Just cuz I'm checking it in right now . . .

Title recommendation:

Behind the Beat: hip hop home studios by Raph
Ginko Press reprint. 2006

Snazzy studio pics, short DJ bios, along with a limited edition mix CD by DJ Ransom . . .

I can't keep it on the shelves.

WebbyTech News

Alright, everybody can calm down . . . especially me. Memo: Amplified Lib is turning into the pop music library tabloids.

The latest on the Universal proclamation says that songs will go poof six months after you download them. Of course, that’s an admitted rumor. (See posts from earlier in the week for more backstories on this.) People are also speculating on portability/compatibility problems. We’ll just have to see where it heads. December seems like an optimistic launch-time.

But on a more appropriately alarmist note . . .

Wow, I had no idea that YouTube was included in the Deleting Online Predators act.

What’s the fun of the announcement a few weeks ago -- YouTube planning to host every music video ever – if we can’t use it for teen services?

And are librarians themselves (at work) exempt, does anybody know? I’ll have to check that out. Otherwise, (if I’m ever publicly funded) I can’t even do my essential, ahem, professional research!

Like watching Pitchfork’s 100 Awesome Music Videos. Pitchfork was the feature of an entire beautiful article in Wired this week. A music review site that's as influential as Rolling Stone or Billboard anymore – you’re telling me they are also, according to the law, one of the accomplices of child endangerment?

(Or is it just the main YouTube site that will be banned, and not imbedded streaming YouTube vids on other sites? I’m going to look into this, too. If anybody even knows at this point . . . )

I also would be banned at work from demonstrating some timely pop culture facts – like the videography behind Little Miss Sunshine’s director.

Meanwhile, Mashable says that the Save Your Space campaign isn’t doing so well – due to lack of press, he speculates.

Is it our place as librarians to educate teens about what social rights they may be losing very soon? Or would that seem too biased-and-political to fire up your teen advisory board about?

So many questions . . .

Two more social-networking+youth+music headlines today:

YouTube launches YouTube Colleges to challenge Facebook. So YouTube IS expanding into direct social networking. For college kids. Does that justify including YT in the DOP act, though? Maybe legislators are just thinking ahead. :)

Bebo and NBC have hooked up to promote the upcoming series Friday Night Lights. There are writing contests and prizes and such. Your football enthusiast teens could win big bucks if they enter. This news would work well for a sports book display, too. Bebo is as music-oriented as MySpace since Bebo Bands started in July-- that's the music relevance.

THE BIGGEST NEWS IN THE HISTORY OF THE MUSIC BUSINESS . . . or just some hype?

This just came down the wire. Actually, I'd seen the story but hadn't given it much thought this morning. Then, our main Music Biz instructor came in bouncing off the walls with all the zeal and glee of somewone watching The Revolution launch.

Universal has just thrown down the gauntlet.

They are offering their entire catalog. For free. Online. In December.

Here are the stories . . . I don't even know what to make of them yet, but I'll keep adding commentary and news as it happens.

The instructor says that this conclusively makes library music collections defunct except for archive purposes. Itunes will fizzle-- making Ipods primarily video platforms. (He predicts Blockbuster dead in a year.)

What do you think?

*Billboard Biz story* SpiralFrog will be the aggregator -- distributing the tunes and collecting ad revenue.
*Hits Daily Double story* (May require registration.)
"Universal Music Group has made its catalog available to a new species of online animal that calls itself SpiralFrog...and don't you dare call it Frogster. "
*iTWire* "The largest music company in the world, Universal Music, has issued a mind boggling challenge . . . "
What does "some sort of copyright protection" mean? The long arm of the law tends to like specifics.
Boingboing isn't so keen on some of the details emerging. (They have their own list of related links.)

The New Digs

Real window included! Words cannot convey how much I heart that little patch of sunshine. Now for a new sound system . . .

Hmm, Blogger seems to be eating all our new posts. Otherwise, Jaina has removed some. I'll have to ask her. (UPDATE: Firefox doesn't register any of our last three posts for some reason. Shenanigans!)

One thing I found out last week about making promises online: your Internets will immediately black out, with no hope of reconnecting for days. Be warned.

Good news for those who actually like us to update (as opposed to the MAKE THE BAD LIBRARIANS STOP demographic) -- my library is all moved, and we can start daily posts
again. AND my Internet connection has been restored. So I can put away my paper bag and breathe easier.

I just finished picking apart the new amazing issue of WIRED. It says a lot about our age when WIRED has a more revealing glance at the music industry in one issue than the rest of the music publications all year long.

