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Google Music: New Music Service is Like iTunes Meets Facebook

Jared Moya — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:14:00 +0000

Now you can download and stream music on the go while also sharing purchased music with family and friends via Google+; Artist hub allows unsigned artists to sell music directly to fans.

Google Music officially opened for business the other day, becoming the third main digital music store alongside iTunes and Amazon. A beta version launched back in May, but until now it was merely a cloud music storage service and lacked music for sale. That's all changed. Google has worked to hard to make sure that it stands out from the competition, tying it into its Google+ social networking platform so that you can seamlessly share purchased tracks with family and friends. Many surely wonder whether it can even compare to the mighty iTunes, but this feature should somewhat alleviate those concerns. Google Music is sort of like iTunes meets Facebook, combining digital music sales with social networking interaction. Google Music also offers a trove of unlimited free daily MP3 downloads of music you'll actually want to hear, unlike iTunes. Today for example, features the likes of Jane's Addiction and Coldplay. One you download a track and save it to your Google Music library you can select the "share" button to post the track on your Google+ page for whatever circle of contacts to see. Friends are then able to listen to that track (once) and perhaps buy it themselves. ITunes might have Ping for users to share music with family and friends, but who, if anybody even uses it? Google Music still has the free music cloud dtorage service that holds up to 20,000 songs, though unlike iTunes and its Match subscription service, users have to upload all of their songs. Another great feature in Google Music is the new artist hub. Now bands can sell their music directly to their fans. Build your own artist page, set your own prices, and sell your songs on your own terms (70-30 split with Google). "Whether you’re on a label or the do-it-yourself variety, artists are at the heart of Google Music," writes Google in a blog post. "With the Google Music artist hub, any artist who has all the necessary rights can distribute his or her own music on our platform, and use the artist hub interface to build an artist page, upload original tracks, set prices and sell content directly to fans—essentially becoming the manager of their own far-reaching music store." So taken altogether Google Music is definitely pulling out all the stops to really set it apart from the competition. Download the Google Music app HERE if you haven't already. Stay tuned. jared@zeropaid.com

How to Create, Edit Friend Lists on the New Facebook

Jared Moya — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:37:56 +0000

A quick and easy guide that will show you how to create friend lists on the new Facebook so that you can filter your newsfeed or customize your status updates.

A few months ago I detailed how to create and edit friend lists on Facebook only to have it become outdated less than a month later. Facebook rolled out a new version that drastically altered the site's layout in the hopes that users would find tasks like creating and editing friend lists much easier to figure out. That has not been the case. For many creating and editing friend lists on Facebook is just as complicated, if not more complicated, than ever before, and so despite their convenience users are still opting not to use them. The chief complaints are always the same - time and complexity - and there's still some confusion as to why they're even necessary at all. I've found them a very useful tool so that I can customize my status updates and filter my newsfeed. One of the big selling points of Google+ is that users can choose who they want to broadcast their posts too. The same option is available on Facebook. with friend lists you can customize the privacy settings of your Facebook status updates, posts, and photo albums. The other benefit of friend lists is the ability to filter your newsfeed so you can quickly browse through posts from family, friends, or even co-workers. For those with lots of Facebook friends lists are essential for sorting through all the "clutter."

How to Create Friend Lists on Facebook

1. Go to the "Home" page and select the "Lists" link from the left sidebar menu. 2. Select "Create a List." Facebook will already have several to use by default; there are "Close Friends," "Family," and others based on your profile like university attended, vocation, and hometown. 3. Enter the name for your new list. A useful friend list for me has been"Status Update." It's a list that includes all of my Facebook friends that I think would like to know what I'm up to, and that I think it's appropriate for them to know. It can also include friends that can take a certain degree of off-color humor or appreciate "edgy" music. Think of a friend list as a room and then fill it with people accordingly. In addition to the "Status Update" list I also have one for family, super close friends, work acquaintances, and alumnus from school. Your friend lists can all be merged with others or renamed as needed by using the dropdown menu. 4. Add friends to your list. Select the friend list from the left sidebar menu, and then the "Add friends..." link that appears. From there just select the friends you want to include on it. It's that simple. 5. Select "Done."

