So here's the music I've enjoyed this New Music Tuesday:

Night of Your Life | David Guetta | Nothing But The Beat | Electronic

#1Nite [One Night] | Cobra Starship | Night Shades | Rock 

Do Anything | Committed | Committed* | R&B/Pop 

Black & White America | Lenny Kravitz | Black & White America | Rock 

Wake Me Up | The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus | Am I The Enemy | Rock

*This is my whole-hearted all-album recommendation for this week. It pops!

“Angel On My Shoulder” by Kaskade

From the album “Strobelite Seduction”

Check out the official website (not much there, but the music is nice!)

So one of the cool things about any Zune release is finding little gems that have been updated, added or tweaked. In this particular case, I came across a couple of extra fields that appear when you edit a song or album. Those extra fields are ‘sort album title’ and ‘sort album artist’.

With these two fields you can arrange where a particular album or song will appear in the collection listing. The feature was discovered by my boy William Devereux (many thanks, buddy!):

@tromboneforhire Aha! I figured it out. It's actually very useful. It lets you rearrange where an album appears in your collection.

@tromboneforhire For example, the Star Wars albums have Roman Numerals, so they appear "out of order." Using this, you could correct it.

@tromboneforhire Just set the sort name to "Star Wars Episode 1," etc. The album name never changes... just the invisible sorting order.

For my own personal example, I’m using the Your Entertainment, Everywhere album by Zune (Let me explain really quick – I managed to extract the audio from the Youtube video, now let’s move on).

When I change the ‘Sort Album Artist’ name to “Simply Zune”, the album moves into the S area of the category listing, but the name remains as Zune:

When I took BT’s These Hopeful Machines and called the album title 01 Hopeful Machines, it moved the album to the front of the album pack. Calling the album A Hopeful Machine, on the other hand, moves it somewhat towards the front. This must mean that A is removed and the sorting is going on Hopeful Machine, instead.

Now, it should be noted that whatever you put in these two extra fields aren’t publicly displayed. These fields are just used to help you place your collection in a much more desirable order. Also, remember this option appears when editing either an album or a song.

Gotta love Easter Eggs in the Zune software, huh?

Today, word is spreading through the internets that Zune Software 4.8 is available from Microsoft's Download Center. This is the same 4.8 that WP7 developers were using when getting bits for Mango, the upcoming OS update for Windows Phone 7.

Don't go expecting any crazy new features with the new version of the software. With Mango on the horizon and the Windows Phone Marketplace now opening for Mango-based app submissions, everyone can now download 4.8, since it's required to properly sync Mango-infused Windows Phone devices.

But go get your download on, Zune Nation!

Update: Matt Akers, Program Manger for the Zune Software Client, has updated the Windows Blog with new details/information about the Zune Software 4.8. If you're too lazy to click the link, here's the important bits:

Faster Windows Phone updates

One important job of the Zune software is to update your Windows Phone software. In version 4.8, we’ve streamlined the process to help get your phone up and running again faster with the latest features and fixes.

• Progressive updates: In Zune 4.8, you only have to click the update button once for multiple updates. Once an update is finished, the software automatically checks for more and repeats the installation process until your phone is completely up to date.
• Streamlined backup. By synching media separately from other phone content, we’ve lowered the overall time it takes to back up your phone. The backup file is also more compact, so it should take up less space on your computer.
• Skip phone backup: If you don’t have enough room on your computer to store a phone backup file, you’ll now have the option to skip this step so you’re not blocked from updating your phone.

More places and languages

As we’ve announced, Mango will expand the number of locations and languages where Windows Phone is available around the world. We made sure the Zune software would follow. While it may seem small, this is possibly the largest overall change in Zune 4.8. You’ll also notice vast improvements in text entry and sorting for many Asian languages.

Zune 4.8 now supports 22 display languages, including Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (US and UK), Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish.

In addition, Zune 4.8 is available in these countries or regions: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Tweaks and fixes

Finally, the team made a lot of under-the-covers changes to improve your overall experience in Zune 4.8, although not all of these changes may be readily apparent. Here are a few you will notice:

• 48-hour movie rentals
• Parental Controls now support M-rated (Mature) content
• Option to hide purchase confirmation dialog for faster app checkout
• See what apps are compatible with the Windows Phone you own

"Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5 from the album "Hands All Over"

This is the studio recording version as seen on “The Voice” featuring Christina Aguilera.

 Ok, so it was almost three weeks ago.. At least I'm wrote about it, right? Of course. 


If you don't stalk me on Twitter, Facebook, or tumblr, I went to L.A. Rising on 30 July, mostly because of my sister, Amy. 
Amy's birthday is 30 July 1990. You do the math? She turned 21 this year so it was a given that we'd go to L.A. Rising. Not just because it was her birthday, but also for the line up: El Gran Silencio, Immortal Technique, Lauryn Hill, Rise Against, Muse, and all the original members of Rage Against The Machine. 

Amy's ticket

We got tickets on pre-sale thanks to KROQ and a friend of mine on Twitter who gave me the heads up. Amy and I tried and tried for two hours to get GA tickets but we ended up with seats; section 19, row 26, seats 108 (mine) and 109 (Amy's). In looking at the seating, we realized that we had great tickets. 
We ended up going with two of our friends to the show. 

Amy and I didn't sleep much on the 29th and we left at 5am on the 30th after a three hour nap, got to L.A. at 7:30am. Amazing, right? That's what happens when there isn't any traffic. 

The plan was to arrive in L.A., find a place to stay the night, eat at Roscoe's House of Chicken'N Waffles, and then head to the Coliseum for the concert. 
Here's what really happened: we got to L.A., ate at Roscoe's, found a place to stay the night, then headed to the Coliseum. But since we couldn't reserve a room 'cause none of us had a credit card we stayed at this rancid place. I swear, there was a mattress on the sidewalk cleaner than what I saw at this hostel. 

