The Lala Acquisition

Lala

As others have posted or reported today, Apple has purchased the excellent online music platform Lala.  Lala is a streaming music service with an interesting premise: you upload your entire iTunes library to the service and you can stream — for free — any of that content anywhere you can access their website.

It’s robust and works well.  Along with uploading your library, Lala also uploads significant metadata like ratings, play counts, and more.  It’s basically your iTunes library, to go.

They have an iPhone app in the queue, which for some reason (hmm…) has not yet been released.  I fully believe this app would change how a lot of streaming music occurs. Think of it: your entire music library is in the cloud, accessible anywhere you can make a phone call.

Lala is an interesting model.  Sure, you can listen to any song you already own via their system.  If you don’t own a song and want to hear it, you can stream it once for free on the site.  After that, you pay 10 cents and you can stream it all you like via the service (another boon for the iPhone app).

If you’re not satisfied there, you can pay another 99 cents (or $1.29 where applicable) and download a high quality MP3 file of the song.  Oh, and the streaming service is ad-supported and labels and artists are paid on an ad-rev share system.  Basically, they cover the gamut of digital music product types, which is pretty unique in this market.

So, why did Apple buy them?  Gruber, NYT and Lefsetz assert that it’s a talent grab: cherry-picking technology and developers who are doing it right, so Apple can just pick up where Lala left off.  I have to agree, but I’d like to add a couple things to think about.

When I read about this rumor a couple days ago, I started thinking about Apple’s MobileMe service.  MobileMe allows Mac users to sync their mail (with a me.com account), their calendar, contacts, and computer settings across multiple Apple devices.  I have it and love it, works great (now).  You get all that and a 20GB cloud backup disk, all for $99/year.

I’m betting Apple integrates Lala into this suite of services.  Lala’s hard drive uploader and iTunes backup system would be a perfect addition to this existing functionality.  My question would be, what about the streaming?

I’d gladly pay for an Apple streaming music service, but I thought it would take a while before we’d see one.  Perhaps they’ll rollover the streaming service into a new iTunes-like experience; perhaps they won’t. Lala offers playlists, widgets, social networking, plus AmazonMP3-style $3.99 deals.  That part of their business seems too finnicky for Apple to play with.

Critics have said the Lala model is too complicated for your average consumer; people will forget what songs they own, what they’ve paid 10 cents for, and won’t keep up with the content.

Personally I think it’s too hard a sell to get me to pay 10 cents for tracks I can only hear on their site.  Give me an iPhone app or a Mac app and I might be persuaded.  Integrate it fully with iTunes and I’ll give it all my money.

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Come & Live! Sampler

I met Chad Johnson at EMI, when he was still heading up A&R for Tooth & Nail Records.  A few months later he had quit and was starting his own non-profit music company, a crazy but brilliant idea called Come & Live!

Come & Live! focuses on giving worship music away while equipping artists to live as missionaries.  It’s a great idea, and for more details you should check out the site.

I’m glad to have helped Chad by mastering the label’s first sampler, I Am Living Vol. 1.  I also have given Chad and his crew some advice in the realm of marketing and social media, areas I’m kind of nerdy and semi-knowledgeable about.

You should definitely check the free sampler out and if you’re into it, keep checking the site out as I’m sure there’s more music from C&L! to come.  Also they accept donations so feel free to pitch in if you like.

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FOR SALE: Vocal Rig / Portable Demo Rig

UPDATE: Most of the rig got purchased a few days ago; the buyer is reviewing it and assuming he’s pleased with it, it’s all sold but the Gefells.  Thanks for your interest!

The time has come for me to list and sell my recording rig.  Now, now… I still have my ProTools rig and am still doing editing, mixing, mastering — I just have not recorded anything but simple demos with this, and I just don’t need it.

That said, I can’t say I won’t miss these amazing pieces.  I have, for your review:

  • Vintage Neumann u87 (or u87i, for the sticklers) - made in early 1980s, I think 1981 or 1984 - comes with original shockmount and old paperwork!
  • Amek 9098 DMA Pre - two channels of glorious Rupert Neve in a rack space, need I say more?
  • DBX 160x compressor - single channel comp, super clean and just works.
  • Gefell 691s with m70 cardioid capsules - beautiful and smooth vintage small diaphragms
  • Juice Goose Power conditioner - rock solid
  • 4 space soft rack with roomy pocket and metal flight case - ultra-portable!

Things to note:

  • One of the m70 capsules is intermittent and will need a replacement (roughly a $150-200 cost)
  • The shockmount for the 87 has one piece that is detached from the rest of the unit. This should be fixed by JB Weld or something similar (not real welding, please!) - I tried superglue and it stayed for a while but needs a fix again.

OK, so about buying this.  I’m in Nashville and if you are too, I’d love to just bring you the whole kit and kaboodle and be done with it. All this can be yours for the fair price of $4,000 (plus shipping).  If you add up the street prices for all this gear you can see it’s discounted quite a bit.

If you don’t live in Nashville and want the whole thing, it’ll be a beast to ship but we can work it out.

