Top 25 Most Played Songs of 2011 (Well, According to MY iTunes)

Is it ever too late to post a BEST OF 2011 list?  I think not!  So without further ado and unfortunately no drum roll either, I present to you my most played songs of 2011. 

Note: Some songs on the BEST OF 2011 list were released prior to 2011, I know. 

My Top 25 Most Played Songs of 2011  

1.      This is War (KiNK Remix) – X-Press 2

2.     Vairations – Nicolas Jaar

3.     Mirrorage (Lindstrom Remix) – Glasser

4.     Walk With Me (Carl Cox Remix) – Moby

5.     Bazookah – Starfoxxx

Sadly this track is not available to share on YouTube.

6.     You (feat. Nina Sky) – Creep

7.     A1 – La Peña

8.     Valerie – Amy Winehouse

9.     Wild Fire (feat. Little Dragon) – SBTRK

10.   Happy (James Talk Vocal Mix) – Quivver

11.   Summer Gone – Layo & Bushwaka!

12.   Inseparable – Mariah Carey

13.   Rolling in the Deep (Jamie XX Remix) – Adele

14.  Carny – Pleasurekraft

15.  Girls in Love (Sunrider Remix) – Funky Chicos

16.  Elephanze ce danze – Sebbo

17.   Heavy Metal Lover – Lady Gaga

18.  Flash (Nicky Romero Remix)

19.  Pretentious Friends – Modeselektor & Busdriver

20.  Emotions – Tommy Love

21.  Take me Back - Toddla T 

22.  Hey Hey (DF's Attention Vocal Mix) - Dennis Ferrer

23.  Original Don (Crookers Remix) - Major Lazer

24.  Internet Connection (Flux Pavillion Remix) - M.I.A.

25.  Magic Tribe - Marco Carola

It was a great year for my music collection.  My neighbors may disagree. 

Business Plan Development, From Experts Guy Kawasaki and Dan Schawbel

For the purpose of this blog post, I have researched two experts, Guy Kawasaki and Dan Schawbel, regarding business investments. I first heard of Guy Kawasaki in an Executive Leadership course at Full Sail University. As a well-published author, Kawasaki has solidified his placement in business education and commentary conversation. Interestingly enough, Kawasaki was integrated into one of my first blog entries at Full Sail and now he is also part of one of my final blog assignments. Dan Schawbel is making his Hertzblog debut with this post.

A highly praised branding and entrepreneur expert, Dan Schawbel gives valuable insight into the development of business plans. Recognized by New York Times as the “personal branding guru,” Schawbel is the managing partner of Millennium Branding, LLC. Schawbel is also responsible for an international best-seller. Like Kawasaki, Schawbel is also a highly sought-after national speaker enlightening audiences on his views of various business topics relevant today. Schawbel has taught that investors seek business plans that include a variety of key elements; the return on investment is probably the most important element of the business plan to an investor. Other crucial variables to a business plan include in-depth knowledge of the demographics, industry, and competitors.

Schawbel and Kawasaki have different views on business plan development but both realize the importance of a solid business plan. In his blog, The Zen of Business Plans, Kawasaki provides 9 do’s and don’ts for professionals preparing a business plan to be presented to an investor. I found the entry very useful as Guy explains what he looks for and what will best attract investors. According to Kawasaki, the fundamentals of the business plan should always include the following: Executive Summary, Problem, Solution, Business Model, Underlying Magic, Marketing and Sales, Competition, Team, Projections, Status and Timeline, and Conclusion. He adds that each section should ideally be one page in length but expects a ‘fudge factor’ of 9 pages. The shorter and cleaner the plan, the more likely it will be read.

Developers may also find it easier to create the pitch before the plan. This helps with having a better deliverable pitch and plan because it’s easier to master the pitch and make changes than it is for the actual plan. Dan Schawbel put an emphasis on the scheduled review of the business plan in his blog entry titled “Build an Extraordinary Business Plan to Kick Your Brand into High Gear.” Schawbel says that every plan should begin with a review schedule. By creating the schedule in the beginning of the project, the team will be better focused and informed. Noticed I said ‘team.’ Kawasaki believes one person should create a business plan while Schawbel recognizes that groups develop most plans. Kawasaki believes a plan created by only one person reads more cohesive and incorporates a better flow of information. Either way, a review plan would be beneficial to a developing business plan.

