Music on The Dangling Pointer

We Need to Re-Think How Music is Released

Tue, 07 Nov 2017 19:44:35 +0000

Having an all-you-can-eat music service like Apple Music is fairly incompatible with how music is traditionally released. Releasing singles and then eventually full albums and then sometimes deluxe albums and then even remix albums causing a lot of confusion. I end up with tons of duplicates in my library which then skews the "randomness" of shuffle. Here's the scenario:

Hear a new song that you like and add it to you library. This song comes from the single.
Listen to "radio" streams or curated playlists and hear the same song. That song is being sourced from album. You add it to your library again because you don't really know if it's in your library yet or not.
Listen to your library in shuffle and keep hearing the same songs over and over again.
Realize you've added five versions of the same song - several are identical versions.

The multiple versions of songs also creates confusion when individual albums are pulled from the service by the studio for whatever reason. I'm assuming most reasons relate to contract negotiations. I also hate when songs are pulled and then are no longer playable then we they do get added back they're not always associated with what's in your library.

Radio Garden

Tue, 13 Dec 2016 20:56:42 +0000

http://radio.garden

By bringing distant voices close, radio connects people and places. Radio Garden allows listeners to explore processes of broadcasting and hearing identities across the entire globe. From its very beginning, radio signals have crossed borders. Radio makers and listeners have imagined both connecting with distant cultures, as well as re-connecting with people from ‘home’ from thousands of miles away – or using local community radio to make and enrich new homes.

From Electronic Dance to Orchestral Music

Fri, 08 Jan 2016 13:50:59 +0000

My coworker Alex reminded me of the Kickstarter project by the electronic music artist BT where he would use an orchestra in a live performance to replace most of the electronic components of his top songs. Well, the album was released! The music is great. Check out the Kickstarter campaign video below, the wrap up video, and links to the album.

Kickstarter project

Start with the power and excitement of electronic dance music (EDM), blend in the emotional and classical tones of a symphony orchestra, and the result is Electronic Opus, a first-of-its-kind, high-energy album and live concert experience arriving in March 2015.

Produced by BT and the award-winning composer and Video Games Live creator Tommy Tallarico, Electronic Opus features BT’s signature EDM hits re-imagined, re-arranged and remixed with a full orchestra.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/445474695/electronic-opus

Peanut Butter Jelly to Start Your Day

Wed, 02 Dec 2015 15:26:09 +0000

I've fallen in love with this song ever since The Jane Doze played it at our company Grand Meetup closing party.

Rdio is Shutting Down

Tue, 17 Nov 2015 00:33:43 +0000

Well, shit. Rdio was bought by Pandora and they're going to shut down the service.

Stabby. Very stabby.

Music for Dancing at your Standing Desk

Wed, 11 Nov 2015 21:23:18 +0000

I keep a curated playlist on Rdio of songs that are excellent for dancing at your standing desk. The playlist also works well for a particularly awesome dance party.

https://www.rdio.com/people/astralbodies/playlists/7569006/To_Dance_Shamelessly_at_a_Standing_Desk/

Enjoy! :)

Demoing a fix or feature is better with music

Wed, 20 May 2015 14:26:43 +0000

I am implementing a new feature for WordPress for iOS in the site stats and needed to demo the implementation for my coworkers. By accident I recorded my computer audio and gave the demo accompanying music. I liked this so when I recorded the next change I did it again.

[wpvideo ri5olTYQ]

I think I'll continue with this :).

Stealing Music

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:20:27 +0000

I admit, back in the day I stole a lot of music with peer to peer sharing programs like Napster and WinMX. I stopped after I realized that most times the MP3s I was getting were subpar and the metadata associated with them was crap. I spent more time fixing artist names, track numbers, etc than I did listening to the actual music. Enter buying a Mac and having iTunes and I've tried to go legal for all my music.