Category: Music

What Is It With Online Music?

That makes everybody who has a freaking web page think they have to have an online music store.

Just when I thought we were taking a break from huffing and puffing beneath Bubble 2.0 comes word that my favorite seller Amazon, after sitting idly by while the space fills up to ludicrous and unprofitable proportions, now wants to do its version of the iTunes killing online music store.

Henry Blodget did a fine job of explaining why this is another dancer in the conga line of stupid ideas, but let me pile on a little bit.

Not only are most mp3 players a commodity, but online music itself, once you recover from iTunes dementia, is a commodity. It’s not like Amazon can slay the priority challenged RIAA and sell some actual music, as opposed to the right to rent some crippled and possibly spyware infested music file. To the contrary, Amazon will throw the same crap on the same wall that scads of others have already thrown. Maybe it will stick, Amazon certainly has a lock on traditional CD sales, but even if it does it still be part of a big pile of crap.

The root cause of all this stupidity, of course, is the RIAA and the greedy record labels whose only business plan seems to be to try to make us buy the same thing over and over and over. Why doesn’t some big player step up and say no to all this madness? I went on record a long time ago that I will never buy a DRM infested song, and I won’t.

I suppose the truth is that Amazon is trying to protect one of its primary revenue sources, the sale of music, in light of what some people are calling a migration from traditional CDs to online music.

And just to make sure it doesn’t work, the Wall Street Journal says Amazon may do yet another subscription service- which is a word for a platform whereby users pay monthly to listen to the songs they should be able to buy and listen to forever, free of DRM restrictions.

The bottom line is that this is a stupid move that won’t work, but since the RIAA has basically hijacked the entire online music industry, Amazon probably feels it has to do something as a defensive measure against the potential loss of revenue.

While I can see why Amazon feels it has to jump off this cliff, I continue to be amazed at the lengths some folks will go to in an effort to extract more money from consumers.

Does anyone even try to make new products that will sell themselves anymore?

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Steve Newson on Pandora

Steve Newson posted about his love for Pandora recently, setting forth why he likes it better than Last.fm.

I found two things interesting about his post.

First, he gets to the central difference between the two applications. Last.fm is based on what people who listen to the same artists you listen to like. It’s a social recommendation thing. There’s nothing wrong with that- it just is what it is. Pandora, on the other hand, actually plays songs with the same musical structure as songs you have indicated you like.

It reminds me of a running debate I have with another songwriter I know. I believe very deeply that someone with a nice voice could sing any lyrics at all, even nonsense, and if the melody, arrangement and playing are great, the song will be generally considered a good song. I know that when I hear a song on the radio that grabs me, 95% of the time it’s because of the melody and arrangement and the playing- not because of the lyrics. My friend thinks that’s hogwash and that a song needs strong, well crafted lyrics to be good.

He’s a Last.fm guy and I’m a Pandora guy.

Second, Steve mentions Howie Day. Here’s a small world moment: a good friend of mine (who grew up in Maine) is a friend of his. I heard about Howie long before he became popular. I still haven’t heard much of his music, but I’ve heard a lot about him from my friend.

I enjoy both Last.fm and Pandora. I just find that the new music I hear on Pandora is consistently closer to what I like than the new songs I hear anywhere else.

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RanchoCast – February 4, 2006 Edition

I just uploaded the latest edition of our RanchoCast podcast.

No particular theme tonight, just some good alternative country and Americana songs. I play songs by Whiskeytown, Uncle Tupelo, Steve Pride, Robert Bobby, Neko Case, Mark Barker and others.

I also talk in some detail about the forthcoming new versions of Gmail, Windows Live Mail and Yahoo Mail, which I discussed in an earlier post.

Best of all, Cassidy joins me and introduces her first ever podcast song selection.

Will Google Buy a Seat at the Music Table?

googlemusicAfter tossing up its Google Video store to less than rousing reviews, the latest rumor is that Google is about to enter the online music fray. I suggested the other day that Google buy Pandora, my favorite online listening spot.

But the perceived money is in downloadable songs. And while I am on record that I won’t buy any DRM infested music, a lot of people will. So unlike selling downloadable videos, which I think is a supply in search of a demand, I think there is something to be said for selling downloadable songs.

There are two ways to build an online music store. From the ground up, which may result in a better, more innovative product, but takes longer to develop and much longer to generate any meaningful market share. The other way is to buy and incorporate an existing store. Yahoo got music by acquisition when it bought Launchcast and then MusicMatch.

So the word on the web is that Google is thinking about buying Napster, the popular, but DRM-infested namesake of the once innovative and much maligned by the RIAA peer to peer music service. Or maybe not. Once again, we’re all talking about something that might be a creation of the blogosphere.

I think buying Napster is probably Google’s best avenue to enter the online music business. For one thing, Google can’t afford the fallout from another blown opening. Additionally, while I don’t use Napster, I’ve read pretty good stuff about it. Napster gives Google instant market share and music credibility. Plus we know what Napster looks like already, so there won’t be hundreds of “are you kidding” posts the day Google goes live with it.

I’d love to see Google change the world again by bringing forth a new, innovative online music store. But the legal restrictions, the RIAA-gone-wild problem and the somewhat mature market make that unlikely. Plus, if Google thought Google Video was going to rock the house, then I’m not sure I want it to try to reinvent too many wheels.

So buying entry might be the way to go. But Google must recognize and remember that online music is quickly becoming a commodity. Online music stores are no longer destinations. They are online gas stations, dispensing song files they squeeze out of the record label cartel.

