Month: December 2005

Wednesday, 21 December 2005

I Wrote ‘Music Is Dead’ Back in 1999

by Garrick van Buren Comments Off on I Wrote ‘Music Is Dead’ Back in 1999

While digging up the logo I shared with you yesterday, I uncovered this article I wrote back in June 1999 for an internet magazine lasting all of 2 issues. It was pre-blog, and every article was coded by hand. I know – Dark Ages.

I found it an interesting read both for how much has changed and how the ideas I discuss in here have stuck with me.

Enjoy this trip in the Way-Back Machine.

Music is dead, slowly it is becoming another casualty of electronic technology along side carbon paper and the sword. Each day the global network of computers becomes a greater opponent to traditional music retail and distribution channels. This causes some problems, not only for music retailers but also the record companies, currently focusing 80% of their resources on the manufacturing and distribution of atoms. The web is slowly making an entire infrastructure obsolete. Quick moving upstarts like Goodnoise and Mp3.com are taking advantage of the web’s cost-cutting opportunities by splitting their profits 50/50 with the artist, compared to the 13% artists receive in standard contracts.

This new paradigm asks the question, ‘who needs the record companies and all their middle men between the artist and the fan?’ What is preventing every musician from setting up an ecommerce website and accepting transactions on a per track basis?

Or artists could promote a subscription-based model were fans pay a fee upfront, then receive access to downloadable tracks as they’re released, in addition to deals on tickets and other merchandise.

Artists sites are then not only the clearinghouse for all things related to the artist; tour dates, interviews, fan chats, but also the distribution channel and even a streaming audio / video channel for all Brian Eno all the time.

The European Imperatur MusicTrial study found that users preferred streaming over downloading audio 12 to 1 anyway.

The combination of on-demand streaming with the speed of tomorrow’s bandwidth could easily eliminate the need to archive audio onto a CD by bringing the ability to access any artist, any track, at any time.

With tools like Shoutcast and legislation designed to open low frequency FM waves to consumers, it is plausible that the future will not be about access to 500+ channels, but rather about 1 channel, yours. Plug a low cost FM transmitter up to you home PC, rip you favorite tracks to mp3 and press play. Suddenly your entire cd collection is accessible seamlessly from your car, office, home, and walkman. Time to upload the cd’s and throw out all the broken jewel cases , discs, and inserts.

At a time when college students are purchasing 17 GB hard drives to support 20 track mp3 collections, dubbing a cd onto cassette for a friend seems archaic, it’s much easier to simply email the track across campus. Yet in both situations the branding and visual recognition of the artist and the collection of work is nil. The only visual difference between a Too Much Joy mp3 and a Pan_sonic mp3 is the name of the file, which can be easily changed. Recorded music while entering the ethereal datasphere and leaving the corporeal realm behind, is also leaving behind the visual identification and marketing mechanisms used to promote music and create demand. Leaving in limbo the future of music promotion and all those who shift radio-friendly units.

Though the age of assembly lines and uniformity is decades behind us and each web portal worth its IPO has a customization feature, recorded music is still designed to sound identical each time it is replayed. This leads to the overplayed song, annoyance, and physical nausea. The answer lies in generative music.

Generative music allows the musician to compose like an urban planner, designating themes and setting limitations, making the broad strokes.

The music then finds its own path through the instruments, tones and frequencies designated, creating an ever evolving song. Each track develops its own storyline, its own characters, and its own climax, continuously a part of the ambience until it stopped (considering no two playbacks are identical, ‘paused’ may more accurate). When restarted the music has the same feel, but the storyline has changed, creating a role playing game for your ears.

UPDATE Oct 2008: Giles Bowkett’s Archaeopteryx may be this system I describe. Very cool.
(his presentation from RubyFringe)

eMac Is a Poor Replacement for a 17 inch Powerbook

by Garrick van Buren Comments Off on eMac Is a Poor Replacement for a 17 inch Powerbook

The laptop is in the shop this week. Nothing as serious as Sam’s iBook problem, just a handful irritations I wanted to eliminated before the new year.

