UK. They include: The Copper Family, Sheila Chandra, Benjamin Zephaniah, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Paul Weller, Transglobal Underground, Tunng, Chris Wood, Billy Bragg, Tiger Moth, The Gloworms and Dhol Foundation.

    At first, you hear all the different sounds individually, then they start to flow into and around each other so they gel, creating a new sound. I can't wait to hear more.

    There was an album released last October, The Imagined Village, which isn't available in Last.fm yet. As soon as it is, I'll tag it 'my gang 08'.

    Amazon.co.uk

    There are a few videos in YouTube, one introducing the collective, the second a music video, the third a live performance. I'll upload tonight's performances when they're available in YouTube over the weekend.

    Introduction

    Video


    Tam Lyn (retold) (9 mins) (folk meets trip-hop)

    Video


    Hard Times of Old England Retold (Live performance recorded just before they went on stage at Womad 07)

    Video

    Edited by Babs_05 on 17 Feb 2008, 18:27
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