I'm currently posting some content for Examiner.com, focusing locally on Raleigh, NC. I'll be talking about the concert scene in Raleigh and highlighting fantastic bands both locally and large scale bands.
Check out my first article, right here!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
The Morning Of Brings Color to the Brewery
I'm currently posting some content for Examiner.com, focusing locally on Raleigh, NC. I'll be talking about the concert scene in Raleigh and highlighting fantastic bands both locally and large scale bands.
Check out my first article, right here!
Monday, April 25, 2011
The Death of Physical Media? (Part 1, To the Cloud!)
How has your 2011 treated you thus far? Was this year everything you'd hoped it'd be? I certainly hope so, because we're almost halfway through the year and already 2011 is shaping up to be the beginning of a new decade of trends and pop culture phrases ("Winning!"). Besides having a big time movie star going insane on live television, this year has brought us a maturing form of the already popular phrase, "to the cloud".
Up until now, consumers had a few options to store their data files onto other people's servers using services like Dropbox.com or Apple's lackluster MobileMe service. The files could simply be uploaded and downloaded but nothing in between. So if you wanted to play a song that was stored on Dropbox.com or the 17th installment of the Saw movies, you were flat out of luck unless you had enough storage to fit the file onto from your cloud drive. Enter 2009, when we first got a taste of not cloud storage, but something that utilized files in a different way. Oh no. 2008 is when we got Netflix movie streaming on our computers. That streaming service got everyone thinking: "What if we could stream anything, anywhere, on any device?"
Well welcome to 2011, where one Netflix account can stream hit films via a computer, a phone, a gaming system, and directly onto a fancy flat screen TV. Gone are the days where consumers have to worry about hard drive space and syncing files to each and every machine they wish to use their files on. Granted you technically don't "own" any of the movies on Netflix, you are permitted access to a wide range of films. Recently Amazon.com took that train of thought to the new level and introduced their Cloud Drive and Cloud Player, allowing users to store and play their music via Amazon's data servers.
Personally I've switched over to the Amazon's MP3 Store a little over 2 years ago and have never looked back. All the songs do a great throwback to the golden age of digital downloads by pricing them at $.99 (that's SO 2003!) and when you let me collect albums I've missed for roughly $3.99 and call them "daily deals", you've won my business. I've always wondered why Amazon's MP3 Store hasn't caught on more in the last few years. After all, all the songs on the MP3 store can be stored and played on iTunes, and isn't that the most important thing of all? Well.....not really. Back in the last decade sure, iTunes was basically the most popular music software used by millions of people to store and play their music. In this decade, however, Amazon wants to challenge Apple by not creating a product to go against the iPod (they'll never win that way), but by creating a service on numerous products that screams simplicity.
In the good old days I would have to buy a 20 GB iPod and hope I don't fill that baby up too fast (FYI: I totally did). But in 2011, I have a smartphone, aka a Droid X, that's capable of running Amazon's Cloud Player application. So any song I download on Amazon's MP3 store on the computer, will be stored for free on my personal cloud drive. And if I'm running late and have just enough time to download the song but not sync it to my device, well that's not a problem. Within seconds my song is available to stream from my cloud drive onto my Amazon cloud player from my Droid X. I should know how much hard drive space I have on my phone, but with this set up, who cares? Amazon was so nice that they included an extra 20 GB of storage space for songs that have not been purchased from their store as long as I buy an album.
By now I'm sure you're asking the most important question: You didn't get an iPhone?! What's wrong with you? Well I have wanted an iPhone for a long time, but the iPhone is limited in its content and usage compared to open source technologies like Android. Which brings me to what I think will happen with two major companies this decade: Amazon will square off with Apple to try and dominate each other in the digital music wars. The winner will be based on content, pricing, and availability of content purchased (cause we're getting sick of having to buy hard drives to store copies of Weird Al songs). Oh, and data plans. We're all going to need unlimited data plans or worldwide WiFi for this cloud storage to work. But once it does work, what becomes of physical media? Is the CD finally going to be put down by another new form of technology? More than likely........but I shall have part 2 of my article to examine this assumption.
Up until now, consumers had a few options to store their data files onto other people's servers using services like Dropbox.com or Apple's lackluster MobileMe service. The files could simply be uploaded and downloaded but nothing in between. So if you wanted to play a song that was stored on Dropbox.com or the 17th installment of the Saw movies, you were flat out of luck unless you had enough storage to fit the file onto from your cloud drive. Enter 2009, when we first got a taste of not cloud storage, but something that utilized files in a different way. Oh no. 2008 is when we got Netflix movie streaming on our computers. That streaming service got everyone thinking: "What if we could stream anything, anywhere, on any device?"
