hypebot

Vote For MTV's O Music Awards' Hottest Music Technology NILF

2012-05-24T12:57:00-04:00

The MTV O Music Awards has listed out the hottest coders, entrepreneurs, writers, and others of the like who work in music and technology. Obviously, this category is one that we hold near and dear to our hearts, but admittedly we were all just a little bummed that none of us made the list… =(

Anyway, check out the list below and vote for your favorite music tech NILF (while we go hit the gym):

1. Ashley Simon, Media Partnerships at Foursquare

2. Contessa Gayles, Associate Editor of AOL Music

Eliot Van Buskirk, Editor of Evolver.fm

Jenna Wortham, Tech Reporter for the New York Times

Maggie Vail, Co-founder of CASH Music

Matthew Rosenberg, Co-founder of Fast Society

Michael Schneider, CEO of Mobile Roadie

Peggy Wang, Writer for Buzzfeed; Member of The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

Sean Parker, Co-founder of Napster

Tatiana Simonian, Head of Music at Twitter

This post is by regular Hypebot contributor and independent music business professional & musician, Hisham Dahud (@HishamDahud)

Rdio Plans To Compensate Artists For Bringing In Subscribers

2012-05-24T11:51:34-04:00

In a move that could potentially shift the favoritism of artists towards one music subscription service, Rdio is working on a plan to pay artists for bringing their service new subscribers, according to Billboard. This could be a good move to gain the endorsement of artists. But more importantly for Rdio, it could help them address their growing need for more subscribers, as their market share lands somewhere behind larger players such as Spotify and Rhapsody.

Subscription services paying artists based on something other than how often their music is played could possibly shift the perception of what a streaming service is to the wider music community. As Billboard.biz reports, one manager who has spoken with Rdio about the program frames the plan as a sort of “bounty” for each new subscriber that the artists bring ($10 per new subscriber was the mentioned amount).

Of course, for this plan to work, the artists need to be on board. Likely to be more interested in participating will be the smaller artists and bands, which can view a “finder's fee” of $10 per subscriber as a relatively viable source of band revenue. However, Rdio will definitely still need to attract larger artists due to their influence over larger tribes people.

In a time when artists are struggling the harder than ever to find ways to make a living just so they can continue making their art, music services that benefit directly and indirectly from them are often seen in a negative light. Lousy royalty payments and fuzzy accounting practices have caused a sort of disconnect between artists and those music services, but this move by Rdio, to directly put monies into the pockets of artists, could be the first step in rebuilding that bridge, and if proven successful, could be pave the way for more artist-focused business models in the future.

This post is by regular Hypebot contributor and independent music business professional & musician, Hisham Dahud (@HishamDahud)

File Sharing Research Supports Adaptation As Best Industry Reponse

2012-05-24T10:58:00-04:00

A recent study from a researcher at NC State University in Raleigh found connections between increased filesharing of leaked albums and increased sales of those albums. The findings were a bit limited but it correlates nicely with an overview of filesharing research conducted by Drew Wilson at ZeroPaid. Wilson took a close look at nineteen academic studies of filesharing that, taken as a whole, suggest industry adaptation may be the most productive path forward.

Response to research from NC State seemed a bit overly enthusiastic given the limits of the study by Robert G. Hammond:

"The results strongly suggest that an album beneﬁts from increased ﬁle sharing: an album that became available in ﬁle-sharing networks one month earlier would sell 60 additional units. This increase is sales is small relativeto other factors that have been found to aﬀect album sales. I conclude with an investigationof the distributional eﬀects of ﬁle sharing on sales and ﬁnd that ﬁle sharing beneﬁts more established and popular artists but not newer and smaller artists."

Positive results for those who advocate treating filesharing as a form of marketing but not a big enough boost for a resounding victory on that front.

ZeroPaid's Drew Wilson has been looking closely at 19 similar studies from the last seven years. In addition to sharing his strongly articulated perspective, Wilson includes the links to the source which are sometimes held behind academic paywalls.

Wilson includes enough quotations from each source to make it clear that many of them do support strong copyright enforcement. But even the most ardent litigators also speak to adaptation with a focus on such responses as making music more readily available at a price that clearly takes into account digital production savings.

However, keep in mind that many of these studies were conducted before new streaming services such as Spotify, a wide range of web radio-licensed experiments and new ecommerce outlets such as Google Play emerged. So availability and pricing are showing some innovation.

Another positive approach is to maximize the marketing potential of filesharing networks as did Pretty Lights with BitTorrent. Counting Crows took a more official route recently with a Featured BitTorrent Bundle.

Singer Adam Duritz seized the opportunity to build his tech profile with odes to BitTorrent and Twitter in tech media outlets.

Marketing benefits will clearly vary as creative responsives to new and sometimes unauthorized channels for music distribution. But the primary lesson of all this research is to find that making music as widely available at a price seen as fair is key to maximizing music sales.

