Zune Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

“When Stian, a friend of mine, came to me a few days ago and told me I could now find his music on various online music services I just had to find out how. It's no secret that record companies are becoming more and more uselss with most of them being sadistic about both stealing the artist's money and chase pirates, but I was unaware of just how easy it had become to publish music on your own.”

I don’t necessarily entirely agree with this statement over at AnythingButIpod but I think that most of us can agree that the music industry is a dinosaur that does as much to hold back artists today as it does to promote them. For a few years now I’ve wondered why many artists would really want to go the route of a big record company. For every successful artist that shows up on the radio there are hundreds of failures.

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"Zune Pass is just such a subscription service, and it's a pretty good one… but lately, Zune Pass subscribers have been seeing their music collections just disappear into thin air. This can be a single song, an entire album or even whole artists' collections. Disappearing acts included, but weren't limited to, popular artists like Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend and Spoon. Now, when stuff like this happens, the usual culprit is that the record industry has re-negotiated its licensing deals with the service… which seems to be exactly what occurred. Microsoft has responded to customers' complaints by saying that their music has disappeared because record labels have pulled them."

This story's been making the rounds on the internet as of late. It appears that music from a number of artists is no longer available for Zune Pass download in the marketpace, and has been subsequently stopped working in Zune Pass holders' collections. Though Microsoft has stated that this decision is left up to the labels, there seems to be no larger reasoning behind what content has been pulled. For their part Microsoft has acknowledged the issue and promised to investigate. They are asking affected users to report missing music in the Zune.net forum thread.

"The upcoming version of the Zune not only maintains the cute "Hello from Seattle" message, it gives it more prominence, moving the phrase from the back of the case to the side."

Ever since the first generation Zune, Microsoft has included a three word salute on the back of their music players, "Hello from Seattle." Perhaps as a dig at Apple's "Designed by Apple in California," and also likely a reference to Seattle's famed underground music scene, the sentence pays tribute to Microsoft's Washington state roots. What does it mean that the words have moved from the back of the device to the side in the latest hardware update? Probably nothing, but it does make the text slightly more noticeable on its own.

"In partnership with ReverbNation, they're giving away more than 1,000 free MP3 / M4A audio tracks. The goodies are all available at www.reverbnation.com/windows, and unlike a lot of massive audio giveaways there are plenty of good tracks to be had. I was excited to find tracks from Skindred, Bif Naked, Fishbone, and Reverend Horton Heat (among others). While my taste in music might not jive with yours, don't fret - there's plenty to choose from. You can view the whole catalog or browse by genre - Alternative, Electronic/Dance, Hip Hop, Jazz, Latin, Pop, and Rock."

Check it out: there's a bunch of really cool, free MP3s and M4As for your downloading pleasure. If you find something you particularly enjoy, let us know in the comments!

"The suit appears to have been initiated by Music Copyright Solutions (MCS), which claims to administer copyrights for more than 45,000 compositions. MCS is named as the lead plaintiff, along with a number of songwriters including Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad fame. These folks allege that Microsoft, Yahoo, and RealNetworks improperly licensed the rights to more than 200 compositions that they offered as on-demand streams or limited downloads via the Zune Marketplace, Yahoo Music, and Rhapsody. Surely these companies paid somebody for the rights to offer these songs. But there's a catch, which TechDirt pointed out earlier Tuesday: these companies may have licensed the rights to the recordings, but that doesn't mean they licensed the rights to the compositions (also known as publishing rights)."

Credit: ars technica

Chalk this one up to another ridiculous abuse of broken music copyright system. The plaintiffs are demanding $150,000 for each violation (for each recorded song - the six Greatest Hits versions of Conway Twitty's "Fifteen Years Ago" would consitute $900,000 in damages alone) or the amount the companies earned from streaming these songs, whichevever is more. This sets a disturbing precident in downloadable music, where none of these companies can afford to lose the case. If all damages are awarded, the 200 violations could end up costing somewhere in the range of billions of dollars, which is why a settlement for far less money is likely to occur. But this case, and the similar trial against Jammie Thomas-Rasset (where the defendant was ordered to pay $80,000 in damages per song) raises the point: if the penalties are so outrageously high that they aren't going to be enforced, why bother having them on the lawbooks in the first place? Everyone deserves to be paid for their work, but today's broken copyright system clearly misses the point in many ways. It's time to get with the 21st century and abandon the sheet music-based system of years past.