Free Streaming Music & Playlist Discovery Made Simple With Songza

I am just going to get right to the point here and tell you that I am onboard and proud to be on the Songza fan-wagon. Less than 24 hours ago I had never even heard of Songza. A good reason for this may be attributed to the fact that Songza has only be available to the public for just a day now. What’s-a Songza you ask? It’s quite simple (and free). Songza is a (free) digital music provider that allows subscribers to stream entire playlists at just a click, tap, swipe, or press of button. The extensive inventory of playlists have already been crafted, compiled and categorized for your convenience making music discovery uber-easy with Songza.

Brand new and free, Songza comes available in two forms if you’re interested (and trust me, you should be), mobile app and website. In case I failed to mentioned earlier, the membership is totally free. Currently, Songza has a library of over 14 million tracks which puts it in the same size category as Spotify while trumping Pandora. What sets Songza apart from competitors is the ease and time, or lack thereof, needed to produce the perfect playlist. Right now there are well over 75,000 playlists already available on the site. That number continues to grow as users contribute their selections to that list.

Navigating the website is simple. In just two clicks from the homepage you can be enjoying music catered to your desires. Users can search the catalog via two methods: entering artist’s name or playlist into a search field, or browsing categories. I love discovering new music so dabbling about the various categories is my browsing method of choice. The categories include Genres, Activities, Moods, Decades, Culture and Record-store Clerk. Each category is full of subsections chockfull of music available for almost any occasion. Check it out!

Future iTunes, No 'Match' For Me (Yet)

We, music enthusiasts, are facing some new and exciting movements within the industry. One interesting and anticipated advance is coming from Apple. Many Apple product owners, commentators and speculators are clamoring about the new iOS 5, which is due to reach consumers this fall. The iOS 5 will include many cool new features that we have come to expect from Apple, of course, but one of the most talked about addition will be the iTunes cloud service. The cloud service will include a great little sleuth of a feature called iTunes Match, designed to compete with services introduced by Amazon and Google.

Apple recently announced that iTunes Match will give users the option to download or stream their music libraries on up to 5 devices including iPads, iPhones, iPods, etc. Apple, keeping many details of how the iTunes Match service will actually work under wraps, has said that all music ‘matched’ or copied from the Apple’s master library will play at a decent quality (256kbps). However, for tracks in your library that iTunes cannot ‘match’ with Apple’s offerings can only be streamed from the cloud after it has been uploaded. Either way you will have complete access to your music catalog (up to 25,000 songs) on your various iOS devices and computers.



I am personally not sold on this Apple service just yet. To be quite honest, I just do not have the need for a service like this one, yet. I listen to my music from my home computer, which is connected to a sound system that my neighbors and I both can appreciate. And currently I use my iPhone to access my songs both in the gym and in the car. Being that I do not even get workable service in parts of my gym, how would a streaming service even work?

The ability to store your library in the cloud comes to us at a price of $24.99 each year. Apple already receives enough of my wages each month as it is. I will just need to keep that in mind before I am convinced that I just cannot live without this new iTunes service.

When It Rains, It Pours

With the recent destruction of the Sony distribution center in the UK, I have thought about the evolution of the music industry in terms of products sold. It seems that every so often music is distributed on a new and hopefully better format. Today’s candy of choice seems to be the mp3 as the industry’s digital evolution has steamrolled the compact disc. CDs had it coming really. Look what the evolution did to cassettes. And of course the cassette would not last either although it did knock out vinyl, which definitely had its heyday. So what about the mp3?

I am usually an early adapter and sometimes even an innovator in regards to new products surfacing in the market. However, when it comes to music I have sometimes made the format transitions a bit later, falling into the majority, early and late. The reason being is quite simple: I don’t want to have to repurchase my music collection. Now here we are today with the lovely, transferable, duplicable, and much cheaper mp3. With cloud and streaming services shooting to the music industry as a new and more efficient solution like boiling water to dry, stiff pasta, the mp3 is getting a second life. We can still purchase and do whatever we (legally) desire with mp3s but now we have different means to access them. I, being the sometimes stubborn guy that I am, will be waiting to see how this one pans out.

One of the first things that occurred to me with the unfortunate destruction of the Sony distribution center and it's physical stock was that digital cannot easily be destroyed. Sure one can lose their laptop or music player. And one could also say that copies of CD’s could be lost in a similar fashion but you will never hear of a warehouse of mp3’s going up in flames. Digital cannot only be transferred easily now between devices but can apparently float high above the reaches of evil in some almighty cloud. The real question is how long with this cloud stay afloat. Am I pessimist? Not hardly. I am simply finding reasons to cling to my old fashion ways. And besides, services like streaming and cloud computing certainly have a way to go before being perfected.