Hypebot Features Writer Clyde Smith blogs about business at Flux Research: Business Changes and about dance at All World Dance: News. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

This Week's iTunes Top Songs, Albums & Apps

2012-05-24T10:44:44-04:00

For the week of 5/21/2012

Top Songs
1."Call Me Maybe",Carly Rae Jepsen
2."Payphone (feat. Wiz Khalifa)",Maroon 5
3."Somebody That I Used to Know",Gotye
4."Starships",Nicki Minaj
5."Wild Ones (feat. Sia)",Flo Rida

MORE:

6,"We Are Young",Fun.
7,"Boyfriend",Justin Bieber
8,"What Makes You Beautiful",One Direction
9,"Dance Again (feat. Pitbull)",Jennifer Lopez
10,"Drive By",Train

Top Albums
1,"Trespassing",Adam Lambert
2,"Rize of the Fenix",Tenacious D
3,"Born and Raised",John Mayer
4,"Bloom",Beach House
5,"Not Your Kind of People",Garbage
6,"Blown Away",Carrie Underwood
7,"21",ADELE
8,"Glee: The Music - The Graduation Album",Glee Cast
9,"Up All Night",One Direction
10,"The Music of SMASH (Soundtrack)",SMASH Cast

APP STORE

Top Paid iPhone Apps:
1. iTranslate Voice, Sonico GmbH
2. Angry Birds Space, Rovio Mobile Ltd.
3. Flick Home Run !, infinity pocket
4. MyCalendar Mobile, K-Factor Media, LLC.
5. WhatsApp Messenger, WhatsApp Inc.
6. Camera+, Tap Tap Tap LLC
7. "Free Music Download Pro" - Downloader and Player, BSOSoft
8. Cut the Rope, Chillingo Ltd
9. Clear Vision (17+), FDG Entertainment
10. Draw Something by OMGPOP, OMGPOP

Top Free iPhone Apps:
1. I'd Cap That, Krisp
2. 100 Floors, Tobi Apps Limited
3. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?® & Friends Free, Ludia
4. Logos Quiz Game, AticoD
5. Line Surfer, Robert Szeleney
6. Socialcam Video Camera, Justin.tv
7. Instagram, Burbn, Inc.
8. Highway Rider, Battery Acid Games
9. Facebook Messenger, Facebook, Inc.
10. Cheats for 100 Floors:), Blue Pill Inc.

Top Paid iPad Apps:
1. Bejeweled HD, PopCap
2. Angry Birds Space HD, Rovio Mobile Ltd.
3. Fruit Ninja HD, Halfbrick Studios
4. Where's My Water?, Disney
5. Pages, Apple
6. Notability - Take Notes & Annotate PDFs with Dropbox Sync, Ginger Labs
7. Potty Time with Elmo, Sesame Street
8. Draw Something by OMGPOP, OMGPOP
9. Penultimate, Cocoa Box Design LLC
10. iPhoto, Apple

Top Free iPad Apps:
1. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? & Friends Free, Ludia
2. Highway Rider, Battery Acid Games
3. Skype for iPad, Skype Software S.a.r.l
4. iBooks, Apple
5. Logos Quiz Game, AticoD
6. MotoHeroz HD, Ubisoft
7. Feed Me Oil HD, Chillingo Ltd
8. NinJump Deluxe HD Free, Backflip Studios
9. Facebook, Facebook, Inc.
10. The Weather Channel for iPad, The Weather Channel Interactive

Martin Atkins Has A Kickstarter Campaign & Why You Need To Give A Fuck

2012-05-24T10:30:00-04:00

Martin Atkins has a Kickstarter campaign to fund his new book Band:Smart. I made a pledge, and you should too. Here's why: The "advice for musicians" space is overcrowded, and to filter out the crap, we need to support the people that have actually lived what it is they're trying to tell us. As a touring musician, indie label owner and longtime participant in rock's underbelly, Martin Atkins knows what the fuck he's talking about.

That Martin delivers his advice with a heavy dose of expletive laced humor, just makes him that much more special. His last book was titled "Welcome To The Music Business You're Fucked". If we each gave $1 for every time we've thought that and not said it, this book would be funded in seconds.

If you pledge any amount to the new project one "fuck" will be inserted into Band:Smart. Martin's goal is to break the world record for uses of the word "fuck" in a book. Your name will also be added to a thank you section that will appear at the end of the book.

Donate to Martin Atkins' Band:Smart Kickstarter campaign now.

A Streaming Music Service You've Never Heard Of Has 10.5 Million Active Users

2012-05-24T10:15:00-04:00

Dhingana, a legal Indian music streaming service, recently surpassed 10.5 million monthly active visitors, becoming the largest legal Indian music streaming service. It is a social music streaming service that allows users to discover and enjoy Bollywood and Indian music, and is accessed by users across 220+ countries / territories every month. Dhingana is also said to have a collection of over 350,000 songs across 35 different genres available legally and for free.

The company released a set of usage statistics that provide an idea of how music streaming has become a mainstream activity for a majority of Indian Internet users, both on their PCs and laptops, as well as mobile devices.

The stats and figures:

Dhingana receives over 4.5 million monthly active visitors from its mobile apps
Dhingana adds over 200,000 new users per month.
Dhingana mobile apps are downloaded close to 10,000 times each day.
Almost 100 Million minutes of music served every month
Over 60% web traffic from India
Of total Android traffic, Dhingana receives 68% traffic from India
Of total Nokia traffic, Dhingana receives 98% traffic from India
Of total BlackBerry traffic, Dhingana receives 50% traffic from India
Of total iPhone traffic, Dhingana receives 30% traffic from India

"We are excited to announce our usage statistics, which show that we are the largest player in the Indian music streaming industry today,“ said Snehal Shinde, CEO and Co-founder of Dhingana. “We believe this is the result of our strong focus on mobile devices, as well as continuous efforts towards providing the best and largest collection of music in the Indian music space spanning across 300+ labels like T-Series, Saregama, Tips, Venus, Aditya and many others.”

