RADIO HANNIBAL

Is Spotify still the clear front runner in streaming?

I've championed Spotify, the streaming music service, relentlessly since it came to the US in July.  Their success in Europe, association with Facebook and marketing clout made it appear that all the competition would lose the battle.  Maybe I spoke too soon.

I've been playing around on MOG this week.  There's some differences such as the fact that Spotify works on downloaded software whereas MOG runs right on their site.  The functionality is fairly similar.  MOG may not be as clean and smooth as Spotify.  Songs seem to start up slightly quicker on Spotify.  That has to do with the fact that it's a peer to peer network and with so many more Spotify subscribers it's that much quicker to find the song and commence playing it.  The sound quality is close though some have said that MOG sounds better and they just might. 

The real problem Spotify has is content.  MOG seems to be beating them good right now and I can't find an explanation from anyone.  Two of the great holdouts on Spotify, Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd are on MOG.  Though The Beatles and Led Zeppelin remain absent from either. 

I was concerned that MOG was getting more new releases than Spotify.  Being the music freak I am, on Tuesday mornings I look at what's to be released that day and this past Tuesday there was no Lana Del Rey, no Imperial Teen, no The 2 Bears.  They were all on MOG though.  Eventually, whether it was later that day or Wednesday, all of those releases showed up on Spotify.  As the front runner Spotify shouldn't let MOG beat them to new releases, even if it's just by hours. 

I am impressed with MOG.  Not enough to switch allegiances yet but it sure would be nice to get Dylan and Floyd on Spotify.  What gives?

Streaming Music Services Still Foreign To Many

If Radio Hannibal were as big and influential as I'd like, streaming music services would be common by now.  Spotify, Rhapsody, MOG, Rdio and the like would be well known brands.  The fact is they are still foreign to many.

I'm still of the opinion that Spotify will, far and away, be the leader of streaming music services so I'll focus on it.  Being the evangelist I am for Spotify, the topic comes up quite often in my conversations with people.  And the vast majority tell me they've never heard of Spotify.  In fact, they aren't even aware of streaming music services. Once in awhile, I'll get something like, "oh, you mean like Pandora?".  "Hardly", I'll reply.

This ignorance of Spotify isn't just from people with little interest in music.  Hardcore music friends of mine are clueless as well.  That includes the vast majority of local musicians I talk to.

The weird thing is that when I explain Spotify, that you can listen to just about any album or song you want with one click, they are suspicious.  They assume it's illegal. 

I understand.  It is hard to comprehend.  Especially when I tell them it's free if you don't mind the ads interspersed between songs.  That's when I'll pull out my iPhone and tell them that for ten bucks a month I can listen to Spotify anywhere I want. 

Now comes the demo.  I tell them to pick an artist, a band.  Ok, if they say The Beatles I'll explain that there are some significant holes.  Maybe they'll say Bob Marley.  I'll do the search and watch as every Bob Marley album populates the screen.  Yet even then they are skeptical.  It's like they're afraid to be amazed.  What's the catch?, they wonder. 

I had one friend tell me that the concept seemed out of reach for him, like it must be for the music intelligentsia or something.  No, it takes about two minutes to sign up and download the software.

And still, even after I've wowed them, I'll see them again and ask if they got Spotify.  Most of the time the answer is no.  It's astonishing to me. 

I guess it's like the male fantasy of having more than one woman in bed.  In fantasy it's thrilling but in reality it may be too daunting.  Are you capable of handling having 90% of recorded music at your disposal...for free?

 

Spotify Won't Acknowledge A Problem With Service

I'm a huge advocate of Spotify, the streaming music service that entered the US market in July.  I've written numerous stories about how absolutely wonderful I find the service.  Now it's time to take them to task.

On Tuesday afternoon I noticed that much of the artwork was missing on the Spotify desktop application.  So I went in search of finding out whether or not others were having the same problem.  A search of Twitter found no complaints, but a search of Google, honing in on the last 24 hours, showed a forum topic with my specific problem.  I wasn't alone. 

Spotify uses a website called Get Satisfaction as their community forum.  That's where I found the topic No Album Images.  A look at the postings and you'll find that I have joined in the conversation.  A Spotify rep has posted a few times, the latest being about 24 hours ago saying that he's made the techs aware of the issue.  So they're on the case I guess.

Yesterday I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the program but that didn't solve the problem.  Others in the forum had indicated that there was no cover art on the iPhone app either.  Sure enough there's no cover art appearing on my iPhone.

I opened Spotify this morning and the problem still persists.  It's odd because it's sometimes hit and miss. An album's cover with be there one time and the next it's not, but the vast majority of the time I'm left looking at a grayish record icon.  Sure, the music still plays but it's a rather generic experience without artwork. 