The exit for the Coliseum was couple miles long, about a 30 to 45 minute wait. By now, the four of us are getting all excited for the show.
We arrive relatively early and kill some time in the parking structure. "No tail-gating". Yeah, right. The parking lot was a pre-party place. We get too anxious to wait around any more and we head to the Coliseum after a few Tequila shots; one of Amy's friends gave her a bottle of Don Julio Blanco. 


 After we get in and find out seats, El Gran Silencio is half way through their set. There are people everywhere but the Coliseum itself was still pretty empty. Try as I can, even three weeks later, I can't find anything on what songs El Gran Silencio played. 

Immortal Technique and his crew

The next artist up was Immortal Technique. If you don't know who he is, keep your mind open. His songs are heavy as hell but it is the truth. In searching the net for his set list, the same thing applies to Immortal Technique; can't find a list of the songs me preformed. All I can remember is "Bin Laden" and his last song was "Dance With The Devil". However, I noticed that he did a few of his most popular songs from Youtube. If you decide that you like what he has to say, you can go ahead and download his entire discography however you see fit. He told everyone in the Coliseum they could. All he asked for in return is that you show your support by going to shows that promote underground Hip-Hop. 

I was really looking forward to seeing Ms. Lauryn Hill preform. I mean, its Lauryn Hill! 
Holy crap, did her set suck. As soon as she started "singing" until the end of her turn on stage, it was absolutely horrible. It was such a disappointment! Wailing, screaming. She did one song after another without any breaks in between. The only people enjoying the so called music were two white guys near where Amy and I were seated. The sound was up too loud for the pessimal performance Hill gave. Sure, she'd given birth to her, what, sixth kid two days before. No, Ms. Hill's time in the limelight has ended. I would much rather have kept my illusion of her greatness than to have witnessed her massacre her own songs.

Rise Against at L.A. Rising 2011

I've seen Rise Against before, at the annual Wrex the Halls show 91X hosts. So, I wasn't as excited to see them. But I still love them. Naturally, this is also when the moshing began. 

Rise Against did 14 songs from all six of their albums. Apparently, set lists for anyone before Muse is nonexistent online. Lame. 

One of the highlights of Rise Against's stage time didn't have anything to do with the band at all. The GA standing room only area was divided into three different sections: section 1, section 2, and section 3. Section 3 where all the furthest from the stage. CSC security were already having a hell of a time keeping everyone in their own sections, when there was a burst of people rushing through all of a sudden. The onlookers around us stopped paying attention to what was going on at the stage and screamed and rooted for this one guy running like a bat outta hell from section 3 to section 2. I'm not even sure if he was caught, but those of us seated in section 19 cheered him on like no other.

Muse. Oh, Muse. How I love thee. By listening to Muse on your Zune, you wouldn't really think you could headbang to them, huh? After you see them live, you'll think differently. I'd been told that Muse put on "good" concerts. "Good" doesn't begin to cover it in the least! Muse is fucking amazing live!! OMG! They're indescribably awesome! Great, they're great. Go see them live. Don't argue.  

Muse preforming at L.A. Rising 2011

Their set list: 

1. "Exogenesis: Symphony Part I (Overture)" 
   
2. "Uprising"  
3. "Map of the Problematique" + medley outro 
   
4. "Supermassive Black Hole"  
5. "Butterflies & Hurricanes"   
6. "Back in Black" intro / "Star Spangled Banner" / "Hysteria" / "Back in Black" Outro  
7. "Heartbreaker" / "Nishe" / "United States of Eurasia"  
8. "Helsinki Jam" / "Undisclosed Desires"  
9. "Resistance"  
10. "Starlight"  
11. "House of the Rising Sun" / "Time is Running Out"  
12. "Stockholm Syndrome" / "Township Rebellion"  
13. "Plug in Baby", "Man with a Harmonica" / "Knights of Cydonia"   

Imagine 70,000+ people singing along to "House of the Rising Sun". It was the sickest thing. My auditory and visual cortices were very well pleased with Muse. I still smile and see Muse whenever I hear a song from their set list on the radio or on my Zune. 
Given that Muse is relatively mellow, you'd think that the people in attendance wouldn't have moshed. So wrong. There was a tent in the middle of section 3 of the GA space. That poor tent. Went up in flames, it did. Literally. The crazies tore it the hell down and set fire to the oppressive regime of the tent. I'm guessing they couldn't see the stage well enough. I thought it was hilarious.

Then, then came THE headliner. Rage Against The Machine. RATM. Rage. With all the original band members. Both Amy and I were in such awe. Over 70,000 people going completely insane with RATM. Everyone was on their feet and singing along. Have you ever heard 70,000 people singing along to every song. It was something I'd never experienced before and the feeling of unity I had to all those other people is so unique. Let's not forget the mosh pits, fires, and overall anarchy. From where Amy and I were sitting, could see the whole GA area, including all the attempts people made to get onto the floor. A few made it. But a few more were also tackled by CSC security. It was brutal. Throughout their set, I was in shock. I could not believe that I was watching and listening to Rage Against The Machine in front of me. It was surreal.
According to the September issue of Rolling Stone, Tom Morello really liked L.A. Rising. Now you know you have to believe me when I say that it was orgasmic. 
In case you want to make a playlist: 

Tim, Brad, Zack, and Tom

1. "Testify"
2. "Bombtrack"
3. "People of the Sun"
4. "Know Your Enemy"
5. "Bulls on Parade"
6. "Township Rebellion"
7. "Bullet in the Head"
8. "Down Rodeo"
9. "Guerrilla Radio"
10. "Calm Like a Bomb"
11. "Sleep Now in the Fire"
12. "Wake Up"

After the last song, NO ONE moved. No one. It was like RATM was taking a break and we let them. But we all started chanting "RAGE" so as to get the guys back out for a few more songs. And they did come back and gave us "Freedom" and "Killing in the Name". 
 

Plans are already in the works for L.A. Rising 2012. But there still isn't any word on who will be headlining, however, RATM has said that this show was probably their last one together.


