I'm getting ready to head out on a road trip for a three day weekend coming up later this week. I'll be driving up to the Mendocino area -- wild, unspoiled, and unimaginably beautiful. Even just three days away does wonders for the creative spirit. You may wonder, what does this have to do with digital media per se? Everything,...

Just when you thought things couldn't get more bizarre -- listen to this. If you can believe it, an increasing number of mobile users are mistakenly hearing their ringtone, even when there is no incoming call. "This audio illusion - called phantom phone rings or, more whimsically, ringxiety or fauxcellarm - has emerged recently as an internet discussion topic and...

I went to see "The New Cars" in concert a couple of nights ago; Todd Rundgren has replaced Ric Ocasek as lead vocalist and frontman. (Disclaimer: having been Todd's business partner for many years, I'm probably a wee bit biased). Having been a fan of the original Cars line-up, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. The show was fantastic;...

Pearl Jam has a new album out, and has just opted to release its first video in over eight years, "Life is Wasted", over Creative Commons. The video, which premiered on VH1 last Friday, can be downloaded for free from pearljam.com and video.google.com through May 24th. After that, the video will be positioned for sale through paid distribution channels. Pearl...

Recently I stumbled across an interesting survey of music blog readers (roughly 700 respondents and about 30 questions); check it out at Music Blogs Reader Survey. Among the findings there were stats you might expect like that 73% of respondents were male, and most of the readers were either in arts and entertainment, in technology (or both), and/or are students....

Today is the release date for the new Red Hot Chili Peppers CD, "Stadium Arcadium". About a week ago, the album was leaked onto the Internet -- which angered the band no end. In a rambling open letter, the band's bass player Flea said he and his colleagues would be heartbroken if fans downloaded the album beforehand. "I cannot put...

Yesterday Napster introduced a new free interactive ad-supported version of its digital music service at Napster.com. The site now offers a Web-based cross-platform music player that provides access to its catalog of over two million songs, which users can play for free up to five times. The company also offers ad-free premium subscription versions of its service, ranging from $9.95...

Many interesting experiments are going on in the realm of extending the live concert experience to forge a stronger bond between artists and fans, and of course to reap incremental revenues for artists who can now monetize their content in more ways -- capitalizing on the excitement and momentum that exists before, during, and right after the concert itself. And...

Currently Apple Records and Apple Computer are back in court -- for the third time. The dispute centers around Apple Computer not using the Apple name in conjunction with music-related endeavors. I was in the middle of the fray during the second court case during my tenure at Apple Computer; we lost that one. This time I suspect a settlement...

As someone who has been in the digital media space for nearly two decades now (mostly focused on the music side, but really immersed in all facets of it), it's interesting to observe what goes on at some of the industry conferences -- where all of us at the convergence of entertainment and technology gather. One such gathering, Digital Hollywood...