Background
Amazon recently released it's Cloud Drive, a 'digital locker' that allows users to store and retrieve files on a personal Amazon server. The server can be accessed by any device with an Internet connection. Amazon starts you off with a free 5 GB and users can upgrade storage space for free.
Generally speaking, it means you can get any of your songs, movies, documents...from ANYWHERE.
The Cloud Drive isn't the first step in the history of Internet storage, but it is an important one because of its relationship with the transfer digital music - which brings along a litany of murky legal issues that have yet to be clearly established.
Amazon has chosen to tie its digital media sales in with the functionality of the Cloud. Digital music purchased directly from Amazon can be stored on the Cloud for free - and if you buy an MP3 album, they'll give you another free 20 GB of storage to use for up to a year.
It had been rumored that for years Amazon was working with the major labels toward a similiar service, but in the end they went through with the Cloud on their own.
Amazon's stance indicates that it feels no obligation to pay for the right to allow its customers to play THEIR files on multiple devices, despite the fact that the major labels believe they are owed compensation from Amazon for the site's 'hosting' copyrighted materials.
Major labels have been losing money for years because their businesses were built at a time that they had a better grip over the proliferation of music. The advent and popularity of peer-to-peer transfer took this control away and made it difficult to turn a profit on music sales.
So Right Now, What Does This All Mean?
At this point, nothing. The Majors are voicing their displeasure and threatening litigation but nobody really knows if what Amazon is doing can be classified as illegal. Is the stored media being streamed or progressively downloaded (the main difference is protocol and it is very slight, but not in terms of the law)? Or is this just a new method of personal storage?
Amazon struck first in the US market but Google and Apple are both rumored to be developing their own media lockers. If Apple can integrate the iTunes interface into a compatibility with Internet storage, then I'll predict they're going to come out on top. All bets are off, however, as we are entering a new frontier in the world of digital music.
Sources:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2383187,00.asp
http://flipthemedia.com/index.php/2011/04/amazon-cloud-service-vs-big-record-companies/
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Music Rec: Typhoon - A New Kind of House (EP)
Typhoon will bring you on a musical journey that cannot be put to words - I’ve literally been sitting here for 30 minutes typing and erasing trying to describe it. A New Kind of House, their follow up to 2010’s breakout release Hunger and Thirst shows just what kind of progress this (seemingly) thousand-person band has made in the past year.
Absolutepunk.net has a free download of the EP’s single “Summer Home” - go over and check it out.
And for good measure, check out “CPR/Claws Pt 2” From Hunger and Thirst:
Absolutepunk.net has a free download of the EP’s single “Summer Home” - go over and check it out.
And for good measure, check out “CPR/Claws Pt 2” From Hunger and Thirst:
Monday, February 21, 2011
Listening to Music in the Car
When I was 18, I thought delivering pizza was the best job in the world. I was getting paid to drive around and rock out while listening to my favorite songs. The car was my perfect place to take in music.
What I didn’t know then was that there were several obstacles in the way of hearing what was intended to come out of my car speakers: the audible environment of my car, the layout of the speakers, and the volume at which I was listening to music.
Audible Environment
What’s in your vehicle plays a pivotal role in determining the way sounds are perceived by your ears and brain.
The very nature of sound is that it travels in waves through space - any boundaries such as windows, doors, seats, headrests; objects such as people, soda cans, books, umbrellas, etc; or escape routes such as open windows or doors are all going to affect the way you hear what is coming from your stereo system.
More objects means less room for sound to travel and more opportunities to be absorbed; escape routes decrease apparent loudness by eliminating reverberation.
Speaker Layout
Another important factor in the audible environment of your vehicle is its speaker layout. Most stock speakers are placed in spots optimal for design but not necessarily for the listening experience.
For example - in my car, the front speakers were originally put on the inside of the doors. When driving, my proximity to the left and right speakers was unbalanced; I was getting a lot more of the left speaker than the right speaker. (The solution to this problem is called ‘equal path length’, a speaker layout I will cover in a future entry.)
To compensate for the loss of what was happening on the right side of the stereo image, I’d either shift the balance to the right speaker (causing key elements of the left side to disappear), or turn the music up to make out what was happening on the right. This was doing more harm than I thought; my ears would ring upon leaving the car, which leads me to my next point - too loud is no good.