"Chester French, the hotly tipped dynamic pop act who recently released their debut album, have just released an exclusive performance as part of Zune’s “Green Room” video series. The behind-the-scenes and performance footage gives an intimate and no holds barred look at the band on stage and in their tour bus."

If you haven't had a chance to check out the Zune Green Room podcast yet, you might be seriously missing out. The lineup so far has been awesome, with Adele, Mastadon, Janelle Monae, Duran Duran, Travis Barker and DJ AM, T.I., and Peter, Bjorn and John. Each series features some really cool answers and provides a bit more insight into the minds of your favorite artists (my personal favorites were the episode with Adele and Janelle Monae). Check out ZuneInsider for the lineup to the upcoming podcasts.

"Microsoft Zune teams up with Universal Republic and UnRuly Productions to present the 2009 "Class Is in Session" Summer Tour featuring the Billboard recording artist, DJ Class. The tour is scheduled to kick off on May 15th and includes stops in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Canada, Baltimore, Phoenix, Houston, Tampa, and more. Class' infectious single, Im the Ish, has recently hit the Hip Hop, R&B, and Top 40 Billboard charts and is projected to be this summers smash hit."

It looks like Zune's at it again with a fresh round of summer concerts. After the successes of N.E.R.D., Bun B, Common, and Wale (who put on a great show when I went to see him last month), DJ Class is on tour to promote his latest single. The track, called Im The Ish, is as catchy as it is obnoxious and for a limited time available for free from the Zune Marketplace. I disagree that it'll be the hit of the summer—check out the list at Statik Selektah's Soundtrack to the Summer or the Black Eyed Peas ear-bleedingly bad Boom Boom Pow for a more likely candidate—but if you're a fan of Baltimore Club Music or techno-tinged hip hop and you live near one of these major metro areas it can't hurt to check him out.

We'll try to keep you updated with Zune-sponsored shows throughout the summer as we hear about them.

"Apple’s success in digital music is not for lack of competition, however. Over the past few months, I’ve been sampling all of the major U.S.-based competitors to the iTunes Music Store, as well as a few fascinating minor-league competitors. In this post, I’ll show you how each one stacks up against iTMS in terms of pricing and available features. After my testing was complete, I had a new favorite music service, and after you read my report you might decide it’s right for you too."

Bott compares services from Amazon MP3, Zune Marketplace, Rhapsody, eMusic, Lala, and Amie Street against Apple's iTunes digial music powerhouse in price, selection, and user experience. With three of the seven albums he tested, iTunes had the highest price. Lala.com snagged the lowest price point for each of the six albums it had in its collection. Clearly, there are advantages to each of the services; get a subscription (Napster, Rhapsody, Zune) if you care about listening to tracks before downloading. If indie music a la carte is more your bag, eMusic and Amie Street provide plenty of tracks by lesser-known artists, while Amazon MP3 and iTunes seem to be the more mainstream options for minimal fuss and iPod integration.

"You kind of knew it wasn't going to last and that this would happen. The day after iTunes put its price increase into effect (some songs for as high as $1.29, some as low as $.69), the other big online music retailers followed suit. Amazon, Wal-Mart, Lala, and Rhapsody, have now raised their prices as well. All but Walmart now list prices for hot selling and new stuff at $1.29 per song. Walmart is at $1.24...Somewhere some music industry execs are smiling and smoking cigars over this."

I don't mean to contradict my friends over at GottaBeMobile.com, but I figured I'd check out Amazon before I posted this story - and in the listing of top-selling MP3s, you have to go down to #24 before you see a track for $1.29. In the top 100 songs, only nine of them are more expensive than 99 cents. I also checked the Zune store, and most songs are still 79 points with a handful being 99 points. So hopefully this isn't as wide-spread as the post over at GottaBeMobile would suggest...I gues over the next few weeks we'll see.