Los links: 

• L.A. Rising 
•  KROQ
• El Gran Silencio 
• Immortal Technique 
• Lauryn Hill 
• Rise Against 
• Muse 
• Rage Against The Machine 
• Youtube L.A. Rising search 
• My pictures! 

Amy took video of Muse and RATM, but the visual quality isn't that great. But if you really want to see what we recorded, let me know. 

If you have a tumblog, you can also to an L.A. Rising search and find a ton more from people that were at the concert.

We live in an ever increasing digital landscape. Technology is moving and some industries are failing to catch up (See: Newspapers)

Jay-Z and Kanye West recently released their collaboration album "Watch The Throne" exclusively on iTunes last Sunday before it hit retail stores and other online music stores. How big was this album release? According to Billboard and Nielsen, "Watch The Throne" sold an incredible 320,000 digital copies online alone. Thats a huge number. You could say that both Jay-Z and Kanye have that kind fanfare to warrant such numbers. But here's the larger question:
Is it time to start selling more albums exclusively digital?

I was in a store recently and I was checking out the music section. I was seeing all the music CDs lined up. Not a lot of people were really checking out the section. I pulled out my smartphone and just went to my Zune marketplace app (I have a Samsung focus with the Windows Phone 7 OS). Basically, I could stream all the music that was located in the store all on my smartphone.
The Digital revolution is in high gear. The convenience of sitting at home and simply pressing "download" on your iTunes or Zune or Amazon account is so much simpler than driving to the music section of a store and buying a copy.

Going back to the Jay-Z and Kanye album, "Watch The Throne" surprising did not leak. Of course, there was a lot of work that went in to making sure it didn't leak. But would the idea of an album leaking almost be eliminated if a physical copy didn't exist? Some stories I have heard of how some albums leak usually involve the physical copies getting sent to the stores a week or says two weeks from launch. During that time, a store person, the delivery guy or anybody in the supply chain could simply grab one copy and upload it to the internet. Sometimes the people in the studio when the album is mastered themselves upload it to the internet.

So can an all digital album prevent a premature leak? Possibly.

I've been thinking that the music industry needs to change the way it measures album sales. Nielsen counts both physical and digital copies but the physical copies are what people really look at these days. The first week sales of a music artist are seemingly very important. Selling a 100,000+ physical copies could make or break a musician. Sometimes just because an artist sold 60,000 copies, most people would think the artist was not good but thats far from the truth. I think that might need to change. More artist may need to start telling people that they need to go grab their music off iTunes. Some artists do it but I think the industry as a whole needs to switch to the digital mentality.
The digital revolution will always leave behind casualities. Because of e-books, Borders is going out of business. As with music downloads, I see music sections in stores being shut down too. Those sections will get smaller and smaller and eventually cease to exist.

The CD itself is not dead yet. People still watch DVDs. They get it from Redbox and sometimes BestBuy. Blu-Rays are still strong. But once broadband speeds get improved and services like Apple TV, Zune, Netflix and Amazon get better selections and fasting streaming speeds, it wouldn't surprise me if people started using them more often and dumping the physical copies.

Music CDs may not be declared dead yet but the new format is iTunes, Zune, Amazon and other online retailers. Music artists and especially music labels better wise up and start thinking about how to take advantage of this. The music industry also needs to start going with the trend or get left out.
"Watch The Throne" sold 321,000 copies online. Some artists struggle to sell 100,000 copies physically. Time to smarten up and go digital.

Going into this, I was sure people would try to read between the lines. I’m sure that takes place whenever any Zune MVPs speak, at great length, about what they think Zune is doing. Most assume that everything we say is based upon pre-received knowledge and that we’re always using these bully pulpits to coyly figure out what the community thinks.

I’m here to tell you that this particular editorial isn’t based on any pre-received information from Zune. In fact, this editorial is about not receiving any pre-received information from Zune.

Let me take you back…

You see, there was this point in time when Zune was coming out with a device. It was going to be touchscreen, and completely change the way we saw Zune devices.

Then people began to leak information…

When you look back at that you can only figure that Zune had to tip their hand early. The message was being controlled by the community, Zune was playing defense and had to succumb to others setting off their fireworks even before Zune could gather watchers in the park for the spectacular light show.

So to maintain some sort of offense, Zune gave information but not a lot. Yes, it’s called the Zune HD and yes, it will be touchscreen. Other information about the device was to be given out at Zune’s discretion. Ultimately, everyone found out everything they needed to know about the Zune HD but not before focusing their eyes on places and people who seemed to be controlling the game.

If I were Zune, I would go so underground with whatever next major project I was working on I wouldn’t even tell the people closest to me. Hell, I probably wouldn’t even tell the guy in the next cubicle what I was working on.

Now, of course, this is my opinion but I think that the silence shown by Zune is golden. They aren’t going to tip their hand early. No one is getting early leaks of anything. No one is able to run to their websites and claim to have that all-awesome exclusive. No one.

People have translated that into a slow demise of Zune. That Zune is probably going for this ‘out of sight, out of mind’ strategy. Then explain why more apps are being released for the Zune HD? Explain why Zune is still featured on the Xbox 360 dashboard? Explain why Windows Phone 7 is still essentially a “Zune Phone”. Explain.

You want to know what’s causing this line of thought, for me? Look at the opening blog post for Windows 8. In particular, I want you to pay attention to this line in the post, written by Steven Sinofsky:

We’ve heard people express frustration over how little we’ve communicated so far about Windows 8. We’ve certainly learned lessons over the years about the perils of talking about features before we have a solid understanding of our ability to execute.

If that’s the approach for Windows 8, why isn’t that the approach for everything? I’ve asked this question: When Windows 8 is first installed, what’s the media player going to be, by default? Windows Media Player or Zune? It’s a fair question. But in answering that question, you may be tipping a hand that Windows 8 nor Windows Media Player nor Zune wish to tip.

For one product team to talk about something may end up uncoiling what is supposed to be a grand avenue to the launch of Windows 8 which, by Microsoft’s own admission “reimagines Windows for a new generation of computing devices, and will be the very best operating system for hundreds of millions of PCs, new and old, used by well over a billion people globally.”

