The Digital Music Weblog is retiring from active duty as of today. I'd like to say a huge note of thanks to everyone who has helped or contributed to this fantastic blog since its launch in 2004. TDMW has seen some brilliant bloggers and has been a launching pad for many among the ranks of Weblogs, Inc; I will always be proud to say I'm one of them.
TDMW may be retiring but, I will continue to write for other Weblogs, Inc sites. You can still read my work, along with a stable of other great bloggers, on Download Squad.
Thanks to everyone who made TDMW a great place to be! Some high-points on TDMW from our last year.
Nope, it's not Tommy Lee vs. Neil Peart. It's not John Bonham vs Keith Moon. It's Buddy Rich vs. Animal. That's right. Animal. Elmo's whacked out black sheep uncle.
Buddy Rich is the obvious winner here. He's the greatest Jazz drummer who ever lived, able to bang out monster beats at a speed and precision that would tax even the most exacting of robot drummers from a creepy musical future. That being said and all things being equal (as equal as can be when one opponent is a Muppet), Animal gives it his best shot. Watch the video here.
What happens when your label's advertising budget runs thin? Well, you can't purchase ads in major music magazines. What happens when you stop purchasing ads in major music magazines? They stop covering your releases*.
When told that Birdman's ad budget was closer to what I'd find in my pocket than to what an ad exec would use to buy a new Porsche, Amplifier's director of advertising wrote back, " Bummer.....wish we could continue to support your artists, but I guess we can't. Best of luck."
When pressed further, he reportedly quipped, "Hey Sorry man.....my kids have to eat....if you're never going to advertise with us I can't justify the cost of covering your releases"
This is why music blogs will rule the world one day. Our publishing costs are miniscule, our circulation is great and, we'll still cover your artists even when times are thin (as long as they make us bob our heads.. and don't make our ears bleed).
Ok, we admit it, we were glued to the TV just like you last night, watching the part of American Idol which pays entertainment dividends like no other; The auditions.
Thanks to DeathbyCamera for their incredible work on a frighteningly thorough Myspace hunt for all your favorite also-rans, didn't make its and creepy nutjobs.
Next week, Idol hits the south and we can only assume I'll be reminded of exactly why I moved very, very far away.
Michael Hirchshorn of The Atlantic Monthly takes a look at Web 2.0 music services and while drawing lines though a connect the dots progression comes up with several gems of inference. The highlight of which is a comparison of Mp3 to DRM "protected" media that contrasts VHS and Betamax, "One next step could be a move by the labels to make more pay-per-download music available without restriction, meaning that once you've purchased a song, you can do anything you want with it, currently a no-go on Zune or iTunes. Unrestricted MP3 sites could play VHS to iTunes's Betamax. However it occurs, though, the execution of a widely used free and free-flowing music download and sharing system is surely imminent."
Coolfer was struck by the same quote, and asks not "if" but "when" this whole magical convergence of factors will result in the reiterated statement, "everything will eventually become available everywhere for a price that will approach zero" will become fact rather than lore. We're already on record as saying DRM will die, so where and when can we expect the fiery crash and burn which we all agree is inevitable? I wanna bring marshmallows and watch the flames.
Rebel DJ's, DJ Adrian and The Mysterious D have released what they call "Best of Bootie 2006", a full mixed contiguous mashup that cuts razor slices through the best of 30 years of music, then bakes them until crisp and golden brown.
Get it while it's hot, I can't imagine it will be available long. Mashups include highlights like "Crazy Logic", combining Supertramp's "Logical Song", Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" and Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" into what can only be called a feast of paranoid delight. Also a gem, DJ Topcat's, "Dec. 4th, Oh What A Night" which digs deep to hook up Jay-Z with Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
Bruce at Hypebot has been an an anti-DRM rampage in the new year. He's started contacting industry figures and asking them a few questions each about how they view the Mp3, and on the flipside of the coin, DRM.
His most recent victim target is Director of New Media for Beggar's/Matador Adam Farrell. Wanna know what Beggar's position is on Mp3 downloads? "At the end of the day, we support any steps that a DMS or device company or label might take to reduce friction in the market and improve the customer experience."
It's an avalanche waiting to happen. If nothing else, the labels are all exceptionally competitive. Once a few start mp3 distribution, opening themselves up to new possibilities online and (in my estimation) increasing their digital sales by sharp margins, the rest will be forced to follow. Frankly, I believe that for the most part, the labels know full well that DRM isn't working, only they've painted themselves into a rhetorical corner over the last few years and, no one ever wants to be the first one to eat crow.
Robots are at it again. Those crafty automatons have been working hard to put together a CD of infinite indie wisdom, packed full of bands on the edge of hotness.
"Us robots scoured the world for amazing music, from the hallowed halls of our nation's capital, to the rain-soaked streets of Glasgow. We traveled as far afield as Sweden and the UK, as well as Chicago, LA, Minneapolis, and New York City. In between we found a cohesive, flowing album that defines our tastes while highlighting the diversity of music for robots."
Available direct from Music For Robots or from a select few online retailers and regional music stores, it's a veritable treasure trove of indie goodness for $10 American. How can you go wrong?
