I have had free satellite radio for six months, and because it "SUCKS!" I still choose to listen to music that I choose. So I am not trying to promote either Pandora or discredit Slacker. Though based on the names and the interfaces, the choice is pretty simple right off the bat.
You talk about streaming, you talk about the old days, you get mad at those who don't embrace technology changes and lament for the 'old' days of music. The thing TIm Westergen is telling people to write their Congressmen about will affect all 'radio,' and yes, Slacker as well. But that is a compeltely different topic.
It seems TIm has found a way to utilize an ad based free model. What is Slacker's model? They are banking on downloads and people paying for the premium option. My guess is they don't survive too much longer. The thing about Pandora is the more you use it, the more it knows your interest. PAtience is a virtue here, and you don't have to be a music guru to figure it out. Either you like it or you don't. It is a adaptable recommendation system.
Recommendaiton systems are the thing that are going to separate these types of businesses in the long run-- technology will plane out, options will be the same--- and the recommendation system that requires the least input from the user but can generate the most focused resluts will be on top. As you said-- YOU have to FINE TUNE your station on Slacker. YOU do the work, YOU do the heavy lifting to get to the music you like. For hose that partake in entertainment in the 'lean back' mode, Slacker is not the option. For those that partake in music in a more interactive way, why not pay the $4 a month for a full on subscription service where you are limited by number of skips and music choice.
And that is the difference. Why point the finger at a smart guy like Tim who has tried something different and kept it afloat. Different services for different audiences, only I don't think Slacker really has an audience.
I am not promoting either service-- I've enjoyed Pandora at work from time to time, but still enjoy creating my own playlists and choosing the songs and artists I listen to. But the way you touted Slacker's service as better because as a listener you had to do all the work, completely missed the point of what streaming recommendation based Internet 'radio' is trying to do.
Do you drink and type sometimes, because it sure seems like it. I know there are times when I do - this is not one of those times.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
no line on that horizon - choruss and its stupidity
this interaction with my own social media is a ephemeral task. but i do enjoy partaking from time to time.
here i sit drinking cold saki and listening to an illegal version of the new U2 album-- and i feel okay about that illegal bit because i have already pre-ordered the album and paid for it. i am a firm upholder of copyright law and IP rights-- but come on, discovery is the best market. i have already encouraged multiple music fans to buy the album because of my thoughts on it. and i still paid for it.
bringing me to the topic of Warner Bros. effort of Choruss. An organization to place a royalty fee into college tuition to help pay for the enormous amount of money lost because college students are 'illegally downloading' music as opposed to buying it. i argue that they probably don't have the funds to pay for it in the first place, and i doubt it is truly the college students that are 'file sharing- downloading- p2ping music content' that is disrupting the music industry. i pity the exec that truly believes so. how can a demographic that has little expendable income affect a market so? they are looking for handouts and it is a sad day if universities would allow them to encroach on the tuition fees they already charge. would love to see the oversight in this transaction... charging a blanket fee that will somehow reimburse copyright holders? i fear not. i say, let the dinosaurs die out as they hold onto aged incumbent ideas of their business--
if you are going to go after the money- there are better ways than targeting college students. seriously.
create better content- break the mold and distribute in ways that make sense. forget the p2p networks. they only exists because of the restrictions that old dinosaurs want to attach. focus on content-- cutting corners only works for so long. it is arrogant to think that an industry can create its own market, especially in a market founded on art -- listen to those that make up your market and you can see a better path to go down.
...or sue college students, or tax their tuition-- that sounds like a good answer for the music industry....
An idea like Choruss is absolutely wrong. it is defeat and submission all in the same action.
here i sit drinking cold saki and listening to an illegal version of the new U2 album-- and i feel okay about that illegal bit because i have already pre-ordered the album and paid for it. i am a firm upholder of copyright law and IP rights-- but come on, discovery is the best market. i have already encouraged multiple music fans to buy the album because of my thoughts on it. and i still paid for it.
bringing me to the topic of Warner Bros. effort of Choruss. An organization to place a royalty fee into college tuition to help pay for the enormous amount of money lost because college students are 'illegally downloading' music as opposed to buying it. i argue that they probably don't have the funds to pay for it in the first place, and i doubt it is truly the college students that are 'file sharing- downloading- p2ping music content' that is disrupting the music industry. i pity the exec that truly believes so. how can a demographic that has little expendable income affect a market so? they are looking for handouts and it is a sad day if universities would allow them to encroach on the tuition fees they already charge. would love to see the oversight in this transaction... charging a blanket fee that will somehow reimburse copyright holders? i fear not. i say, let the dinosaurs die out as they hold onto aged incumbent ideas of their business--
if you are going to go after the money- there are better ways than targeting college students. seriously.
create better content- break the mold and distribute in ways that make sense. forget the p2p networks. they only exists because of the restrictions that old dinosaurs want to attach. focus on content-- cutting corners only works for so long. it is arrogant to think that an industry can create its own market, especially in a market founded on art -- listen to those that make up your market and you can see a better path to go down.
