Another Show Update

Hey folks, hope this finds everyone well, and I hope that at least so far everybody is having a great 2012!

As anyone who has been a regular to the show, as well as a reader to this blog knows that I recently made a move to Monday nights. I have to say that unfortunately the viewers just haven't been there on Mondays.

Since the intent of the show is to promote independent musicians, that is not going to cut it, these folks deserve better. So, today I sat down and started exploring other websites for broadcasting the show.

The first one I tried was a neat little website called TalkShoe, which is similar to our old broadcasting home blogtalkradio. Ok, let me backtrack a bit, I checked out blogtalkradio to see what the improvements were, and from what I saw, unless you become a paid subscriber ($39.99 a month) you are limited to a 30 minute show per day, and can not broadcast in "prime time" (7 to 11 pm) so I said screw that and did a Google search for sites similar to it and thats how I landed on TalkShoe.

I really and truly wanted to like TalkShoe, I really did, but, it took forever to load, kept timing out, and when I finally managed to get on to do a test show, I kept having problems with the website loading. I stopped and restarted Firefox in safe mode, that let the page load faster, but then I had a couple of issues broadcasting. What my idea was, to broadcast the show in Skype, but I couldn't find a link to call in using Skype. You had to use the dial in number, which would require Skype credit, which I currently do not have. So then I tried using their proprietary call in feature "TalkShoe Pro" and when I played it back, it didn't sound good at all. In fact I had a user show up in the chat and tell me that my best bet was to use Skype as he had a similar experience on his show. While I thought it was beyond awesome that all I was doing a test show, still had a listener show up and offer advice, the site just didn't work the way that I think it needs to for the show to regain it's past glory. I really wanted this to work, it just didn't. If I, as a host, had issues even loading the site, people looking for the show would have the same, most would give up, so as much as I wish it would, it's just not going to work. I will check back at a later date to see if there are improvements, however at this time, as much as I wish it was, TalkShoe just isn't a viable alternative.

So, I then turned my attention to the account that I had recently created on Justin.tv. After tweaking and playing around for a few hours, I have to say that this one went better, but there are some issues to me taking the show over there. The first issue is that because all the shows archive, and every broadcast on the site itself is licensed under Creative Commons, all the music I play would have to be as well. While the majority of the music I play is indeed licensed under Creative Commons (CC) there are several musicians whose music I currently give airplay to, are not, nor would I ask them to. While I do have the permission of the song writers and the musicians that do not license under CC that I am currently giving airplay to (and honestly consider these guys friends as well), I myself am not comfortable giving them airplay on a site that by default licenses everything broadcast on it under CC. These musicians have not offered their music under CC, so it is not my place to play it on a site that is a CC site, whereby offering their music under CC, it's not my place to do so, it's just that simple.

The other thing I notice is that Justin.tv doesn't have a co-feature like blogtv does, not that I've used it much at all in the last year, but it is handy. The bonus with Justin.tv is that the entire show would archive for 7 days after broadcast so even if people weren't able to catch the live show, they can listen to the archive at a later date if they wanted to. I also found that I can use the Flash Media Encoder that I currently use on blogtv for the better sound and video also works over there, and the better quality archives as well.

So, here is what I'm thinking in regards to the future of Indie Spotlight Live. I am starting to think (nothing written in stone of course) that I might be moving the regular broadcast to my channel on Justin.tv. In addition, because several of the musicians that do not license their music under CC have been with me since day one, obviously also deserve airplay, I am thinking that I might also continue a semi-regular broadcast on blogtv. The other idea is to move the blogtv show back to Sunday nights, and do a shorter version of it featuring all the musicians I currently play, with a full sized show featuring the CC music on Justin.tv on another night (maybe not Monday, but another night where I can do a full sized broadcast) and seeing if I can attract a whole new following on there.

