On the Internet, you could experiment with a lot of things. Including musical stuff. After all with computers, you could do a lot of editing with the audio you create. Interesting, right? And the group Particle People is one of those groups who actually share their music with people on the Internet.
The group Particle People has five people on it, namely:
Ben Combe – Guitar, Vocals
Eric Gould – Bass, Vocals
Scott Metzger – Guitar, Vocals
Steve Molitz – Keyboards, Vocals
Darren Pujalet – Drums, Vocals
If you are into fusion, Particle People is definitely the group to listen to and watch. They enjoy creating funky music. For them it is not just about making music that is groovy but it is also about experimenting with different things so each time, they will have variations. They have songs with different flavors, so to speak. When they perform, they also have lights show to go with their music. It would be a treat to watch them and that is probably why they seem so popular, as they have tours scheduled all over the US during spring. Recently they have launched their CDs “Transformations for the People” and they have their live performances recorded the CDs.
In any case, you could easily access some of their songs through their website particlepeople.com. The files are in mp3 format and you could see them as soon as your browser loads the page. Enjoy the music! These are free and legal downloads of this funky group.
Technorati Tags: people, music
Categories: Downloading Legally, Music
A report from GFK, a market research firm, has shown that 60% of the new mobile phones sold in Sweden are those with built-in music players. Apparently there has been a slump in the market when it comes to cellphones as there have been not-so-appealing models. At the early part of the year, there was still that decline. However, studies show that this year there has been an increase for the demand of it in the market.
Mobile phones are gadgets that you could carry around anywhere. If the mobile phones are really awesome and powerful enough to have a great number of songs, it becomes an attractive gadget. You would not need to have separate devices so you could listen to your music while you are on the go. Another thing is that you could have fun with your friends and show off the latest music you have downloaded from the Internet or ripped from a CD. After all, you could easily synchronize your phone with your computer. Indeed, mobile phones with such features make a music buff’s life easy.
The newer mobile phones have been giving more storage space for media files such as mp3s and videos. This is probably why there has been an increase in demand for them in the market. The newer models of Nokia and Sony Ericsson boast of good music playback and storage space. You don’t have to be limited to just a few songs anymore, especially if you check out the new line of Nokia phones, the N series.
Technorati Tags: mobile phones, sweden, music
Categories: Mobile Phones, Music
Gadget and tech-oriented blogs have been speculating about it but it is already true: Microsoft has confirmed that they will be preparing a portable music player and integrated service. They are going to launch Zune which is a family of hardware and software focused on digital entertainment. They will start with digital music. However they also plan to have a line for a portable video player and maybe even a portable game device. The report has not mentioned what other products will be as Microsoft has not given any details yet.
The report also included information about Zune — that similar to iTunes, users will be able to view playlists, et cetera. Currently it is said that there are no licensing deals in place just yet.
This is good news for all music and media enthusiasts because they will have other sources of music and even new gadgets for it. Microsoft is also thinking of a different scheme for licensing and even pricing. This is the dilemma that they face. They have to compete with Apple’s iTunes and so it might be that it will be quite interesting to see how they will be dealing with the industry issues.
It will be fascinating to find out what will happen to iTunes when this service has been launched. Will people move this new service? How will it affect the music industry? Sure, there will be competition but will it actually be favorable for the players in the recording industry. Knowing Microsoft, there will be a massive marketing campaign for Zune. And one has to wonder what kind of lifestyle they will be promoting through their ads. Microsoft is definitely going after the entertainment market as they probably think that the computer market is pretty much stable as far as their business is concerned.
Categories: Music, Videos
You probably wondered what Asian music is like. Especially traditional Asian music. Wonder no more. You could have classical Asian music from www.asianclassicalmp3.com. The person who collected the material got the permission to convert the cassette tape recordings to mp3 files. The countries of origin are as follows: Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
This site usually gives a brief description of the artists or music. Most of the time they are from out of print cassettes. Other information given on the pages would be the bitrate used in converting the files. Sometimes the files could be huge and there is a note saying that is alright to request files with lower bitrates so that they could be smaller, easier for those on dial-up. Also you could contact the webmaster for other dilemmas you might have with the file downloads.
