Sure, it would be nice to have an iPod. Everyone and their grandma seems to have one. It’s the “cool” thing to have, right?
However, as I look at the various options available in terms of getting music, I think there are many other services that are more economical.
For instance, there’s Rhapsody.com. Personally, I like the idea of paying a monthly membership fee and having access to unlimited songs. Even if you don’t want to sign up for a membership, Rhapsody does offer high quality mp3’s to download.
Rhapsody has two types of memberships:
Rhapsody To Go – You can load a Rhapsody-compatible portable player and take your music with you in addition to listening to music on your PC or web browser.
Rhapsody Unlimited – You can listen to unlimited music on your PC or browser and burn CD’s with Rhapsody’s software.
What I like about Rhapsody is that I can burn music to CD’s to play in my car. I also like that they have a 14-day free trial so you can test out the service and see if you like it. They even have a Facebook application, so you can create a playlist for your Facebook profile and share your favorite music with friends.
What I would love to see Rhapsody create is a Blackberry application for phones or even some kind of feature to download songs to phones.
Back in the day if you wanted to create quality, professional sounding music, you had to dish out hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to a studio that would make the music for you. Even creating your own sheet music was a process. However, with all the technology and computers available today, you can have your own music notation program. If you’ve always dreamed of being a songwriter, you can now create music and music CDs easily and seamlessly with music software.
Finale is a company that offers several products that will suit your music notation needs:
Finale 2008 – provides full MIDI capabilities
Finale Allegro – a low-cost alternative to Finale 2008 that leaves out the detailed options
PrintMusic- create sheet music up to 24 staves
SongWriter – create and print quality sheet music
NotePad – free notation software where users can click notes onto staves
Viewer – free software that lets you view, play, transpose, and print digital sheet music
Did you know that Finale was used in Academy Award®-winning films such as:
* Ratatouille
* Michael Clayton
* Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
* Elizabeth: The Golden Age
* The Golden Compass
For all you air-guitarists out there who still haven’t heard of “Guitar Hero“, you’ll find this guitar/video version of karaoke to be the best thing invented – at least I think so! When my best friend’s daughter introduced me to this a month ago, I knew that if I didn’t put the guitar down after the first couple go-arounds, I was going to end up hogging the guitar all night!
Here’s an 8-year-old who is having the time of his life playing Guitar Hero…
I think it’s a great way to introduce kids to all kinds of music from “back in the day”. My friend’s daughter knows who Pat Benatar is now! Oh, and of course, Guitar Hero is something for the adults to enjoy as well! Buy Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle at Amazon.com
As I read Failed Muso’s review of a Prince concert in London, I have my own memories of playing an air guitar in my bedroom as I listened to Prince’s album,Around the World in a Day on my cassette player. Ah, those were the days! Ever since his single Raspberry Beret came out, I’ve been a huge fan.
Well, I’m pretty jealous of those in the UK who were able to get Prince’s new CD with their Sunday newspaper! He’s making his rounds in London where he will spend 21 days. Where to next?
I completely respect Prince’s idea to give away his CD. He basically just wants to make sure the message in his music is given to as many people as possible. Obviously he’s not in it for the money anymore and I love that If I had millions like him, I would do the same thing.
Find out more about Prince by visiting his website, 3121.com
Mp3 players are the hot commodity nowadays and I just discovered a website that offers discounted Mp3 players…
Uxcell.com is a Hong Kong-based electronics store that is affiliated with 100+ factories, so they’re able to offer Mp3 players, digital cameras, and more up to 80% off retail. You’re able to buy Mp3 players without that darned middle man
There are so many places to get mp3 music nowadays! Recently I signed up with Yahoo! Music Unlimited simply because I can download as many mp3’s I want and only have to pay a low monthly price.
Don’t get me wrong, I do love iTunes, but I don’t have an iPod! Yahoo! Music Unlimited is the alternative for those of us who aren’t the iPod and iTunes enthusiasts.
What do you need to get started?
In order to run Yahoo! Music Unlimited on your computer, you need this system and software:
Finale is a company that offers several products that will suit your music notation needs:
If I had millions like him, I would do the same thing. 