As such, brand building is almost an exercise in futility and the online music stores will always be at the mercy of the record labels. Exxon just proved that you can make money in commodities, but to do so you must have an inherent advantage or learn to operate cheaply and quickly. One of the best advantages in a commodity game is the ability to predict where the market is going next. Predicting the actions of the granny hating, catless bag holding, all-in-a panic record industry sounds like a tough order to fill. So I don’t see much chance for an advantage.

Without an inherent advantage and with what most believe to be very thin margins that don’t leave much room for competing on price, Google has to compete on service and name alone. That’s harder to do. There’s a lot of demand for online music, but it is, at the end of the day, a commodity. Since people care less about where they buy a commodity, it makes sense to enter the game by acquiring someone who has market share. But the price has to be right.

All in all, it’s a good move for Google. If the price is right.

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Fred's Radio, Annotated

Don’t it make you want to rock and roll
All night long Mohammed’s Radio
I heard somebody singing sweet and soulful
On the radio, Mohammed’s Radio

Several of us have been talking about the relative merits of Pandora vs. the Last.fm player as a way to find good music you’ve never heard. Fred Wilson really digs Last.fm. I like Last.fm, but so far I’m more sold on Pandora.

Fred’s one of my Last.fm “friends” so I thought I’d fire up his Personal Radio and see what songs played and what I think about them. Here are the first 10 that played and my thoughts about them:

1) Ween – Take Me Away. Though Fred and I like a lot of the same music, his tastes are chronologically broader than mine. I know everything about music prior to 1990 and almost nothing about music after 1995. Ween is sort of in between- I’ve heard a few of their songs, but not many. This one doesn’t do much for me.

2) Cat Power – Willie. My God, what a beautiful song! It sent a shiver up my spine. Perfectly beautiful. Great use of horns. A 10+.

3) M. Ward – Paul’s Song. I’ve read about M. Ward on Fred’s blog, but this is the first song of his I’ve ever heard. Fred, if you like this guy, go check out Bill Morrissey’s first 4 records. Good writing. I like it, but I’ve got Cat Power on my brain now.

4) Nirvana – Where Did You Sleep Last Night. As a general rule, I’m not big on the whole grunge thing. But this song actually has a melody, perhaps because it’s a cover of an old blues song. I’m no Nirvana fan, but this sounds good.

5) Rolling Stones – Stop Breaking Down. Fred and I share a love of Exile on Main Street. I love this song.

6) Peter Green Splinter Group – Running After You. Peter Green, the original force behind the first and better incarnation of Fleetwood Mac was one of the greatest guitar players in the world until he basically went mad. Peter Green average is better than just about anyone else’s finest moment. Not an earth shattering song, but any Peter Green is good.

7) Billy Bragg & Wilco – Airline to Heaven. Fine song off of the second Mermaid Avenue record. Good 12 string guitar.

8) Kings of Convenience – Misread. Never heard of this band before. Mellow indy sound. I like it, but I don’t love it. This would be a good song to listen to sitting on a deck overlooking some water on a fall day.

9) The Flaming Lips – Fight Test. I assume Cat Stevens got co-writing credit for this song, because it is virtually identical in melody and close in lyrics to Father and Son, one of Cat’s best songs. I like it a lot, but I keep thinking of the original song when I hear it.

10) The Zutons – Moons and Horror Shows. Never heard of them either. Great folksy number, that actually turns into an even better song half way through. I like it a lot.

All in all, I am pretty impressed by Fred’s Radio. Last.fm will become a significant part of my music listening experience. But I still slightly prefer Pandora.

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My Favorite Records:Eagles – Desperado

This is the another installment in my series of favorite records.

Any of the Eagles’ first five records could make a good argument for this list. Their California influenced country rock sound further defined the genre founded by the Byrds and Dillard and Clark. Great records all, but my clear favorite is 1973’s Desperado.

Desperado is a concept album about old west outlaws, but the songs themselves run the gamit from a country waltz (Saturday Night), to semi-bluegrass (Twenty-one), to acoustic county rock (Tequila Sunrise). But the masterpieces on the record are Bernie Leadon’s Bitter Creek, Don Henley’s title track (which has some of the most beautiful lyrics of any song you’ll ever hear) and the three versions of Doolin’-Dalton.

The record has been mildly criticized by some as being too much Don Henley and too little everyone else. I’m a huge fan of Bernie Leadon’s contributions to the Eagles’ catalog (Train Leaves Here this Morning, from their first record, being perhaps my favorite Eagles song, with Journey of the Sorcerer not far behind), but I can find very little to criticize about this record.

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Let's Trade Music Ideas

One of the many things I like about Fred Wilson’s blog is his musical tastes and the way he writes about music. The best new song I heard last year (Josh Rouse’s Dressed Up Like Nebraska) was discovered via Fred’s blog.

So the other day I noticed those new, red song and artist charts on the left side of his blog. I went and dug around the Last.fm site a little and decided that sharing playlists this way would be a great way to learn about new music. So I signed up, downloaded the plug-in that allows Last.fm to track what I listen to on our music server (other than the occasional A-Teens song by Cassidy, I’m the only one who ever uses the server, so almost all of the music on there is mine). I added Fred and a couple other people I know as “friends” and am looking forward to sharing playlists and discovering some new music.

You can see my Last.fm page here and via the link in the left hand column of this page. Check out my playlist- it’s alternative country, classic rock, blues and blues rock focused. If you share my musical tastes, sign up at Last.fm and add me as a friend. I’ll reciprocate and we can start mining for new music.

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RanchoCast – January 21, 2006 Edition

I just uploaded the latest edition of our RanchoCast podcast.

The theme is the Dillard & Clark show. I play a couple of Dillard & Clark gems, a Gene Clark solo number, the first recording of Wild Horses (trivia: it was not the Stones’ version), some Syd Straw, one by The Buckets, some other good stuff and an original blues number.