Category: Music

The All Summer Long Ringtone by Kid Rock has quickly become one of the most popular ringtones in the world. It has peaked near the top of several popular mobile charts and is currently in the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. Based on its popularity, the it might soon become one of the most popular mobile phone ringtones ever released!

All Summer Long is the 3rd single from Rock N Roll Jesus, the 9th studio album by Kid Rock. The song is now available in every country on iTunes except for the U.S. store. This song samples Warren Zevon’s Werewolves of London and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama. The mash up was created by Mike E Clark. The song was the official theme song for WWE’s Backlash 2008 and has charted on Billboard’s Hot 100, Adult Top 40, Adult Contemporary, Mainstream Rock, Modern Rock, and Country formats. It also has charted worldwide going to #1 in Austria and Germany and #79 in Canada.

The popularity of the song has helped make All Summer Long such a popular phone ringtone. The track has also topped Canadian and Australian music charts, making the ringtone very popular in those nations as well as in the United States. Several mobile content providers have placed the ringtone near the top of their ringtone charts already.

There is no doubt that Kid Rock’ incredible new hit single will end up being one of the most popular ringtones of 2008 in America. If you’re looking for a hot new ringtone for your mobile phone – the All Summer Long Ringtone is an awesome choice!

The term Swan Song, a metaphor for a final gesture or effort, often gets used when the year comes to a close. It was actually quite a few months before the New Year back in October, when veteran Boston designated hitter David Ortiz enjoyed his swan song by playing out his final season with the Red Sox against the Cleveland Indians in the American League Division Series.

A more appropriate use of swan song occurs when it regards musicians, to whom it applies in a literal sense. For instance, David Bowie recorded his swan song this year, an album called Black Star, released just a few days before his death in January.

The record was well-received by critics as well as fans, and the track Dollar Days is one of the sweetest songs in his discography. Black Star, however, pales when compared to Bowie’s very best albums. The disc Scary Monsters and Super Creeps from 35 years ago remains the best, along with Hunky Dory from 1972.

Rarely is the swan song of a band or artist the best album of their career, but several groups have actually made last albums that excelled all of their previous releases. Here are five of those bands whose last album was the best in their catalogue.

The Hoople by Mott the Hoople

Guitarist and co-founder Mick Ralphs had left before this record, so vocalist Ian Hunter took sole control of the glitter rock quintet. Tunes like Alice, Marionette, and Roll Away the Stone made this last album the best in their impressive catalogue.

Look? Hear? by 10cc

Their biggest hits, like I’m Not In Love, Dreadlock Holiday and The Things We Do For Love, preceded this album. Nevertheless, all ten songs here could be pop hits as, unlike their other records, there are no duds on either side of this vinyl.

Dandy in the Underworld by T. Rex

The title track became an instant classic when, shortly after the record was released, front man Marc Bolan was killed in a car crash.

Lost Without Your Love by Bread

David Gates and his hit-making group had broken up in 1972, but thank goodness they reunited six years later. The title track became a huge hit, and Change of Heart might just be the best song about a guy in a love triangle.

Good Times by the Monkees

Mickey Dolenz, who had an excellent voice at the band’s sixties heyday, some how sounds even better now. The dozen songs here, written by an All-Star cast including the guys themselves, make this collection of new stuff better than any of the band’s previous albums. Those oldies like Headquarters were certainly goodies but, unlike this disc, they were all a bit flawed. Even Davy Jones appears posthumously to sing lead on Love Takes Love, a previously unreleased song from a session in the sixties.

I just recently finished reading the book, Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music. I’m kind of mad at myself for waiting so long to read it. It’s been in the “to read” pile for a long time and I just got around to reading it. It’s a fantastic look at the evolution of music over the past 20 years or so. From the rise of indie bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes, to Prince’s record label, to mp3’s and the “pay what you want” model introduced by Radiohead and NineInch Nail’s Trent Reznor.

