There have been many music making and recording apps made for the iPhone, and since that ground has been covered, many developers are starting to create more specific pieces of software that specialise in certain musical areas. MobileMix ($3.99, App Store) is such an app, and focuses on creating tracks from overlaying loops of recordings.

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Image by christophercarfi via Flickr

Chris 'LongTail & Free' Anderson has dished up another great op-ed in the WSJ. Note: this link keeps having problems... maybe try this one, instead, or this. Below are some of the best snippets - and my comments.

Chris writes: "Gratis can be a good business. How? Pretty simple: The minority of customers who pay subsidize the majority who do not. Sometimes that's two different sets of customers, as in the traditional media model: A few advertisers pay for content so lots of consumers can get it cheap or free..."

Back in late 2008, I wrote something very closely related to what Chris is saying, here: "To me, the bottom line is that most of what used to work just fine in a disconnected world of 'totally segregated consumers and producers' will simply not work in the future". In other words, the traditional media model will not work in Online Media, going forward - the mechanics are entirely different. And this is where Free or Freemium plays a crucial role - and it's a huge mission to figure out how this ecosystem will generate rivers of cash, not just data. And it will involve Collaboration between content companies and creators, telecoms, social networks, search engines and device makers.

Chris goes on: "With physical stuff, samples must be doled out sparingly -- there are real costs to be paid. With bits, the free versions are too cheap to meter and can be spread far and wide. That's why so many people businesses (expensive!) are turning into software businesses (cheap!), which is why your cranky tax accountant has morphed into free TurboTax online, your stockbroker is now a trading Web site and your travel agent is more likely a glorified search engine..."

Yes, indeed: this is why I think that the content business - starting with music - is turning into a software business, too - witness the explosion of app stores for mobile devices, and how much $$ people are paying for iPhone apps. Now imagine that content (starting with music) will be bundled into such apps, and people will perceive it as BUYING SOFTWARE or buying a cool app for their phone but in fact the content is included (yet paid for  i.e. packaged).  I think that if permitted by the rights-holders Pandora could easily sell a mobile device application that could include video, audio, feeds and images - I am dead certain people will pay for that.  I will have a separate post on this sometime later this week. 

Chris then hits the nail on the head:  "Expect the shift toward open source software (which is free) and Web-based productivity tools such as Google Docs (also free) to accelerate". 

Totally. Then, Chris warns (and I agree - that's why I am also hard at work on next-generation advertising models): "The standard business model for Web companies that don't actually have a business model is advertising...Two problems have emerged with that model: the price of online ads and click-through rates. Facebook is an amazingly popular service, but it also an amazingly ineffective advertising platform..."

And I also like his conclusion (and this is the first time that I see it spelled out like this, from Chris):  "Does this mean that Free will retreat in a down economy? Probably not... "Free" has as much power over the consumer psyche as ever. But it does mean that Free is not enough. It also has to be matched with Paid. Just as King Gillette's free razors only made business sense paired with expensive blades, so will today's Web entrepreneurs have to not just invent products that people love, but also those that they will pay for. Not all of the people or even most of them -- free is still great marketing and bits are still too cheap to meter -- but enough to pay the bills. Free may be the best price, but it can't be the only one"

I call this challenge the '21st century content economics' challenge (yes... borrowed from Umair Hague's brilliant post on this topic), and it's the main topic for my work this year. If we can figure out how to generate many new revenue streams based on Feels Like Free access to content, then we can start modeling the business plans for the next 5 years. More soon!  But what do you think? Comment below.

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With our editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn off in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, the inmates site editors are left running Around SPE this week. So, while he’ll be breaking news and giving us some hands-on observations on all the new software and hardware on display, we’ll be keeping you covered here at home, starting with a quick recap of where we are right now:

CrackBerry.com

In the world of BlackBerry, T-Mobile customers were happy to see the official roll out of the next-generation BlackBerry Curve 8900 this week. With AT&T said to be dropping support for 2G phones, there has been some worry that this new Curve wouldn’t come to AT&T, but with the 8900 SKU now showing up on AT&T systems, it’s likely the device will launch there in the next month.

The BIG new this week comes from the CrackBerry Podcast. Kevin was in NYC on for a RIM Business Solutions Press Preview. While there, him and Craig recorded a podcast and for the first time had an employee from Research in Motion on the show. Joined by Mike Kirkup, Manager of Developer Relations, they tackle a bunch of topics from the upcoming App Store to OS 5.0 and whether or not Flash support will appear in a BlackBerry browser and more! Listen Here.

