Netflix adds live concerts and music documentaries to its catalog

Netflix this week quietly added just shy of 100 concert films and music documentaries featuring rock and pop legends like the Beatles, Queen, Toto and The Doors to its streaming catalog. The new music content doesn’t exactly make Netflix a Vevo or Wolfgang’s Vault competitor, but it could be a first indicator of music becoming yet another powerful niche for the …

Play Me, I’m Yours – thirty pianos across the city for anyone to play

Touring internationally since 2008, Play Me, I’m Yours is artwork by British artist Luke Jerram. For three weeks beginning April 12, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra brings Play Me, I’m Yours to Los Angeles. Thirty pianos, designed and decorated by local artists and community organizations, are featured across Los Angeles County and are available for everyone …

Enroll in free online in courses from top institutions – Princeton, Stanford, Michigan

Online educational marketplaces are on the rise, with tools like Udemy and Khan Academy allowing people of all ages to become an expert in any topic. New company Coursera is targeting higher education by offering university-level courses from top institutions to students all over the world, all for free. The company launched with $16 million in Series A funding and is announcing …

Music Video – My Country from tUnE-yArDs…crazy but interesting (with kids)

My Country – by tUnE-yArDs Tune-Yards (stylized as tUnE-yArDs) is the music project of New England native Merrill Garbus. When performing live, Garbus creates drum loops on the spot, and layers these with ukulele, voice, and electric bass (played by Nate Brenner).

Sweden leads the world in Heavy Metal bands

  Sweden has most heavy metal bands per 100,000 inhabitants. According to Metal-archives.com, it’s Scandinavia in general and Sweden in particular that has the most heavy metal bands in the world. According to their study there are 53.2 metal bands per 100,000 inhabitants in Sweden. Joacim Cans, singer in the metal band HammerFall, is not surprised. …

Apple updates iCloud to include Movies and TV Shows – with an extra bonus

Two years ago I bought a movie, The Dark Knight, and then promptly deleted it during an iPhone backup. I haven’t seen the movie since then, which stinks even though it was probably my mistake. That is until today when I went into the “Purchased” section of iTunes and found it ready for download in iCloud. …

The internet invents another way for musicians to get paid – iTunes Match

The first royalty payments from Apple’s iTunes Match are in, and they got me excited – the total amount is over $10,000 for the first two months. This is magic money that Apple made exist out of thin air for copyright holders. — A person has a song on her computer hard drive.  She clicks …

A Dance to the Music of Time – by Nicolas Poussin

The famous painting by Nicolas Poussin in the 1630s, which also inspired the novels of the same name, A Dance to the Music of Time. I’m not a big fan of Renaissance painting, nor this one, but the them creates endless thoughts in my mind. “the music of time” “dancing around time” “is time’s music a …