Leaving QR Codes in The Dust

I had a very interesting meeting yesterday with Sam Kleinman of Craze. Craze is the leading digital urban record label. But I'm more interested in what they are doing on the technology side.

Sam is working on a product, already launched in the UK, that kicks QR Code's ass - even with Google's backing. The concept is the same, you take a picture of something with your mobile phone and information is returned back to you.

With QR Codes your phone has to have special software, but more important, the manufacturer of the product has to be on board and actually print the code. With Craze's idea, they are digitizing what a product looks like, in this case the fronts of CDs in the UK. The idea is, you take a picture with any camera phone, send it off and within a minute you have more information, the option to download the tracks digitally and more.

The product implementations are endless. Think about taking a picture of your kid's favorite toy and getting recall information sent back to you. Or take a picture of your TV and get a list of detailed replacement parts. Or, even, take a snap shot of me and get back links to this blog and my LinkedIn profile.

This can even be driven by the users. Take a picture it doesn't recognize and you get prompted to fill in the details. There's no software installed, but so much more importantly, there's no reason at all to get manufacturers/printers/advertisers on board.

I didn't tell Sam that I was going to blog about this, and hopefully he doesn't mind, but he's looking for a partner or company to take this full scale in the US. If you're interested let me know.

I first wrote about QR Codes back in January.

SXSW Wrap-up

Keeping this short... SXSW was okay, Austin is a great city, we had fun.

Here's the loft we stayed in. It was in one of those new condos, the Amli, on 2nd Street.

Here's the view from the balcony:

We spent a lot of time on the pool deck of the building at a three day and night Jelly NYC party. Three stages, lots of Brooklyn bands, two open bars, guitar hero, shuffle board and video games on the roof of the parking garage. Not bad.

Hipsters would have loved the bar-b-q we ate at Rudy's. They proclaim themselves as "The Worst Bar-b-q in Texas" which is ironic because anyone from Austin knows that just isn't true.

We rented bikes and rode all along the greenbelt and Barton Springs, checked out the view from Mt Bonnell and sampled the local brews at The Gingerman.

There were a few hiccups along the way, but overall, it was a good vacation.

All Points West

I just bought my tickets to All Points West. I'll be going on Saturday to see Radiohead, Metric, Animal Collective and The Roots among others. Here is the line up for each day.

Hope to see you there.

Some Clarity on SXSW

South By South West (SXSW) has a confusing website. I could not figure out, for the life of me, if I needed a conference pass to attend music shows at the various venues around Austin during the festival. So, I e-mailed them and asked, this is their answer:

Tho it seems given your job that you should seriously consider registering to attend SXSW 2008, this should answer your questions:

We sell a limited number of single admission tickets to most, but not all, SXSW Music Festival shows. Cost varies by show and venue. Tickets are sold on a walk-up basis only and must be purchased at the venue where the show you wish to see is being held. They generally go on sale about an hour before the first band of the night at that venue is scheduled to start.

Please keep in mind that we cannot guarantee that you will be able to access every show you want to see. If you remain patient and keep your options open, you're bound to have a good time.

And remember we always have three nights of free to the public shows at Auditorium Shores at Ladybird Lake.

Thanks SXSW, I appreciate your very quick response! Now... I gotta decide if I want to spend money on the damn conference pass (it isn't cheap!) or just go there and wing it.

Year-end Update

I know, I haven't posted all week. Sorry about that. It's been crazy around here, trying to close up as many deals as possible before the end of the year, planning a road trip and, to top it off, I feel a bit of a cold coming on.

Planning the road trip has been far from the least exciting part of the week. I'll be taking an Acela Express train from NY Penn Station to Union Station in Washington D.C. Family from West Virgina will be there to pick me up. Do a little tour of the city, have lunch and then head west. Our first stop is Nashville, TN. Along the way, from D.C. to Nashville, we'll have the pleasure of the smoky mountains. After Nashville, it's Austin for several days.

We're staying at the Driskill Hotel in Austin which, frankly, looks beautiful (and has room rates to match). They say that the Driskill is the most haunted hotel in Texas. I'll be looking for the little boy with the bouncing red ball on the grand staircase.

We'll spend Christmas day in Austin and a few days after Christmas before heading back and hitting up Memphis. We didn't really mean it to, but this has turned somewhat into a tour of America's great music cities. Too bad we won't have time for New Orleans.

Anyway, I'll try to post up pictures along the way, but if I don't (this is my vacation, after all), I'll hit you all up in the New Year.

Use Last.fm With The iPhone

Finally! I've figured out how to use Last.fm in conjunction with the iPhone. MobileScrobbler.