More after the break!

Android Central

This week Android Central reported that Android Market was leaving beta and finally receiving paid applications. Hopefully we’ll see even more amazing applications such as this recently announced TeleNav turn-by-turn GPS application.

We also wondered why Google would comply with Apple’s request to leave multi-touch out of the G1. Hint: It has something to do with maintaining a great relationship with Apple. Read: Google still wants to play nice with Apple to get iPhone eyes on Google AdSense.

Nokia Experts

News was a bit slow this week as everyone in the mobile space waits for big announcements from Mobile World Congress next week, including some announcements about devices and services from Nokia. We are in our third week of the the launch contest so make sure to get your entry in and look for week four’s entry task. Great input and information is coming in from the contest entries. Also, check out our SBSH Reminders giveaway for a chance to win a free registration code.

Some topics of interest this week on Nokia Experts includes the amazing Nokia Maps 3.0 beta update, Nokia 5800 firmware update, Nokia E63 availability in the US for just $279, and the announcement of the Nokia 5630 with 600 MHz processor.

PreCentral

Over at PreCentral this week, we learned that Bell Canada will be launching the Palm Pre. We heard conflicting launch dates of late Q2 or early Q3 and also the end of Q3-Q4. 

We also had more Touchstone details to emerge when Adam Kaufman, a Product Manager at Palm started answering questions on Facebook.  Plus, many people are wondering if the Palm Pre made an appearance on the TV show “Knight Rider”.  

The iPhone Blog

Is this the first glimpse of the 3rd Gen iPhone? Looks pretty much the same as the iPhone 3G, but then Apple brass re-affirmed that the iPhone market is strong, and they won’t be diluting it with an iPhone nano or keyboard slider any time soon. What with 20,000 Apps in the store, and the iPhone and the iPod touch now owning 51% of the mobile browser space… and growing, who can blame them?

Maybe jailbreakers, as the EFF asking the US government to grant it an exemption from the DMCA has Apple declaring jailbreaking illegal. (Oops, we just jailbroke live for xGPS on the last podcast!). Lastly, Google gave us Spreadsheet editing, but did Apple deny the Android multi-touch and… a 3.5mm headphone jack?!

TreoCentral

This week when Ed Colligan spoke to investors at the Thomas Weisel Partners Technology, Telecom & Internet Conference, he announced that there will be no more PalmOS devices released by Palm (excepting the Centro getting released on other carriers) as they’re focused on WebOS and Windows Mobile. He also said that not only will Palm have an app store when the Pre launches, but Palm isn’t locking down the device so you can only install apps from their app store.

We also learned this week that the Sprint Treo Pro is now targeted for a March 15th launch, and that some Sprint stores are now getting re-stocked with new Treo Pro’s with the new ROM on board. And even though the Sprint Treo Pro is delayed, it was great to hear that Palm’s stock has neared double-digits.

WMExperts

It’s been the calm before the storm over at WMExperts while we wait for Mobile World Congress to get under way, but that doesn’t mean it was a quiet week. We saw more information surface on Windows Mobile 6.5 including a new video, an updated version of Skyfire Beta released while Opera Mobile plans to go turbo. Google offered up contact and calendar sync and brought public-domain books to mobile devices. Mozilla’s Fennec mobile browser hit pre-alpha, and we got a sit-down with developer Brad Lassey. On the hardware side, new Windows Mobile devices were spotted from Garmin-Asus, Gigabyte, as well as the “Hummer” of Windows Mobile Devices from I-Mate.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Around SPE for February 15, 2009

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    MUSIC NEWS - British soul singer Alice Russell has garnered impressive critical recognition for her new album Pot Of Gold (buy CD here), out now on SF based Six Degrees Records. Alice and her band will bring their “hook-laden retro soul grit” back to the US with a 13-city tour beginning March 5th.  Alice Russell is in great demand as a vocalist and has gained an wonderful reputation as one of the UK’s hottest singers, having recorded with the likes of Massive Attack, The Nextmen and Quantic and performing with the likes of The Roots and The Quantic Soul Orchestra.

Blessed with a lavishly soulful voice, Alice manages to sound both timeless and up to the minute modern. Her live performances have a unique quality; the ability to captivate an audience and to hold their attention throughout, expertly tugging at the heartstrings. Alice has used her talent to great effect, gaining renown for her performances with the mighty Quantic Soul Orchestra and more recently her own band. She has also supported Lonnie Liston Smith, Femi Kuti, De La Soul and appeared on the bill with Amy Winehouse for the British showcase at the Midem Music Conference in Cannes 2007.