Hopefully the techs will solve the problem quickly, though three days is not a good sign.  What upsets me the most is Spotify's lack of acknowledging that there is a problem.  In the forum topic the Spotify rep concedes as much but go to the Spotify website and look under "help" and then "service status" and you'll find this statement,

All systems are up and feeling jolly good

That's simply not true and the fact that they won't come clean is worrisome.  Any savvy business operating in the internet age knows that transparency wins customers.  It's nearly impossible to pull the wool over people's eyes.  The best policy is to be up front and honest with the customer.  Spotify has a thing or two to learn about public relations. 

New App Turns Your iPhone Into A Cassette Walkman

There's a new app for your iPhone called Air Cassette that is the epitome of retro cool.  With the graphic display of a cassette playing your iTunes library it's the Walkman age again. 

The $1.99 app syncs all of the music on your iPhone, displaying the titles in hand written form, just as if you jotted the info down yourself.  It also allows you to choose which brand cassette you'd like to display.  Unfortunately my go to choice in the day, Maxell, isn't one of them. 

Since an iPhone is roughly the same shape and size of a cassette it's a natural.  It's cool to watch the reels spin as the music plays. 

You can also make mixes just as you would on iTunes, even giving you the ability to share them via email or Facebook.  Sharing mixtapes, how retro is that?

The app is a bit confusing at first but it does offer a short instruction page. 

Surprise, My Favorite Thing About The iPhone Are The Radio Apps

It should come as no surprise that my favorite thing about the iPhone are the radio apps.  After all, the name of the blog is Radio Hannibal. 

There's so much to love about a smart phone and in my case an iPhone.  There's the great photos I can take or the great photos I can look at because of the gorgeous screen.  Don't get me started on my new Gal Friday, Siri.  A gimmick?  Hardly. And, of course, there's Spotify and the built in MP3 player providing me with music of my choice on demand. 

So why is it I find something that doesn't give me a choice and is not on demand so much to my liking?  It goes back to lying under the covers of my bed as a child, AM transistor radio in hand, slowly moving the dial to tune in far flung radio stations from Chicago, New York or as far away as New Orleans.  It seemed magical.  Heck, it was magical.  Especially back then when radio was local and regionalism influenced top 40.  I'd hear songs I'd never heard on Cleveland radio and different DJs spinning them. 

Now, instead of a transistor radio it's my iPhone and I don't have to wait for night fall when the atmosphere allows for skywaves or skip to occur.  My listening choices aren't limited to the eastern half of the United States either.  I can "tune in" a station from the other side of the world. 

If I wake up in the wee small hours of the morning I can listen to the BBC where's it's morning drive time.  On a winter evening I can imagine being in Australia or New Zealand where it's summertime and already the next day. 

As far as the music goes, Cleveland's not alone in the fact that there's little innovation or creativity on the commercial radio dial.  Corporate greed has ruined radio all across the country.  There are those far and few between stations that are still great though, here in the United States and across the globe.  I can listen to any one of them on my iPhone.  And with 3G I'm not restricted to listen only at home but while driving as well.

Then there's sports.  It's true that the NFL, MLB, and NBA prohibit their games from being streamed on the internet so the station is forced to block their signal during the game.  It's not so for the NHL.  At least for now.  They, too, are making an effort to shut off radio streams of their games.  It makes it a bit of a challenge to find a station that is streaming a live hockey game.  They have an app now, just like major league baseball where you can listen to any game you want but according to the comments it's not too good yet. 

When I do find a hockey game on I love to fall asleep to the action.  There's something comforting to me in knowing that thousands of people are gathered together and having a good time. 

When some major news or weather story hits I'll find a station close to the action and listen live.  It's kind of like rubbernecking.  And now, my current favorite radio app, TuneIn, has added police and fire scanners.  No, I'm not one of those geeks but it could be a great way for a local news blogger to get the scoop on breaking news. 

One thing I've also noticed recently is that Clear Channel has disallowed their streams on apps like TuneIn wanting people to use their own IHeartRadio app.  The odd thing is that some of their own stations aren't on it. 

My love of radio is nearly as strong as my love of music.  There's something about connecting with another human being somewhere in the world who is interested in turning you on to some new song.  There's also something about hearing news or even commercials from a city you don't live in.  I think that has to do with my passion for travel.  Call it a virtual vacation. 

 

 

New iTunes Update Seems Faster

It could be the fault of my rather old desk top PC but iTunes had been a dog for me lately.  It loaded slowly and any task made it seem like it was working in molasses.  iTunes has always had it's critics claiming it's way too bloated. 

That changed for me with the newest 10.5 version.  The update that brought the iOS5 operating system. 

Though I am using the brand new, very fast iPhone 4s, it's not that.  The iTunes program just works better and faster.  