Dhingana also released statistics regarding their user base, as well as a recent tie-up with Facebook:

Facebook users listen two times longer than other users on the web, and the average daily user listens for 15 mins.
Over three-quarters of Dhingana's listeners are between the ages of 18-35, and over 68% are male.
Dhingana's top musical genre is Hindi, followed by Punjabi, Marathi, Telugu and Tamil.

"We are growing at a phenomenal pace and adding close to 200,000 users every month,” said Swapnil Shinde, Co-Founder & COO. Also, our partnership with Facebook is showing great results with Facebook users listening to music twice as long than web. We have always believed that social music discovery is the way forward for Indian music and the results confirm that our listeners are consuming more music when they listen to it together with friends on Facebook."

Dhingana originally launched as a streaming music service for the web in 2007, but has since offered apps for every major mobile device, including Android, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry and Nokia smartphones.

This post is by regular Hypebot contributor and independent music business professional & musician, Hisham Dahud (@HishamDahud)

How to Get Gigs on Sonicbids

2012-05-24T09:00:06-04:00

How do you get gigs? Simon Tam gives some practical advice on how to use Sonicbids to get gigs and his thoughts on the site. Check out the tips and if you’ve used Sonicbids, let us know what has worked for you.

“Artists that get in the door first show initiative and have a better chance of getting in (as opposed to those who submit last, after most of the decisions have already been made).”

(Read On)

NEWS BRIEF: Future Of EMI, Skaker Adds Music Partners, EDMbiz, Rickroll Trouble, Tape.tv & More

2012-05-24T07:34:00-04:00

Two views of EMI + Universal: Losing EMI to Universal would be a tragedy, says Pete Waterman. But an EMI exec says, "Universal didn't buy us to destroy us." Or did it? Of course, the deal isn't quite done yet...

Shaker’s 3D hangout/nightclub built on top of Facebook will launch on June 8th with a little help from Live Nation and BandPage (TechCrunch) Music is central to Shaker with Troy Carter and Scooter Braun among early investors.
EDMbiz adds Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino and Lollapalooza Founder Perry Farrell to speakers list.

MORE:

Rickroll Meme Destroyed By Copyright Takedown (Torrentfreak)
Tape.tv Raises $6.2 Million To Begin An International Roll-Out. (TechCrunch) It operates like a mix between an online version of MTV and Pandora.
Mobile App Growth Led by Video Sharing: Is YouTube in the Crosshairs? Maybe so, according to an analysis by Flurry.
Spotify Deploys Salesforce Rypple for Social Enterprise (CIO) Digital music service Spotify is using employee performance management software from Salesforce.com to drive engagement within the company and make giving feedback more social.
6 Spotify Apps for Finding New Music (Mashable)
New ‘radically simplified’ WordPress is on the way (paidContent)

Pandora Losses Widen, But Stock Surges As Listeners Rise To 52 Million

2012-05-23T17:57:59-04:00

(UPDATED) Despite a spike in revenue, higher costs drove much wider losses as Pandora reported to it's Q1 2013 to Wall Street. The company reported a loss of $20.2 million on revenue of $80 million, compared with $6.8 million for the same quarter last year. But the loss was smaller than analysts had expected and Pandora stock jumped 16% after adding about 3.5% in the regular session.

This quarter Pandora averaged 50 million active users a month who generated more than 3.09 billion listening hours across. Pandora now captures a record share of 5.95% of total U.S. radio listening.

Pandora projected a per-share adjusted loss of 3 cents to 5 cents on revenue of $99 million to $101 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters recently expected a loss of 3 cents and revenue of $100 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Slowbizz Shifts To Pinterest To Grow Global House Concert Network

2012-05-23T13:38:00-04:00

(UPDATED) If you're having trouble growing your own network, why not use some else's? That's the motivation behind global house concert network Slowbizz's shift of their entire artist discovery platform to hot social image network Pineterest. "We strongly believe that Pinterest is simply an awesome platform to like, love & share great content," according the startup. "This is the place to be seen & heard." Here's how it works:

"We will from now on redirect all the traffic leading to Slowbizz.com to our Pinterest Slowbizz boa rd," says the company. "This move will enable tens of millions of Pinterest users to stumble upon the artists and potentially to book a house concert via the dedicated links added to the videos descriptions."

Slowbizz is still maintaining artist profiles and more on their blog. New artist can apply to be part of the program and are accepted as soon as they reach 50 votes.

Why Radio Plays Same 20 Songs: The Sad Truth Of Media Consolidation [INFOGRAPHIC]

2012-05-23T12:03:26-04:00

If you’ve ever tuned into terrestrial radio in your car, at home or at the office, then you’re well aware that commercial radio stations tend to play the same songs in rotation over and over again. Is it because these songs are so hot that people are just demanding stations play them? Hardly. The sad truth of the matter is that only six companies control 90% of the media: GE, Newscorp, Disney, Viacom, and Time Warner (compared to 1983 when roughly 50 companies owned the media).

Consolidation of media has lead to far less diversity in programming and ownership, with far fewer voices being heard. Media consolidation has heavily affected the balance and diversity of today's music on terrestrial radio. This is great news if you’re Drake, Lil Wayne, Lady Gaga and the like, but not so great if you’re just about anybody else.

The below infographic, first presented by Frugal Dad, displays exactly what the consolidation of our media looks like:

Click on image to enlarge

Source: Frugal dad

Since You Can't Beat Apple, Join Them: Sony Music Unlimited Bows iOS Apps On Friday

2012-05-23T11:37:00-04:00

Guest post by Eliot Van Buskirk of Evolver.fm.