That list:

  • SuperDrive not accepting discs.
    Just made me realize how infrequently I actually use CD or DVDs.
  • Internal speakers & microphone not working.
    This is a small irritant – especially when I’m podcasting, but I could just plug in a USB audio device and I’d be good.
  • Modem not recognized.
    I’ve never needed it for dial-up internet access, there are times when I need to fax. Not frequently – but enough to remind me to get it fixed.

Until the PowerBook returns, I’m working on an eMac. This particular eMac isn’t happy with the situation. My standard collection of persistently open apps; Mail, NeoOffice, Adium, MarsEdit, NetNewsWire, Safari, iTunes – is just too much for it.

Tuesday, 20 December 2005

Van Buren Family Christmas Card 2005

by Garrick van Buren 2 Comments on Van Buren Family Christmas Card 2005

van buren 2005 christmas card

I thought you’d all like to see our holiday card for this year. As always, It’s Jen’s concept and my typography. I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. It feels very Classic 1940s Christmas to me. Sure, there’s more to it than this image – Jen did some very cool stuff that doesn’t translate well digitally. If you find one in your mailbox let us know what you think in the comment.

Monday, 19 December 2005

Deal? No Deal.

by Garrick van Buren Comments Off on Deal? No Deal.

I’m not a big fan of games of chance and tonight’s debut episode of Deal or No Deal confirmed it. The promos declared this most pointless of all game shows is sweeping the globe. Yes, that’s the same sales pitch used with Big Brother and the Weakest Link.

Premise in a nutshell: 26 briefcases held by 26 models (America’s Next Top Model rejects?). Each briefcase contains an amount – from a penny to a million dollars. Pick a case. We find out the amount in your case through the process of elimination. As you open up the cases, a shadowy man in a skybox calls Howie Mandel. Shadowy Skybox Man declares a number to make you stop opening briefcases. You take the money or not (that’s the deal or no deal).

So, no trivia questions, no feats of skill, nothing but opening random boxes for way too long.

It was boring tonight. It will be boring tomorrow. I’m pretty sure the contestants on the debut episode were plants. Their enthusiasm didn’t smell right. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t replaced before the holidays were over. Sorry Howie.

On the plus side, 30 minutes into it, the Tivo asked us if we’d like the channel changed. Yes. Thank you, Tivo.

Update 27 Dec 2005: Bob at TV Squad feels the same way.

Fast Forwarding Through the Funny Parts

by Garrick van Buren Comments Off on Fast Forwarding Through the Funny Parts

“What’s the value of that laugh to someone selling something associated with that laugh?” – Ron Bloom

I’m all for commercial messages in podcasts. I’m all for companies using podcasts as part of their ongoing marketing efforts. Done right – along the lines of what Whirlpool is doing – it’s a great way to reach customers with more on their mind than you. Directly. More deeply than any other medium allows – aside from living with a product.

When it’s expensive to publish (traditional media) marketers have to fight for column inches with real news… or at least the society pages. In the mind of the reader, the advertisements are noise and the column inches are signal. For the marketer – it’s flipped.

Today, it’s cheap to publish. For pennies a bit you’re reading this now. There’s no reason for editorial and advertisement to be delivered in the same package. Delivery is cheap, time is expensive. When I want commercial messages I’ll ask for them. When I don’t – get out of my way.

How many times have you gone to a website hoping for a specific banner ad to be there so you could click through?

Right, you’d just go to the marketer’s site. Directly. Duh.

Chances are someone in your organization is podcasting in their off-hours – might even be a customer.

  1. Find them.
  2. Pay them to produce your company’s podcast.

This is smarter than advertising on an existing podcast for three reasons;

  1. If your product isn’t interesting enough to talk about for 20 minutes why are you selling it?
  2. Your customers are not the same as anyone else’s.
  3. Everyone has a fast forward button.

Thanks to Dave Winer for the pointer to the Business Week podcast. If you listen to it, I recommend Mark Ramsey’s conversation with Douglas Ruskoff as a chaser.

Saturday, 17 December 2005

Friday, 16 December 2005

The Most Desperate Tivo

by Garrick van Buren 1 Comment on The Most Desperate Tivo

“Want to watch how the FBI uses math to solve crime?”

“The Tivo’s so desperate, it’s probably recording it for us right now.”

We’ve had the Tivo for about a week now. Yes, we’re still getting over-the-air broadcast television with our trusty rabbit ears – half-dozen channels depending on weather conditions.

