Tag: Music
Music search engine Seeqpod threatens to sell its source code
Following legal action from the major music labels, music search engine Seeqpod is trying a novel strategy – selling its source code to third-party developers. It’s hope is to create hundreds of clones, all operated individually, so that even if the main site is taken down, the technology is still accessible.
It’s a remarkably defiant strategy. Seeqpod claims that its service is legal because it doesn’t host any infringing files itself – just points searchers to them. Although US companies might be fearful of legal action, other countries around the world might be far more welcoming. As Seeqpod is charging $5,000 for the code, they could make a pretty penny before they’re forced to shut down.
(via Listening Post)
Last.fm bans third party mobile streaming applications
Last.fm has had rather a bad day for PR, making two very big, very bad announcements for its consumers. First of all, the company announced in a forum post they’re removing access to their API for third party mobile applications. That means that users of Mobbler on S60, Pocket Scrobbler on Windows Mobile, and FlipSide on BlackBerry devices will soon find themselves without a way of listening on the go.
The ‘official’ applications for the iPhone and Android will remain in action, which seems a little odd. If this is a licensing problem, surely the same rules are in place for whatever platform the content is delivered on? Relatedly, the service will also be stopping non-subscribers from accessing the radio APIs, simply because Last.fm wants more money.
Secondly, the company also announced in a blog post that it will begin charging for its previously free service outside of three countries – the UK, the USA and Germany. Customers anywhere else will be charged a fairly slim €3 per month for the service.
The company admits that the reason for this change is because it’s having trouble selling ads outside of these markets. The UK, USA and Germany all have relatively mature ad markets, where funding the service through advertising alone is possible. Outside of these countries, though, the company is having trouble.
What will remain free for all users is the scrobbling aspect of the site – where it charts your music taste and allows you to compare taste with friends and other users, as well as the social network that sits on top of everything. Although I’ve never pushed very hard to fill out my friends list on Last.fm, it’s grown incrementally over the years and now it’s not too bad.
I’m deeply disappointed that I’ll be losing access to Mobbler, even if it was a little rickety and didn’t work properly on the bus. Let’s hope that services like Slacker make their way over this side of the Atlantic sooner rather than later.
YouTube Video of the Day: Synchronised face dancing
Here’s a video to make you glad that none of your friends class themselves as ‘experimental media artists.’ In his latest video, Daito Manabe hooks up four (presumably former) friends to his face visualiser – a device which transforms music into electrical pulses that stimulate the facial muscles.
Portable turntable means DJs have no excuse not to join the party
I’ve done a little DJing before, and while it’s always more fun to be a little distanced from the dancefloor, you do feel like you’re missing something when you’re removed from the party. If only there was some kind of portable turntable so that you were free to move as you pleased. Well wish no more, as some genius has developed the scratchophone!
The Wacom Nextbeat wireless controller for DJs
Wacom, best known for its graphics tablets has suddenly and unexpectedly announced that it’s bringing out a completely different bit of hardware – a DJ controller.
The Wacom Nextbeat contains a pair of digital audio players, a mixer, a sampler and some fx units. All you need to add is a phat pair of speakers, and you’ll be cranking out the tunes faster than you can say: “Have you got anything by the Shaman?”
The interesting bit is that the main circular unit and the dials above can actually be removed from the unit while it’s still operating. If you want to go see what it sounds like for your audience then you can do exactly that, while still retaining tight control of your mix.
It’ll be out sometime this summer in Europe and Japan, but there’s no word on how much it’ll cost. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my hands on one – as a bit of an amatueur DJ, I’d love to give this a whirl in front of an audence and see how it compares to other DJ controllers.
Wacom Nextbeat (via Technabob)
Spotify confirms mobile ambitions, and outlines roadmap
PaidContent UK has a great interview with Daniel Ek, the CEO of the so-good-it-makes-us-weep music streaming service Spotify. It’s very wide-ranging, but the most interesting bits cover Spotify’s plans for the future.
Ek discusses whether Spotify is viable as ad-funded alone – saying: “We launched probably at the worst possible time in 70 years for advertising.” He points out, though, that the service has A-list brands involved and average listening times per user are “over an hour per user per day”.
The other option is funding the service by pushing the site’s premium offering. Although Ek acknowledges that the vast majority of users aren’t paying, he says: “Rest assured, we haven’t really started doing the kind of features that we think will really drive adoption of becoming a paid user.”
