Artist: Pendulum

Song: Showdown

Category: Electronic / Dance

Album: In Silico

Listen: [Bing Entertainment]

I am doing what I can to help the United States pay its bills. Above is a picture of a check made out to the Treasury of the United States of America, for the purpose of meeting the country’s financial obligations (i.e paying the individuals who finance our country’s budget deficit, the international trade deficit, and the resulting national debt from both). It is what I can afford, as an individual who is struggling to pay for one more year of college in addition to the debt that I created as a result of taking out private loans to finance previous years of college. I intend to send this check to Washington D.C. Rest assured this is one tax deduction I will not be claiming.

In the time I have spent out of school I have come to respect all an education can bring. In addition, I have learned that four continuous years of collegiate learning are not for everyone. Unfortunately, I learned the latter the hard way. To an extent, it is why I had respect for House Speaker John Boehner, he shows that not everyone needs to complete college “on time” to be a successful individual. That is a powerful message.

At the same time, our country seems dangerously close to learning a much different lesson the hard way. Our inability to pay our bills as a nation is not something to be treated with indifference. Our inability to pay should not be something we, as United States citizens, should scoff at and simply hope the best will come out of the situation. From personal experience, putting your fate into the hands of others is not a gamble one should ever take if it can be avoided.

It sucks to have no recourse for a what you believe to be a bad decision, other than to live with the outcome. In this case the hard lesson we are coming close to leaning is what happens if the United States of America cannot hand out more IOUs. As I understand it, bond rating agencies would lower their belief in the United States’ ability to pay it bills (a.k.a. creditworthiness). Part of the result of not being able to pay for what has already been spent would be more financial hardship for individuals already struggling to make ends meet. In essence, the decisions by the bond rating agencies to lower the creditworthiness of the United States would be a bad decision (in the eyes of all future U.S. citizen borrowers) we would have to accept. Though I do not understand the finer points of either of the major proposals to cut the budget deficit or curtail government spending I get the sense both would create hardship for individuals who could do without such strain. Personally, I would hate to see the interest rates for my student loans jump higher than than their current levels. At the end of the day maintaining our ability to pay our bills as a nation, even in the face of such controversy over how to accomplish that goal, would be a powerful message.

Why am I doing this? In recent history, we can think back to the government bailout of the United States banking industry. We, as United States citizens, were told the banks were too big to fail. If the U.S. banks failed the results would be catastrophic to the way we lived our lives. As a result we became partial owners of a number of United States banks for the purpose of preventing them from collapsing. Looking back even further I am drawn to the actions of J.P. Morgan. I talk of the individual, not the bank.  Remembering what I learned about J.P. Morgan in my high school American History class, one fact comes to mind. In 1895, J.P. Morgan bailed out the United States government. When it looked like the United States of America would run out of money, J.P. Morgan, with help from business partners, did what he could to insure the United States would be able to conduct business. You know how everyone is writing that Apple has more money than the United States government? John Pierpont Morgan had more cash than the government in 1895. Instead of letting the government fail, he, with the help of individuals like John D. Rockefeller, did something about it… twice in a span of just over ten years. I am not saying that Apple should do something but I am making the point there are individuals and corporations who have the power to write a bigger check.

While many argue about the true motives of such actions the fact still remains, when the time for action came, J.P. Morgan stepped up and did what he could to help the United States of America. When August 2nd comes and if there is no compromise on what to do about increasing the United States’ ability to borrow money, I will know I did what I could to put money towards the issue of enabling the United States of America to meet its financial obligations. While it is not 6 or 10 million dollars towards the purchase of bonds it is something. As far as I know, it is more money than most congressional law makers have committed to help our country for the explicit purpose of cutting the budget deficit or lowering our national debt.

Where are our J.P. Morgans and Co. now?

Joss Stone. Hot damn. Sex for my ears. That is all!

• "Shuffle A Dream" by Little Dragon, from the album "Ritual Union" (Electronic) [Software] [Social]
• "Somehow" by Joss Stone, from the album "LP1" (Pop) [Software] [Social]
• "Red (Edit)" by  [ Cell 7 ], from the album "Red (The FiXt Remixes)" (Electronic) [Software] [Social]
• "Family Business" by Brandy/Ray J, from the album "Family Business" (R&B) [Software] [Social]
• "Gypsy Heart" by Rival Sons, from the album "Pressure and Time" (Rock) [Software] [Social]
• "I'm Gettin' Stoned" by Eric Church, from the album "Chief" (Country) [Software] [Social]

CHANGES EFFECTIVE 9 AUGUST 2011*:


This year's Comic-Con raffle winners are: 

1. Daniel Garcia in Long Beach, CA
2. Katie in Port Neches, TX 
3. Brian Carter from Columbus, OH 
4. *Chris in Greenfield, MA
5. Paul from Mission Viejo, CA 

Email socialcircle@live.com to claim you Comic-Con in a box before 8 August 2011!
Once you do, you will receive an email from me (from a different Gmail account) with further instruction on what I need from you in order to personalize your prize as best I can.

