By DTravisB
I've noticed alot of the new folks I'm meeting at USC (South Carolina) don't own TV's and if they do they don't even have cable and only use them to watch DVD's.
I read a comment where someone asserted that the economy can't handle physical merchandise. I believe this is true. The movie industry and video game industry need to pick up fast before their product is victimized by illegal downloading even more so than they already are. I can envision well a future with no need for racks or cases but only portable size hard drives each specified for a certain medium; music, movies, video games, etc. As a down home environmentalist (I do what I can and I'm not wasteful) I look forward to this day but am fearful for the job losses in the package manufacturing market.
The internet is the way of the future. Any attempts to fight it is folly. But while new technology is prevailing kids are also demonstrating a desire for vintage merchandise of all types, clothes and music especially. I know both my friends and I revel in our latest finds from thrift stores and used vinyl shops. This I believe is a defining characteristic of our generation and speaks volumes about our ideologies; embrace of the future and respect for the past.
By DTravisB
Here's a consolidated version of an article that ran in the SC state paper about the record store where I work which is sadly going out of business. I saw a previous post about Virgin Mega store in time square going under. It saddens me that this is happening but hopefully the remaining record stores can find new ways to make money in the evolving market and other entrepreneurs can follow.
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=12590E64017A7E88&p_docnum=3
By Allie Antman
I found an interesting article today on billboard.com (our bible). It seems that Times Square Virgin Megastore is shutting down its doors! I think all those who have been to Times Square at Night will find that Virgin is by far one of the biggest and brightest stores making it an amazing sight. My first in-store in the music industry was 2 years ago at Virgin for ERASURE with Mute Records. It seems that as always in the end, it boils down to money. This case being no different.
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/times-square-virgin-megastore-to-close-1003929817.story
By choyler1
Is Microsoft getting ready to walk away from its underperforming Zune? That was a question floating at CES, thanks to a Financial Times interview involving Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer. In the interview, Ballmer "seemed all but ready to throw in the towel on the Zune mobile device, which has failed to gain ground on Apple's iPod," according to the Times, though a direct quote was not offered.
Instead of the Zune and its rival iPod, Ballmer indicated that consumers are shifting towards a new class of smartphone, led by devices like the iPhone and Blackberry. But Ballmer also killed speculation of a Zune phone, telling the Times that consumers "should not anticipate that."
Elsewhere, in an interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Microsoft executive Robbie Bach also flatly dismissed the idea of a Zune phone. Separately, on the issue of the Zune, Bach also noted that the growth trajectory on dedicated MP3 players remains flat, though Microsoft would broaden development on media related software. "I don't think the portable media category goes away. I just think it's not going to be where most of the growth is," Bach said.
By choyler1
By Anonymous
While doing some brainstorming/research, I came across a great article about the use of Facebook in modern marketing efforts. Thought I'd share!
http://www.insidecrm.com/features/facebook-marketing-toolbox-012308/
- Carly
By Jacqueline
Last year two RIAA representatives came to BU to hold a Q&A session with students. Though they had logical explanations to nearly all of the questions they were asked, my classmates didn't seem to hear them. Throughout the entire hour and a half or so that the event went on, the reps were assailed by students who had never been sued themselves but had read or heard stories about lawsuits.
After witnessing the hostility towards the RIAA, I am glad to hear they are pursuing another method. According to a
WSJ article, the group plans to work with ISPs to send a warning to those making music available for download. A second and possibly third warning, which may be accompanied with slower service, would be issued before service is cut completely.
I doubt this will help the RIAA improve its image, but if all ISPs are on board, I think it could dramatically decrease illegal downloading without further harming the RIAA's reputation. I can't wait to see what happens!!
Meanwhile,
Bono is a columnist for the NY Times and
Ryan Gosling sings in a band - neither are half bad.
By Anonymous
I watched Pee-Wee's Big Adventure a few days ago and my friend commented on how appropriate the music was for the movie. Pee-Wee was the first major-release that Danny Elfman composed the soundtrack for, although now his name is ubiquitous with film. Since then (1985!), he's done a lot, but nothing as interesting as his latest work.
The soundtrack to the upcoming film Notorious has a little unexpected surprise in its track listing. After songs featuring Lil' Kim and Jay-Z is "The Notorious Theme", written by Elfman. When I think of his past work I think of The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Simpsons Theme, and Oingo Boingo. Never in a million years would I expect to see his name on the soundtrack to a biopic of a legendary rapper.
Does the song work? Yeah, and you'd never know it was him. It's just too bad Biggie isn't rapping over it.
