Tag: music

The convenience of streaming has had divergent effects for the smartphone app developers industry and the reproduction of recorded media industry

In a nutshell, OpenLIVE is about better music. Based on ‘a-la-carte’ downloads (pay per purchase and own the track) OpenLIVE aims are twofold: first,...

That Greek chick had the wrong box Remember Pandora, the curious Greek woman who opened a box containing all the world’s evils, letting the demons...

If you think about it, a startup is a lot like an orchestra. And, putting a few coins in the hat of a busker is a bit like making that initial investment into a new business.

THP is now considered the independent and emerging artists’ viable alternative to world-wide music sharing platform Spotify. It is carving its own path and in doing so allowing for the first time, never-heard-before artists of all genres to carve their own paths too, and expose their music to the listening public and commercial buyers. Club bands and solo artists too can promote their music there to get gigs.

The Alphabet Photography company does two things really well. Firstly, it frames art that is made up of letters of the alphabet, hence the company name. Secondly, it comes up with brilliant Christmas videos as a part of its content marketing strategy. This year's effort is quite delightful.

This parody video has a 20-something asked the Head of MTV why this television channel no longer plays music videos, like it did in the 1990s. If your start up is aimed is about music, or if it's targeting anyone older than, say, 20, there might be something in this for you too.

A founding member of both The Human League and Heaven 17, Martyn is one of the world's leading figures in electronic music. As record producer and artist, he has featured on recordings totaling over 50 million sales worldwide during a 27 year career to date, working with Tina Turner, Terence Trent D’Arby, Chaka Khan, Erasure, Marc Almond, Mavis Staples and many more.

Poor Myspace. It's been on its last air-guitar-riffing, crowd-surf-groping, drug-fuelled stagger for several years now. Indeed, the only thing that has kept its face from plunging into the vomit-filled toilet bowl of obscurity has been the way musicians have used the platform to self-promote... until now.

My business partner, Matt, and I work at MTV, Matt in Digital and me in Marketing. The idea for The Loop was born out of my frustration in finding fresh creative talent - we were overly dependent on word of mouth and incredible people were slipping through the net. On the flip side, Matt, being the digital guy, was constantly being asked by other creatives for advice on the best way to build their own websites to showcase their work online and promote themselves to potential employers. We brought these two frustrations together and The Loop was born.

ChatRoulette might not be your cup of tea, but this compilation video of Piano Chat Improv Guy is impressive, hilarious and does a better job of explaining what ChatRoulette is all about than any news article could. It's been viewed almost 2.4 million times on YouTube in just over a week. And you're about to see why.

Sure, it's a film-clip for a rock band (hardly business related). But it, nonetheless, showcases a feat of extreme commercial creativity likely to inspire the mad inventor in all of us.

What do tech-head muso students do in their spare time? Well the ones at Stanford University in California started an orchestra in which every member has the same instrument with the capacity to produce a near limitless variety of sound. As you can see in this excellent New York Times video profile (read the accompanying article here), the end result is avant-guarde to say the least (think Yo Yo Ma on LSD).

What do tech-head muso students do in their spare time? Well the ones at Stanford University in California started an orchestra in which every member has the same instrument with the capacity to produce a near limitless variety of sound. As you can see in this excellent New York Times video profile (read the accompanying article here), the end result is avant-guarde to say the least (think Yo Yo Ma on LSD).

OK, so this isn't even loosely related to business, but some things just need to be seen. Like the moon landing, and 9/11. And Bohemian Rhapsody performed by The Muppets. Enjoy.

Former Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania record story proprietor Paul Mawhinney owns about one million record albums and about a million and a half record singles, making his the world's largest record collection. This fascinating short documentary explores how he built it and, due to a struggling record industry and his own ill health, why he was forced to close his store is now selling his collection. It's a poignant glimpse at impermanence; of a passionate human life buffeted by impersonal market machinations.

Concert Vault is a simple, free app that adds another dimension to the humble iPod concept. Lazy Sunday afternoons with the speaker jack plugged into the iPhone, listening to concerts you were too poor or too unborn to attend are a real treat.

A feel-good clip to end the week. This version of the Ben E. King classic, "Stand By Me", is a collaboration between 35 street...

A feel-good clip to end the week. This version of the Ben E. King classic, "Stand By Me", is a collaboration between 35 street...

The era of vinyl albums is a distant memory for all but a few old skool DJs and retro trendoids. But it doesn't mean we can't celebrate vinyl's beloved role in history by hanging recycled albums on our walls as a permanent reminder of time passed. The Grateful Thread’s recycled vinyl wall clocks are as cool as many of the records they are made from.