The music industry has changed significantly in the last decade alone. Gone are the days when you would enter a store and buy a brand new album. Now, you visit one online store and only buy the songs you like. The world sure has changed for musicians. What has the digital revolution done for musicians of the world? Let’s delve into that, shall we?

The biggest problem that musicians have to currently deal with is that of piracy. File sharing has become so common that it is almost impossible to control. Regardless of whether you are an artist from the old times or a new independent musician, the digital revolution has brought many changes to you and your industry.

Battle of the Labels

One of the biggest changes that have emerged is in the marketing of labels. Previously, record companies would hire scouts that would span their specific regions and look for talent. If sufficient, they show them multiple record deals and offer a large advance as a promotional offer. This was one of the only ways for a rising star to be recognized.

However, the digital revolution changed the entire playing field. An independent label company does not have to work hard to be recognized. All they have to do is use the millions of connections available to them on social media sites. Additionally, they could use video sharing websites such as YouTube to earn fame.

For independent musicians, there is no greater time to launch their own label. Not only is it simpler than ever, it is more affordable than ever.

Reduced Expenses

Social media sites now reach a larger audience than traditional marketing methods do. A record label no longer has to spend millions of dollars in promotion and advertising. All they need to do is release a “teaser trailer” to attract the same audience. Furthermore, the audience on social media websites is specific rather than wide. This makes advertising and promotion more efficient than ever before.

For artists, this has absolutely no effect. This is because such expenses are related to the label company and not the artist.

Shift from CDs to Online Stores

CD sales have dropped by over 40% in the last decade alone. Although disturbing for the music industry, this fact shows how people have switched from CDs to digital downloads.

An increasing number of people are making the move to online stores such as iTunes. These stores offer cheap music downloads. You have probably heard of digital downloading software such as Napster that allowed you to share music on a global scale. However, the music industry defines it as piracy due to the free nature of the shared music.

After the digital revolution, you now have services such as iTunes, Spotify and many more. These digital libraries allow you to legally download songs that you like. Instead of the $25 album, you can now buy the only three songs you like from the album for less than $5. This is a huge saving, especially if you only intend to listen to 3 songs on the entire album. Although artists are still making millions of dollars, they are not making nearly as much as they could.

Streaming Services

Streaming services such as Spotify may be the only hope that the music industry has left. Spotify enables users to listen to their favorite songs but with limits. These limits appeal to both free users and paying users. Considering the numerous advantages that exist if you pay, more users are choosing to pay for their audio.

However, considering the price differences between an entire CD and listening to unlimited music, the former is suffering. However, streaming stores such as Spotify are alleviating the piracy problem. For an artist, companies such as Spotify give them an additional revenue stream.

Initially, the biggest revenue stream that artists had was CD sales. However, they now have multiple sources of revenue that are still able to make up for the loss of CD sales. The biggest problem thus becomes the war against piracy. It seems that the music industry is going to have to find a way to battle piracy if they want their sales to increase.

The iPad. Or the iPad2 or now, just iPad…again. Yeah, it’s really an iPad3. No matter which generation—one through three—we are talking about, the iPad has created a revolution in the world of portable and Internet-connectable devices. The name Apple is recognizable enough as it is, so when great technology comes with it, the name gets even stronger. Nowadays just saying that someone owns an Apple product automatically brings up the status of the product. The iPad in particular is the king among kings in the tablet world. Some may disagree. Some may like other tablets better, but if you look at the numbers, Apple has the largest market share. But the iPad has some interesting non-tablet uses, masks if you will. Let’s take a look at a few of those.

Piano

Some companies like Ion Audio have realized that there is plenty of potential of the huge screen that the iPad delivers to the consumer. With that much space, playing games, watching movies and even playing the piano are possible. Ion Audio offers the Piano Apprentice which is a piano learning system that is available for the iPad and its smaller siblings—the iPod and iPhone. The device is an actual piano device with a keyboard with 25-notes. The device is about the size of a laptop and has a dock for the iPad on the top, right above the keyboard for easy watch-and-learn. All you need is 4 AA batteries, somewhere quiet to listen and you are ready to go. At only $99.99, you can be learning new songs in no time.

Arcade

How many of you enjoy playing the older arcade games? A joystick and a big red button, and you are good to go? Ion Audio to the rescue again. With its iCADE Arcade Cabinet made to fit the Apple iPad or iPad2, you have eight arcade-style buttons and a big, red joystick as your gaming tools. All you need to have the full experience is any one of the iCADE apps available in the iTunes store. The Arcade Cabinet is $99.99 and the 30 available apps range from Free to the highest at $4.99. This means you can be playing Katana Jack and bouncing your way through levels with a simple plug, set and play.