Well welcome to 2011, where one Netflix account can stream hit films via a computer, a phone, a gaming system, and directly onto a fancy flat screen TV. Gone are the days where consumers have to worry about hard drive space and syncing files to each and every machine they wish to use their files on. Granted you technically don't "own" any of the movies on Netflix, you are permitted access to a wide range of films. Recently Amazon.com took that train of thought to the new level and introduced their Cloud Drive and Cloud Player, allowing users to store and play their music via Amazon's data servers.
Personally I've switched over to the Amazon's MP3 Store a little over 2 years ago and have never looked back. All the songs do a great throwback to the golden age of digital downloads by pricing them at $.99 (that's SO 2003!) and when you let me collect albums I've missed for roughly $3.99 and call them "daily deals", you've won my business. I've always wondered why Amazon's MP3 Store hasn't caught on more in the last few years. After all, all the songs on the MP3 store can be stored and played on iTunes, and isn't that the most important thing of all? Well.....not really. Back in the last decade sure, iTunes was basically the most popular music software used by millions of people to store and play their music. In this decade, however, Amazon wants to challenge Apple by not creating a product to go against the iPod (they'll never win that way), but by creating a service on numerous products that screams simplicity.
In the good old days I would have to buy a 20 GB iPod and hope I don't fill that baby up too fast (FYI: I totally did). But in 2011, I have a smartphone, aka a Droid X, that's capable of running Amazon's Cloud Player application. So any song I download on Amazon's MP3 store on the computer, will be stored for free on my personal cloud drive. And if I'm running late and have just enough time to download the song but not sync it to my device, well that's not a problem. Within seconds my song is available to stream from my cloud drive onto my Amazon cloud player from my Droid X. I should know how much hard drive space I have on my phone, but with this set up, who cares? Amazon was so nice that they included an extra 20 GB of storage space for songs that have not been purchased from their store as long as I buy an album.
By now I'm sure you're asking the most important question: You didn't get an iPhone?! What's wrong with you? Well I have wanted an iPhone for a long time, but the iPhone is limited in its content and usage compared to open source technologies like Android. Which brings me to what I think will happen with two major companies this decade: Amazon will square off with Apple to try and dominate each other in the digital music wars. The winner will be based on content, pricing, and availability of content purchased (cause we're getting sick of having to buy hard drives to store copies of Weird Al songs). Oh, and data plans. We're all going to need unlimited data plans or worldwide WiFi for this cloud storage to work. But once it does work, what becomes of physical media? Is the CD finally going to be put down by another new form of technology? More than likely........but I shall have part 2 of my article to examine this assumption.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Satellite Radio: The Future of Radio?
This past Christmas I was finally presented with something I had been dying to use. A Droid X smartphone! And after that initial shock wore off and I learned that I can have endless apps on this thing, I downloaded the Sirius XM Satellite Radio App. Let's just say I have recently forgotten about my iPod Touch and the fact that listening to my same 150 artists can in fact get boring.
Satellite radio is great for people dying to listen to new music that fits their favorite genres. The downside is, the numerous stations available on a smartphone is VERY genre specific. I cross genres constantly but if you're listening to the Top 20 on 20 channel, you can bet you'll be hearing Usher, Pitbull, Lil Wayne, and a variety of Lady Gaga over and over again. They at least give you what you want, but is satellite radio the future of radio?
It's a tough question, but I'd like to digest what people get with Sirius XM Radio (the only satellite radio provider at the moment) versus listening to iTunes/Amazon MP3 bought songs and of course the FM Radio, which I can't believe is still hanging on in times like these!
First things first:
Variety
We've got three options presented to us: Sirius XM, the iPod, and of course FM Radio. When it comes to variety, you can't go wrong with creating your own playlists in your iPod. But then again, how are you supposed to keep up with all the new bands and rappers that come out each and every week? By listening to another freaking Linkin Park song? Nah, you need Sirius XM radio for that. Since I've had XM Radio I've listened to countless channels such as Hits on 1, Alt Nation, Laugh USA, Rawdog, Shade 45, The Blend, and even Rosie O'Donald (hey, I was bored one night). Talk about variety. I have learned about at least 7 or so bands thanks to Alt Nation and also with the exception of the comedy channels, no commercials! Just an occasional what up from the interesting DJ's present. The coolest DJ so far I've heard would be Madison, found on Alt Nation. She's pretty crazy and down to earth. Oh, and uncensored. ;)
As far as FM radio goes, you have commercials and a bunch of the same songs being played over and over and over and over again. If you like all of that, then FM radio is awesome! I also recommend going back to 1982 and sweeting to the oldies.
