Create Digital Music » widgets

Web2 Watch: Mixaloo Launches “Digital Mix Tapes”

Peter Kirn — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 15:50:54 +0000

Mixaloo is a new service for building digital mix tapes. Counter-clockwise from upper left: assemble tracks, get recommendations and previews (or add your own recommendations), promote your mix online (via an embeddable widget), and make custom skins and cover art.

The Web holds huge potential for music sharing and music discovery, but figuring out how to make that potential work — and how to navigate copyright and licensing laws in the process – has been a major challenge. This week, the creators of the website Mixaloo promised to “bring mix tapes into the digital age.” Whether you buy into that concept or not, or their particular implementation, the site does demonstrate both some of the opportunities and legal hurdles in Web sharing. They also inherit the closed model supported by labels (no full streams, previews only, DRM), but already that’s changing (MP3, and the promise, hopefully, of full-length tracks soon). It’s like a microcosm of the whole business at the moment.

Mixaloo.com

I spoke to the founders shortly before launch, and they described how their approach differs from the online radio model, which is constrained in part by the law:

There’s the streaming radio camp … you have a minimum of forty tracks, you can’t have the same artist twice in a row, and then you get into the whole mess of royalties. Then there’s the way we’re going — user-generated albums. And we like that because it’s personalized.”

The basic model:

10 or more tracks on the “mix tape”

Mix your album from 3.5 million + tracks.

Majors and indie music — the founders say they have “deals with all the major labels” but also “a ton of independent aggregators like CD Baby, The Orchard, and Iota

Embed players and market mixes on Blogger, MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, etc.

Sell tracks via any of your players and earn a 50% commission
For now, 30-second previews — but hopefully that will change? (more in a moment)

Mix Tape 2.0: skinnable Web widgets. But with 30-second songs, you may be looking for your Panasonic tape boom box; I know I am. So, labels, get it together — especially since commerce here is the aim.

To make it easier to compile mixes, the tool incorporates a recommendation engine, so when you select a track, Mixaloo guesses other likely artists and tracks. You can also add custom feedback to the engine if you disagree, which is a badly-needed outlet missing from a lot of online music sites. When you’re ready to purchase tracks, the major option now is Windows Media files with PlaysForSure DRM — but that’s changing. 600,000 tracks are already on DRM-free MP3, that number is growing, and the service gives preference to MP3 over WMA. (The big picture: I think DRM might remain for subscription tracks or rental, but purchases will likely all be DRM-free in the near future via any outlet that wants to stay in business.)

So that’s the good news — now the deal-killer. For now, Mixaloo supports only 30-second previews, which to me pretty much defeats the purpose. (Mixaloo says that “the feedback we’ve gotten across the board has been positive” after several thousand users on the beta, but I think the service will fail to catch on until they can get full-length streams.) They do say full-length tracks are something they’re talking to the labels about, without making any specific promises.

That said, as we discussed in regards to Pandora, there is a potential for artists to make these tools work for them. Using playlists of artists you like, artists who influenced you, artists like you (artists who are copying you?) could be a great promotional tool. Why wait for iTunes to call and make you a celebrity playlist author when you can dub yourself a celebrity? (Seriously.)

The trick with all of this is not necessarily to sign with a major label, but simply to get hooked up with the right online distribution outlets. Once you do that, you can connected with any number of online music outlets. There’s no saying whether Mixaloo will or won’t take off, but you’ve got plenty of other online tools to try. The Mixaloo team advises that “for an independent artist, the path of least resistance would be to register with a CD Baby for digital distribution,” while indie labels (of which we have a few reading this site) might work through Iota Music Publishers or The Orchard. And this approach also works for sites like Pandora; see our interview there for thoughts about how people might use these various tools, and how musicians could benefit from them.

Previously:

Pandora’s Founder on Decoding Taste and Promoting Indie Music

Music Sales Widgets, Everywhere

Peter Kirn — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:58:16 +0000

Widgets are all the rage these days. The idea is, artists create a little miniature music player you can embed anywhere (MySpace, blogs, etc.) with their tracks. Fans buy music via the widget, and the artist gets a cut. Hometracked has an exceptional round-up of widgets with feature comparison. (It’s about time someone took the time to do that!)