The files are sometimes long, like almost half an hour in length. In the case of the Cantonese opera files, each of them would be around 15 minutes long. It is just to give you a hint of what it is like. Other musical instruments featured on this site include Vietnam’s dan tranh, a stringed instrument similar to China’s gu-zheng.
These recordings would be interesting for use in Asian studies classes as well as for the purpose of going back to one’s heritage, if of Asian descent, that is.
Note: As mentioned earlier in the blog entry, most of these have the permission to be shared on the Internet. In case you find out that there are tracks that have some copyright issues, kindly email the webmaster.
Categories: Downloading Legally, Resources
What is the latest buzz on your favorite artists? What is your source of information for all that? RollingStone! There are some awesome interviews, reviews and other features in it. But more importantly for music lovers – you could download songs for 49 cents each.
Weekly top ten
On RollingStone, you will find out what are the ten hottest tracks and they will be available for 49cents each. Currently there is even a summer treat wherein albums are only $6.99. You could start by checking out the staff picks.
Technical requirements:
Your computer must have the following:
Operating system: Windows 98 and up
Browser: Internet Explorer 5 and up, Netscape 7 and newer
Those using Macs and Linux would not be able to appreciate this service much though because of the technical requirements. But in any case, they do see the need to give fans more than just music information and not just the option to buy CDs. Digital music is easily downloadable and to battle piracy, they have to give avenues for fans to save their favorite tunes in their computers.
Exclusive Content
RollingStone also has some exclusive content, meaning you cannot download them elsewhere. There are some interviews with different people in the music industry, there are also some music tracks for you. The interviews are free and so you could see that have the price marked as $0.
It’s a complete experience for those who love music. Although it does not seem to have Musicmatch’s Gift Certificate and Allowance system, when it comes to music, you get variety too. You might get more value for your money through RollingStone, especially if you are after their exclusive content and other such stuff.
Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, Resources
Music is the universal language as some people would say. Maybe it is true. That is probably why with the advent of the Internet, people get to enjoy all sorts of music from different parts of the world all the more. Musicmatch happens to be one of those music players you could download for free and it has an interesting software you could use to organize your digital music collection. But it actually goes beyond that. Musicmatch also has a music store.
Musicmatch store
If you want legal downloads, you could buy songs from the Musicmatch store. Each song costs around 99cents and an album around $9.99 usually. Downloads from the Musicmatch site are legal and of CD quality.
Aside from that there are also Gift Certificates and Allowances that you could give to your friends and family. It could be as low as $10 or as high as $100. It is so easy to give them gifts this way.
Allowances are also another way you could share the wealth of music avilable from Musicmatch. Similar to the Gift Certificates, the allowance could be as low as $10 and you could let them have that much downloads. They do not even have to get your credit card number for them to do so. Convenient right?
There is one drawback to this service though. This service is only available to persons in the United States. Those from other countries would still have to look for other sources.
Not everyone might like to pay for such a service for $4.99 a month. But the thing is that it does give a wide variety of songs as well as opportunities for legally downloading music on your computer or your gadget. There are always tradeoffs, of course. But if you look at it another way, it is fairly reasonable.
Categories: Downloading Legally, Resources
There are awards for innovators and innovations in music. It’s through the Popkomm IMEA (Innovation in Music and Entertainment Awards). This year it will be held in Berlin, Germany. There will be conferences and opportunities to showcase all sorts of music and business ideas.
IMEA has a mission to showcase the best new business ideas, start-ups and also the entrepreneurs who will set the trend in music. This is especially because they have seen the need for new business models in the music industry. This is also concerned in the global trend in music business.
The categories this year are:
- Mobile Music & Entertainment Innovations
- Digital Music & Marketing Innovations, B2B Solutions
As such, we could expect new business models for music as well as services that provide media content, particularly music. Maybe there would be methods in making market studies that will emerge from this search. Aside from that, there could probably other means for people to download legally in order to make sure that both those in the music industry and consumers will have a win-win situation.
If you are interested in applying for Popkomm-IMEA, you must check if you qualify. Some of the requirements are as follows:
- innovations must be original and proprietary
- incorporated as a company
- it is a start-up company
There a number of other considerations which you must comply with.