So now I think back to Zune. Even Zune Insider hasn’t said much about anything, except what is new in the Marketplace and what apps have already been released. Yet, for all this time they seem to be putting in and for all of these meetings that Matt and Jessica have to run to right before the show ends, you can’t tell me that they aren’t working on some really cool things down the road.

I want you all to understand, what I’m writing here… this is all based upon what Zune has experienced in the past. Personally, when I watched the stuff go down with Zune HD, I felt terrible for the Zune Team. Their thunder was being stolen and they now had to become storm chasers and catch the tornado before it wrecked the entire city. In that struggle we had to learn information far ahead of time and the build became too long for what ultimately became the Zune HD. Some wind was out of the sails…

This time around who knows what’s going on? Are they there? Is there a new device? Is Zune closely tied to Windows 8? Is Zune ultimately disappearing? What’s going on?

No one knows the exact answer to that.

Frankly, that’s the way it should be.

If, and when, Zune decides to light that firecracker we’ll all feel the initial shock of the boom and then marvel at the display.

Frankly, that’s the way it should be.

So because I wasn’t totally feeling last week’s tracks, I had asked friends within the Zune Nation to suggest songs to me. One of those friends, @abryson not only suggested some great tracks, her suggestions ended up as part of my contribution to the “What are we listening to, now…” feature on Zune Insider.

I actually plan to continue that, week after week, regardless of my opinions of the new releases. It’s becoming wonderful to have people take me up on recommendations and throw songs at me that are quite cool. Now while I can’t promote those songs here – this is, after all, about the new releases – I’m thinking some of those songs will end up being acknowledged on Zune Insider.

Anyhow, I don’t have many songs that grabbed me this week, but here’s the ones that did.

And I’m trying a new format: Song | Artist | Album | Genre. The link for the song takes you to the album in the Zune software.

What You Want | Evanescence | What You Want (Single) | Rock

Zombie | Natalia Kills | Perfectionist | Pop

Crown of Thorns | Pearl Jam | Crown of Thorns | Rock

Find me on Twitter and let me know what songs you think I should check out.

Back in 2010, Zune had announced that they were the official in-flight music service for United Airlines. Passengers on all United Airlines flights are able to choose from 21 separate playlists, all programmed by Zune, so they can enjoy a variety of music on the flight. The playlists come in the form of Zune’s channels.

What are channels?

Channels are an exciting new tool for music discovery. They are auto-generated playlists that highlight the top songs listened to in different genres available in the Zune Marketplace. Channels are included with a monthly Zune Pass subscription and can be synced to the device for playback on the go. For non-Zune Pass subscribers, the Channels are available for a la carte purchase.

Did you know that Zune’s channels became the replacement for Sirius/XM radio? 

This should be revisited because this is one of the forgotten aspects of Zune’s reach. While we talk about Zune on Xbox 360, Windows PCs, Zune devices and Windows Phone 7, it’s also powering parts of Windows Live, Bing Entertainment and United Airlines.

On United’s website, under audio programming, customers can get information on what Zune channels are available during the flight. There’s a wide variety of playlists covering genres such as Country, Classical, Opera, Electronic, Soundtracks and R&B. Interestingly, Rap/Hip-Hop isn’t part of this list – but who needs that when you have the KIDS channel, right?

Here’s the complete list of channels available on United flights:

• Top Zune Songs
• Contemporary Pop
• Classic Rock
• New Wave
• Country
• Classical
• Kids
• Indie/Modern Rock
• World Pop
• Contemporary Jazz
• New Age
• Electronic/Dance
• Chamber
• Piano Jazz
• Opera
• Soundtracks
• Comedy
• World Music
• R&B/Soul
• Salsa & Latin Dance
• Easy Listening

If any of our readers have had experience using this service on a United flight, we’d be more than interested to hear about it.

"Say Goodbye to Love" by Kenna, from the album "Make Sure They See My Face"

Purchase or Download the song at Zune Marketplace: [Website] [Software]

An evening with Dee Dee Bridgewater took place on Thursday, August 11, 2011. This quick recap/review of the event is happening two days later. When you have the chance to soak in the vocal talents of this extraordinary jazz songbird, you definitely need a day to do it. I told my co-worker that when the performance took place, time seemed to stop… and that’s true.

Even time had to stop and take notice.

With a new album, Midnight Sun, coming out in a couple of weeks, jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater made an appearance at the Los Angeles Grammy Museum. She stopped by to promote the album, but more so let people understand her story: how she came into this career and what keeps her going. As I sat and listened even her talking was mesmerizing. She has charisma, stage presence, tone, inflection – essentially the things that made her voice such a dominant force in jazz.

In the discussion, she told of performing in various ensembles and with such jazz notables as Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach. She talked about her parents and her musical influences. She discussed why her newest album, Midnight Sun, is a collection of jazz ballads – people had been asking for the longest time for her to create such a record.

One of the best moments, for me, during the interview was a talk about putting emotion into music. There have been times when I listen to a record and you can tell that the artist is simply phoning it in; that there is no emotion or synergy in what they’re singing. Dee Dee made excellent points on this including that artists seem to just be singing just to sing the song. There are great jazz tracks that have a story to tell and singers should tell that story. She even vocally demonstrated the difference between phoning it in and really telling the song’s story.

Prime example is a wonderful jazz song called “Love for Sale”. If you don’t know that song is about prostitution (look at the song title). Dee Dee said that most singers sing like it’s a super happy track. She prefers to put some sultriness into it, some enticement – her vocal example of this really drove it home. I wish I could’ve recorded such an excerpt, but it’s not allowed. You’ll be able to see what I mean when the Grammy Museum opens up these interviews in a display of their archives later this year.

After the performance, she sang a few numbers from the forthcoming album, Midnight Sun. It was just a stripped down performance between her and a pianist. Her voice was as capturing as you could’ve imagined. She had the audience on every word. I like to say that jazz is like church in that when you really have the audience in your hand, they’ll vocally react to what you do on stage. Dee Dee had such command of the stage. She even at one point did a scat solo that beautifully emulated a trombone (as a trombone player I couldn’t help but smile).

