More Consolidation in the Music and Entertainment Blog World

You may not know it, but a lot of the music and entertainment blogs you read every day are actually part of some larger conglomerate.  

(Except this one, of course. It's just me and a couple of other people working off laptops in our respective homes.  If any large media conglomerate would like to discuss a seven-figure purchase of this site, I'm all ears.)

If you visit Stereogum, Idolator, Brooklyn Vegan, Celebuzz, XLR8R or Hype Machine, you're visiting sites owned (or part-owned) by Buzzmedia.  Well, they used to be called Buzzmedia.  As of today, they've rebranded as SpinMedia, scooping their name from Spin Magazine, another property which they own.

The story here.

Want to Golf with Alice Cooper? That'll Be $10,000, Please

Alice Cooper wants to launch something called Uncle Alice Presents, a 12-part series of comics and a graphic novel that features Alice as the narrator and "demented blood-soaked host."

He and collaborator Tom Sheppard need $200,000 to make this happen, so they've turned to Kickstarter to raise the money. And yes, the campaign involves getting the chance for a round of golf with Alice--for $10,000.

(Via Uncut)

Mixify: The Online Music Festival Experience Sharing Program

There are plenty of music festivals that I'd like to attend but I can't.  Travel costs, scheduling conflicts andthe agony of sleeping in a muddy field with a bunch of drunks and stoners are some of the things that keep me away.

And while there's plenty to be said about the communal nature of the festival experience--getting up close with real humans in a musical environment--it's not always possible.  

Enter Mixify, a new company that allows artists to share their live performance online.  Even Forbes is covering this story.

So Maybe We Do Want to Rent Music and Not Own It

Nope. We're okay with renting, Steve.When the idea of streaming music services was first presented, I was dead against it.  I couldn't imagine not owning the music I wanted to hear.  And I couldn't get over the concept of losing all my music if I stopped paying my monthly subscription.  That was just so wrong!

But that was when I was married to the idea that unfettered access to music was requirement of ownership. I now realize that it's not.  

Thanks to streaming services, we all have access to more music than anyone has every had in the history of human sentience.  And with recent technological advances, it'll always be availble in the cloud for a price that's close to free (server outages and terrorist delivered EMPs notwithstanding, of course).  

So while there will always be music that I wish to own--digital files, CDs, vinyl--for personal reasons, I'm perfectly happy to get everything else through Rdio, Slacker, The Vault, Mediazoic or whatever else comes along.  They allow me to sample and enjoy music that I'd never otherwise know about or be able to afford.

In other words, Steve Jobs was wrong.  Consumers are okay with renting music.  Forbes has this follow-up:

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25 Albums You Should Own on Vinyl

I often get emails from people who have taken the plunge into (or back into) vinyl and want to know what records they should buy.

Let's start with some general advice:

1.  If you're buying new, go with the new 180 gram reissues.  The heavier, thicker vinyl is worth the extra expense.

2.  If you're buying used, avoid edition of an album released after about 1974 and before 2000.  That was the era of thinner records that used recycled vinyl in the wake of the 70s oil crisis.  Crap material equals crap sound.  

3.  The only exceptions to Rule 2 are those records produced as "audiophile editions."  Most of them (but not all, so beware) tended to come on thick, virgin vinyl.  Some were even mastered at half speed for additional fidelity (or so they claimed).

4.  Don't disregard LPs from the 1960s.  Some of them sounded better than the records were were buying in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

5.  And finally, don't bother buying any vinyl regardless of age or expense until you invest in a proper modern turntable.  And spend at least $400.

Now that we're clear, we can talk about what albums are worth buying on modern vinyl for your modern turntable.

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