Billboard report: US Users' Music Streaming Doubled From Prior Year

Theverge.com summarized a story originally appearing in billboard.com regarding music streaming in the United States. The gist is that the streaming music current is moving swiftly (no pun intended) stronger. According to theverge.com's story, the volume of streamed music has doubled over the prior year's activity. By any standard, that's a profound amount of interest in musical content. Little wonder, then, that Taylor Swift and other A-list music celebrities want substantial control over their sales and distribution.

Interestingly enough, music videos represented the largest user increase. This phenomenon dovetails with social media marketing's current mantra that videos and still images drive much more traffic than mere alphanumeric tweets, pins, or posts. I can't speak to the reliability of the Nielsen data quoted in theverge.com's article. However, anecdotally, I see plenty of people watching some video clip on their cell phones. God only knows what has them entertained or absorbed. In a YouTube universe, that consideration becomes the territory of analytics, data "scientists," and "innovators" sizing up the relationship between social engagement, content, and gross profit.

Music tends to be a Trojan horse for digital trends. Whether the power in the streaming relationship remains with the consumer is a thorny question. "Free" always sounds good, until you're the one giving your merchandise away, and your counterpart views gratis acquisition as an entitlement.

LA Internet Radio Collective Dublab Celebrates 12th Anniversary

In 1999, a couple of USC students founded Dublab, an Internet radio station featuring inventive popular music. Now, over a decade ago, Internet radio was a rare event. At that time, one had to be a little crazy, a little indifferent to making money quickly, and very willing to let word-of-mouth build the listener community.

Well, the audience for Dublab has grown, and the station celebrated its 12th anniversary over this past weekend.

The LA Times ran an interesting, and all too short, article about Dublab. It's fun to read, and even more fun to listen to. The team picture follows below.

Curator as DJ

A trend that's gathering momentum is the notion of "curators" for the vast aggregation of contemporary popular music digitally available. A curator implies one with a defined point of view, a clear concept of taste, and a sense of direction. Finding curators whose values and judgements one respects is quite challenging.

A way to approach the new year is to suggest "curators" I value. Admittedly, they're not self-proclaimed or institutionally ordained "curators," but these emissaries to music essentially perform a curatorial role through their choices and mixtures. It's fun to listen to their selections, enjoy them, and debate their merits. They're certainly not as stuffy as the art-world suit in the illustration (right) from "Curator as DJ," from Modern Masters, a comic book published by DC Comics for PS 1/MOMA. They also provide one other, unstated, but deeply felt value: a reminder that life is meant to be savored and appreciated.

I have a trio of "curators" in mind. You're more than welcome in the comments to share your own choices.

1. http://www.thebocx.com/ -- Phil Dorsey. Very wordly taste, with a preference for funk, neo-funk, jazz, electronic, r&b, downtempo, acid jazz, but not limited to those genres by any means.

2. Gilles Peterson -- a European providing interesting choices. He has a number of recordings available via the digital transaction sites.

3. Ibiza Sonica -- An Internet radio station that plays club music from the pirate island.

Happy New Year!

Streaming Music and TheBocX.com

If you enjoy contemporary popular music, especially funk, acid jazz, and downtempo sounds, take time to explore thebocx.com. Phil Dorsey, who puts together the playlists, has an impressive knowledge of these musical forms and a deep desire to share it with the world. One could characterize him as a "curator," although Phil himself would not use that word, and there are some in the visual arts world ready to impale anyone expressing such a notion.

Access to the website is free; no subscription is required.

Streaming music sites such as thebocx.com and others represent a very interesting phenomenon: the bottom-up challenge to top-down distribution models. Sites such as Phil Dorsey's, by their very existence, raise a number of other, pertinent issues. Here are three that come to mind:
1. Individual taste vs. algorithmically-based direction
2. Open access vs. controlled access
3. Artist compensation

You're welcome to share your thoughts on the issues. Of course, I also encourage you to discover thebocx.com.