You can feel good about Live Phish Radio

The folks over at Live Phish have got it dialed in.

I've been listening to the Live Phish Radio stream most of the afternoon as I just injested over 1000 live download titles into the JamBase database so you can search and buy past shows while looking at tour dates...or remembering old times, like this page.

Now playing - Harry Hood from 11/12/94

Thank you Mr. Serling...

You have new Picture Mail!

Happy Birthday Dave!

You have new Picture Mail!

Ever drink out of a can with a straw? Its wierd - yet strangely satisfying

You have new Picture Mail!

Gomez

I caught the three front men from Gomez performing at Cafe Du Nord this week. I've missed the full band everytime they came through San Francisco, including the 3 night run which turned into the album "Out West". Many of my friends who's musical tastes I respect have told me to check them out, so I couldn't resist.

After seeing their showcase at SXSW last week, I knew it was something I could fall for. These guys are true 'artists' in every sense of the word, performing songs with depth, meaning and feeling that you can get lost in. "Songs for the thinking man" says my bud Chris.

The Du Nord was 'sold out', but not over packed. It was comfortable enough to get a good spot in the crowd and enjoy the sonic exploration. I don't know many of the songs, but I'm pretty sure they played what has now been the most repeated song the week on my Rhapsody: "Here Comes The Breeze"

The tune starts off with an accoustic build and then launches into a vocal layered rhythmic zone that figures out a way to take me a different place after every listen. They then break it down into a composition ending which repeats a theme from earlier that ties it all together.

Anthemic ballads like "Free To Run" and "Nothing Is Wrong" compelled me to put together a little 10 song Rhapsody Sampler: launch playlist

Needless to say, I'm hooked on Gomez. Gomez is your friend. It's good to be a fan.

Toffee

Were all in agreement over here...
The Whole Foods toffee cookies are truly the "best ever"

Rhapsodizing

In case you haven't checked your email or visited our website lately, JamBase Rhapsody is offering a half-off special for the next few months.

http://www.jambase.com/emails/Rhapsody/2006/Spring/index.html

Check it out - it's a screaming deal for all you can eat music. I find myself getting lost in the catalog daily, discovering new music I'd otherwise never listen to let alone buy. Tell a friend.

Here's what I'm listening to: Launch Playlist

1. Falling From Above - Neil Young/Crazy Horse
2. Here Comes The Breeze - Gomez
3. Reba (Live @ Madison Sq. Garden) - Phish
4. Let The Cool Goddess Rust Away - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
5. 3 Rs - Jack Johnson
6. Divisions - Umphrey's Mcgee
7. Into The Woods - My Morning Jacket
8. The Stars Of Track And Field - Belle And Sebastian
9. Shoulda Seen It Comin' - Mike Marshall and Chris Thile
10. Road Song - Steel Train
11. John Brown - Tea Leaf Green
12. Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
13. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
14. Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan

...best...reba...ever (yes, even better than 2/20/93)

It's Like iTunes Meets ...something...

Back from SXSW and finally getting grounded, I can't help but think of a few of the new startup companies I met which kept comparing themselves to the idea of established companies getting together.

• iTunes meets MySpace
• MySpace meets Amazon
• Amazon meets Flickr

While it's natural to sell yourself in comparison to an idea people already know, especially one as unexplainably rabid as MySpace, the real flaw in the logic is that you're not going to be able to out do either of them, so how are you going to be able to do both better?

MySpace can, and probably will, build a music download store, if they haven't already (oh wait, they're a record label now?) and iTunes should definately add some social networking to their mix.

But what I really keep thinking about are the real fundamental business models behind these companies. Amazon and iTunes sell music to people, directly. MySpace sells advertising to companies who want to reach their visitors. Besides Taxes, there are essentially only two kinds of revenue models which exist in our world: 1) Direct sale of a product or service or 2) an ad-supported free content offering (or doing both, think Basic Cable)

Everything else is bubble-talk.

While we have been looking at implementing new "social" types of features to the JamBase mix (see Friends & Groups), I still have to remember that these features aren't the be-all end-all of our business. They are ways to support and grow our pre-existing model, and help connect people with each other so they can recommend and discover music in new and interesting ways.

Of course if your goal isn't to have a business and build something for the fun hobby of it, I commend and respect you completely. For those of us who have made our life's work out of our passions, there's a challenge in the art of building something for the love of it and needing to also pay the bills so you can focus on what it can become.

If you're bringing people together well, and providing a valuable service for them to rely upon while you do it, then chances are you will be able to overcome the myths of mash-ups and dreams of AdSense riches and we can all avoid Bubble 2.0.

Home Again

Home at last after a loooooong day of travel, missed flight, connected in Phoenix. Great times and happy to be home for a little while...

I could definately be a fan of The Mother Hips

I'm mobile blogging while at a panel about Music Blogs where they're talking about what makes a good blog. So meta.

SXSW

SXSW Music is a 5 day conference and festival in Austin, TX that brings together Artists, Managers, Booking Agents, Record Labels, Promoters, Festivals, Venues, Publicists, Licensers, Aggregators, Stores, Media, Fans and anyone else related in any way to the music business.

During the day there is a Trade Show and Conference with panels, speakers and people to talk to about anything you're into. Neil Young gave an interview for the keynote on Thursday which was a great glimpse into the mind of a man I consider my #1 favorite songwriting artists of all time.