On this day (July 26th), in 2008, Inside The Circle was created to be an extension of the, then, Zune Forums. In that time we’ve done, in my opinion some great content, give out awesome free music and been a solid voice for Zune and Music.

So today, we celebrate our birthday, but we’re going to give you the gifts:

One lucky reader will win all of the following:

• Windows Phone Shirt
• 1600 MS Points
• 6 months of Xbox Live
• 3 months of Zune Pass
• 2 Limited Edition Kinectimal Stuffed Animals
• One Windows Phone branded mini speaker 

How do you win? Easy, send out this tweet:

“Inside the Circle is having a birthday, but they are giving out the gifts! Enter here: http://bit.ly/qTt5YB #BirthdayBlog”


Entries will be accepted between now and 11:59pm PST, today (July 26th). Can’t go any longer than that because July 27th isn’t our birthday.

However, there’s a second contest afoot. We’re, also, giving out 5 Windows Phone shirts to lucky Facebook friends.

All you have to do to enter that one, is like the Windows Phone shirt post on our Facebook page (although, it would also be nice if you hit the like button for the blog too). Entries will be accepted between the posting of the wall post and 5pm PST Thursday July, 28, 2011.

Winners, for both contests, will be chosen on Friday, July 28, 2011.

Details:

• U.S. Only, sorry
• Winners have the weekend to respond to me @tromboneforhire on Twitter. If you don't use Twitter, then you have to send me an email at tromboneforhire@msn.com
• If by Monday, August 1st 5pm PST winners haven’t responded new winners will be chosen – so keep an eye out in case you win.
• Grand prize package will be sent in two parts: One from myself and one from Neville Williams. Shirts will be sent by me
• Writers of ITC, fellow Microsoft MVPs and Zune staffers are ineligible
• Please do not spam your Twitter timeline. Caught spamming = ineligible
• We have the right to add/modify these terms as needed.

Good luck, everyone!

Over at my personal blog, I did an interview with the C.E.O. of MNET, Adam Ware. At the time, MNET was finding its footing on the cable networks and presenting great programming for today’s Asian youth. That particular interview continues to be read to this day and I’m not surprised.

In the time, since that interview, MNET has grown into a viable channel for all things in the Asian pop culture world. New original programming, plus a focus on great international JPop and KPop music has helped MNET grow and thrive.

So, naturally, I went back to Adam Ware to get a status report on MNET. I asked him how he feels about the growth and where else would he like to see it expand. Here’s my latest interview with him:

Since we last chatted in January, how do you feel about the current growth of MNET?

Really optimistic! We have made great progress on all fronts.

Mnet entered into a nationwide agreement with Comcast resulting in new carriage on the digital tier. San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Sacramento launch on next week. And then at the end of August Mnet launches in Chicago and Boston! Which will put the network in 9 out of the top 10 TV markets and over 30 total across the country! And there is more to come in early 2012.

On the programming front, we launched our two new original series: the daily Beats Per Mnet and the prime time series Short Notice.

The shows continue to grow and expand creatively. BPM has had over 30 amazing guests including Hines Ward, US Congresswoman Judy Chu and next week Michael Rapaport stops by to discuss the new film about A Tribe Called Quest that he directed.

And Short Notice, our show featuring original Asian American short films, has been renewed for 13 more episodes.

And of course, this past week was an amazing coupe for our little network with the worldwide premiere of 2NE1 TV Worldwide. The fact that the producers chose to give us the world premiere really helps solidify our position as the US leader in K Pop.

And there are more great programming announcements coming!

How many more original series does MNET have planned for 2011 (or even 2012)?

We've got two more planned for 2011 including a daily two hour hosted K Pop music and lifestyle series! We are starting to hold auditions and if any of your readers are interested in trying out just let us know.

Since we last chatted I'm sure your taste in music has evolved, right? What are you listening to now?

Sort of...

I would say that it evolves on an hourly basis. I really like the 2NE1 tracks I've heard as their new album drops next week. I just downloaded the Shaggy album which brings him back to his reggae roots! The Pitbull album is amazing! And I love the Buddy Holly covers tribute album!

With all of the additional new programming added to MNET, how would you describe the channel to Asian youth, today?

Mnet is where they can find both the coolest Asian pop trends from across the globe and the newest original voices on the Asian American scene! We are the #1 destination for all things Asian cool!

