It makes me feel really old to admit it, but it's been 15 years since R.E.M.'s classic album "Automatic for the People" came out.
Now the music blog Stereogum is offering a tribute album to "Automatic for the People" called "Drive XV."
The free album download includes songs covered by artists including the Meat Puppets, Rogue Waves, Dr. Dog, Jana Hunter, You Say Party! We Say Die!, and the Shout Out Louds.
Did I mention, it's FREE?
Showing posts with label mp3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mp3. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Amazon.com Starts MP3 Store: Cheaper than iTunes
Amazon.com is the latest challenger to Apple's iTunes store, announcing that it has started its "Amazon MP3" service that sells songs and albums for less than iTunes... and without digital rights management (DRM) restrictions.
That means that the songs you download from Amazon can be copied and played on any music player, and copied as many times to as many devices as you want.
Single songs will sell for 89 cents and up; albums range from $5.99 to $8.99. On iTunes songs sell for 99 cents, with albums going for $9.99 and up. You can buy DRM-free songs from iTunes, but it'll cost you $1.29.
Amazon MP3 doesn't have nearly as large a selection as the iTunes store, however. Of the music mega-giants, Sony BMG and Warner Music are not offering any titles on Amazon's store; Universal and EMI are offering only certain titles.
The home page of Amazon MP3 lists the top-selling songs and albums, giving you an idea of the digital downloads that are available.
With its extensive market reach and marketing power, Amazon MP3 may become a true competitor for the iTunes Store.
That means that the songs you download from Amazon can be copied and played on any music player, and copied as many times to as many devices as you want.
Single songs will sell for 89 cents and up; albums range from $5.99 to $8.99. On iTunes songs sell for 99 cents, with albums going for $9.99 and up. You can buy DRM-free songs from iTunes, but it'll cost you $1.29.
Amazon MP3 doesn't have nearly as large a selection as the iTunes store, however. Of the music mega-giants, Sony BMG and Warner Music are not offering any titles on Amazon's store; Universal and EMI are offering only certain titles.
The home page of Amazon MP3 lists the top-selling songs and albums, giving you an idea of the digital downloads that are available.
With its extensive market reach and marketing power, Amazon MP3 may become a true competitor for the iTunes Store.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
New iPod Risk: Be Still, My Beating Heart
Using an iPod can be hazardous to your health, and it can be life threatening for some people. There have long been reports that playing music too loud can permanently harm hearing, but recent studies have should that iPods can cause cardiac implantable pacemakers to malfunction by interfering with the electromagnetic equipment monitoring the heart, according to a study reported by CNN and other news outlets.
As the study reports, "Electrical interference was detected half of the time when the iPod was held just 2 inches from the patient's chest for 5 to 10 seconds." Apple's iPod was the only portable music player tested in the study. The study looked at 100 patients, whose mean age was 77. In some cases, the article noted, iPods caused interference when they were held as far as 18 inches from the chest. The iPods were found to interfere with the pacemaker's telemetry equipment, which caused the device to misread the heart's pacing and in one case caused the pacemaker to stop functioning altogether.
Of course, as one of the authors of the study notes, most people who use pacemakersare not iPod users, so it's not known how often this problem actually occurs in the real world.
As the study reports, "Electrical interference was detected half of the time when the iPod was held just 2 inches from the patient's chest for 5 to 10 seconds." Apple's iPod was the only portable music player tested in the study. The study looked at 100 patients, whose mean age was 77. In some cases, the article noted, iPods caused interference when they were held as far as 18 inches from the chest. The iPods were found to interfere with the pacemaker's telemetry equipment, which caused the device to misread the heart's pacing and in one case caused the pacemaker to stop functioning altogether.
Of course, as one of the authors of the study notes, most people who use pacemakersare not iPod users, so it's not known how often this problem actually occurs in the real world.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Steve Jobs Shakes Up the Tech World
It's been quite a new year for Steve Jobs, and we haven't even reached Valentine's Day yet. Jobs, the chairman of Apple Inc. (which recently dropped the word "Computer" from its corporate name), first shook up the cellphone/PDA industry in January when he introduced the iPhone at MacWorld. Cellphone makers immediately began looking at their product portfolios and models in the pipeline, to see what changes they might want to make in response to them.
Also at MacWorld, Jobs introduced the further evolution of AppleTV, the company's system for playing video and TV content over a Mac computer that serves as a digital entertainment hub.
More recently, Jobs poked a finger in the eye of the record labels and recording industry when he called for the elimination of digital rights management (DRM), the security technology that prevents audio recordings from being copied. Many people saw this as an odd call for Jobs to make, since Apple's online iTunes store includes DRM intself, meaning that music bought from that store can only be played on Apple's iPod devices.
Computing, audio and video, home entertainment, cellphones, and more... what's next for Jobs?
Also at MacWorld, Jobs introduced the further evolution of AppleTV, the company's system for playing video and TV content over a Mac computer that serves as a digital entertainment hub.
More recently, Jobs poked a finger in the eye of the record labels and recording industry when he called for the elimination of digital rights management (DRM), the security technology that prevents audio recordings from being copied. Many people saw this as an odd call for Jobs to make, since Apple's online iTunes store includes DRM intself, meaning that music bought from that store can only be played on Apple's iPod devices.
Computing, audio and video, home entertainment, cellphones, and more... what's next for Jobs?