The panels are somewhat interesting, varying from music licensing to podcasts, festivals, resources, listening sessions and speakers. The trade show isn't necessarily the focal point of the event, but we have a booth for our FanMail product here so I'm finding myself talking to a lot of people who are walking by. So far the interest and traffic to the booth has been fantastic, well worth it. Even with so many people here, the conference still has an independent, grassroots edge to it as there is no Apple, Microsoft, AOL booths on the trade show floor.

There are dozens of parties during the day, some open, some guest list exclusive. I make it a rule to never go to a party that they won't let me into.

At night over 1400 bands play in the various bars around town for about 30-45 minutes each, which works well it you want to catch a taste and see a lot of different music. There's often 5 bands a night at each bar and they need to step up and throw their best stuff out for those watching because there's a lot of music to see and if you impress someone it might make the difference in your next tour or album.

I've seen a lot of incredible new bands and a lot of mediocre bands, ran into old friends and met some new ones. All in all it's been an incredible few days connecting with music and finding the vibe that works for me personally, and what I think other people will enjoy. Kind of a crazy way to discover new bands, but it really works.

On top of it all is Austin, with its selection of delicious BBQ. I've sampled the Beef Ribs, Brisket, Chicken and I would recommend them all. Iron Works and Stubbs are definately go-to goods.

Musical Highlights: Gomez, Jose Gonzalez, Steel Train, Dungen, Apollo Sunshine, Jonah Smith, Susan Tedeschi, The Slip, The Flaming Lips and dozens of others in between...

One more day tomorrow, our showcase at night and then back home Sunday morning...

Back from Langerado off to SXSW

It's been a whirlwind few days as I've returned from the Langerado Music Festival in Florida and am preparing to head to Austin, TX for the SXSW Music Festival & Conference tomorrow morning.

Florida was a blast. I tried to update Blogerado as much as I could but the music was often too consuming for me to whip out my cellphone camera and often times I couldn't connect with blowger. Regardless, all smiles down there as the weather held nicely and the bands started the festival season year off right.

Many highlights, including seeing old friends like Perpetual Groove and The Disco Biscuits take over the stage again and getting to meet some new friends like Steel Train who are going to be around for a long time.

Beyond the wonderful flow of music throughout the weekend, the festival site was pristine and the production quality was excellent. This is a well run event put on by people who care about the music.

I had to leave early to get back to the west coast. If had more forethought I would have stayed in Florida til today and gone to Austin for the Interactive Conference. Alas, what will be will be and I'm getting ready to be picked up at 6am to fly down for the weekend.

If you've read this far and are going to be in Austin, feel free to stop by and say hello at our FanMail booth (C12) in the Trade Show. We're also having a showcase on Saturday night at Tambaleo on the west side of town. More Info.

Yes, I'm most excited about being in the same room as Neil Young

Blogerado

I'm heading to the Langerado Music Festival in Florida this weekend.

If my cellphone gets a signal, I'll be mobile blogging to http://blogerado.blogspot.com.

Check it out, and have a great weekend.

Inbox Fatigue

Is it just me, or has the number of emails gone up dramatically in the last few months? I'm having the hardest time ever organizing, prioritizing and deleting emails so I can actually get something done.

I'm finding myself abandoning my inbox in favor of focusing on the projects we've already decided upon and then coming back for the running commentary on all other things happening...

Anybody got any advice on inbox management? Beyond going Office Space on my laptop...

Godin on Google

Seth Godin is my mentor. He likely doesn't know it, and we really haven't met (except for 5 seconds at a conference that he spoke at), but I read and quote his books and am an avid fan of his blog.

He gave a presentation to Google last week which was similar to the one I saw, but adapted for the Googlers.

Check it out here.

Taylor Hicks

In doing my routine monthly JamBase stats research I noticed a new name as the top searched artist for February. Due to a spike last month in our search engine keywords, it appears a large amount of people got to JamBase by searching Google for "Taylor Hicks".



For those of you who don't know, Taylor Hicks is a contestant on this year's American Idol. Why are people who search him getting to JamBase? It turns out that for the last year, Taylor has had a band, and even shared the stage with Gov't Mule, Robert Randolph, Perpetual Groove and was even on the first Jam Cruise. Upon even deeper digging, we find Taylor not only has singing skills, he's got soul. Check out some of his MP3s here.

Thanks Taylor, for making the most popular money-marketing-driven tv show a litle bit more real, and for bring a few thousand more people to JamBase who might never have showed up. Who knows what they might get turned onto now that they would never have known...

Natalie Portman SNL Short

Almost redeems her Star Wars performances: Watch

Update: Apparently NBC's lawyers sent a cease and desist to You Tube and other sites hosting the video because they wanted people just to go to their website. I can't think of what their website address is right now, and their cut off your face to spite your face move has motivated me to figure it out...

Web 2.0 Stuff

I added a line to the JamBase footer yesterday for all of the "Web 2.0" stuff I've been working on for the last few months. For those of you not in the 'lingo' know, Web 2.0 is a phrase used to describe all of the community, social networking, rss, maps, mobile stuff that has been infiltrating the web lately.

For JamBase, it's RSS :: Mobile :: Maps :: Friends :: Groups ::Podcasts :: Toolbar

Since I've been dabbling in it, I figured it needed a home since they intersect with various parts of our information, editorial and community. I was thinking that every site should have one of these lines of links somewhere to give people a chance to play with those kinds of features, but also force the owner/developer to think outside of these features as their core offering.

I've got to hand it to Russell Beattie for summing up the feelings about all of these new web application perfectly.

Oh yeah, and in true Web 2.0 fashion, all of our features are still in BETA! :)