Tell me about the company culture? What is daily life like in the MNET offices?

It's an interesting blend. On one hand we are part of a much larger strategic vision that our parent company CJ Entertainment and Media is rolling out on a global basis. On the other hand, we are a brand new start up TV network experiencing all of the high and lows that comes with it. Personally, I love the start up environment. It's when you can take the most risks as you find out what works and what doesn't. The key, however, is to stay focused and on mission.

Tell us about Adam Ware? What is your background in television?

Let's see... I've been at the TV thing for 25 years now. Pretty much have done it all from and distribution to Programming, Marketing and PR. Was lucky enough to be part of some of amazing ventures like the FOX Network, UPN, HSN, USA Networks and now Mnet. Most importantly, I've worked with some great people and have a learned a lot from each one.

What are some of the next steps and goals for MNET?

Grow the distribution! We will finish off 2011 just over 11 million homes and want to be at 15 million or more by the end of 2012. We are hoping that DirecTv, Dish and AT&T Uverse will see the value in offering Mnet to their subscribers. We sure get a lot of requests.

So here's what you're looking at. It's the Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 5 Encore. It's a device that essentially streams your music from a variety of sources. Here's how B&O describes it.

BeoSound 5 Encore offers lossless playback of all your digital music, from the storage media that suits you best. From an external harddrive or a music server. Or perhaps you want to play your newest music favourite from a simple USB stick, your smartphone or another mobile device. Either way, BeoSound 5 Encore will play the music for you. The choice is yours.

• Keep your music on your music server, hard disk, or connect your phone whenever you want.
• With the MOTS feature Bang & Olufsen takes a quantum leap towards the ultimate experience of digital music. (Zuners, think Smart DJ)
• Take charge of the level of quality you want and the number of listening posts you desire.

On the real, I wouldn't mind having one of these in my house! And doesn't that "generic" MP3 player have some Zune 120 like qualities?

When you finish the video, and you want more information, head here!

I'm sitting on an Amtrak train, riding home, after attending one of the largest geeky festivals out there. Comic Con is a celebration. A celebration of things that are cool, nerdy, awesome and whatever other adjective you want to think of. This was my first year at Comic Con. This was my first taste at what my friends have talked about for years.

Yeap, this was my first year. Quite possibly, also, my last.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed a lot of what Comic Con had to offer. Games, celebrities, discussions, panels and more. Having a chance to see a few familiar faces was also soothing as I tried to navigate my way through the boisterous crowds and throws of fans who were waiting for their favorites to come prancing through the hallways and onto panel chairs.

As I went through Comic Con, however, I could understand not only why people liked it, but I also understood why this was an event I don't find myself seeking and quenching for every year. The term I want to use is organized mess. I'm sure there's a lot of thought and care that go into making this event the best each year and to give eventers stories that they can tell on blogs and on Facebook. However, there were things about this event that just irked me.

Before we go any further, let me tell you what those major troublesome spots are:

Panels: There's nothing like hearing from your favorite stars and comic book heroes discuss their passion. But when you put that into a situation like Comic Con does with their panels you end up with a flustercuck of problems. No one wants to stand in line for 3 hours with no guarantee they'll even make it into the panel. My suggestion? Have paid attendees go through a registration system and let them mark which panels they want to attend. When those panels are sold out, they're done. Why should one panel have to suffer in attendance because some of those people are waiting for the subsequent panel to start.

Crowds: I don't even think the Anaheim Convention Center could solve this issue, but maybe Comic Con wants to reconsider how many tickets they offer to their event. If you spent 2 hours driving, 2 hours parking and 2 hours getting your badge, the last thing you want to do is spend 2 hours just trying to get from Point A to B. Too much time is being wasted and there's not enough enjoyment. This kinda goes back to panels too. If people have to spend more time trying to make it into a panel than actually enjoying them, no one wins.

Those are my two major complaints about this convention. But they're two complaints that prevented me from getting the full feel of the convention. I want to be there to celebrate geeky things, not celebrating that my legs were strong enough to hold me upright for 90 minutes.

But this convention isn't all negative. I got introduced to the show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" thanks to a friend and it turns out the show is pretty good. It had great writing, acting and a solid pace that didn't make you feel like a scene was inserted just for the hell of it. When the members of the cast came out, for questions, they came out in costumes and really showcased their personalities. You could tell they have a grand time doing the show and that truly does make for a great connection.

The Xbox Lounge, at the Hard Rock Hotel, was definitely a breather done right. I guess it's because it was Sunday, but it was a very chilled atmosphere in there. I got to try out a few upcoming games including Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, Fruit Ninja Kinect and Dance Central 2. Everyone in there was having a great time, especially with the Kinect-specific games. I do have to say that Fruit Ninja Kinect will be a fun game to play, but a dangerous one if you have others in the room.