What might those features be? Ek discusses user-created radio stations, exclusive interviews and cross-platform interoperability. On that last note, he’s talking about mobile service – the area where Spotify could finally drop the axe on the iPod.
But, like Apple, he wants to do it right: “The success of Spotify is based on its simplicity – we won’t do another mobile thing where it works (only) so-so – we’re going to do it where it’s simple, easy and just works.” He also promises plenty of upgrades for the desktop client in the meantime.
There’s more discussion of Spotify’s plans for launching in the States and Ek’s take on the Pirate Bay court case in the interview – go check it out. Then come back here and let us know in the comments what features would make you pay for a Premium subscription.
Nokia wants to ditch DRM from Comes With Music
Nokia’s “Comes With Music” service, which offers unlimited music for a small amount bundled into the price of the of your phone, is unfortunately hobbled with DRM.
The ways things are set up means that any tracks you download are locked to one handset and one PC and if you want to do anything else, then…. well, you can’t do anything else.
However, Nokia doesn’t want it that way. Nokia understands that music should, in its very nature, be sharable with people you love. That’s why it wants to get rid of the DRM. Nokia’s director of global digital music retail, Adam Mirabella says:
“We have dialogues going with all of our partners and Digital Rights Management-free is also on the roadmap for the future integration of Comes With Music.”
Don’t hold your breath – I doubt we’ll see this for at least a year – but it’d certainly be nice, and would certainly make me retract most of my criticism of the service.
(via Music Ally)
Bebo and Slicethepie announce partnership
Second-tier social network Bebo and innovative fan-funding mechanic Slicethepie have got together to offer an attractive proposition for both Bebo users and bands using the Slicethepie service.
Slicethepie works by crowd-sourcing the A&R process, something that I strongly advocated in my series of posts on innovating digital music. People can invest in bands, and once a band has enough to make an album, any investors get a share of the revenues from selling that album, as well as a credit .
The partnership means that Bebo users will be able to review and rate content on the service, and will be paid a small fee for doing so. Bands that get financed via the Bebo showcase will gain a promotional package that Bebo claims is worth £50k, that’ll include an album launch party, promotion on the Bebo homepage, and exposure to major label A&Rs.
The first “Scout Room” on Bebo will go live this month, so if you’re in a band, it’s definitely worth a look. Just make sure you’ve got a strong presence on Bebo too. What does Bebo get out of it? More bands on a service that’s struggling to compete with Myspace, let alone Facebook’s dominance of the sector.
Spotify signs up a quarter of a million UK users, and 800,000 a million users worldwide
Ad-supported streaming music service Spotify has managed to recruit a quarter of a million UK users to its excellent music service. It’s a nice milestone for the service which is the most exciting thing I’ve seen in digital music for a long time.
But Spotify isn’t resting on its laurels. On its official blog, the company is inviting users to hassle their favourite bands and labels to join the service. They recommend hunting down a band’s label, cross-referencing it with their uber-list of labels they have deals with, and if it doesn’t match, then asking them to email [email protected].
What are you missing that you want to hear on the service? Go hunt them down, and then tell us in the comments below.
(via NMA)
Apple explores new music options – iTunes Pass
This is what I like to see – innovative new ways of buying music that encourages people to actually spend money on bands they love. Venturebeat reports that Apple is experimenting with something called iTunes Pass, which allows fans to buy a pass for a certain group or artist and then get everything that artist releases for a given time period.
Apple’s piloting it with Depeche Mode. You can buy a pass for $19 and you’ll get the band’s new single right now, the album when it comes out, and some other exclusive tracks too. You’ll also get any videos and artwork that the band puts out before June 16th, which is when the pass expires.
All the content you get is DRM-free, though it will show up in Apple’s AAC format. Apple also guarantees that the value of the pass won’t exceed the value of the individual items, so you’re getting a good deal however you look at it.
For my favourite bands, I’d definitely sign up for this. For stuff I’m less excited about, I wouldn’t, but that’s not really the point of the scheme. It’s about making fans feel special, giving bands a greater connection to those people, and maybe actually making some money off music again. Good work, Apple.
Is it something you’d use? What bands would you sign up for if they were offered? Let us know in the comments.
(via Venturebeat)