Publishing Podcasts

I was recently asked to review several podcasts that are related to music publishing and digital music liabilities. In doing so, I have expanded my personal learning network to include several free podcasts that were found on iTunes. I have started subscriptions to Oxford Internet Institute, USC Libraries and The Music Law Podcast.

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The easiest to digest and my favorite of the three sources is The Music Law Podcast. Narrated by entertainment attorney Mark Quail, I listened to two podcasts pertaining to publishing appropriately titled “Music Publishing Law” parts one and two. The two podcasts spoke on the different types of royalties, licensing, publishing contracts and the general duties of music publishing companies. Reinforcing the basics of music publishing is the greatest personal benefit to adding this to my learning network, as I would like to start my own publishing company.

The USC Library is the second source to which I now subscribe. I listened to “The Future of Publishing in the Digital Age: Two Views,” which was delivered by N. Lynne Withey and Katherine Hayles. Withey explained the current and future states of the publishing industry. Primarily, digital publishing is used for its convenience. As technology advances, publishing companies will reform their processes to match. Publishers should be prepared to have creative works in digital archives that can be transmitted and utilized in various digital formats. Hayles spoke on how digital tools changed the way we think. She argues that digital formats contain more information than traditional formats. It will be interesting to hear more views like the two featured on this podcast. Following the evolution of protecting and licensing copyrighted works is paramount to a thriving publisher.

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The last of the three podcasts I reviewed comes from Oxford Internet Institute. Matthew David narrated “Peer to Peer and the Music Industry: The Criminalization of Sharing.” I found this podcast interesting as it illustrates how peer-to-peer sharing is not a new phenomenon but as technology advances, infringement increases. David describes the evolution of record label business models and the impact of peer-to-peer file sharing sites. Publishing, of course, is not immune to the harm of file sharing. It is legal for the public to upload and download only small parts of an entire copyrighted work. However, the result is just the same as if someone made multiple copies of one copyrighted item and distributed the copies to other people which is illegal. New technologies and processes are expected to continue affecting the digital rights management of a publisher.

The Music Industry vs. LimeWire

For just over 10 years, LimeWire created a platform for its users to freely distribute digital music without properly licensing the music and therefore inducing copyright infringement. LimeWire began in May of 2000 and after several well publicized court cases finally ended with a federal injunction in October 2010. The company’s software was easily downloaded to the user’s computer and was accessed with several membership plans. Most users opt for the free version that allowed them to share and download copyright protected video and audio files.

One of the biggest changes that has occurred in the recent evolution of the music industry is the predominately electronic distribution channels in which users receive their music. Unfortunately, this makes it easier for piracy of copyright protected works to occur. With file sharing sites such as LimeWire facilitating the distribution without legal sale of music it has been said that singers, composers, songwriters and record labels have lost billions of dollars in revenue.

The Grokster case paved the way for the entertainment industry to go after file sharing sites in efforts to not only recover lost revenue but also to ultimately shut down operations promoting what is now deemed as illegal file sharing. In the Grokster case, the United States Supreme Court ruled that business with the intent to of encouraging copyright infringement should be held liable. Grokster was eventually shut down. Currently, the Grokster’s site hails a message to all visitors that 1) sharing copyright protected material is illegal and 2) “There are legal services for downloading music and movies. This service is not one of them.”

Since the ruling in the Grokster case, numerous entertainment companies and advocacy groups have brought filing sharing sites to the courts. According to the a press release by the National Music Publishers Association, eight of its filed suit against LimeWire seeking damages for knowingly facilitating copyright infringement through LimeWire’s web application. The publishing companies originally sought $150,000 for every song that was illegally shared through LimeWire. The case eventually settled and the terms were undisclosed.

In October 2010, the injunction filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against LimeWire was approved in federal court. Judge Kimba Wood found LimeWire’s creator, Mark Gordon, completely liable for the application’s user’s copyright infringement. This was a huge win for the entertainment industry as one of the major players of illegal file sharing would soon shut down operations. The RIAA argues the huge drop in revenues is directly linked to file sharing sites like LimeWire. Estimates from the RIAA indicate a drop from $14.5 billion 1999 to $7.7 billion in 2009.