Nope, it's not Tommy Lee vs. Neil Peart. It's not John Bonham vs Keith Moon. It's Buddy Rich vs. Animal. That's right. Animal. Elmo's whacked out black sheep uncle.
Buddy Rich is the obvious winner here. He's the greatest Jazz drummer who ever lived, able to bang out monster beats at a speed and precision that would tax even the most exacting of robot drummers from a creepy musical future. That being said and all things being equal (as equal as can be when one opponent is a Muppet), Animal gives it his best shot. Watch the video here.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Indie publishers get boost, radio gets off scot-free
The FCC isn't quite as aggressive as Eliot Spitzer and, as a result, radio may well end up walking away essentially unscathed by the payola probe started by New York's pro-active attorney general. This quote from the Hollywood Reporter nearly makes me want to gag, "While details of the Enforcement Bureau's proposal were sketchy, sources said that radio station groups would be required to set aside a certain amount of airtime for music produced independently. The radio groups also would agree to a code of conduct and an education program, the sources said. As part of the deal, the radio broadcasters would not admit to any wrongdoing." It's disgusting that what passes for a settlement with the FCC amounts to little more than playing a few indie bands every once in a while and promising not to be bad little radio stations ever again. Message received, find more creative ways to violate the public trust next time. Meanwhile no one takes blame, no one admits any wrongdoing and the practice essentially continues unabated.
These are your airwaves, and the FCC is selling you down the river. Everyone seems to have forgotten that the FCC has a mandate to protect the public interest in the radio spectrum, rather than that of the station owners.
Oh how things have changed. When a payola scandal hit in the late 1950's, DJ's were run out of town on rails, Alan Freed ended up broke, drunk and eventually dead for taking songwriting credits and cash to play rock music and Dick Clark only narrowly escaped a similar fate by divesting his interests in recording, and sticking to radio.
Rebel DJ's, DJ Adrian and The Mysterious D have released what they call "Best of Bootie 2006", a full mixed contiguous mashup that cuts razor slices through the best of 30 years of music, then bakes them until crisp and golden brown.
Get it while it's hot, I can't imagine it will be available long. Mashups include highlights like "Crazy Logic", combining Supertramp's "Logical Song", Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" and Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" into what can only be called a feast of paranoid delight. Also a gem, DJ Topcat's, "Dec. 4th, Oh What A Night" which digs deep to hook up Jay-Z with Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
A new survey by The Digital Media Association says online consumers are driving music in new ways, and causing a renaissance among music fans.
According to the survey, "The vast majority of online music service users report that enjoying music over the Internet has expanded their musical tastes, allowing them to discover new artists and explore new music genres. About 25 percent reported having discovered a lot of new artists, while more than 60 percent of consumers surveyed say they have discovered some new artists. Nearly 7 in 10 online music consumers are enjoying new genres of music since listening to online music services."
A wider range of artists sharing a slightly growing pie is a great thing for music itself, although it puts the music industry in a precarious position. The major's need to learn to work with a model in which blockbuster albums are fewer and further between, and deeper catalog cuts move with a little more ease.
Yesterday we told you that Pandora is starting to insert advertisements into its audio stream, something that came as a bit of a shock to long time Pandora listeners and fans.
We spoke with Pandora's CTO Tom Conrad last night about the move, and he reassured us that the Pandora most of us know and love isn't going to change overnight. Questions in bold, answers in italics. How "wide" is the current trial, and how is it determined who hears ads?
Less than 10% of our daily listeners hear the ad.... It's cap'd at once per day per listener and it's targeted by age. What formats for ads are you trying? (lengths, styles)
The only ad style we're testing is NPR-style ("this station brought to you buy...") The ad we're running right now is 9 seconds. There are no current plans to test other styles or lengths.
How will Pandora make the final decision about how/how long/what type/which companies any eventual ad system will serve?
By listening to our listeners via support, our blog, and forums like the Digital Music Weblog. We pay a lot of attention to what our listeners have to say about all our decisions.
Does Pandora plan to target ads based on user preferences in music? Deeper targeting such as, users who listen to x, y, and z might also like products from N, while users that shun artist x, and y might also shun company Q? and, When/ Should we expect Pandora to roll out a full ad system to all users?
As with the rest of the Pandora product, our ad delivery system evolves incrementally over time. We're always looking for ways to improve our ability to deliver relevant ads that don't detract from the listening experience. Having said that, our principle goal is to deliver a compelling music listening experience that consistently plays songs that you'll love and our energy is really focused on that goal above all others. Permalink | Email this | Comments
AV Club points finger at least essential albums of 2006
The Onion's AV club went digging for the anti top-list, and came up with the "least essential albums of 2006." It's a pretty heady selection, which the AV club explains in this fashion, "Every year produces great music and a nearly equal amount of terrible music. Then there's the not-so-creamy middle, the albums that have no real reason to exist, but nonetheless find their way to music-store shelves."
The list includes totally inessential favorites like The Cars (without just about everyone who was once in The Cars), DMC (Which is Run-DMC without Reverend Run and after the death of Jam Master Jay), John Corbett (uh, don't you act? Poorly but, still.. don't you act?), and the kicker, an exercise album from NBC's "The Biggest Loser"
If you've bought any of these albums in the previous year, the Society for the Prevention of the Death of Actual Music (the S.P.D.A.M) asks that you report to your nearest internment camp for musical re-education, immediately. That is all.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Robots are at it again. Those crafty automatons have been working hard to put together a CD of infinite indie wisdom, packed full of bands on the edge of hotness.
"Us robots scoured the world for amazing music, from the hallowed halls of our nation's capital, to the rain-soaked streets of Glasgow. We traveled as far afield as Sweden and the UK, as well as Chicago, LA, Minneapolis, and New York City. In between we found a cohesive, flowing album that defines our tastes while highlighting the diversity of music for robots."
Available direct from Music For Robots or from a select few online retailers and regional music stores, it's a veritable treasure trove of indie goodness for $10 American. How can you go wrong?
I'm a big fan of internet collaboration. I've remixed other artists, and been remixed myself, and the idea of widespread colaboration that would never otherwise take place is a heavy concept that sometimes produces gold.
But, what about that sort of colaboration via YouTube? This series of three videos (take the jump to see #2 and #3) shows one example of how collaborating via Youtube can actually work.
The above video bubbled to the top of the YouTube stew and, in doing so attracted the attention of a drummer, and then a bassist. Each additional musician mixed themselves into the track and reuploaded the result.
The FCC isn't quite as aggressive as Eliot Spitzer and, as a result, radio may well end up walking away essentially unscathed by the payola probe started by New York's pro-active attorney general. This quote from the 
Rebel DJ's, DJ Adrian and The Mysterious D have 
A new 
The Onion's AV club went digging for the anti top-list, and came up with the "
