How Apple's iTunes Radio Could be a Massive Game-Changer

Although it's going to be a US-only service at launch--Apple won't say when they'll roll things out in other territories--iTunes Radio has the potential to really shake things up when it comes to consuming online music.

Some disagree, saying that Apple isn't offering anything new, that iTunes Radio isn't that different from existing players in this space.  I say they're missing the point entirely (see one of my viewpoints here and more here)--and so does CNET.

iTunes chief Eddy Cue unveiled Apple's iTunes Radio at the company's big developer conference in San Francisco this week, and it didn't take long before a chorus of rivals and pundits dismissed the product as, well, no big deal, especially considering that so many streaming-music services already exist.

The current king of Internet radio, Pandora, made sure the press was aware of how large it was, with 200 million registered users, 70 million of whom are regular listeners, and 5 billion stations created. Even Nokia -- that's right, Nokia -- trotted out a VP who suggested Apple was playing catch up, proclaiming, "We launched our streaming radio service in 2011."

Keep reading.  It's important.

Social Networking: A Complete Waste of Time for Musicians?

What?  No way.

If you're a musician and you're not engaged in reaching out to your fans on a regular and meaningful basis--something that they expect--your career is in trouble.  Email databases, Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud, MySpace, YouTube--they're all extraordinarily important.  

But not everyone thinks this way.  Check out the article from Digital Music News on a panel discussion where several artists think that social networking is a complete waste of time.

It was the panel 'Connecting Creators and Consumers' that resulted in the most heated debates at last week's World Creators Summit.  In an effort to directly connect the two, the Summit included two 'real life' young students from Berklee College of Music, who declared that their teachers told them to be "everywhere online". 

"Everything we do is on social media," said student Seth Jones. "It's awesome to be able to interact with the artist."

The artists on the panel, however, thought this was a complete waste of their time and talent.

 "My inarticulacy as a teenagerwas the reason I started making music in the first place – so I find it ridiculous that I’m now expected to post tweets," said songwriter/performer/producer and member of Cocteau Twins, Simon Raymonde. 

Really? Really?  Continue reading. 

This, Believe It or Not, Is a Radio

Beautiful, isn't it?  It's made of ceramic and--get this--palladium, which is trading for $730 USD an ounce today.

(Via Gizmodo)

A Short Film About Cassettes

I can't explain the current fetishism surrounding cassettes--good riddance, I say--but some people think they're worth preserving.

MySpace Officially Relaunches

You remember MySpace, don't you?  But I'm going to guess that you haven't visited in a while.  If that's the case, now's the time.

It's completely brand new and even comes with a mobile app for iOS.  Billboard takes a look everything here.