Here is an interwesting read on the new Dell MP3 players and what that might mean to Apple. I’m doubtful Dell will have much success against Apple buyt Zune may have some things to worry about.
Last week the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Dell was again looking at the MP3 business and that I was involved in the effort. I’ve been fascinated with the success of the iPod for some time now and the fact that even though it is very clear how Apple took the market, there has yet to emerge a truly serious competitor to Apple’s leadership. This is primarily because no one wanted to match Apple on all aspects of their program initially, and now that Apple is dominant, matching alone won’t do it anyway.
On the other hand, just like Apple moved around the companies who dominated the MP3 player market before Apple entered, so too (in theory) could another firm. But, it will be harder this time because Apple has already captured many of the likely early adopters with either the iPod or iPhone product lines (you can check out our Apple iPhone 3G review).
I went to the Reggae Sumfest 2007 last July and I got the idea to ask for a press pass this year and yesterday I got an email requesting a photograph for my pass which has been approved. I did not expect that I would be able to do so because I got a late start and actually made my request after the official accreditation process had been closed. I think I was able to sweet talk a very special young lady in SumFest administration who facilitated my special request and was able to help me out.
I was only planning on going for just one day, Thursday evening is Dancehall night and my good friend Ras Slick wants to go that night. The King of Dancehall Beenie Man headlines with Bounty Killer, Elephant Man and Mavado for what should be an explosive evening of hardcore Jamaican musicians. Now that I have backstage and artist access I suppose I’ll have to go for the 3 main evenings and my plans are now to catch Friday and Saturday nights shows as well. I’m not very prepared but I think it should be a fun experience.
Friday nights line-up features Lil Wayne, Keyshia Coles, John Courtney and Jah Cure who happens to be smoking hot here in Jamaica right now. This guy has a huge fan base here in Jamaica and is set to remain so for quite some time it seems. I’d like to interview him just to ask him some questions about wa gwan here in Jamaica. He seems to be a powerful influence on Jamaican youth and I’d like to hear his views on things in his home country. Jamaican musicians have incredible impact in the development of young Jamaicans and it’s not uncommon to hear 5-7 year old kids singing the latest hardcore hits word for word. I know a few 5 year olds who swear to be “Gangsta for Life” as the “Gully Creep” for me.
Saturday nights show features T-Pain as the main act with Reggae legend Beres Hammond and rising star Tarrus Riley backing up a mixed line-up of international stars. John Holt, Etana and Rootz Underground are also on the bill and should make fora great days music. I’m looking forward to my week. Anyone else in Jamaica for Sumfest with their Zune?
Description: A thrill ride of melody and transition… Hard rock energy with alternative styling. Not afraid to drift into metal/hardcore influences or to strip down to a intimate alternative setting. Our music thrives on melody, transcending chords and rhythm.
Biography:
Fading out Silence is…
Jonathon Trone: Lead Vocals
Deanna Trone: Keyboard and vocals
Dominic Bellasperanza: Guitar and Bass
Thomas Turner: Drums
A thrill ride of melody and transition. One that will drop you from a cliff and convince you that the impact won’t come, have you experience the shock of a lifetime, then smile and walk away leaving you bleary-eyed and breathless.
That is the goal we try to achieve with every single song we write, and every show we play.
What we want to bring to the listener is a message that is eerily haunting and beautifully hopeful.
Started roughly in 2001, it began as a couple of friends getting together to have fun, but slowly grew into something resembling a dream. When we realized that is could become something more than just a way to put our talent to constructive use, we began pursuing it with all we had. We’ve hit some rough spots along the way, lost members to moves and harder situations, and hit some times where it seemed honestly hopeless. But all the difficulties have helped mature our sound and strengthen our drive to what it is today.
The love and passion, for the art that is music, is still growing and will continue to grow exponentially. It goes beyond just enjoying stepping onto a stage and having fun…it is truly something that when we get together and write, perform, or practice we get lost…lost in a euphoric bliss that can only truly be experienced when we share it with others, which is exactly the desire that drives us.
To all our fans now and the ones to come, thank you so much for the amazing support, we love you dearly! And heres to the future! May you be there with us!
That about sums us up…
Peace and Mercy!
Jonathon
Press
Release:
Fading Out Silence
Fading Out Silence is about filling your mind with music. These alt-rockers have got the tunes to carry out that desire. Fading Out Silence is a versatile band, covering a broad range of emotional impact in its music. The band’s softer side offers melodic textures and intelligent, heartfelt lyricism while the heavier side of the band takes the melody and smarts and delivers them with crunch and punch and hints of metallic energy. Either way, it’s a musical rush of songwriting passion.
