Digital Music

Out Of The Oven, Into The Computer: 30 Years Of Canadian Jazz Concerts Now Free Online

by Mark Sabbatini
January 19, 2008

Talk about jazz that really cooks: Thirty years of Canadian concerts are being offered free online by a Toronto radio station that made it possible by baking the original analogue tape reels. The Canadian Jazz Archive at jazzarchive.ca features all of JAZZ-FM91's Sound Of Jazz concert series since they began in 1976, with performances in streaming audio by hundreds of national musicians and other materials such as documentaries about prominent artists. Jessica Humphreys, director of funding and community ...

Longtime Masters Showcase Exclusive Digitial Release at New Online Store

by Mark Sabbatini
November 13, 2006

Guitarist Frank Vignola has never downloaded an MP3, but that isn't stopping him from launching a new online store featuring unique albums with some of his favorite players.

VMdownloads.com by Venture Music, launched with an initial collection of eleven albums and more scheduled for release soon, features a number of just-recorded projects by Vignola, Bucky Pizzarelli, Joe Ascione and others in mostly small guitar-oriented groups. In many ways it feels like a musician's music store, with players cranking ...

Is it random or is it Memorex? Landmark ruling may make all online music sharing 'legal'

by Mark Sabbatini
April 1, 2005

The odds of a randomly generated audio file matching a standard-quality MP3 of “So What" are roughly one in 326 trillion.

By coincidence, a $2,000 Dell PC can now generate that many numbers in two hours and 43 minutes.

Those numbers, argued in extreme technical detail, are the basis of a March 30 legal ruling that may end the dispute about illegal file sharing by making it impossible to prove songs in MP3 and similar formats ...

"Stealing" Music Legally at allofmp3.com

by Mark Sabbatini
March 12, 2005

Some might argue that, like teen drinking or sex education, the only responsible option for this Russian site offering albums for pennies on the dollar is declaring it unacceptable.

But, much like those issues, I believe it's inaccurate and irresponsible to ignore it, since the temptation will be too great for many to resist. If they're going to indulge, they should do so in an informed manner.

I've known about www.allofmp3.com for some time, but refrained ...

Report from CES: A Future Studded with Rhinestones

by Mark Sabbatini
January 16, 2005

I have traveled into tomorrow. It looks a like lot today, with decorative rhinestones.

No radical leaps in the digital music world appear to be coming soon if the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is any indication. Increasing numbers of companies hoping to cash in on the iPod's success are offering their varieties of players, accessories and services, but people set on something today probably don't have to worry about it becoming immediately obsolete.

Shredding and Sitting at CES 2005

by Mark Sabbatini
January 7, 2005

So this is the future: After breaking a leg using a high-tech snowboarding parka to switch between an iPod and cell phone in mid-air, gear geeks can recover in a lounge chair equipped with full-blown Surround Sound circuitry.

Priceless.

Actually there is a price, probably a rather steep one, for those hoping to indulge in the latest technology unveiled this week at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. An enormous range of digital music ...

The Future of Digital Music: A Preview of CES 2005

by Mark Sabbatini
January 6, 2005

So far the greatest discovery from a sneak preview into expensive future technology is free and long outdated stuff.

Going through endless press releases and agendas for the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas reveals lots of hype about surround-sound MP3s, walkman-like satellite radios and other advances designed to let people listen to virtually anything anywhere - along with concerns about legal issues involved. From this one learns tidbits such as how lots of modern European recordings ...

Best Online Bets of 2004

by Mark Sabbatini
January 2, 2005

This is the year I became a believer.

I've been downloading music for years, mostly a few novelty or sample tracks here and there. But 2004 is the first year where my purchases of online music clearly exceeded traditional CDs.

And the amount of free and legal music may have surpassed both.

As someone who works and stores his music collection on the same computer, downloading was a near continuous process during the past ...

Mixtaper.com

by Mark Sabbatini
December 8, 2004

Sometimes it's a great thing getting a reminder of one's ignorance.

Stumbling upon these user-created collections of free music downloads, usually compiled from different sites and grouped into virtual “albums," exposes an entirely new genre of site foreign to me despite years of scouring the Net for files. Maybe it's just associating the “mix" thing with the vapid techno/sampling remixes littering sites everywhere, but Mixtaper's genre-sorted collections fixes that perception in seconds.

Jazz fans, for instance, ...

A Gift From The Internet: Free Holiday Music

by Mark Sabbatini
November 27, 2004

Those dreading malls in December, perhaps so much so that shopping remains unfinished Christmas morning, the Internet offers the sweet sound of salvation.

Holiday music, both free and commercial, is one of the easiest to find from multitudes of online sources, offering a chance to relax rather than shop the day after Thanksgiving or obtain a quick gift at literally the last second. Offerings also go well beyond worn-out retail store concepts such as the latest “Very Special ...