Other details you must submit include the following:
- the impact of the innovation on the music industry
- point out what the innovation is exactly
- steps in the development of the business
Do you have what it takes? Or do you know anyone who fits the bill? If that is so, by all means, join it. This could be the starting point for you. And as it is, it doesn’t matter if you are not based in Europe because this is a world-wide search. No matter in which area you belong, you can make it happen globally.
Categories: Music
Are you constantly searching for materials to read? Are there classics you wish you could afford to buy and read but cannot? Worry no more because from July 4 to August 4, there is a World eBook Fair. According to the site, it is in celebration of the 35th birthday of Project Gutenberg.
This is interesting. There are around 1/3 of a million free eBooks available for downloading for that period. There are different kinds of books you could see here. Some are novels, some are technical guides and there are even children’s books. If you are curious as to what are the general categories of materials are, you could head over the Collections page. There are a lot of literary works being shared here right now. These literary works come from different countries and they come in different file formats. You can download them as PDFs, LITs (maybe for those with handheld devices), MP3s and you could also download them for your mobile phone.
Regarding the MP3 eBooks, it is interesting to note that they have some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Sherlock Holmes” books. There are also some sonnets by Shakespeare. These books have been read by professionals and some have been read by computer voices.
Some of the things to note before you download anything is that the materials here are primarily for personal use. As such, you must not do anything to violate that policy.
Sponsors of the celebration include the following: Project Gutenberg, World eBook Library Consortia , DPP Store , Baen Books
Categories: Downloading Legally, Resources
Ipsos has done a study on MP3 player ownership. The study shows that in Americans ages 12 and above, one in five would own MP3 players. One in twenty would own more than one. Other important statistics are as follows:
Ownership and age
* 54% of American teens own a portable mp3 player
* 30% of 18-34 year olds own one
* 13% of 35-54 year olds are said to own one
Gender
* 24% of the males, 12 years old and older own them
* 16% in females
Usage
* 48% of those who download music own a portable MP3 player and they use it for an average of 12 hours a week
* 700 songs is the average number stored per MP3 player of each downloader
CD ripping
* 44% of the collections are mainly those ripped from CDs owned personally and 6% from others
* 25% come from fee-based downloads
* 19% come from file sharing services
Other media content wanted
The survey also looked at the other media content that these downloaders would like on their portable players. For those in the age bracket 12 to 24, these are the results:
* 39% for music videos
* 33% for tv shows
* 32% for full length movies
For those between 25 and 54, these are the results:
* 15% for music videos
* 18% for tv shows
* 17% for full length movies
The study was conducted in the first half of the year. There has been a sample of 1,112 respondents. In any case, with these numbers, it is seen that a lot of young people are into wanting more music and they are interested in downloading them and having them on their devices, not just on their computers. Aside from music, they want a variety of multimedia content in order to satisfy their audio and visual cravings. Currently though, most of the music still come from ripped CDs and not from downloads. Maybe what the downloaders are looking for are sources with good business models and a wide variety of songs.
(Statistics from: Portable MP3 Player Ownership Reaches New High One In Five Americans Aged 12 And Older Owns A Portable MP3 Player: Ipsos Research)
Categories: Downloading Legally
Thinking about the problems that the music industry has right now? Are you bothered by the kind of control the music industry has over digital music? You might as well check out the site of Downhill Battle. It is a group who are concerned with music activism. They will not keep on sitting down and just watching the industry remain the same.
If you check out their site you would see their goals:
Our plan is to explain how the majors really work, develop software to make filesharing stronger, rally public support for a legal p2p compensation system, and connect independent music scenes with the free culture movement.
This is interesting because they see the reality that p2p is prevalent and that it makes it easy for the public to access music this way. Think of all the young people on p2p. Think of all the possible downloads. As such, maybe it is time to change the business model indeed.
Developing software for the battle
It is not easy to do what these people are up to. After all, they are up against the big wigs of the music industry. They are also using technology in their battle by creating free software to organize and share files online. If you are a computer geek who is interested in contributing to it, check out their development lab.
Read up and think about it
It is important that you read about their views on copyright and how it could threaten culture. They give some essential readings like:
On the front page of the site, you see the news on their blog and other news sources.
Categories: Freeware, Music