This week brings a new Zune Marketplace freebie that you can download, play back, burn to a CD, and sync to your Zune device. You'll need a Zune account to download the free content. Clicking on the link(s) below will automatically launch the Zune software and take you to the artist's page, so please ensure that the software is installed on your PC.

• Title: Magrela Fever
• Artist: Curumin
• Genre: Rock
• Length: 4:11
• DRM-free MP3: Yes

"Toronto, ON, March 11, 2009 - Beginning today, Zune Canada will conduct a month-long search to find Canada's hottest undiscovered band or artist to perform at the Zune Concert Series, Canada's biggest free outdoor music festival taking place April 17-26 during the 2009 TELUS World Ski & Snowboard Festival. As part of its commitment to emerging Canadian artists, Zune is supporting musicians working to break out and gain industry exposure with the Zune Concert Series Competition. Bands and artists are invited to upload an original music track at www.zune.ca to enter the competition. Music fans will be able to listen and rate selected tracks from participating bands, and have the chance to win a trip for two to see the selected band play live at the 2009 TELUS World Ski & Snowboard Festival."

As a former "professional" musician (I got paid for gigs I did when I was in a band, so I can technically say that, hehe) I'm always interested in seeing ways that aspiring bands can make it to the big time - because for all the bluster about the Internet "changing everything", many bands still need the muscle of a record label to get their music out to the general public. I've bought more music from bands I've heard on TV shows than I have of bands that I've discovered purely online. The fact that the winning band gets hooked up with a mentor is also pretty cool! The remainder of the press release is after the break. Read more...

Another week and another Zune Marketplace freebie that you can download, play back, burn to a CD, and sync to your Zune device. You'll need a Zune account to download the free content. Clicking on the link(s) below will automatically launch the Zune software and take you to the artist's page, so please ensure that the software is installed on your PC.

• Title: Falling Faster
• Artist: The Love Willows
• Genre: Rock
• Length: 2:50
• DRM-free MP3: Yes

"Since it first landed two years ago, the Zune has been the butt of many jokes, like how its wireless music sharing feature would be great, if only a second person would buy one. But while Apple Inc. has counted on the sex appeal of its ever-thinner devices to keep consumers turned on, the Zune team has been beefing up its software and courting artists like Common, a dashing MC with mainstream appeal who might just help make Zune — dare we say it? — cool."

Common has been promoting with Zune since he performed on the Los Angeles leg of Summer 2007's Live at the BBQ Concert series. Zune sponsored his most recent tour, which he used to promote his forthcoming album, Universal Mind Control. Perhaps in an attempt to return the favor, the video for the epynonymous lead single, Universal Mind Control, features a Zune in the opening and closing shots. Though both Common and Microsoft deny any monetary compensation for the placement in the video, Common has since appeared in the latest round of Zune ads, alongside hip hop legend Afrika Bambaataa. The spot, which promotes the Zune software's new "Mixview" feature, attempts to show the relationship between the Neptunes-produced Universal Mind Control and similar-sounding tracks made years ago by Bambaataa and his group, the Soulsonic Force. Mixview has been promoted by Microsoft as a music discovery tool which visually showcases relationships between artists, their influences, influencers, and contemporaries, and is at the center of a new multi-million dollar campaign headed by noted ad firm Crispin Porter + Bogusky, who have previously worked on Microsoft's I am A PC campaign and Burger King's Subservient Chicken viral campaign.

I'm a huge fan of Common's music, and ate up every minute of Cesar's interview with him when he visited the Zune offices in September (my brother had a similar experience with Common when the artist came into the Obama election headquarters to make get-out-the-vote phone calls). And I love the simplicity of the spot itself; it seems for the first time the Zune marketing guys have gotten out of their own heads and actually showcased the product itself. While it's not quite on par with Apple's "This is how you use the App Store" commercials for the iPhone, it's certainly much better than the launch ads. Hopefully Common and CP+B can finally inject some much-needed mass appeal into the Zune marketing campaign. The ad runs this week on most networks that target 18-25 year-olds (MTV, Comedy Central, Adult Swim), and during both the Sunday and Monday Night Football games.

