Category Archives: Resources For Musicians & Music Lovers

Lystener – A New Way To Share & Discover Lyrics

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Lystener
Name: Lystener
URL: http://www.lystener.com

OK, I am the first to admit that this site is not the greatest thing ever since Swiss Cheese came along, but I quite like it. That is probably because I am a lyricist and I can’t divorce a song’s music from its words, but even casual users could get something good out of it.

If we look at its roots, what the site lets you do is to input your Last.fm username in order for the lyrics to the song that you are listening at that time to be displayed. When that happens, you will be able not only to read them but also to share them with your friends.

That is not as superfluous as some of you might be thinking. For starters, non-native speakers of English (like me) often have trouble catching a word or two, even after years of listening to English music. That is something obvious – it is not the same listening to Liam Gallagher than listening to John Denver. Sometimes we frankly can’t get the words right. That is one use this site will certainly have. Continue reading →

Mixtap.in – Making Mixtapes Fashionable Once Again

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Mixtapin

Name: Mixtap.in
URL: http://www.mixtap.in

Mixtapes ruled. They gave us one of the first true glimpses of freedom when it came to making others experience music in the same way that we did. The way we had arranged the songs was to be the de facto way to experience these artists for anybody who came into possession of the mixtape later on. Any person who wanted to know you better just had to get the tape you had assembled and play it.

Mixtapes also had other ramifications. For example, I can’t think of the song “Runaway Train” without thinking of the last seconds of an ad that played right before the version someone had taped for me started. Even when I am listening to “Black Gold”, in the short silence that separates “Tied To The Tracks” from “Runaway Train” the final seconds of that ad play in my mind. It will probably be like that for evermore.

Maybe you are too young to know all this. If that is so, I have the perfect site for you. It is named Mixtap.in, and it will let you create a mixtape for others to enjoy. You can add up to twelve tracks for each mixtape that you create, and you can then label it. If the mixtape that you have assembled is meant to sound like Dr. Hook then you simply state so. Others will be able to find it in a much easier way then, as all the featured mixtapes are readily searchable. Continue reading →

Tastebuds – Find A Perfect Match Based On Your Favorite Music

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Tastebuds

Name: Tastebuds
URL: http://www.tastebuds.fm

As much as I try not to babble all the time about music when I first meet someone, I always end up doing so if the other person shows a certain degree of interest in any of the bands I like. The thing is, not a lot of people where I live know who the heck The Who or XTC are, so I mostly end up taking about the value that music has in people’s lives, blah, blah. As a matter of fact, I have a small group of CDs in my collection that I like to call “social” albums – these are albums by artists I don’t really like but that everybody else adores like U2, The Ramones and Bon Jovi. Whenever I host a party, these are the albums I bring to the room where the Hi-fi will be located. Playing “That Wave”, “Rook” and “Omnibus” is not something that lets anybody find common ground here in Uruguay.

I wanted to tell you that because the site I am reviewing today is centered on forming relationships between people based on the music that they like. It is not exactly a dating site, but it matches you with another single who shares your very same musical tastes. You will take it from there, in the direction you want to take it.

The matching process itself works in two different ways. The first is faster, but it necessitates you having a Last.fm account since Tastebuds checks it and sees exactly what kind of music you like. A series of matches is then produced. Continue reading →

Shaved Bieber – Obliterating Justin Bieber From The Internet

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I went to the cinema the other day with Luis, one of my best friends. We both were ‘80s kids and (like most boys back then) we were bitten by the martial arts craze that hit like a cyclone on the strength of movies like “The Karate Kid”.

Thus, we went to see the remake not because we thought it would be any good but (much like the new A-Team movie) we were curious about how an icon of our generation would be presented to kids today.

Leaving aside that the movie was an obvious vehicle for Will Smith to promote his son Jaden, and that Jackie Chan did very little fighting (not to mention that the movie should have been called “The Kung Fu Kid”), we were surprised at how entertaining it was. What the heck, children and their parents were clapping and hollering all through the tournament at the end.

So, the movie went more smoothly than we expected. Except for something.

Justin Bieber. He had a song in.

And it was a duet. With Jaden Smith. Continue reading →

Tony-b.org – For The DJ In Everybody

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Tonyb

Name: Tony-b Machine
URL: http://www.tony-b.org

Every rock & roller has got a bit of a shady past that hangs like a sword of Damocles over his head. I am no exception. Before listening to The Who, before listening to Oasis, before listening to The Sex Pistols… can you ever dare to guess which artist I intently listened to?

DJ Bobo.

Those of you who are still reading (and who haven’t wiped MusicKO from their bookmarks after such debilitating news) would be less shocked when you learn I was that keen on DJ Bobo only because my older brother (always a role model to me) was a rabid fan of electronic music. And you will feel relieved when I tell you that I never, ever lay a hand on his Ace Of Base and 2 Unlimited CDs.

[My brother from behind my back:] Hey, have you seen my copy of “The Sign”? Wait, here it is, what was it doing in your backpack??

Shit, man!! Keep quiet for a second, will you?!

Ahem.

Before it gets any worse I am telling you about this new app.

Named the Tony-b Machine, it will let you create your very own piece of electronic music. And the way you can get around doing that is dead clever (and entertaining, too). You simply pick the relevant effects (”Kick”, “Snare”, “Hi Hat” and “Cymbal”) and push the pertinent keys as you go along.