Accessibility
It used to be that you would have to own a satellite receiver to get any satellite signal in your car or a boombox. But those days are still here.......they just seem outdated. I can listen to Sirius XM on my smartphone at night and in full clarity too. Sure it does us a LOT of data but what do I care, I have unlimited data. If you can afford it, I recommend getting Sirius XM on your phone that way you can plug it into your car stereo and then use it as an iPod replacement for the gym. I know I highly enjoy it. And it's nice to feel like you're connected to the outside world when a DJ does come on and mention current events or when Madison talks about random music news. Half the time I know the news before Madison, but I give her credit for being awesome and mentioning the underground news on bands that deserve the credit.
FM Radio is easy to get but now a days seems restricted to your car. Oh sure you can buy a boombox (I think?) and walk down your block looking like the Fresh Prince blasting Lil Wayne. Or you could put on your big boy/girl pants and whip out the iPod you know you own. That seems to be the trend for the last decade. With the iPod you get uncensored, non-commercialized media that YOU control. That's great to listen to your favorites and to keep them secret to others (yay signature white earbuds!) but if your'e like me, that does get old eventually. Where am I supposed to go to find the underground music or what if the shuffle on my iPod is secretly in love with my secret stash of Jewel songs a little too much? The options tend to turn to satellite radio or numerous blogs and internet radio stations. Speaking of new music and DJ's, check this guy out: Magik Productions (Good DJ and great friend)
Pricing
Alright, let's face it: FM Radio wins! In fact, why both to mention the other two? Free is king in this economy. Granted, free is also restricted in most cases and if you expect FM radio to play the songs YOU want.....you may be very depressed. Unless you love the top 20 stations, you'll get the daily dose of sameness there all day long. But if you wanna listen to unique underground rap songs from people who are just starting out, turn to Shade 45 on Sirius XM. Uncensored and constantly challenging what you expect out of it. It's pretty cool, though ironically Shade 45 is maintained by Eminem and yet I haven't heard a single song by Eminem while I listened to the station. Go figure.
So Sirius XM costs $12.95 a month for a basic plan but if you want Howard Stern (and who does? lol) then you'll be setting yourself back to $16.99 a month. It could seem a bit steep but you have to remember the benefits that satellite radio offers. Granted it's an additional $2.99 a month to get smartphone/internet streaming access as well. Lucky me my dad has XM service so I just give him the extra $2.99 to have the service but for most people the pricing can get high. With no competition now (XM and Sirius are one company now), don't expect the prices to drop anytime soon either.
The iPod choice is simple, a variety of choices and prices are at your disposal. And chances are you already own an iPod or something very similar. Hell, if you have a new smartphone with a large amount of hard drive space, you have an iPod basically. Now if you are way behind the times, I highly suggest getting an iPod Touch or a smartphone because that way you've got a MP3 player and a phone with even more capabilities than your FM Radio. Which usually has the ability to fade in and out between tunnels! An extra feature just for you!
Bottom Line
It's all about preferences when it comes to music. However, times they are a changing, and unfiltered music with a multitude of choices seems like the natural progression. Satellite radio may not be the future of music anytime soon, but that seems to be a barrier to entry simply based on pricing tactics. Once satellite radio is fully realized and distributed to even more devices, we could see FM radio cool down significantly. Either way though, the consumer will either be paying more for no ads, or advertisers are gonna get clever in making an extra buck.
Your iPods will still be safe and sound for years to come, but I see a trend of people moving over to the "cloud" and storing songs off of hard drives and into streaming services. Which would create more cell phones with data packages being available and killing these 160 GB iPods that are so "classic". Soon enough, you could see playlists being replaced with DJ lists and having Sirius XM being your own shuffle of popular and underground music.
Only time will tell.
Alright enough, I gotta get back to listening to Alt Nation.
Satellite radio is great for people dying to listen to new music that fits their favorite genres. The downside is, the numerous stations available on a smartphone is VERY genre specific. I cross genres constantly but if you're listening to the Top 20 on 20 channel, you can bet you'll be hearing Usher, Pitbull, Lil Wayne, and a variety of Lady Gaga over and over again. They at least give you what you want, but is satellite radio the future of radio?
It's a tough question, but I'd like to digest what people get with Sirius XM Radio (the only satellite radio provider at the moment) versus listening to iTunes/Amazon MP3 bought songs and of course the FM Radio, which I can't believe is still hanging on in times like these!
