I have to confess that sometimes I get so consumed in the world of my iPod and my MP3 collection that I lose sight of the fact that songs are made by people--real people--many of whom are living, and touring and putting on outstanding shows. Sure, recorded music is convenient, cheap, and accessible, but it's live performances that really make you fall head over heels for a band. No amount of Pandora, Last.fm, or iTunes could make me want to buy a band's T-shirt--but give me a good show, and suddenly I'm putting the band's sticker on my car. There's just nothing like a good show to remind you why you love music.
The folks behind The Take-Away Shows have elevated the art of the live performance video. Click for more recommendations.
In my twenties, I used to to mark the weeks by which shows I had seen. Unfortunately, things aren't quite as carefree these days, and opportunities to stay out all night hearing great music and drinking overpriced beer have all but disappeared.
Seeing a band's polished and edited music video on YouTube is OK, but it doesn't usually reveal what it's like to see a band play live on stage. That's why I'm grateful for music blogs--especially video blogs. A good video blog from the discriminating music source is the next best thing to having your own army of camera-equipped hipsters acting as your concert-going proxy.
Of course, watching concerts from your computer doesn't generate the same memories or street cred as seeing a concert in the flesh, but the drinks are cheaper, the tickets are free, and you save a ton on parking. Also, I've noticed that I'm covering a lot more ground this way--sampling tons of great bands in one sitting, instead of limiting my exposure to a single concert.
Having it both ways would be great. There's really no replacing the connections you make with an artist's music by seeing and hearing it performed live (well, good artists, at least). But until my kid is old enough to go to shows with me (by that age, he probably won't want to be seen with me), the following video blogs are the best way I've found to see live music without leaving my chair.
For more techniques on discovering new music without all the effort, check out Music Discovery Tips for the Unhip and Unmotivated.
Donald and Jasmine finally get their hands on the new Zen X-Fi--along with another new treat from Creative--and throwdown over the faults and virtues of the player. Also, find out the top 5 ways to discover music by only lifting a single finger.
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Episode 109 |
We swear, there's no reading required to expand your musical horizons these days. Well...aside from this article, at least.
(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET Networks)
When you're young, new music is everywhere: radio, Facebook profiles, borrowed iPods, or even burned CDs. It's not hard to find tunes you love. The music appetites of 13- to 21-year-olds are voracious and the consequences of being musically unhip can be punishing.
Then something happens: you get older; work a full-time job; get married; have a mortgage; have children; adopt a particularly demanding parrot; and so on. You wake up one day and realize your taste in music hasn't budged since your early '20s and the prospect of discovering good, new music now seems like an overwhelming chore, fraught with disappointment. I know, I'm living proof.
We're all familiar with the long, depressing list of activities that seemed easy in youth that now take effort. Fortunately, finding good music isn't as tough as working off that middle-age gut. Since its inception, the Internet has helped us--mostly illegally--discover new music. Finally, tools for legal and efficient online music discovery are hitting their stride.
To help you help yourself, we've collected our favorite techniques to help the lazy, hurried, or unhip (or, face it, aging) connect with good, new music.
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Internet music retailer eMusic is undertaking an ambitious site redesign that infuses music discovery and social networking features. Beginning July 22, eMusic is rolling out new album pages for their collection of more than 3.5 million songs--an update that includes both cosmetic and practical design upgrades.
Visually, the new eMusic album page design has a much cleaner and bolder feel than the somewhat dated look the site had been holding on to. The new album page layout is wider, and puts more emphasis on album artwork and user ratings. In a move that should delight those of you who get a kick from printing out CD covers, eMusic now offers high-resolution 1400x1400-pixel album art.
The new eMusic album page integrates artist videos, images, and biographic information from popular sources such as YouTube, Flickr, and Wikipedia.
(Credit: eMusic)The most intriguing new feature on eMusic's new album page is the inclusion of content from partners such as YouTube, Flickr, and Wikipedia. For instance, a look at the album page for Radiohead's In Rainbows offers the usual track listing, cover image, editorial blurb, and user comments, but as you scroll down further you'll notice a selection of Radiohead YouTube music videos, as well as a handful of live concert photos hosted by Flickr, and an excerpt of the band's entry on Wikipedia. Aggregating dynamic content such as this from around the Web may not seem revolutionary in today's age of Facebook applications and Wordpress plug-ins, but compared with the hermetically sealed environments of iTunes and Amazon MP3, eMusic's move is a relatively gutsy break from tradition.
One of the eMusic album page's less obvious new features is a drop-down menu with 18 different social networking links, including Facebook, Digg, Twitter, and Stumbleupon. Each link lets you post clips from the album page on whatever social networking site you prefer. While eMusic's social networking link feature is well-executed, they're off to a late start in a medium where users are already consuming full song streams from services such as iLike, Rhapsody, and Seeqpod.
Upgrades to other eMusic page types are soon to follow, including new layouts for artist pages, improved search functionality, and a new "visual bread-crumb" feature that keeps better track of your browsing history.
Despite eMusic's face-lift and infusion of Web 2.0, some users will still be turned off by the company's unique monthly pricing plan and lack of major label recordings, however, indie-loving music fans should definitely give eMusic's revamped site a look.
For music lovers, the Pandora internet radio application for the iPhone and iPod Touch is a welcome addition.