So far, though, I haven’t been blown away by any of the widgets. Often, an overcrowded market is an indicator that no one technology quite has it right yet. There’s also the small matter of getting enough volume in music track sales to make any money. Percentage isn’t the problem: a fan buying a $1 track versus a $20 concert ticket is the issue. On the other hand, I’d personally be thrilled to get the instant satisfaction of buying a track in the same spot I’m playing it.

But, I’m curious: is anyone out there using these things? Even if not, what would you want the widget to do to make it worth your while? Custom embeddable music players are a good idea; I just wonder what the killer app would look like. (Pictured: Barenaked Ladies on Hooka.com. BNL is, like CDM, one of PC World’s favorite music sites. Happily, no one throws raw macaroni and cheese at me when I appear live.)

Free Audio Pro Dashboard Widget for Mac

Peter Kirn — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 22:23:13 +0000

It’s been a while since I looked at widgets for music applications, but here’s a new one, and it might be enough to make me switch back to Dashboard from Konfabulator:

BigBlueLounge Dashboard Widget

The widget includes a keyboard with built-in sounds (though no MIDI sending, sadly), tap tempo, and three calculators. You can calculate how much hard disk space you’ll need for a session, convert time to number of samples (not that I’ve needed to do that, but okay), and calculate the speed of sound at different temperatures. (Incidentally, the speed of sound does not change at different altitudes in any noticeable amount, which I would explain were I not feeling lazy. I think it might be in my book somewhere. Anyway, the good news is, you can calculate temperature’s impact on sound so you can make that delay in the ice cave really, really realistic. Nifty.)

Free, so have fun! Any widgets we missed since our widget roundup?

BigBlueLounge is a forum for audio with a massive number of threads. And unlike CDM, they actually build their own widgets. Any feature requests for a CDM widget?

Sexohol Releases First-Ever Widget Album

Peter Kirn — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 05:00:00 +0000

First vinyl, then 8-track, then tape, then CD, then MP3, now . . . Dashboard widget?

Yes, you heard that right. Sexohol is releasing its album Enjoy as a Dashboard Widget for Mac OS X. It’s free, and includes pictures of the lovely couple in the band plus lyrics. Only downside is you have to be connected to the Internet to listen to the music streaming. “But, Peter!”, you say, “I need to feel the hot loving of Enjoy even when I’m not connected to the Internet!” Sexohol hears you; US$9.99 buys you a Widget you can listen to anywhere. (Music without a live Internet connection? Who wouldathunkit?)

Sounds like the best way to enjoy this band is at their Bacchanalian performances, but if you can feel the love on your Dashboard, more power to you.

The press release is hilarious, so I’ve broken with normal CDM policy and posted it after the jump, along with a picture of bassist Logan for those of you who like young bass-playing boys (Shedonists, Gay/Bi Hedonists, etc.). Just promise you’ll pretend to act surprised when you find out this band is from L.A.

Disclaimer: CDM prints press releases only when they make me laugh out loud. Thanks, Trina!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: L.A.-Based Band, Sexohol™, Releases World’s First Widget Album

BEVERLY HILLS, California—August 15, 2005—Digital music innovators Sexohol™ today released their debut album, “Enjoy!” as a free Dashboard Widget for AppleÃ‚Â® Computer’s revolutionary Mac OS X Tiger 10.4. The free “Enjoy!” Widget Album lets music fans listen to any of the 12 songs from “Enjoy!” whenever connected to the Net, while providing lyrics and photographs from the CD. The full version, “Full Enjoy!ment”, lets fans listen to the album without an internet connection for just $9.99.

“We’re big fans of widgets,” says Roger Quickly, lead singer and guitarist for Sexohol™. “We’ve tried thingamabobs, doohickeys, and whatchamacallits, and frankly, they’re over. Have you tried to code a thingamabob lately? The dealybop syntax is so twentieth century.”

Sexohol’s co-lead singer and bassist, Golden Delicious, sees Widget Albums as the wave of the future. “Our Enjoy! album was added to the iTunes Music Store just over a week ago, but online buyers say they miss the full CD experience. Our attempts to squeeze a physical CD through an ethernet cable failed, so we did this instead.” She then adds, “And, oh yeah, with our tradition of innovation we thought it important to be first.”