This means Tivo is trying really, really hard to show us how smart it is. Unfortunately, there’s not much for it to impress us with. So far, its offered; religious programming, old Cosby reruns, Conan, Will & Grace, and a bunch of daytime talk shows.

Like a new puppy bringing home a dead bird.

No, it didn’t record Numb3rs for us. Guess the bird was too dead.

The Problems with Podcast Directories

by Garrick van Buren 1 Comment on The Problems with Podcast Directories

I had a great lunch with Paul Cantrell today at Sushi Tango. Oh, and if you need an idea for lunch, ask Paul. He listed off a half-dozen other places that sounded just as fantastic.

One of the many things we discussed was the problem of podcast ratings and categorization – i.e. the problem of finding interesting podcasts.

At the bottom of each post here on the Work Better Weblog (and many of the other sites I contribute to) you’ll see a star rating. Click it if something I say resonates with you – don’t if it doesn’t. I offer it as a low-investment feedback mechanism. It’s cheaper than writing a comment and only slightly-more expensive than reading the post itself.

Like all feedback mechanisms – those most likely to bother are those at the poles (polls) – why speak up if you’re not the choir or in the wrong church altogether?

The number to pay attention is the number of votes – not the rating itself. So yes, an overall rating of 2.5 with 10 votes would be a good thing. In the end, our individual rating criteria are very different. Is this rating in comparison to the previous post? Another post on the same topic on a different weblog? How well my writing went with your morning coffee? Is 5 good or is 1 better?

The star is only a single indicator. Top rated posts on this blog will be different than top rated posts that I’ve written, than, well, you get the picture. How does a 4 at podcasts.yahoo.com compare to a 5 at Podcast Pickle to a 0 at Podcast Alley? Given how niche anything in a weblog or podcast is – the qualifiers of what these ratings mean are a mile long.

AmigoFish has promise – its collaborative filter + RSS feed sends new stuff directly to my feedreader – based on what I and others have rated – then provides an easy way to go back and finish the loop. Problem is (like all the directories) ratings are applied channel-wide and there are a lot of open loops.

I’ve got a channel over at GigaDial – Garrick’s Podcast Picks. It’s an on-going list of podcasts that I’ve found exceptional (35 as of this writing). Here’s the 9-step process for a item to get added to the list:

  1. A podcast finds its way into my feedreader
  2. It gets transferred into my iTunes’ Unlisted Podcast smart playlist
  3. It comes up on shuffle
  4. I listen and don’t hit ‘next’
  5. It resonates with me
  6. I remember I liked it the next time I’m at my computer
  7. I click the ‘add to podcast picks’ bookmarklet in my browser
  8. I search for the specific podcast in their directory (not everything is in there)
  9. I find the podcast and add it to the list

I gotta wanna – I’m just saying. So, this means something and I’m only going to do it once. Now, unless I take the extra step of telling the publisher I’ve added them – they’ll never know they connected. Same is true at all the other directories. That sucks. More than Earthlink advertisements in podcasts.

Within the RSS 2.0 spec, there’s an optional category tag, at the channel and item levels. It’s a free-form field – can be anything you’d like. Anything. If it’s a series of characters – it’s a category. And it can be different item to item, podcast to podcast.

Reminds me of a scene in a quiz show sketch from MTV’s 90s comedy show ‘The State’:

“Name a type of car.”
“Blue.”
“Yes, blue can be a type of car.”
Applause.

So, why are all the directories shoehorning podcasters into 15 main, meaningless sections when each podcaster could declare their own unique categories – plural – and standout?

A single-dimension directory is like trying to make money hosting podcasts or sanitizing telephones – it’s only fulfilling at the most cursory level. This is why Google is still the best podcast directory – it takes very specific queries, ones with multiple qualifiers. Then returns fulfilling results.

Bringing me to the podcast directories splogging up the search results. Yes, podcast directories are guilty of the same crime as the the other PageRank-loving sploggers – taking an RSS feed and republishing it for higher placement. 6 of the 10 items on the first page of Google results for “first crack podcast” are directories echoing one another. This redundancy makes each result less valuable.

Update: 9 Feb 06, If you’d like a more colorful read of the same issues, The Bman at FalconTwin.com delivers