Category: Music

iLike & Myspace – it doesn’t make sense

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myspaceilikeiLIke was purchased by MySpace this week for $20 million.  Hearing this annoucement, i couldn’t help think that something was off.  Something just doesn’t make sense.

Some facts: iLike has 50 million registered users.  That’s a huge number.  They are definitely one of the most popular applications on Facebook and one of the best applications anywhere for concerts. They have built some things that are quite hard to build such as:

  • A mp3 download store (link)
  • A music activity feed crawling millions of artists and millions of users
  • A ticketing system integrated with Ticketmaster
  • A self-serve advertising system

They have raised $16 million bucks and claim to be profitable.  Both Facebook and Amazon were interested in the deal.   If both of these are true why would they sell for $20 million? Selling for $20 means that the investors get their money back and then then $4 million gets spread around to shareholders.  Basically nobody makes any money that they are happy about.

To compare, Facebook just bought FriendFeed for $20 million and they have 1 million monthly uniques.  iLike has at least 3x that on the web and 50x total and they are growing.

Also, I can’t imagine why a dynamic, fast moving company would want to go work at MySpace instead of Facebook or Amazon.

  • MySpace vs. Facebook. One is doing a fantastic job of innovating and developing new innovative software (FB).  The other is bleeding users, bleeding cash (MySpace Music) and restructuring.  iLike has also actively been courting Facebook for the past 3 years. They’ve thrown Facebook / iLike parties and done everything possible to try to get a FB acquisition.  Going with MySpace is strange
  • MySpace vs. Amazon. One (Amazon) is in iLike’s backyard in Seattle and the other is down in LA.  One is making good inroads into providing a viable music store to iTunes.  The other (MySpace) started as a primary space for music but is now controlled by the labels and is getting worse and worse as they try to cut costs.

Both of those don’t make sense so then you have to conclude that they are just doing this for the money.  But if (a) they are profitable and (b) it’s only $20 million on $16m raised then that doesn’t make sense either.

My conclusion from all this non-sense:

  • iLike was not profitable and were running out of money.  They needed to either raise more money or sell.
  • Fatigue.  Working in the digital music industry and having success at it is exhausting.   Your main content source (music) brings with it tons of headaches.  The labels are working against you every step of the way
  • Facebook had no interest in getting into the music business.  I think they see content area as something for partners and although iLike probably asked them repeatedly, they backed away from the deal.  There is no better content company that is more integrated into Facebook than iLike.  If FB didn’t want them, they’re not going to get anyone.
  • MySpace paid more than $20 million.  They won’t disclose the terms but my guess is that there is some kicker in there that made the deal very attractive to the shareholders.  Too bad we don’t know what it is.

At least one or more of these have to be true.  What are your thoughts?

Serial Content

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A few weeks ago i went down to Comicon down in San Diego.  While a fantastic place to people-watch (pics here) i did manage to catch an actual comic book panel.

In the panel you had 7 actual authors of popular comic books and in the seats were about 1000 fans of the books. Questions stemmed from upcoming plot lines to questions about why certain characters behaved the way they did

On thing that occured to me during the Q & A session is that i’ve never experienced the written word in this way.  When i read something, either a book or an article, it’s always complete.  Never is it time-based.  Here’s a form where a user reads something and then has to wait a week or a month to continue reading.

Now I’m used to the anticipation and serial nature with TV shows but i realized that i have never experienced it with anything else.  That’s why i was so surprised to hear Radiohead’s announcement yesterday that they will no longer release albums but rather EP’s and singles.  This is cool. The album does seem like an antiquated concept now.

Imagine how cool it would be if a band released an album serially.  A new song each week for 10 weeks.  If this happened, I would look forward to hearing the 2009 Radiohead collection every week.  The anticipation would be half of the enjoyment.  This just shows that there is lots of innovation left in the industry.  Just because there are Walmart stores set up to sell albums doesn’t mean that’s the way it has to happen.

Imagine a world where Thom York says, “The single next week will blow your mind, while the single the week after that is one of the best love songs i’ve ever written.”  I’d mark those dates and download.  It’d be an event and it’d be a lot better than having to find out from friends when new albums drop

Michael Jackson Thoughts

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Michael Jackson

As everyone knows, Michael Jackson died last Friday from heart complications in LA.  While i wasn’t shocked by his death, I was amazed by the reaction both by people and the media.  Some of my thoughts:

