Coldplay get it!

Coldplay must be congratulated on the release of Left Right Left Right Left. Too often bands advertise ‘free’ tracks on sites like MySpace only for you either have to fill out unduly complicated web forms to assess them, or only to discover that they’re not available to you because you live in the wrong part of the world.

Coldplay steered clear of both of these pitfalls and raised the bars by giving away an album that their fans would unquestionably paid good money for. It’s a very ‘live’ live album but that’s what the band’s stadium sound is all about. Even their new, experimental sound can’t mask the fact they are all about the arm waving and the sing-a-longs.

To say I’m not complaining is an understatement. I’m really impressed. If I were the hat-wearing type this would be the point I removed it!

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!

Feeder - free but frustrating!

I've ranted about giving away free music before. If you want a good example of how not to do it look no further than this recent attempt by UK rock band Feeder.

Now I own several Feeder albums, have seen them in concert several times and have their posters on my living room wall - I guess that qualifies me as a sort of fan. But this annoyed me. Perhaps I'm the only one, and maybe all the positive feedback on their blog confirms that, but here is a message I sent them last night.

this stupid free download doesn't want to work! if you'd really like me to hear your cool new music why not just put it as a download from myspace? oh, cos you won't harvest my details for FeederSpam! yeah, I get it - except I never did get to hear this track cos it won't extract properly.i think you get my point ;)

This morning I got this reply...

You are the first person to say there is a problem ... please can you try again ?If it doesn't work still, please can you describe the problem ?I should add, we never send out spam via our mailing list, it's always important news which we think our fans would like to know!

I did try again. I got it to work. It's playing as I type - but I stand by my request for simplicity.

Get your FREE GIFT from YOUTUBE!

The Good Book tells us it is better to give than to receive and this holiday season YouTube will help us do just that. My attention was draw today to the new 'Send this as a Video Holiday Card' button that's appeared to the right of YouTube videos. It lets your send friends videos of your choice wrapped in a festive skin.

It's not a cool as watching videos on a new iPod, but it is free!



I recommend sending your friends Christmelicious!

Should I, shouldn't I?

Thanks to those nice people at Beet.tv for turning me onto today's hot find. However, I'm in two minds as to whether to confess. I'm only doing so because it got me out of a miser's problem!

Ever tried to download a YouTube video? It's not that straightforward - not if you don't want to pay money. Converters I've found will give you a flash file but then you need a flash player to play it. What if you want to edit it? Then, in my case, I need to convert it to a Windows movie file. A demo version of a ImToo Zune converter will do files under five minutes for free. So I was stuck when I wanted to convert a movie pushing the six minute mark.

Enter idesktop.tv! So I don't quite understand why I want a another interface to consume videos I'd happily watch (probably perfer to watch) on YouTube. However the simple download function, with options for Windows or Mac compatible output is a winner. I've not pushed the limits but my six minute file is now converted. And the best bit...yes, it's free!

My Magic Phone

The Apple iPhone launched in the UK last night. My wife went down to the local O2 store at 6.02 hoping to collect some promised freebies. They hadn't arrived. Yes they had the iPhone but even the enthusiastic sales assistant couldn't convince her to be excited about it. Her impression was it is big (not in a good way) - and there were no freebies!

Which brings me to my point. Earlier this week I watched some videos from Google. One asked a bunch of young school children what their 'magic phone' would do. There answers were interesting but very different to mine. My 'magic phone' would make and receive calls, surf the internet and show video. Nothing different there. But here's the difference: it would have no usage limits and the phone would cost me nothing. No buying an expensive handset and no monthly payments.

How do you monetise a service like that? I have few ideas but let's not let reality get in the way of a good idea. Just think about how popular it could be!

When FREE MUSIC isn't worth it!

I wasted time tonight. That wouldn't be such a problem if i had time to waste. The distraction was the lure of free music. My iTunes is populated by free - legally - downloaded music so I rarely miss a chance to add to my collection. However that may change.

My new iPod Video Nano - thanks family! - has seen me download a few favourite tunes in return for some hard earned cash. This is quick and you get exactly what you want. Better than a hour lost downloading music, music I'll probably never listen to, just because it's being given away. Besides the attached strings means my inbox will be flooded with emails about bands I have no interest in. Consider my music acquisition policy offically reviewed!

But if you just must get your hands on some free music you find some at hearitfirst.com and a solitary new track at delirious.co.uk.