I can’t honestly say that I remember much about my 7th grade history class. I couldn’t even tell you my teacher’s name, let alone what we “learned” that year. The one thing that I do remember is that there was a banner hanging above the chalk board. It read, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

If you are going to be a musician today, then you need to understand how the music industry has changed so that you can try to figure out where it’s headed. Sure it’s great to know about the writers in Tin Pan Alley from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s; it’s important to understand radio’s role in the emergence of popular music and how payola controlled that; it’s important to know that the first video ever aired on MTV was The Buggle’s “Video Killed The Radio Star” (seriously think about that for a minute).

In the last 20 years, the music industry has changed more than it has in nearly its entire existence. Or, certainly in this century. The current music industry that we operate in is still changing at a rapid pace. There’s speculation on the extinction of CD’s within 2-3 years, there’s been a major resurgence in vinyl (who saw that coming?!), the major record labels as we knew them may cease to exist within 5 years, mp3’s and file sharing are now a good thing and a major source of world-wide distribution (what?!).

Greg Kott’s “Ripped” is one of the most fascinating books on current music history I’ve ever read. He jumps right in with the first chapter about the major consolidation that all of the big 5 (at that time there were 5 major record labels, as opposed to the 2 1/2 there are now). This was a huge shift in the record industry at the time. It scared a lot of artists and put a lot of people out of work.

Greg does a great job in detailing the consolidation of the majors, the rise of indie bands, the fight against and for sampling on hip-hip records and new mashup records and artists, Prince’s record label and his do-it-yourself approach, the rise of mp3’s and the fall of Napster and the “pay what you want” model that Radiohead started with “In Rainbows,” that Trent Renzor “improved” upon.

I don’t want to give too much away, because I want you to be able to enjoy this book. It isan enjoyable book. It discusses in detail the many things that have happened over the past two decades that have changed the face of the music industry dramatically.

You can read each chapter as a vignette about each band or person or aspect of the industry. But when taken as a whole, “Ripped” reads more like a cautionary tale with a hopeful ending.

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Ryan Raddon (aka Kaskade), in addition to being the #1 DJ in the United States (according to a 2011 DJ Times poll), the world’s #30 DJ (DJMag Top 100 DJs poll, also in 2011), is, in his own right, a chart-topping producer as well.

With 9 artist album releases and countless top remixes, there are myriad songs to choose from to determine a top 5 list. However I’ve got 5 that I think represent Kaskade’s best work. I’ve included a couple of remixes here because, well, they are fantastic and you won’t want to miss them.

Here’s the countdown:

5. Call Your Girlfriend (Robyn — Kaskade Dub)

This gem of a remix did not make it on the commercial release of Robyn’s album, but, this track is definitely “hands in the air,” and the drop is fantastic. This one can be found on Kaskade’s Soundcloud page.

Favorite moment: the drop. First one is at 1:27.

4. Be Still (Love Mysterious)

This song was released as the first single from Love Mysterious, which was released in 2006. It topped the Billboard Dance Club Play chart at #4. American singer Sunsun provides the very fine vocal work. Be Still also features some great guitar work throughout, a rarity in electronic dance music (EDM).

Favorite moment: 1:56. The start of the build up into the last refrain of the chorus. Backing guitar complements Sunsun’s gorgeous voice here. Also 3:04, the guitar solo. Rockin’ in a House tune. Couldn’t be better!

3. Room For Happiness (Fire & Ice)

I had never heard of Skylar Grey before I bought this album. But the combination of her passion-filled vocal rendition, the meaning-laden lyrics, and a pounding beat makes for a great song.

Favorite moment: 3:16. The break/bridge.

2. Love Is Not Enough (Above & Beyond — Kaskade Remix)

Kaskade’s remix of this track from Above & Beyond’s Group Therapy album is, not to put too fine a point on it, fantastic. The original mix was already top-notch, and Kaskade has add his brilliant and unique touch and made this into a favorite of mine.

Favorite moment: 3:40 the build-up into the last chorus. And overall, the piano. I love piano in EDM, and this is the perfect touch for this remix.

1. Don’t Stop Dancing (Dynasty)

This album, like most of Kaskade’s artist releases, is brimming with fantastic music. But the track that stands out to me is this one. Kaskade worked with EDX on this track, and Haley provides the excellent vocal work.

