The Last Drop

So the only things I love more than music are baked goods. It’s true. I went on a baking tear in London and never looked back. Last week – two strawberry rhubarb crumbles. For real (both are in season, what’s a girl to do?). So what could be better than music or a baked good? A musical service with a baked good name. Leave it to the Germans – a demented sense of humor. But I like it. Like last.fm and and the Pandora’s of the world, Mufin has many tools to help sift through the plethora of music available and provide relevantt recommendations. What I like most about Mufin is that 1) the main technology behind all of their applications was developed by Joseph von Fraunhofer. What a name. and 2) it’s a back end application. Thus you are tied into one application and resentful whenever a new technology or site pops up.

Budding developers, have at!

Could it be that there is actually some thought and order being placed on the ever chaotic Myspace? Well, not the entire site. But the most important part of it – MySpace Music – is trying it’s hardest to clean up the junkyard image of it’s parent and to actually provide lots of content that is worthwhile. Like all music, not just the new stuff, from the big 4 labels. Quite an undertaking. Plus adding in album pages (I thought those things were dead…) for those iconic releases that predate ringtone rap.

OK, so the site is still hard to navigate and full of blaring ads (predominantly from the “I have so much cash to burn I’m inviting everyone to the bonfire” Apple). But underneath it all, the service is getting better. Not great, but better. And I am thoroughly impressed with CEO Courtney Holt’s thought process in regards to the ever expanding linking of music online. As much as I want music to be democratized from the current label down attitude, people still have to make money in the process.

The Junkyard Dog ain’t so nasty anymore

When once we thought there was hope (“Solid as Barack…”), there now is just despair. As a fan of live music, my heart just sank a little lower. A proposed merger of LiveNation and Ticketmaster is in the works. One company to rule venues, ticketing, promotional items, and even record contracts. So…there is officially no where to go that won’t charge me a few limbs to see a concert in a mid to large size venue. And there is no potential for competition to shake things up. As much as I hate our overemphasized legal process, I am absolutely hoping for an antitrust dispute case to rear it’s ugly and labor intensive head.

Did I mention the new name sucks. At least TRY to be creative.

This live nation is now my ticket master.

In continuing the tradition of upending the current record industry model of label to artist to consumer, Bandstocks says why not have consumers go directly to the source. You want to support someone? Buy stock in them. So far, there don’t seem to be an Madoff-like schemes involved. Plus, there seems to be some momentum in this movement across the entertainment sector ( like IndieVest for film).

I’m in. Literally. I enjoyed Patrick Wolf’s earlier creations. Why not get a piece of the action directly?

Buy low, sell high, and please don’t stop the music.

2008 brought a lot of new (old) changes: a move, a job, a hike, and of course music. A full year, if not tumultuous. And it stirred the pot for more change in 2009 (a marathon, another mountain, and maybe a big music festival). Maybe it’s the inner Oprah coming out, but I am trying desperately to embrace change and become a better me. Which also means I will need to listen to a lot more music. Particularly stuff I know nothing about. I did not find nearly as many dogs last year as I should have. Well, not that I want to give in to purchasing bad music (see further down on the top sellers of last year) but I don’t experiment nearly enough. If I can commit to the Himalayas, the least I can do is buy more albums from rock bands with animal names (Foxes and Bears, oh my). So here’s to the never ending pursuit of musical perfection.

Oh, and here’s to a look back at 2008. The top selling album – who else but the original Cash Money Millionaire (not to be confused with a credit card millionare or a Madoff/Ponzi scheme millionaire). Notable mentions – Kid Rock. For real. Yeah, I didn’t know he had an album out either.

Top Ten Highest Selling Albums of 2008

Would you hand over your investment capitol to a woman who beat up a reporter in Bangkok? The bankrupt island of ice is betting on it. For some time, Bjork has dabbled in the politics of a green world. Now she is chairing a VC to put her proverbial money near her mouth.

Hopefully, this will remain a Iceland only phenomenon with international hipsters staying out of the fray. I could easily see American youngins continuing the trend of trusting artists over sound financial advisers for their activist financial pursuits. Just make sure you tip your vintage Ray Bans towards the fine print and check the annual returns.

A non Homogenic portfolio

Another slight set back in the record industry embrace of technology. Warner steps away from their YouTube contract for streaming artist videos. Sad. I really was hooked on YouTubing that 4 Minutes video, Madonna. Warner is still honoring the video streaming contract at MySpace though. So, it seems like a bit of a personal grudge with the unquantifiable and suprisingly low monetizeable video sharing pinnacle.

I can’t say that I am totally siding with the Google folks since I don’t hear of any company making lots of money from any of the video sharing sites. A definite future prospect. But suspiciously slow for the marked advancement of streaming technology.

No brotherly love for Warner

As one of the many who found Sharon Jones, Gabriel Roth and the rest of the Daptones family about 10 years too late, it’s nice to see them get their due proper like in the NYT magazine. AND Amy Wino is only mentioned twice. Doubly great.

Anyway, if you have the extra hour, read the entire 5 pages leisurely.

100 Days, 100 Nights, and more than 100 words

About time someone declares a war on Kanye West. Let (real) arrogance meet (fake) arrogance in a steal cage, ladder, casket royal rumble retirement match. Yeah, I caught the last SmackDown on TNT. What can I say, I still got love for the Undertaker

In some ways, I actually would like for Stephen’s scenario to play out. The record industry subverted by a viral effort based on a fake political commentary host. Now if that is not innovative, what is?

Vote NO on Prop Autotune

The moment we all were waiting for actually happened. Digital music sales at a record label finally surpassed it’s analog older brother. Better yet, baby boomer father. Who says ringtone rappers are not worth it? Certainly not Atlantic.

I will be very curious to see if this trend spreads to other labels and even tips the balance for the Big 4. I can’t say whether I am enthused or not. On one hand, it’s great to see that the viral impact of technology is allowing more artists to get more fans, feedback, and sales at a lower cost. However, is the death of the record label really a blessing for all artists? Are we really supposed to get all of our information from Myspace, friends, commercials, tv placements and blogs? Do we want to spend all of our time this way?

The only time you will see T.I. hanging with white folk.