Author Archives: robert duffy

I think a big theme of 2007 in the media is going to be the “death of the compact disc.” We’ve heard this a little bit throughout the last few years, but this year it’s gonna get loud.

At the MidemNet conference this weekend, Will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas talked about working with Michael Jackson on his new album, and how he is pushing him for a digital only release:

[Will.i.am] is currently working in the studio with Michael Jackson on the veteran singer’s forthcoming album, raising the prospect of an exclusive online release.

“I dream how he could be the first major artist to release a record through this platform without a record company,” Will told paidContent.org. “Groups that I work with in the future that don’t want to go the traditional route with the record company but want to use this independent route and make money, I would do that with them.” He said Jackson was in “great shape” and the two are working on “strong melodies that affect people emotionally and rhythms that make people dance. I think he’s probably the only person that doesn’t need a label and, through social networking, be able to release his album and be successfully independently … straight from the studio onto the web for people to purchase. I hope he uses the Musicane thing—that would be fresh.” (full story)

Here’s some nerdy websites and applications that I ran across on Lifehacker recently that might be fun for you:

— iConcertCal: This is a fun extension to iTunes. After you install it, go to the “Visualizer” window of iTunes and this application will show you a calendar of upcoming concerts in your area by bands that are in your music library.

— Zontune: At this website, you enter in a band/album title and it will display the track listing of the record and then will let you know if there’s any videos for the songs on Youtube. Kind of a novelty. Example: “I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One” by Yo La Tengo

— Jajuk: For Mac or Windows, another program to play and manage your mp3s. The player provides a lot of interesting ways to cut up your data, but I wasn’t that impressed with the Mac version. (plus no iPod support that I could see.)