COMMENTARY ON: That Tampon Trick « Meditations on Meaning

That Tampon Trick « Meditations on Meaning is one funny post. So is the commentary.

Sonific's CEO responds to MUSIC: Sonific SongSpots and Sonific Mail are cool man, cool (for the most part) << Lisa Tolliver On Air and Online

Sonific's CEO reads Lisa Tolliver On Air and Online. At least, he read and responded to this post: "MUSIC: Sonific SongSpots and Sonific Mail are cool man, cool (for the most part)."

I like what he said. Read it yourself.

Gerd Leonhard wrote:

Hi Lisa.

Thanks for your blog post on Sonific at http://lisatolliver.blogspot.com/2007/07/music-sonific-and-ciao-bella-have.html .

Much appreciated.

Here is the answer to your question: yes we plan to incentivize the bloggers, as well (if that is what you mean as 'publishers') --- just haven't build those tools yet. But stay tuned for more details.... cheers!
--

Gerd Leonhard
CEO,www.sonific.com
News: 125K tracks added to Sonific's libraryhttp://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/

SNARK: If music has charms to soothe a savage beast, then some musicians need a dose of their own medicine

[ Image: Courtesy of Lion Taming - Answers.com ]

"Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast"
- From The Mourning Bride (1697) by William Congreve

The popular idiom, "music hath charms to soothe the savage beast," (and variations thereof) misquote and give new meaning to a famous line. The original phrase in William Congreve's 1697 play, The Mourning Bride, actually reads: "Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast."

Phrase Finder recently found "there are twice as many hist [sic] for the incorrect version of the phrase as for the correct one." Although inaccurate, mauled, and mangled, the variant phrases aptly describe researchers' findings: music can pacify both two- and four-legged beasts.

Ironically, media coverage, image makers, and court records portray many singers, musicians and industry insiders as wild. Some even end up being penned up. And many who aren't, don't seem any less stressed, angry, violent, predatory or otherwise dysfunctional than other cats.


That observation was most recently reiterated by a horn player (let's call her Dinah) who is a lion(ess) in more ways than one (see Merriam-Webster definitions of lion 1a, 2a and 2b). Dinah is a talented, respected instrumentalist with a fiery mane, ferocious temper, and King Queen of the Jungle territorial, power and control issues. Watching her in action inspired an epiphany: some musicians need a hefty dose of their own medicine, and those interacting with them may need to wield a whip and chair. (Dinah may also need an old banjo. Just sayin'.)

July 4 is Independence Day in America, give or take a few weeks

In "Fourth of July is Independence Day," USA.gov offers the following description and many informative links:

Independence Day honors the birthday of the United States of America and the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It's a day of picnics and patriotic parades, a night of concerts and fireworks, and a reason to fly the American flag.

I celebrate July 4 much as many Americans do. In years past, I even sang with my school choir at Independence Day functions and marched with my high school marching band. More recently, my recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance has been broadcast by Whitney Radio stations WVIP-FM and WVOX-AM every July 4 since 2001.

However, a few weeks earlier, I also celebrate Juneteenth (also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day), the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday, first celebrated on June 19, 1865 in Galveston, Texas, is now officially observed in many states, including New York.

The first Independence Day and the first Juneteenth occurred almost a century apart (in 1776 and 1865, respectively). However, it is fitting that they are celebrated in close proximity today.

Bob Lebensold and I discussed on his talk radio show, Environmentally Sound, the fact that not all Americans were liberated when the Declaration of (America's) Independence (from Great Britain) was signed in 1776. Slavery was still going strong, and many of the founding fathers who drafted and signed the historic document (e.g., Thomas Jefferson and George Washington) were slaveholders.

The enslavement of African Americans in the United States did not end until almost 100 years later. Abraham Lincoln's issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, in year three of the Civil War, helped get the ball rolling. But January 1, 1863 was no independence day for black Americans. As the National Archives and Records Administration reports, the order did not immediately free a single slave, and was limited in many ways. The first Juneteenth was celebrated two and a half years later.

Of course, Juneteenth was just the beginning of a long struggle for African American Civil Rights. But doesn't the Asian adage say, "A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step"?

Today, all Americans are at liberty to celebrate both Independence Day and Juneteenth. And we should.