How to Edit Friend Lists on Facebook

Open a friend list and then select "Manage List" on the upper right-hand part of the screen. Here you can rename the list, add or remove friends, choose update types, or even delete the list of necessary. You can also add friends to lists while viewing their walls by using the dropdown list tab on the upper-right hand portion of the screen. You can also quickly create a list on the fly using the same dropdown menu. It's that easy. Now when others look surprised that you created a friend list on Facebook be sure and tell them how it easy it really is. Stay tuned. jared@zeropaid.com

Facebook Finally Releases Facebook for iPad App

Jared Moya — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:51:40 +0000

Sports features not available to users of online Facebook site like the ability to snap and upload pics directly in the app using the iPad's built-in camera; Facebook for iPad apps allows users to play games and apps on the go, chat, and flip through photos as though they were in real photo albums.

Today Facebook finally released it's long-awaited Facebook for iPad app. The social networking company had been working on a iPad-enhanced version of the app for more than a year, and seems to have lived up to its promise for a “slick design” that has been “carefully designed and optimized” for the iPad. "Today, it's finally here," wrote Facebook engineer Leon Dubinsky in a company blog post. "With the iPad app, you get the full Facebook experience, right at your fingertips. It's a fun way to keep up with friends, share photos, chat and more." Indeed it is. The Facebook for iPad app turns the social networking site into wholly new experience, allowing users to flip through albums as though they were real. Using a combination of swipes and pinching motions users can flip through and zoom in and out of pictures. "It's like having a slideshow with all your friends and memories, wherever you go," adds Dubinsky. Facebook for iPad also promises fast and convenient navigation. Games, apps, groups and lists all appear in a menu on the the left-hand part of the screen, saving you the effort of having to search for what you want to do. And all it takes is a tap, slide, or pinch to scroll from one screen to the other. Games and apps are, of course, playable on the Facebook for iPad app, perhaps making games like Farmville or Cityville even more addictive now that they can be played on the go (Wi-Fi or 3G). Messages and notifications are displayed the top of every screen, just as they are with the online site. When it comes to sharing pictures, unlike with the online Facebook site users can snap and upload pics directly in the app with the iPad's built-in camera. Facebook is the latest company to design an app exclusively for the iPad. Skype and Turntable.fm are among the many that have chosen to help usesr take advantage of the tablet's portability. Facebook may have taken a long time to get the app ready, but it seems the wait was well worth it. Stay tuned. jared@zeropaid.com Facebook for iPad (iTunes)

ZeroPaid Interviews a Music Marketer

Drew Wilson — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:19:11 +0000

The ASCAP and NMPA story has generated quite a lot of attention and feedback here at ZeroPaid and one music marketer has decided to have a discussion with ZeroPaid about music and the internet in the wake of this story. We were happy to talk with him on the issue.