The Notorious Theme (Composed By Danny Elfman) - Notorious B.I.G
By gardner23
While listening to my daily NPR stories I head one that really caught my attention. The subject, the changing face of traditional media. It was only last year that such large battles occurred with television networks about their shows being placed on the internet on sites like YouTube, but as DVRs and Tivos began to threaten ad revenues, it finally occurred to them to embrace this new medium and new sites like Hulu (funded by NBC Universal) have networks voluntarily putting up their shows on the web and only using 15 sec ads once or twice for a 30 min show. But this is not the focus on this post. What caught my attention was an idea called a wovel.
In todays web based society, much of our time is spent reading websites, blogs, emails, with little time left to sit back and read a paper and ink book. But what makes this interesting to me is that embraces the user interaction of the internet. Every monday a chapter is posted on their website, but when you get done reading it you can then choose from a few options on how you would like to see the plot go. The one with the most votes wins and from Thurs - Sunday authors write a new chapter based on how the audience voted.
I am so happy to finally see all these industries that were once threatened by advancement in technology have now begun to get creative in the ways they offer their services.
By Anonymous
It's always nice when you can find a band that when you hear the music for the first time you're hooked. This past November a close friend of mine passed away. He was an acoustic guitar player with a unique raspy voice. He had a personality that would make an angel jealous he turned every bad situation into an amazing moment. He had a dream of touring the country and playing his music for anyone and everyone he met. He was able to do it last year and made quite a few fans. Maybe you have heard of him, his stage name was Eyes Like Aster.
One of his favorite bands was this band from Washington called Paper Mache. Last year he was able to go on tour with them, which probably made him happier than anything else. I had heard of Paper Mache but never gave them a listen. When I went to the services for my friend Tim I noticed two guys that had that "band" look. During the end of the services one of my friends had asked the lead singer of this band to come up and play one of Tim's favorite songs. When the singer came to the front of the room he sat down and played a borrowed accoustic guitar. The song was beautiful, it must have been hard to play being that choked up. I asked my friend sitting next to me what band this was. He told me it was Paper Mache.
Ever since I saw them play in that old funeral home in Iowa I have been hooked. I later found out that they had drove from Washington to say good-bye to Tim. Give these bands a listen
I think you all will enjoy.
My friend you may be gone, but your music still sounds just as good. Miss you Bro!
-ZC
By TommyT (schiffer)
Since this blog is called Music is my Bitch, I thought I'd do a little research as to how music and bitches work. Why is music my bitch? What is music? Well, we all know music can have many different meanings. Depending on your tastes and what you may feel defines music, it can be a melody or the driving rhythm of a jack hammer in NYC. Like the definition of success, music has many variations and is very personal. Music holds a place in everyone's heart. Especially if Music is your Bitch. So the bitch must be in my heart. And how fun is it to say bitch. I don't mean any offense by it, especially when Hip hop artists use them all the time. It's 2009, and bitch has become a term of endearment. But what is a bitch? According to Wikipedia, the term Bitch comes from the Old English word "bicce" It was defined as "the most offensive appellation that can be given to an English woman, even more provoking than that of whore." Wow we sure came a long way.
Hip Hop has used the word Bitch to describe a young lady without regard of race, looks or personality. And, she doesn't have to be a whore. The term Bitch also engenders a state of ownership; generally towards a female. Don't get caught being called a Bitch if you're a male. Ouch. If you were in prison and were called a bitch you would be deemed as sexually passive. The word has many uses. You can sit "bitch" in a car, or on a motorcycle, you can get bitch slapped, or you can slam your finger with a hammer and say "ouch, son of a bitch!" Then there are people who just never stop 'bitching". At one point life was even a bitch. You can have the "bitch end" of a poker hand, and lose your money. So there are many uses for bitch.
Now that the bitch is out of the way, lets fit in music. If music is my bitch, music must have some importance to me. In this case bitch is possesive. I can't bitch slap music. Music can't ride bitch. I do own music, however. I own it physically as well as mentally. It's in my heart. I love music. I shower with music. I get drunk with music. I puke to music. I care for music and will go through turbulent times with music. Music is my burden, my love hate relationship. Many artists can do nothing else but express their art, and have found music to consume them. We all have music inside of us. It is a burden that creates inspiration. When we listen to music, when we perform music, we are transcended into servanthood. So i guess thats my definition of why music is my bitch. We serve it.
By JakeInPhx
I've always wanted to be the dude who was in charge of booking bands for a tour and I've always tried to think what the perfect tour would be and what 4 bands I'd want to see the most if I could see anyone, past or present. I think I've narrowed it down but then again, this could change hourly based on what I'm into at the moment but here's my "perfect tour"-
- Black Flag would open, but the Black Flag from like 1981 so they aren't getting soft yet. I can't imagine anything much cooler than doing stage dives while Henry Rollins is singing "Rise Above." It'd be a good start to the night.
