Famine City

Racing to free international

This is an intermezzo between my series of posts over the history and future of the small screen.

In my last couple of posts, I've been talking about how consumers are being driven to the small screen. One of the points that I talk about is the marginal cost of making phone calls has never been lower. However, there are still charges, sometimes very expensive, for international calls. This seems to be a hot topic and not just for me. In September's Wired Cliff Kuang  piece on page 59 about "When will international calls be free?" Cliff's first sentence says, not anytime soon. 

Well, Vonage just put out a commercial touting free international calls. I just looked it up at Vonage.com, and there are a number of things around the calls, some cell phone calls aren't free and there are other restrictions. In other words, it is not completely free, yet. However, after you put a service like that on the block, everyone else will soon follow (to stay competetive) and the marginal cost of even international calls will be free, to everyone, everywhere. The race to free for international calling has started.

follow me on twitter @marty_b

Radio giant Clear Channel making changes?

The other day I was doing my presentation on how video services are changing in the face of the web. You can find that presentation onli Slideshare. After my presentation, one of my co-workers came up to me and pointed out www.iheartradio.com, launched in June. I had not checked it out, but the past couple of days I've been poking around the technology. I find it somewhat interesting on a lot of levels, but I'd be surprised to see it take off to great success, but success maybe not what I would think (traditionally). 

Why I find it interesting? 

- I find radio to be a local medium/media channel. Radio for the most part is so largely homogenized on a national level that local personalities are the driving force. To this end, were I out of town, I would log on to listen to local news/information on the web. I think this serves as a great loyalty model for transient consumers location (think office or out of town listeners). 

- Clear Channel, radio giant, is finally at least taking steps to figure out the web. I commend then for at least finally making an attempt to monetize the library of stations and material they stream. I do find value in aggregation of the stations. 

- This might be largely a long tail model. They already are serving the content over the air. Why not simply add on-line to their packages? They already have advertisers, but a hard time showing numbers. This helps solve that business problem. Thus, I think that providing an additional channel is increasing consumer value and FINALLY being able to provide some sort of real metric is innovation in the world of radio. 

- Along with the long tail model of getting a users here/there, they can do affiliate models with iTunes purchases and search marketing. I don't think this is the main source of revenue, but incremental revenue here can help fund the effort. Again, it's not like they are creating a new technology. They are simply re-channeling what they are already doing.

- They have both iPhone and Blackberry device support. Personalization in terms of location shift is important to consumers. In fact, most of the blog posts that I found were about getting the technology working on their mobile phones. 

- They are using this as a platform to help facilitate HD radio knowledge. While I do know about HD radio, I can't fathom a reason to actually subscribe to HD radio--great education platform. If they can transition user behavior, that could be labeled a success. 

- I believe there is a direct link between the revised streaming model that Pandora helped facilitate (statutory) and their roll out of iheartradio.com. I believe they probably had this plan for a while, but was sitting on a it a bit until that legislation passed.

Points of uncertainty 

- If you drive people to web for radio, I think it will actually help other radio services, like Pandora or Grooveshark, more than anyone else. Although I think that IHR is great for local content, if I'm searching out music content, I'll expect more of a customized radio/content approach. 

- In my last fifteen active years using the web, I can only recall twice looking for a radio station on the web (WFNX) and trying to listen to the Reds on the radio. I can listen to WFNX now, but the last time I tried to listen to the Reds on the web, it simply did not work or required a subscription model. Listening to ballgames on AM radio is nostalgic and very Cincinnati to me. WFNX is still awesome. 

- HD radio, not sure about overall penetration yet. In my circle of techies and early adopters, I just don't that many people that actually use it. However, as I mentioned here, if they begin to transition the user behavior of users, perhaps people may consider HD service. 

In my personal life, I help out with some local organizations and I help purchase radio media. So I see the potential as an advertiser (we get great results from radio, but hard to measure) and applaud the foray into the space. Whether or not it changes user behavior or not, I don't know. Although I do love this as a loyalty strategy, I'm in a bit of wait and see mode. However, I think change is good at any level. It's still too early to tell. 

Are you listening to web radio? If so, what technologies are you using? Comment below. 

follow me on twitter @marty_b

YouTube has changed music history

12/1/2009: Over the holidays last week, I was listening to music via YouTube and thinking these very same thoughts again. This is one of my favorite posts from this year. Begin post....

In 1988, I started playing the guitar. I remember the exact moment I decided to seriously attempt it. I was thirteen, channel surfing, and then I came across Stevie Ray Vaughan playing a three song set on VH1's Unplugged. Our paths crossed at that very moment and my musical tastes have never been the same.