[Author's side note: In the wake of the NMPA escalating ASCAPs war on free culture, we've contacted two of the organizations targeted by the NMPA, the Consumer Electronics Association and the Computer and Communications Industry Association, but they did not return our requests for comment.] While our in-depth coverage on the war on free culture has generated significant feedback both directly to us or elsewhere around the web, that does leave one interesting question: where does that leave artists anyway? If ASCAP and record labels aren't actually acting in the best interests of artists these days, how do artists actually make a living anyway in an atmosphere where music is downloaded for free so commonly? Chris Cox, an artist marketer of Make Your Band Famous has been tackling these sorts of questions already. Cox passed along a video on his site where he discussed the current climate for music and how artists can still thrive in the era we live in today. While not exactly a 2 minute video, it does offer some interesting commentary in the way things are today and some possible solutions for artists. We caught up with Cox for an interview: ZeroPaid.com (ZP): What is it that you do for musicians and what has drawn you to this field? Chris Cox (CC): I help musicians market their music online, I like to think of myself as a marketing coach, I guess - give them the big picture (we're often so bogged down in the business of making music we can't see the wood for the trees), and give them hope. And then, for those who are still serious about it all once we've talked about that, go into the how-to's of it all - where to start marketing yourself, all the tricks and the right ways to do it all (without spending 10 years lost in the digital jungle), and how to do it time-effectively, because I know most artists at the level I'm most interested in helping work full-time jobs, or part-time jobs completely unrelated to their music careers, and we've got to find mobile ways to do this that don't involve massive chunks of time. I come from an internet marketing background. I started out a while back, and for a long time I helped small businesses market themselves online, I worked with some really great guys like Peter Carruthers (He runs "Business Warriors"), and got to learn a little. I like those guys as people, and I really identify with them and their problems, but in business relationships most small business owners are painful, at least as a marketing contractor. So then I started marketing some of my own websites. I have a couple of various sites (everything from African Art to random hobbies - at one stage we were even an affiliate for a site selling bongs - to one that worked out pretty well in the dating market). I'm from South Africa originally, and when I was in University there I had a lot of friends in bands and really into the music scene. When I went back last year I hung out with a lot of them again. And I couldn't believe some of the things I was hearing. For me, in my businesses if I have 10 000, 20 000 names on my email list, it's a pretty profitable business. But some of these guys had that - and more - and they were making a couple of hundred rand a month from that (double figures in US$'s). So immediately I thought, "holy crap, these guys have it all made, they have massive mailing lists, great relationships with fans - there's a massive opportunity here!". So we started chatting and exchanging ideas, I set some things up with them while I was there, and when I left I made them some dodgy videos telling them about ideas, things I do in my businesses and seeing if they'd apply there. And they told me a little about the music industry and we learnt from each other. And it's all just sort of spiralled from there. I never imagined so many people would be interested in what we're talking about. (Side note, in case you were wondering: I do play an instrument - very badly! - I play bass, but it's really just a hobby for me, marketing is my passion.) [Authors note: Rand is the currency of South Africa, so it's not a typo meant to say "Grand"] ZP: One thing that struck me about the video was that it seems to paint a rather bleak picture for artists, yet it's still rather hopeful for artists in terms of making money at the same time. Would you say the internet has been a positive or negative development for artists? CC: Well, that video has to give a bleak picture. Unfortunately it's long as it is - I would've loved to have made a 2hour documentary on all my thoughts, but nobody'd watch it! ;-) So I tried to get my main point across (perhaps less successfully than I would have liked - and I'm sure there'll be revisions on that video), which was that although things look similar to they've always looked, the record stores haven't closed yet, we still sell singles and albums at gigs, things have changed. The internet - in two ways has completely ripped apart the reality of the music industry. (1) P2P file sharing. And (2) Social networking. P2P is much demonised, and yes, it does hurt some big artists a lot, it's actually (I believe) facilitated a fantastic change that is all for the best for artists out there. For the first time, people we've never met are listening to and loving our music - and telling their friends about it. Considering most people fall in love with new artists because their friends introduce them to it, that's a pretty big deal! Suddenly we've let loose a billion evangelists bent on sharing messages. The job of the artist isn't to stop that - nobody can stop that now, I believe not even the RIAA and the big money of the record industry - the job of the artist is to harness that, and give those fans soundbites that spread especially well, stuff that tells their story and gets people interested, but also makes the "spreaders" look/feel good. So instead of driving the process, top-down, we're moving to a place where we harness the flat power that's already out there. ZP: You've suggested that there's a paradigm shift in terms of a business model for music creation, in your view, what has been this paradigm shift specifically? Are there things in this shift that some don't understand? CC: I think my previous answer actually touches on this a bit, and I'm in no way an expert on music creation, but here's my thoughts on two parts of the shift: 1- The power of free. I believe we're seeing that music isn’t holding its value. That value is dropping in the marketplace. Partly because of illegal downloads, and partly because of the ever-increasing competition and supply. But, people still like your music and want to listen to it. But unless they know it and love it already, they’re not going to buy it. There’s just too many other options out there, and if the other guy is giving his music away free and there’s no other way to tell yours is amazingly better, they’re going to go get his. Then they’ll put their names on his email list in exchange for some free songs. They’ll get to know him, and love him over time, and eventually they probably will buy his music. But you know what – if he’s smart he can sell them other things in addition to music, and make a lot more money from that relationship. I’m not saying “never try sell your music”, I’m saying “treat music sales income as a cherry on top” – it’s not the most profitable way to earn income from your fans, although it is a valid one. Just don’t rely on music alone unless you’ve already got 700 000 fans and you can afford not to be creative! The fact that “Free” is the de facto standard means we can fight the uphill battle and try draw blood from stone — or we can embrace it, and try to make the most of it. I think embracing it is far more productive and optimistic. So, our job then becomes creating "soundbite"-worthy marketing materials. (Which is easier than it sounds, especially when we realise part 2-lifestyle content is king, polished is good