Essence of Expression
For Fading Out Silence, writing music is more than just tossing some beats, notes and words together to make people clap their hands. Much more. Music is the embodiment of the human spirit, emotion captured in melody, the communication of inner self to inner self, artist speaking to audience. Music is a reality in and of itself and one inextricably entwined with the mind and heart of man. “It truly is the essence of expression,” says Fading Out Silence. “To take what you’re feeling and mold music around it to fit the mood is one of the most amazing gifts one could have.” Music, declares Fading Out Silence, goes beyond telling others about what happened to you – it’s sharing with them the experience in a way they will truly understand. “To sculpt your experiences into something tangible for someone else to hold is showing people who need hope that there is someone else who understands the pain or love or any other emotion that they are going through.”
Soul of Sound
Music is part of the very fabric of our senses. We can feel the beats vibrate through us. Our ears revel in the music. With a computer program (or something else …) we can even visualize the concept of music. Music can be translated to mathematical formula. Music is everywhere. It’s part of us and part of everything. And that’s exactly Fading Out Silence is here to conquer silence and bring music as a messenger of promise. It’s way more than mere entertainment. “Music is the soul of sound,” says Fading Out Silence. It can shape the world and alter the direction of the future. It can be used for dark purposes and light. It has power and requires responsibility. “With the ability to be a gift one moment and a weapon the next, it is a medium of purpose, and as such the wielder must always be aware of the message’s intent.”
The Artist at Work
Fading Out Silence has shared concert time with 30 Seconds To Mars and has recently completed a pair of CDs, each designed to show off a facet of the band’s musical personality. “Our softer, more indie rock album entitled ‘The Set It to Silent Project’ will be released in November 2007,” according to Fading Out Silence. “Our harder alternative rock album entitled ‘Improv-ed Improvement’ was released in August.” Fading Out Silence is working with A&R Select, the world’s leading artist development firm, based in Los Angeles, CA.
“The diversity of Fading Out Silence’s sound is key to the depth and impact this band has on mind and heart with its serious rock energy.” - A&R Select
I’m an avid online shopper and I buy many of my things over the internet. I generally use big shopping sites such as Amazon.com and TigerDirect.com for my electronics and computer equipment. Is shop a number of smaller sites for other things like shoes and sporting goods and I have been known to shop eBay on occasion for unique items or when I need a new toy from some guy who can’t have his anymore. I think the last thing I bought on eBay was a Halo Zune for a giveaway some many months back. i just don’t like dealing with many smaller shops online. Most of them are simply resellers for some other larger shop and they just screw up the process most of the time.
I like everyone else who shops online appreciate the bargains to be had on the web while shopping for just about anything. Most websites offer the best prices on their websites and you can always find a deal on the web over what you might find in a retail store. Some stores now offer their closeouts exclusively online. I like to search for the best price on the web but searching has become a drag with all the junk in the way and when I find a website with a load of deals in one place it makes me smile. I was happy to find a new coupon site today that has an awesome selection of coupons online and some of the best coupons for places like my favorite site Amazon.com as well as many other large shopping sites like Sears and of course kids favorites KB Toys and GameFly to name a few. They have 100’s of different store coupons available and you could probably find a deal or discount on just about anything you buy online. There are no gimmicks or catches to this one and you get the coupons discounts after you click through to the sponsor site and make a purchase online.
You do not have to join their site or supply information to anyone other than the retailer and of course the big players all use secure website so shopping online should be safe and smooth. An online coupons site like this one will come in super handy when the holiday shopping season rolls around and folks start building wish lists and what not. I know I can always use some ideas for what to get and a coupon to the right store may just be the right way to spark some ideas for this Christmas and the gift giving season. I can already see I’ll be doing 100% of my shopping online this year as I am in Jamaica and most of my friends and family are back home in the States. online and securing free shipping seems like my best choice for this year and 1-Coupons.com should be of great help to me and maybe you as well.
This is an advertisement for a website that actually offers free music downloads, well they are as close to free as you may find legally anyway. EZ-Tracks.com is actually a rather simple and straight forward music download site with free access to unlimited mp3 downloads.