Television/Cookbook

Have you ever been standing in the kitchen with your Cookbook app open or a video from YouTube playing to keep you company or, by extension, showing you how to cook something? How much space do you lose trying to make sure the iPad is safe from where it is? That it won’t get covered in grease. That it won’t get knocked over into the pot. With Belkin’s simple, little device, you can have a cookbook on hand, your video in eye view, without needing to worry about where the iPad is sitting. The Belkin Kitchen Cabinet Mount needs no tools or hardware and is not a permanent fixture, but it can easily be added to any shelf with the secure adjustable clamp or just be stored away for the next cooking or video adventure. The mount costs $49.99 at most electronic stores.

Final Thoughts

There it is. Three special masks specifically made for the iPad. The iPad is not only a tablet, but offers plenty of other ways to use it. Play piano, play a game, cook some food all conveniently and with extra features to make it easier. Whatever you want to do with the iPad, so far, it seems possible.

The Roku is well-known for its streaming media capabilities, but that’s not all this versatile device is known for. If you have never explored the extended capabilities of your Roku player, you’re missing out. From playing your own media to using the box to check your social networking profiles, you’ll get far more use out of the box once you’ve read this.

1. MicroSD card slots. Are you running out of hard drive space between games and Roku channels? All of the Roku models except the basic LT model come with a Micro SD card slot that allows you to expand the system’s internal memory. Micro SD cards come in many different capacities, so you can pick the one that fits your size and budget.

2. Games. If you aren’t in the mood to watch any television shows or movies on the Roku, you have the option of loading games on to the box. Some models, such as the Roku 2 XS, comes with the Angry Birds game preloaded. You play Angry Birds and other Roku compatible games on your television, instead of being stuck at your computer.

3. Personal media playback. The Roku 2 XS comes with a USB port that is compatible with external USB devices. You load your own personal media on one of these devices and connect it to the Roku. Supported file formats include MP4, MOV, MP3, JPG, PNG, and several others.

4. Internet radio. In the mood for music more than streaming movies and shows? Pandora has an app available for the Roku box that brings your stations to the television. You sign in with your Pandora account so you can load all of your custom stations and enjoy your favorite music mixes. If you’d rather listen to your purchased music collection, Roku features iTunes integration so you can stream directly to the box. You don’t need to load iTunes on your computer at all.

5. Watching Sports. Many people stay away from streaming media boxes such as the Roku because they’re afraid that they won’t be able to watch their favorite sports games on television without cable. The Roku box features several packages that cover popular sports such as the UFC and MLB. Sports access is no longer a problem with this streaming media box, and it eliminates yet another barrier in getting rid of your cable service entirely.

The Roku box made a name for itself by supporting many popular streaming media services, such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. However, the added features give it an even better boost in popularity and give you a flexible way to add these applications and features to your television. Instead of purchasing expensive network adapters for your TV to get its own apps to download, or looking for laptop deals with HDMI out, you can simply use a Roku with its built-in wireless connection.

Don’t have a Roku 2 XS? Explore all of its features at Roku’s site, or pick one up for only $90.

Able Planet recently sent me a pair of their Clear Harmony SI1100 sport earphones featuring their LINX AUDIO technology to test out. These are in-ear earphones with a twist, they have rubber hooks or arms that rotate into place behind your ears to keep the earbuds in place. If you’ve ever worn plain in-ear cans, you’ll know they eventually wiggle out no matter how tightly or far in you shove them, especially if you’re doing something active.

The SI1100 come with a hard carrying case, and 3 sets of rubber earbuds of varying sizes. It’s important to pick the ones that fit best, because in-ear headphones can be either too tight and uncomfortable or fall out easily. I thought it had a great fit and while it felt fairly firm and snug when I first put them in, I quickly forgot they were in there. The flexible rubber arms really did a great job of keeping the earphones in place. They are a a bit cumbersome to put on – rotate the arm out, stick the earbud in your ear, then rotate the arm behind your ear. So no, not as quick as say iPhone earphones, but why am I even comparing those to these?! Like anything else, I got used to putting them on after a while. They were much easier to take off – just pull them straight out; the flexible arms makes this easy.

