Category: Music

Journalism by Joe WilcoxMar 28, 201410:15 am

One Word Describes Billboard Twitter Real-Time Charts

Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Billboard and Twitter are partners in a new project delivering real-time music charts anytime, anywhere, on anything. The mechanism measures conversations around music on Twitter and presents them on Billboard’s website. Now this is contextual journalism in practice.

Billboard’s traditional approach to charting is in too many ways antiquated. The music consuming community lives in the moment—able to sample, stream, or purchase songs whenever, wherever, and on whatever device they may be. Weekly charts are stale before they publish.

Music by Joe WilcoxFeb 22, 20144:05 pm

King Kongos

There’s something wrong if you’re not listening to this band of brothers. Album “Lunatic” is fantastic.

Aspiration by Joe WilcoxJan 10, 201410:49 am

Timing is Everything

Strange the difference three minutes makes. Coachella general admission tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. PST. I made an early attempt at 9:57, expecting to be denied access but got through to the standby page […]

Society by Joe WilcoxAug 18, 20127:03 pm

Free Pussy Riot!

Punk rock roared across the globe as I started college in the late 1970s. Punkers protested their disco-loving, Baby Boomer siblings as much as “The Man”. UK punkers tapped into deep frustration among a younger population struggling for identity and future in face of global economic uncertainty.

Punk music then is much different than now. Then it was a lifestyle choice rooted in rebellion. Today, for bands like Green Day, punk, and all its garnishments, is fashionable. Mascara, colored hair, and tattoos are about fitting in to a larger, accepted social group. The real energy behind bands like the Sex Pistols is gone.

Society by Joe WilcoxNov 23, 201011:50 am

What iTunes Really Means to The Beatles

This morning I tweeted: “I put Beatles albums in my daughter’s iTunes library years ago. Suddenly, now that Beatles are top iTunes downloads, she’s listening.” That succinctly explains what The Beatles get from the exclusive distribution deal with Apple. There are millions of Millennials who aren’t acquainted with Beatles music, and they might never be with their parents listening to it. But everything changes if their friends are Beatling.

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 6, 20103:46 pm

'Can Ping Be Saved?' is the Wrong Question

Apple’s social music discovery service isn’t even a week old and Fortune blogger Philip Elmer-DeWitt asks: “Can Ping be saved?” Oh yeah? One million signups in 48 hours is such a failure. There are thousands of CEOs or product line managers who would say: “Gimme that problem. I’ll suffer through the failure of gaining 1 million customers in just two days.”

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 6, 20103:39 pm

Ping's Alternate Reality

Ping, Apple’s “social music discovery” service, has changed the selection of “Music I Like” to half Snow Patrol songs, one of which I’ve never played. LOL. I finally understand what’s going on. Apple technology is […]

Music by Joe WilcoxAug 25, 20107:14 pm

Mundo Secreto

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/2006845]

Americans really are musically deprived. Even I’ll admit that Katy Perry’s smash hit “California Gurls” is a catchy tune, but there’s better music pretty much everywhere else. We just don’t get to hear it much. Mundo Secreto’s “PÕE A MÃO NO AR” is one example. I discovered the song while watching music videos on the now, sadly defunct International Music Feed. I loved the video channel and chose my cable/IPTV provider based on IMF’s availablity.

Music by Joe WilcoxAug 25, 20106:30 pm

Les Voisines

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-L4jPVoNAE] While browsing hats at the local Urban Outfitters last week, I Shazamed a French song playing over the store speakers. Shazam is among my three most-used smartphone applications—to discover music everywhere. If […]

Apple by Joe WilcoxJul 16, 201011:55 pm

iPhone Antenna Song

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKIcaejkpD4] Yes, this is the same video Apple showed during its July 16th iPhone 4 media event. Like Song-a-Day man Jonathan Mann, I’m generally satisfied with iPhone 4, despite all the negative press about […]

Living by Joe WilcoxApr 25, 20109:41 am

Busking for London Tube Contest

OK, now this cool. Yesterday, as part of the Rhythm of London festival, a busking competition concluded. Winners will get a free one-year license to busk in the London Tube. Competitors uploaded videos to YouTube (haha […]

Music by Joe WilcoxApr 14, 20107:55 am

Leave Your Sleep, and Let Your Copyrights Go

On New Music Tuesday, Natalie Merchant returned, with album “Leave Your Sleep”; her first in seven years. The amazing, 26-song collection indirectly comments on the value of public domain.