As I walked through the show floor, itself, it was awesome to see items from popular comic book shows, books and movies. For example, seeing the actual Joker's outfit that the late Heath Ledger wore was awesome. Seeing animation being created right before your eyes is mesmerizing. Seeing people really go all out with their outfits and really capture the spirit of the event was heartwarming.

You know what else was great, the booth babes. Or I should say lack thereof. You know what was interesting? The comic booths didn't really deal with booth babes. There was no big breasted girl enticing you to come read the latest episode of "The Walking Dead". You know where booth babes were located? The gaming area. That's amazing to me. Let the material speak for itself. Let the material be what entices me to come over and see what's up. At the very least, use a girl who can tell the difference between an Xbox controller and a Logitech Harmony. Being at an event that didn't use a plethora of half-naked women as a crutch was a refreshing change of pace, so kudos to Comic Con and it's presenters for that.

When you're a first time attendee, at Comic Con (or any con for that matter), I make the suggestion that you just don't try to get through the entire show. Pick and choose your battles. It's a lot easier to go the 'less is more' route. Sure, it's an exciting time, and all, but you don't want to try to cram in so much that you forget to rest, or to eat, or to sleep or to <wait for it> bathe.

Whenever I hit an event like this, for the first time, I go very low-key and small. Hit a few panels, a few booths, see a few things. If you end up seeing a majority of the event, good. If you don't at least you have some quality time with the things that you did see and some stories you can tell later to your friends (or to perfectly good strangers, who like to hear about your adventures on this blog that you write for).

So, for this year, Comic Con was just about taking in the pageantry of it. Kind of see the big picture, the layout and how things are organized. In doing things that way, I could realize that I should attend panels once a day, booths are plentiful and after-parties become the event instead of the supplement.

So, I know I'm just one guy, and this is just my opinion, but if I were to attend Comic Con next year, I would just go for Friday-Sunday, see very little of the actual show floor and just hang out with friends at one of the bars and the after-parties. That's sad for an event with such impact as Comic Con, but the opportunities to meet celebs, talk to them and learn from them (unless you're press) are almost non-existent. Again, I think that comes down to crowd control (# of tickets) and panel control (registration setup).

If you're a person who ever goes to Comic Con for the first time, enjoy. Get what you can out of it. Take my experience and swirl it into a more complete recipe to help you get the most out of that first.

Like I said, Comic Con is a wonderful celebration. Get past the crowds and the claustrophobic atmosphere and you’re left with a show that honors, breathes, loves, lives, enjoys and presents what you love about pop culture.

It’s a geeky celebration. So celebrate, you geek! :)

If you want to see a few pictures, from Comic Con, that I took click here.

Artist: 2ne1

Song: Can’t Nobody

Category: Korean Pop

Album: To Anyone Group

Overview: Bing Entertainment | Official Group Website (Korean)

Don’t forget, our friends at Mnet are running a special about the ups and downs of 2ne1, called “2ne1TV Live: Worldwide”. For more information about the show, check out the official webpage.

Samsung and AT&T have teamed up to offer a series of concerts, called Krush 2011. Now in its 4th season, these concerts involve big name artists performing intimate, one-night-only concerts throughout the U.S. As a bit of promotion, attendees will also get a chance to sample the Samsung Infuse 4G, which is exclusively available only at AT&T.

Select segments of these events will air on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show and have includes artists such as Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Good Charlotte, Nelly, Nas and Daughtry. The series kicked off a few days ago, in Nashville, TN, with artist Luke Bryan.

Some of the upcoming concerts include:

THE BAND PERRY in Dallas, TX on August 8, 2011

BUSH & CHEVELLE in Chicago, IL on August 18, 2011

LENNY KRAVITZ in New York, NY on August 31, 2011

THE AVETT BROTHERS in Atlanta, GA on September 9, 2011

There will be stops in Orlando, San Francisco and Seattle.

So how does one get into these shows? Tickets are available through radio promotions, street teams and online registration. Shows also include iron-on shirt stations, and a chance to have your photo included in a moving mosaic that goes along the side of the stage.

If you want more information about the Krush events, check out their official website.

If you attend one of these events, we’d love to hear about your experience.

*TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

• Inside the Circle (ItC) will hold this San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) raffle giveaway from 6PM PDT on Wednesday, July 20, 2011 through 5PM PDT on Sunday, July 24, 2011; the length I will be at SDCC.
• To represent my presence at Preview Night, first valid entry comment is an automatic winner.
• Those that enter this raffle are to be over the age of 18 at the time of applying.
• To enter this giveaway, leave a comment with your first name and your location (e.g. "Connie in Oceanside, CA" or "Seamus in Ireland"). Anything else will not count as an entry.
• Eligible entries must be made directly on the ItC website.
• Entries made via Twitter, Facebook, etc will not count as entries.
• One entry comment, per reader.
• Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received.
• Entry in the raffle does not in any way, shape, or form guarantee that you will win.
• Any and all ItC readers may enter to win.
• Winners from 2009 and 2010 may not enter nor win.
• SDCC 2011 attendees, exhibitors, employees, and volunteers may not enter nor win.
• Winners will be announced between 25 July 2011 and 1 August 2011.
• If winner(s) does/do not respond to claim prize by 8 August 2011, the action shall be considered a forfeiture of prize, and substitute winner(s) will be chosen.
• Winners may contact ItC with mailing information and, thus, claim prize at: socialcircle@live.com.
• Domestic winner(s) may choose to pay half of the shipping and handling cost ($5.50) or the option of paying in full ($10.95) is also available.  
• Winners in Canada or Mexico will pay 27.95 US dollars in full. All other international winners will pay 45.50 dollars US dollars in full.
• All payments will be made via PayPal using the email address: alfa.santos2005@gmail.com ONLY. 
• If winner(s) does/do not pay their share of the shipping costs by 8 August 2011, the action shall be considered a forfeiture of prize, and substitute winner(s) will be chosen.
• ItC is not in any way, shape, or form at fault if winner(s) does/do not provide ItC with the correct mailing address. 
• ItC is not in any way, shape, or form at fault if delivery service used (USPS) does not deliver adequately.  
• Any returned prizes will not be resent. 
• There will be a maximum of five (5) winners; the automatic winner for Preview Night and one for each official day of SDCC. 
• Each prize box will contain roughly the same amount of material, totaling around seven pounds (approx. 3.2 kg). However, it this ultimately depends on how much free loot I am able to score.
•  Contents of each prize box is unique.  
• Special requests of any kind will not be made. 
• ItC is not in any way, shape, or form at fault if contents of your box are broken or otherwise not intact or damaged. 
• All winners are chosen at random. 
• International readers may enter this giveaway.
• Many will enter five will win.   
• Restrictions apply. 
• Void where prohibited. 
• Terms and conditions apply. 
• By entering this raffle, you acknowledge that you fully understand and are in compliance with the above set rules. 
• Violation of any or all of the above set rules will result in disqualification from being able to win this and next year. 
• Any of the above is subject to change at my discretion.

Wow, this is probably the most regular column I’ve written in a while (someone must’ve put some fiber on this baby). Anyhow, this week was a good mashup of great discoveries as I was able to find a few gems from different genres. Here’s the listing (taking into consideration a great suggestion that I include the genre’s that these styles come from).

This week, I’m also including the link to the album on the zune.net website [Social], for those who don’t have the Zune software available.

• “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over (feat/ Mary J. Blige)” by DJ Khaled from the album “We The Best Forever” (Hip-Hop) [Software] [Social]
• “Round and Round” by 3 Doors Down from the album “Time of My Life” (Rock) [Software] [Social]
• “Rock On” by 311 from the album “Universal Pulse” (Rock) [Software] [Social]
• “Unconditional Love” by Terri Lynn Carrington from the album “The Mosaic Project” (Jazz) [Software] [Social]
• “Ghetto Dreams” by Common (feat/ Nas) from the album “Ghetto Dreams (Single)” (Hip-Hop) [Software] [Social]
• “Must Be The Music” by The Summer Set from the album “Everything’s Fine” (Rock/Pop) [Software] [Social]

Man, when I said that the record labels are signing with all of these music streaming services, I didn’t think I would see this news come through the wire. It irks me, though, that they do sign up in all of these places, but still have no fathoming clue about how to monetize it without making the customer feel like chumps in the end.

Yet, to that end, comes this…

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, announced today that it has signed a landmark agreement for the distribution of digital music with One-Stop China (OSC), a joint venture whose shareholders are three of the leading global record companies: Universal Music, Warner Music, and Sony Music.

OSC shareholders will license to Baidu their catalogues and upcoming new releases, including Chinese songs (in Mandarin and Cantonese) and international tracks, which can be streamed or downloaded from Baidu's servers.

Under the terms of the deal, Baidu will remunerate music content owners on a per-play and per-download basis for all tracks delivered through the Baidu MP3 Search service, as well as Baidu's newly launched social music platform, ting!. The new product offers users the ability to discover and share music and music-related content.

Users will be able to sign up for membership free of charge through the advertising-supported ting! website, ting.baidu.com.