Roger describes the innovative technology behind the Enjoy! Widget Album: “If you don’t own any of our songs, the widget streams them from the Net. But if you’ve bought our songs from iTunes, or copied them from your Enjoy! iPod shuffle or CD, tiny widget elves find and play the local copies. It’s all done by widget elves.”

Apple’s easy-to-use Dashboard environment let Roger and Golden create the widget themselves. “Usually, I’m not attracted to Unix,” explains Golden. “Something’s, you know… missing. But it’s a real pleasure working with Tiger’s tools. Rrrowwwrrrrrrrr.”

Pricing & Availability
The Enjoy! Widget Album, which streams songs on demand, is a free download. The Full Enjoy!ment Widget, which bundles the 12 songs into the widget, costs $9.99. Both are available immediately at the Sexohol website (www.sexohol.com) and require Mac OS X TIger 10.4 for Macintosh.

About Sexohol
Sexohol first achieved international recognition with the groundbreaking release of their album Enjoy! on iPodÃ‚Â® shuffle. Sexohol is an innovator in the exploding field of digital music technology and is dedicated to providing high-quality hookup music for America’s Hedonists and Shedonists. Sexohol appears exclusively on Satyrrific Records.

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Musical Widgets Pt. V: Circle of Fifths, Now in Clock Form (Mac)

Peter Kirn — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 05:00:00 +0000

Ever wished you could see the Circle of Fifths (aka Circle of Fourths) displayed on your clock? Well, now you can. And you can even click individual keys to see key signatures, just in case y— hey, wait a minute! Speaking as a sometimes-theory teacher, are you telling me you haven’t learned your keys yet? What are you going to do when your handy Dashboard clock isn’t handy? You’re not going to know your key signature for C# major, that’s what. Or maybe this is a new way of telling time, like, I’ll see you at half past G-flat? I’m confused. Now go get your vaguely new age-looking key signature clock; if nothing else, you’ll look like the music nerd you are:

Circle Clock Beta1 Widget for OS X Tiger [Dashboard Lineup]

Best Widgets for Music: Roundup in Review

Peter Kirn — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 05:00:00 +0000

Overwhelmed as I am by the absurd number of widgets for Macs and Windows that whizzed through the site over the past days? Me, too. Here’s a look back to keep it all straight:

Part I: For Konfabulator — onetonnemusic roundup, drum pad/pattern machine; For Dashboard: Guitar Chords, Oblique Strategies, Symphonic for iTunes

Part II: For Dashboard — BPM Widget, Audio Calculator, Chord Reference, ittyBittyMidi MIDI monitor, Music Calculator, Create Annoying Bass Grooves

Part III: For Konfabulator – Guitar Tuner, Beat Meter, iSpeak text-to-speech, Scratchpad virtual turntable

Part IV: For Dashboard – CountBPM, Digidesign/M-Audio widget, Piano, SoundVolume, Krispy Kreme (because while you can make music without doughnuts, why would you want to?)

Part V: Last and least, Circle Clock, for those who can’t remember either their key signatures or to wear a watch

Addendum — managing Mac widgets: I’ve found several resources invaluable for keeping my widgets in order on the Mac. First, upgrade to 10.4.2 or later for Apple’s widget management tools. WidgetUpdate tracks your installed widgets for new versions, perfect for keeping ahead of bugs. Dashboard Widgets complements Apple’s site nicely. Don’t forget to download and purchase Amnesty to keep widgets visible at all times.

Fire up all these handy musical tools on your Dashboard (or Konfabulator), and keep them handy.

Final Score: The Mac wins handily — more widgets, even if you don’t count the ability to run both Dashboard and Konfabulator on the Mac. But with Konfabulator part of Yahoo, that could change in round 2. Either way, widgets are here to stay.

Useful Widgets Pt. III: Konfabulator (Mac/Win) Strikes Back

Peter Kirn — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 05:00:00 +0000

So, your appetite for musically-useful widgets to run on Dashboard (OS X Tiger only) and Konfabulator (Mac/Windows) still isn’t satisfied? Fear not: Adrian Anders writes in with four more, all for Konfabulator — so Windows users aren’t left out of the fun. (All these widgets are cross-platform.)