veneer, but too much will keep our real charm hidden) 2- We're not on a pedestal anymore. In surreptitious ways our world has become flatter. Media, and specifically social media, I think have pushed it that way. Sure, we see all of our idols polished marketing goodies. It's nice. But what we really connect with is seeing them in the gossip magazines and reality channels - seeing them as real people, who they are when they're not dressed to the nines or acting out a part. Hearing what their lives are actually like on twitter and their real views are on facebook. A lot of artists and music coaches are frightened of this. They have that old-fashioned view of "don't show weakness, they'll lose their respect for you." I don't want to tell anyone what to do on a personal level, but I do want to say that social media is all about friends and relationships. And we all have those friends and relations where we go out and everything is fine and we smile and it's all well mannered - those are acquaintances. Our real, deep, best-friends usually arise because we've been through some crap together. You can really build fantastic relationships with people on twitter and facebook and even myspace and all those social media -- but only if you're willing to relate a little bit of who you really are (and conversely take a little interest in who other people really are). It's a touch scary at first, but whenever I've seen it I've seen relationships grow and communities develop, and people rally around you when you're hurting and they shout with you when you're on top. And we do the same for them. It's quite a beautiful thing actually. It just involves getting over the idea that we have to be these distant demigods, and get our nails dirty down with the "common folk". ZP: The theme that I gleaned from your video is that artists need to focus on selling a lifestyle rather than simply music. Gene Simmons and Britney Spears certainly have been able to sell their lifestyle to the public (many artists sell T-shirts and other fan merchandise as well as make money through exclusive memberships), but is it possible for smaller non-A list artists to do the same? CC: Absolutely. As soon as you start getting fans who aren't just fans because they're you're friends, but who actually really like your music and what you're doing, you should be talking about and selling lifestyle. You can't sell lifestyle to your friends, because most times they either share it, or they actively choose not to share it. But with strangers (even "semi-strangers") you can - because you're an unknown entity to them. The first step is to suck them in, get them interested in you and fascinated by you, so they want to know what you're about. I'd suggest doing that with clever short segments, both music and message/lifestyle/personality based. Then when you're mates, you unveil a bit more, and a bit more -- and sure, you'll get a lot of people who don't get it, but the people that do, they will buy into everything you're doing hook, line and sinker; they'll want everything you produce on it. And it can be more powerful for small artists. Big cultural trends always start small, and there's something extremely powerful about an underground movement, something that "the mainstream" hasn't got yet. It builds tight communities and, often, evangelistic participants. So, I definitely feel if you set it up right, small artists 100% can do it, as well or better than bigger artists. The key is creating a culture and community centred around your lifestyle. ZP: The video you've passed along to us suggested that 95% of music is illegally downloaded. There's been a significant amount of debate surrounding statistics such as this. Some of the criticism was that the numbers are so hard to track, it's difficult to say for sure what the rate is outside of measuring a few public sites and maybe a few open protocols like Gnutella. A number of sources have suggested in the past that numbers like this is purely guesswork at best. Other critics like open source and open license critics say that independently produced content such as Creative Commons or GPL/GNU licensed material wind up counting as unauthorized downloads even though it's actually authorized. How did you find the statistic that 95% of content is illegally downloaded? CC: Well, you probably know more about this than I do. But I got my number from the IFPI, which has been likened to "the international equivalent of the RIAA", who released a report on Digital Music last year with that number. I won't lie to you, I'm not a statistician, and I can't promise the reliability of that number any more than anyone else can - but in the context of that video, where the purpose was to shake artists awake, I think it serves its purpose. Whether the number is really 60% or 99.5% - the point is they abound, and its had rapid growth, even since the demise of Napster/etc. And more than that, most of us know how to do it ourselves, or we know who to ask to get it done for us. Its not an underground activity. And that means, when people give you money for your music, they're not doing it because they don't have a choice about it. It isn't like Walmart where you pay before you leave with the goods, it's more like busking on the street. If they do choose to give you money it's because they liked you and wanted to support what you're doing. It's already built on a relationship. What I'm saying is, "use that relationship, learn how to build it further, learn how to monetise it - because that's the reality we're already in." ZP: One point you made was that artists would have to sell a lot of singles in order to make a living because singles often sell for 99 cents, so it might not be worth it to rely strictly on music sales. At the same time, there's a lot of research that would argue that digital music sales have been steadily increasing (not necessarily offsetting physical CD sales, but increasing nevertheless). Is the positive increase in digital music sales something positive artists shouldn't forget or is the increase currently not enough for artists? CC: I would never say "forget it". It's wonderful, and if I'm completely honest with you, some smaller artists are making more from their music than they might have made in a pre-digital era. But they're not ZP: Are you currently promoting any artists at this time? If so, which bands are you currently promoting? CC: No. I correspond with a number and their management, and chat and exchange thoughts and advice, but I don't actively promote artists personally. ZP: What do you see in the future of music? CC: I think it'll be a long while before music stops getting sold, but I do think the actual selling of music is going to become less and less profitable, at least in its "direct" form as we see it now. I think it'll end up becoming "premium" in various ways piracy can't reproduce. Uniquely packaged/bundled music, unique merch, access to the artist, artists endorsing things in new ways. And I think it'll become more and more niche. Instead of seeing gargantuan audiences like we have before, we're going to see more and more music that just appeals to quirky cliques. Of course, though, there'll always be a place for Lady Gaga and her ilk in our hearts when we've had 11 beers and we're out at the club... ZP: Do you have anything further to add? CC: I think I may very well have added far too much already... You can check out my blog at Christopher-Cox.com and guys can get my free stuff down at MakeYourBandFamous.com ZeroPaid would like to thank Cox for taking the time out of his busy schedule to chat with us. Update: If you are part of a business that has to do with promoting artists or otherwise have big ideas on how music can move forward in a digital era, feel free to contact us. Have a tip? Want to contact the author? You can do so by sending a PM via the forums or via e-mail at drew@zeropaid.com.

