Know Thine Audience!

We're back on the 'when is free music not free music' thing again. Don't you hate it when someone promises you a gift, you get excited, then realise they have an angle? It goes sour. Push it too far and you can lose friends over it. Tonight I'm losing a 'friend'!

These days it seems the only people who want to add me on MySpace are pornstars - and I decline! So when I got an invite from an artist that had a properly contextual (these things are never truely personal) meassage attached I was interested, especially with the added carrot of free music.

I shouldn't have wasted my time downloading the 17 free tracks on offer. They all came with a spoken intro: hello this is blah, blah, blah, this song is called blah, blah, blah, brought to your by blah! I deleted all the tracks and in the interests of expressing my feelings on this issue I'm off to lose a 'friend'.

If he really was my friend he'd know that while I love free music I love it with no strings attached. Marc Andre gave away an album on the only condition that you tell people they could download it. I've mentioned it before but that is the way to do it. That's really making friends!

A little late on this one...

By now you've doubtless heard that due to a ruling in a US court YouTube must hand over an astonishing amount of data about every video ever viewed on its site to Viacom. I seen people say this is wrong for many reasons but the more I think about it the one that is most insidious is the ruling is retroactive.

Perhaps we were gullible and naive to ever treat anywhere on the web as a lawless new frontier. But people have - if we're honest I'm sure we all have to some degree. And I think web-development has benefited from that. Viacom argue they haven't - and, rightly or wrongly, a judge agrees with them.

However, I can't help feeling there's an aspect of this ruling that's like erecting fences and 'We Hang Trespassers' signs after a caravan of honest prospectors have trundled across an unmarked boundary, only to find themselves the centre of a Salem-style witch-hunt. They say 'innovate or die' but perhaps if you don't fancy either of those options you just need to a bigger gun and go hunting!

Optimising...but not cheating!

I'm taking a chance typing this because nothing is constant on YouTube. However, at the time of posting this worked. Watch the video below - I think it's amazing! When it gets to the end you should notice the first related video it recommends to you comes from the familiar face of talk74.



How did I achieve that? In part it was the usual dose of being in the right place and the right time, but mixed with a little thought it seems to have paid off handsomely. My response to 'Where The Hell Is Matt (2008)' is, or rather will be for a brief period around the 22nd - 3rd June 2008, the #1 Travel and Events video on YouTube, on the global list and in about every territory YouTube runs separate charts for!

I was fortunate is see 'Where The Hell Is Matt (2008)' within 12 hours of in being uploaded, and to have the time to make a response immediately. (Matt, the channel owner, was only accepting 'on topic' responses - which probably helped my cause!) My part was to title and tag my video identically to his. As my video is not just a response but an endorsement of his, asking viewers to name how many of the places he shows that they have visited, I don't see this as a cheat. It's about relevance. I'm telling the YouTube machine my video is extremely relevant to his. And YouTube seems to have listened to me!

This one's for you unbelievers!

There are those out there who mock makers of online video. That's your call. There is a stupid side to it. An infantile fascination with the sound of your own voice. An outlet for the wanna-be filmstar. It's understandable. But watch this video and it becomes inexcusable.



Imagine how you'd feel if you were one of the content creators he talks about. I know how I feel. So are you a believer or an unbeliever?

Partly political broadcast!

Ever since he launched WebCameron a couple of years back I've keep an interested eye on how Cameron and the Conservatives are using the media. I'm typing this while watching Cameron Direct live from Plymouth. This isn't the first of these events but it's the first I've looked at.

I could comment on how it's obvious that the Conservatives are pushing his strength as a speaker who doesn't need a script - unless these events are an extremely elaborate hoax! But I'm not a conspiracy theorist, nor yet a political commentator. So let me comment on what caught my eye.

Selfcast. I'd not seen that name before but I instantly knew what it was about. Here is a site that let you sign up and stream live with little more than a webcam. Imagine YouTube but for streaming video. There are live text comments flying in as he's talking, there's a form for emailing in questions. It also seems to archive previous streams.

I know this isn't the only site doing this but it has an instantly likable interface. I'm very tempted to try it out!

A Tale of Two Albums!

I've ranted before that free music is often not worth the hassle. Today I got my hands on two albums in different circumstances.

A bit of late night surfing tipped me off that The Sunday Times were giving away a Moby compliation in today's edition. It was to advertise his upcoming album. This was obviously a more attractive proposition than the Prisonbreak DVD in the Daily Mail, which was piled up everywhere, while The Sunday Times was nowhere to be seen. (Heaven forbid I reveal my feelings on their comparative journalistic merits!) I had to visit three shops to find my copy.

But here's the funny thing. It's not free music because I paid £2 for a paper that'll be 95% unread. And I know I would have put that much effort in if I have been online searching for a download.

However I did score The Charlatans new album for free. I saw a Sky News story about the giveaway and a quick google found the Xfm site with a beautifully simple, no-stupid-registration-just-right-click-and-save-as downloadable album! It's playing now. Yes, it gets plus points for ease of access but I prefer the Moby!

Renetto makes his move!

This is the video we've all been waiting for. Renetto has given a name to his big idea. In fact he's gone one better than that. Two big ideas and, therefore, two names. Paul Robinett has managed to cast himself a love-him-or-hate-him character but I'll say this in his defence. He has passion. Meet him in person and he is a charismatic leader, a motivator, an inspiration. Now he will no-longer be YouTube bashing - let's hope YouTube finds a suitable replacement thorn-in-the-flesh! Instead his attentions are turned to creating Web 3.0!

I write all this because, at 11 minutes long, his video is only for the dedicated. But here's the names you should be looking out for:

Thetropolis

Renetto writes: "Imagine a city alive with conversation...Alive with connection...Vibrant with voices from anywhere and everywhere...Stories you never dreamt you'd hear...Friends you never knew you'd know......Coming soon... Thetropolis.com"

Sorff

Renetto writes: "Never surf the web alone...The future of the web is Social Surfing or...What will soon be known as...Sorffing...Coming soon... Sorff.com"

Ever since Paul began agitating on YouTube I've pondered my response. Do I agree with him? Would I follow someone like him away from the home of online video? Watching today I think I might. Times change and YouTube has certainly changed. Social media is so much more joined up and will only become more so. Watch his video and you'll see it's not histrionics. He's not spitting out the dummy; he's saying let's grow up and take this to the next level. And I'm inclined to think he's onto something good!