Today I can revisit or share that moment through the power YouTube. Though I'm an avid fan of Stevie Ray, I would have never known or experienced all of his influences, yet I know them today because of the technology revolution around music. I know and have listened to some of the influences that Stevie borrowed musical phrasing and style from, like Albert King. I listened to Albert King doing Blue's Power on YouTube recently, thinking, "um sounded an awful lot like the intro to SRV's Texas Flood." It's funny how all of those things are interrelated. What is even better is that we have the best way to preserve, see and experience those musical relationships via the interwebs, specifically YouTube. That's why YouTube is now my musical library of choice.

YouTube is preserving history. I have found versions of my favorite songs that I did not know existed. I found a version of Hendrix doing Little Wing from Royal Albert Hall in 1969 that is simply amazing, my favorite version. The recently departed and super talented Jeff Healey can be found doing some hot jazz from the 1930's or you can find some of his blues contributions as well. Like a little country? Find Bartender's Blues, written by James Taylor and performed by George Jones or even better (in my opinion), find Sunday Morning Coming Down by Cash and Kristofferson. Regardless of your musical taste, YouTube democratized contributing to the pages of musical history. In some cases, the videos are simply slide shows, but that's not the important part, the music is and it's there.

It's not just about history, it's about influences. I mentioned it above, but never before in history could you tie the musical influence history together so rapidly. Just look at the blues, you can start at Robert Johnson and see how he influenced Muddy Waters, Albert King, Hendrix, Clapton, SRV and end up with Doyle Bramhall II. It's not just the blues though. You get to experience the artists performing their favorite music and that's my favorite thing about grabbing music on YouTube. There's a version of Valerie, made more known by Amy Winehouse, but written by the Zutons. The acoustic version by Amy is great, just her and a guitarist. However, you get to see the original version in a related link. Never before has a musical genealogy like this been present.

The key is the fans. There were millions and millions of little videos, recordings and fragments of history disbursed throughout the world. The interwebs has provided the methods to collect, aggregate and share. Music companies could do this, but they are too disorganized and the purpose of sharing on their behalf is singular, money. They may have something on tape, but it's simply not worth it for a company to aggregate and release a single for someone that would receive limited sales. The fan is motivated by enjoyment, not dollars. It turns out that is pretty powerful. Fans go to great lengths to share, record and put slideshows to music on YouTube. My kids now get to enjoy some of the musical legacy, commercial and independent that I've enjoyed.

Location shift. I was in St. Louis a number of years ago and starting following the Tony Campanella Band. St. Louis has a great blues scene and he's an active part of it. I was at that show in 1997 and whether it was his immense talent or the libations, I was hooked. Today, I keep up with him through his website and find him on YouTube as well. I've been down to St. Louis at least six or seven times for the purpose of seeing him perform. Never before has enjoying even local bands been so easy to do.

Teaching legacy. If you weed through some of the noise on YouTube, you can find some pretty amazing teaching techniques on YouTube. I saw this guy teaching Hendrix's Voodoo Chile. In another example, there are people teaching classical techniques, like tremolo. There is nothing more that assures legacy than teaching it and the medium is being used to teach new musicians everyday.

We, the fans, are creating a more accurate, compelling and accessible version of music history every day. The interwebs has democratized everyone's ability to contribute, experience and share music, regardless of taste or location. Never before have we been able to experience have we been able to experience musical legacy, history and influence so quickly. This is why YouTube has become my music station of choice.

I invite everyone to critique this post as I'm interested as to how you're musical experience has changed with technology.

~marty follow me on twitter @marty_b

Pandora Meetup in Cincinnati

A couple weeks ago I went to the Pandora meetup in Cincinnati. It was a very good experience. I took bunches of notes and shared them with some folks at work, so I'll do the same here. I'll add a couple things before the raw notes start. I've been in communication with the Pandora team since for work reasons. They've been very responsive and helpful. So my expectations have been raised overall. 

I think of their model of advertising more like behavioral targeting, not like a pure CPM buy. You should too, read on. 

Setup

Tim Westergren, one of the Pandora founders was in Cinti, OH. He had a meetup at an independent theatre and it was largely informal. Throw questions and he responds. He was down to earth, super-smart and had some great stories for us. He handed out some t-shirts too. Nothing makes a geek go ape-sh&* like a t-shirt. He wasn’t in a hurry and we went for about 2-hours. My cliff notes:

