Really enjoyed Mitch’s version … very nice. Never thought I would want to try that song on the guitar but might give it a shot.

Re Guitar Hero reference in the link … my kids have discovered a whole bunch of great old rock songs through that game. I love it because not only do they listen but they participate in a strange but interactive way.

I continue to think the transition in the music industry is a really good one. Lot’s of new creative outlets and way more music accessible to everyone than in the past. Of course, I can say that as a fan … my living isn’t dependent on the industry … I’m sure it is a bit scary on the other side.

I have to say that I really liked that version too! (by Mat Weddle). I am not one for karaoke culture (as evidenced by American Idol) but I think sometimes real talent can float to the top more easily with direct exposure as opposed to the corporate idea of what the public wants. It is exciting for the lesser known musician to have chances like this but it would be interesting to see if the success in terms of hits and ratings would actually translate into commercial success when his album/single gets released.

Rock Band and Guitar Hero are excellent channels for distribution, unfortunately they’re not very accessible to new artists. The makers want to be sure the tunes will sell before doing all the work to put them into the game. That said, the makers of Rock Band do take requests. With a highly motivated street team pumping requests via the RB website on a regular basis they might get enough to arouse interest in an artist even if they’re not top 40. I was just discussing with my husband the other night, by the end of the year he’ll have spent hundreds on this game and keep right on going (separate bank accounts are a wonderful thing LOL)and I know he’s far from alone.

I loved watching the video with the various interpretations of the song. I especially liked the lady in the crowd with her fingers in her ears but hey, she was feeling it, I could tell!!
I wonder how different my interpretation of your music is from what yours is when you sing them? hmmm.

ack..the crew has arrived..peace out.

Wow, this guy is really talented. He have a really nice voice. Like it!

Elizabeth,

Good point on Guitar Hero/Rock Band not being accessible to new artists but I think that is about to change with programs like audio surf http://www.audio-surf.com/ where you can suck in your own music.

For new artists, there are other interesting avenues to get some notoriety. For example, Jonathan Coulton releases his stuff using the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. One of his funny songs called “Code Monkey” has been used in many different ways including multiple videos some of which have won awards. This type of stuff is really helping spread his name and make him popular. Here are some example links (if you are on facebook).

http://apps.facebook.com/favequest/?playVideoId=youtube:qIJ1bWqXn3U

http://apps.facebook.com/favequest/?playVideoId=youtube:6NJbrDXtrf8

Note: You don’t need to add the app to watch the videos. If you do add it, there is a “Jonathan Coulton” channel and a “David User” channel in the public channel listing (sort by date to catch videos from the recent Toronto gig).

(
full disclosure:
-I’m one of the co-founders of Ottawa/Toronto based FaveQuest … the facebook app the link above takes you to
-I have no affiliation with audio surf but think it is cool
)

Love it indeed. Just discovered your blog thanks to Mitch Joel and today’s Six Pixels of Separation podcast. Will we see you at Podcasters Across Borders? If not, I hope our paths do cross somewhere other than in Twitter at some point.

Would love to hear your point of view on the use of social media by festival promoters

(http://eminencegrisemontreal.blogspot.com/2008/05/social-media-those-who-get-it-and-those.html)

Cheers!

Michelle

hey michelle
im going to try to make it to “3rd tuesday” soon, ive been running lately:)

[...] And finally, a somewhat lighthearted look at the music business with a cool-ass re-make video of Outkast’s “Hey Ya!”, and a look at the silly-money numbers from Motley Crue’s sales on Xbox. Check out David Usher’s cool story on his very own Cloudid. [...]