Give a listen to her Got the Hunger from the new release and catch Ms Russell live- 

Alice Russell March 2009 USA Tour Dates -

3/05/09 – Washington, DC – Bohemian Caverns
3/06/09 – Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe
3/07/09 – Cambridge, MA – Middle East
3/08/09 – New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge (LPR)
3/11/09 – Pittsburg, PA – Club Café
3/12/09 – Detroit, MI – Cliff Bells
3/13/09 – Chicago, IL – Schubas Tavern
3/14/09 – Minneapolis, MN – Cedar Cultural Center
3/15/09 – Madison, WI – Café Montmarte
3/21/09 – Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
3/22/09 – Costa Mesa, CA – Detroit Bar
3/24/09 – San Francisco, CA – Yoshi’s 
3/25/09 – San Francisco, CA – Yoshi’s
3/26/09 – Seattle, WA – Nectar Lounge
3/27/09 – Portland, OR – Holocene

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New York outfit the Golden Filter mixes retro-sexual disco-tech around undulating waves of electro-pop--revival style. With influences ranging from Soft Cell and Giorgio Moroder, the beats of GF will leave you craving their "nu-disco" sound not long after they end. Here's to a night of solid, disco-dancing!

Download free MP3 now!...

Originally posted at Crossfade

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Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Productivity

Right around Macworld-time, Zengobi released Curio 5.4, which included a healthy dose of Evernote integration. I had fallen for Evernote before I really figured out Curio, but lately I've found both to be key elements in my organization arsenal. I especially like Evernote's mobile capabilities and cross-platform sync. At home, I organize nearly all of my projects and related materials in Curio. Now, with Curio 5.4 and Evernote's very thorough API, we get the best of both worlds. All of the notes I take on my iPhone by photographing, recording and typing show up automatically -- and with full search capabilities -- when I sit down at my Mac. I also do a lot of research on the web, and this new integration means I can clip web pages to one place -- Evernote -- and have the information immediately available in Curio.

Evernote's various software clients are free, and premium accounts (allowing for any filetype and much more storage) are available for $5/month or $45/year. Curio is more pricey; the standard version is $99, and the pro version is $149 (there are significant academic discounts available). If you're already a Curio user but not an Evernote user, I'd recommend you sign up for a free Evernote account and start enjoying the benefits of the integration. You can always upgrade to a premium account if you find it indispensable (a fairly common occurrence). If you're an Evernote user considering Curio, use the coupon code EVERNOTE at Zengobi's online store (or Academic Store) to get a 20% discount on a Curio purchase. If you use neither, and don't want to, shouldn't you have given up reading this about a paragraph ago? Nah, thanks for sticking around.

TUAWEvernote meets Curio, you save some money originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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"Guitar Hero" fans can now upgrade on an instrument-by-instrument basis; T-Pain is working on an Auto-Tune application for the iPhone; Former IFPI chairman and EMI exec Per-Eirik Johansen says that fighting P2P was a waste of time.

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• The Fray's self-titled tops the album chart with sales of 179,000. Sales for the week totaled 7.32 million units, a 13.1% decrease over the same week in 2008. (Billboard.biz)

• Sirius XM Radio Inc is reportedly talking to Liberty Media as well as EchoStar, both possible acquirers of the troubled satellite radio company. Sirius XM shares have fallen on news it may file for bankruptcy protection to deal with its debt. (MarketWatch)

• According to a Ruckus employee, the shuttered service's main competitors were free, legal services like YouTube and Pandora. Then again, the service itself was a problem. Said the University of Chicago's CIO, "They were sort of living as if the market was two or three years ago, but the market has moved on." (Chronicle of Higher Education)

• Full transcript of Warner Music Group's Feb. 5th earnings call. (Seeking Alpha)

• Former IFPI chairman and EMI executive Per Eirik Johansen on copyright and file-sharing: "The message of that campaign is that there is a reason why we have copyright, and I agree. But the main thing is that a whole generation already violates copyright, and the only thing we can do now is find better solutions." (TorrentFreak)

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 It is impossible to isolate the history of black people in this country to a single expression but since we deal with music, we are going to go with what we know.

 The history of the American recording industry is largely (if not completely) influenced by the African-American experience. This spans so many styles and eras that it would difficult to dive into them all. So what we did was create The Black History Collection in the Zune Marketplace to celebrate the contributions and commemorate the struggles of so many African–Americans. The collection starts off with early 20th century gospel and blues, moves through  jazz and R&B and continues on through hip hop and electronic. It’s nothing fancy – just great songs by great artists.

