Have you purchased your copy of Niggy Tardust yet? Why not?

I just slapped down my $5 for an FLAC copy, and I'm really enjoying it. Dark, edgy, I just really dig Reznor as a producer.

Saul Williams, a champion of DRM free content, brings a powerful performance to the table. At times vulnerable, at times invoking a raw, explosive energy that stabs you between the eyes, a Lenny Kravitz meets Jimmie Hendrix meets Seal...

on PCP...

The constant genre mashing can be a little exhausting, but in a good way. It's like the first time I heard Downward Spiral from beginning to end. I really felt like I had accomplished something. There are influences aplenty...

The cover of Bloody Sunday is a stand out single that really moved me, almost as much as when I heard the original. This track needs to be on the radio NOW. Another standout for me was the raw nakedness of No One Ever Does, a gorgeously simple/sweet ballad, amid the chaos/frenzy/hunger of the rest of the album.

There's just so much to hear in Reznor's mix, and in Williams' words, it's unlikely that I'll pull it off the ipod anytime soon.

Just like my posts on Radiohead's release of In Rainbows, this is another grand experiment. The album is being released for Free (MP3 @ 192Kbps) or for $5 (FLAC or 320Kbps MP3). So far the numbers are ... interesting? Out of 150,000 downloads almost 30,000 have paid for it. That's one in five, 20%. Is that success? No one really knows yet...

Ars Technica has a pretty good write up explaining the details behind the distribution, and Reznor himself offers up a fairly in depth look at the experiment so far.

You can download the album here.

News Sound Bites

Blu-Ray BD profile 1.1, any good? Only two players can use it right now anyway...

Sony sees the light, and drops DRM, is the last major label to do so!

Sirius denied merger, in the red $1.3 billion, subscribers up 38%, good year?

Chuck D wants Def Jam, has 4 point plan to fix it!

Variety: Hollywood discovers Voice Acting more than just "talking"...

CNet slams Washington Post for not correcting RIAA story.

Guardian delivers HUGE collection of niche music sites!

Upgrading your computer monitor might cause DRM conflict in Vista, block Netflix, invalidate other legitimate purchases, only bother paying customers...

Deaf Porn? (via Wired, links on following site might be NSFW)

Avoid "Red Sauce" on your iTunes, buy the real thing instead...

Download iTunes Content at 10X Normal Speed with Swarmcast

From Digg: "Swarmcast said its technology can help a viewer download movies, music or television episodes to their computers up to 10 times faster than usual. Such technologies are viewed as key to help Internet media proliferate, by making it easier for viewers to access entertainment off the Internet."

I can't really say I've ever had any problems with plain broadband downloading music. Is this really a big deal? Are people really getting held up, or is this more for video downloads?



read more | digg story

I'm Gonna Buy an Album JUST BECAUSE I CAN: iTunes DRM free ready to go next week?

Apparently EMI is ready to go.
I might actually have to buy something from iTunes. That just feels weird...

"The seeming delay for introducing the new tier of content has been primarily attributed to a desire to offer the entire catalog at once in the unprotected format rather than a gradual rollout. The companies' technicians are simply in the later stages of encoding and hosting the files before they go live, the contact says."


Read the rest here.
someaudioguy some audio guy itunes iphone ipod nano voice over demo production voice acting auditions audiobooks narration

RIAA to Blame for Music Stores Closing?

Wouldn't it be great if the RIAA started getting sued by record store owners?

-Sigh-

Great op-ed at the NYTimes recounting the story of a local record store's owners having to close their store.

"It’s tempting for us to gloat. By worrying more about quarterly profits than the bigger picture, by protecting their short-term interests without thinking about how to survive and prosper in the long run, record-industry bigwigs have got what was coming to them. It’s a disaster they brought upon themselves."

Emotional and bittersweet, it's so weird to think that having a local shop down the street will be something my kids will probably never know. I was never a fan of Tower, but thinking Amoeba could go away some day kinda hurts...

Read the rest here.
someaudioguy some audio guy music voice over recording voice acting auditions demo production audiobooks