Everyone who pre-ordered a ticket, myself included, got an early copy of Midnight Sun to take home. After one complete listen of the album, I can only say that this was a long overdue release. Midnight Sun is a collection of 11 songs that touch on being in love or out of love. The track selection and order that they were placed in was perfect. It was a great rollercoaster ride with Dee Dee’s voice at the helm. You could feel the strength, vulnerability and poignancy in her sound. When this album becomes available, I highly recommend that everyone take a listen.

Midnight Sun is scheduled to be released on August 23rd.

When I left the event, I couldn’t help but have a new appreciation for Dee Dee Bridgewater and her music. These interview/performance events at the Grammy Museum are a fantastic way for attendees to get behind the music and understand not only the people who make them but why we appreciate them in the first place.

Dee Dee Bridgewater gave another outstanding performance and should feel proud of her latest work. Give it a try when you have the chance. Your ears will thank you.

[Note: Publicity photos c/o Mark Higashino (DDB Productions, Inc 2007]

People that know me know that I like to assist people wherever I can, especially when the end result is something that, quite frankly, is awesome and beneficial for the community. So here's another one of those great events that I'm proud to have a hand in.

As you guys know, Microsoft is having their BUILD conference, here in Anaheim, CA in September (from the 12th through 16th, to be exact) . This will be their big event discussing all things Windows 8. In the middle of that week there will be a BUILD Blogger Bash taking place at the Bar Louie Tavern and Grill in Anaheim's Gardenwalk district.

This event will be hosted by some of the top Microsoft bloggers out there including Paul Thurrott, Ed Bott, Mary Jo Foley, Tom Warren, Long Zheng, Rafael Rivera, Kip Kniskern, and Ryan & Travis Lowdermilk. Oh yeah, my name is listed there, too... :)

I've gone to Bar Louie many times. I know it will be a lively event with a great atmosphere. The event is open to everyone, but it is best (and easier) if you RSVP at the Build Blogger Bash sign-up/information site.

I personally look forward to meeting some of these individuals for the first time and revisiting with those that I already know. If you're in the area and can stop by, please do. We'll be happy to have you.

The Beats by Dre series of headphones has been hailed as a new age of digital sound. Agree or disagree, many people believe that the audio quality is top notch and really brings music and media alive.

So now, HTC plans to get aboard that wagon by partnering with the company behind Beats By Dre, to incorporate that audio technology into HTC phones.
A portion of the press release reads like this:

HTC Corp., a global designer of mobile devices, today announced a strategic partnership and investment with Beats™ Electronics LLC., the company redefining the audio market with its iconic Beats by Dr. Dre™ audio experience. The two fast-growing brands will focus on bringing high performance sound to HTC phones.

"The HTC and Beats by Dr. Dre partnership is an opportunity for two world-class companies to redefine the smartphone industry and define the future," said Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Beats by Dr. Dre and chairman and CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, which is a division of Universal Music Group and a stakeholder in Beats. "For Beats by Dr. Dre, this represents a critical step in our continued mission to clean up the destruction of audio caused by the digital revolution and reengineer how sound is delivered, so the consumer feels the music the way that the artist intended."

HTC and Beats have been working together to create superior mobile audio experiences for consumers, which will result in a line of HTC devices integrated with Beats sound innovations, available this fall.

The press release doesn’t state if this is all HTC phones or just select ones, but I think that the HTC Surround could’ve benefitted from this partnership before Windows Phone was initially launched.
Some swear by this technology as being awesome and some swear that it’s just as overrated as Bose with its, arguably, high tech audio technology.

Whatever the case, music via cell phone could use any kind of boost it could get. I know that my Samsung Focus can’t create the greatest sound out of its speaker.

So we’ll have to see what kind of results come out of this partnership.

Addendum: As with any major announcement, there a Youtube video to be shown. Here's a vid showcasing the HTC/Beats partnership. You won't find any phones here that will be incorporating this technology, but it's a nice vid nonetheless.

One of the most robust aspects to Xbox Live is the way that families can insure that everyone in the house is only able to view the content that is directly appropriate for them. Using an immense set of tools, parents can guard against their kids getting access to inappropriate content and they're even able to do things such a limit the amount of time that kids use the Xbox 360.

For Zune, this isn't exactly the case.

Now granted Zune is a different animal. Here you're talking about music. Here you're talking about a community that's nowhere near as large as the Xbox Live community. However, there are still things that people can do to ensure a safe experience with their music, whether its listening to it or communicating with others in Zune Social. These guidelines are outlined on a safety page that's on display at the Zune website.

If you read it, you'll quickly discover that the page is talking about Zune Social, the online music community. It talks about how to design your profile, safeguard important information and keep yourself out of the eyesight of potential predators (ain't that right, Chris Hansen!?). You should also note that no one under the age of 13 is allowed to use Zune Social in the first place.

There are several tips there that can be utilized to ensure a great Zune Social experience. These tips include:

• Keep identifying details to yourself.
• Never meet an Internet "friend" alone in person
• Be smart about your Zune Card background and picture

The page continues on to discuss hearing safety. We all love music and sometimes there's nothing like plugging your ears into the headphones and letting the sounds of Stone Temple Pilots or Seal or Kaskade wash away whatever had been going on with your day. However, there's still a safe way to make sure that you can still enjoy that music even into your late years of life.

One of the great tips in that section is making an investment in noise-canceling headphones. While some of us simply crank it to level 11 in order to drown out what is going on around us, noise-canceling headphones allow us to keep the volume at a manageable level while still blocking out most of what is going on around you.

Here's two key notes from that section of the page:

Sounds above 85 dBA can cause hearing loss if you are exposed to the sound for enough time. Exposure to 85 dBA noise for 8 hours a day over many years can cause permanent hearing damage. Louder sounds cause damage in less time.

