Listen to a New Trent Reznor Song Via Text Message

Here's what you do according to a service called Twilio.com: 

When you dial (310) 299-8756, press two and choose what artist you’d like to leave a message for. For Beastie Boys, press one. For Trent Reznor, press two. Once you leave a message, press pound and stay on the line. You’ll then hear the new track you just unlocked. After you hang up, you’ll get a text via Twilio SMS with a link to download the track you just heard.

(Via Consequence of Sound)

Jugglos! There's Now an ICP App

It's $1.99--a bit dear for this sort of thing--but so what?  Where else can you get this kind of ICP fix? [Warning:  Magnets still unexplained.]

30 Great Apps for Making Music on a Mobile Device

Looking for something to experiment with this weekend?  Try any of these 30 apps that can help turn anyone's smart phone into a serious composing instrument.  

Start with this electric drum machine/sample.  A quarter century ago, something capabale of doing this would have cost you maybe $10,000.  Now it's just $3.99.

7 Ways to Learn How To Play the Guitar

I have fingers like sausages, which is why I play the drums.  But I have this longing to be able to pick up a guitar and play.  Maybe one of these apps point out by Mashable is what I'm looking for.  I'll start you with Rock Prodigy,.

This $20 mobile app for iPhone and iPad is one of the earliest attempts to gamify guitar playing. It first launched in December 2010. The app senses pitch to determine if you're playing the right note.

Rock Prodigy features more than 150 lessons for players of various skill levels. It automatically tracks your results and progress. There is also a library of nearly 100 songs (possibly the best song library since The Beatles: Rock Band); and for each song, a global leaderboard lists the 10 best scores of all time.

Continue reading.

Moneyball for Music. This Company Could Disrupt a Lot

If you saw the movie Moneyball with Brad Pitt, you'll know that the Oakland A's almost went all the way to the world series with a team that was put together based on hardcore statistical analysis.  A company called Next Big Sound is applying some of the same principles to music.

Forbes has this feature on NBS.

It’s a cloudy midwinter morning at Next Big Sound’s New York headquarters, and the scene is pure startup. The walls are exposed brick. The bagels are free. The music is guilty-pleasure indulgent: ‘N Sync, in honor of Justin Timberlake’s newly announced album.

But here they’re not just listening for fun. As the singer’s falsetto soars over the clatter of ergonomic keyboards, Next Big Sound’s employees are quantifying the impact of Timberlake’s news, counting 308,200 Twitter followers, 335,800 Wikipedia page views and 4.6 million Vevo views more than the two weeks prior–data that weren’t on the radar when his last album came out in 2006.

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