So what about the sound? I found some of my music that feels like it swirls in my head with good headphones (try out some Jean-Michel Jarre – I really like Equinoxe and Oxygene), and the SI1000 showed really great separation. One thing that I’m not a fan of, despite it being a popular trend, is an ‘extra’ bass response. The SI1000 doesn’t fall into the category exactly, but at lower volumes, the frequency response does skew to the bass. At higher volumes – loud enough to block or mute out a lot of external sounds, but not ear-bleeding levels, I thought the frequency response was nicely balanced and the sound was pretty clean.

These are not meant to be noise-canceling, so don’t buy it with that in mind, but it does a much better job of sound isolation than standard earphones, especially with the earbuds already angled for optimum ear insertion.

One feature that I did not test extensively, but that just worked was the iPhone/iPad volume control and mic embedded in one of the headphone. The buttons are fairly small, so you may find them a bit tough to use. But this could be useful if you use these while exercising and don’t want to take them out in order to talk to someone.

While at $80, it may be seen as a bit pricey, if you’re into and can appreciate good fidelity in your music, you should be buying headphones around that price. Headphones/earphones really do fall into the category of ‘you get what you pay for’, and sure there are outliers, but you’ll more than likely get quality commensurate with what you spend for them.

Best Buy announced in March it would close 50 stores across the country and has already closed stores in Kansas City, Mo., and Scottsdale, Ariz., according to a statement released by the company. Prior to this weekend, Best Buy had already notified five stores in Minnesota and a San Antonio store they would be closing.

The statement released Saturday said, “This was not an easy decision to make. We chose these stores carefully, and are working to ensure the impact to our employees will be as minimal as possible, while serving all customers in a convenient and satisfying way. But we also recognize the impact this news has on the people who deserve respect for the contributions they have made to our business.

“We will be working to help these employees find other positions inside Best Buy. If they don’t find new positions, or if they choose not to work at a different location, a transition including severance packages will be available.”

Considering how Best Buy stores are setup, this is not a surprise. Granted the gaming section seems to mimic the market by minimizing the Wii section for the XBOX 360 and Kinect, the personal computing and tablet sections are a mess! Best Buy’s best seller on the tablet side is Apple’s iPad but they hardly give up any room to display the iPad instead displaying all the tablets that sell at a fraction of the speed as the iPad. In the store closest to me they’ve neglected Apple computers altogether. Additionally, Best Buy just does not carry the equipment needed quite often. I went into a store this weekend to purchase an SSD drive and they literally had one drive, an overpriced Intel 128GB. I needed something and the best they could do is get it shipped special at a premium price compared to Newegg.com and Amazon.com. Another area that desperately needs revamping is the media section. The only DVD/Blu-ray’s worth purchasing at Best Buy are the ones on sale, it’s Best Buy’s way of price matching with e-tailers. If the media is not on sale, prepare for a 20-30% mark-up.

In addition to product placement and product stock, Best Buy had the right idea of purchasing online then going into the store to pick-up to save time. Unfortunately the idea has been poorly implemented and it often takes more than 30 minutes to pick-up merchandise because you stand in the same line as returns and other customer care issues.

With all these issues and frustrations from a consumer perspective, Best Buy store closures and the demise of Best Buy altogether is inevitable.

Here is the list of stores will close by the end of this year with the majority of stores closing by May 12.

WaterField Designs provided the Geeks with an iPhone Hint to play with and review. WaterField Designs is a boutique bag and case designer based in San Francisco, the mecca for cool and unique bag and case manufacturers. Founded by a bike messenger, WaterField Designs make bags for bagophiles and have exapanded to cases for everything from Kindles and iPads to iPhones, Macs and even Keyboards.

The iPhone Hint has been designed for those times where you really need to only have your phone, a Driver’s License and some Jacksons or Benjamins.

I received the black iPhone Hint to review and tested the iPhone Hint for roughly a month in various life situations.

The black case is primarily made of leather with a large front window to view the iPhone’s face and a back stretchy material that can hold you credit cards, driver’s license and money. Inside the iPhone pocket is a soft felt-like material to make sure your iPhone remains unscratched. The soft leather is expertly sewn and put together so the inside of the window is layered over by the soft felt inside. Very impressive craftsmanship.

Moving on to functionality, The Hint provides easy access to deposit the iPhone into the iPhone pocket. Placing items in the exterior pocket meant to hold money, drivers license and credit cards is a bit more difficult when the iPhone is in the pocket. I have found removing items from the exterior pocket are impossible without taking the iPhone out of the pocket. This is both good and bad as the stretchy back pocket securely holds your cash and credit cards so they don’t accidentally fall out, but when making purchases you look a little awkward pulling the iPhone out of its pocket first then your credit card or cash. I realized this as an issue for using the Hint while travelling where you need to pull out a credit card to pull your air tickets, then your drivers license for security and credit cards for a coffee then a water and magazine. I realized I was using the product not as intended and noticed WaterField Designs has a product more appropriate to replace your wallet called the iPhone Wallet.