But put this on your grill and smoke it: it's too bad every American man and woman who is eligible to vote doesn't take the fraction of the time we spend partying to exercise, on Election Day, one of the key civil rights Americans associate with liberty and independence. What right is that? (Shame on you for asking!) The answer: suffrage. ###

MUSIC: Sonific SongSpots and Sonific Mail are cool man, cool (for the most part)

Hear ye! Oyez all audiophiles, podcasters, bloggers, webmasters and indie musicians! I recently subscribed to Sonific and posted the "Ciao Bella" SongSpot in this post (which won't change) and this sidebar (which will update periodically). The upbeat piece by Percussive Arts Society Hall of Famer (1994), Emil Richards, and the Maui Jazz Quartet really jazzes up the joint, n'est ce pas?

From where I stand now: orchestrating SongSpots-powered virtual jukeboxes will be a piece of cake. However, synchronizing multiple selections into an automatically-started, sequentially sequenced playlist may not yet be possible in this, Sonific's Beta, stage I will fiddle around with that project after the holiday.

My impressions, so far, of Sonific's offerings (the Sonific Music Network, SongSpots and Sonific Mail): the short version can be encapsulated in seven beats: cool man, cool (for the most part). I'll riff about my reservations later. First, let's review the pertinent facts, which strike mostly high notes.

Sonific LLC, according to PR Newswire, is "a leading provider of licensed music widgets and free music applications for social media." The firm also purveys podsafe music, gratis, from the Sonific Music Network ("SMN"). Collectively, Sonific's separate but integrated wares comprise a brilliant combo of viral marketing tools.

This arrangement benefits five audiences. It helps:

Artists and Labels to disseminate and increase sales of their music;

Publishers and Audiophiles to access enjoyable, cost-effective sounds they can legally share online, sans exorbitant licensing fees; and of course,

Sonific to take a slice of music sales.

The SMN is a large and expanding catalog of genre-diverse music. Sonific FAQS sez they've licensed "over 500,000 tracks which [they] are gradually bringing into the system, plus, [they] have a huge collection in the pipeline too."

That's good news, as size matters with music collections. So does easy searchability, whose importance is positively correlated with the vastness of a catalog. SMN has both. Search tools and tag clouds facilitate searches by artist, title, description and genre.

Selections, a.k.a. "SongSpots™", are free customizable flash-players that "stream the song of your choice from almost any web page that you can edit yourself, such as blogs, social network profiles, photo sharing sites, or home pages." The musical widgets, each of which plays a full-length single, can be easily tailored for size, horizontal or vertical orientation, volume, and automatic or manual start or replay.

Sonific also offers a comprehensive array of publication options. Subscribers can readily e-mail SongSpots via Sonific Mail, or post them online via Object & Embed, JavaScript Object & Embed, Object only, and Embed only elements, as well as by JavaScript and HTML links.

The entire process of selecting, tailoring and distributing SongSpots is fast and easy, too. Moreover, Sonific.com offers ample, well-written, user-friendly help resources.

Despite your possible impressions at this point, SongSpots don't flow as freely as speakeasy booze during Prohibition (or pirated (?) music in Napster's heyday). Sonific has several strict terms of use. However, they are reasonable and easy to comprehend and adhere to.

Here is the low note: Sonific's generally win-win arrangement has skipped a beat regarding certain affiliate revenues for SongSpots publishers.

Don't get me wrong. I dig it that musicians and Sonific split the proceeds from songs and albums featured in specific SongSpots. It's appropriate that publishers get SongSpots singles for free, in exchange for helping to publicize the featured singles, albums and artists.

But here's where the arrangement falls as flat as an unleavened, crumb-free Bonfire of the Vanities cake: links in each SongSpot don't just spur sales of the selected singles and the CDs they ride in on. They promote sales of music on other CDs, as well. Consequently, precluding publishers from participating with Sonific in earnings from this latter, legitimate, source of affiliate marketing revenues strikes a slightly sour chord.

Affiliate revenues-loving SongSpots subscribers can take some solace in this: there's more than one way to feed a kitty. One example is contextual programs like Google Adwords. Another is affiliate link and banner programs that promote music by SongSpots artists. For example, the Amazon.com banner, below, advertises albums that feature Emil Richards.

