Ok, I’m  a sucker for a hook.  There’s this group of kids, the Chartjackers, from the UK who are trying to get their cheesy YouTube-crowdsourced song onto the UK charts.  The song is called “I’ve Got Nothing” and the lyrics, melody, band, and producer were all chosen via Youtube, then compiled into a song and the video clips are from the fans also.  I think this group does an admirable job showing how to engage an audience and create something everyone can enjoy, all the while helping a charity.  Check it out.

Not only can you record songs on an iPhone, but with the new iPhone 3GS, you can record video.  Several people have already posted music videos recorded solely on their iPhone 3GS.  Technologic Overkill is the first one, check it out:

While it may not be the first one, I was more impressed by BSJR’s “Play” video:

This one breaks the rules. It wasn’t filmed on an iPhone 3GS, but all about the iPhone 3GS. Here’s Julian Smith’s official music video for “Got My Mac on With iPhone 3GS”:

I’m going to start posting concert footage on Mondays and hopefully, I’ll have enough to continue doing this ad infinum. These will be the good, the bad, and the ugly, I’m not holding anything back from you.

I’m starting with my set from The Intrepid Traveller Cafe in Cookeville, TN. I was fortunate to play this delightful venue just before they shut down last week. Here’s So Easily:

Check out my latest video about working at Vibe Dial Studio.

Buh-rilliant!  This band, The Get Out Clause, from Manchester, England found themselves short of funds, but needing a music video.  So they setup their rigs in front of dozens of security cameras all over town, including a bus.  Then they requested the videos under the Freedom of Information Act.  They got 20 locations to give up their video footage and edited them into this awesome music video.  If only all of us could be that creative…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98u1HuqS7Nk

Wired is running an interesting article about how album art is changing.  A quick summary: vinyl offered more space, but digital offers more function.  Digital graphic artists are now recognizing that with the transition to digital music, comes digital artwork as well, which doesn’t have to only be a static picture.  Since it’s all digital, it could be a video, a widget, or any other form of digital artwork. It’s fun to watch things change right in front of us.  I can’t wait to try out new formats and see what the limits of album artwork really can be.

Radiohead has announced they want their fans to come up with some animated videos for any of the songs on their newest release “In Rainbows”.  It’s a pretty sweet setup, if you ask me.  Everyone submits their ideas (either completed animations, storyboards, or whatever), then ten semifinalists will be selected by Aniboom, TBD Records and Adult Swim to receive $1,000 apiece to produce one-minute videos.  Those videos will then be shown on MySpace and Aniboom (and user can vote for their favorite), and a winner, chosen by the band, will receive $10,000 to make their full video.

For those who, like me, don’t do their own animation, check on Aniboom and you can find a collaborator to draw up your storyline for the video.  Sounds like a pretty cool contest to me.  I hope and imagine we’ll see many more of these interactive things for other bands in the future.  Apparently, Nine Inch Nail/Trent Reznor just announced a similar contest to have fnas produce videos for tracks from the recently released Ghosts collection.

This is how it’s done.  Don’t just make your music career a one-way street.  With all the technology we have available to us, there’s no reason it can’t be two-way.  They give us music, we give them a visual interpretation of said music.  Bring it on!