  1. First off, while it’s nice to see such happy thoughts and words coming out of the media and blogosphere, i can’t believe how everyone has sort of forgotten about the past 15 years of Michael Jackson. I mean, multiple child molestation charges with 13-year old boys.  Whatever the cause of the guilt, do you know anyone who would leave their 12 year old with him alone?
  2. Some Good Articles: There is a great recount of all those stories listed here in Vantity Fair and Ebert has posted a great article that weighs both his greatness and his fragility in a good article here called “The Boy Who Never Gave Up“
  3. Thinking about his legacy, he’s definitely one of the best performers of all time – his dancing and on-stage presence seems unparalleled.
  4. While Elvis brought in Rock n’ Roll, i feel that Michael Jackson brought in pop music.  He came to define the 80’s style while adding more production value to music.  To me, he invented the genre “pop”
  5. It’s interesting to see how people react once someone dies.  The immediately become forgiven and can easily take on legendary status.  While that’s ok, i wish more people who feel this way while the artist is alive.  Two months ago nobody was saying how influential MJ was. Then hie dies and everyone in the world starts blabbing off about how influential and transformative he was.  Was he awesome? Yes.  But why didn’t people post how awesome he was before? The same thing happened with Kurt Kobain, Johnny Cash, Elvis and others.  As Chuck Klosterman says (who is an expert on his subject having written Killing Yourself To Live), “You’ll hear nobody stating how influential Boy George is, but the minute he dies it’ll come out with how he was able to break down the gender barriers before anyone else”  And he’s right.  In death, people are no longer people, they become symbols.

Loo.me Radio is Coming

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Picture 2

I decided that i needed to give you all (my readers) more music.  I get lots of requests for recommendations and thus i decided to expand my minuature blogging empire a little bit.  So, starting today there is a new site assciociated with Loo.me and it’s called ILikeThisSong.com

What is ILikeThisSong.com? It’s a site which will have a new song posted there every day.  These are my favorite songs of the moment.   Also, there is a popout player that will play ALL of the site’s tracks for you like a radio station.  This radio station will soon be linked on Loo.me.  I’m currently working on that.

For now though there is limited integration.  But feel free to check out the new site and let me know what you think

Slash's Autobiography

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Slash (autobiography)
Image via Wikipedia

A few months ago i plowed through the book Slash which is “written” by the Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash.  I’m a huge fan so i really enjoyed the read.  Here are some interesting things i learned in the book:

  • When Slash‘s parents got divorced, the first guy his mom started dating was David Bowie. Slash and her would go to his shows with him and just hang out with the guy
  • Slash’s mom was a professional costume designer named Ola Hudson. She was quite an artist and tailored outfits and album covers for such acts as John Lennon, Diana Ross and the Pointer Sisters.  He dad also did album covers – for Neil Young and Joni Mitchell
  • His mom was also good friends with David Geffen. But when Slash was signed by Geffen’s label, he kept is a secret.  One Christmas, Geffen was eating lunch with Slash’s mom and asked how Slash was and she replied, “you should know, you signed him a few months ago.”  He was floored b/c he had no idea Slash was actually the same little kid that he knew for all those years.
  • Slash was really into BMX bikes and at age 12 was considered one of the best riders in the country for his age bracket
  • One of Slash’s good friend’s dad was Seymour Cassel, who is an actor (Max’s dad in Rushmore).  He is the one who gave Slash the name “Slash” because he never sat still and was always scheming
  • Slash was so messed up on drugs the entire time that most of the success he realized has been forgotten.  For instance, he went to the MTV music awards and didn’t even know he was a nominee.  When they won, he went on stage and didn’t know that it was an acceptance speech.  The whole night was a blur and along the way he left the award in a cab.
  • All the members of the band were so messed up on hard drugs that they really couldn’t function.  They had to have a fix before shows to operate.  Slash went to rehab several times and it never really worked until he was long done with GnR
  • Alx comes off as a total dick in the book.  They were constantly waiting for him.  He’s arrive late to almost every show.  He wouldn’t show up for rehersals.  While i’m sure he was much more sane than the rest of the crew, he was also the main source of anxiety and stress for all members of the band
  • The song November Rain was actually written for Appetite for Destruction but they left it off because they wanted only one ballad on the album and that was Sweet Child o’ Mine.
  • Paradise City was written when they were all driving down from San Fran way before they were even getting good gigs and was just a chant they wrote when they were excited to get back to LA.  As the band grew and the egos grew, they never traveled like this again and lost all comraderie.  Reading the book you realize why songs like Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child, Paradise City, Rocket Queen never materialized.  They were written at a time when the band was incredibly tight and the lyrics of Alx, and the guitar playing of Duff and Slash were perfect compliments

It’s a good book and really interesting if you’re a Guns N’ Roses fan.  It’s a bit longer than The Dirt – Motley Crue’s autobiography – and it only focuses on one member so it has much more depth.  I recommend it. 3.5 to 4 stars (out of 5).