It'd become such a pain for me that I only opened iTunes when I had to.  That changed over the weekend.  Now a powerful source for music is once again in my arsenal. 

It's Another New Release Tuesday On Spotify

What amazes me is how many people still aren't using Spotify.  What's not to like?

Today is another of those heavy fall release dates with new albums by a varied lot from William Shatner to Ryan Adams to Radiohead remixes.  All of which you can find on Spotify and listen to your heart's content. 

In other personal Spotify news I attended a clambake on Saturday up at the Lake Erie Islands.  I, of course, brought the sound system and mix for the party.  Instead of using one of my iPods, nowadays I simply use my iPhone.  Make a mix, make it available offline and sync it to the iPhone.  Put the iPhone in airplane mode so incoming calls or texts aren't interfering with the music and your set. 

After the mix was over I'd synced some choice live albums for late night.  I'll never listen to "Midnight Rambler" the same again, but that's another story. 

I'm also still discovering plenty of mind blowing collections on Spotify.  How about all 255 tracks of Hank Williams - The Complete Mother's Best Recordings, a massive box set I'd been yearning for since it came out last year. 

Lastly, Spotify's integration with Facebook is a great way to see and hear what your friends are listening to in real time.  Maybe the social aspect of listening to music is not dead. 

Listening To CDs After Too Many MP3s And Streaming Makes Them Come Alive

For awhile there I'd look at my library of CDs and wonder why I ever bought them.  This was especially true when Spotify just about mirrored my personal collection times 1,000.  So I made a concerted effort to fit CDs back into my daily listening.  An interesting thing happened.  My appreciation for quality sound grew even more as did the passion for the music on those discs. 

As someone who designs high end audio systems and as a reader of my blog(s) you know I'm an advocate of good sound.  The convenience and quantity of the new music model, MP3s and streaming services, is thrilling and turning more people onto music.  That's a very good thing.  The bad news is that even fewer people are concerned with the quality of what they hear.  Hey, I was nearly becoming one of them.

That is until I began toting around a handful of CDs in my car.  Something I hadn't done in a few years.  Or making the effort to rise from my desk and physically choose the next album from my library rather than conveniently clicking my mouse. 

That extra effort pays rewards to the listener who appreciates good sounding music.  I'd forgotten how powerful a song can be when played in MP1 (CD) rather than a 160 bit stream. 

It is the best of both worlds.  I'm now afforded convenience, a massive library and, if I so choose, a real listening experience via my neglected CD collection. 

Streaming Has My Music Collecting Obsession Under Control For First Time

To an outsider, a music collector seems irrational.  We collect much more music than we will ever be able to listen to.  A look at my library...the walls and stacks of CDs and vinyl records or a glance at my hard drives will confirm, even to my twisted music mind, that there is no way I'll ever listen to all this music. 

With the proliferation of streaming music services, and in my case Spotify specifically, my obsessive collecting has abated.  Yes, I still want to hear new music at an insatiable rate but now I can listen without the uncomfortable urge to "collect" it.  I don't need to scour shops for any and all CDs I may like but instead can merely buy the ones I truly enjoy.  The same goes for online shopping as well. 

Yesterday I was talking with a good friend who's also got the music obsession.  We were talking about Spotify and I explained my freeing mind-set.  His experience has been quite the opposite.  Now he's obsessed with filling those holes in his library.  "There's so much great music from the late 60s and early 70s that I don't own", he stated.  Spotify has helped make him aware of that.  And now he's on a mission to grow that library even more so than in the past. 

I guess what it comes down to is how you perceive the future.  He's worrisome that streaming music could go away or that they'll jack up the pricing once they've hooked us.  Whereas I'm confident that streaming music will flourish and don't feel the need for ownership of everything. 

It's an interesting conversation.  I'd love to hear your perspective. 

Facebook Readies Entry Into The Music Business

A week from today (September 22) Facebook will begin integrating music into their site.  Depending on how well they implement it could mean a significant shift in the music business and how we listen. 

In teaming up with streaming services like Spotify, MOG, and Rhapsody Facebook may just become the site for music on the internet.  The move also signals a way for local and independent artists to make their music available and saleable to their Facebook fanbase. 

I've been reading numerous stories like these, Facebook Becomes a Competitor and Complement to iTunes as MP3s are Sold for Credits via Pages, ‘Music will take Facebook beyond communication’, but am still hazy on how it will work.  I think it's something we're going to have to "test drive" and live with before it sinks in.  

If I were a local musician I'd be paying very close attention.  In fact, I may just offer my services to musicians looking to get in on the action. Just as MySpace was once the place to showcase musicians, Facebook is poised to make an even bigger impact.  Stay tuned.