At this point, all ideas are on the table, at this point in time, at least this week, I am doing the Monday night show on blogtv. If I don't see the stats at least start to improve, I really need to start thinking about how, and where I am going to go next with the show. I know from past experience that doing 2 shows a week is draining, and is hard to keep up with, especially if you are doing them on 2 different websites, I've tried this before and it was a bit much. But to give the majority of the musicians that I currently play on the show airtime as well as taking care of the guys that have been loyal to me their due as well, to me it's worth it. I can even use the playlist that I would put together for the justin.tv show and insert these guys for the blogtv show. There are many ways I can go with this.

Bottom line is, I can't currently go back to doing the full show on Sundays, the viewer/listener stats aren't there on Mondays, so I need a plan B.

I'll let you folks know what I decide. Have a great evening!

Just a Follow Up....

First I decided to remove the blogtalkradio player from the page. I don't broadcast over there anymore anyway. If you want to hear the music or check out any of those shows you can go to my homepage over there at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/riskybusiness04 and check them out. We had alot of great times over there.

Second, yes, unless something unforeseen happens I will be doing a show Sunday night. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to previously but yeah I'll be there. We'll be talking about some of the fall out from ASCAP's letter to their musicians about Creative Commons. Alot of those folks are pissed...lol

See ya at the show!

Show Notes and Updates

Haven't done one of these in a while, guess we're overdue for an update.

Hmm, where to start?

First I have pulled the plug on my recently restarted blogtalkradio show. While BTR has fixed all the issues that had driven me away from there, the listener stats weren't there. While I might consider launching a new channel over there sometime in the future to get a fresh start with them right now that idea isn't only on the back burner, it's not even on the stove but I thought that I would mention it since I haven't as of yet totally abandoned it. The other reason I decided to scuttle the show is because to be quite honest I really don't have the time to put into planning two shows a week right now, instead having just the Sunday show on blogtv and focusing my energy on that. Things on blogtv are going really well right now (had almost one hundred hits according to my stat tracker during last Sunday's show). One thing I am going to do is keep the most recent blogtalkradio show's player here on the blog, I figure it gives you folks something nice to listen to while you read my miscellaneous ramblings over here....lol

If I decide to launch a totally new show over there I'll be sure to blog about it here. As I mentioned before, it's just an idea that I haven't completely put out of my mind.

So with all that being said, what is going on with the show, what is coming up, what kind of programming can you guys expect?

Well all I can say is that while it is still in the planning stages I do believe that my awesome friend Deb from the Unsigned Musicians show will be back on to help out with a few interviews that we might have lined up. I can't wait, those shows are always loads of fun.

Call it a teaser if you will, but stay tuned, and have a great weekend everyone!

Don't forget that we are on every Sunday night at 9 pm (eastern time) on blogtv.

Click here for a direct link to the show

Last Sunday's Show -- Neilson Does Kinda Lie

Hi everyone, happy Tuesday to ya. Last Sunday we talked about how Nielsen ratings don't accurately show the correct amount of musical releases. According to Tunecore Tommy Boy's assessment of 108,000 new releases isn't accurate due to the fact that last year Tunecore alone had over 90,000 new musical releases.

The numbers don't add up do they? I would think that if an indie site like Tunecore had the majority of new music last year most of us would be able to turn on the radio without cringing wouldn't we?

One can dream right?

Apparently if a CD doesn't have a UPC code that the online stores can use to track, and have registered with Nielsen, they don't count the album sale. The same goes for online sales, the same UPC code is still used to track the sale, but unless it's with a major label chances are the sale isn't counted as a sale because according the Nielsen it doesn't exist.

Another way to screw the indie artists, how many nails did it take to put this hoop together so they can try to jump through it?

During the show we did also discuss how virtually impossible it would be to truly track online sales anyway with all the outlets out there, coupled with the fact that most if not all independent musicians also direct sell their music from their own websites, at gigs, ect.

In other words there is no way "officially reported sales numbers" can be in any way even in the same realm as accurate.


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Show notes;

The Blogtv show is going strong, join us every Sunday at 9 pm Eastern time for great music, awesome folks in the chat, and an awesome time.