The front window provides the ability to see your iPhone and determine who is texting or calling. As with any other protective case that isn’t simply a film you apply to the iPhone, I had issues responding to a text or typing in a contacts name to call by fat-fingering using the window. This is fairly standard for me.

The iPhone Hint definitely “fits the bill” when you want something light to run to the gym, hang out at a Starbucks or are heading to a friends to catch the game on TV. If you are looking for more of a wallet, check out the iPhone Wallet. In addition to the iPhone Hint and Wallet, WaterField Designs also carries iPad Cases, bags, camera cases, gaming cases and more.

You can purchase the iPhone Hint ($25) and iPhone Wallet ($39) directly from sfbags.com.

(Disclaimer: Gizmos for Geeks received a complimentary review copy of this product.)

The Geeks are excited to announce a new partnership with Deniath.

Who is Deniath? Deniath offers invitation-only access to exclusive 72-hour deals for Geeks like us! You’ve probably seen similar daily deal and flash sale sites before featuring deals on fashion, décor, luxury travel, and spa deals but Deniath tailors to the Geek nation with deals on toys, games, gadgets, art and pop-culture collectibles. Learn more about the brands that help fuel our obsessions for all things geek and discover new products to collect and play with.

The partnership with Deniath allows Gizmos for Geeks readers exclusive sneak peeks, special invite promotions, and other fun promos.

Typically, you would have to be invited by a current member or request an invite through the waitlist since the site is a members only site for superheros, ninjas and secret agents, but the Geeks and Deniath are kicking off the partnership with our first invite promo! By March 19th, 2012, you need to simply email community@deniath.com with “Gizmos for Geeks” in the subject line to receive a free and quick invite.

Take advantage of our partnership and setup your Deniath membership on the Geeks so you can check out today’s deal of the Xappr as featured on Gizmodo, uncrate and Engadget. The Xappr Gun by Metal Compass is a pre-order item which will retail for $34.99 but can be yours for the Deniath price of $24.99 (more than 50 units must be purchased for anyone to get the deal).

Happy hunting!

If you’re heading off to college for the first time, it’s essential that you know what you need to take with you. If you’re already in college, you may find that things are a bit lacking, but can’t quite put your finger on what. Technological gadgets are an absolute must for the modern college student, but which should you pack and which should you leave behind?

We’ve made the decision an easy one! Here are our top five gadgets no college student should be without:

1. Laptop

Sure, you can use your Kindle Fire as a quasi-tablet, and yes, you may have an iPad, but, when it comes down to it, nothing is going to serve you better in college than a laptop. Thanks to their popularity, and the shrinking use of home desktops, laptops are more affordable than ever. From taking notes to completing assignments; listening to music to watching videos, a laptop offers everything you need in one compact piece of machinery.

2. Keurig 1-cup coffee maker

While many students have traditionally packed up the family’s coffee pot and lugged it off to school, it’s time to enter the 21st century! Nothing helps you stay up for those all night cramming sessions like a cup of steaming hot coffee and no machine will serve you better than a Keurig. These single cup brewers ensure that you always have a piping hot cup of Joe and, best of all, there are hundreds of flavor varieties available!

3. Flash Drive

No one likes to think about it but it’s a sad fact of life: laptops die. While you may not want to hold a funeral for your machine, you may want to stomp on it a few times if you haven’t backed up your files! These little gems are a necessary item for anyone who stores important data, like homework, on their computer. Simply plug it in to your USB drive and transfer anything that needs saving to the stick and, when your laptop dies, no one has to grieve.

4. Docking Station

Whether you have an iPod, iPhone or Droid, a docking station is a must. Not only will the station provide you with a speaker system, but it will charge your mobile device; great for those who can’t seem to remember to plug their iPod in for a daily charge. The best docking stations also serve as an alarm clock, negating the need to clutter your desk with more gizmos.

5. Smart Phone

The phone you choose is up to you, but having a cell phone on hand is a necessity. With all of the apps available on both the Android Market and iTunes, your phone can alternate between an organizational tool, a communications tool and a great study partner.

Going to college unprepared isn’t the smartest thing to do. Going to college without these gadgets is even worse! When you’re packing your bags, be sure that you include, at the very least, these five items; you’ll be happy you did.

