Music & Media

The music industry has evolved so much in the last couple decades -- hey, even in the last few years.  Artists' music sales used to be solely based on how many physical copies of their records or CDs were sold.  However, physical music content is being replaced by digital content.  The way we consume music content is changing with the industry and in the age of new media.  And while the convenience and abundance of music content has increased, it does not mean music sales have.  Why is this?  Because it's much easier for consumers to find shortcuts.  There are things artists used to not have to worry about that are rising in popularity in today's world such as free music sites and the ability to transfer music files from computer to computer.   An article from Tech Times features statistics of modern-day music consumers.  What was really shocking to me was the fact that 57 million Americans get their music from unlicen...

Pretty much every musician has a tuner app, metronome app, recording app, maybe even a songwriting app.  All things that are there for us during practice time - to prep our instrument, get our ideas down, set our tempo.  But below are a couple more apps I recommend.  They're definitely worth checking out to ensure a more productive practice time. When I'm trying to learn a new song by ear, I'm constantly replaying recordings I find of the song.  Even if I have the music for it, I look up the song just to hear how it's played.  But I often wish I could hear it slower to better break down the troublesome spots.  (Well, there's an app for that!)   "Amazing Slow Downer" by Roni Music allows you to listen to musical recordings and either slow down or speed up passages - without changing the pitch - to better hear what's going on.  You can change the tuning if you so choose, as well as create playback loops for yourself.  Neat. Another app tha...

A really neat app that I recommend to music lovers and concert junkies: Bandsintown. Using location services, Bandsintown is able to find bands and artists performing at a venue within your area, alerting you with upcoming showdates. To narrow down the results, it connects to your music library and is able to take note of bands and artists you're interested in. It filters your concert alerts specifically to your bands of interest and music groups similar to them that you may enjoy. A bit similar to Pandora in the sense that it provides you with suggestions based on your musical interests. Bandsintown incorporates social media as well, linking your social media sites and friend lists. It informs you with the upcoming shows your Facebook friends are attending. A great way to meet up with friends and learn about some new groups through others. It also knows which bands you have liked or followed on social media sites and assembles of feed of their posts to ensure that you stay up...