When Sony Entertainment Network chief Tim Schaaf told Evolver.fm in an exclusive interview last December that Sony was working on an Apple iOS app for its unlimited music subscription, Sony Music Unlimited, we took it as a sign that Sony was committed to reversing its tradition of developing music services mainly for its own hardware.

After all, Sony’s in a tricky spot — unlike, Spotify, Rhapsody, MOG, or Rdio, it’s part of a massive conglomerate that includes consumer electronics, gaming machines, computers, and more. So it’s no surprise that when Sony launched its music store eons ago, it only worked with Sony hardware.

These are different times. Sony now has no choice but to join Apple, because it certainly hasn’t beat it, where smartphones and tablets are concerned. Even as it sells smartphones and tablets that run on Android, Sony will join the Apple iOS ecosystem on Friday with a version of Sony Music Unlimited that runs on iOS. (Sony Music Entertainment already had an Android app, of course.)

“With the proliferation of connected devices, consumers expect complete access to their digital entertainment and demand a consistent experience regardless of the device,” said President of Sony Network Entertainment International Tim Schaaff in a statement.

“We want to let users pick up their favorite device and crank up the Music Unlimited service at any time,” added Sony Network Entertainment International vice president and general manager of digital video and music services Michael Aragon, also in a statement. “With the addition of the new iPhone and iPod touch app, users with a Basic or Premium subscription can listen to their favorite songs across a number of the most popular connected devices – in and out of the home.”

The Sony Music Unlimited subscription includes access to over 15 million songs. The plan options are unique, in that the radio-only version is not free (a la Pandora), but on the plus side, contains no ads. That one costs $4 per month. Sony also offers the industry standard price of $10/month for the version that lets you play any song on demand.

Most unlimited music subscriptions include more or less the same music. So why would someone choose Sony instead of, say, Spotify? The main selling point remains Sony’s other hardware. If you want to subscribe to music and also use a PlayStation gaming console and/or Sony Bravia television, going with Sony will let you listen to your on-demand music collection across all of your devices — and as of Friday, that will include the iPhone too.

For more on the Sony Music Unlimited apps, see the official description.

MusicHype Identifies Top Fans, Creates “Welcomed Knock on the Door” Approach to Fan Marketing

2012-05-23T11:07:04-04:00

MusicHype’s approach to artist-to-fan marketing becomes evident after just one look at their company motto: “Every fan counts, but some count more than others.” This philosophy stems from the well proven principle that those top tiered fans, those super fans, will account for the majority of an artist’s revenue stream; and will ultimately be largely responsible for their success. The problem for most artists (and those who support them) however, has always been the difficulty of specifically targeting those fans that are the most receptive to marketing messages based on their current interactivity and interest with the artist. MusicHype looks to solve that, by allowing artists and marketers to strike while the iron is hot.

MusicHype is a web-platform where bands and artists can identify their biggest fans, and then give those fans the recognition they deserve. In essence, what MusicHype does is gather up real-time information across all the major social networks and music services, and pulls that information together so that bands and artists can easily see who their biggest and most active fans are.

The service incorporates APIs of social and music sites around the web (and mobile) including Facebook, Twitter, Instragram, Youtube, Foursquare, SoundCloud, Spotify, Rdio, Deezer, and Last.fm (Grooveshark and Pinterest are said to be in the works as of this writing). Users can run specific campaigns, gather geographical intelligence on fans’ hotspots, and download reports right from their dashboard.

“MusicHype seeks to understand how a fan organically interacts with the artist and facilitates a welcomed knock on the door for artists and marketers,” said MusicHype CEO, Kevin King. “We want them to find fans that are ready to receive.”

One particular feature that caught my eye was the “Buzz” category, where users can see which service is trending amongst their fans and alerts them of a heighted amount of activity. This is great for seeing where your most active fans are and allows you to focus your efforts on those networks that will directly (and indirectly) account for ROI.

Not just limited to the industry side, fans themselves can also join in on the platform. Artists and bands can ask their fans to allow MusicHype to gather music information based on their everyday activity, looking to see how supportive their fans really are. It’s a cool way for those truly passionate fans to know that their devotion is not going unnoticed, and could be a subtle encouragement factor for them to continue evangelizing the music. Fans can opt in or out of MusicHype at any time, and it only tracks the services that the fans give permission to look at. Fans also get their own pages that display their top fan rankings for each artist they love.

MusicHype is currently in beta mode and offering a limited number of invites to Hypebot readers. Join here and use the code HYPEBOT (all caps). First in, first served.

Check out the video below to learn more:

Can You Recover From Free Music?

2012-05-23T10:34:59-04:00

Free music is a touchy subject among some musicians. On Music Think Tank, Mark Knight feels that giving away music for free may be a mistake and recommends another approach to tackling free music. What do you think?

“Unless you have the benefit of on-going PR support or are reaching mass audiences through radio airplay, giving away your core product might just be a mistake you’ll never recover from.”

(Read On)

Google Adds Working Moog Synthesizer To Homepage - #Awesome

2012-05-23T10:18:14-04:00

You have to admit that Google creating a functioning Moog Synthesizer for their home page doodle is pretty awesome. They've even added a record button. Post links to your musical creations on our Hypebot Facebook page for all to hear... We'll highlight the best.