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Record Companies Turn the Tables on Downloaders
Facing slumping sales and increased online piracy, record companies have decided to turn lemons into lemonade. Companies have started planting advertiser-sponsored video clips of their artists on video sharing sites–the exact same kind of sites they've been battling for years.
The Wall Street Journal noted in October, for example, that rapper Jay-Z authorized a video clip from one of his summer concerts in New York to be placed on a variety of illegal music-sharing cites. The action occurred at the request of Coca-Cola, the Journal said, and the clip included promotions for Coke.
While record companies have usually battled file-sharing sites by planting fake "decoy" files to thwart and frustrate downloaders, this new tack by Jay-Z recognizes that the people who download files are also some of the biggest music fans and buyers, and that it may be more in their interest to market to them rather than sue them. So the decoy files being planted on leading file-sharing sites contain promotional materials, which are then seen by eager fans. So when fans turn to the file networks for purposes of piracy, they're getting a marketing message instead.
The article notes that other artists including Audioslave and Ice Cube have also benefited from decoy files, putting bits of a song into the files and promising that the user and this companions will be able to stream the entire song once the file is forwarded to a certain number of people.
The Wall Street Journal noted in October, for example, that rapper Jay-Z authorized a video clip from one of his summer concerts in New York to be placed on a variety of illegal music-sharing cites. The action occurred at the request of Coca-Cola, the Journal said, and the clip included promotions for Coke.
While record companies have usually battled file-sharing sites by planting fake "decoy" files to thwart and frustrate downloaders, this new tack by Jay-Z recognizes that the people who download files are also some of the biggest music fans and buyers, and that it may be more in their interest to market to them rather than sue them. So the decoy files being planted on leading file-sharing sites contain promotional materials, which are then seen by eager fans. So when fans turn to the file networks for purposes of piracy, they're getting a marketing message instead.
The article notes that other artists including Audioslave and Ice Cube have also benefited from decoy files, putting bits of a song into the files and promising that the user and this companions will be able to stream the entire song once the file is forwarded to a certain number of people.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Russian Download Site– Great Deal or Pirated Music?
Russian Web site All of MP3 has been pleasing customers but irritating the recording industry by selling low-priced MP3 music downloads. The site charges as much for an entire album as other sites charge for a single song, and also lets users download music in a variety of formats and quality levels, but it has been accused of violating copyright laws.
Mediaservices, the Moscow firm that owns All of MP3, recently held an online news conference with reporters to counteract the criticism and to insist that it is running a legal business, not a pirated music site. All of MP3 addresses the issue head-on at its Web site, insisting that its business is authorized by the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS) and by the Russian copyright agency.
The company also claims to pay 15% of each sale to ROMS for royalties, which it says is responsible for paying the copyright owners. Mediaservices says that it has offered to pay royalties to the record companies but has been rebuffed. But Mediaservices has never had a license from the major recording companies to sell their music to begin with, which experts have said is a requirement under U.S. law.
The major record companies have copyright infringement lawsuits pending in Britain against the operators of All of MP3.
All of MP3's Web site says that the license fees for all downloaded materials are paid in accordance with Russian copyright law, but notes that the buyer is solely repsonsible for the use and distribution of materials from the site. "This responsibility is dependent on the national legislation in each user's country of residence," the site notes. It continues, "The Administration of AllOFMP3.com does not possess information on the laws of each particular country and is not responsible for the actions of foreign users."
So basically they're putting the onus of legality on the user. I know a number of people who have bought entire music libraries from the site; at pennies per track, it's very affordable to do so. Will the recording industry go after people who buy music from All of MP3?
Not likely; the site is still a relatively little-known player in the music download market. Sounds like the record companies will instead institute more lawsuits like the one in England, seeking to shut down All of MP3's operators in individual countries. For now the company seems to be operating in a legal gray area. We'll need to stay tuned to see what happens next.
Mediaservices, the Moscow firm that owns All of MP3, recently held an online news conference with reporters to counteract the criticism and to insist that it is running a legal business, not a pirated music site. All of MP3 addresses the issue head-on at its Web site, insisting that its business is authorized by the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS) and by the Russian copyright agency.
The company also claims to pay 15% of each sale to ROMS for royalties, which it says is responsible for paying the copyright owners. Mediaservices says that it has offered to pay royalties to the record companies but has been rebuffed. But Mediaservices has never had a license from the major recording companies to sell their music to begin with, which experts have said is a requirement under U.S. law.
The major record companies have copyright infringement lawsuits pending in Britain against the operators of All of MP3.
All of MP3's Web site says that the license fees for all downloaded materials are paid in accordance with Russian copyright law, but notes that the buyer is solely repsonsible for the use and distribution of materials from the site. "This responsibility is dependent on the national legislation in each user's country of residence," the site notes. It continues, "The Administration of AllOFMP3.com does not possess information on the laws of each particular country and is not responsible for the actions of foreign users."
So basically they're putting the onus of legality on the user. I know a number of people who have bought entire music libraries from the site; at pennies per track, it's very affordable to do so. Will the recording industry go after people who buy music from All of MP3?
Not likely; the site is still a relatively little-known player in the music download market. Sounds like the record companies will instead institute more lawsuits like the one in England, seeking to shut down All of MP3's operators in individual countries. For now the company seems to be operating in a legal gray area. We'll need to stay tuned to see what happens next.
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