The site has over 30,000 legal and free music downloads from some of todays hottest artists and they are all DRM free mp3 files. You can find the latest and greatest tunes on digital downloads from top musicians such as “No Air” from Jordin Sparks and featuring the super popular Chris Brown or “Love in This Club” by the new King of Pop, Usher and featuring the equally hot Young Jeezy. Not bad for free right?
You know there is no such thing as free on the internet and of course you have to sign up to their website and provide your information including a cell phone number so they can send you some ads by phone but thats not such a bad deal for some free legal music downloads is it?
I love the internet and all the wonderful things it allows for people from all over this great big world of ours to do each and every day. I’m never amazed at the seemingly limitless opportunities that the internet presents to all people from all cultures and all countries. The educational possibilities for a student with internet access are nothing short of amazing to say the least and the web has certainly changed the way the world learns. Online learning has reached a whole new level providing services and course study of an astounding number of subjects to new learners every day.
Distance Learning is not for all students and some of us may find learning on the computer to be difficult to say the least but a majority of us are technologically savvy and feel at ease on a computer and to have the ability to take a learning course at our own pace is just what we need to achieve the degree that we seek. I live online and taking an course over the web would probably be best for me if I had the desire to pursue a degree. I don’t think I need one with the state of my own business these days but if I did I would probably take an online course of some form.
I have considered a business degree of some sort and the Business and Management course at KaplanLearning.org.uk would probably fit me well if that were my goal but with my focus on internet business I would probably be better suited to pursue the Internet Marketing Foundation they offer but I think my 10 years experience working from home trumps their degree.
If you are interested in working or learning online then you really should look at what they offer or at least take a look at some other program.
Here is a selection of mp3 downloads available from Amazon featuring Damian Marley. He has become one of my favorite musicians. I really like almost all of his work and I think he’s a very talented person. I had the pleasure of meeting him and brother Stephen backstage at the Smile Jamaica / Africa Unite show in Oracabessa Jamaica recently and it was an awesome experience. The whole show was cool and I met many others including K’naan and Swiss Chris.
I submitted this photo as seen above to his Wikipedia page from the same concert. The show was amazing and I really enjoyed myself. I got some better shots but made an ass of myself in the process of taking them. It’s a long story but I got me a handshake and short conversation with Ziggy and Stephen and was able to express my appreciation for the work they have done in following their footsteps. I fell in love with Bob Marley and his music the first time I heard it and about 15 years later I’m in Jamaica listening to his sons carry on the family legacy.
Damian is the favored brother amongst most Jamaican youth. His music is harder and more ghetto than any of the other brothers and he is no doubt the King of Kingston. Just about everywhere on the island that I have been I can hear his music or some mix of it blaring out of some giant speakers. The Marley legacy lives on in his children and Damian took more of his fathers more militant side. His music sounds more inspired by Peter Tosh than Bob Marley.
Zune has sold over 2 million units and grabbed a whopping 4% market share in it’s 2nd year of production. Zune hit the 1 million mark back in 07/07. That was one million in just under the first year and this 2nd million comes in at about 1 1/2 years after the release date of the first player. They made the jump from 1 to 2 faster so it looks like Zune may be gaining steam. It was expected that Zune would be a late bloomer and Microsoft stated in the very beginning the had a 3 to 5 year plan for this.
I would think they are mildly pleased with hitting 4% market share in that time. Many folks had Zune doomed from the start and most thought it would never make it this far. I knew Microsoft was planning for a long battle and it looks like their efforts may be paying off. They have not had the best of luck with Zune and they have even been their own worst enemy at times but Microsoft has the hammer approach to marketing and they’ll just keep pounding away until the get it right. We’re gonna love zune and they’ll keep shoving stuff at it until we do!
I’m really digging the new games on Zune and I have beeen letting the kids use it more since we put them on it as well. I think Microsoft should work on porting as many free games for Zune as they can find and start adding some fan favorites into the Zune MarketPlace alongside Podcasts and Videos for a full service media market place. If I could find more Zune games to download I’d have more fun I think.
Microsoft’s Zune picked up a percentage point in the MP3 player market, bringing its share to a whopping four percent, with two million units sold. Microsoft has said from the start that it will stick with the Zune for as long as it takes for the player to gain traction, and it looks like that’s starting to happen.
Apple’s share of the MP3 player market share dropped a single point to 71 percent, according to the NPD Group’s study, but its lead is still monstrous. The bigger loser between Q1 2007 and Q1 2008 was Creative, which saw its share halved to two percent.
