The Pixies: just a couple of emails can really engage fans
I saw the Pixies play in London a couple of months ago. I've been a fan for 20 years or so but this was the first time I've seen them. They were excellent, in case you're interested, but it's the...
View ArticlePixies continue to innovate online with gigography download site
The Pixies, the influential American rock band, have begun building an online gigography and uploading recordings of their shows that fans can download for $3.99 each. More than that, however, they're...
View ArticleThe History of Jazz: iPad app of the week
The History of Jazz comes in at the kind of price point that makes a lot of smartphone owners grumble. Apps are still seen as cheap, disposable, ephemeral things so anything over about £5 makes people...
View ArticleInstapaper: iPad app of the week
These posts will mostly focus on new apps but since this is only the third post, I think I can squeeze in a few old favourites. Instapaper is one of a handful of iPad apps that you really must have....
View ArticleAmazon's music locker offers only what customers expect – but labels still...
Amazon announced Cloud Drive yesterday, a music storage service that will give you access to the music you own on a range of computers and mobile devices. The service, which is US-only for now, is an...
View ArticleThe best way to celebrate music on Record Store Day is to download some MP3s
I won’t be going anywhere near a record shop tomorrow, despite it being international Record Store Day. Nor, I suspect, will you, and there are excellent reasons for that. The dingy vinyl merchants of...
View ArticleMax Mathews dies after a life in digital music
Max Mathews, who has died in San Francisco at the age of 84, was a pioneer of digital music. He wasn’t the first to make a tune on a computer, but his was the first popular music program and he took...
View ArticleThe wisdom of crowdfunding: business's quiet revolution
Imagine you have a bright idea for a new gadget or game. You're convinced people will love it, but it's going to take more money and time than you have on hand, so you need to raise some funds. You've...
View ArticleIt's only the threat of piracy that keeps the online music and TV industries...
Streaming is rapidly becoming the way most of us consume music, film and television. Much of the best stuff is only available there, as anyone emerging from a House of Cards binge will tell you. In the...
View ArticleThe 'pop' is coming back to music as the web forces an entire industry to...
Pop musicians – or the marketing machines behind them – are going to all kinds of lengths to help their album launches stand out from the crowd. Take mainstream dubstep artist Skrillex. His album isn't...
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