Some of my personal favorites include:

Robert Johnson – Ramblin’ On My Mind
This is raw, uncut blues at its finest – Mississippi Delta style. The legend of Robert Johnson has inspired many artists, from jazz to hip hop. It’s long been rumored that Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his amazing guitar style.

Billie Holiday – Strange Fruit
The most prolific jazz singer of all time, Billie Holiday’s signature tune Strange Fruit chronicles the lynching epidemic that took place in the Jim Crow southern states. This the single most powerful tune that deals with black’s struggles for equality.

Stevie Wonder – My Cherie Amour
A flagship R&B tune dealing with the universal idea of love. No other type of music has been able to capture the feeling of love quite like R&B and the Stevie Wonder did it far better than most.

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5 – The Message
The single most important hip hop track – ever. Grandmaster Flash, Melli Mel and crew changed the landscape of hip hop from party music to serious social commentary – CNN for the ghetto.

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 It's that time again....this week, we've got some special "guests" in this blog post - a few of the Zune MVPs! MVPs are folks from the community who help to spread the Zune word by blogging, forums, and other public activity. They rock! Let's see if their music does, too!

NSILMike is listening to a playlist that includes O.A.R., Red Hot Chili Peppers, Cat Stevens, U2, Santana and Collective Soul. He says he's listening to this list for two reasons:"1)  I'm old enough to have heard the older ones when they were owners of 'recent' hits...  2)  My college age kids intro'd me to O.A.R."

Tromboneforhire recently started a series of blog posts called Jazz 101 on his blog - Inside the Circle. So he says, "Well right now, because of my Jazz 101 thing, I've re-discovered my passion for the music of J.J. Johnson, specifically his albums "Quintergy" and "The Brass Orchestra" (J.J. was the reason I studied trombone). Outside of the jazz realm, I've had my ear on "Oceanlab" from Above & Beyond. I'm totally digging that record from top to bottom."

Indmusic adds, "I've really been into Beastie Boys lately. I've also been coming out of a (month long) Candlebox craze. Their new album is really good. I'm also really into the new Scott Weiland album. He does a really great cover of David Bowie's "Fame" on his new album."

EnzoTen has kudos and a recommendation for me! "Very nice on the Deadmau5 Jessica - that's a killer album. There is a mixed version that keeps the day flowing a bit better. Also on the electronic side I have been listening to Aphrodite - "A Break In Reality" and the slightly more old school "Aftershock." Somewhere you profile said you need more drum and bass in your life... that might do the trick."

Solar257 says, "Recently, I discovered Mark Ronson's first album "Here Comes the Fuzz." I love all of it. I decided to take a look at M.I.A.'s album "Kala." The original version of 'Paper Planes' could definitely be remixed with T.I.'s 'Swagga Like Us.' I also saw a few tracks on NSILMike's Zune Card that reminded of an album I hadn't heard in a while; the Verve Remixed series. Does anyone else pull tracks off of their friend's Zune cards? I love the flow of the first half of Q-Tips 'Move' and the entirety of 'Stranded in Your Love' by Sharon Jones. Changing aural gears a bit, two tracks on Sparkadia's debut album, "Postcards," that are catchy are 'Morning Light' and 'Connected.' Speaking of debut albums CSS's debut album "Cansei De Ser Sexy" is a complete win all the way through."

As for the Zune Insiders, Justin (The Social) is listening to The Lonely Island - a band consisting of Andy Sandberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone of SNL. "I can't stop listening and laughing to the ironic genius of the album they just dropped this week: Incredibad. It's a collection of their best SNL music videos and some really great new songs, including I'm On a Boat featuring none other than T-PAIN!"

Matt - Skipdeez - is going back a year with "Day & Nite" by Kid Cudi. "The song is simple but extremely catchy. If Kid Cudi sounds familiar, you may recognize him for his work he did on Kanye’s 808s & Heartbreak album on the track “Welcome to Heartbreak”. Download it and you’ll be hooked!"

Candice (Bliss16) says, "I have the song ‘Bum Like You’ by Robyn on repeat. She is one of my fav breakout artists from 2008 and this song is the highlight of her album, but all the other songs are great too!"

As for me...I found some new Toby Emerson tracks on a compilation disc that I really like, and I'm listening to my bro EnzoTen and discovering Aphrodite. And there's some new Chris Lake in the Marketplace too - the newer stuff I've found is more chill, great to listen to while I'm at work.

OK, that's it! Post what you're listening to in the comments!

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