Indie Rock Band Cab 20 Pitch For Funding On ABC TV's Shark Tank

2012-05-23T10:02:06-04:00

Members of rock band Cab 20 and manager Tom Callahan took to the Shark Tank stage to pitch a deal to fund their band. When faced with the final decision, they turned down the offer, but gained a higher profile in the viewing audience and in the music industry. I spoke recently with manager Tom Callahan about Cab 20's experience on Shark Tank.

Callahan had an upbeat take on things fueled by the fact that Cab 20 was just coming out of the studio with a new album and it was good timing for a marketing boost.

Cab 20 on Shark Tank 5-11-12

The ABC show Shark Tank features rich and famous business people like Mark Cuban and Daymond John deciding whether or not they're going to bid on a handful of startups each week in the style of a roast. Deals seem to keep happenening so we can assume their money is good but the rapid-pace presentation of moments chosen for dramatic impact seem a bit artificial.

I talked to Cab 20 manager Tom Callahan about the band's recent appearance on Shark Tank, most of which appears in the above video. He pointed out that the episode was filmed back in October and is providing a nice publicity boost. They are getting more traffic on their band's website and more interest from industry people. Since they're currently coming out of the studio from recording a new album they're finishing that up while talking to labels about the possibilities.

Shark Tank does offer a real chance to get funding but the opening pitch from Callahan seems a bit odd, as he asks for $200,000 for a 20% share with publishing excluded. Exchanges were truncated from 90 minutes of negotiating but it seemed to get things off to an awkward beginning.

As it turned out, a producer encouraged them at the last minute to start with a smaller share for less as some kind of dramatic move and Callahan went along with that request.

Though it is tempting to armchair quarterback such a show, you see so little of what really happens in the process that it becomes kind of meaningless to second guess. Callahan says it's the first time Shark Tank has had a band on and the show's staff as a whole were very supportive. That included ample time the day before to get their sound right for the two songs they ended up recording.

Apparently getting Shark Tank funding wasn't crucial to Cab 20's ongoing development. So their unanimous agreement to not take the final offer was made from a strong position. Nevertheless, the prospect of being the first band funded by Shark Tank is interesting to consider.

The Week's Top New Music Apps: Radios, Summer Festivals & Designer Mixtapes

2012-05-23T09:26:00-04:00

Guest post by Knar Bedian of Evolver.fm.

As the thermometer consistently tops 70 degrees here in New England, it’s safe to say summer is coming in. For music lovers, that means music festivals. This week’s batch includes Last.Fm’s Festivals app (available for Android, iPod and iPad) to get you ready for this year’s wave of shows.

We’re also featuring two radio-like apps that borrow from your iPod’s music library rather than play songs from the airwaves. And as I mentioned last week, visual appeal is an increasingly important part of the listening experience, so this week’s Web Apps focus on sites with a beautiful mix of playlists and high-end design.

In case you missed last week’s edition, we should also mention a new section on the site called Evergreen, where you’ll find stories that make a suitable read any time of year. First, let’s check out the latest reviews, then we’ll get to the apps.

The Week in Reviews

PlayFi Lets Bands Play Shows Online and Sell Tickets
IK Multimedia iRig Mix Turns iOS Device(s) into a Respectable DJ Setup
iAlbums Music Player Tries to Save Music Blogging
MusicBunk Social Music Player Unites iOS and Android Under the Groove
Tone Target Shows Promise as a Music Trainer, But Leaves You Hanging

Apple iOS

MixOnMyRadio ($2, free): This app makes stations out of the music and podcasts on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. The app kicks off with a tour of the controls, and by connecting to Facebook so you can record custom song dedications and send them to friends; however, they need to use the app to hear them. The Lite (free) version lets you mix in podcasts from BBC, NPR, CNN and Fox News, and you can control how often they play — after every song or never. You can assign each channel a particular artist, album or playlist. Another channel features 30-second previews of the top 25 songs on iTunes, with an option to buy them.

Kitsch Player ($1; pictured left): The design lessons of Apple prove that simplicity is always in style, and with only two buttons, the Kitsch player is as simple as it gets. Four transistor radio skin options induce a sense of nostalgia, and the app stay true to its radio role: The space between stations fill your speakers with a static-y fuzz. You change the station to change the song; returning to a previous station picks up where you left off. Each of the 11 stations is assigned a genre, so similar songs will play on each station (more details here.) With the screen locked, you’ll be able to see the name of the song — useful if the app calls upa long-forgotten song from the deep depths of your iPod. Overall, we found Kitsch Player to be a fun way to shuffle through your music and revisit songs from the past — and for that reason, it works best if you have lots of music on your device.

Score Generator (free): Here’s a new one: Select the thickness of your drawing tool, draw some lines and dots, click the music button, and this app transforms your doodling into a musical score. I can only speak for myself, but everything I drew somehow ended up sounding like a bunch of badly put-together chords and was hardly recognizable as music. Hint: Use the thinnest pencil, as the thicker ones created the most strange-sounding chords (unless that’s what you’re into).

Music Blog DJ (free): For those who like to keep up with music blogs, this app collects recently-posted songs from well-known sites like Pitchfork, Stereogum and KEXP, as well as a number of individual blogs. The app provides access to the original post, so you can easily read it on the original website, just like Hype Machine. You can also just plow through all recent songs, or create a personalized list by “pinning” the songs you want to listen to, a la Pinterest.