-   Tim was in town speaking at UC and P&G. He also hit the Cincinnati Social Media scene that morning. 
-   Biggest growth has been in iPhones in the last year. People are moving from primary listening device being on PC to iPhone. Really interesting, it’s net effect has changed listening hours. People are taking the iPhone and plugging it into the home stereo system.
-   Best story of the night, story of Will. Will was a triple major--CS, math and physics. He sort of just got it. The Pandora genome has about 400 characteristics in it, you like arpeggios, viola, minor notes, 7ths, and so forth. So they approached will one night with this problem for the Pandora genome. The next day he returns with the algorithm that they use today. Let’s all hate Will right about now. Smart guy. Sometimes hate and jealousy are separated by minutia. 
-  Every time that you click thumbs up/down, they reapply the algorithm and give you a new advertisement and song choice. Zero waste is the concept towards advertisement. 
-  They have about 23 million listeners and are signing about 45k per day.
-  They are trying out audio ads on the iPhone, but if you want to opt out, you can pay a service fee. iPhone app is very, well awesome. 
-  They get kick backs if you buy/link to Amazon or iTunes. They get a cut on the total transaction.
-  They have about 600k tracks.
-  iPhone traffic is not between 10-15% of traffic on any given day. Average length of listen is 1.33 hours.
-  70% of the tracks are from unsigned artists
-  They add about 10k tracks per month. People personally listen to them and choose the characteristics before they are added. Amazing. 
-  They do not have licensing agreements with any specific label. They operate under the Digital Millenium Copyright License. They caused a raucous on Capital Hill two years ago by having folks reach out to their congress folk. There were over 400k faxes sent to local congress reps. It took the fax machines in DC down for two days. Funny.
-  Interesting idea about unicasting versus broadcasting which is the future of radio/tv whatever. That was the most important addition to my personal lexicon.
- Lastly, all ads are targeted. Not one ad is broadcasted to anyone. 

If I got something grossly incorrect or my notes are wrong, please do add a comment and I'll revise accordingly. Certainly more of a utilitarian post, but really interesting. 

~marty

Devo, Nelson and Bob Marley: what do they have in common?

by Marty

Answer: These are all in my cd library and more shameful CDs are present. How'd I get here? If you have a shameful cd in your collection, post it here. Be proud.

I'm a self-proclaimed technologist, but I'm not an iPod or iTunes user. I've never been an iTunes fan and it hasn't worked with my MP3 players. However, I'm just about to jump into the Apple experience wholearse and my media change is causing a time-succubus to appear from nowhere.

Why the switch?
About every year, for the last three years, I've made it a point to change my media habits. I do this because it forces me to discover new technologies that I would otherwise not discover. Sometimes this involves changing my music service, sometimes this involves changing magazine subscriptions and now I'm going to give a whirl using the iPod. I'm a Win-Amp guy and have been for 10 years or so. While I do know that I can install Rockbox or something, I don't want to fool with it.Today I purchased a used GB iPod for $50, sans ear buds or cable. That's OK, Shannan, my wife, is an iPod user, so I have the cable. I'm getting ready to jump in into the experience, but preparation is key.   

The time succubus
First I need music. While I purchased some tracks with Napster, my previous music service, a bunch were under a use agreement and I don't steal music. It's just one of those paranoia things for me. So how do I get music? I decided to take all of our CDs in the basement and begin to digitize them. We haven't touched these in six years or so, to the tune of about of about 400 cd's. I have another couple thousand MP3s on regular CDs that I've burned as well, but those were easy. Would I have been a smarter person, I would have used a service like Pickled Productions. That's not me, I like the hard way of doing things. So I grabbed some great free software, Free Rip to start ripping and I'm about 4 days into the project. Over the weekend I had multiple computers going--I think I'm about half way through. Though this is highly crappy process, I'm looking forward to the result.

Going through your old CD's in storage is like a visit to the Way Back Machine. I recommend it highly. It could be even slightly shameful. Who knew that my wife had an Amy Grant CD from high school? Should I rip it, sure. It's going to be an Easter egg on someone's iPod. 

Insight: Apple has done a phenomenal job of infiltrating my life and I wasn't an iPod user (someone else in my house is). I did not realize it until I started this process.

• We own two iHomes, I bought these for public space in the house (kitchen/rec area). 
• One car has an iPod ready stereo in it, meaning you can control the iPod from the stereo. I had this installed when I purchased the Matrix a few months ago. I thought at the time, why not? It was a $40 difference and seemed like a decent enough idea. The other car has a tape adapter (2001 Honda Passport).I don't think Shannan's iPod has left the car since.
• I own another piece of software to backup iPods. 

Net, even though I did not own an iPod at the time, I spent over $400 in devices that support it. How many other technologies/brands can have such an impact by passive/household use? Apple (obviously) has affected my purchasing decisions for years. I made all of the aforementioned purchases for household, automotive or gift related reasons. There is not one brand, as I was looking around my technology inventory, that has as much presence without my explicit user/consent. That's good marketing and great technology. Hopefully it will bode well for my experience. At the very least, I'm going through the shameful CDs :)