Music Notation App to Revolutionize Teaching?

What if music students could still learn how to write music by hand, but quickly turn that into computerized notation? The people at @ThinkMusicTech say this is very real thanks to a new app that we don’t have many details for just yet but more updates are coming soon. Here’s a preview — we’ll keep an eye on the developments but we are interested!

[http://youtu.be/66AEYRXiVnA]

-LAMA Staff

Pandora Sues ASCAP to Slash Musician’s Pay

Don’t Pandora and drive.

We have to admit a few years back Pandora was our go to streaming music choice. Some of us have been evangelists ever since. We loved the fact that we found a lot of great new artists and songs based on the crazy algorithm that determines what you may or may not like. Then, probably while listening to Pandora, they made some major news. And all they had to do was make the musicians who use and the support the service, very unhappy. According to an article in The Register:

The leading backer of a bill passing through US Congress that will slash musicians’ pay by 85 per cent, as well as effectively outlawing them from bargaining collectively with their paymasters, has been selling stock worth $1m in his own internet company every month.

If that’s not yucky enough for you, Hypebot announced Pandora is suing ASCAP for lower licensing fees on behalf of ASCAP songwriters. Execs cash in while suing songwriters is not going to win you any PR awards. What do you think about what Pandora is doing of late?

-LAMA Staff

What Kind Of Computer Should I Buy For College

During the dark ages of the early 90s, all you needed to bring to college was clothes, air freshener, your brand new portable CD player and some spending cash. My how things have changed. Since computer technology is a giant part of your daily college routine now, let’s explore your options before making any decisions:

TRADITIONAL DESKTOP

What used to be a very viable option for students is now a relic in the college dorm room or university apartment. But desktops (especially PCs) tend to be extremely cheap and powerful enough to run Pro Tools and GarageBand. You can get a brand new top of the line PC for a few hundred dollars where as other options are usually not as powerful and cost quite a bit more money. With cloud technology, USB flash drives, and document sharing it might be a bit easier to stay connected with your desktop these days but don’t plan on taking it to class unless you have the most awesome handcart 🙂

LAPTOP

Laptops have become the computing device for college with Apple taking 1st place. College students are transient by nature so it would make sense that ease of portability would be important. Going home to see your parents? Throw your laptop in your bag. Need to take notes in class digitally? Ditto. LAMA musicians love the MacBook‘s ease of use and can easily do their recording on it. Laptops can get so darn pricey especially if you want an Apple. Go for quality — your laptop should be able to last your entire college career so divide the price by the number of school years to help convince your parents for some extra dough.

NETBOOK

Enter the Netbook, a smaller version of the laptop. They are cheaper and lighter as well. The goal is that you need something portable that you can type on and do light browsing with. This is perfect for class because for note taking it is extremely efficient. Students at LAMA are probably weary about this option because it won’t have the horsepower that a musician needs to run ProTools or a similar program. And what’s the point if you take notes, browse the internet and run programs like GarageBand on an iPad…which brings us to:

TABLET

The Ipad, Samsung Galaxy, HP Touchpad or a similar tablet is a bit of a riskier choice for the college student but it does have some rewards if you are able to pull it off. For one – the ease of carrying around a tablet just can’t be overstated. The slim nature and light weight make this a dream for carrying to class or really carrying anywhere. Also the price tag is usually comparable to or less than a laptop. Taking notes in class is not a big deal — especially if you connect a bluetooth keyboard. You can also wireless connect to a printer or email the document to yourself. For leisure purposes, words can’t even express how great it is to watch HD television shows, play addictive games, and use innovative apps. For musicians – the Ipad is now offering a version of GarageBand but recording on these devices are still in the early stages. Remember, many websites are flash based (ya…still) so you won’t be able to see any of that content on your Apple device.

OR…DON’T BUY ONE

Check with your college and see what kind of computers they have for shared use. LAMA for example has Apple computers at your disposal for anything you need, be it writing a paper or surfing the web. They are also all equipped with Pro Tools for recording. If you are comfortable working outside of your home or apartment it is possible to rely on public computers. Like anything free, there are negative drawbacks such as you won’t be able to work from home and you have to share a public computer lol.

Our suggestion is to visualize how you see yourself working while at LAMA. Where will you be, what will you be doing, what do you need from your technology? This might help paint a picture of what you should be looking for. Have an older brother or a friend who went through college already? Ask them what worked for them!

What do you prefer – desktop, laptop, tablet? All of the above?

-LAMA Staff

Neat, New Gadgets for #Musicians (like #Ipad Drums)!

There may be no other group of people as gear obsessed as musicians. We buy guitar pedals, replace tubes, get the newest drum skins all in our quest for having the coolest sound. The last 10 years have been fascinating as the merging between computer technology and music gear has married happily.

Recently Fox News ran a great piece on some of the newest gear out there.  Check out the Ipad drum set shown in the video. We love the idea of being able to travel with a real-life practice pad. As any drummer knows lugging your “kit” around is one of the few downsides of providing the rhythm. Now if your band needs to run through a song all you need to bring along is your Ipad!

Click the image above or here to view the video.

-LAMA Staff

Indie Labels 12% of 2011 U.S. Sales

image via Seattle Weekly

According to Soundscan, “Overall U.S. music sales rose 6.9% in 2011, as album sales increased for the first time since 2004. Indies accounted for just 12.1% of U.S. music sales last year.”  These stats are promising since many of you release music on your own, with independent partners, or on an Indie label etc. What it truly means is that even with all the talk of internet and Indie artists ruling the world the major label musicians are still moving the most product. But don’t be discouraged. What this study doesn’t account for is other revenue streams – Touring, Merchandise, Ringtones, DVDs, and anything else you can think of! Plus don’t forget The Arcade Fire (on Indie label Merge) took home “Artist Of The Year” at The Grammys! Some of the most exciting music is being created on the indie level — with smart promotions, pr, marketing and social media, you could leverage the tools available today into a long term career.

-LAMA Staff

Spotify in America

It’s not called the music business for nothing. As great as it is to know about music in general, if you aren’t following the business side of things, you are losing out on a lot of helpful info. A music subscription service called Spotify, that took Europe by storm the last few years, has now arrived in the States.

Spotify is a Swedish DRM-based music streaming service offering selected music from a range of major and independent record labels including Sony, EMI, Warner Music Group and Universal. What separates it from other current streaming services is that their catalog is supposedly extensive, the software is excellent, and you are able to sync it with your smartphone. It is completely free to use Spotify on your computer, but the company makes their money by charging for the premium accounts which have smartphone sync. Monthly subscriptions range from $4.95 to $9.95.

We’ve heard from friends that the free catalog available to the US, for the moment, is rather limited unless you are a premium member. But the industry speculates a game changer for a long-suffering music business that has been searching for a new way to make money off of music. YouTube has shown us that the way of the future is streaming. You can think of Spotify like the music version of Netflix Streaming, which has been incredibly popular.

You can sign up for Spotify today if you buy a premium subscription, but free invites have been trickling out and you can request them by going to the spotify.com or searching Twitter for a myriad of free invites from popular musicians and tech services. In fact Lady Gaga gave out a thousand invites over her Twitter recently. Same with Foursquare.

-LAMA Staff