For example, the Zune with Zune earbuds and similar portable music players can produce sound levels up to 100 dBA. Over a period of years, 15 minutes per day listening to music at this level could permanently damage your hearing.

I do however want to address one thing I've heard from families, at MSMVP events: Safeguarding family members from inappropriate music content -- read that as: How do I keep my kid from hearing albums that have explicit content.

Now I know some of us don't appreciate when edited versions of songs appear in our Smart DJ playlists (ain't that right, Neville!?) but there are parents who feel that this also goes to safety. They don't want their children exposed to that content too early and there should be a way to filter that stuff out.

My two cents on that front is that maybe there could be a setting that is tied to the Windows Live ID that logs into the Zune software. If 12 year old Samantha logs into the family computer with her Hotmail account, the software should have a trigger that "removes" all of the explicit content from the Marketplace. I would venture to guess that such content is marked as such, so maybe the trigger of a child email account would cause those marked albums/songs to not be displayed.

If Zune ever went onto the bandwagon of creating family accounts, maybe then parents could have the option of filtering out what they consider inappropriate music for their children. Agree or disagree with the parent's reasoning for this, but the option should still be there. [Turns out such a thing does exist. Check out the addendum, below.]

Or maybe all child accounts can only access the Kidz Bop CDs?

In any event, I encourage you, as a member of #ZuneNation and a music lover to make sure that you are always safe: Enjoy the music, love the music and support the artists, but always be cautious. It doesn't have to be Zune Social, it can be in any of these music services like Spotify, Ping, Last.FM or other places where you can share musical experiences (along with other information).

While blasting music and rocking out can be awesome, resulting in loss of hearing is not.

Now go out there and (safely) get your music on.

Addendum: So after a little more digging, since this story was originally written, I found out there are safety settings that parents can utilize to prevent their kids from accessing explicit Zune content. There is a support page that highlights how to create a Zune account for a child and how to set it to your parental specifications.

[Read article on creating a Zune child account]

[Read an overview of Family Settings in Zune]

According to additional support pages, when a child account reaches adult age (18), the first time they log in they’ll have the option to promote that account to an adult one. This option will persist until a choice is made.

So for you parents who were asking about this, here you go.

This weekend, I took my Zune 120 and plugged it in to make sure it was still working. After an overnight charge (the battery was totally drained), I’m happy to see the device up and running. It’s syncing playing and sounding as good as ever.

Many of us in #ZuneNation are proud to have Zune HDs. However, there is a group that are just as proud to have Zune 8s, 120s, 80s and even 30s. This particular contest is for those folks! Let’s show the world that all Zune devices are awesome!

What do you win?

• 1 Month Zune Pass
• Windows Phone Shirt

Here’s how it works. Use only one of the following methods to enter.

Twitter Entry:

1. Take a picture of your Non-Zune-HD device in action
2. Send that picture to Twitpic, Yfrog, your choice of photo uploading service
3. Send out this tweet: “I’m a proud member of the #Zune Device Renaissance. [insert link to your picture here]. Show your pride and you may win! http://bit.ly/niQW7r”

Example: I’m a member of the #Zune Device Renaissance http://twitpic.com/62nzgf. Show #ZuneDevice pride and you may win! http://bit.ly/niQW7r

Facebook Entry:

1. Take a picture of your Non-Zune-HD device in action
2. Post your picture to our Inside the Circle Facebook Page.

Blog Comment Entry:

1. Take a picture of your Non-Zune-HD device in action
2. Share that link, via blog comment with your name and way to reach you if you win.

The contest will run until Wednesday, August 10th @ 5pm PST. Winner will be contacted on Thursday, August 11th. This contest is open to anyone, except Inside the Circle writers, Zune employees, talking dogs and transforming robots. Little blue people can enter as long as they promise to never do another movie again.

Sorry, we’re going to make this a U.S. only contest.

Good luck, everyone. Show that pride, baby!

“No Plan B” by Manafest, from the album “No Plan B (Single)”

Purchase/Download the track from Zune Marketplace.

Get Manafest’s song “Impossible”, for free, from Inside the Circle.

Read an interview with Manafest, done by Inside the Circle.

So, in a quick conversation with my friend, Denny Cherry – Microsoft MVP for SQL Server, he wised me to the fact that SQL Server is part of the Zune ecosystem. For what I knew about SQL Server, which wasn’t much, I was intrigued to find out the connection between this technology and Zune.

It was these two particular tweets by Denny, that piqued my interest:

@tromboneforhire There's a version of SQL called "SQL Compact Edition" or "SQL CE". It is what stores the info about your music catalog. less than a minute ago via TweetDeck

mrdenny

---

@tromboneforhire It holds the song names, where the file is, band, ratings, etc. It's part of Zune, as well as Media Player. less than a minute ago via TweetDeck

mrdenny

Forgive me, for not knowing what this was before hand, so I decided to read up on SQL Server CE and found some interesting tidbits that reminded me of things I already knew about Zune. I was offered a chance to connect some dots together. One passage, in particular, goes like this:

SQL CE databases reside in a single .sdf file, which can be up to 4 GB in size. The .sdf file can be encrypted with 128-bit encryption for data security. – Wikipedia entry

Pay attention to the .sdf part of that passage. Now think about the Zune software and your music collection. Whenever people have issues with their Zune collection that require a reboot of the entire database, we suggest that they rebuild the collection by creating a new zunestore.sdf file. For all the time that I had been giving people this advice, and even taking that advice a time or two myself, it never occurred to me to find out why the file was named zunestore.sdf.

By process of deduction and Denny’s flat out acknowledgement of such, the Zunestore.sdf file is a SQL Database where all of your local collection information reside. I’m assuming that it also holds information about playlists as rebooting this file can help fix that annoying issue with phantom downloads that don’t go anywhere.

According to Wikipedia, SQL Server CE is “a compact relational database produced by Microsoft for applications that run on mobile devices and desktops” (well that is where Zune is). This also reminds me of Windows CE which is the stripped down version of Windows that powers portable technologies like Zune (devices), Windows Phone, Pocket PCs, Windows Mobile 6 and even the Sega Dreamcast.

