Is Ping The Facebook For Music Many Thought It Would Be?

PingAs I am sure you know, Apple has just given the iTunes store a social layer by releasing Ping, a network that is solely meant for music-related interactions. According to Steve Jobs, Ping has been created to solve the problem of discovering exactly what to listen to on iTunes.

Note that Ping is not really an independent website; it is actually part of iTunes 10. It is not a site that you sign up for, and it is not a mobile application either.

Ping lets you see what your friends have downloaded, what music they like, and which gigs they are attending. And if you follow other musicians (some celebrities are already there), you get to learn about new releases straight from them. You are also informed about any shows they are going to play.

Privacy (a big issue ever since Facebook tried to impose some big changes on users sometime last year) shouldn’t be a cause of concern – you can keep everything as public or private as you want. It is possible to create a closed circle with your ten best friends and exchange music among yourselves if that is what you want.

However, the shortcomings of Ping have already been pointed out. And in a unanimous way at that.

For starters, you will lament the absolute lack of intelligence Ping has got when it comes to recommending music to you. It just looks at the artists of the hour and recommends them to you, with little rhyme or reason. Since Ping is not an independent site but it is actually part of iTunes, you would think it would use iTunes’ “Genius” feature. Well, it doesn’t. And that was a big letdown to many. Continue reading

Free Music For Download From Uruguayan Label Esquizodelia Records

Esquizodelia Records logo

Uruguayan label Esquizodelia Records has just released two cool compilation albums. These feature one song apiece from each artist on the label. You can get them on Esquizodelia Records’ website, absolutely for free.

A lot of genres are covered, and you are bound to find something interesting there for sure. And once you do, you can listen to even more music from these artists – the full albums can also be downloaded for free.

What do you think about these artists? Which one seems more promising to you? Leave a comment below and let everybody know!

Requeteloco

RequeteLOCO:

1. DDD3 – Gaby Cows
2. Uoh! – ( L )
3. Siameses R.I.P – On the cremation of Chogyam Thungpa Vidyadhara
4. Relacionessexuales – Whiskeria
5. Fiesta Animal – Trafico de niños
6. 8 – Deep Flamba
7. Psiconautas – On my own
8. La Mugre Roja – Rock n Roll pt.II

Requetefantastico

RequeteFANTASTICO:

1. 3Pecados – Sin titulo 3
2. Solar – Uno menos
3. Genuflexos – Dance
4. Disaster – Leave my head
5. Lucas Meyer – Encontrar la explicación
6. Millonesdecasasconfantasmas – Hoy
7. El boulevard de lulu – Y de a poco
8. Roly Chamber – Cars

Month In Review – August 2010

As I am sure you’ve noticed that MusicKO now has got a “Questions & Answers” section. The idea is to feature not only questions about the artists that have got a category of their very own, but also questions concerning bands and performers that are yet to be covered on the blog. Of course, if you have any questions that you’d like answered just drop me a line. I’ll do my best to help you out, the address is emiliomusicko [at]gmail [dot] com.

This month I covered a frankly superb Uruguayan band named El Cardenal Sebastíán. This is the review. And check their songs on their MySpace profile.

And I have begun reviewing Joni Mitchell’s oeuvre, too. That was the one artist I added to the blog during August. This is the introductory page, and here you can read the review I wrote of her “Hits” album.

The startups that were featured during the course of the month were Double Lyrics, Music 180 and The Melody Master.

And the month’s interviewees were David Trejo (from Mixest) and Thomas Veitch (from The Melody Master). Besides, I sat down with the guys from the Uruguayan band Mal Yo for a full interview.