By Ryan Van Etten on 06/25/2010
When it comes to music, value is in the ear of the listener. Value is always decided by the market. It’s a fundamental economics principle that Universal Music Group and the RIAA can’t seem to grasp—at least based on their latest propaganda initiative against music piracy in the US called Music Rights Now, which would be more appropriately named Denying Reality Now. Do they think they can change human nature?
Posted in Discussion, Editorial, Music, Music Flux, News, Popular | Tagged behavior, change, denial, economics, free, human nature, internet, ISP, legal, legalize it, music industry, music value, p2p, p2p legalize us, p2p movement, RIAA, rights, Universal, wackness
By Ryan Van Etten on 06/22/2010
The story of the new mobile music startup, Sound Around, starts in 2009, in a little place called Raleigh, North Carolina, where brothers Scott and Steve Klein had been brainstorming tech startup ideas. Both were students at NC State, but with opposite majors—nearly yin and yang. Add entrepreneurial DNA, and they’re Pinky and The Brain.
Posted in Apps, Editorial, iPhone Apps, Music, Music Flux, Narrative, News, Popular | Tagged app services, business, development, entrepreneurs, indie, interaction, iPhone, Lauchbox Digital, MobBase, mobile, mobile dev, mobile music, music apps, music startup, musicians, NC State, Pinky and The Brain, platform, resources, service, smartphones, social music, Sound Around, startup story, startups, story-driven, TechStars
By Ryan Van Etten on 04/29/2010
Mac computers rock, but I’m no apple addict. When I talk on my iPhone 3G I feel like my head is melting, and even though iTunes launches every time I sync, I’ve never purchased music on iTunes. (I have downloaded apps.) The bottom line of this microwavable disclaimer is that I’m not your average music consumer. Apple continues to create a major dependence on iTunes through their mobile products, and I don’t think that anything is going to “kill” iTunes without a war. iTunes is the 7-Eleven of media—
Posted in Editorial, Music, Music Flux | Tagged 7-11, adaptation, affinity, Apple, behavior, business, change, cloud, consumers, consumption, convenience, generation, Grooveshark, integration, iPad, iPhone, ipod, iTunes, iTunes killer, Lala, last.fm, Mark Mulligan, mobility, Music, music industry, social music, spotify, stats, streaming, youth
By Ryan Van Etten on 04/27/2010
On the road of sound, there are players, and there are consumessengers. Due to the increase in communication mediums, consumers—the fans—are spreading the message now more than ever. Hence, the consumessenger has emerged. These modern fans are still fueled by the music, but what we’ve seen is a shift to an era where musicians are the engine, and their fans are the only fuel that matters. Gassing up your car isn’t free, but hybrid music fuel can be.
Posted in Boundless, Discussion, Editorial, Music, Music Flux | Tagged advertising, business, CDBaby, Chris Anderson, consumessengers, content, DIY Musician Podcast, economics, free, freeconomics, influencers, Kevin Breuner, like button, marketing, music industry, MusicBiz, MySpace, obscurity, photos, podcast, recommendation engine, resources, social media, social music, VW, word of mouth, your friends are your filter
![Music Photography: Quality vs. Memory [Poll]](http://img.virtualmusic.tv/thumbs/paramore-by-apartmentlife.jpg)
By Ryan Van Etten on 04/16/2010
Last week, with the help of photographer Adam Jackson, I posted a photoset from the Ultra Music Festival in Miami. UMF was a sellout event, but only a few photographers seemed to capture it. Adam voiced his frustration that for such a huge event like UMF, only a relatively small amount of decent media makes it to Flickr and YouTube.
Posted in Editorial, Infoculture, Media/Journalism, Music | Tagged culture, flickr, Internet Generation, live music, media, mobile, motivation, music photography, paramore, photojournalism, poll, quality, sentimental value, tips, youth, YouTube
By Ryan Van Etten on 02/21/2010
These people are awesome: South African rap-ravers Die Antwoord (translation: The Answer) have dazzled the interwebs in a matter of weeks with their latest music video Enter The Ninja. A literal butterfly effect is happening here—Die Antwoord is rippling the music world with Zef flow.
Posted in Editorial, Music, News, Reviews | Tagged arts, awesomeness, butterfly effect, counterculture, culture, Die Antwoord, diversity, enter the ninja, hip hop, music review, next level, rap, south africa, video, zef