So it looks like the Mini-MEs are making big statements in some of the tech that we use.

Because this has seriously created a curiosity bug, I’m going to put on my Indiana Bones hat and learn what I can about both Windows CE and SQL Server CE. I would love to dig deeper and find out exactly how these technologies are making it so that us Zune users can rate, listen to, download, store and overall enjoy our music, TV shows, podcasts et al.

I hope to report here as I discover things that might be of direct interest.

Thanks, Denny!

Foursquare has this appeal because it allows users to check into places, give tips on what to do there and show your friends all of the wonderful places you visit (even if one of those places can be the supermarket). However, what if you could turn Foursquare into a game, in which you and a group of people could check in and essentially take over a place?

That's the idea behind "Skirmish", a game developed by HoofJaw Media and powered by the Buddy Platform. The rules of Skirmish are easy to figure out: You simply check into places (you don't necessarily have to be at said place, just in the vicinity) and earn enough check ins, for your team, so that they take over. The app has been tested mostly in the Seattle area, but now is open up for a more public beta.

The game is being developed for the Windows Phone 7 platform, under the direction of Dave McLauchlan, that guy who does Business Development for Zune and the Zune HD device. Yeah, that guy.

I've been using it for a little bit and it does make checking into a place more interesting. It's almost like a "capture the flag" style concept that you would see in a game like Halo: Reach. You go into someone's territory and essentially capture it as your own.

If you want more information about Skirmish (currently in beta) and apply to participate, head over to the website for the game. See you on the field of check-in battle.

From the time in ‘09 where @JonYoung320 became the first to hoist the Golden Zune. To the time in ‘10 where one team was on autopilot the whole season. The Zune Nation Fantasy Football League is back!

Last year we had a great time. After changing my team name, I reversed my fortune and went from last place to first, hoisting the Golden Zune in the process. @K2theIzzo’s Shin Breakers talked a big game and played strong all season long. Each week they made strong statements on the field, landing in second place and never loosing more than two games in a row. Perhaps the most stable team in the league is @tromboneforhire’s Anaheim Untouchables. His team has placed third two years in a row. While it is not the top spot I think it says a lot about the high quality of the management in Anaheim.

Want to join in? Mention your interest below or contact @DJones205 on Twitter. Our league uses the ESPN Fantasy Football system. It is free to join in. You need to create an ESPN profile to join. Who is in the Zune Nation Football League already? Members from the Zune Nation websites of EnterConnected and Zunited, along with Zune Team members and Windows Phone Radio podcast hosts. If you were in the league last year you should be all set. Get ready for another great season of Zune Nation football.

Since the real NFL season starts on Thursday, September 8th and free agents are still moving around, our LIVE draft is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, August 27th (TV Schedule: Baseball, Pre-Season Football) with a time during the day yet to be determined. If this date does not work for a majority (again, leave a comment below) we can look at planning the draft for another Saturday. In the mean time, start thinking of an intro song  for your fantasy football team.

 

Got your drink of choice ready? Good. Let’s see what songs I think you should be checking out this week from the new releases batch:

• “In the Air” by Morgan Page, from the album “In the Air (Single")” (Electronic)[Marketplace] [Social]
• “Count on Me” by Mat Kearney, from the album “Young Love” (Pop) [Marketplace] [Social]
• “Shake Life” by Young Jeezy, from the album “Shake Life (Single)” (Hip Hop)[Marketplace] [Social]
• “Acela” by Fountains of Wayne, from the album “Sky Full of Holes” (Rock) [Marketplace] [Social]
• “Bright Lights, Bigger City” by Cee Lo Green with Wiz Khalifa, from the album “Bright Lights, Bigger City (Single)” (Pop) [Marketplace] [Social]
• “Radiosurgery” by New Found Glory, from the album “Radiosurgery (Single)” (Rock) [Marketplace] [Social]
• “Different” by Ximena Sarinana, from the album “Ximena Sarinana” (Pop) [Marketplace] [Social]

Today, Zune released a nice handful of apps and games for the Zune HD media device. It perks people's ears because, Zune -- as a device -- is becoming harder to find. So naturally the ears of Zune Nation perk up when some interesting applications are released for the little device that could.

But in seeing this recent release, it brought to mind a couple of things that I wanted folks' opinions on.

One, the quantity of apps are scarce for Zune HD, especially compared to Windows Phone 7. I don't think it's fair to try and ever think that Zune HD will match the level of app availability as Windows Phone 7. WP7 will ultimately have the better reach, and plus as I noted long time ago, phones are the major portable device that people will have, moreso than the Zune HD. So naturally, developers are going to want to be where the greatest audience reach is.

However, I think that the apps/games that *are* released for Zune HD, if they are of great quality, should negate the argument of the quantity of them. When I saw games like Audiosurf and Project Gotham Racing; apps like MSN Money, Twitter and Vans Sk8, I saw great potential in what the Zune HD could offer. Just recently, an email and calendar client have been added. Apps like this should make Zune HD a quality device -- and it is. You don't need fart apps, lightsaber simulators and the like, just good quality apps.

And frankly, some of the apps that have been released are quite, um, interesting: Trash Throw and Shell Game, I'm looking at you.

The second thing I thought about was what happens when this well runs dry? There has to come a day when apps for the Zune HD will stop being released, most likely because the device will have run its complete life cycle. I know that Microsoft is committed to a 10 year plan with the Xbox 360, but that can't possibly be the same plan for Zune HD. New form factors, systems on chip architectures and the like are pushing new technology forward. Plus, Xbox 360 is a whole other beast, entirely. A 10 year life cycle for that console makes sense given that how they've been able to reinvent it with new apps and Kinect.

What happens on that magical day when Zune HD has finally reached the end of the line? Zune has stated that Windows Phone 7 is their current Zune device, which is true, it does have some (if not all) of the features of the Zune HD (with notable exceptions). Maybe that talk of putting the Zune HD apps on Windows Phone is a subtle way to start weening people off Zune HD and onto Windows Phone, which allows a draw down of the HD's life cycle to be easier? Maybe?