(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET Networks)
Apple publicly unveiled the Pandora Internet radio iPhone and iPod Touch application during the unveiling of the iTunes App store on Thursday, July 10. Tim Westergren, CEO for Pandora, was kind enough to give me a personal tour of the new application. The following is a synopsis of just about every question I had for Tim. Editors' note: This is not an interview transcript, but a roundup of information on the Pandora iPhone application presented in a FAQ format.
An option key allows you to bookmark artsist or songs, or purchase the current song directly from iTunes.
(Credit: Pandora)How much will iTunes charge for the Pandora application?
It's free.
Will the iPhone version of the Pandora application stream music over the new 3G cellular connection?
Yes. New iPhones can use the Pandora app to stream music over 3G or Wi-Fi. Updated first-gen iPhones can stream over Wi-Fi or Edge, and the iPod Touch will obviously only stream over its Wi-Fi connection
What's the audio quality like?
Pandora's serves its iPod Touch and iPhone audio streams as 64Kbps stereo MP3 files; however, the quality and file format may be retooled once Pandora's tech team has some time to work with the new iPhone's hardware.
How will Pandora make money off a free application?
Pandora may eventually consider placing short audio advertisements in its streams, but, Pandora's first priority is to grow its user base.
Will Pandora stations I've already created using the Web service be available on the iPhone application?
Yes. Any stations, artist bookmarks, and song like/dislike preferences will be identical between the Pandora Web service and the Pandora application.
You can create and save custom stations directly from the Pandora app.
(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET Networks)What can I do with the Pandora application for the iPhone and iPod Touch?
Most of the features of Pandora's Internet radio Web service will be available on its iPhone application as well. People can create radio stations based around artists or songs, bookmark favorite artists or songs, pause and skip tracks, vote on songs, and view descriptions of why a currently playing song was included in your stream. You also have the option to purchase the currently playing song directly over the iTunes Wi-Fi store.
Pandora's intelligent recommendation engine explains song choices.
(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET Networks)Can I stream Pandora wirelessly from my iPhone over Bluetooth?
The iPhone does not currently support streaming stereo audio over its built-in Bluetooth; however, third-party Bluetooth audio adapters are available that fit any minijack audio output.
If I can connect my iPhone to my car stereo and stream Pandora over 3G, why would I listen to music on commercial or satellite radio?
Keep in mind that Pandora is a music-only service, so you'll need to get your talk radio, sports, and traffic reports elsewhere. That said, so long as you have decent 3G reception in your area, streaming Pandora internet radio to your car stereo via your iPhone should work fine.
Pandora's song voting system has made it to its iPhone app as well. Voting on songs helps fine-tune Pandora's personalized song recommendations. People can also pause and skip tracks.
(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET Networks)Can I wake up to Pandora radio if I dock my iPhone or iPod Touch into an iPod alarm clock?
Not likely, since most alarm clock docks trigger song playback from your music library. Some iPod alarm clock docks include an auxiliary input, however, so if you kept music streaming from Pandora all night (and somehow managed not to run down your battery), then it's possible. Seems like a pain though.
Will Pandora music streams display album art?
Yes, although some music in Pandora's catalog is still without cover art.
The Pandora playback screen looks much like the standard iPod playback screen, complete with cover art.
(Credit: Pandora)Does the Pandora iPhone/iPod Touch application have the same limitations on track skipping as the Web version of the Internet radio station?
Yes. Because of legal restrictions, users cannot skip tracks on Pandora more than six times per hour. Fortunately, Pandora's Music Genome Project is pretty good at coming up with song selections.
Will using the Pandora iPhone application run down my battery quickly?
Yes. Reports so far suggest that the new iPhone's battery performance is at its worst when using its 3G connection. Streaming Pandora content over the iPhone's Wi-Fi connection should produce better battery performance than using 3G.
Will AOL's streaming radio app open the door for others?
(Credit: AOL)Details of AOL's streaming radio application for the Apple iPhone 3G have surfaced after it was revealed that the application won an Apple design award for "Best Entertainment Application" at this year's WWDC. The free application will be available for the iPhone 3G next month, allowing users to stream 200 AOL online radio stations and 150 terrestrial radio stations over both Wi-Fi and 3G cellular connections.
While news of streaming radio capabilities coming to the iPhone is certainly exciting, personally, the thought of listening to terrestrial and AOL online stations doesn't exactly get my blood pumping. The larger story here is that Apple and AT&T have shown a willingness to integrate streaming media into the iPhone, opening a door for streaming audio services such as Pandora, Last.fm, Muxtape, and others.
Of course, converting interactive Adobe Flash-based streaming audio Web services into iPhone applications is no easy task, and the payoff has yet to be proven worthwhile. The possibilities are promising, however, and if the same application can be ported over to the iPod Touch (maybe even integrated with the iTunes Wi-Fi music store), consumers really will have a new way to discover music on the go.
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Donald Bell is an electronic musician, a veteran record store employee, and a fearless hardware hacker. He's also CNET's Senior Editor for MP3 and digital audio.
Jasmine France is CNET's resident digital audio doyenne, writing and editing product reviews, crave blogs, and feature stories on all things MP3. And if you need advice on headphones, she's your girl.