Google Android

Festivals (free): Last.fm’s Festivals app transforms your music listening history into a list of music festivals you would probably like to attend. The date and compatibility rating — the two most important factors, aside from location — are listed by each entry, making it easy to see which events you want to attend. A Highlights section features the most popular of festivals, including the likes of Lollapalooza, Pitchfork and SXSW. Clicking on any festival displays the number of days until it transpires, as well as the full line-up with artist biographies. Finally, you can share your plans via communication apps elsewhere on your phone, so update your status and tweet away.

US Music Chart (free): This app makes the Top 100 songs in the U.S. into a YouTube playlist, so you can see what’s up, as it were. Each video lists the artist and song; clicking them leads to a YouTube player that displays within the US Music Chart app, and scrolling down will provide you with some additional suggested videos. If you see something worth talking about, you can share it through the usual social networking sites. Although some of the videos don’t play, as they are not supported by YouTube mobile at the behest of the copyright holder, the app does serve as a pretty easy way to access today’s hits.

Web Apps

Designers.mx (free): This web app is the modern designer’s version of the customized mix tape — a visually-appealing way to discover music. Anyone with a Twitter account can join, but only hand-picked “designers” can make mixes. These designers build their own cover artwork and compile their own playlist. While the homepage helpfully sorts these mixes by recent, popular, and favorited, you can’t search for mixes by the artists or songs they include, which feels like a needless omission. The site also plays a small role in helping designers find jobs; a small widget at the bottom declares who’s hiring. Designers.mx is planning a mobile app, so look forward to hearing about that soon.

Decorated Playlists (free): While we’re in the realm of playlists and design, check out Decorated Playlists, which currently features thirteen themed playlists. (Its creator and designer, Simon Foster, also has a mix on Designers.mx.) The playlist names incorporate song titles such as “It’s All In Your Head“ (which has songs like “Blow Your Head” by the JB’s and “My Mind’s Playing Tricks On Me” by Getto Boyz) and “L’anatomie de musique,” featuring French tracks from the ’60s and ’70s. In this fashion, the web app covers a broad range of genres. And thanks to Foster’s design graphics, this is another visually-appealing way to discover (or re-discover) interesting new music.

O Music Awards Tips Nominees, Lineup: Flaming Lips vs. Jay-Z, Most Fucked Up Live Show & More

2012-05-23T08:29:25-04:00

The third edition of O Music Awards will take place June 27th with 24 hours of events starting in Memphis and ending in New Orleans. During the day, The Flaming Lips will attempt to break Jay-Z's Guiness World Record for the Most Live Concerts In 24 Hours (Multiple Cities). Awards will be given out over the course of the 24-hour bus-powered livestreamed series of events from Fan Army FTW to WTF I Love This Award to Most Fucked-up Live Performance Gone Viral.

Wayne Coyne shared some mildly incoherent thoughts referencing the Sex Pistols tour of the South, his clarification that he is not a host but rather commandeered the Magical Mystery Merry Prankster bus and his fondness for the "way Jerry Lewis would get all sweaty toward the end of his yearly telethon."

Watching Wayne Coyne's descent, whether it's more Jerry Lewis or Jerry Lee Lewis, will no doubt be an ongoing series of visceral high points for livestream viewers as The Flaming Lips make their way from town to town by bus.

My First Hardcore Song by 8 yr old Juliet

By contrast, a series of web-centric awards will be announced along the way. Nominees include Yoko Ono for Must Follow Artist on Twitter, David Lynch's Crazy Clown Time for Too Much Ass for TV and Juliet's My First Hardcore Song for Most Adorable Viral Star. Yes, the highest highs and the lowest lows of music culture on the web will be honored at this 3rd edition of the O Music Awards.

O Music Awards Nominees for June 27, 2012:

1. Fan Army FTW (Winner: Artist)

Description: Fan armies are like fan clubs of old – with Twitter. Dedicated to the band of their preference, they turn out in droves – digitally and physically – to support a band's every venture.

Tokio Hotel "Aliens"
Adam Lambert "Glamberts"
One Direction "The Directioners"
Thirty Seconds to Mars "Echelon
Mindless Behavior "Team Mindless"
The Wanted "TWFanmily"
2NE1 "Blackjacks"
Girls Generation (SNSD) "Sones"
Taylor Swift "Taylor Nation"
Mumford & Sons "Team Mumford and Sons"

2. Must Follow Artist on Twitter (Winner: Artist)

Description: Bands who are making 140-characters their bitch – without being management's bitch (IE, all tweets are their own – we think).

Adam Lambert
Titus Andronicus
Yoko Ono
Lil B
St. Vincent
The Antlers
Childish Gambino
Questlove
Blake Shelton
Diplo
Tanlines

3. Most Adorable Viral Star (Winner: Viral Stars)

Description: The web is full of children and animals doing musical things adorably. Let us celebrate them!

William Stokkebroe
"My First Hardcore Song" by Juliet
Howard Wong
"Super Bass" by Sophia Grace Brownlee
"Someone Like You" by Makena
"Bone Pugz"
"The Elements Song" by Rose
Children Medieval Band covers Rammstein's "Sonne":
"I'm Elmo and I Know It" by Elmo
Ethan Walmark covers "Piano Man"

4. Digital Genius Award (Winner: Artist)

Description: These musicians go above and beyond when it comes to their art. We're not just talking about people who use Twitter and dabble in digital music here – each and every one is an innovator, early adopter and deeply immersed in the music/tech scene. More importantly, they do it on their own, not at the behest of labels or managers.

