Internet radio is this sleeping giant of sorts. Most people have at one time listened on the internet to a radio stream, and some make it a daily habit to tune in online. While having millions and millions of listeners, internet radio still has an underground feel it. That may be partly because that there are a lot of independently run “start ups”. When The United States Copyright Royalty Board proposed a rate increase in the royalties payable to performers of recorded works broadcast on the internet it caused a grassroots movement of sorts to stop the seemingly greedy injustice.

The new ruling which would bill based on the number of people listening rather than a potion of the profits. So what does that mean? Very simply it means the more people that tune in the more you pay. Does that make these new fees a popularity tax?
There is a great breakdown on Saveourinternetradio.com/about, to show how this could hurt the small broadcasters. If a station has 1000 listens (which is not much) the royalties for the station would come out to $134,000 for the current year along with having to pay for the previous year on top of that. How is an independent station supposed to make what would essentially be $11 a person (if we use the $134,000 figure).

An interesting point in all this is that major radio such as clear channel (eww), and NPR, is just as upset with these new fees as the person that runs an online station from their house. NPR, along with others, works on a non-profit base and thus does not push advertising heavy, if at all. Little or no advertising is one of the things that attract many people to the online streams.

Unfortunately there may not be much that we can do to change the increased fees and thus can’t save many of the online stations that will shut down because of funding. There are still many sites out there trying to make a difference and so we do encourage those who feel obligated to do so.

http://saveourinternetradio.com

http://savenetradio.org

http://www.petitiononline.com/SIR2007r/petition.html

It can be a daunting task to take an album, that a band most likely poured a lot of themselves into and tell people it’s no good and not to buy it. In the same way not everyone is cut out to be in a band, not everyone or anyone is able to be the one to judge music for the masses, Simple as that.

So what’s the point of this article? Is it just a way to give myself or reviewers an excuse when our reviews are terrible? It could be, but mostly it’s just a look at what goes in to writing an album review.
A good reviewer can take an album, describe the music and the style and subtly let the reader know what they thought of it without pushing their opinions as fact.

Word Choice: Sometimes I feel like I run into the problem of which words to use, and maybe people who also review music can relate. When writing about the same genre all the time certain words tend to get “tired”. For example there are only so many times you can say “Driving guitar” and “Soaring vocals” to mention a few. Writing good reviews takes someone skilled in the descriptive department.

Comparing bands to other bands: This is a common thing that is done in reviews, and just in life. It’s not the worst thing ever, but pretty close, because instead of having to describe how the music sounds you can just say, “oh you know “Band X” yeah, they sound similar to them”. It’s the easy way out from the writers prospective. As the reader I feel like I’m being mislead, because I know no band is going to sound exactly the same but I still get let down slightly when they aren’t a “Taking Back Sunday” clone. A side note on that, I know every band does not sound like them so stop telling me this new hit band does.

Things not to do: There are a few things which are just things which should not be done when writing reviews (most of which can be found in my album reviews). When you spend more time talking about why you should go buy an album than the music on the record, it becomes more of a sell sheet than a “review”. The next thing which I actually do quite a lot but don’t like is when the reviewer writes as if everyone is very familiar with the band and doesn’t write for a first time audience as well as the hardcore fan base. The golden rule or what should be the golden rule is when writing a review never do it with the goal of pleasing someone, whether it the publicist, band, or publication which it’s for.

Ultimately a good review comes down to whether or not it makes you interested in the band/record but some reviewers are definitely better at that than others. As always I like reader feedback, and so I want to know what we could do to improve reviews and/or which reviews you’ve enjoyed?

Sometimes you encounter things that just stop you emotionally and force you to confront them. A lot of times I don’t think people do and thus never really move on. Of course moving on doesn’t mean forgetting, it just means dealing with it and being ok with it.

I know that may be kind of vague and not mean much. I had a loss recently that seems to have stunted the way life had been going and it didn’t make me question things so much, because I know what I believe, but the loss seemed to slow time down and make me deal with it.

What does any of this have to do with music? Nothing really, but its life and life should be relatable to everyone. This is a music blog and so I’ll tie everything in by asking everyone some questions like do you find music soothing to you when everything seems to suck? Do you have a song or a cd which is your go to cd when you sink into a state of having to cope with things? I have a few, one of which is The Appleseed Cast’s “Two Conversations”. That cd seems to have a song for every emotion, and just hits all the right chords. So what are your records, which ones help you?

Everyone has impulsively bought something at one time or another whether it be an electronic toy or clothes or music or food so I know this topic will met with, if nothing else, understanding. Music is my weak spot when it comes to spending money because being able to find anything you want on itunes or Emusic and buy any cd at 3 am, and then have it right then is dangerous for a music lover trying to save money.

Online music is definitely the biggest temptation for impulsively buying music but Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢m focusing more on randomly buying a physical cd. Although I donâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t do it very often I do love every once in a while buying a cd that I havenâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t heard before. Almost always there is a cd on sale or for a good price which Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ve heard people talk about but havenâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t gotten to check out or sometimes the artwork really sticks out or a combination of both.

A month or two ago I was in an American Eagle (because my wife went in I swearâ┚¬Ã‚¦) and Dashboardâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s newest music video was playing so I was like this is cool Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ll sit in a chair and just watch while I wait. The next band that came on was Silversun Pickups. I had never really heard of the band but the video for â┚¬Ã…”Lazy Eyeâ┚¬? is a very good video, it matches the feeling of the song very well. I think if I had only heard the song I wouldnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t have been as intrigued with it. But true to fate I ended up in a store later that day with Silversun Pickups cd only being 7.99 thus weeks later I have not listened to the cd again.

Last week I was feeling lucky and decided I was in the mood to pick up a cd randomly again, and again I missed the mark. I had heard someone mention how they liked the band â┚¬Ã…”The Good, The Bad, The Queenâ┚¬? and so I picked it up hoping to stumble on my cd of the year, needless to say the music is weak and not my style. This cd I have listened to more than once though and it has a chance to grow on me.

The thing I love about buying cdâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s without having heard them I think is because I listen to so much music early before itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s ever been released for reviewing, that Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ve heard (and gotten sick of) so many records. I love having something that I havenâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t heard blow me away with how good it is, and usually being able to listen to it more than 3 days (see Audio A.D.D. Article). Is there anyone that does this too? What, if any, are some cdâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s that youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ve recently bought that hadnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t heard but were amazing, or terrible?