I decided a couple of weeks ago to pull the plug (again) on the blogtalkradio Saturday night show. They've fixed all the technical problems over there, and we had fun doing the show, the listener stats weren't there and right now I just don't have the time it takes to do show planning for 2 shows. I'm sure if I focused on it I could easily bring the listener stats back up on blogtalkradio, but I've decided to focus on the blogtv show instead. With that being said, please subscribe to my blogtv channel, I do have some surprise shows coming up.

Have a great week everyone!

Show Reminder!

Don't forget that I am doing a show over on my old channel on blogtalkradio tonight starting at 11 pm (eastern time)

Join us for 2 hours of great independent music!

Also, while I'll be watching the Super Bowl tomorrow I will be playing music on my regular show on blogtv.

Show Tonight on Blogtalkradio, and other stuff

First of all just wanted to remind everyone that I am doing a show over on blogtalkradio starting at 11 pm (eastern) hope to see everyone there, just follow the link below.

Also, this Sunday on blogtv I'll be talking about our wonderful friends at the RIAA contemplating a 3rd (thats right a THIRD) trial regarding the Jammie Thomas - Rasset file sharing case (click link for story).

They just don't get it. From Ray Beckerman's Recording Industry vs. The People blog;

Reported that RIAA will ask for a 3rd trial in Capitol Records v Thomas

According to news reports, the RIAA has announced that it will elect not to accept a judgment for $54,000, but to instead go for a new trial, limited to the issue of the appropriate amount of statutory damages.

Unreal.


Indie Spotlight Sessions on blogtalkradio

Indie Spotlight Live on Blogtv

Show Updates!

First of all let me talk about our return to blogtalkradio last Saturday. Regular readers of this blog know about some of the issues that originally drove the show away. Well since there is an advantage to the show, as well as the musicians I play on the show to be heard on two different websites I thought that maybe I would give blogtalkradio another go.

Things went very well. They have fixed the technical issues as well as improved the sound over there, I was very pleasantly surprised.

So the new home for the Saturday night show is now on blogtalkradio. Show starts at 11 pm (eastern) time, stop by and hang out with us.

Right now I am continuing on with the Sunday night show on blogtv. Things overall are going well over there, but I'm having some trouble booking interviews for musicians. Mostly because on SKYPE I would need to call them, and some are understandably not so eager to give their phone number to someone they just met online for an interview.

Not that I plan on moving the show (yet) but it was always easier to book an interview on blogtalkradio only because they had a number they could call in to. For that reason as well as a couple of others I am starting to contemplate a complete move back to blogtalkradio.

So, here's my plan (don't ya love that I always have one....lol) over the next month or so I'm kinda watching and seeing how things go on blogtalk and blogtv. If I see things on blogtv going pretty much more or less the same, and blogtalkradio takes back off, I think it'll be pretty clear on what I might need to do for the good of the show.

Like I said I'm not planning on making any snap decisions, right now I'm continuing with both shows and see where things go.

Indie Spotlight Blogtalkradio page

Indie Spotlight Live on blogtv

Great Show Last Sunday!

TygerWDR from YouTube was on the show talking about copyright issues, among other things last Sunday. Joining me on the interview was Deb from the Unsigned Musicians show and for almost 5 hours we talked about some of the issues on YouTube (the Warner Music group thing among others) and had a blast.

If you missed the show, we did record some segments which I'll have uploaded onto my YouTube page in the next day or so and if you can't wait, they are available on my blogtv page.

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Show notes;

I've decided to bring back the blogtalkradio show, while continuing the blogtv show.

The blogtalkradio show will be airing on my old channel over there on Saturday nights at 11 p.m. (eastern) along with the Sunday show over on blogtv at 9 p.m. every Sunday night.

I figure I'll try it out for a few weeks, see how things go, if they go well then I'll continue with the 2 shows on 2 different websites. If it doesn't go as well as I hope then I'll simply move the Saturday show over to blogtv. We'll see, I'd like to at least try it out.

