A New Idea: Be Flexible
Posted: 25/06/08 02:07 PM
By: Elliott Fienberg
I was reminded of a good practise by an unlikely source. Blockbuster Video adjusted their business model a few years ago to get rid of late fees. Well i’m sure they regretted it as no one returned their videos on time and stock was always depleted. Just recently they adjusted the plan, and instead of taking back their original offer by charging people for returning their videos late, they said why not offer an incentive if you return the video back early.
This week I learned that Youtube deals with copyright infringement in an interesting way. If a film studio or record label finds their work has been posted without permission on the site, the company has the option to advertise on the Youtube page where their work was used. That means if you’re a small record label, and someone uses your song in a video without your permission, you can advertise your new album on the page and try to generate sales. That’s pretty genius, instead of doing what we’d think is the first impulse, and that is to just have it removed or file a lawsuit.
So there you have it, just a little tip to remember that as you go about your business in the music industry to always try to be flexible. If someone can’t pay you for the remix they’ve asked you to do, why not get them to do a remix for you, or have them perform on your track at no cost? If someone samples one of your songs without your permission, and it upsets you, instead of suing them maybe you should just sample one of their songs instead?
Ninja Tune T-Shirt Contest
Posted: 20/05/08 03:51 PM
By: Elliott Fienberg
Ninja Tune has posted on their myspace blog that they are accepting submissions for a T-Shirt contest which closes on June 1st. The winner will receive $200 to spend in the Ninja Shop or will receive some guestlist passes to shows.
Already people are starting to give the label heck in the comments. I’m staying out of this one ;-)
Cable Clutter: some hope?
Posted: 19/05/08 02:42 AM
By: Elliott Fienberg
As someone who is notorious for having a the old Medussa of cables wherever I work, I was happy to find out recently that there are a wealth of resources devoted to the art of cleaning up the mess that cables leave behind.
I assume this trend is growing since the average consumer has even more handheld electronics and peripherals now more than ever. And of course those crazy flatscreen TVs!
Well anyways here’s an article by Lifehacker which discusses using an Ikea bin to hold up some cables. As well, the site Unclutterer has a section on their blog devoted to cable clutter – including the video posted above. Last but not least is a great feature by The Closet Entrepreneur which has some nice photos of people battling this embarrassing domestic condition.
Browse around and you will find that you are not alone in looking for ways to make your studio space more easy on the eyes.
Now here’s the funny part, I have yet to try any of these ideas out, but you are more than free to. I myself am skeptical because I take the elitist view that studio gear and the cables attached shouldn’t be heavily tied down to one spot in your room, but I will be gladly proven wrong should any of these work out nicely. And please report back here if you have any success!
Hangin' Tough
Posted: 18/05/08 01:17 PM
By: Elliott Fienberg
I didn’t know what a Hang Drum was until last year when Soniccouture came out with the first multi-sampled Hang Drum instrument. I still really hadn’t seen it being played, only heard it, up until I saw this amazing video.
Apparently they are very rare since they are hand-made by an exclusive Swiss company, and additionally they are very expensive. So even though they are tempting to find when you watch a video like this, unfortunately it’s not easy. I recommend you check out this summery of the instrument for more information.
I must say though that Soniccouture’s rendition of the instrument is quite accurate to what I see in this video. Even though you have to play it on a midi keyboard, it’s a great option for including this Gamelan sounding instrument into your tracks.
The artist featured above is named Dante Bucci and you can find his website here.
New Invoice Software: A Cautionary Tale
Posted: 17/05/08 07:04 PM
By: Elliott Fienberg
A few weeks ago I had to draw up an invoice for a client regarding a DJ gig. Wanting to look a bit extra professional, I tried out this new service called Blinksale which I must’ve found through some advertising on business website.
It was easy to use, and was complete with that full Web 2.0 polish as seen in sites like Basecamp or Vimeo. But after giving it a shot, there were two things that made me uncomfortable about using the service.
The first problem was that the invoice I sent to my client went into his spam folder. That’s sort of funny since I’ve had plenty of email communication with him in the past, except that the invoice got mailed out by a website which his email server deemed to be spam. You can toss out any of my emails, but please don’t toss out my invoice!
The second problem was that I realized that even though there are services out there to help out with various tasks in our lives, sometimes you’ll want to be careful about who you’re signing up with.
I’m sure Blinksale is totally legit, but would you want to take a chance on handing even more personal information, especially regarding your income and what companies you are working with, to yet another company?
I know a lot people are skeptical about Gmail, but I do trust the service. One could say that handing sensitive information over to Blinksale is no different, but at the end of the day I’m not sure my clients would be comfortable with me inputting their information into a site that they might deem to be random.
Besides their email server didn’t trust it to begin with!