Gorillaz
OK Go
The Flaming Lips
Amanda Palmer
iamamiwhoami

5. Most Innovative Music Video (Winner: Artist)

Description: When we say "Innovative," we don't mean "well-directed" or "cool" – we mean folks who tapped into technology to create a new form of art: from choose-you-own-adventure masterpieces to 3D flicks to Kickstarter-funded opuses.

Tanlines "Brothers"
Chairlift "Have We Met Before"
Chris Bathgate "Big Ghost"
We The Kings "Say You Like Me"
Ellie Goulding "Lights"
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Look Around"
Arcade Fire "Sprawl II"
Craig Wedren "Crush You"
Jacob Krupnick's "Girl Walk"
Javelin "Canyon Candy"

6. Best Web-Born Artist (Winner: Artist)

Description: These artists did not hit the big-time because they immediately scored a record deal or got "discovered" playing live. No, each and every one broke out because they used the web to get ahead – from Kickstarter-funded albums to songs that blew up on blogs to bands who met via email.

Julia Nunes
Walk Off The Earth
Youth Lagoon
Miracles of Modern Science
Karmin
Azealia Banks
Iggy Azalea
Pyyramids
Frank Ocean
Madeon

7. Hottest Music NILF (Nerd I'd Like to F*ck) (Winner: NILF)

Description: Hot coders, entrepreneurs, writers, etc who work in music and tech.

Michael Schneider, CEO of Mobile Roadie
Matthew Rosenberg, Co-founder of Fast Society
Jenna Wortham, Tech Reporter, New York Times
Peggy Wang, Writer Buzzfeed, Member of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Eliot Van Buskirk, Editor, EvolverFM
Ashley Simon, Media Partnerships at Foursquare
Sean Parker, co-founder Napster and other ventures
Maggie Vail, Co-founder of CASH Music
Contessa Gayles, Associate Editor, AOL Music
Tatiana Simonian, Head of Music, Twitter

8. Too Much Ass for TV (Winner: Artist)

Description: NSFW music videos.

"Nancy From Now On" by Father John Misty
"Big Bad Wolf" by Duck Sauce
"Andrew In Drag" by Magnetic Fields
"Wassap" by A$AP Rocky
"On'n'On" by Justice
"Hey Jane" by Spiritualized
"Crazy Clown Time" by David Lynch
"Booty Battle" video game by Big Freedia
"Sex on the Regular" by Miniature Tigers
"Starship" by Nicki Minaj

9. WTF I Love This Award (Winner: Creator)

Description: Memes, random things, Internet weirdness that has to do with music. Rad.

McRorie
Ketchupbot + 20th Century Fox Theme on a Flute
Beyonce fan sings "Halo"
Drinkify
Bear In Heaven "I Love You It's Cool"

10. Best Artist/ Digital Entrereneur (Winner: Artist)

Description: This category honors bands and musicians who have entered into the music tech scene as creators and innovators, backing and inventing new products and services in the digital sphere.

Katy Goodman for "choose your own adventure" games
Wavves for "Weed Demon"
M.C. Hammer for search engine Wiredoo
Nicolas Jaar forClown & Music Aesthetics
Kanye West for DONDA

11. Best Vintage Revival (Winner: Tech/Founder)

Description: Every year, we see old technology and trends coming back and working themselves into pop culture. In this category, we honor those trends that are making a comeback in the music world.

Flexi discs
Cassettes
Records
Animated GIFS
8-bit

12. Beyond the Blog Award (Winner: Organization)

Description: The Beyond The Blog Award is honoring unconventional ways of editorializing music from radio to traditional magazines to using Twitter.

NPR for iPad App
Nardwuar
La Blogotheque
Metal Injection
Minor Thread

13. Best Online Concert Experience (Winner: Festival Organization)

Description: Watching concerts online is an increasingly popular trend nowadays. This category honors people and technology that are enhancing that experience.

Jay-Z at SXSW
Ryan Montbleau real time audio streams
Denison Witmer on Skype
2Pac at Coachella via hologram
Coachella on YouTube

14. Best Music App (Winner: App Developer)

Description: Honoring apps and services that are doing awesome things with music and musicians.

Spotify iPad App
Tomahawk
Songza
Artist Growth
Live Nation Facebook App

15. Best Music Hack (Winner: Hacker/Developer)

Description: Anything and everything that was created during a Music Hack Day or any other hacking event.

Swarm.fm
Ivy
Song Roulette
Bohemian Rhapsichord
Mixtape Alpha

16. Best Artist with a Cameraphone (Winner: Artist)

Description: Musicians who take wonderful snaps with their mobile phones and then share them with us normal folks.

Ed Droste
Soulja Boy
MC Hammer
Blood Orange
Justin Bieber
Greg Puciato
Kreayshawn
Theophilus London
Selena Gomez
YACHT

17. Most Addictive Social Music Service (Winner: Service)

Description: Here we honor any mobile or web services that make listening to music a social experience.

Chill
Myxer Social Radio
Soundrop app for Spotify
This Is My Jam
Mixlr

18. Best Protest Song (Winner: Artist/singer)

Description: There has been a lot to get up in arms about this year. Luckily, people have the Web – and services like YouTube – as an outlet.