Favorite moment: the syncopated pikes throughout. Just love em. They provide the drive through this track that makes it so irresistible.

If you are a big fan of music and need to get access to some of the latest songs on your MP3 player, then now you can download them through the internet.

MP3 players are hip and trendy!

Technology has been developing at a faster pace than ever before and ushered in a new revolution with some of the most innovative products.MP3 players are one such creation that has vastly contributed to the growing popularity of small music devices with vast capabilities of storing files in digital format. The unique advantage of MP3 players is that you can easily carry them anywhere and listen to your favorite songs using Bluetooth devices or a headset.

Besides, it is light-weight and has good storage capacity and comes in different memory sizes. It is the best way to download music using the music sites available on the internet. You can find plenty of interesting music sites on the internet, from where you can download songs to your MP3 player The fees charged by the MP3 music download sites are quite economical and affordable. You need to check for sites that are authentic and genuine and offer good quality music so that there is no threat of any virus or spyware for your MP3 player.

Download music to your MP3 player

The first thing that you need for downloading music to your MP3 player is a good computer which has a USB connection. Besides that you may require some cables for making a connection and also software for downloading purposes. You can follow the simple steps given in the manual for downloading music to your MP3 player as most of them work in a similar fashion.

However, the simplest way would be to just download and transfer all the files to your detachable disk drive and then use the copy paste option. This works well if you are using a computer having USB connectivity. The computer also requires software for recognition of your MP3 player when it is put into the USB drive. If you are using a different computer and do not have the required software, then it is possible to get it on the internet as well.

Some handy tips for downloading music for MP3 player

-Make sure you download music only from internet music sites that carry high ratings which are legally permissible. These sites should have a good collection of songs and if possible, look out for sites that offer free music download trial versions.

-Always remember to download music files from websites that are compatible with your MP3 player device so that you do not waste all your time and effort on something that may not yield good results.

The Phantom of the Opera is perhaps most well-known for its stage adaptation, which comes in the form of a musical. It is one of the most popular musicals of all time, and any Broadway fan has most likely seen it at some point. It is the longest-running Broadway show of all time, having been performed thousands upon thousands of times.

The novel was published in France in 1909, and translated to English 2 years later. It was met with little to no success. However, it gradually caught on over the years as word spread, and eventually it became hugely popular, prompting all sorts of adaptations. There have been countless movies, television series, book spin-offs, stage adaptations, comic strips, and other odes to the original novel.

The most famous stage adaptation of the Phantom of the Opera is the 1986 Broadway musical. It was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with writers Richard Stilgoe and Charles Hart contributing lyrics.

The musical closely follows the events of the book. The main character, Christine Daae, is a singer in the Opera Garnier in Paris. As she spends time in the opera house, she becomes the obsession of the titular Phantom. The tale that unfolds is dramatic, dark, and extremely memorable.

The musical has been extremely successful. At first the outlook was somewhat rocky due to poor critical reception. However, the musical has gotten enough attendance to show constantly since 1986. Profits are estimated at around 3.3 Billion USD, with over 80 million attendees.

So if you have an interest in Broadway musicals, you should definitely try to find a showing of the Phantom of the Opera near you. It is not just a great story – it is also a piece of Broadway history. So see this infamous play, and find out what all the fuss is about.

Low peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 during the week of January 5, 2008 and has held that position for 10 weeks now. The song also generated the greatest one-week digital sales in Billboard Magazine history, with 470,000 digital copies purchased in one week’s time. While the track was climbing music charts around the world, the Low Ringtone was becoming nearly as popular on mobile phones across North America, Europe and Asia.

The Low ringtone has spent the past 12 weeks on top of Billboard’s Hot RingMasters Chart and was listed as the most popular ringtone by companies such as FlyCell and Thumbplay during this time. Recent estimates have shown that Low is now the second most downloaded real music ringtone in history behind only Crank Dat (Soulja Boy). If the Low Ringtone continues to be downloaded at its current rate, it will surpass Crank Dat in just over 2 week’s time.