Guitar Tuner: Nice graphics and both standard and drop-D tuning (though no tuning meter — you’re on your own for that)

Beat Meter: Ugly as sin, but you can tap tempo or set a metronome marking

iSpeak: Text-to-speech conversion for when you’re in a Radiohead OK Computer mood.

Scratchpad: Looks like a turntable and makes scratching sounds! Nifty! So, uh, why is there a debate in comments about whether this was “useful”? Guess that’s a matter of opinion. I find my magic 8-ball useful.

See part I and part II of this report.

Useful Widgets Pt. IV: More Mac Widgets for Musicians

Peter Kirn — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 05:00:00 +0000

The musical widget madness continues. powermac99 from iCompositions points out his Dashboard Widgets site. Like Apple’s, it’s beautifully organized and easy to navigate — too bad Konfabulator’s site is overwhelming. (Maybe that’ll change with Yahoo.)

I’ve been hunting around that site finding still more widgets:

CountBPM is my favorite BPM counter yet: click or keyboard input tap tempo, and you can view lots of data to help you accurately guess the tempo.

Digidesign Widget lets you search both Digidesign and M-Audio.com for products and tech info.

Piano isn’t just a keyboard widget. It supports QuickTime synths, QWERTY and mouse input, configurable velocity, and lots more. Useful for plunking on the road.

SoundVolume is a volume widget, and it looks kinda like the faders on my Mackie.

KrispyKreme, while not strictly music-themed, keeps my blood-sugar level safe. Now if it could only tell me when the doughnuts are hot.

Maybe we should create a CDM widget after all. It can’t just search CDM, though: it needs to count BPM, tune your guitar, and check your record sales at the same time.

Dashboard and Konfabulator Widgets for Music (Windows/Mac)

Peter Kirn — Wed, 27 Jul 2005 05:00:00 +0000

Be vewy vewy qwiet — I’m hunting Widgets.

Yes, widgets are all the rage these days. Between Apple’s Dashboard, included with Mac OS X Tiger, and Konfabulator, which just became free for Windows and Mac and has morphed into Yahoo! Widgets, nary a desktop shall be without little floating things. The idea isn’t entirely new — look back to the 1984 Mac’s Desk Accessory, or, well, to all the stuff that’s sitting on my real desk. But tools for easily creating your own widges are making these proliferate.

Anything useful for music? Well, yes and no. onetonnemusic has a roundup of music widgets for Konfabulator that are mostly on the side of silly. Funnel found three keyboard widgets (basically useless), and one kind of nifty drum pad/pattern machine. These should at least provide amusement and inspiration for something more practical.

On the OS X side, there are some semi-useful Dashboard widgets. Check out Guitar Chords, which displays fret positions for any chord you enter. (Nifty!) If you’re stuck in a creative rut, I’ve always been a fan of Oblique Strategies, a fabulous fortune cookie-esque set of admonitions to think outside of the box, developed by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt. While it’s geared to music listening more than music making, I also like Symphonic, which lets you type in a song to have iTunes play it for you (especially useful for tuning in Net radio). I’ll pass on many other widgets, just because I don’t like to crowd my Dashboard.

But there have to be other options for Konfabulator — ahem, Yahoo! Widgets and Dashboard. Got favorite widgets? Designed any yourself? Send them here, and I’ll do a roundup; hit comments or drop me a line.

Useful Dashboard Widgets for Music (Pt. II)

Peter Kirn — Wed, 27 Jul 2005 05:00:00 +0000

I asked for more truly useful music widgets, and did reader Justin Maxwell ever respond — a huge list of stuff here:

BPM Widget Tap tempo and get BPM

Audio Calculator BPM conversion <-> milliseconds (as observed here previously

Chord Reference Another guitar chord reference, with especially slick graphics

ittyBittyMIDI My favorite of these — monitors incoming MIDI signals, perfect for configuration and troubleshooting

Music Calculator Converts between note values and time, with plenty of extras

I especially love that these are (a) actually things I’d use and (b) make sense as a widget rather than a full app. (For an alternative approach, of course, there’s still a widget that can create annoying bass grooves. (Sounds like create digital music’s evil sister site.)

But, Konfabulator fans, these are all Mac-only Dashboard widgets. Where are the Konfabulator gems? Find em, write me about them, or let’s make some of our own.
See also: part I.