ON AIR (Wed., June 27, '07): Kitchen For Hire co-owner, Priscilla Maddox, and I have cooked up a sizzling 'Lisa Tolliver Show'

BARE-NAKED TRUTH IN ADVERTISING: Green Amazon.com text links = shameless commerce.

SOME LIKE IT HOT: Tomorrow I'll be hosting two shows back-to-back on New York Radio WVOX 1460 AM. From 11:30 AM until noon, Eastern Time, movers and shakers, Dario Vaccaro and Patricia Burgess, will join me on SCORE Radio to discuss the business of dance.

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN, INTO THE FIRE: From high noon until 12:30 PM (lunchtime!), I will host the Lisa Tolliver Show. In honor of the occasion, Kitchen For Hire co-owner, Priscilla Maddox, and I have cooked up a sizzling menu.

In course one, we'll discuss her business, which you may have read about in "Can’t Stand the Heat? Then Rent the Kitchen" [New York Times] or elsewhere. In course two, we'll share tips for healthy cooking, laced with delectable, scrump-tuous (scrumptious-sumptuous) summer recipes.

SUGGESTION: The show should be meaty; you may want to take notes. Bon appetit!

THANK YOU, SPONSORS. The Lisa Tolliver Show is made possible, in part, through the sponsorship of The Field (they grow artists!), and with funding provided by 360 MERIDIAN (they're all around world class!), and USPS (they deliver!).

SUPPORT THE SHOW & PATRONIZE THE ARTS: Contributions are tax-deductible. And you can double, even triple your money! Learn more, contribute here.###

Summer sounds make sweet music (especially when the livin' is easy)

As much as I love each of the four seasons, it's the hottest - summertime - that most lights my fire. In North America, the sun shines brighter, the breezes blow balmier, and free spirits are freer about flaunting their (not always fit) figures from June through August (than in September through May).

Some say those lazy crazy hazy days of summer are undefined by the calendar, but rather surf in and out on the summer solstice and autumn equinox, respectively. What's compelling (to me) about that concept, is that it renders the first day of summer the longest day of the year. Yeaaaaah boyee!

However, others squeeze summer between pairs of unofficial season "stretch markers": either June and August or Memorial Day and Labor Day. The holiday-driven approach most floats my boat as it cuts the widest swath between summer's opening and closing ceremonies.

However you measure it, summer is a common pop culture subject. Is it any wonder, then, that The Beach Boys would become the best selling band in America (sez Good Morning America, NBC TV, June 21, 2007) or that the aria, "Summertime" (from George Gershwin's's 1935 opera, Porgy and Bess), would become one of the most popularly covered songs worldwide? [Listen to "Summertime" here.]

Other summer sounds and sensations make sweet music for the soul, too. Who can resist the joyous sounds of kids (from one to ninety-two) enjoying the outdoors...the mouthwatering scents of juicy treats roasting on an open fire (with the bright sun nipping at the chef's nose)...the bittersweet taste of ice-cold lemonade...the brain-freezing agony of an ice-cream headache...(how sweet it is!)... or the breathtaking rush from diving headlong underwater or into a summer fling?

That question's rhetorical when the livin' is easy. That's the case, for example, when one more closely associates "working up a black sweat" with the award-winning artist-known-again-as "Prince" singing cut four from his 3121 album [sample "Black Sweat" here] than, say, barge-totin', bale-liftin' Paul Robeson singing "Ol' Man River"[hear various versions here] or the late, great Sam Cooke singing "Chain Gang" [view the video].

Here are some tips for enjoying summer safely.###

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I still like this one, too:

ON AIR: On June 27, '07, Lisa Tolliver and Movers and Shakers, Dario Vaccaro and Patricia Burgess, will discuss the business of dance on 'SCORE Radio'

Dancers do it with rhythm, and often in groups. So do choreographers, musicians and composers.

Their performances, often seemingly effortless to spectators, can require months - even years - of training and preparation, not to mention substantial sweat equity, support and collaboration. Those subjects, and the muses that move dancer/composer Dario Vaccaro (Argentina's Cultural Ambassador) and musician/composer/producer Patricia Burgess (Creative Director of Watermoon Arts), will be the focus of the SCORE Radio program I’m hosting on June 27, 2007 at 11:30 AM, Eastern Time.

Read the rest.###

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