In the meantime -- here's my little teen services programming dream:








1. Get a big library meeting space, a bunch of teens and five televisions.
2. Beg, borrow or rent the appropriate amount of video game hardware.
3. Set off Dance Dance Revolution Universe in one corner.
(After that version debuts, I mean -- with marathon dancing and online competition capacity? Fun!)
4. Start jammin' a little Guitar Hero from another part of the room.
(Or Guitar Hero II, if you are attempting this after Nov. 7th 2006. "Rhythm, lead or base" options!!)
5. Add a healthy dose of Donkey Konga.
6. Go to town with Karaoke Revolution in the last corner available.
7. Mix in Amplitude from the very center of the room.
8. Check your noise levels, so that eardrums are safe.

The resulting sounds would probably be less beautiful noise than window shattering cacophony -- but I think it has YouTube potential -- whatever the result.

Jaina (aka "the funny one") is still out of town.

Here at home, the library move is in full swing. I'm on a break between lugging around rolling carts with heaps of precariously balanced books. In flip-flops. Yes, library-work can be hazardous. (And, yes, the dress code at a music college is on the casual side.)

There's a lot of material that's been piling up for posts. And magazines, of course.

I'll post some of the tastiest morsels tomorrow.

Promise.

The new space is larger -- anyone have any favorite ROCKING furniture suggestions? I'm up for just about anything.

WOW

"YouTube Talking to Record Labels on Music Videos YouTube is currently negotiating with record labels to create a business model that will allow the popular home video sharing website the rights to post all music videos ever created on its website. "

Everybody loves this one.

The Future of Music Coalition's August newsletter is now available online. It features their FMC policy summit, Media Ownership Proceedings, Employment Effects of Radio Consolidation, Update on Network Neutrality and Musicians and a new roundup.

Also, it reminded me about one of my favorite online resources for working musicians (or aspiring ones):

What do musicians need to know about health insurance?

"FMC has teamed up with Alex Maiolo and Chris Stephenson to create HINT – the Health Insurance Navigation Tool. The goal of this project is to provide informed, musician-friendly support and advice to curious musicians who need information about health insurance, for free."

With both articles and real-time advice support, this is an essential tool for those rockstar dreamers who could use a reality check. (Or even just the level-headed determined ones . . .)

Internet Buzzzzzzzz
(Fa fa fa fa fa fa-fa)






I have a few twenty-something girlfriends giddy about this, but I'm sure teens will pounce on it as well.

The Nutshell:
Fafarazzi is fantasy football for celebrities. You set up a "team" of famous-type-people and then get points for how many times they appear in magazines -- particularly US Weekly, I believe. Cover stories count for extra, etc. REVIEW LINK

According to Best Week Ever, the idea came from an ESPN guy, hehe.

How does this apply to teen services? Well, I admit the music connection is shaky at best, but last week I stumbled upon a library teen program which HAS a fantasy football league.

Uber-clever, I thought. You'd have to contact the library for the specifics, but I don't think a fafarazzi team would be that far-fetched.

BTW, do you like the mini-posts or the one-big-list posts? I'll do a few mini-posts today so you can get the full comparative impact. ;)

Disclaimer: When I read through a music magazine I mostly tend to notice the tech-y bits. Blame the fact that I run a popular music production and engineering library. Therefore, I cannot guarantee that my reading does, in fact, release you from obligation to read these issues – despite the promise in the titles of our recurring segment.

Also, as she mentioned -- Jaina’s out of town, so you may not get much performer news this week. Her library is a popular music performance library. So very different. So she notices the performer news. Convenient, huh?

Without further delay . . .


We Read MOJO So You Don’t Have To

MOJO had slim pickins for teens today. Unless they are 60’s loving indie hipster teens. If you get a lot of those, you should probably read the magazine yourself – because the magazine zoomed in on Bob Dylan from every angle, lover and walk of life. That was a majority of the issue.

On the sidelines, they did recommend a Pirates of the Caribbean inspired collection of sea chanties and pub songs!!! (Check my profile to see how exciting I find this news.)
Famous rockers were invited in to cover the old sea ditties with gusto.

Rogue's Gallery: “And it’s nuts, centuries of traditional work songs and oral history viewed through the sextant of rock and folk, whether bawdy, forlorn or downright scary . . . One of the strangest, almost mythical music journeys you could take, it will shiver your timbers in the most rewarding ways.” Crazy bawdy sextant with musical myths and suggestively shivered timbers. Made for teens, I tell ya’.

Also, they listed the top horror movie soundtracks, the bottom six being: Suspira, Ninth Gate, Music of Candyman, Omen Trilogy, Devil Rides Out, Eraserhead. I won’t give away the top four . . . unless you really want a spoiler. (Leave a comment.)

This “yelling” singing group was referenced and will interest those who are into world music and wacky internet clips. Everybody, in other words.

