Twitter #music Emerges

It’s been about a week since Twitter officially unveiled its new music app, Twitter #Music. The service is a music discovery app that allows users to listen to favorite artists, discover new music, and share recommendations with friends. And though it’s only been released so far for iPhones and Web, it’s already causing a few ripples.

Whispers of Twitter #Music began circulating in the tech and music worlds long before Twitter made its official announcement of the app last week. The app includes four panels: Popular, Emerging, Suggested, and #NowPlaying. Its goal is to be a music streaming service that is more personalized for recommendations and tips. Good Morning America described it as a mix tape for the 21^st century.

Following the image-driven trend of social media today, Twitter #Music’s panels show a grid of artists and songs that can be played with the simple tap of a finger. Playing music brings up an animation of a CD or LP spinning as if physically being played. Dragging a finger clockwise or counter-clockwise around the playing disc will fast forward or rewind a song—a feature reminiscent of early iPods with click-wheels.

Thus far, Twitter #Music has proved useful for at least one emerging band. TechCrunch reported that the Frances Cone Band saw a surge of new Twitter interactions and fans after the app was released and they were featured on the “Emerging” panel.

“It’s been really, really great,” said the group’s lead singer, Frances Cone. “I wasn’t sure how to engage followers/fans and they basically just perfectly did it for me… like they set up a meet and greet and I get to hug all of these music lovers.”

Daft Punk to Debut New Album in Wee Waa

It’s been eight long years since Daft Punk released their last studio album, Human After All, and three years since their material for Tron: Legacy was released. Now the French duo has a brand new album coming out: Random Access Memories. Its official release date is May 21^st, but the world premier of the album will take place on May 17^th in Wee Waa, Australia.

Fewer than 2,000 people populate the New South Wales town, and the album’s first public airing will take place during the Annual Wee Waa Show—complete with all the regular agricultural fair happenings, such as the dog high jump. The duo has a cult following of millions of people, and the question on everyone’s mind is, “Why Wee Waa?” The release could have been anywhere they wanted, and yet they chose a tiny agricultural town in Australia.

According to the Melbourne Herald Sun, Wee Waa was chosen because it is the embodiment of community spirit—a reflection of what it took to create Random Access Memories. Its small size and rural setting also means that the launch will be of a completely different scale and feel from traditional launches.

The electronic dance musicians, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, have not confirmed whether or not they will be attending the launch party. A total of 4,000 tickets will be sold for the event, which is expected to bring in attendees from around the world—that is, if they can get their hands on a ticket before they’re all sold out.

Wee Waa is reportedly building a purpose-built stage, from which Sony will play Random Access Memories as the sun sets over the town. Details about the event are well guarded at this point, and we suspect it will stay that way until after the fact. 

Spotify’s Most Viral Songs

The music streaming service Spotify has helped listeners discover new music and listen to old, all the while allowing tracks and albums to be shared. This has led to many songs going viral through Spotify, with users discovering, listening and sharing songs on social media sites like Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter.

This list is of the most viral songs, not to be confused with Top Tracks on Spotify (which are simply the most popular).  That’s another list, filled with artists like Justin Timberlake, Imagine Dragons, The Lumineers and Bruno Mars. The article by the Associated Press, from which this information was pulled, can be seen here.

The most viral song for the last week of March was Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” with M83’s “Oblivion” featuring Susanne Sundor coming in second. Vampire Weekend, OneRepublic, and Nico Vega all made the list as well, with “Diane Young,” “Counting Stars,” and “Beast.”

The top ten was rounded out with “Recover” by Chvrches, “Cactus in the Valley (Acoustic)” by Lights featuring Owl City, “Chocolate” by The 1975, “Song for Zula” by Phosphorescent, and “The Way” by Ariana Grande.

In the UK, the top shared tracks are different. While Nico Vega, M83, Phosporescent, Vampire Weekend, and OneRepublic all made the list for a second time, the other five were replaced with others. Garbage’s “Not Your Kind of People” came in at number two, followed closely by “Up in the Air” by 30 Seconds to Mars. Other Ant & Dec also went viral with their song, “Let’s Get Ready to Rhumble—100 percent Radio Mix.” The final two on the UK list were “Full Circle” by Half Moon Run and “GMF” by John Grant.

What do you think of last week’s most viral tracks? Did you share or see any of those songs in your news feed? Which songs do you think should have made the list but didn’t?

ReDigi Sued for Copyright Infringement

ReDigi, a company that allowed users to sell digital music they no longer wanted, has been sued by Capitol Records for copyright infringement. On Monday, April 1^st, Judge Richard Sullivan of New York ruled that the “first sale” doctrine did not extend to digital media and therefore reselling digital music was, in fact, a copyright infringement.

ReDigi had claimed to be a legal service for selling unwanted digital music, relying on the first sale doctrine, which states that one owner may resell unwanted goods to a new owner. This is how secondhand stores are able to operate, and how music and movies and books may be re-sold legally. But they may not be duplicated.

Judge Sullivan’s ruling discounted the first sale doctrine in this case, though, since duplication is far too easy to carry out with digital media. “It is simply impossible that the same ‘material object’ can be transferred over the Internet,” he wrote.

ReDigi asks all users to download special software upon signing up. The software scans their computer and is able to determine whether or not songs were purchased legally or illegally. Only songs that were bought legally may be sold, and upon sale, the software deletes them from the hard drive. The company also claims it will prevent users from re-downloading a song once they have sold it.