The continued release of apps and games for the Zune HD allows for a story to keep on being told. What does it say that Zune HD isn't forgotten about? Could this all be a part of making sure Zune HD stays in people's mind long enough for the next big Zune thing to happen? When is that magical, mystical day when apps will no longer be released?

Until then, head over to the Zune marketplace and get appy (as the website says).

Turns out that this New Music Tuesday isn’t just about new music, there’s some new apps and games afoot for the Zune HD device – yep, the little engine that could is still pumping out some new ways to enjoy the portable experience.
On the games front, you get:

• Trash Throw
• Slider Puzzle
• ColorSpill
• Splatter Bug
• Vine Climb
• Decoder Ring
• Tug-O-War

On the apps front, you get:

• Finger Paint
• Calendar

On the updated front, there’s:

• Echoes
• Email
• Penalty! Flick Soccer

All of these apps are now available in the Zune Marketplace. Go test them, enjoy and let us know what you think.

So, I got a press release in the mail announcing a new music service, Digster. This service, presented by Universal Music offers users a series of playlists that they can listen to using Spotify. Music that they hear and enjoy can be purchased through iTunes (I would hope, right off the bat, that the number places to purchase music will expand to Zune, Amazon MP3, etc).

Already, out of the gate, I'm not that impressed with Digster. According to the service, they provide playlists that are carefully crafted by expert editors who are familiar with the genres. That's great, but it's the same thing I heard from Slacker Radio, when I visited their offices a while ago. Not to mention Zune's channels and playlists which are designed by programmers with in the Zune team.

Digster lets you create a profile and begin tailoring the recommended play lists to your taste. Not the contents of said play list, just the overall play list groups that are presented to you. 

I guess what's one of the big selling points, of this service, is that it's one of the major record labels that's starting (and therefore backing) a way for users to check out new music. Universal doesn't limit the editors to just Universal Music either, which is a good and fair thing.

I don't see anything here, at the moment, that's compelling. I see just another service in an already saturated market. Paul Thurrott made the great point, that by effectively using services you can have a great music discovery, purchase and consumption experience. However, how many is too many, especially when all of these services don't seem to go the full nine yards!?

If you're an avid user of Spotify and wish to check out Digster for yourself, head over to their website.

One of the questions I got, most often, during the days of the Zune forums was how does one get their music into the Zune Marketplace. At the time, the only answer I could come up with was “Get your record label to send your music over to Zune.” Well that’s a nice answer… if you have a record label.

But what if you’re one of those bands without a label? What if you’re one of the millions of people who start a record label every day and don’t have the reach to contact Zune to get music into the marketplace. Where do you go? What do you do?

Here’s a few services that can help you get your music into various music marketplaces, including Zune, and therefore in front of a lovable listening public:

CDBaby

Pricing: $39 per album, $9.95 per single, plus a host of other features you can use to promote and sell your material.

“CD Baby is the oldest, biggest and most trusted online independent music store and distributor.” – CD Baby website.

CD Baby is probably one of the best known places to not only sell your music, but get it distributed to the major music stores. They have plenty of distribution partners including iTunes, Zune, Spotify, Last.FM, Amazon MP3, iHeartRadio, Napster and Rhapsody.

Check out CD Baby’s Members site for more information.

Tunecore

Pricing: $9.99/year (Single); $9.99/year (Ringtone); $49.99/year (album)

TuneCore is another big player in the game of music and video distribution. When you upload your music to their service, you can practically get into the same services, as CD Baby, including iTunes, Zune, iHeartRadio, Nokia (go figure), Spotify, Amazon MP3 and more.

Check out TuneCore’s site for more information.

SongCast

Pricing: $5.99 per month, plus one time setup of $19.99 (per album) or $9.99 (per single).

“SongCast is a streamlined and affordable digital music distribution service for artists and labels. We offer one of the best distribution services around because our features are designed to help sell your music online and worldwide! Our features allow you to sell your music on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster, Emusic, Spotify, and MediaNet without any hassle. You'll have access to iTunes Daily Trending Reports, your own Ping Artist Account, free UPC and ISRC codes, a free public store front/profile, and - most importantly - you'll be able to keep 100% of your royalties without worrying about any long-term contracts.” – Songcast Website

Note that SongCast only distributes to iTunes, Amazon MP3, Rhapsody, eMusic, Napster, Medianet and Spotify. No mention of Zune Marketplace.

Check out SongCast’s website for more information.

ReverbNation

Pricing: Free to sign up. $34.95 for 34 distribution channels; $59.95 for 40 distribution channels

“SongCast is a streamlined and affordable digital music distribution service for artists and labels. We offer one of the best distribution services around because our features are designed to help sell your music online and worldwide! Our features allow you to sell your music on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster, Emusic, Spotify, and MediaNet without any hassle. You'll have access to iTunes Daily Trending Reports, your own Ping Artist Account, free UPC and ISRC codes, a free public store front/profile, and - most importantly - you'll be able to keep 100% of your royalties without worrying about any long-term contracts.” – Songcast Website

You can distribute your music to over 40 stores including iTunes, Zune, Last.FM, iLike, Rhapsody and Napster.

Check out SongCast’s website for more information.

Please remember… when checking out these services make sure that you understand about your digital rights. Find out about who has the rights to your music, how you will get paid, how you can get reports on your sales/revenue and more. Don’t just haphazardly start uploading your music to all of these places and hope for the best.

Also, take note of the time it will take between getting your music into these services and when you’ll start seeing them in the various distribution channels. Don’t assume that it’s overnight or within the week for all of them. Keep that in mind when deciding on who to use and when to use them.

There are most likely other places you can go, but these are the four major players that bubbled up in my search for music distribution. I hope that this helps young artists and groups find their way into these channels and ultimately into our speakers.

Good luck and I look forward to hearing your music.