So, hope to see ya then, here are a few links for ya;

TygerWDR's YouTube Channel

Indie Spotlight - Sessions on blogtalkradio (my old btr page)

Have a great week folks.

Booking Interviews for 2010!

I've planned out my final shows for 2009 and am looking forward to 2010. I would love to get back to doing musician interviews so if you (or someone you know) is an independent musician, who would love the exposure, please shoot me an email. Please keep in mind that this interview would have to be done over Skype, or I would need a number to call via Skype to bring you on. If I need to call you, I have no problem footing the bill, as it only costs me something like 2 cents a minute and for a great musician interview, it's well worth it to me.

Also, anyone who was on the show over the course of the last year, is also invited back to the show, we had some awesome interviews with you guys and would love to see what you've been up to since we last talked and introduce you to our larger audience on blogtv.

Over the next couple of weeks I will be doing what might be called a "best of" format. This coming Sunday I'll be replaying my interview with Rob Mazurek, who is known on blogtv as Desperminator.

We've had a phenomenal year doing Indie Spotlight Live and I'd like to take the time to thank the musicians, my listeners/viewers, and Deb from Unsigned Musicians (if it wasn't for you the show wouldn't even exist) I've had a ton of fun doing the show, and I'm really looking forward to what the next year brings.

Take care everyone, and if I don't get a chance to talk to ya beforehand, happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, happy non-denominational holiday and Happy New Year!

Show Updates

Anyone who's been listening to our show over on blogtalkradio is aware of some of the issues we've been having conducting the show. Over the last couple of weeks some of these issues have gotten progressively worse.

Listeners either can't find the show, or get the player to open

You have to go through a minefield of pop up ads

Chatroom doesn't work like it should, or the latest wrinkle, yeah, you get into chat, but it's not the same chat the rest of us are in

Hosts keep losing their switchboard (which is our web based control panel for the show)

One of the "pop up ads" is actually a pop UNDER ad that tries to hi-jack your browser

Shows that continue to broadcast after the live stream ends are no longer archived


Either I or another host have brought these issues up in one of the blogtalkradio communities, or in my case to host support, and the answer is either "thank you for letting us know, we're working on it" or no response at all. I know I personally brought the pop up issue to host support well over a month or two ago, and yet the toxic ones that want to give you a virus are still there. I had this issue again while trying to host my show this week. If there had been a guest this week I would have been embarrassed.

I don't put in the time that I generally do for show preparation, promoting and broadcasting the show for my health. One or two things that happen every once in a while I could deal with, but this huge list of issues that happen nearly EVERY WEEK is something else altogether. Yes I know it's a free site, yes I know it's supported by advertising, yes I understand that there are occasionally going to be issues, but come on, every week when I do the show either my regular listeners have problems or I do?

Much of this started when they redesigned the site back in January. It used to be when something was broken on BTR they fixed it pretty fast so I just figured that I would wait, and ride it out until they did. They've been "working on it" for almost 5 months and there are still issues which makes me think that the sites become more about the advertisers and less about the hosts and listeners. I could even deal with that as long as the damn thing worked, but the fact of the matter is it doesn't, at least like it used to.

So, the show will be moving to a new network sometime during the month of May.

Deb, and Jody Parker (dreaminglad on blogtv) have been lobbying for me to take the show over to blogtv. I've been trying to decided between that, or nowlive. I've been playing with nowlive for a couple of weeks but haven't been able to get it to work quite like I want it to.

After our show on Sunday I went over to blogtv and played around with it for a couple of hours, and was able to get it to work with no problems, so at this point I think the choice is obvious. I have to put together a showpage over there, and Deb and I need to work out how we are going to do the co-host format, but shortly the new home for Indie Music Spotlight will be http://www.blogtv.com/People/riskybusiness04.

Details to be announced on our show on blogtalkradio very soon, and of course I'll post here when the change is made.