It looks like 2012 could be the year the 3D printer breaks out. As prices creep down towards $1,000 per unit, 3D printers are now within the reach of small design companies, and it may not be long before they’re in all our homes too. But is it time to buy? Here are three things to consider before becoming an early adopter of 3D printing technology.

1. Assembly

Many low-cost 3D printers require a little technical know-how to get them working. The Thing-O-Matic MakerBot ($1,099) – which looks a little like a fairground toy – is shipped as a jumble of parts. It has four separate motors, various pulleys, drive belts and electronic components. A competitor kit for the RapMan 3D printer took one team three months to assemble, although they say a week is a more realistic build time. The Up! Printer requires no assembly, but costs almost three times more than the MakerBot.

If you’re into manufacturing and design, chances are you’ll have the patience and know-how to put this thing together. If you don’t… why are you buying a 3D printer?

2. Running Costs

Many 3D printers use ABS plastic – a type of common household plastic that’s non-porous and easily recycled. The MakerBot printer uses extruded ABS filament as ‘ink’. It comes on a spool like cable, and you can buy it in a variety of colours. A 1kg spool measuring around 2mm costs around $60, and there are many colours to choose from. But remember: that’s one colour. To make models in different colours, you’ll need a spool for each.

For a 3D printer to be worthwhile, you either need to economise on the colours or save up a good amount of cash for extra spools. Either that or consider a printer that uses paper or, um, food.

3. Waste

If you’re a designer or architect with a 3D printer, you’re going to make prototypes. Lots of your prototypes are going to end up in the recycling bin. But plastic is still difficult to recycle compared to paper. The Mcor Matrix 3D printer uses normal copier paper and water-based adhesive, allowing designers to print multiple iterations of the same project.

Although these ‘paperjet’ printers aren’t new, plastic has been a more popular choice for 3D printing because the machines are so much cheaper, but the cost of the consumables is what sets them apart. The Matrix uses a lot of paper (10 sheets for every millimetre) but the big advantage is in the range of colours it can print. Not only that, but all your misprints can be crushed and recycled along with ordinary paper. One machine can be rented for a year for £10,000. Maybe it’s a good idea to wait until prices for greener 3D printers drop further.

Although many people think of time behind the wheel as the perfect opportunity to catch up with a friend, family member or co-worker over the phone, in reality it can be a truly dangerous activity if you are not properly prepared. Holding a cell phone which talking and especially while talking is a leading cause of car accidents, which can in turn raise your auto insurance payments or worse end your life. Invest in a Bluetooth headset and start talking hands-free. To help you avoid the agony of researching hundreds of models, here’s a list of 4 top-notch BT headsets.

1. Motorola Finiti

This sleek design is one of the most popular Bluetooth headsets. It is also reasonably affordable, coming in well under $100. It has the ability to block out a lot of outside noise, so you can hear the conversation clearly on both ends, whether you are in loud traffic or in a busy building. There are plenty of great features that includes things like voice commands, a helpful addition when it comes to talking in the car; simply speak the name of the person you want to call and avoid fiddling with buttons on your cell phone.

2. Plantronics Voyager Pro UC Headset

Although this model can run up to $200 for some versions, it is a great choice for those who appreciate the many features available. One of the best is the ability to read your incoming text message aloud, an especially handy feature for those who spend a lot of time behind the wheel. Also cool is a unique sensor lets the phone automatically sense when to route incoming calls to the phone and when to direct it to the headset, so you won’t need to manually switch back and forth every time you take the headset on or off.

3. Jawbone Era

This Bluetooth headset stands out from the competition with a unique and comfortable design specifically made to fit the shape and size of each individual ear. This is actually the fifth version of the Jawbone, that’s quite a bit improved from the original. It is considered to be the industry standard for audio, where it will deliver crystal clear sound even in a loud area. The person on the other end of the phone conversation will surely appreciate the loud voice and quiet background noise as well.

4. Samsung WEP300

This small device is best for frequent travelers, who will love that it comes complete with a travel case requiring no outlet to charge for up to several hours. It also comes at a very affordable price (about $39.99) which means it’s a great choice for those who are looking to try out a bluetooth headset for the first time, or those of us who look to jump around. Additionally, it uses and ear bud rather than an over-the-ear set up and comes with two ear bud sizes for maximum comfort.

If you’re going to drive and talk, and honestly, who can blame you if you spend that much time in your car every day, then you absolutely need to get a headset, and while you’re at it, you may as well make it a wireless Bluetooth one.