LimeWire Building Social Network

Jorge Gonzalez — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 18:47:28 +0000

LimeWire has had a colorful recent history and now that history is going to be even more interesting. Now LimeWire developers are planning on connecting musicians with their fans.

“This year, alongside the usual LimeWire search results, we’ll begin integrating links to extended content in LimeSpot, LimeWire Store and, eventually, across the web.” George Searle, LimeWire CEO, writes in his blog, “Soon, within LimeWire, you’ll be able to connect with participating artists, and drill down or sideways to see photos, find tour dates, watch music videos, find lyrics and buy music, tickets and merchandise.”

Last year, ZeroPaid reported on LimeWire developing a LimeWire store. Two years ago, ZeroPaid also reported on LimeWire integrating BitTorrent.

The LimeSpot website says that users can, “Be a blogger, whip up a wiki, foster a forum — or all of the above.”

US government funds social network snooping

Jared Moya — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 17:20:38 +0000

The US government is funding research into social networking sites and how to gather and store personal data published on them, according to the New Scientist magazine.

At the same time, US lawmakers are attempting to force the social networking sites themselves to control the amount and kind of information that people, particularly children, can put on the sites.

Social networking sites have enjoyed phenomenal recent success. Industry leader MySpace has attracted 85m members with new members joining at a rate of 250,000 per day. Users, most often young people, use their own pages to swap information about themselves, their hobbies, their friends and their favourite music and films.

That kind of information is the subject of a research paper by a team from the University of Maryland in Baltimore. The paper, Semantic Analytics on Social Networks, proposes methods for combining the data posted on social networking sites and other computer databases to reveal information about individuals.

MySpace: Making your band matter

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 17:02:29 +0000

Everyone talks about how it’s so much easier for new bands to break onto their respective scenes with the advent of web-based distribution and such. But in practical terms, how do you do it? Kazaa more or less stacked a legal defense on the concept of new bands submitting their works for download on its P2P network. But who can name the last band that Kazaa or various other P2P wares turned them onto? I can’t.

And really, who can blame us? Discovering a new band via P2P would require you to enter a broad search term like “rock music” and click on a file that looks vaguely interesting. The song you get probably wont suit your tastes because you really had no clue what you were looking for to begin with. Do you want angsty garage rock or 80′s glam? Both share a genre but occupy radically different ends of it. It’d be like shopping for a new car in a dealership that’s pitch black so you can’t see anything and the only preference you can specify is “Sedan.” You don’t get a chance to make any surface observations until you make the choice to buy it and take it home. Who knows if you’re getting a Lincoln Towncar or an old beat up Civic?

MySpace solved this problem by creating a window into the many volumes of new music that exist. Before making the commitment to downloading a band’s songs, you can visit a page with pictures, a quick description, and comments from like-minded listeners who’ve already checked ‘em out. Best of all, you can play their songs right on their site without downloading anything. With a click of your mouse, you’ll know immediately if a band is up your alley or not.

People are also reasonably confident that a trip to a band site wont hook their computer into a botnet or infect them with ad-spewing spyware. Most people I know don’t even use desktop P2P apps these days because of all the malware disguised as music. Shoddy bitrates are still out there, but you don’t have to waste time and bandwidth downloading bad quality music to your PC just to find out that the sound is crap.

If it sounds like I’m leaving P2P in the cold, I’m not. MySpace, for all its benefits retains the chief drawback of the client-server model: strained physical resources. Anyone can tell you that MySpace pages are slow and sometimes down entirely for hours of randomly scheduled maintenance. Ideally, the best scenario for music involves discovery on MySpace (or other mediums), and downloads on P2P networks that are better able to handle large swarms of downloads.

But as far as discovery goes, it’s no contest. Hats off to MySpace for figuring this one out.

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