Flo Rida was previously unknown by the mainstream ringtone market, although T-Pain has had several highly popular ringtones including “Bartender”, “Buy U A Drank” and “Kiss Kiss”. The second single from Flo Rida’s new album, Elevator, is also performing well on music charts. Also, the Elevator ringtone is currently the fifth most popular cell phone ringtone in America. Flo Rida’s success on the ringtone charts should continue as more singles from his new album are released.

Real music ringtones are increasing in popularity at a rate of about 20% per year. The Low ringtone has easily been the most downloaded ringtone of 2008 to date and this incredible success should continue in the weeks and months to come.

Music is important to human beings and there is no one who does not like it. It relaxes the mind and soul, bringing with it contentment and peace. There are so many great musicians and singers and they are able to compose some of the most amazing songs ever. It has become very common to see the top lists of the best songs of every year. Some of the greatest musicians make it and they tend to be the most successful in the industry.

A world without music

It is very hard to imagine what the world would be like without any music to entertain. The world would really be quiet and lonely. Music is simply extraordinary and it is what makes us who we are. Music is truly the fabric of life and it defines the society, as we know it. You can learn a lot about culture, religion, fashion, language, and so on by simply listening to music.

Music can be used to describe human experiences and this is the reason why you see people enjoy some of the best songs in all significant events such as birthdays, inaugurations, graduations, funerals, and weddings. Music is a perfect art, and it makes life complete.

You can improve the ambiance of a room by playing music. There are different styles and you will find a suitable song for all occasions. It is relaxing and soothing and it can improve a dull day largely.

Cultures

All cultures create music and even in the past, this was still the case. Music affects our brains deeply and creates strong emotions and all kinds of memories. Learning about music allows us to understand what it is we want and it helps us understand other people more clearly. It is like therapy that our souls truly need every single day of our lives.

The benefits of music

Creativity: Music forms an important part of creativity. It is one of the best ways that you can put the mind in a wandering mode. Since the mind is fueled, creativity is also fueled. When you have a creative mind, you can make great innovations and discoveries.

Memorable and fun learning experiences: music makes it more fun to learn new things and it can be used as a tool for memory. Kids are able to focus and then remember things already learnt. People are able to remember better when music is included in the learning experience.

Universal language: with music, communication across all lingual and cultural boundaries is made possible. You can evoke some deep feelings, even when people have no idea what you are singing about. This is the reason why all sorts of music make it to the top lists, even though such languages are not widely spoken.

Bringing people together: music is able to pull people together because there is a feeling one gets when you are listening to music surrounded by people even if they are strangers. This increases cooperation, connecting socially, and empathy.

Reduction of anxiety and stress: when the music has a low pitch and a slow tempo, it has the power to calm us down. This is especially true in painful and stressful events.

One of the characteristics that people most often think about when they think of rockabilly music is the famous “hiccupy” vocal styles. Elvis, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, and many others used this technique to different extents when recording their seminal rockabilly tracks. But rockabilly music wasn’t always about the vocals. Several great rockabilly instrumentals hold their place in rockabilly history as well.

