...It's not my fault, it's how I'm programmed to function." So says Lily Allen in her new song "The Fear" which I am listening to as it streams on her MySpace page. The song, an ode to crazed consumerism, seems timely for the mess we're all caught up in at the moment, though it has a cheery pop quality that is kind of disturbing for the subject.
The Fear video
Allen just released her second album "It's Not Me, It's You" yesterday. Since I was keen on her first album a few years back (you may remember the equally cheerful song "Smile" about relishing the pain of a lover who jilted her), I am sampling the new album from her site's player. Allen virtually made her career thanks to MySpace, developing her following, allowing listeners to sample her music and publicizing her tour dates.
The current experience is a little frustrating because there are frequent interruptions as Domino's ads appear and have to be clicked away before a song will continue - major annoyance. Still, I can't help but admire how the singer has harnessed the power of her social network to get her message out. She is even performing 3 free "secret" MySpace sponsored concerts. The first one is tonight at Bowery Ballroom in New York.
Music seems to be the only area where MySpace has been able to continually beat it's eager little sibling, Facebook. I wonder how much longer that will be the case as sites like iLike are building an audience separately and within Facebook - will it trump MySpace? Though I have never been a serious MySpace user, to me iLike is a better version of the artist's "megaphone," broadcasting every little detail about their goings-on to fans. The experience is much more organized and customizable, though graphically inferior. Still artists have been loyally creating elaborate pages on MySpace for years, some even cooler than their own dedicated websites.
Today's fickle music fans are demanding more of their favorite artists, and thanks to technology, can find ways to get their music free. So the musician-consumer relationship has really been turned on its head. Musicians have to be more creative in their marketing, using all the available resources to catch the audience's fleeting attention and harness it into iTunes or Amazon song sales, or even concert tickets. Free underground shows are not only great for publicity (for both Lily Allen and MySpace) but a necessity to show fans that you love and appreciate them as much as they are into you.
The next logical step? Personal emails ala Barack Obama. I can't wait until I get that email from Beck telling me he hopes I liked the new album or asking me to come out for his concert when he is in my hometown. Depending on how it's done, it could be awesome.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
I Won't Be A Hater If You Just Give Me What I Want
My fiance, Nien, was one of the first people in line when the iPhone first came out. He is incredibly tech-savvy and a computer programmer to boot, so I understood why he would be willing to fork over that kind of money. There was nothing about this new gadget that appealed to me though.
I remember getting so annoyed as Blackberry's and iPhones started cropping up and I started having to have a new sort of conversation - one directed to someone's bent head, as they more often than not missed whatever point I was trying to make. I thought it was so rude the way people were always glued to their little screens, typing away. In some cases it was even potentially dangerous. I remember one day stopping at a crosswalk and finding myself shouting desperately at a woman so busy walking and typing that she had a near miss with an oncoming bus.
So of course you can see where this is going...I just purchased an iPhone. Even though I always said phones were for talking, I found that people were texting me more and more, and my "talking phone" was not equipped for it. Hypocrite that I am, I looked at the model of my current phone that had a keyboard, turned up my nose at it and immediately came over to the "i" side. It was for the ease of texting, I said, but secretly I wanted that sleek exterior as well as the knowledge that I had beaten Nien to the 3G model.
I immediately loved it and became one of those obnoxious bent head people. On a visit to my father in Florida, I dimly remember nodding my assent to him when he asked me how my wedding planning was going. He must have thought he was spending time with a zombie - sorry Dad! I was downloading apps like a madwoman, and a week in, I had found my dream app.
Lose It! is every dieting stress-cases' fantasy...it takes into account your current weight and maps out a caloric strategy to reaching your goal weight. It suggests a daily calorie guide for losing 1-2 pounds a week, giving you a goal date. The calorie count seems a little low, but if you add in exercise you increase the amount of calories you can eat in a day. I really like this aspect of the program because so often people think that you can either exercise OR eat sensibly, but Lose It! really shows you that you should do both.
The best part about it is that you can look up almost any food, and if the food you are looking for isn't in there you can create a custom entry. It also saves your prior entries so you can quickly drop them in, as well as whole meals, which is great for someone like me who eats practically the same breakfast every morning. Here are a few screen shots so you can see what I am talking about:
While I am far from the crazy Bridezillas I've heard of lately (I hope), I still want to look good for my wedding. Lose It!, if anything, is making me feel like I have a plan. We'll see if it actually works (or I stick to it).
So I am officially a convert and am really trying to curb the number of times I look at my iPhone each day. Please feel free to snap your fingers in front of my face next time I see you if I am showing you the top of my head. I would do it to you.
I remember getting so annoyed as Blackberry's and iPhones started cropping up and I started having to have a new sort of conversation - one directed to someone's bent head, as they more often than not missed whatever point I was trying to make. I thought it was so rude the way people were always glued to their little screens, typing away. In some cases it was even potentially dangerous. I remember one day stopping at a crosswalk and finding myself shouting desperately at a woman so busy walking and typing that she had a near miss with an oncoming bus.
So of course you can see where this is going...I just purchased an iPhone. Even though I always said phones were for talking, I found that people were texting me more and more, and my "talking phone" was not equipped for it. Hypocrite that I am, I looked at the model of my current phone that had a keyboard, turned up my nose at it and immediately came over to the "i" side. It was for the ease of texting, I said, but secretly I wanted that sleek exterior as well as the knowledge that I had beaten Nien to the 3G model.
I immediately loved it and became one of those obnoxious bent head people. On a visit to my father in Florida, I dimly remember nodding my assent to him when he asked me how my wedding planning was going. He must have thought he was spending time with a zombie - sorry Dad! I was downloading apps like a madwoman, and a week in, I had found my dream app.
Lose It! is every dieting stress-cases' fantasy...it takes into account your current weight and maps out a caloric strategy to reaching your goal weight. It suggests a daily calorie guide for losing 1-2 pounds a week, giving you a goal date. The calorie count seems a little low, but if you add in exercise you increase the amount of calories you can eat in a day. I really like this aspect of the program because so often people think that you can either exercise OR eat sensibly, but Lose It! really shows you that you should do both.
The best part about it is that you can look up almost any food, and if the food you are looking for isn't in there you can create a custom entry. It also saves your prior entries so you can quickly drop them in, as well as whole meals, which is great for someone like me who eats practically the same breakfast every morning. Here are a few screen shots so you can see what I am talking about:
While I am far from the crazy Bridezillas I've heard of lately (I hope), I still want to look good for my wedding. Lose It!, if anything, is making me feel like I have a plan. We'll see if it actually works (or I stick to it).
So I am officially a convert and am really trying to curb the number of times I look at my iPhone each day. Please feel free to snap your fingers in front of my face next time I see you if I am showing you the top of my head. I would do it to you.
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