A newly contested RIAA case involving Sony in South Carolina may help set some important precedents. Court filings obtained by Recording Industry vs. The People show a legal team that's stepping back from the trees to take a whole new whack at the forest.
An astute reader of RIVTP points out the crux of the argument in the counterfiling, "The Complaint fails to join an indispensable party or parties, including but not limited to the "online media distribution system" [...] and therefore should be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(7), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure." That same astute reader explins it for the rest of us, "this lawyer went one step further and is requesting that the RIAA include anyone who ACTUALLY downloaded content from the defendant."
Thus far the RIAA hasn't ever proven anyone has downloaded music from a defendant, aside from the RIAA or its own representatives, and this suit is essentially asking them to put up or shut up when it comes to that specific point. Even one successfully defended case that rests on the difference between "making available" and "distributing" copyright protected content could be quite important for other defenses.
"The CD as it stands is dead", that's what Alain Levy of EMI told a packed room at London School of Business in October (Lomax's article says different but, we checked). John Nova Lomax of Houston Press is taking the time to eulogize it, examine why it's dying and take a cursory look at where the format is heading.
Lomax writes, "Looking back over the past 45 years, it is now plain that the move from vinyl to CD was not the bold step forward we were told it would be. CDs were not scratch-proof (as the labels had us believe early on), nor was the sound an improvement on vinyl -- indeed, most audiophiles argue that their sound is inferior. Jewel cases were ridiculously brittle -- they were rendered useless by a drop of four feet or so -- and they were hard to open, as were the huge and idiotic long-boxes CDs were packaged in well into the 1990s. Their visual appeal was almost always minimal and yet they took up what now seems like a lot of shelf space."
The truth is the CD, due to its fragility, has become a disposable item. One hipster quips in Lomax's article that she treats her music burned to CD with the same dismissive regard as she would treat any disposable lighter. As a culture, we're plenty fed up with disposable items which are sold to us as a "semi-durable" good. We know we'll be back to replace it far to early, and we feel ripped off when we find ourselves back in line again, holding a package full of the same empty promises we bought last time.
The votes are counted, and the inductees have been named. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame welcomes R.E.M., Van Halen, Patti Smith, Grandmaster Flash, and The Ronettes in 2007.
R.E.M. and Van Halen are pretty obvious, the real story here is Patti Smith. When she was nominated back in October, I put in my (worthless) vote by writing, "If they gave music blog writers a vote, which I can assure you they don't, I'd have to give the nod to punk rock's own poet laureate."
Smith is a part of the fabric that makes up early punk history. She's the thing that connects the dots between punk rock and art, validating the place early punk holds as a brash and uncompromising unifier between the bifurcated worlds of avant garde music and its physical art counterpart. Smith's welcome into Rock's vaunted hall of fame is, in small part, like Rock and Roll finally opening its arms and hugging its edgy, artsy and dark little brother Punk after so many years of misunderstanding. We'll never be close, but at least we don't argue so much anymore.
Zap! You'd think a middle aged man like Norman Cook (better known as Fatboy Slim) would know better than to hang around a bunch of electrical equipment in the driving rain but, apparently no one forwarded him the memo about how electricity and water don't mix.
Cook winced through a 2 hour set in his hometown of Brighton on New Year's Eve. Reports say 15 times Cook became the path to electrical "ground", receiving electrical shocks while mixing a live show.
Playing for 20,000 fans in your hometown would obviously be rewarding but, becoming a part of the circuit powering your equipment could quickly make the gig a really uncomfortable experience. Cook told reporters, "The one good thing was the shocks stopped my hands getting frostbite."
Oh Fatboy Slim, you will forever be our Pollyanna.
Ever wonder what goes on inside your iPod? If you're like most of us, you simply listen and browse, taking for granted all of thehard work going on deep inside your pocket-sized boredom destroyer.
These guys would like to remind you that it's not all fun and games in there. Cranking out tunes and keeping things organized is tough work.
Warning: This video contains not-so-safe-for-work language.. but is overall pretty harmless. Enjoy!
In late 2004, the Creative Commons foundation launched a remix contest that allowed you (in that overused, Time Magazine Person of The Year sense) to mix, mash and sample popular artists such as Chuck D, David Byrne, and Le Tigre. The contest was a great success, increasing awareness of the Commons and ultimately giving hundreds of little known mixers and producers to be heard by a wide audience.
The newly launched CC Hungary tried the same idea, only with well known Hungarian musicians. How often do you get to hear Hungarian break-beat? The resulting album has quite a few high points, even if you don't speak Magyar. Listen to or download the whole album here.
What happens when your label's advertising budget runs thin? Well, you can't purchase ads in major music magazines. What happens when you stop purchasing ads in major music magazines? They stop covering your releases*. 
Ok, we admit it, we were glued to the TV just like you last night, watching the part of American Idol which pays entertainment dividends like no other; The auditions. 
Michael Hirchshorn of 
Rebel DJ's, DJ Adrian and The Mysterious D have 
Bruce at 
A newly contested RIAA case involving Sony in South Carolina may help set some important precedents. 
The votes are counted, and 
Zap! You'd think a middle aged man like Norman Cook (better known as 
In late 2004, the 
