Online distribution

So, I want to talk a little bit about online distribution of music. This is something I've talked about before and I don't want to just repeat myself. I've talked about my views on downloading and the (possible) future of recorded media. I've also talked about Creative Commons licensing.

It's nice to see the changes that are happening in the music industry. Artists like Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead are using very innovative business/distribution models (without the need for a record company). More and more DRM-free music is being made available. Amazon even has a Linux version of its download client. Even Metallica are now embracing the possibilities the internet holds.

Unfortunately, a lot of people still don't "get it". The main culprits are of course people like the major labels and the governing bodies (the RIAA in the US and the BPI over here). What stumps me isn't just their antiquated views, but some of the stupid ways they go about things. Hopefully, future artists will be clever enough to steer clear of them. Of course, not every artist "gets it" either.

I say, let your music be free and let the people who matter, the fans (not "consumers"), decide what you're worth.

If you want to distribute your music online, here's a few useful links:

Soundclick - Somewhere you can upload your music for people to stream or download. You can decide whether you want people to be able to download it for free or for a fee you set. It also allows you to add a Creative Commons license to whatever you upload.

Magnatune - A great little download shop for independent artists. You can't beat the slogan of "We're not evil".

CD Baby - Like Magnatune, but focused on CD sales rather than downloads.

Revelation revolution

So, I've neglected this blog a fair bit, haven't I? Well, in making my own site, I've decided it needed a revival. Hardy Heron's now out and various other things have happened, so it's time I started posting again.

The thing is, there's not much scope just talking about open source music software, is there? Really, all I'd be doing is regurgitating blurb from project pages and publishing collections of links. So instead this is going to be a music blog. But rather than just talking about music, I'm going to be talking about the ideas and philosophies behind it. This means that because of my own ideas about how music should be published and distributed, it will of course have a more open source slant.

I learnt to play guitar thanks to the abundance of tablature available on the internet. I'm able to record music thanks to open source applications. I'm able to publish and promote that music thanks to sites like Soundclick and MySpace. Without the internet and the ability to share whatever I want with the world, these things wouldn't be possible.

The campaign for open source music starts here. Let's see where we can go.

More on Miro

So, you'll probably have noted my fondness for Miro if you've read any of my previous entries. Well, they've just released version 1.0, so I thought it'd be a good time to talk about it some more!

So, I've mentioned before that Miro is more than just a media player. The idea behind it is that it works on RSS feeds, so it allows you to keep up when content becomes available and then Miro will download things automatically (if you wish). This is great for things like video and audio podcasts, a lot of which can be accessed via the Miro guide which is built into the player.

Another place you can get feeds is tvrss.net, where you can get RSS feeds of available torrent downloads for various TV shows, which can then be downloaded using Miro's built-in torrent features!

I now have feeds set-up that tell me when a new episode of Heroes or Bones is available, so I never have to worry about remembering which is on which day or if the show is off air for a week (stuff I'd have to actively find out as they air on American TV).

Stumbled upon part 2: Linux

So, continuing my series of collections of links that I've come across while wandering the web, here are a few pages providing useful info on various Linux-related topics. (I haven't included the pages I have of GIMP tutorials, they'll come later in an art-related post. This goes the same for anything non-strictly Linux-based)

Debian Package Of The Day

A great page that lists a different Debian package every day (well, in theory). It's intention is to introduce people to some of the lesser known packages that are available for Debian (and its derivatives). They run the gambit from useful to fanciful (Thoggen is a great DVD ripping tool, whereas cowsay is just silly) and from niche to usable by all (not everyone needs a command-line calculator, but a countdown timer is always useful). Check it out and at the very least you can be amused by ASCII cows saying things...

Reconstructor

Reconstructor is a simple and easy way to create your own Ubuntu live CD without having to learn to programme and then compile it all. Say you have a friend who wants to try Linux/Ubuntu but doesn't want to install it, so you give him a live CD. Now, as great as it is, the Ubuntu live CD doesn't come with anything that exciting (I mean, can you get excited about Open Office?), so instead you put together a suite of applications on a Reconstructor CD that you think he'll like and Bob's your uncle!

Finally, a few links to help anyone who may be unfamiliar/unwilling to use the command line:

The one-page Linux manual - The most important commands you'll ever need to know on one simple page.

LinuxCommand.org - More in-depth tutorials on using the command line.

A day without X - One man's adventure spending a day not using a GUI.

TED Talks

"TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader."

So, a while back, I introduced Miro (formerly Democracy player), which allows you to watch video podcasts as channels. When you first install Miro, it comes with a few subscriptions loaded by default. One of these is "TED talks", which is videos of various talks/performances given at the annual TED conference. They involve all kinds of things ranging from technology to language to music to psychology to pretty much anything you can think of that's on the cutting edge of creative and innovative thinking.

I highly recommend checking it out as there's some extremely interesting stuff on there. Even if none of the things cover your field of interest, I'm sure you'll find the talks interesting and some might even spark your interest about things you've never even thought about before (I do nothing to do with neuroscience but Vilayanur Ramachandran's talk was extremely interesting).

So, you can either get Miro or head to the TED talks site, here.

The Death Of The Author

A small insight into the kind of thing I do on my course...

Gutsy!

So, I installed Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) on saturday and updated everything and installed everything I wanted (including all the Ubuntu Studio components) and so far, it's been good.

A couple of notes on certain things:

• The new Ubuntu Studio theme is alright. I like the all black panels, as it means the blend in nicely to the background. I've changed the window decoration back to the old Feisty one so I can tell a fullscreen window from the panel.
• GIMP 2.3 was a great improvement over 2.2 and I'm hoping 2.4 will be even better.
• I still can't get my external monitor working the way I want it to, but there should be a new ATI driver out soon, which will hopefully fix that problem.
• The new way XGL/Compiz is set up is great as you don't have to faff about with configuring Xorg and whatnot.

That's all for now, more to come as I discover various things.