ao link
Affino
Remember Login
Remember Login
Remember Login
Affino 9
Affino 9

Affino 9 has arrived

Next Generation Technology

Discover More

Stefan's Naturally Aspirated Blog

How the Music Industry is Actually Killing Itself

Amazon MusicApple MusicDigital MusiciTunesMusic StreamingOn-Demand MusicPlaylistsSpotifyThe Music IndustryVox Player+-
2018AFBlgKillingMusic700-min

Let me preface this piece by saying that I’m one of the biggest music fans of all time. I have an extensive collection of vinyl and CD - running well into the many thousands - to such a degree that I really ran out of space. So as logic dictated - I took to digital media as the only rational way to consume, ’store’ and organise music nowadays.

 

Back in my youth we had Vinyl to play at home, and tape or cassettes to play in the car or on the move (Sony Walkman anyone?)....


A Music Fan's Adventures in the Cloud - Vox Player Caveats and Pitfalls

Cloud MusicCloud-based Music OrganiserDigital Music PlayeriExploreriTunesMusic CollectionMusic LibraryMusic OrganiserNightbirdsevolve MetaVox Player+-
2018AfBlgVoxPlayer700-min

I will start this piece by saying that I’ve finally had it with Apple iTunes - that over-bloated software is now long past its sell-by-date. I’ve lost count of how many times iTunes has mangled my 500+ playlists. I recently updated to a new primary machine - a MacBook Pro 15 and was advised to switch on iCloud storage, backup etc, for everything. And while this works well for the majority of your files - it turns out it is complete suicide for your own music library - as Apple is ...


iTunes No-Downloads Rumours are bad news for both Consumers and Musicians

appleiTunesMP3Music DownloadsMusic IndustryMusic Streaming+-
2018AfBlgiTunesInFlames700-min

We’ve seen a number of rumours floating about - stating that Apple / iTunes is looking to suspend its iTunes Downloads Store some time around March 2019 onwards. The end result of this being less choice for consumers and still lower revenues for musicians - who already face diminishing returns across the board.

 

It’s likely another nail in the coffin of the Apple Eco-System (for me) and will probably accelerate my departure from the Apple platform - as Music has been one of ...


Facebook Freeze

Browser CrashBrowser FreezeFaceBookiTunesSoftware FreezeSoftware Reliability+-
2016AfBlgFacebookFreeze700

Pretty much since the start of this year, perhaps earlier even, I have noticed that Facebook on Desktop seems to freeze up and crash the browser after about 5 or so minute of regular scrolling and perusing. I’m not doing anything unusual here, and have been a Facebook user from the earliest days with plenty of experience on how things should work - I can’t quite recall it ever performing as poorly as this. First I thought it was my preferred browser - Chrome, but I’ve tried ...


Apple Music - The Verdict

appleApple MusicBBCDigital MusicDigital RadioInternet RadioiTunesMusic ConsumptionMusic DiscoveryMusic IndustryMusic InteractivityMusic SharingMusic StoreMusic StreamingPlaylistsSocial ConnectivitySocial MusicSpotify+-
2015AfBlgAppleMusic480

I will preface this article by saying that I am a long term music fanatic - having amassed some circa 10,000 12" records over the years, as well as a considerable volume of CDs - music is a constant in my every waking moment. Over the past 10 years I have gradually and almost fully transitioned to digital. I’ve been using iTunes since 2010, and am an early adopter of Spotify. I buy between 2 and 10 albums worth of music on roughly a weekly basis - this comes from a variety of sources - ...


The Future of Music Online 2015

2015 Album Release ScheduleFuture of MusicFuture of Music OnlineiTunesKey Sounds 2015Music IndustryMusic OnlineMusic TechnologyMusic TrendsMusic Trends 2015social mediaSpotifyThe Future of Music Online 2015+-
2015AfBlgKaciHill700V2

NOTE - this blog post will be updated throughout the year, particularly the Album Release Schedule ...

 

2014 was an excellent year for music all in. Not much rock really, but plenty to get excited about. There are not as many big releases forthcoming in 2015, which seems destined to be the year of the blockbuster movie. Nevertheless there are lots of minor music industry intrigues happening - especially Apple’s imminent launch of iTunes Streaming. There are also a number of new ...


Sound of 2015 - Key New Artists championed by BBC, MTV, iTunes, Spotify et al

Amazing RadioBBCBrand New 2015DeezerGigwiseGlobalGrindGuardianiTunesMTVNew Artist Picks for 2015New Artists for 2015New Music for 2015Sound of 2015Spotify+-
2014AfBlgSoundOf2015480

Time has come around again to scope out new directions and find some new blood which may just strike it big in the forthcoming 12 months or so. I’ve already discarded some nominations as they featured heavily last year, or have already released a commercial album (you can unleash infinity mix-tapes and still feature!). Anyway, should be something for everyone here from this list of 88 contenders. James Bay seems to be favourite already, and has already picked up the BRIT Critic’s ...


Taylor Swift vs Spotify vs the value of Streaming Music

AmazonAnalogue MusicBob StanleyDigital MusicHistory of MusiciTunesMP3Music DiscoveryMusic EvolutionMusic IndustryMusic Industry EvolutionMusic PromotionMusic StreamingMusic TechnologyPop MusicRecorded MusicSoundCloudSpotifyStreaming RevenuesTaylor SwiftValue of MusicVinyl Musicyoutube+-
2014AFBlgLoveSpotify480

Taylor Swift is not the first to remove her entire catalogue from Spotify and nor will she be the last. Following on from her disingenuous pretense at offering better service to UK fans by forcing them to buy her whole pre-release album instead of being able to download individual promo tracks like the rest of the world could do. It’s not a surprise that she’s taken these latest extreme measures, but the reasons she gives are nothing more than record label bulls**t spin - in an ...


Media Owners are still out of tune with the reality of Global Reach

Global Media AudienceGlobal Media DistributionGlobal Media ReachiTunesMedia DistributionMedia LaunchesMedia ReleasesMovie Debut OnlineOnline MediaOnline Media AccessOnline MoviesOnline VideoRestricted MediaStreamingVideo Streaming+-
2014AFBlogGlobalMedia480V2

Readers of this blog will know that I’m a big fan of music and movies. I subscribe to all manner of mailing lists and regularly read up on latest releases on a variety of online movie and music resources. On Facebook I am fan to countless musicians and bands, and am very aware when new releases are out in the marketplace. I initially wrote about this issue 10 years ago, and I’m sad to report that global media availability is still highly idiosyncratic.

 

Big artists like ...


Apple pins musical future on Smart Curation

appleApple BeatsBeatsBeats MusicCurationDeezerGroovesharkHeadphonesInternet RadioiTunesMusic AccessoriesMusic CurationMusic IndustryMusic MediaMusic StreamingMusic SubscriptionMusic Subscription ServiceNarrowcastingPandoraPlaylistsSpotify+-

Apple’s recent $3.2 Billion purchase of Beats has been seen as ’extremely generous’ by many industry commentators. As a counter though, a recent article in the Telegraph goes so far as to predict the imminent demise of Spotify in the face of this acquisition - somewhat erroneously claiming that the only thing left to Spotify is to sell itself to a similarly large benefactor (e.g. Google / Facebook}.

 

We all know that iTunes revenues have been falling in the face of ...

Did you find this content useful?

Thank you for your input

Thank you for your feedback

Blog Navigation
Blog Navigation

Driving business at some of the world's most forward thinking companies

Our Chosen Charity

Humanity Direct