I have returned to this music blog – I have been neglecting it an many of my other sites.  I follow the music industry quite closely – ans have fo a while.  So I have decided to relite this and other site to post issues that interest me in the online music scene.

I built this site more as a device and a test bed, but now that it has been index well in the music space, I have decided to do a redesign and change things around.

Stay tuned – I know people still visit this site. Time to start the fire.

Aspiring Emcees and CEOs – The Next Wave in Social Networking Is Here

New York, NY (November 1, 2007) – There’s been a deluge of MySpace wannabe’s that have come and gone in the last two years. While the names aren’t really worth mentioning here, their legacy is. It’s through their failures that a new kind of industry has emerged – API.

Flux.com, a transferable social network from MTV, and Google’s OpenSocial are both built around the idea of mobility and inter-accessibility. Without delving too much into the technical points here, as that’s not my expertise, this technology will definitely be an important part of social networking in the future. In brief, Flux “is a type of social network that allows users to create a universal profile across any website – MTV or otherwise – that has social-networking tools.” OpenSocial is “a set of common APIs that application developers can use to create applications that work on any social networks (called “hosts”) that choose to participate.”

These will be likely prove to be crucial tools for keeping people connected. In the case of artists, having the same information in the same format across multiple platforms creates identity and will help in refining searches.

By Bryan Munson Loud.com

New York, NY (November 6, 2007) – No one was sure what was going to happen when Radiohead announced that it would be selling it’s new album “In Rainbows” directly through their website as strictly a digital download. Some thought it’s October 10th release would be a financial windfall for the band, with a dedicated fanbase showing up in droves to support the new business model. Others were skeptical, though, placing little faith in people’s conscience to pay for music they knew they didn’t have to with the subsequent effect spelling death for the record industry.

…“While the band, its fans and artists alike are celebrating what looks like a success for Radiohead’s bold move in releasing their new album using the ‘pay what you’d like’ model, I think everybody has overlooked one very important aspect of this, and it doesn’t bode well for the future of the music industry,” says Michael Laskow, CEO of TAXI, the world’s leading independent A&R (Artist and Repertoire) company.

The most important point to concede, though, is that, in an age where the artist is winning in exposure but still struggling financially, there HAS to be a measure where the artist wins indefinitely, because without artists – there are no labels. The time of labels, “making” an artist, is slowly becoming nothing more than a green paper memory. The new business model MUST reflect that ideology, or you will continue to see piracy in a new, and evolved form. By Bryan Munson Link.

I have many conservative friends and while I have trouble determining my own political bent (mixture of far left and far right) I do pride myself in the ability to have a feel for emerging trends. While bullfighting had been a traditional source of entertainment in Spain and Mexico it has had very little mass popularity in the USA as a spectator sport. I guess with the rise of ultra violent films and video games and now the blistering carnage in Iraq over the last couple of years bullfighting has become more acceptable and almost quaintly baroque in its ritualized violence. Ernest Hemingway wrote about the bullfight as one of the great modern day tests of courage and bravado. Of course there are many who would not agree and the web is full of sites condemning bull fights and bullfighting.