But according to the judge, this doesn’t solve the issue of duplication. The software in fact allows for duplication before deleting the original. “It is beside the point that the original phonorecord no longer exists. It matters only that a new phonorecord has been created,” he said.

Capitol Records is seeking a charge of $150,000 per copyright infringement, and though the judge ruled in their favor he has not yet established a specific amount to be repaid. The case likely been closely monitored by companies like Amazon and Apple, both of which have patents related to the resale or transfer of digital media. Neither has a functioning platform for such a process yet, but they are no doubt formulating one—and learning from ReDigi’s mistakes will help them in that journey.

Justin Timberlake Brings Sexy Back

Justin Timberlake is back on the music scene seven years after releasing FutureSex/LoveSounds in 2006 with hits like “Sexy Back.” His newest album, The 20/20 Experience is his third solo album, and so far it’s hitting music charts with a splash.

According to the BBC, the album has bumped David Bowie’s newest album, The Next Day, down from its number one spot on the UK charts. Billboard won’t announce its first week figures for the new album until Wednesday, but pre-release figures suggested sales around 500,000 copies. One day after release, that number was upped to 750,000, and 850,000 the day after that. On Sunday, it was estimated that the first week’s sales would be between 950,000 and 975,000.

Will it hit platinum in the first week? We shall see. The estimated numbers are based on both physical and digital sales orders, comparisons with other artists, and other factors. According to MTV, Keith Caulfield, who is associate director of charts/retail for Billboard, says that Timberlake is doing “everything right” and has done a sound job of carefully promoting the new album.

One of Timberlake’s strengths with 20/20 is that the single “Suit & Tie” has become a crossover hit and is being played on many different genre stations, from pop to R&B, contemporary to hip-hop.

The album wasn’t even announced until January, which Caulfield also says was a good move. It didn’t hurt that he’s had some very well-received performances lately, including one at SXSW music festival, a pre-Super Bowl concert, and a Grammys performance.

We suspect he’ll be just fine if he doesn’t make platinum right away. But if Timberlake does manage to sell over 1 million copies in the first week, he’ll be the first since Taylor Swift released her newest album, Red, in 2012.

Beatles Photos Sell for £30,000

The Beatles played their biggest show ever at Shea Stadium in 1965. There were over 55,000 fans in the crowd, and their cheers were so loud that at one point the band’s music was completely drowned out by their cheers. Beatlemania was in full effect.

At that very same concert, there were two photographers. One was a professional who ran out of film during the show; the other was Marc Weinstein, an amateur photographer who created a homemade press pass to get backstage privileges. He managed to get a police officer to escort him to the stage area, where he could see clearly and take photos.

“…I walked up to the first police officer I saw and… I said, “Excuse me, sir, I’m with the Beatles entourage and I got separated from the group. Can you help me to the stage, please?’ And he looked at me and he said, ‘Sure, follow me.’ And I was stunned. He ate the whole thing. He started, ‘Hey guys, move out of the way. This guy is with the group. I’m taking him out there.’ And I just followed him.”

“I just blended with everybody there,” he said. “I had a method of operation; I just acted like I belonged. Anybody in authority, I would look the other way.”

It seems that “method of operation” has paid off hugely for Weinstein. Though he admits he could hardly hear anything from where he stood, he was able to get some amazing shots. The photos he was able to take using his fake press pass have sold at auction for £30,000—or more than $45,000. Pre-sale estimates had priced the photos at between £15,000 and £20,000.

According to the BBC, the successful buyer was described by auctioneer Paul Fairweather as “a South American gentleman currently living in Washington [who] is a huge collector of Beatles memorabilia.”

Mood Headphones Have Arrived

Remember when you were a kid and mood rings were all the rage? Jewelry that could read your mood? Cool! It was only when we got older that the realization hit that these so-called mood-reading devices simply measured body temperature. And sure, sometimes that’s a fair indicator of mood, but sometimes it’s just a sign that you’re cold or hot.

But now there’s a new mood-reading device. They’re called Mico headphones, and they choose music based on your current mood. And it’s not based on your body temperature. Mico headphones literally read your brainwaves to determine how you’re feeling.

An electroencephalograph sensor is attached to the headphones and touches your forehead, allowing the headphones to scan brainwaves and interpret your mood. Your “mood” is then communicated to the app within the headphones, which selects songs tagged with specific moods. Granted, it can’t read specific thoughts (that would be a little creepy), but it’s certainly a novel idea.

The headphones, which premiered at SXSW, can currently sense three different states of mind: stressed, sleepy, and focused. They are in the prototyping stage from the Tokyo-based Neurowear, which creates products that interact with biological signals like brainwaves and heartbeat.

Neurowear already has a product called “Necromimi,” which are wearable cat ears that rise and lie down based on how you are feeling. Similarly, they have developed “Shippo,” which is a tail that wags based on the same signals. “Tailly” is another tail put out by the collaborating company on “Shippo,” and is another tail that wags in response to heartbeat.

And now, headphones. For now, it’s a fun novelty that could prove to be truly innovative and interesting if it can become more sophisticated and intelligent, sensing more moods and connecting to mainstream music apps like Pandora and Spotify. For now, we’ll wait and hope.