Author Archive
Science and Art are Friends.
Joeseph Priestley was a mad scientist in the most stereotypically recognizable form. He performed innumerable experiments locked away in his laboratory surrounded by beakers and one-of-a-kind tools making crude observations that were documented in the same way a young girl documents her feelings towards boys – chronologically, in great detail and with passion. He is [...]
Let’s make a deal…sort of
It is Saturday night in any bar in any city. You are out for a standard run of the mill night with all of your friends from all circles of your life. However, tonight, you know too much. You know that you will go home and have sex with one of two [...]
We interrupt your regularly scheduled pretentious nonsense for some news…
RIAA’s Lawsuit Numbers Revealed
The head lawyer for the law firm that is managing the RIAA’s file-sharing suits recently revealed some numbers around the success of their lawsuits. Turns out, they have been roughly 18,000 letters sent, 11,000 of which were John Doe letters sent via the ISP (the kind I received). It appears that everyone [...]
How To: Catch Music Pirates Like the RIAA
My college graduation party was supposed to be a very special day for me to celebrate my accomplishments with all the friends I have made over the years. Aaron and the rest of the Boston crowd arrived bearing gifts. Most had cards with small amounts of money, Aaron brought the mail from our apartment. I [...]
Apple Offers $0.69 Songs and DRM-Free Options.
As you have probably heard, Apple has cut a deal with the Big 3 labels to sell DRM-free music and offer some songs at $0.69 each. I see this as a win for the consumer on all fronts since the price for music is now segmented according to popularity/newness with older songs priced at $0.69 and [...]
Radiohead Says In Rainbows Experiment is a Success. Will it Work for All? (Part 2 of 2)
In Part 1 I described how I determined the average download price for Radiohead’s In Rainbows. I think it is safe to say that Radiohead’s success is good news for artists and the simple fact that a band had higher album sales without the premium services of a major label is bad news for the [...]
Solving the Mystery of In Rainbow’s Average Download Price (Part 1 of 2)
Over the past 14 months, Radiohead has been harboring financial performance data like proprietary research, especially the Average Price paid per download which many in the industry are looking to for a benchmark. Back in October Radiohead revealed the first bit of meaningful information about the success of their pay-what-you-want experiment with their album In Rainbows. [...]
More Thoughts On Girl Talk
[James originally wrote this in response to my review of Girl Talk, Death Set and Passion Pit at BU. I think it makes quite a few good points and that it warranted its own post. - Aaron]
The thing about the Girl Talk fanbase is that they were mostly shown Girl Talk by [...]
Freakonomics “Blegs”; tells the story of the mp3 generation of music listeners
The New York Times “Freakonomics” section has started to run a daily post they call “Our Daily Bleg.” It’s essentially a really messy open response survey that poses a very general question and lets the comments run rampant. While I consider the name “Blegs” a disaster, the idea actually makes for a decent [...]
50 Cent is an Industry Expert; Digital Pirate Sympathizer
Ok, so this might be old news to some but I think it is still worth mentioning.
Earlier this month, rapper 50 Cent did an interview with TorrentFreak where he acknowledged the current role of technology and file-sharing in the music industry and expressed an unexpected view point.
“What is important for the music industry to understand [...]
Old Dog Learns New Tricks
When Microsoft bought a 1.6% share of Facebook last month it was a little weird for me. The acquisition actually looked a little pathetic; it was kind of like watching my dad try on designer jeans – “it’s cool and hip, everyone is doing it but I’m not sure that’s your style.” I nearly [...]
Digital Diamonds: Where the Record Industry Went Wrong
[Editor’s Note: The following article is by a new EC contributor and provides insight on the state of affairs in the record industry. James will hopefully become a regular contributor and provide articles focused on the music industry and music technology. James studied business and operations management as an undergrad and love [...]