"Baidu has always striven to provide the best possible experience to our users," said Jennifer Li, Chief Financial Officer of Baidu. "Our partnership with One-Stop China marks an exciting new beginning. I'm confident that Baidu, the Chinese music fans, recording artists, and the record companies alike will all benefit from this win-win partnership," said Ms. Li.

Representatives of OSC today also welcomed the agreement.

Speaking jointly as the shareholders of OSC, Lachie Rutherford, President Warner Music Asia Pacific, Max Hole, COO Universal Music Group International, and Thomas Hesse, President, Global Digital Business, US Sales and Corporate Strategy, Sony Music Entertainment, said: "This deal connects One-Stop's world-class repertoire of licensed music to a massive audience, creating crucial new opportunities for artists. All parties, especially music fans, will benefit from the growth of this type of compelling music service."

The new partnership with OSC was accompanied by a conciliation agreement, endorsed by the Beijing High People's Court, that ended outstanding litigation between the three record companies and Baidu.

[Official Press Release]

Anyone remember Zune Social? Anyone? Anyone at all? Probably not. What I once considered a great place to hang out and discuss music has quickly spiraled into a place that's barely mentioned. I'll be frank and say that part of the problem was the moving of the Zune forums to the Microsoft Answers site, since the forums was where people did most of their talking.

However, Zune Social does come with some great perks. You get to sample the music that your friends are listening to, sync them down to your Zune HD and (via Wifi) update those friend cards, while you're out on the go. You could earn badges for being heavily into your favorite music and you have the chance to leave messages with friends either praising or condemning their choice in music.

In its heyday, Zune Social was vibrant. Today, Zune Social is dormant.

So I had a thought: Why can't Zune Social be programmed directly into Windows Phone, especially since it's all about Phone, TV and PC. Much like people can have their information aggregated from Twitter, Facebook and Windows Live, with the upcoming Mango update, why can't one of those aggregated services be Zune Social? Maybe that would inject some life into the fledgling community.

I envision have it as part of a person's profile in the People hub. You could tab over and see their ZuneTag and maybe the last 6-8 songs they were listening to. If Zune Social becomes part of the Windows Live set of services again, pulling in information like this shouldn't be that difficult. If you decide that you want to check out one of these songs, then you should either hit a play button next to the individual song or a group play button that plays them like a play list. I know, for me, this would get me more involved in Zune Social.

Then there's the other side of that coin: Would people really do things with Zune Social, like they could with Facebook and Twitter. You could leave comments on people's Zune Social profiles and stuff, but the Social has become so stagnant, people might not even see the need to do anything with it. Plus, folks seem to be onto the shiny new nickel that is Google+.

Many members of Zune Nation have voiced great opinions on this topic:

(@kipkniskern) - @tromboneforhire In general, "baked in" means "rarely updated". More modular = more better, imo #ZuneNation

Artist: Colbie Caillat

Song: Brighter than the Sun

Category: Pop

Listen: Bing Entertainment

Purchase/Download: Zune Marketplace

If you've gone to any concerts, or sporting events, recently, then you know that trying to get tickets for said event can be hair-pulling. You've probably experienced sudden sell outs of tickets or just an overall feeling of being in the dark when it comes to obtaining those Justin Beiber tickets.

You're not alone.

A recent poll, by the Fan Freedom Project, notes that "(68 percent) say artists, venues and event promoters should be required to disclose the total number of event tickets available to the general public for purchase, and those set aside for private sales (including to sponsors, credit card VIPs, and friends of the promoter, performer or team)."

The survey was taken online by 1000 general ticket users.

There's a great page that has pretty charts if you click here. If you want to read some of the highlights of the press release and their findings, keep going on down. And let me know, in the comments what you think about the current state of ticket purchasing.

Of the 1,000 ticket users surveyed across the nation, 72 percent of respondents said they disapprove of original ticket issuers such as Ticketmaster and artists, teams and venues secretly selling tickets through resale markets for higher than the face value. Katy Perry was the subject of intense media coverage recently for including a provision in her tour contract that allows her to profit from selling her own concert tickets on resale markets — as many tickets as she wants, at whatever price she wants.

"Fans feel like the ticketing industry keeps them in the dark," said Jon Potter, the organization's president, "And they're right. Every week we see fans try to buy tickets during the public onsale, only to have events sell out in 30 seconds. What fans don't realize is that hardly any tickets were available in the first place. Original ticket issuers like Ticketmaster hide behind this opaque wall, and meanwhile tickets are going out the backdoor to be sold to those same fans for double and triple the price. The Fan Freedom Project is shedding light on these ticketing practices to ensure fairness, transparency and meaningful consumer protections. We're fighting to make sure all fans have reasonable opportunities to see the bands and teams they love."