Loudness
Your vehicle is a small enclosed area that isn’t going to allow sound to reverberate through space. When loud noise comes at you in such an environment, you and your ears are going to be absorbing a lot of sonic energy. The ‘apparent loudness’ of what you’re hearing can be much greater than its actual decibel level because the sound waves have nowhere to go. This is extremely dangerous to your ears; sustained exposure to loud noises can permanently damage hearing.
--
The next time you take a drive, think about some of these things - how does music sound with the windows up, then down? Where exactly are your speakers? Does an empty car sound different than a full one?
And most importantly...are your ears ringing after you get done driving? If they are, turn down the volume! I wouldn’t want to spend a day on this earth without my hearing. This doesn't mean you have to refrain from blasting a song here or there - just be careful of what you're subjecting your ears to on a consistent basis.
What I didn’t know then was that there were several obstacles in the way of hearing what was intended to come out of my car speakers: the audible environment of my car, the layout of the speakers, and the volume at which I was listening to music.
Audible Environment
What’s in your vehicle plays a pivotal role in determining the way sounds are perceived by your ears and brain.
The very nature of sound is that it travels in waves through space - any boundaries such as windows, doors, seats, headrests; objects such as people, soda cans, books, umbrellas, etc; or escape routes such as open windows or doors are all going to affect the way you hear what is coming from your stereo system.
More objects means less room for sound to travel and more opportunities to be absorbed; escape routes decrease apparent loudness by eliminating reverberation.
Speaker Layout
Another important factor in the audible environment of your vehicle is its speaker layout. Most stock speakers are placed in spots optimal for design but not necessarily for the listening experience.
For example - in my car, the front speakers were originally put on the inside of the doors. When driving, my proximity to the left and right speakers was unbalanced; I was getting a lot more of the left speaker than the right speaker. (The solution to this problem is called ‘equal path length’, a speaker layout I will cover in a future entry.)
To compensate for the loss of what was happening on the right side of the stereo image, I’d either shift the balance to the right speaker (causing key elements of the left side to disappear), or turn the music up to make out what was happening on the right. This was doing more harm than I thought; my ears would ring upon leaving the car, which leads me to my next point - too loud is no good.
Loudness
Your vehicle is a small enclosed area that isn’t going to allow sound to reverberate through space. When loud noise comes at you in such an environment, you and your ears are going to be absorbing a lot of sonic energy. The ‘apparent loudness’ of what you’re hearing can be much greater than its actual decibel level because the sound waves have nowhere to go. This is extremely dangerous to your ears; sustained exposure to loud noises can permanently damage hearing.
--
The next time you take a drive, think about some of these things - how does music sound with the windows up, then down? Where exactly are your speakers? Does an empty car sound different than a full one?
And most importantly...are your ears ringing after you get done driving? If they are, turn down the volume! I wouldn’t want to spend a day on this earth without my hearing. This doesn't mean you have to refrain from blasting a song here or there - just be careful of what you're subjecting your ears to on a consistent basis.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
What is Mass Appeal?
It's never been an easy thing to pinpoint, the ability to charm the masses through the medium of music. Why do millions upon millions of people fall in love with the music of Radiohead, or Counting Crows, or Pink Floyd, or the Rolling Stones? What did these bands do that other great bands 'couldn't' - how did they transcend multiple generations' tastes and preferences and appeal to such a huge demographic of music fans?
I quote the word 'couldn't' because I don't mean it as a slight to artists that have developed loyal followings through their artistic efforts. There are a ton of albums that I know hit me in a way that most people don't feel...yet I know I'm not alone in this feeling.
We gravitate towards sounds that we want to hear. But why do some sounds make more sense to more of us?
I don't have the answer. Actually, I don't think there is any way to pinpoint why something just takes off in popularity. Each of the four bands I mentioned in the opening paragraph is immensely popular for different reasons. And in each of their situations, it was probably a combination of several important events that enabled them to create work that transcended generational boundaries.
At any rate I think this is a great topic for discussion, because without a true answer it is only human nature to look for one.
I quote the word 'couldn't' because I don't mean it as a slight to artists that have developed loyal followings through their artistic efforts. There are a ton of albums that I know hit me in a way that most people don't feel...yet I know I'm not alone in this feeling.
We gravitate towards sounds that we want to hear. But why do some sounds make more sense to more of us?
I don't have the answer. Actually, I don't think there is any way to pinpoint why something just takes off in popularity. Each of the four bands I mentioned in the opening paragraph is immensely popular for different reasons. And in each of their situations, it was probably a combination of several important events that enabled them to create work that transcended generational boundaries.
At any rate I think this is a great topic for discussion, because without a true answer it is only human nature to look for one.
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