Tag: Music

Society by Joe WilcoxSep 29, 20054:19 pm

No Direction Forward

I recorded the PBS special on Bob Dylan, “No Direction Home” and finished the first part last night. The film left me with a sense of loss about the state of American culture.

Dylan started making music at a time of counterculture poetry and song, the Greenwich Village crowd, that still had some lifeblood even through the early 1980s. My question: Where is the interest in arts for arts sake today? I recognize this isn’t exactly a new problem. The term counterculture is explanation enough for a longstanding problem.

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 27, 20053:53 pm

Greed Killed the Trojan Horse

Seems like Apple and music labels are on collision course as iTunes contract renewals approach. Steve Jobs called record labels “greedy“, over alleged plans to move digital downloads to a tiered pricing model. Right now, iTunes buyers pay a 99-cent flat rate for singles, while most albums sell for $9.99. Apple does bundle some singles with music videos for $1.99.

So, I had thought Steve Jobs was being just a wee bit over the top, until a few days later when Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. said during an investors conference: “We are selling our songs through iPod, but we don’t have a share of iPod’s revenue. We want to share in those revenue streams” [source Red Herring]. Ah, yeah.

Society by Joe WilcoxSep 22, 20058:00 pm

Island of Islands

I spent the day in Manhattan, where I had meetings at my employer’s office. After work I walked down 33rd Street from Park Ave. South to Seventh Ave., where is Pennsylvania Station. The first day […]

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 19, 20058:58 pm

Where are iTunes Free Music Videos?

Apple’s music store offers many ways to discover new music. I also have been using Yahoo! Music, which offers great value—how’s five bucks a month for unlimited downloads—but doesn’t offer as many ways to find […]

Society by Joe WilcoxSep 11, 20058:00 pm

Jobs Does the Job

Today, I took some time to watch Steve Jobs’ iPod nano Webcast. I’ve got to tell you that he gives a better performance than most magicians. And the slight of hands are amazingly subtle. For example, he used iChat to video conference with Madonna in London.

News Media by Joe WilcoxAug 28, 20054:20 pm

The Times’ Sweeping Generalization

Okay, I think the Times Online is going a wee bit too far. The UK news operation kicks off a story about the MTV Video Music Awards with the very leading, “Green Day, the anti-war punk […]

Music by Joe WilcoxAug 28, 20054:13 pm

My MTV Music Awards Videos

By chance, I visited the MTV site this afternoon, where there is a preview of all the nominees for this year’s Video Music Awards, which airs later tonight. Great promotion and bigger than postage-stamp-size videos, too. I just couldn’t resist watching and handicapping some vids.

Music by Joe WilcoxAug 24, 20053:40 pm

The Wrong Lesson

My wife is prepping my daughter for home school. She was surprised that my daughter couldn’t identify one U.S. state. “We were supposed to learn last year in social studies,” my daughter said. Apparently, the teacher couldn’t get to it. While I am largely satisfied with what the public school teachers taught my daughter, the incident reminded me of something that happened late in the school year.

One Friday, my daughter asked about Napster. She knows that I have gotten songs from Napster and wanted to know about stealing music. Problem: Her confusion over the original Napster filing-sharing site and Napster 2.0, which sells music or offers it on subscription basis. Her fifth grade teacher was source of the confusion.

Apple by Joe WilcoxNov 27, 20045:55 pm

Gothic Punk

Late this afternoon, my daughter and I hauled down to Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Va., shopping for jackets at L.L. Bean. Next shop is Apple Store numero uno, being the first of the retail […]

Music by Joe WilcoxMar 27, 20041:12 pm

No Light Weight

Gordon Lightfoot is among the iTunes Music Store’s “Featured Artists”. Sorry, but Mr. Lightfoot is showing his years—it’s the mileage, I think. His aged voice is raspier than the singing on the 1974 version of […]

Music by Joe WilcoxMar 16, 20043:27 pm

I’m in Cold Shock

Okay. This is depressing. Buzzing around the iTunes Music Store, I read the bio for band Coldplay. Argh. Two of these guys were born the year I graduated high school and the other two the […]

Apple by Joe WilcoxMar 7, 20045:52 pm

iPod Zombies of New York?

My buddy Jim Dalrymple told me about the so-called iPod zombies of New York. He’d read a post somewhere about how so many New Yorkers used iPods that the streets had become a sea of white […]