If you don’t want the whole thing, I can talk about breaking it up but I’d prefer to sell as a unit.

Why together, you might ask? Because this rig sounds BEAUTIFUL together. The Amek and DBX are big, bold and clean - a great choice for vocals, guitars, overheads, etc. Paired with the u87 it is a powerful vocal chain and I’ve been told many big voices in country music have used the exact lineup for tremendous results.

Please contact me with questions and I’ll honestly consider reasonable offers for anything here.

And now, the photos:

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I’ve been spending some time editing out expletives from Disney movies so they can be broadcast on family channels.  Here’s a clip of a particularly nasty scene for you to check out.

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Technology vs. Horse

I met one of the guys in this band, Josh, through my friend Jon Craig - we were both groomsmen in Jon’s wedding.  I’ve heard some of the music Josh and their friends made and was always impressed at the crazy musicianship and crazy lyrics and style.  And well…

TvH is a crazy group of dudes.  They cover the bases of rock, funk, punk, hardcore, techno, power ballads, hip hop, prog, kraut rock… and more I’m surely missing.  This record was really fun to mix because of how diverse their style is.

I mixed and mastered this beast over quite a bit of time.  I’m glad the band was patient and knew what they wanted out of it.  I’m really happy with the result.  Check it:

Technology vs. Horse - “Cocaine Dracula”

Technology vs. Horse - “Hold the Bear Close to the Lightning”

Technology vs. Horse - “Turning N2U”

Technology vs. Horse - “Fharlanghn”

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The Corporate Hack

For old time’s sake…

A blog my former co-worker and friend Matt Burns and I used to run.  This blog focused on corporate productivity, efficiency and development when our jobs often didn’t.  It was a good source of personal development and research and led us to some cool things, like being featured on many productivity blogs online, including our favorite Lifehacker (and Lifehacker Australia, too).

Matt and I both loved the site but the constant work on it over the months we kept it going just couldn’t be sustained.  We folded mid-way through May 2008 and haven’t looked back since…except now.  I think the site has some decently useful information in it and has certainly helped me in my own development.  Just sayin’.

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I took this photo of a Gefell microphone capsule of mine, the M70 cardioid.  This capsule was made before I was born, in East Germany, during the Cold War — behind the wall. Now I put it in front of guitars, drums, anything really, and a membrane of metal inside it vibrates and creates an electronic representation of what it’s pointing at.

I took this photo of a Gefell microphone capsule of mine, the M70 cardioid.  This capsule was made before I was born, in East Germany, during the Cold War — behind the wall.

Now I put it in front of guitars, drums, anything really, and a membrane of metal inside it vibrates and creates an electronic representation of what it’s pointing at.

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Prince's Hot Chicken Shack: REDUX

Nashvillest posted a link to my hot chicken writeup again - big thanks to them for that.

Slashfood did a piece on them earlier and it looks like they’re trying to make hot chicken the new “it” food. I’m all for it, frankly.

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The Protomen - Mercy Lounge

Monday night I went to see some old friends perform at Mercy Lounge for BMI’s weekly 8 off 8th Showcase.  They’ve done the showcase before but this night was special: everyone in the venue got to vote on their favorite band and the winner gets a slot at Bonnaroo 2009.

Needless to say the competition is pretty fierce, including local favorites How I Became the Bomb and Autovaughn.  The crowd was pumped up and loving a free mini-show from some of the best bands in town.  It was a brilliant show, all-in-all….

…but I have to say, the Protomen just destroyed it. They have tightened up a lot since I last worked with them and delivered a solid (albeit short) performance. Their cramped-stage antics and incredibly epic songwriting just works for a venue like this; the place just went nuts and fell right in line, chanting and fist-pumping along to each song.

They energized the crowd like no one else could that night: flooded in smoke machine bursts and flashing light, the Protomen turned video game schtick into an epic saga of the battle of good versus evil, and the crowd ate it right up.

Anyway, I guess that’s all to say I’m darned proud of these boys; the new songs gave me chills and I can’t wait for their new album to wrap up.  Check out their insanely brilliant (Flash monstrosity) website and be sure to listen to a song or two.

It feels like after years of writing, rehearsing, playing (music and video games), touring, and just being their weird selves, things are finally starting to click.  It was no surprise when I got an ecstatic IM from Commander Hawk (pictured above in sunglasses and bandana), who simply said “WE WINNED!!!!”

Yes Commander. You winned. Can’t wait to see them at Bonnaroo.

I’ve had the pleasure to work with the Protomen on several songs, tracking, editing, mixing and making loud noises onto analog tape… it was all a blast.  Check out the first track I helped them on, Hope Rides Alone:

The Protomen - “Hope Rides Alone”

OK, so looking around on Flickr, these guys have amassed some amazing photos on the road. Check it out:

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Nashvillest Writeup: Prince's Hot Chicken Shack

My dear friends at the Nashvillest blog have posted another write-up of mine, this time on one of the greatest food experiences I’ve had in this town.

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Themed by: Hunson