Jazz News

iPhone Credit Card Reader Lets You Accept Plastic Anywhere

Source: All About Jazz
May 12, 2010

Square Mobile Credit Card System (Beta)

Did your Girl Scout cookie sales drive flop because nobody carries cash anymore? If so, you may need to get Square, the mobile payment solution from Twitter founder Jack Dorsey that allows anyone with an iPhone to take plastic. Square, which launched Tuesday with iPhone and Android support, is a small, plastic cube about the size of two Chiclets. From its bottom side an audio connector plugs into the headphone port on your phone. ...

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Sounds Abound in LA for Everyone

Source: All About Jazz
May 12, 2010

Roger Steffens 'Life of Bob Marley' Commemorating the 29th anniversary of Bob Marley's passing, The GRAMMY Museum is proud to welcome Roger Steffens' critically acclaimed “Life of Bob Marley" to the GRAMMY Sound Stage. The live multi-media presentation has been hailed as “the definitive history of the reggae king" and “the next best to seeing Bob Marley live." May 11th : 7:30 p.m. (Doors open at 7 p.m. ) Grammy Museum

Chuck Berghofer's Midnight ...

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Apollo Theater Unveils Its Walk of Fame

Source: All About Jazz
May 12, 2010

Smokey Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald and James Brown were among the music legends being honored on the Apollo Theater's new Walk of Fame in New York City.

Workers on Monday began installing sidewalk plaques in front of the storied Harlem theater celebrating some of the artists who have performed there. Others include Little Richard, Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight and the Pips. “For me to have a plaque honoring me in front of the Apollo theater is one of the proudest ...

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Emmy Keeps Main Title Theme Music Award

Source: All About Jazz
May 12, 2010

A plan -- floated earlier this year by the executive committee of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' music branch -- to replace the award with one for original documentary scores, has been rejected by the branch membership. The vote was 85-36 in favor of keeping the award, which honors the best theme music for a new series. Music branch governor Mark Watters had argued that the main title has become “a lost craft in our business" and that ...

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Embed Videos in Your Web Pages Using HTML5

Source: All About Jazz
May 12, 2010

HTML5 video is taking the web by storm.

Not only has a very public (and contentious) debate unfolded on the web about the efficacy of presenting videos using HTML5 instead of Flash, but momentum is gathering behind the nascent web standard.

From giant video sites like YouTube to Wikipedia, everyone it seems wants to get their video out of Flash and into native web formats. With Microsoft recently announcing it will support the HTML5 video tag in the coming Internet ...

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8-Bit Imagery Invades Music Videos

Source: All About Jazz
May 12, 2010

Like a relentless swarm of Space Invaders, retro videogame graphics have marched into music videos over the past decade.

Directors, never immune to the nostalgic allure of the pixel, have injected bold, blocky 8-bit imagery into the videos of all kinds of songs. The videogame-inspired visuals seem an especially appropriate accompaniment for chiptune music, itself spawned from an aural fascination with retro games.

With more and more filmmakers adopting the visual vibe of old-school videogames, its time to pay tribute ...

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Kaleidescape Forges Ahead with Blu-Ray Copying, but with Limits

Source: Michael Ricci
May 12, 2010

Having defended itself against one costly attack by the Hollywood establishment, Kaleidescape seems ready to pick another fight.

The first lawsuit pitted an entertainment industry trade group against Kaleidescape's home video jukebox system, which copies conventional DVDs onto hard drives.

On Tuesday morning, Kaleidescape announced an upgrade that can copy high-definition Blu-ray discs as well. The move seems like a, well, aggressive reading of the license agreement that manufacturers of Blu-ray players must sign. But the company is also making ...

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The Marriage of Ticketmaster and Live Nation: Say Hello to the $400 Ticket?

Source: Michael Ricci
May 12, 2010

Monday was a historic day in the music business. Concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment posted its first quarter results as a newly merged company with ticketing giant Ticketmaster. Much of the post-earnings-call press has focused on the stats. The highlights: Concert attendance for the first quarter was down 3%, and the company's revenue from resale site TicketsNow has fallen sharply.

But listen carefully to the conference call discussion with Live Nation Entertainment Chief Executive Michael Rapino and there are hints ...

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