I wrote back in September about how disappointed I was that the Last.fm application didn't pick up songs played on my iPhone, like it does for the iPod. Well now, if you have a jailbroken iPhone, crank up Installer and download MobileScrobbler. Just sign into your Last.fm account, turn on Edge scrobbling and you're all set up.

High-give to you, MobileScrobbler!

Farewell to In Rainbows

I received an e-mail from w.a.s.t.e., the company that distributed Radiohead's In Rainbows, this morning:So downloads will end on 10 December and the box set has become a limited edition sort of thing. No restocking once they're out. No word on how many actually remain.

This'll be my last post concerning In Rainbows. It was fun. It was interesting. It's a pretty damn good album. Cheers guys.

Interactive Videos

Arcade Fire released their first video for their current album, Neon Bible. The video was released online at http://www.beonlineb.com. It's a great idea - a completely interactive video. Click around while you watch. The video was made specifically for the Internet with a production cost of about $15,000.

For more on interactive video check out this Reuters story.

CMJ 2007 - Music Marathon and Film Festival

The CMJ 2007 Music Marathon and Film Festival starts tomorrow in New York City. It runs October 16 - 20th.

It should be fun. I'll be seeing Voxtrot tonight at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tonight's show isn't officially part of CMJ, but they will be playing again tomorrow night at the Bowery Ballroom.

I'm told by friends that I should see IAMX on Tuesday night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, but I'm not sure I can muster the courage to step foot in "Billyburg" two nights in a row. Bouncing Souls will be headlining at Webster Hall tomorrow.

Wednesday brings a colleague's band, Second Dan, to Midway.

Spoon headlines Thursday's lineup at Blender Theater. Friday's got Ghostland Observatory at Webster Hall. And, finally, Saturday closes with another serving of Spoon.

There are a slew of acts each day, so click the day above and check out the full list.

Update: In Rainbows

Maybe today will just be updates on previous topics... Feeling a little retrospective.

I've downloaded and listened to (several times) the new Radiohead album. Which, as you know, is for sale online direct from the artist for a price of your choosing. One of my readers (and an old friend), Patrick, posted a link to an interesting article in my previous post.

First of all, I love the album! It's a little more rock/punk than the usual Radiohead, with some harder beats, but that doesn't apply to every track. Second of all, every artist should be doing this. This is what capitalism is; let the market decide.

Are there any labels out there that do this on a regular basis? I can see how a smaller artist may have trouble pushing albums out without the following that Radiohead enjoys. The primary reason for a label is to act as a distributor. What about a label that serves to promote its artists, but lets you decide what to pay?

In Rainbows Update

In Rainbows, the new Radiohead album that you can download online at a price you set, has sent out an update. I should have my download code late tonight! The e-mail, sent by W.A.S.T.E., is ugly as hell (what's with the the YELLING?), but here it is:


That's ten 160 Kbps DRM-free tracks. Can't wait.

Metric Tonight

No, I'm not switching to the metric system, but I will be seeing Metric at Webster Hall tonight.

Depending on the vibe, I may do a repeat of the Interpol / Facebook live picture posting experiment. I have to say, it went over rather well with the Interpol show, but the phone doesn't really take the best pictures.

I've been told by David Hembree that Metric puts on a great show so, I'm excited about that (usually, David is hardly ever sort of sometimes wrong).

Music Downtown

Anyone going to Music Downtown?

I'd like to go tonight and see Illinois, but I can't find anyone willing to go last minute. It's sad... all of my friends are getting old. They work too hard. Either way, I'm going tomorrow. So hit me up if you want to come.

According to Facebook, this is the top music in New York:


Come out and let's change that.

Cat Power & Interpol

Well, the show Friday night was pretty great. I didn't even know she was playing, but was surprised nicely with Cat Power opening up for Interpol.

I'm fairly sure that I'm completely in love with her. Interpol was great too:

My friends thought I was being a huge dork, but it's worth noting that uploading live pictures to my Facebook profile went very smoothly. Overall a positive and easy experience. I would really love to see connectivity on my actual digital camera. Quick, remote uploads are great, but obviously quality suffers.

Interpol Tonight

I'll be seeing Interpol tonight at the garden, right up front in the pit. If we're Facebook friends, keep an eye out - I plan on posting live mobile pictures during the show. Well, assuming that I have signal and that it won't be too dark for the iPhone's crappy camera.

We'll see.

Last.fm Let Me Down

Did I tell anyone that I got an iPhone? Oh, I did? I wasn't sure if you'd heard. Well, I did. I got an iPhone.

Last.fm: why don't you scrobble plays from my iPhone? What is to become of my Last.fm profile? The widget in my sidebar?

No high-give to you, Last.fm.