• Bill Justis, “Raunchy”: “Raunchy was the first rock and roll instrumental hit and reached #2 on the American charts in 1957. It was recorded by Sam Phillips in his Memphis Recording Service studios and released on his Phillips record label. The record sold over a million copies and set the stage for future rock instrumental hits. The sax sound on this recording is nasty. Nasty but beautiful!
• Link Wray and his Wraymen, “Rumble”: Link Wray is one of the icons of 50s instrumental rock and roll and “Rumble” is as evil as it gets. This is actually a very simplistic song and the guitar work is not all that complex, but it has tons of attitude and no one could dare complain! If there is one defining rock and roll instrumental, this might be it.
• Duane Eddy, “Rebel Rouser”: Eddy is another of instrumental rock’s crowed princes. “Rebel Rouser” is also another signature tune of the genre. Starting with Eddy’s tremolo guitar sound seeped in reverb, this one is a precursor to the surf guitar sounds of the 60s. It then launches into another nasty-sounding sax solo and ends off on a key change. You didn’t hear too many key changes in rockabilly music and this is one of the most famous!
• Joe Maphis and Larry Collins, “Hurricane”: Larry Collins was the impish little-brother half of the Collins kids. Larry and Lorrie were literally just children when they started making hit records. While most of their songs featured Lorrie’s vocals, it was often little Larry–a guitar wizard at the ripe old age of 10–who stole the show with his jumping-bean stage antics and blazing guitar work. Country star Joe Maphis–also an amazing guitarist–served as Larry’s mentor and they often performed together with their signature double-necked guitars. Sometimes they both played one neck of the same guitar. “Hurricane” is about as wild as it gets and squeezes more notes into less than three minutes than just about any other song I can think of. These guys prove that “shredding” didn’t start with Eddie Van Halen!
• Arthur Smith, “Guitar Boogie”: For those who insist that rockabilly music started in 1954 with Elvis, I submit this gem from Arthur Smith. Recorded in 1948, this is pretty darned close to rockabilly if you ask me! This is a wonderful guitar-based song with the lead work done on an acoustic guitar instead of the twangy electric guitar featured in most rockabilly songs. If it isn’t rockabilly, then it’s certainly rockabilly’s roots!

Those are just five instrumental tunes that prove that rockabilly wasn’t just about the vocals. Rockabilly instrumentation and virtuosity often didn’t get its rightful due, maybe because the music evoked such a happy-go-lucky, fun-loving vibe that people forgot to notice just how good those players really were. These rockabilly instrumentals, along with scores of others, give the instrumentalists a chance to show off!

It is widely known that producers have been able to make 1000’s of dollars selling beats online via SoundClick. Recording artists have been able to build tremendous buzz on the website, too. However, there are still many people who may not know exactly how to get to the #1 spot on SoundClick charts. The following information will provide you with some helpful tips to get to the top of SoundClick.

Create an Account

The first step is to log onto SoundClick’s website. You will want to register an account with SoundClick. Set up your username and password. You will want to create a name for your artist/band/music production company.

The next step is critical in increasing your SoundClick pages’ traffic. SoundClick has special preference for its paying customers. Consequently, SoundClick members that create VIP accounts get special benefits, namely an extra boost in the charts. This is important because the higher you move up into SoundClick’s charts the more opportunities you have to get free traffic to your webpage. The more traffic you get to your page, the more opportunities you will have to get beat sales and/or sales of your music. It costs about $10 USD to purchase a VIP membership on SoundClick.

Upload Beats, Instrumentals, and Music

Now you want to begin uploading your music so people can download your mp3s online. Upload as many instrumentals, beats, and songs as you like. SoundClick does not have a limit on how much music you can load onto their servers. You can either allow people to download beats/songs for free or you can just have a streaming links available.

Promote, Advertise

This is the last but most important factor in climbing SoundClick Charts. You want to constantly be promoting your beats, instrumentals, songs, or music. You will want to focus on driving unique listeners and viewers to your page.

A great way to easily do this is to allow people to download your music for free. If you are a producer, you should put in your title that your instrumental is a “Free Download” or “Free D/L”. If you are an artist make sure you promote your songs in the same manner. The reason for doing this is to entice more unique viewers to your page.

You also will want to get active in music forums. You will want to begin posting links to music on your SoundClick page for people to review. DO NOT SPAM. This is the worst thing you can do! Look for threads within music forums where you can post links to your material. MAKE SURE YOU SAY IN YOUR POST TITLE “FEEDBACK RETURNED” OR “DROP LINKS”. This will encourage people to check out your music because you’re offering to check out theirs. It will also provide you with the unique views you need to move up the charts. Make sure you provide GOOD FEEDBACK!

The aforementioned items are just a few methods to begin promotions and advertising. You can pay for advertising and use social networks among other things to drive traffic to your page. The key to climbing the charts is establishing a consistent advertising pattern. The more traffic you are driving to your page the more unique viewers you will get. As you continue to drive traffic to your page you will continue to climb the charts. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t make it to #1 over night. Climbing the charts is a process. Stay consistent and persistent until you reach your goals.