Respondents were also asked specifically about paperless ticketing, a growing practice that ties tickets directly to a purchaser's credit card, prohibiting or limiting fans from reselling tickets or sharing them as gifts. In fact, only 29 percent of respondents could correctly describe this practice, with many confusing paperless tickets with electronic, mobile phone or barcode tickets.

Fans categorized restrictions on transferring tickets as a major drawback when making purchasing decisions. According to the survey, less than one in five said paperless tickets were "very good" for consumers. Nearly 60 percent of respondents said they would not purchase paperless tickets if they could not give them away or resell them, and half said they simply oppose paperless ticketing altogether.

"The sharply restrictive nature of paperless tickets is still vastly unknown to consumers," Potter said. "We are trying to educate fans on the realities of this ticketing scheme."

The largest majorities in the survey involved attitudes on fans' rights. For example, 90 percent of respondents said they "should have the right to resell or give away tickets that I purchase to anyone I choose." In addition, 89 percent said that once they have bought a ticket, it becomes their personal property, and they should have complete control over what they do with it.

The poll indicated that fans enjoy the benefits of a competitive resale ticket market, saying they associate it with "options," "choice" and "affordability." Two-thirds of respondents (67 percent) said that fans who use the resale market should determine the prices at which tickets are resold, allowing them flexibility to resell for higher or lower than face value.

[Press Release]

I’ve always said that music is a very social medium. There’s nothing like sharing the same awesome sounds with people around you. Services like Zune Social and Ping have tried to capture that sense of music community, but they both lack some key things, one of which includes being a community that, as a group, is able to interact with an actual artist.

Insert backBeat! Here let me give you some press release to chew on.

likeZEBRA, the premier online platform for fans and artists to connect, launches the next generation of live shows with backBEAT.

The new platform will allow fans and artists to engage in high-quality, ticketed live sessions via likeZEBRA.com. Taking notice of a growing demand for wider access to live shows and more intimate sessions with fans, likeZEBRA developed backBEAT to further connect artists and fans from all over the world.

To kick start the backBEAT experience, legendary Motley Crue bassist, Nikki Sixx, will get up-close and personal with two exclusive limited ticket backBEAT sessions.

So what this essentially means is that a band will perform, while the viewing public can request songs, ask questions and even talk amongst each other. It’s the next best thing to being together in an actual venue. However, one key thing about backBeat is that none of the sessions are archived. Therefore, you miss out on a session and it’s gone forever.

Which is cool because if you go see a Beyonce show in Anaheim, that show will be slightly different from the show in Los Angeles (not just a city swap in the script). So, with backBeat you can feel like your session is special.

backBeat sells tickets for each of these live sessions. It’s a very unique setup.

The last piece of the press release:

To sign up for backBEAT and nab tickets for Nikki Sixx and other backBEAT performances visit, http://www.likezebra.com/#backbeat. backBEAT is taking fans beyond the stage for a new way to see the music.

Click on image to see details...

Well, this is pretty damn cool. Patron (yes, the people that make that tequila) is offering a contest, by which bands can win one of three budgets. These budgets are for either touring, recording or promoting. The bands just have to fill out some information at the Patron Facebook page.

Here's some of the details, from a recent press release:

Unsigned bands thirsty for their big break might just get one, thanks to ultra-premium tequila maker Patron. Now through July 21, 2011, Patron XO Cafe coffee liqueur is encouraging bands to submit their acts at apps.facebook.com/xocafemusicproject to receive advice from industry experts, the opportunity to perform at one of Patron’s XO Noir music festival after parties and a chance to win their choice of a prize package (promoting, recording or touring support) to help them succeed in the music industry.

To determine the grand prize options, Patron tapped into the underground band scene to understand what resources unsigned bands would value most. Based on musicians’ insights, the three grand prize winners will have a choice of the following packages valued at approximately $2,860 each:

• “On the Road” Touring Kit: Includes prepaid gas and food card, hotel vouchers, PA system, mixers and cables
• “In the Spotlight” Promotional Kit: Includes stickers, business cards, posters, banners and a radio spot
• “In the Studio” Recording Kit: Includes rehearsal and studio time, a mixing and mastering session and CD copies

A judging panel comprised of prestigious representatives from SPIN and RCRD LBL will select 100 semi-finalists based on overall creativity, musicianship as well as persuasiveness and appeal of their written submission. Beginning July 25 through August 19, 2011, the public will have a chance to act as “Record Executives” and rate bands through a series of head-to-head song match-ups and consideration of the bands’ background and desire to win. The eight bands with the highest scores will move onto the finals where three bands will be selected by the judging panel to win the prize package of their choice.