"The EU's Scientific Committee on emerging health risks, which is normally concerned with noise in factories and the British Parliament, performed a study of MP3 usage. The committee members' findings left them with a strange ringing feeling. They concluded that an hour's iPod usage a day for five years might make as many as 1 in 10 listeners deaf. The problem, the committee believes, is that many people love to listen to their music too loud. In Europe, MP3 players are limited to a mere 100 decibels. However, these European scientists concluded that anything above 89 decibels listened to with regularity has an effect that is louder than the limits imposed on factories."

(Inset picture via CC Darkpatator on flickr)

Every couple of years we get one of these studies that warn us that listening to music too loudly on our iPods is going to be the death of our eardrums, and year after year, as the author points out, we never run into people who have actually lost their hearing because of iPod volume abuse. While it stands to reason that using any audio device at too high a volume for too long could damage your hearing, does it really need to be studied again and again? What do you guys think? Do we really need the government warning us that using a media player with the volume cranked might be dangerous or do you think their warnings fall on deaf ears?

Sorry. I couldn't resist.

"Apple has threatened to shut down the iTunes music store if an obscure three-person board appointed by the Librarian of Congress increase the royalties paid to publishers and songwriters by six cents per song. The Copyright Royalty Board is scheduled to hand down its decision on these rates Thursday. As part of their general muscle-flexing of late, music publishers asked the board to increase royalties paid to publishers and songwriters from 9 cents to 15 cents per track. Apple -- which has mightily resisted tampering in any way with its 99 cent price point for tracks -- said that if the rate hike goes through and the labels refuse to absorb the entire resulting increase, the iTunes music store will become unprofitable."

If you put music on your Windows Mobile phone, your MP3 player, or your Zune, and you ever purchase that music from iTunes, this is news you'll want to know about. I'm not personally a big fan of iTunes, but I certainly support their stance in resisting this move. They've sold several billion songs, largely because the 99 cent purchase price of an iTunes song is a reasonable alternative to piracy for most people. If you give people a chance to be honest, they will - iTunes proved that. According to this Wired article, Apple pays artists and labels 65 to 70 cents per song, 9 cents of which the artist or studio is paying to the publishers. It seems to me that if this law were to pass, the increased rates should come from the artist/label end - after all, without the songwriter that created the song in the first place, they'd have nothing in the first place.

It will be interesting to watch how this plays out - the music industry has been undermining Apple and iTunes lately, offering DRM-free MP3s to Amazon while denying them to Apple. Steve Jobs isn't known for compromising (what with that huge ego and all), so this will be interesting to watch. And if this law does pass, what will happen to Amazon's MP3 store? Or Rhapsody's MP3 store? Will we see $1.10 pricing there (you just know they'd round up), or will they too shut down? This could have some dire consequences for online music stores, who all operate at razor-thin profit margins as it is. Could this kill or cripple the entire industry? The music companies would prefer to have us all buying CDs anyway, right?

"For most of recorded music's life, delivery was tied to a physical medium of some sort. Physical formats included the vinyl record, cassette tape and the CD many of us still use today. With the advent of the digital age and digital music, the physical medium for music is a dying breed. The lack of interest in physical media for music has led to sharp declines in profits for music publishers. Most every music publisher sells digital tracks today, but the profit margins on digital music are much slimmer than what music companies see on CDs and other physical mediums."

This is one of the very rare posts that belong on all four Thoughts Media sites, but it's applicable to everyone because it involves music. Looking at the companies involved (Universal, Sony BMG, Warner, EMI) it's easy to see that this is a major initiative. The question is, will it succeed? I think it has a very slim chance of success if they execute the launch flawlessly, and hit a few major issues properly: first, price. If this format is any more expensive than CDs are at retail, it will fail. They also have to add value to the format - pictures and videos are a nice way to do that. If I could buy a slotMusic album of a favourite artist and get their last six music videos included, that would create value for me. And if they encode the MP3s at 320 kbps, higher than the major online music stores, that also creates some value - although only for the people that actually know what the term "bit rate" actually means. Read more...