New books on music reviewed:
The House that Trane Built: the story of Impulse Records by Ashley Kahn
Memories of John Lennon: introduced and edited by Yoko Ono
Sex, Rock and Optical Illusions by Victor Moscosco
Trash! The Complete New York Dolls by Kris Needs and Dick Porter
Laurel Canyon: the inside story of rock and roll's legendary neighborhood

All received at least three *'s -- so it clearly must be a good month for music books. :)

We Read Electronic Musician too.

Reference Tip:
Where do you send a patron who wants to build a home studio?
To this month's Electronic Musician supplement, of course.
Personal Studio Buyer’s Guide – featuring all the products on the market with prices, specifications and product comparisons (microphones, monitors, effects processors, etc.) It's really hard to keep track of this one, because the students snatch it up so quickly.

I heart this Podcaster USB microphone

. . . . . . .

I’m supposed to be moving the library one day this week – so I fully expect to add to my long record of broken promises for posting. Unlike YouTube, we warn you about these gaps ahead of time. That has to count for something.

Fun Places on the Intarwebs

PCD Music Lounge caught my eye in a little Best-of-the-Web section in a music mag last week. It’s supposed to be a combination of World of Warcraft and Myspace. Only set up as a nightclub. For teens. I’m curious to see how they keep the predators and trolls away so the real teens can play. I do like the fact that they have genuine DJs and DJ playlists performing for real-time dancing purposes. Very Second Life of them. And despite the "racy" sponsorship (PCD stands for the Pussy Cat Dolls – of Carmen Electra and Jonathan’s sister and "your boyfriend really wanting them" song fame) blowing kisses is the extent of physical expression allowed in this avatar dancefloor lovefest. We'll see whether the teens will flock for that.

Hip Hop Archive. Unfortunately, a number of the coolest-sounding links are under development (e.g. “Hiphop Lx is the Hiphop Linguistics page. It is an interactive site tracing and exploring the language and expressions of hip hop.”)

Fortunately, there are still some interesting segments. Take this list of colleges offering courses on the study of hip hop. Might help with some college decisions . . .

It’s like they are trying to be so Herculean with their design and content that they never get around to actually posting it. The site is definitely worth monitoring though.



Daily Show report on teen social networking – funny stuff. One of the most amusing parts is that the link was brought to my attention through an IL-centered professional listserv.

More magazine updates soon . . .

Housekeeping: news nuggets from the backfiles of the Amped Libs

Website recommendation:
Rlabels.com -- a “searchable database of record label websites”
My students love it. The listings are organized by location and genre.

From Publisher's weekly 7/10:“Vibe, the urban music and culture magazine, has entered into a partnership with Kensington Publishing to co-publish a line of books called Vibe Street Lit under the Vibe Books imprint.”
Street lit, for better or worse, is the only type of book I see teens actually willing to be seen carrying in public lately. Do your libraries carry the genre? Here’s some articles about the movement: CSMonitor Washington Post LJ

News headline from Boingboing: Duran Duran moves to Second Life, will gig there.

So my burning question . . .
Would it be the most ROCKING event ever to hold a viewing of the Duran Duran concert . . . in Second Life . . . projected on the big screen . . . from the computer . . . in your meeting room – or would it only confirm in teens’ minds how weird and stuck in the 80's those librarians are?

Wicked cool tshirt I like this one too: "'Live Lyrics from the bank of imaginary' This is a flip on the Public Enemy line 'live Lyrics from the Bank of reality' Reality and the imaginary being two sides of the same coin. The fideltiy of this print is something to behold"


Bebo launches Bebo Bands (last month's news). Bebo launches PAST MySpace in UK hits, thanks to Bebo Bands (new hotness).

Tomorrow from the backfiles: some websites

We Read Ebscohost’s ‘Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts’ So You Don’t Have To

(A professional tone befitting the topic at hand will accompany today’s post.)


For a long while I avoided the aforementioned EBSCOHOST librarian professional-resource database, because I thought the word “Abstracts” indicated that it would only tease me needlessly. I live at least 30 minutes away from my alma mater, which is my preferred professional research destination – and gasoline prices being what they are, I kept my professional reading to personal subscriptions and the blogosphere. I reasoned that I needed a good excuse to visit the school before the citations in LIS&TA would do me any good.

Much to my felicity, I discovered this week that many/most of the articles in LIS&TA are indeed full-text. So here are some of my favorite articles pertaining to popular music and librarianship. Some you may have missed the first time around; some may have just recently been published.

Note how fastidiously the citations have been rendered into near-MLA by my dear companion Citation Machine. Because the Information Superhighway could use more fine old-fashioned references. . .