Tonyb Console

The results are actually very impressive, and one of the best bits is that you can proceed to save and upload them for everybody to listen to. Continue reading →

SeeJoeRock – A Social Networking Site For Indie Musicians

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SeeJoeRock
Name: SeeJoeRock
URL: http://www.seejoerock.com

Forget about “America’s Got Talent”, the Internet is where the chances of being discovered lie for any young performer (Greyson Chance) or for those who did never get the exposure in their day (Steve Moore). There is something incredibly idyllic about it all- it is the knowledge that if you are good, you are making it. The Internet obliterates the loathsome meet-and-greet tradition that places all the emphasis on who you know, and not on what you can do. And new performers know it by now.

I think that is the reason why there are lots of social sites for indie musicians available. Well, this is a new one – and it is quite comprehensive if you ask me. Bands can create their own profile pages, upload their songs, stream their videos and create a calendar that highlights upcoming gigs. They interact both with fellow musicians and with members of the public while doing it all. And they also do get a chance to interact with industry professionals. That is a possibility that is not offered in that many networks for indie musicians as far as I can tell. Continue reading →

BuyWidget – The Perfect Way To Monetize A Music Blog

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BuyWidget

Name: BuyWidget
URL: http://www.buywidget.com

There is no end to the number of ways in which you can sell and market music online. If anything, these services become more and more direct as time goes by. A case in point: the Buy Widget website.

In general words, Buy Widget is a generator of playlists that you can place in your blog or website in order to sell music. These playlists take the shape of widgets – hence, the name of the service. If you want to sell something else, you will have to browse. But if you want to sell your own tracks this will do the honors.

You can upload entire albums and then have people buy them right away. The widget is also somehow configurable, and you can tweak with more aspects than one – you get a chance to modify the logo that is displayed and so on.

Of course, a system for direct monetization is always preferable to other revenue models that adhere to a “one size fits all” ethos. Buy Widget simplifies the way in which your own music can be sold so notably that just any person can get down to it. All he needs is having a website or blog. If he does, he will be able to get this system working for sure – WordPress, Blogger and TypedPad blogs are fully supported. So is HTML, of course. Continue reading →

Lyreach – A Search Engine For Lyrics

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Lyreach

Name: Lyreach
URL: http://www.lyreach.com

If you love music as much as I do, the ultimate aggravation is listening to a terrific song and not being able to find out who is the performer afterwards. Personally, it makes me go madder than the squirrel from “Ice Age” whenever something happens to its dearly beloved nut.

That is why a site like this one sounds promising. Basically, it is a search engine for lyrics. In theory, it should produce satisfactory results even if you have only a couple of words from the actual line to throw at it. Once you have typed the words in, it will show you all the possible matches with links to MetroLyrics for you to dig deeper and see if that is indeed the song you were after.

Well, let’s take it for a test drive.

First try:

Song: “My Generation” by The Who
Words I will use: “talking”, “generation”, “baby”

Results:

talking gentleman I’d like to

talking get down through the

talking get em baby Nicki

talking get in the game

talking get on dis motorcycle

talking get on down mothafuckas

talking get that shit that

talking get the fuck off

Mmmh.. let’s try again.

Second try:

Song: “My Generation” by The Who (again)
Words I will use: “talking about my generation baby” (that is, the exact lyric)

Results:

talking about my Generation hope

talking about my Generation Injected

talking about my Generation talking

talking about my girl my

talking about my girl on

talking about my girl talking

talking about my girl that’s

talking about my grandma like

talking about my hair but

There it is. The third link directs to The Who’s classic. But shouldn’t such a classic top the list?

Let’s carry on…

Third try:

Song: “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John
Words I will use: “goodbye yellow brick road”
Continue reading →

Create Music… By Drawing!

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In the same way that every avid player of video games longs to create his own game, every lover of music can’t think of anything better than creating his very own song. In both cases, the technicalities at play make these objectives something that can be realized by studying a lot only, and learning a writing language that is not within everybody’s reach.

Well, we are living at a time in which these things that were previously unattainable are losing all their mysticism. Just look at the many iPhone apps that let you play an instrument, for example. And now, the ones who already have an iPad will be able to use it to create music, regardless of how technically-minded they are. Actually, they can be utter neophytes – an app that is about to be released will suit them just perfectly.

It will go by the name of Artikulator, and it will let anybody compose a song by moving his fingers around the screen of the iPad. The demo that is pasted below puts it all into clearer perspective:

As you can see, many adjustments are yet to take place. That is, you are not coming up with a song to rival “Wonderwall” in terms of melody… yet. But just give this app some time. I frankly believe it will be more than a toy or a passing curiosity.

G2 – Simplifying The Way Bands Are Booked

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G2.fm

Name: G2
URL: http://www.g2.fm

This site was created by a group of musicians who felt frustrated with the process in which bands are traditionally booked. If anything, G2 makes everything clear from the word go – the artists and the managers of venues know what they are getting at all times.

That is possible because the site lets everybody have a profile in which everything is clearly set down. If you are a performer, you let everybody know which kind of music you can play, and you do that in the most representative fashion you could imagine – you upload a video of your band in action. In that way, managers of venues get to listen and see you as you rock out.

On the other hand, if you have a club you can not only browse through the pages of artists but actually create a calendar showcasing which slots you have to fill. Interested bands can approach you in a bid to get the gig. Continue reading →