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I just upgraded a bunch of tracks to iTunes+ DRM-free files. At the bottom of my “Purchased” album, I noticed the stats:

So that’s why she complains about the stream of iTunes charges on the Visa… Oops.

this makes me smile.

Best $50 I’ve spent in a long, long time. My music library is not pretty much DRM-free. What was that about the evil Apple lockin again?

Update: doh. looks like the process has a glitch or two. I’m sure that’ll get worked out really quickly though. This is what I get when I click the “Buy” button shown above:

 

Update 2: GAH! I tried to post a question on the Apple Support site to see wtf, but can’t seem to find the button to do that. No email link. No support available. My only option is to wait a day or so and try again. Fail.

Update 3: thanks to a friend who kindly pointed out that I had missed the Contact Us link on the iTunes support page, I’ve submitted a support message with Apple. Hopefully I can spend that $50 in the next day or so…

I just found a new Coolest iPod Application. Theramin-ator. A multitouch theramin. On my iPod. Fracking awesome. I just spent the last half an hour playing with it, and it’s pretty sweet. Especially once you start getting the hang of the multi-touch controls. You drag a finger (or fingers) around on the “control pad” to simulate moving through the theramin’s fields. Horizontal axis is frequency, vertical is volume. Frequency ranges from a skull-rattling 40Hz to a brain-melting 2000Hz. Volume goes to 11, natch. And you can tweak the properties of the theramin while playing – pitch range, waveform, etc… Very cool.

It’s probably a good thing that it doesn’t record the sounds because I’d have to start an @dnorman Theramin Music Hour Podcast, full of wacky Star Trek theme music and transporter sound effects…

ps. yeah. I get how lame I am for playing with a theramin simulator for half an hour on a friday evening, then blogging about it…

This was my shuffle-ized playlist for the morning ride and cooldown. There isn’t a radio station on the planet (satellite or terrestrial) that would have put a playlist like this together.

It looks pretty eclectic, but the tracks all worked amazingly well against each other.

I got tagged, so here goes…

1. Music that changed my life
   • Beatles' Red and Blue albums. The first vinyl I owned. Still have them somewhere.
   • The Police: Synchronicity. First cassette I ever owned. Who is Miss Gradenko, anyway?
2. Music I can listen to on repeat – this comes from my iTunes most-played playlist
   • The Police: Synchronicity (still!)
   • The Tragically Hip – Day For Night
   • Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk
   • Smashing Pumpkins – Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
   • Moby – Play
   • Bob Marley & The Wailers – Legend
   • Nirvana – In Utero
   • Weezer – Green Album
   • Battlestar Galactica soundtrack (seriously – it's really good)
   • Billy Talent
3. An album I'd take to a deserted island – album? really? I'd have to take my iPod, fully loaded with CBC Radio 3 .
4. Music that makes me smile
1. Bedouin Soundclash
2. Bob Marley & The Wailers
3. Mel Blanc – D.O.G. Spells Dog
4. Pointer Sisters – Pinball Number Count (Songs from the Street). 123 FOUR FIVE 678 NINE TEN. ELEVEN TWELVE.
5. Music that makes me cry
1. cry? really? music doesn't make me cry. next track.
6. Music that I wish had been made
1. not sure. what an obscure question. what kind of tree would I be?
7. Music that I wish hadn't been made
1. Hanson. Mmmmblech.
2. NKOTB. Baby Jebus cried.
8. Music I'm currently into
1. New Pornographers
2. Broken Social Scene
3. Bedouin Soundclash
4. The White Stripes
5. Weezer
6. Wynton Marsalis
7. Miles Davis
9. Music I've been meaning to explore
1. More Canadian indy bands (getting more of this, thanks to CBC Radio 3)
2. More non-touristy Caribbean music
10. Tag
1. Joshua Archer
2. Paul Pival
3. Stephen Downes
4. Sami Khan
5. Brian Lamb

I wasn't going to tag anyone, but screw banality – it's summer.

From Slashdot comes a mention of the Canadian Music Creators Coalition.

This is one of the coolest things from the world of musicians with respect to IP and copyright. Some of the biggest names in Canadian music just put their feet down to tell the Big Labels not to be evil.

They have a handy website up, with their three principles:

1. Suing Our Fans is Destructive and Hypocritical
2. Digital Locks are Risky and Counterproductive
3. Cultural Policy Should Support Actual Canadian Artists

So, the artists that have the most to gain from protecting the status quo are being very vocal about not wanting to be involved with it.

The odds of me spending cash on buying Canadian music just went way up. Some Broken Social Scene tracks are in my immediate future…

Ars Technica has a great reaction to the RIAA’s reaction to Steve Jobs’ comment about the RIAA being greedy.

Now, the RIAA is claiming that it would be totally fair, and that the consumers would support or even demand, that the record labels get to charge more for songs sold via iTunes, and to get a cut of iPod sales. Even though they have to spend roughly $0 to market music via the iTMS, and spend exactly $0 to sell music through it. And they spent exactly $0 to design, manufacture, market and distribute the iPod. But, they need a cut of the pie.

Did they get a cut of every 8 track player sold? Every record player? Cassette player? CD player? If the answer to any of these is “no”, then why on earth would they get a cut of the iPod?

Instead of lining up to thank the one company on the planet that gave the Big Labels a chance to maintain some relevancy in the new online music market, they insist that they need a cut of everything even remotely music-related, from end to end of the food chain.

Somebody needs to hit the RIAA with a big ol’ clue stick. The Music Industry isn’t just greedy – that would be understandable and we could all deal with that. On top of greed, they appear to be criminally stupid.

As of the last few years, there should be an addendum to that dictionary entry: “See: RIAA”