Winners will be announced in late August 2011.

This was one of those weeks where good music was plentiful. It was plentiful, also, from a wide variety of genres. Compared to the last couple of weeks, this week presented some great material.

So here’s my picks for this week. Let me know what you thought was good.

(At least if the links don’t work you have enough information to find the stuff in Zune Marketplace, right?)

• “The Truth Is…” by Theory of a Deadman (Album: “The Truth Is…”)
• “Disgusting” by Cali Swag District (Album: “The Kickback”)
• “Thieves” by Incubus (Album: “If Not Now, When?”)
• “What If” by Colbie Caillat (Album: “All of You”)
• “Edison’s Medicine” by Tesla (Album: “Twisted Wires”)
• “This Story” by Kasey Chambers (Album: “Little Bird”)
• “Not Too Young” by Chris Trousdale (Album: “Shake It Up: Break It Down”)
• “Musical Chairs” by Fair to Midland (Album: “Arrows & Anchors”)

Did you guys know there are keyboard commands you can use while using the Zune software? This is primarily to help keep the software accessible to all, but if you find yourself using software better when using key combinations, here you go:

Previous item or chapter
CTRL+B 

Go to search box CTRL+E

Next item or chapter
CTRL+F

Turn shuffle on or off
CTRL+H

Eject CD (this doesn't work on computers equipped with more than one CD drive) CTRL+J

Play or pause playing
CTRL+P

Stop playing
CTRL+S

In audio playback, turn repeat on or off
CTRL+T

Zoom video size
CTRL+Z

In video playback, rewind video. In audio playback, return playback to normal speed after fast forwarding. CTRL+SHIFT+B

Fast forward through the song or video
CTRL+SHIFT+F

Show Zune Help
F1

Mute sound
F7

Decrease sound volume
F8

Increase sound volume
F9

Recently, the Zune Insider blog noted the new releases for this week and noted that the free song being offered comes from an album that's been created to benefit a charity. Here's the details:

Our FREE song this week is a very special one.  You can get the song “Baby” by Alice Smith & Aloe Blacc off the ‘Red Hot & Rio 2′ album.  The album benefits the Red Hot Organization, a not-for-profit, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.  So if you like the free song, we encourage you to donate to the cause – or simply purchase the entire album.

[Zune Insider Blog]

Always good to see music bringing awareness to great causes. Check out the song and the album when you can.

Yeah, this was a very slow week for new releases. Nothing against those who had new albums out this time around, but I didn’t find much that really piqued my ears or my interest. However, for as much, as this woman goes to church on practically every song she sings, I have to give a nod this week to Mary J. Blige:

• “The Living Proof” by Mary J Blige (Album: “The Living Proof (From the Motion Picture The Help”)

Anyone care to share what music releases this week I may have misunderstood to be just blah!?

MAX SOUND® is to audio what HD (High Definition) is to video.

The MAX SOUND^® HD AUDIO™ Process can convert any audio file to high definition quality while maintaining its existing format without encoding or decoding and reduces the file size by up to 200%. ~ [max audio website]

To the average ear, the music that we currently download from online music marketplaces (Zune, iTunes, Amazon, etc) are just fine for us. There are true audiophiles, however, who feel that the raw power of music and audio files lies in ripping music to lossless formats.

A company, Max Sound, aims to convert audio files to a more high-definition quality file. According to them they can do this while also reducing the footprint of space that the resulting file would leave. Could you imagine having higher quality music (and more of it) on your favorite audio player? I don't know if this were truly possible, it would help folks like me who now have to see Windows Phone 7 as my Zune device (ahem, Zune Originals message, ahem).

In their brochure they note the following statistic:

91% of all media consumed by 2014 will be video, and nearly 50% of all video consumption will be HD and 3D video ~ Forecasted by Cisco Systems

So naturally their question is "What about audio?"

Max Sound that their technology works on multiple platforms including movie theatres, mobile devices, video games (to which they picture an Xbox 360, go figure) and DVDs/MP3s. Essentially, they want to create an ecosystem by which the way we hear our media is just as advanced as the way we see it.

I could only image the possibilities when my video games and music, naturally can produce high quality audio without the need of extra and super expensive hardware. And if file size doesn't become an issue, this could be major for technology in the future.

Now let's not forget that HD Audio has existed for quite sometime. However it seems as if Max Sound really wants to make a go of increasing the quality of what hits our ears.

You can find more information about Max Sound at their website, along with a few audio/video demos.

Artist: Das EFX

Song: They Want EFX

Album: Dead Serious

Links: [Listen on Bing] [Download from Zune Marketplace]