First things first:
Variety
We've got three options presented to us: Sirius XM, the iPod, and of course FM Radio. When it comes to variety, you can't go wrong with creating your own playlists in your iPod. But then again, how are you supposed to keep up with all the new bands and rappers that come out each and every week? By listening to another freaking Linkin Park song? Nah, you need Sirius XM radio for that. Since I've had XM Radio I've listened to countless channels such as Hits on 1, Alt Nation, Laugh USA, Rawdog, Shade 45, The Blend, and even Rosie O'Donald (hey, I was bored one night). Talk about variety. I have learned about at least 7 or so bands thanks to Alt Nation and also with the exception of the comedy channels, no commercials! Just an occasional what up from the interesting DJ's present. The coolest DJ so far I've heard would be Madison, found on Alt Nation. She's pretty crazy and down to earth. Oh, and uncensored. ;)
As far as FM radio goes, you have commercials and a bunch of the same songs being played over and over and over and over again. If you like all of that, then FM radio is awesome! I also recommend going back to 1982 and sweeting to the oldies.
Accessibility
It used to be that you would have to own a satellite receiver to get any satellite signal in your car or a boombox. But those days are still here.......they just seem outdated. I can listen to Sirius XM on my smartphone at night and in full clarity too. Sure it does us a LOT of data but what do I care, I have unlimited data. If you can afford it, I recommend getting Sirius XM on your phone that way you can plug it into your car stereo and then use it as an iPod replacement for the gym. I know I highly enjoy it. And it's nice to feel like you're connected to the outside world when a DJ does come on and mention current events or when Madison talks about random music news. Half the time I know the news before Madison, but I give her credit for being awesome and mentioning the underground news on bands that deserve the credit.
FM Radio is easy to get but now a days seems restricted to your car. Oh sure you can buy a boombox (I think?) and walk down your block looking like the Fresh Prince blasting Lil Wayne. Or you could put on your big boy/girl pants and whip out the iPod you know you own. That seems to be the trend for the last decade. With the iPod you get uncensored, non-commercialized media that YOU control. That's great to listen to your favorites and to keep them secret to others (yay signature white earbuds!) but if your'e like me, that does get old eventually. Where am I supposed to go to find the underground music or what if the shuffle on my iPod is secretly in love with my secret stash of Jewel songs a little too much? The options tend to turn to satellite radio or numerous blogs and internet radio stations. Speaking of new music and DJ's, check this guy out: Magik Productions (Good DJ and great friend)
Pricing
Alright, let's face it: FM Radio wins! In fact, why both to mention the other two? Free is king in this economy. Granted, free is also restricted in most cases and if you expect FM radio to play the songs YOU want.....you may be very depressed. Unless you love the top 20 stations, you'll get the daily dose of sameness there all day long. But if you wanna listen to unique underground rap songs from people who are just starting out, turn to Shade 45 on Sirius XM. Uncensored and constantly challenging what you expect out of it. It's pretty cool, though ironically Shade 45 is maintained by Eminem and yet I haven't heard a single song by Eminem while I listened to the station. Go figure.
So Sirius XM costs $12.95 a month for a basic plan but if you want Howard Stern (and who does? lol) then you'll be setting yourself back to $16.99 a month. It could seem a bit steep but you have to remember the benefits that satellite radio offers. Granted it's an additional $2.99 a month to get smartphone/internet streaming access as well. Lucky me my dad has XM service so I just give him the extra $2.99 to have the service but for most people the pricing can get high. With no competition now (XM and Sirius are one company now), don't expect the prices to drop anytime soon either.
The iPod choice is simple, a variety of choices and prices are at your disposal. And chances are you already own an iPod or something very similar. Hell, if you have a new smartphone with a large amount of hard drive space, you have an iPod basically. Now if you are way behind the times, I highly suggest getting an iPod Touch or a smartphone because that way you've got a MP3 player and a phone with even more capabilities than your FM Radio. Which usually has the ability to fade in and out between tunnels! An extra feature just for you!
Bottom Line
It's all about preferences when it comes to music. However, times they are a changing, and unfiltered music with a multitude of choices seems like the natural progression. Satellite radio may not be the future of music anytime soon, but that seems to be a barrier to entry simply based on pricing tactics. Once satellite radio is fully realized and distributed to even more devices, we could see FM radio cool down significantly. Either way though, the consumer will either be paying more for no ads, or advertisers are gonna get clever in making an extra buck.
Your iPods will still be safe and sound for years to come, but I see a trend of people moving over to the "cloud" and storing songs off of hard drives and into streaming services. Which would create more cell phones with data packages being available and killing these 160 GB iPods that are so "classic". Soon enough, you could see playlists being replaced with DJ lists and having Sirius XM being your own shuffle of popular and underground music.
Only time will tell.
Alright enough, I gotta get back to listening to Alt Nation.
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