91% of Victoriasjukebox Readers Want Free Music

So results of my highly scientific poll are in with 91% of you saying bands should be marketing directly to fans a la Radionhead, Charlatans, Cliff Richard etc.

With news in that 2/3 of Radiohead fans paid nowt for the album and the average of those that paid coming in at £2.90, is this a viable option?

I think it is but really only for bands who have an exisiting fanbase. It would be much harder for breaking bands to make money this way. Most bands make the bulk of their money from touring and merchandise anyways - why do you think the Stones have been on a permanent tour for the last 400 years?

It seems marketing ploys like this are going to become more prevalent which is only a good thing for us the fans...hooray!

MySpace Vs Facebook

I was a fierce supporter of MySpace back in the day (www.myspace/tw1ggy1967 - natch!) but after I moved across to Facebook it became simply a tool for me to engage with bands for this blog and FB became very important in terms of organising my social life and keeping in contact with my mates.

Now for me MySpace is very clunky and slow and Facebook beats it hands down in terms of ease of use. However, if you want to hear new music nothing beats MySpace (as long as you can sort the wheat from the chaff) So news today that MySpace is planning to open its destination to third-party developers, a move that mimics a structure found on Facebook is very exciting.

The social networking giant may unveil the developer platform as early as next week, according to information circulating on TechCrunch. MySpace will support Flash applets, iFrame elements and Javascript snippets, and also offer access to information like user profiles, friends lists, and activity history, according to the report.

The concept, called MySpace Platform, will also allow third-party developers to serve their own advertising. That follows a period of resistance by MySpace to outside advertising, and also mirrors an approach used by Facebook. The MySpace move, if realized, opens considerable possibilities for music-focused initiatives.

Come on Myspace!!!!

Radiohead album FREE!

So with more and more artists seeing the benefit of releasing their music without the backing of a major label is it really that great a surprise that the enigmatic Radiohead have decided to release their new album, In Rainbows, by digital download only via their website?

What’s REALLY interesting is that Radiohead is letting the consumer decide what they want to pay for the album rather than setting the price themselves. When you click on the pre-order button on their site (this if for the download only – the physical disc box inc. CD and two vinyls is £40) there appears an ominous question mark and then on the click through a message appears telling you “It’s up to you”

All very fun stuff for the punter but what does this mean for the traditional route to market as we know it? Maybe this kind of activity will herald the end of traditional A&R ? Mind you how many other things have threatened it over the past year or so?

I think it does signify that more and more bands will seek to become their own record label. You only have to check out sites like Sellaband.com, indiestore.com etc to see how powerful these sites are becoming. After gaining huge success on indiestore.com the band Koopa soared into the charts following the release of their track.

Is the tide finally turning on the bigwigs? Who knows - but it’s certainly going to be fun waiting to find out!

OASIS in Second Life?!

Dear oh dear one of my favourite bands ever has decided to promote their new DVD on Second Life (Great headline from The Guardian BTW)...God. Christ. No! Did Liam and Noel really agree to that...Jesus its like Oasis are now officially the Coca Cola of the online world.

Pink Floyd Join the Stones and Ringo

Digital music store 7 Digital has now added Pink Floyd to its suite of high quality (320kbps) DRM free digital downloads. Following on from the news it will be offering over 20 of The Rolling Stones’ albums from EMI and Ringo Starr’s albums including the ‘Very Best Of’, 7 Digital seems to be truly paving the way in terms of high quality downloads.

With other stores like iTunes lagging way behind is this the start of a real competitor to the main players in this space? Or are consumers just not that bothered about having these albums in a higher quality format?

I’m not sure to be honest. At the price promotions they are offering – albums starting from £5.49 it is certainly tempting.

Albums available in the DRM free 320kbps format now include:

Pink Floyd: Animals, Atom Heart Mother, A Collection of Great Dance Songs, Dark Side of the Moon, The Division Bell, Final Cut, Meddle, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, Music From The Film ‘More’, Obscured By Clouds, Relics, A Saucerful of Secrets and Wish You Were Here. The Best of Pink Floyd, Is There Anybody Out There?: The Wall Live 1980-81, Pulse, Ummagumma and The Wall.

Rolling Stones: A Bigger Bang, Black and Blue, Bridges to Babylon, Dirty Work, Emotional Rescue, Exile on Main Street, Flashpoint, Goat’s Head Soup, It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll, Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stone, Live Licks, Love You Live, Made in the Shade, No Security, Rarities 1971-2003, Some Girls, Steel Wheels, Sticky Fingers, Still Life, Stripped, Sucking in the Seventies, Tattoo You, Undercover and Voodoo Lounge.

Ringo Starr: Beaucoup Blues, Goodnight Vienna, Ringo, ntimental Journey and Very Best of.

Ipod Rant

Ok so The Vics is not in the best of moods today.

In prep for wee trip to Benicassim and Ibiza Rocks I have been gyming it...not very rock n roll I know but seeing as I am gonna have to get my gibbly bits out it appears I need to.

So by the by im in the gym, feeling pretty pleased with myself re: workout. I see my ipod in my gymkit whilst Im drying my hair,I turn my back, finish frying my hair...look back in bag...ipod not there.

Urgent sense of panic sets in. How the hell am I gonna cope with life on the tube without my wee ipod? How will I cope post-Glastonbury without hearing The Killers, Glamourous Indie Rock n Roll on a daily basis?

Fuck its gone. I look around wondering who has stolen it too scared to say anything to anyone for fear of accusing the wrong person and causing a scene.


I walk back to work from the gym...i feel like im gonna cry.

No chance of getting another one till August as the budget just wont allow.

No lil bundle of joy every morning, no mini jukebox in my head on way to work to keep me from feeling glum...

Boo hoo*

Myspace Magic

Sometimes those repeated friends requests esp from bands can be REALLY annoying. But every now and again you hit upon a gem and it makes it all worthwhile.

See I'm one of those peeps who cannot just deny friend requests from bands unless I go check them out first. I imagine myself as a female version of the late, great John peel just waiting to stumble on this generations version of The Buzzcocks...

Well ma chica's today was one of those days but instead of just one band...me gots 4.
First off Original Cast - All rock n roll swagger and heaps of testosterone...yummy! And they have banging tunes to back it up. This is what Hard Fi wish they sounded like. I am def off to see them at the Hope and Anchor in Londinium on the 1st and if you had sense you'd be going too.

Next up Vinny Vinny these boys hold a place close to my heart...their bringing back the sixties sound and for anyone that knows me a bit of soul and psychadelia really hits my spot. They are loose, funky and truly like nothing else around at the moment. Like they say they sound like 'Mick Jagger getting blown by Aretha Franklin whilst being filmed by Al Green' - I couldn't agree more.

Now for something completely different...

I have to admit these guys got the click through because I used to play in a park in Reading when I was a kid called Prospect Park. Its kinda a BRMC meets Sterephonics sprinkled with a lot more energy. You need to listen to Isolation which I think is gonna be my fav summer track.

Lastly, Tankus the Henge. Now their name is ace - u have to message them to get the full story of why they chose it - believe me its worth it. Now these are the only band on this posting that I've seen live so far and boy was it an experience. It was at the Turtle in Camden about a month back. The first four songs could of been by four totally different bands. When the tuba came out I knew that I was in for a treat.They've got a fabulously eccentric singer who's a real showman.

Now go check them all out!

peace, love and ecstasy,

V xxx