Stephen Abram is a genius. It’s not just about podding. It’s not just about librarianship. It’s about life.

Abram, Stephen. "The Proof Is in the Podding." MultiMedia & Internet@Schools 05 2006: 22-24. EBSCOHOST. Information Science & Technology Abstracts. IPR Library. 08 08 06 .


Why didn’t we think of some of these??!? Sophie totally fizzles our street librarian cred.

Brookover, Sophie. "Adventures in Pop Culture." Library Journal 09 15 2005: 46. Information Science & Technology Abstracts. EBSCOHOST. IPR Library. 08 08 2005 .


Exactly the sort of geeky artmeetsmusicmeetscommerce article we love at my music tech school. BTW, I’m in the middle of Rainbow’s End right now, and it’s creepin. Me. Out.

Goldsborough, Reid. "That's Advertainment." Information Today 03 2006: 33-34. Information Science & Technology Abstracts. EBSCOHOST. IPR Library. 08 08 2006 .


This one is geared toward classical music, but the reviews of music search and metasearch engines are excellent. Not to mention the “Glossary for Internet Audio World” – a requisite.

Mattison, David. "Music to Soothe the Savage Searcher." Searcher 07 2006: 40-54. Information Science & Technology Abstracts. EBSCOHOST. IPR Library. 08 08 2006 .


Great place for collection development, APU.

"MUSIC." Reference & Research Book News 02 2006: 243-250. Information Science & Technology Abstracts. EBSCOHOST. IPR Library. 08 08 2006 .


So sue me – I find audio search technology fascinating. Might as well stamp UTTER DWEEB on my forehead and be done with it.

"Music Information Retrieval: an interview with J. Stephen Downie." Searcher 07 2006: 44-45. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts. EBSCOHOST. IPR Library. 08 08 2006 .


This was the article that opened my eyes to the possibilities of Ipod checkout. I still haven’t opened the college administration’s eyes, but the service ideas here are excellent.

Stephens , Michael. "The iPod Experiments." Library Journal 04 2005: 22-25. Information Science & Technology Abstracts. EBSCOHOST. IPR Library. 08 08 2006 .

Quick news flash:

I'm seeing this article all over the place today . . .
Sexual lyrics prompt teens to have sex.

A headline that sensational could generate some heavy scrutiny of teen listening habits. What's your library's policy on music for youth? Do you buy the albums with explicit tags?

Do your policies on music that differentiate by age? Just curious . . .

PASTE so you don't, etc.
(August '06)

FAVORITE ARTICLE
All about the popularity of Poetry Slams – “equal parts salon reading, hip-hop throwdown and competitive literary event.” It even tells how to score them properly.“We’ve taken an art form that was all about . . . inward experience, and turned it into something that engages a whole room full of people. . . a recent decathalon slam included poetry performances, competitive Scrabble, sock-puppet poetry and eating contests.” Tell me your teens wouldn’t love some of that.

-- Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol isn’t just berating himself for messing up relationships in his lyrics – he’s fixing himself now (new album Eyes Open).
-- Soul Asylum bucks industry pressure while creating new album The Silver Lining after 8 years out of commission.
-- Brian Eno contributed some to two songs on the latest Roxy Music. After 30 years. Whoa.
-- Paul Simon interview about his collaboration with Brian Eno, new album - Surprise. Described as “grown-up protest record.”
-- Feature on Thom Yorke of Radiohead. Critics say their latest album Hail to the Thief is more accessible – Thom say it’s darker. You decide. And judging from the rabid nature of Radiohead fans, you might want to have several copies in the collection.
-- Who in their right mind would ask Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips to give a high school commencement address??
-- Les Claypool is filming a mockumentary of jambands which debuts Spring 2006 – Electric Passover is record of the year according to John Richards of KEXP Seattle while Gnarls Barkley’s St. Elsewhere is his pick for the year’s hip hop album.

Comparison of Neil Young’s new Living with War album to a blog. Something about the editing quality, I think. Personally, I’m offended. Using blogs as a synonym for “off the cuff” or unfocused . . . What nerve. Dangit, I need to rmmber to pick up some bread and mlk tonight on the way home. And I need gas. Can I use my gold card? I’ll have to ceh my balns.

RESOURCE NEWS
CrucialMusic database!
This free service takes indie artists and pitches their songs to TV shows, film producers and advertisers. Your patrons can submit as many as three of their bands' tracks at once. Then they split the revenue with the service. These days it only takes one snippet of song on the OC . . . and you might just help launch a superstar . . .


RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Java Monkey Anthology Vol. II (Collection of edgy urban slam-like poetry)
This is your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel Levitin, a neuroscientist former rock band member