A little more punk this week with a band that I wasn’t familiar with until this past weekend. Alkaline Trio, which happens to be one of the bands featured on the front page of the Zune Marketplace right now, is a punk rock band out of Chicago, released their new album in June 2008 called Agony & Irony. Coming into the band at this point, you’ll be excused if you think it’s more of a pop band than punk. I really can’t complain since I find that it makes the album pretty easy to listen to from start to finish. (Actually they’re my most listened to artist this month.)

If you’re a fan of the band this one might not get you going as much as some of the older albums. I could definitely hear a difference. If you haven’t hear them before, though, you might want to check them out. I may even see them at the House of Blues in Orlando on the 19th.

"as a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are giving away the new nine inch nails album one hundred percent free, exclusively via nin.com. the music is available in a variety of formats including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE. your link will include all options - all free. all downloads include a PDF with artwork and credits. for those of you interested in physical products, fear not. we plan to make a version of this release available on CD and vinyl in july. details coming soon."



Nine Inch Nails (NIN) has released their latest album for free download from their web site, with the official CD release coming up in July. This release comes in a variety of digital formats (MP3, FLAC, M4A, and WAVE) and is DRM-free (whoo hoo!). Our source (Steve The Yaz) wonders if this could start a trend of promoting album releases in the future. This trend would definitely be great for consumers, but I'm not sure how this would benefit the band. Now that I've downloaded the album, I don't know how inclined I'd be to go out and purchase the CD. Would you pay for a CD if you could get the album for free? For a band that makes their money from CD sales, I don't know if offering your album for free download is a good thing, but for a band that makes their money from concerts, then this could be a really great way of promoting the band. So if you're into industrial rock (or even if it's not really your thing) head over the NIN's site and check out their latest free album!

Well, Zune news has been kind of slow lately! I’ve looked through my emails and feeds and I have to be honest, there’s just not much that’s catching my eye. I think this is a good time to mention something that I had on my mind last week though. It’s really more of a question than anything else. In my real job, I’m actually a developer. The Zune is great for me because when I’m working, sometimes I just want to tune out everything around me and focus. The music is what gets me there. And let’s not forget that the Zune, above all else, is about the music. Which got me thinking: what do people listen to at certain times? Last week was a pretty rough week for me and when I need to really focus, I have a special playlist on my Zune that I listen to. For some reason, I can program really well when I have the various soundtracks from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex playing. Don’t ask me why. It’s just the way it is!

So what about all of you? Do you have any particular music you listen to?

This is post I've re-published from my personal blog. We tend to focus mostly on the technical aspects of MP3 players on this site, so I thought it might be fun to talk about something we all listen to on our digital audio players, regardless of brand: music.

Nearly a decade ago, in January 1999, I went to visit a friend from my childhood (Brock Harris) in Los Angeles. Brock was teaching a group of high school students something called "A Capella". I knew that A Capella meant voices only, but it never occurred to me that someone could take modern pop songs and perform them purely with vocals (at age 24 my musical horizons were more limited then they are now). What I saw blew me away - a bunch of young adults, not that much younger than me (most were 18 or so), blending their voices into amazing sounds. The group was called No Strings Attached, and I still listen to their album to this day. Sadly, that seemed to be the only CD the group put out.

Fast forward nine years later, and I enjoy A Capella more than ever. I think it's partially because it's nothing but the human voice - no technology beyond a microphone, no vocal auto-tuning (listen to the before and after) for sloppy vocalists, no layering of the same vocalist over and over so they sound fuller...it's pure vocals, pure music. I tend to gravitate toward college and high school A Capella because they pick cool songs, and have great energy. I recently stumbled across A Capella videos on YouTube, and not surprisingly, there are a lot of them (especially from this guy). This video caught my eye today, and spurred me to finally post about this topic. Check it out:

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