Friday February 3, I’ll join Bandcamp’s #NoBanNoWall initiative. Bandcamp will donate 100% of their profits to the ACLU. I’ll donate 200% of mine. Over 200 other artists and labels will also participate.
Now’s a great time to pick up some
or sax skronk
and skuffle.
All for a good cause, of course.
Online music marketplace Amie Street (amiestreet.com) closed today. Amie Street pages now redirect to amazon.com.
I’m sad to see Amie Street go. It was an interesting model for online music sales: all music began free and the price of each track rose according to its popularity. There was an active social network that allowed users to follow each other’s interests as well as artists and labels. And most importantly for me, anyone could upload music to sell on the site, which led to an interesting community of music lovers and music makers. (How often did I log on to discover the frighteningly prolific Crimson Razorback or Robert Waddington had posted yet another track?)
I had two recordings available on Amie Street: Maps and one 4 one. At the time Amie Street closed down, Maps was selling for a whopping $1.15 and one 4 one was currently at $0.45. Neither record earned enough royalties to warrant a check from Amie Street, but given a long enough tail I could imagine a dollar or two coming in every so often. Neither is currently available on amazon.com. For online distribution of my music, it looks like I’ll rely more and more on bandcamp.
When I heard the news that Amie Street would be closing I did a quick inventory of the music I purchased on the site: (in order, roughly, from most recent to least recent purchases)
And an untold number of other artists whose work I heard but didn’t keep around. It sounds cruel, but the point of a site like amie street is exactly this kind of exposure–which is likely what I’ll miss the most.
Google Maps announced today that it has added support for generating bicycle directions. See the video above for an intro. This is listed as a beta feature and is apparently only available in 150 or cities. Albany happens to be one, so I gave it a go by typing in a few common destinations.
The routes appear mostly workable though far from ideal. They thankfully avoid busy, highly trafficked roads and give some preference to flatter routes. What few biking infrastructure amenities Albany possesses don’t seem to be part of the Google database. My usual route from Albany to Troy utilizes the Hudson River hike and bike trail for most of the distance, while the Google generated route substituted a long stretch on a two-lane road with an average speed limit of 45 miles per hour–not my first choice.
It will be interesting to watch this service develop. I certainly plan on using it but will likely do so in conjunction with other route-finding services (where they exist).
Here’s my latest web 2.0-a-riffic, GoogleMaps, GPS, mashup thingamabob idea: a website that allows users to view common flightpaths for a particular location and evaluates the location based on frequency of flyovers and noise level. Would be a great tool for noise-sensitive home buyers. Or for flyover collectors, plane spotters, etc.
The price for my Maps CD on amiestreet.com recently broke the $1.00 barrier (see below). To celebrate I’ve the posted the album in its entirety at grabrarearts.com. Go here for complete information or use the link below to get it all in one swell foop. This is part of my pledge to make more of my music available for download in 2008. I’ll have more coming up soon, so stay tuned.
Download the full album including artwork: hopson_maps.zip
I’ve been intending to write about amiestreet.com since this blog went live. The full story will still have to wait, but I decided there’s no better angle for it than as full participant. I’ve been downloading music at amiestreet since last Spring. Now I’ve finally posted some tracks of my own. My CD Maps is now available. Download it, recommend it, watch your street cred soar. (More on that later…)
Or listen right here.