Vespas in Arezzo

Image via Wikipedia

 

I went back to Arezzo (in Tuscany) this weekend. I lived there for a couple of years during the 90’s. It was good to see my old apartment (Casa dello Capitano) in the “centro storico” and to wander the streets I knew so well. While there I picked up a CD by an old friend who lives in the area. He formed a band called Casa Del Vento.   It's a bit unusual to find, in the middle of Tuscany, a group of Italians who play using traditional Irish instruments.

 

Being the first weekend of the month, it was also time for the Feria Antiquaria. As usual, the streets were thronged with bargain hunters and there were lots of very interesting articles on sale. There was also a disturbing amount of Nazi paraphernalia mixed in with the genuine antiques on sale.

However, there was a bright light of culture which obscured the bad taste left in my mouth – and that was an exhibition by the Vespa Club of Arezzo.

 

They had a couple dozen models of classic Vespas on display dating back over 60 years. I would have loved to stay on till Sunday to join them for their “rideout”. Had a little chat with the organisers and explained that I used to live in Arezzo and that I would have loved it if I had my own Vespa there to take on the rideout but, as my PX 200 is only 11 years old, I think it might have felt a little out of place.

 

                                                                                

Unfortunately, the battery in my camera was dying but I managed to get a couple of pics before it gave up the ghost.

The future of the music industry?

Image via Wikipedia

 

 

If you want to listen to unsigned artists, you can try www.iacmusic.com and www.mymajorcompany.co.uk. You won't get the latest noise by Lady Gaga but you can find some incredible music by musicians you might never hear otherwise.

IAC allows you to create radio stations and add songs to it from the artists on the site. You can share your thoughts about the tunes with the artists and they often respond. You can also purchase tracks for download and I love the fact that every single penny you pay goes directly to the artist. There are thousands of artists and many different genres to choose from. You are bound to find something you like.

Image via CrunchBase

My Major Company also allows you to listen to new artists for free but, here's the twist, you can also invest in them. You buy £10 shares in an artist's project up to a maximum of 100 shares. When an artist raises £100,000 in shares, they are signed up and release an album. Then a percentage of all the profits made are shared amongst the shareholders - physical and digital sales, merchandising, live apprearance fees, and other ancillary rights. I have bought a share in a new band called "Millers Daughter". They are twin girls from Stonehenge who look and sound great. Could be a mini-Corrs! They have already raised £31,000 towards the target. Hope they get the whole amount soon. I think they could be a summer sensation if they can release in time.

It's a great way to get involved, hear free music and maybe make a few pence. Just think, you could own a piece of a future Beatles! In fact, if it's not someone stealing his identity, Paul McCartney is a shareholder of a band called "The Draytones". Not surprisingly, they have a bit of a Beatle-ish sound.

In the end, these sites provide an avenue for new artists to be heard and rewarded for their talent. Even in the age of digital downloads, it is still a music "industry" and the industry usually decides what we get to listen to. This is a way you can make the decisions yourself about what becomes popular, help an artist earn some money and maybe make a profit. It's a win-win situation.

Yay, for Windows Live Writer and Zemanta

 

    
I have been pretty useless as far as keeping up my blogging has been concerned recently – in fact, was never much good at it. However, I am now using Windows Live Writer and I have rediscovered the Zemanta browser add-on.

Images via Wikipedia and CrunchBase

 

Zemanta’s is now available as a Live Writer plug in and is a great resources for finding links, posts and images that reflect the content of your post and they worry about the copyright.

 

 

For example, let’s say I mention Libya in my blog, Zemanta suggests several images taken from Wikimedia Commons, Flickr and various stock photo providers related to Libya. It also provides the hyperlinks for Windows Live Writer, Zemanta and Libya in the copy above AND it provides links to some related articles if your readers want to follow up. 

 

 

 

 

 

Related articles

• Random Flickr Image via Zemanta; experiment ensues (quantumxen.net)
• Zemanta for Better Content and More Traffic (alwaysbcmom.com)
• Five Useful Blog Editors (blogs.sitepoint.com)
• Libya Endgame (stephencrose.wordpress.com)

 

 

 

 

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AOR (All Over The Road

Pay Per Post–continued

Ok, so I’ve set up my Pay Per Post account. Confirmed it by writing a random sentence in a blog post and …. no advertisers and what seems like a fairly p***sed off community of users. I’ll give it a while and see if things improve. Shame if they don’t ‘cos I thought it was a great idea. I had visions of reviewing ground-breaking software, services or products AND getting paid for my opinions. And I thought it might drive traffic to my site. Well, will just have to hope that first impressions aren’t true.

Pay Per Post

I've decided to look into the model of customer generated advertising. To this end, I have signed up to Pay Per Post. In the coming days and weeks, I will see if this compromises or complements my blog content. To activate the account, I need to prove that I own this blog. To prove that I must add the following random sentence somewhere in a post: A climate mangles a rush myth.
Let's see what types of advertisers I can choose to blog about. I'll let you know how it goes.

Recent online discoveries

This week, I've been lucky to find a great new site. Ok, so the French site is not new but the UK one is.
It's called My Major Company.
I've always been keen to discover new music outside the traditional A&R trash that's shoved down the public's throats on MTV and the radio waves. The IAC (Independent Artists Company) player at the top of my blog is testament to that. I love the fact that the artists get to keep every single penny when punters buy their music for download from the site. And I love the fact that I get to hear new music that might never get heard otherwise. Artists can get together and collaborate. They get feedback from the public directly and can talk directly to their fans.

My Major Company, however, is more like a traditional record company. The big difference is that the public are invited to invest in new artists. Shares are on sale for £10 each and you can buy up to 100 shares in any artists you choose. Once the artist raises £100,000 in shares, they are invited to make a record. Shareholders then can earn a return on their investment if the band is successful. I love this business model even more than IAC. Not only do I get to hear up-and-coming artists who might never get heard. I get to express my opinions AND I may even make a small profit (or a large one if I invest in the next U2).

I bought one share in a band called Millers Daughter and have high hopes for them. Not only are they talented musicians, they are also gorgeous blonde twins!!!! Here's hoping they can turn my £10 into a £1 million so I can retire. As of today, they've raised £31,180 towards their first record. I'm sure they'll go all the way.
I'll keep you posted.