- Fall Out Boy would come next. I'll admit it, I love Fall Out Boy. Since it's my tour, I'd want to them to play Take This To Your Grave front to back and that'd be their set. I love that album and I miss the days when they actually played songs from it live.
- Queen(including Freddie Mercury) would be the third band. Freddie Mercury is unarguably the best front man of all time. It's a fact, you can't even debate it. If you need proof watch the videos on YouTube of him playing to some insane number of people at Wembley Stadium in 1986 and totally owning it, especially during the Under Pressure performance.
- As the headliner I'd want Journey, with Steve Perry though and not the new guy they found off of YouTube. He may not be as much of a showman as Freddie Mercury but Steve Perry has the best voice I've ever heard. I'm not going to lie, I'd sing along to Don't Stop Believing so hard you'd think I was in the band.
I'd have to retire from concerts after this since nothing could ever beat this. If it you had the chance, who would you put on your favorite tour? For the sake of brevity, try to limit it to 4 bands since I know all of us could go on all day.
By Anonymous
Yesterday morning on the ESPN2 talk show "First Take", Lil' Wayne appeared on the show's popular debate segment "1st and 10". Considering how unqualified he is to provide analysis on professional and college sports, he wasn't as terrible as I expected. (Besides saying. the Tennessee Titans were "not the same team since they lost that one game". Yeah that's me being nit picky but I digress...)
Anyone who normally watches "1st and 10" would be struck how less combative the show was with Wayne on it. Traditionally it's semi shouting from "1st" regular Skip Bayless and instead we got Bayless opening the first segment by telling Lil' Wayne how much he loved "The Carter III" and telling him it's his "Purple Rain". Absurd? Maybe. Should Kermit the Frog appear on "1st and 10" in the future? Absolutely.
View a segment of the show
here.
In between releasing every song he's ever wrote Wayne apparently also blogs on
ESPN.
By Mike Boyd JR
It saddens my heart to hear people revolt against the word swag.
I love having Gucci Mane La Flare, Shawty Lo, Soulja Boy, OJ DA JUICE MAN, Yung Joc, and Young Dro spit various usages of the word swag into my ear. By various usages of the word swag I mean "Stupid Swag" "Fruity Swag" "Gucci Swag" etc.
The people who are revolting against the usage of the word swag are saying that it has been overused. That it has become an extremely mainstream word that no longer is fun/cool to say. They are claiming that not only is it being overused by southern rap artists, but that it is being used quite frequently in the media. (sports tv & radio, the local news, etc)
I heard Kurt Warner use the word swag in an interview after his Arizona Cardinals won their first NFL playoff game a few days ago. He was using the word to describe his team and how they came together during the game and "got their swag back."
In other news,
Doin Tha Stanky Leg could quite possibly be the most popular dance move since cranking dat Soulja Boy!
I have heard people talking about this dance in Boston, and Saint Louis radio stations are practically playing the song on repeat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oV8uqpHeRs&feature=related
--Mike Boyd JR
By Anonymous
This Christmas I had one very special present waiting for me under the tree. Well not exactly under the tree, this present was much too large to actually fit under the tree. It was heavy, so big that I wasn't able to shake the present. I quickly opened the enormous box and I what I found in the box was a 4 in 1 music player. This stereo system can play Vinyl Records, Tape Cassettes, AM/FM stations, and CD's. It has a nice vintage look to it and the sound is not to shabby. Since opening this present I have gone out and purchased three albums so far.
- Vampire Weekend
- Against Me! - New Wave
- Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
When I get bored I will head over to the local record shop and see what I can find. Even my local Best Buy here in Madison, WI is starting a Vinyl Section in the music department. The thing that I like the most about purchasing new vinyl is that all of the albums that I have purchased have either came with a free MP3 download of the entire album or a copy of the CD. So I can listen to the album at home on the turntable or throw it on my computer or iPod.
I love collecting music. It's one of those things that you can keep with you until the day you die and pass it on to the ones you love. The music you have in your collection helps paint a picture of who you are.
Throughout life we spend thousands and thousands of dollars on material things. Most of the purchases that we make are soon forgotten in a few years, maybe even months, winding up in the trash or the local goodwill. I hope that music is something that I am never willing to part with, regardless of how good or bad the album is.
I have a feeling a that Vinyl will be making a well deserved comeback. I Hope that Warner Music Group and all of the other record labels will notice this trend and continue to supply the music listeners with a new way to experience their favorite artist or albums.
If you are looking for a new way to experience music I would suggest digging through some relatives attic, basement, or closet and brushing the dust off of their old phonograph. If you are unable to find one head over to your local Target and pick up a 4 in 1 music player like mine.
Cheers!
ZC