...or sue college students, or tax their tuition-- that sounds like a good answer for the music industry....
An idea like Choruss is absolutely wrong. it is defeat and submission all in the same action.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
So i've decided to reinvent this blog of mine a bit. Being in grad school, there are many nights that I am up late, in front of this computer, and need to decompress the brain a bit. I will not so much do that tonight, but beginning soon. So watch out. I will end with a quote though:
"Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?"
"Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?"
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
these eyes...
the things we see each day if we even realize it.
the place where our vision meets our thoughts, trying to find a decent balance between those thoughts which tend to be too lofty and the reservations from the thoughts that seem to be too reasonable. these ordinary days can't move any slower, but they sure do offer a good deal of experiences.
i just haven't been seeing them lately. be thou my vision. and it all changes. i used to be scared of seeing everything with the taintedness of rose colored stained glass windows. now it's a prayer to see with just a hint of that color- of that view.
some days feel like i'm watching myself go by inside of the day, trapped in the screen. above my car as it weaves in and out on the freeway, walking with a rush running a few minutes late for work, letting the time pass at work and waiting for the time i can exit and weave on the freeway again.
be thou my vision.
so simple.
grace my feet, and faith my eyes.
the place where our vision meets our thoughts, trying to find a decent balance between those thoughts which tend to be too lofty and the reservations from the thoughts that seem to be too reasonable. these ordinary days can't move any slower, but they sure do offer a good deal of experiences.
i just haven't been seeing them lately. be thou my vision. and it all changes. i used to be scared of seeing everything with the taintedness of rose colored stained glass windows. now it's a prayer to see with just a hint of that color- of that view.
some days feel like i'm watching myself go by inside of the day, trapped in the screen. above my car as it weaves in and out on the freeway, walking with a rush running a few minutes late for work, letting the time pass at work and waiting for the time i can exit and weave on the freeway again.
be thou my vision.
so simple.
grace my feet, and faith my eyes.
the answer to the numerous request
since I received so many requests from my first blog to post more, i do believe I will begin today. Again.
So today, a man was shot by an airline marshall for claiming to have a bomb in his bag. This is the first incident of a air marshall shooting someone since the 9 - 11 mishap. The wife was trying to explain that her husband was mentally ill and had not taken his medication. He flew from the plane onto the tarmac and was shot dead moments later.
There was no explosive device or material in his bag.
Don't joke about bombs in your bags at airports. Even if you have one, I wouldn't recommend joking about it. Because when they do find the explosives, I don't think they will find it funny that you were making a laughing matter out of the situation. Roger that.
Shy boy with a bomb in his head.
Talking about the science
of things
What can't be boiled clean
to numbers and facts
must leave by event of evaporation
His steam gets lost around the eyes,
and fine tunes the kinks in his
wrinkled shirts
clean like stars who've yet to show their face
some timely distance
still hides their grace
and miracles found deep inside
of craters forming
in the night
the bomb ticks as seconds slowly leave
dripping into
an ultimate freeze.
So today, a man was shot by an airline marshall for claiming to have a bomb in his bag. This is the first incident of a air marshall shooting someone since the 9 - 11 mishap. The wife was trying to explain that her husband was mentally ill and had not taken his medication. He flew from the plane onto the tarmac and was shot dead moments later.
There was no explosive device or material in his bag.
Don't joke about bombs in your bags at airports. Even if you have one, I wouldn't recommend joking about it. Because when they do find the explosives, I don't think they will find it funny that you were making a laughing matter out of the situation. Roger that.
Shy boy with a bomb in his head.
Talking about the science
of things
What can't be boiled clean
to numbers and facts
must leave by event of evaporation
His steam gets lost around the eyes,
and fine tunes the kinks in his
wrinkled shirts
clean like stars who've yet to show their face
some timely distance
still hides their grace
and miracles found deep inside
of craters forming
in the night
the bomb ticks as seconds slowly leave
dripping into
an ultimate freeze.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
my very own blog
I feel like a kid at Christmas. I just started my own blog, my own indication of presence on this world wide web. Anyone can find this thing and read. Chances are no one will, but you never know. I feel funny writing with the knowledge that someone might actually read it. It's different than journaling, because you don't write knowing someone else will read it...but I think sometimes we do. We do write in a journal with the thoughts, or maybe hopes, that someone will read it and discover the things about us that we are to afraid to let out.
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