Digital Signposts

A Hootenanny in the Cloud

image credit: Scottish Dance Records by  bob the lomond  cc Licence

I don't really suffer from a shortage of music, (7.6 days worth if I listened to it from end to end), but I'm always up for hearing more; either online or by going to (mainly local) gigs, hoping some of the magic might rub of on to my playing. So when @iusher flagged up Spotify on Twitter a few days ago I thought I'd give it a go.

Initial impressions were good; excellent streaming, with little or no buffering and a wealth of tunes; this seemed Ideal for checking out an artists archives or to do keyword search on a genre.  Since Pandora was killed dead, here in the UK, I have been using and having some fun with blip.fm  but it's still rather insular; whilst Last.fm doesn't cut it for me.

It wasn't until @GeorgiaWonder, (who played for the Teachmeet at BETT), posted a collaborative playlist that the true value of Spotify became apparent. After some playing around, I decided to launch a themed playlist: Caledonia - which has  one simple rule; all tunes must have some connection or link with Scotland, I posted 12 songs initially and have added one or two since.  This has taken off like wildfire and the playlist now stands at over 140 and covers genres ranging including Rock, Punk Folk Strict Tempo Dance Bluegrass Comedy Poetry,  The traditional includes folk from Ewan McColl and Karine Polwart, there's's dance music from, (naturally), Jimmy Shand and from this era Phil Cunningham, great rockers such as Frankie Miller and  the late Alex Harvey line up next to the pop of Lulu and Sheena Easton; Andy Stewart and Billy Connolly supply  laughs, and Robin Williamson carries on the tradition of the Celtic bards. Perhaps one thing that would make Spotify a killer app, would be the opportunity to see who has uploaded individual tunes; (and catch the culprit responsible for adding The Bay City Rollers!!). Perhaps also a online chat or comments would complete the picture, making it do for music, what Twitter has, for our personal social and learning networks.

And great fun though it is; this is about much more than sharing tunes; the playlist reflects a shared, yet very diverse cultural identity,  I would be surprised if any of the collaborators didn't discover a few new tunes.  Woven into the  musical experience were anecdotes, banter and whisky.  So, to anyone reading this please  join in the - you don't have to be Scottish - just the music. Here's the link

Since then  I have been thinking quite deeply about how  we access/store/listen to music; is the time coming when  like a lot of our other data; a great deal of our music will live in the Cloud?.  Spotify certainly suggest this might be a possibility.  Since using it I have had little desire, to visit my library on my HD. Spotify seems much more immediate, and there's always a surprise in the  next song.  How I will listen to music in the car driving up to Teachmeet Borders later today is of course, a different story!

Seriously though, if it is now possible to have this degree of interaction, community and  collaboration for music, it can also be achieved in other areas. We can do it for  knowledge, we can do it for learning, for learning resources, and offer some real shared community learning.

Its been a great week for Stupidity (1)

image credit: Rafael Penalozan

Several stories in the news this week stand out like a sore thumb, revealing  crass stupidity,  whilst, probably,  providing a quick earner for the lawyers and their acolytes.

Firstly, the  decision by the PRS (Performing Rights Society) to take Kwik Fit to court because music playing on the fitters' radios in the workshops could be heard, (thats what radios and music are for), by 'colleagues and customers'. The music was 'audibly blaring' from employee's radios.

The  statement issued by the PRS, really does nothing to restore their credibility, and neither does it address the scenario last Saturday, when I must confess, I painted my gate with the window open in order to hear music playing on my Mac in the street. Should  I now  sleep in fear as the PRS make themselves a laughing stock?

a few points and questions?

• is radio not a free to air service
• and surely the radio station already paid for this music in broadcast license fees?
• would the customers have been able to hear the music above the everyday din and clatter of the workshop, if it was 'blaring' could they distinguish songs and stations?
• and even if they did would customers be listening for the duration of a song?
• are the fitters really defrauding 'artists' of their rightful earnings?
• can radios now only be played in private?
• can you invite friends to listen to your radio?

Perhaps we should all go to the PRS offices and turn up our radios.  Or more realistically, support the artists that offer an alternative to this nonsense. Last night I paid,  a fair price) and downloaded the new Radiohead album, In Rainbows,  although I might not have bought their music previously, it is is playing on my iPod on the train as I write, RHD are £5.00 better off, and I am actually enjoying the tunes much more than I thought I would. Looks like there could be more to follow.

to be cont......

Its that time of the year again

image credit quinn.anya

It's summer, a time to relax and share with you, some of the delights from my digital cornucopia.  Firstly some Music.

David Byrne has a 'radio station',  featuring themed playlists he changes monthly, past episodes have covered  Afro Cuban, Psychedelia and even  Catchy Tunes.  This August he targets opera with an honest and direct approach;

"Here's an area I know very little about: Classic Opera. I am familiar with some of the well-known tunes — incredibly moving, over-the-top tunes many of us have heard without knowing their sources — so that's pretty much what I've assembled here. They may not be the definitive performances, or in some cases they may be, but they're all pretty grand. In many cases these are old recordings, so the quality of the recording will vary, but the emotion is more or less consistently pedal-to-the-metal."

This echoes my sentiments exactly, never being  as knowledgeable as I, (thought), I should be on the finer points of opera.  I am now playing this fantastic music as loud as I can get away with,   enjoying it in the manner intended;

"...the Italians and French excelled at incorporating elements of regional music into their productions. I believe I hear elements of Neapolitan song in Verdi. They were the popular music of the day and the audiences were rowdy and noisy — you could eat, drink and probably fornicate in the theaters at that time. Farmers and fishermen sang these tunes in fields and bars — and so can we."

Spot on, David.

Want some more good music?

Ewan's post on Pandora seems to have have planted music firmly into the educational blogosphere this weekend, so to continue the trend....geeks, creatives, film and music fans will be heading for the 10 day SXSW  (South By South West) interactive arts and music festival in Austin Texas. Unfortunately much as I would love to be there, (preceded by attending TED); I will have to console myself with the next best thing; the SXSW website. Lots of news, 'interactive tools' and the SXSW Player includes links to the acts' websites and their own bio page, (most with mp3s for download). The music covers most genres including; indie, rock, folk country, jazz and hip hop. You can find out about the hundreds of new and established artists appearing. Since last night I have 'discovered' at least 20  acts I will be following closely.  If you want more, well theres the First torrent of 793 mp3s to download. At 3.1GB that's enough to beef up anyones iTunes library. Now  perhaps next year.....

The Spirit Of Christmas

Thanks to David Pogue for drawing attention to this one.  The Garritan Music Library has made some excellent Christmas Music  available for download.  The spirit of this offer is summed up in a comment on David's post, by Wheat Williams; who  was responsible for some of the marketing and sleeve notes:

"On behalf of the 18 composers on this year’s album, from across the United States, Iceland, England, Italy and Slovenia, I’d like to say thanks for giving us a mention. We want everybody to enjoy our free music, and to invite others to use their computers to make music of their own and share it with us."

Although the great day has passed and gone for another year, this really is too good an asset to pass over, (it is also timely to note that Auld Lang Syne can be found amongst the MP3s). Many thanks and best wishes for a Happy New Year to Garritan and their music community, and hopefully, everyone's a winner. Garritan receives, well deserved, good publicity and we gain from  the generosity of their community.