Robert Wilkinson sings "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
Dan Bull "SOPA Cabana"
Atari Teenage Riot "Black Flags"
"The Day The LOLCATS Died"
"We Are Trayvon" by Plies

19. Beyond: The DJ: Most Innovative Solo Performer (Winner: Artist)

Description: Modern technology - both hardware and software — has birthed a band-new breed of musicians: Intrepid solo performers who both sample and blend the music of others into wholly new creations, and utilize programs and tools to create full, breathtaking songs without the aid of a band or other musicians. Like Djs, these musicians often take the stage solo, surrounded by sound boards and decked out in headphones, but instead of just spinning and mixing the tunes of others, they're creating original compositions that stand on their own.

Grimes
Dan Deacon
MNDR
Reggie Watts
Girl Talk

20. Most Extreme Fan Outreach (Winner: Artist)

Description: The gap between artist and fan is getting smaller and smaller with the rise of social media. These artists got even closer to their followers using digital tools – perhaps too close.

Bon Jovi
Dustin Wong:
Manchester Orchestra
Portugal. The Man
Snoop Dogg
Taylor Swift
Deadmau5
Wayne Coyne
Riot In Paris
DJ Shadow

21. Most Fucked-up Live Performance Gone Viral (Winner: Artist)

Description: In the past, if you botched a performance the masses would point, laugh and subsequently forget about it a few weeks later. Now, those FAILs are archived for future generations to mock on the World Wide Web.

The Fray
Kelvin Cheung
Lana Del Rey
MIA
Winters Mistress

22. Most Intense Social Spat (Winner: Both Artists)

Description: Thanks to the Web, users can teach themselves anything from the comfort of their own homes. Here are some of our favorite at-home teaching tools.

Fucked Up vs. Katy Perry
Patrick Carney vs. Everyone
David Furnish vs. Madonna
Frances Cobain vs. Courtney Love
Nicki Minaj vs. Her Twitter Followers

23. Best Music Teacher Replacement (Winner: Founder)

Description: Thanks to the Web, users can teach themselves anything from the comfort of their own homes. Here are some of our favorite at-home teaching tools.

Tabber Guitar
James Taylor
Guitar TV
Bandhappy
Pandora Inside The Music

24. O Music Awards Super Fan Award (Winner: Super Fan)

NEWS BRIEF: New Facebook Concerns, VEVO Hunts $$, Echo Nest + Discog, Moobahton, Mulligan & More

2012-05-23T07:34:00-04:00

Facebook stock was holding steady around $32 on Wednesday. That's off its $38 IPO and first high in the mid $40's, but still far better than feared given reports that U.S. regulators are looking at problems with the offering.

VEVO is in early stage talks with new investors, according to the Financial Times. At present, there are no IPO plans for the music video aggregator.
The Echo Nest has added discographies site Discogs to it's growing Rosetta Stone database.

MORE:

Sean Parker and Sean Fannings stealth video startup Airtime has reportedly acquired former Hulu CTO’s startup Erly and raised $25M Series B funding.
Moombahton, the new D2F revolution: The rise of the new "moombahton" dance genre couldn't have happened without direct-to-fan tactics, says Zvooq's Bas Grasmayer on Midemblog.
Mark Mulligan on Fools Gold: "Finally Someone Builds a Digital Music Service the Way It’s Meant to be Built!"
Pandora hosts an earnings call at 5PM ET today. Listen in here.
Band Protests As A Copyright Troll Sues Its Fans (techdirt)
Celebrating 15 years, indie label Yep Roc will commandeer a club in Carrboro, N.C., in October for three nights of music with label acts Dave Alvin, Nick Lowe, Fountains Of Wayne, Robyn Hitchcock and more. (Pollstar)

Indaba Launches Social Contest Suite, Amplifies Marketing For Brands and Labels

2012-05-22T12:26:25-04:00

Indaba Music, the well-known musician social network & collaboration platform, announced today that it has launched its Social Contest Suite, an end-to-end music-marketing platform that connects independent musicians with fans via a new socially integrated music discovery product. Geared towards both brands and labels, the Social Contest Suite syndicates musician activities (such as recording) and fan actions (such as voting) through Facebook and other web properties to amplify and instigate authentic user-generated conversations.

The three primary product features of Indaba’s Social Contest Suite are as follows:

Facebook Integration: The integration leverages the sharing capabilities of the Open Graph to promote new music through the platform. Actions such as entering an opportunity, listening to a submission, commenting, and casting a vote can be completed with one click and syndicated to Facebook’s news and ticker feeds.

“Portable” Contest Experience: Musicians and fans alike can participate in the same contest experience across a brand’s own Internet properties, extending the reach of its music-driven marketing campaigns. With a new design, the contest application has room for unique branding while also providing the technology to stream submissions, comment, and share from any site.

Trending Tracks: Indaba developed an algorithm that curates contest submissions based on a social virality score. As fans listen, vote, and share their favorite music, the algorithm surfaces “Trending Tracks” to provide fans with a “lean-back” listening experience (leading up to today’s launch, the algorithm has reportedly lengthened the averaging listening time per fan from 10 to over 27 minutes per contest).

Indaba’s CEO, J.J. Rosen: “A common challenge that our music industry and brand clients face is how to connect with a larger audience via digital marketing campaigns,” he said. “Indaba Social Contest Suite provides marketers with a scalable solution by leveraging social networks and the traffic of their own, branded properties.”

Initial artist campaigns include Matisyahu, Usher, Jason Mraz and The Temper Trapa. For brands, this new offering appears to be useful for engaging the social communities they've been working to build with music content, and also allows them to embed the same app from Facebook across their owned media properties to offer the traffic to their own sites the same experience - boosting digital impressions.