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May Music

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Hangin' with Matty Charles
Matty Charles in LA by pescatello

I’ve been listening to some good tunes for the past month and thought i’d share them with y’all.  Here they are:

  1. Sad Song by Fredo Viola.  This was put on a mix for me by Lady Biasia and is a pretty mesmerizing tune.  You can listen to it back to back every day and not tire of it.  In fact, if you were going to throw a dinner party and didn’t want to destroy the mood with the music but keep it chill and interesting, this would be the track for you. Worth a listen.  MP3 HERE
  2. If I Ever Leave This World by Flogging Molly.  Also on the same mix by Lady Biasia and is one of my new favorite running songs.  You may remember this song from the P.S. I Love You soundtrack.  What you don’t? You didn’t see it?  Oh that’s right, nobody did.  And the people who did where so sad that they lost 2 hours in the most horrific fashion that they refuse to admit it.  Unless you’re name is Diane Woodhouse and then you go out and buy the DVD (i kid, i kid). Anyway, regardless of how absolutely horrible the movie is, the track really pumps me up  MP3 HERE
  3. Last of American Girls by Green Day.  Many of you might not know this, but Green Day just came out with a new album called 21st Century Breakdown.  Rolling Stone gave it 4.5 stars out of 5 and other people can’t stop slurping it. I think it half has to do with the fact we never expected Green Day to have any longevity or talent and it’s half that the album is just really good and unique (it’s a rock opera for chrimminey sakes). This track is my favorite but probably not for people who don’t like Green Day.  MP3 HERE
  4. Starry Tilting Sizzle by Les Blanks.  The band Les Blanks is a my friend Parker’s band.  If you want to know how much Parker rocks the Buzznet psyche, you should look at this slide show.  While i admire his style and loud voice in the office, i never got into Les Blanks until i stumbled across this tight jam.  It rocks. That’s all i can really say. I don’t see how anyone wouldn’t like it.   MP3 HERE
  5. Starry Stairs by Okkervil River.  This song came out last year but i didn’t really give it a chance until recently.  Like other Okkervil River songs, it’s heavy on the lyrics but is still quite catchy.  MP3 HEREIMG_0380
  6. The Train by Matty Charles.  I went to go see Matty when he came to LA about two months ago and found out that he had put out a new album.  After listening to it for a while, it’s clear this is the best track.  As always, he completely delivers. I think he could be my favorite singer-songwriter of this decade.  MP3 HERE
  7. Hikky-Burr by Bill Cosby and Quincy Jones.  I found this from Karen’s blog and loved the tracks so much that  I actually went out and bought this CD at Amoeba.  That’s right i paid for music.  People still do this.  Not you of course, but people.   This is fantastic jam from 1969 – back when people used to jam for no reason other than just to jam.  I wish i could have gotten in on that.  This track will have to do for now. MP3 HERE
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Music and Basketball

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Another good quote from The Sports Guy.  He had an email exchange with Macolm Gladwell and the subject of music and basketball came up.  The Sports Guys responds:

We had lunch a few weeks ago and discussed the parallels between music and basketball. The structure is fundamentally the same: You have a lead singer (the NBA alpha dog, like LeBron or Kobe), the lead guitarist (the sidekick, like Pippen or McHale), the drummer (an unsung third wheel, like Parish or Worthy), the bassist (a solid, reliable and ultimately disposable role player: like Byron Scott or Anderson Varejao); and then everyone else (the other rotation guys). Bands can go different ways just like successful basketball teams. McCartney and Lennon were two geniuses who ultimately needed one another (like Young Magic and Older Kareem, or Shaq and Young Kobe), whereas MJ and LeBron were more like Sting or Springsteen (someone who could carry the band by themselves). And if you want to drag hip-hop or rap into it, the best parallel would obviously be Jordan’s post-baseball Bulls: MJ was Chuck D, Pippen was Terminator X, and there is no effing doubt that Rodman was Flavor Flav.

It’s a great read if you’re into the NBA and what’s happening right now.  I like The Sports Guy’s take about Lebron.  This is a great time to be a viewer as Lebron is doing what Michael Jordan did in the early 90’s. He’s just destroying people and making it great to watch.  Plus, there’s a Spinal Tap refernce in there.  How could it be a bad article then.  It reads:

As the 2009 postseason rolls on, the King has become its most compelling story, not just because of his insane numbers, that Jordan-like hunger in his eyes, even the fact that he’s still on cruise control to some degree. (Note: I would compare

LeBron James
Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

him to Nigel Tufnel’s amp. He alternated between “9” and “10” in the regular season, and he’s been at 10 in the playoffs, but I can’t shake the feeling that he has an “11” in store for Kobe and the Finals. An extra decibel level, if you will. In my lifetime, Jordan could go to 11. So could Bird. Shaq and Kobe could get there together, but not apart. And really, that’s it. Even Magic could get to 10 3/4 but never quite 11. It’s a whole other ball game: You aren’t just beating teams, you’re destroying their will. You never know when you’ll see another 11. I’m just glad we’re here. End of tangent.) But his relationship with his teammates continues to fascinate me; because of his character and the spirit of the players that surround him, it’s like watching a more animated/funny/bombastic version of Duncan’s Spurs, or even last season’s Boston team. I really get a kick out of them. Only LeBron and Magic could foster a climate like that just by being themselves.

Any other insight from my readers?

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Wednesday's inspiration comes from Britian

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picture-2This is a great 5 minute video from the British version of American Idol.  It’s the story of a 47 year old Susan Boyle and her audition for the show.  This is why the web beats mainstream TV.  The fact that i can watch this little clip which is better than 90% of the scripted shows on network television is why i have great love for the internet.

Click here to watch this clip