Whether you love or hate Facebook (or love to hate it), some of the changes they introduced this week will have implications to the music sphere. Partnering with music services, such as Spotify and Rdio, members have the option of reporting to Facebook what they’re currently playing. This initially shows up in the new Facebook ticker, such as “Kevin Flick is listening to Halogen (I Could Be a Shadow) by Neon Indian on Rdio.” This is all tied under the new Facebook Music feature rolled out this week.

If several friends are listening to the same album, Facebook conglomerates this information in one news feed status, listing friends that are listening to the album. It also posts the album cover and several songs that can be listened to.

Taking this a step further, Facebook’s new Timeline is going to add this information to your profile’s timeline, along with a list of artists you enjoy listening to.

I see several implications to this addition. Though I’m not entirely excited about the new ticker, it does provide an opportunity for bands to gain exposure, and potentially go viral on Facebook. Though it’s unclear how much of an impact the ticker and timeline might have on bands, “word of mouth” helps independent artists out tremendously.

Another implication is that Facebook is promoting the album. From what I’ve seen so far, most of the Facebook music updates are of someone listening to an album. This emphasis might reinforce the concept of albums.

The artist’s name is linked to the artist’s page on Facebook, which potentially translates into more fans. Any band knows that more Facebook fans means that they’re able to update their listeners to new music and performances.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t happy with the way Facebook implemented these changes. As someone studying User Experience (HCId at Indiana University), I felt that the ticker and changes to the news feed throw too much information at the user at once. But I do welcome the Facebook Music addition.

One feature I would like to see an the option of utilizing Facebook Music in a Facebook advertisement. If so, artists could pay for an ad that would funnel click-throughs to the song on Spotify (or the music service of their choice). As people listen to the music, it would also appear in that person’s ticker or news feed.

Finally, if you want to see what your friends are listening to, this link will give you a list of the ten most recent albums and playlists your friends are listening to, as well as the top three songs: https://www.facebook.com/?sk=music

We’ve been waiting patiently for Google to release their new music cloud service since we first heard they were working on it. But we weren’t expecting Amazon beat Google to the punch. Today, Amazon launched the Amazon Cloud Drive, allowing members to store documents, videos, photos, and music files. Pairing with Cloud Drive is the Amazon Cloud Player, and this grabbed our attention quickly.

Amazon has been selling Mp3s for several years now, at competitive rates compared to iTunes. Up until now, when you purchased an Mp3, downloading the file to your computer was the only delivery option. Now, when you purchase music from Amazon, the songs are automatically added to your Cloud Player. What’s nice is that you can listen to your music on any computer (via the browser) or on your mobile device. In other words, you can stream your music on your cell phone, such as the Android, using The Cloud Player mobile application.

So is the Cloud Player limited to Mp3s you purchase through Amazon? No. Amazon gives you 5gb of space to upload files for free (the Cloud Player and Cloud Drive share the same account, thus uploading Mp3s takes away from the total space you have available). If you purchase an Mp3 album, Amazon will give you 20gb of space for the next 12 months. If you need more than 20gb, you can upgrade your storage space, priced at $1 per 1gb per year. So a 50gb account is $50/year. Unlike Amazon’s S3 service, you are not charged for bandwidth usage.

Ultimately, the purpose of the Cloud Player is to persuade you to purchase music. At this point there are no floating ads or banners, but Amazon does give you an incentive to purchase music through them. When you buy an Mp3, the file size of the Mp3 you purchase does not count against your storage. So if you buy an Mp3 album on Amazon, the Mp3s are added to your Cloud Player (you can download them at any time), but Amazon doesn’t count the purchased Mp3s as taking up storage space. Why is that? Because Amazon is simply giving you access to files that already exist on their servers.

How does the Cloud Player fit in line with the access versus ownership debate? The answer is it fits nicely in the center. You are given space to store files you already own (similar to Mp3.com’s locker in the late `90s), but you are also given access to these files on any device.

I must admit, the Amazon Cloud Player took me by surprise.

On February 14th, Radiohead shared some love with their fans by announcing their new album would be released digitally in just five days. But today, Radiohead surprised fans again by releasing The King of Limbs a day early, along with a music video of Thom Yorke dancing. The physical release is being billed as the Newspaper Album, with two clear 10″ vinyl records, a CD, and over 625 pieces of artwork.

While it’s impossible to evaluate a Radiohead album on first listen (or first dozen listens), I can tell already that I’m going to be listening to The King of Limbs for years to come. On immediate listen, my initial favorite is Codex, but the complexities of all eight tracks deserve to be digested over time.

Consider several things though, because I do believe Radiohead is going to release more music soon. The eight tracks of The King of Limbs runs at 37:29, while the LP release is comprised of two 10″ vinyls. If today’s version of The King of Limbs is pressed on two 10″ vinyls, there will only be two tracks per side. I suspect that today’s release was just the first 10″ vinyl.

Adding to the suspicion is that Thom Yorke ends the eight track release with the lyrics, “If you think this is everything, you’re wrong.” The song is called Separator, also hinting that more music is coming.

So I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that another eight tracks or forty minutes of music is coming.

Sleeping Bag is a new band from Bloomington that will keep you warm through the lo-fi winter months. Headed by Dave Segedy, Sleeping Bag has been recording through the winter months and has recently posted Slime as a free download via Bandcamp.

Sleeping Bag encompasses a raw and edgy sound that harkens back Starflyer‘s Silver album in the early `90s, with a power pop sound that takes me back to Weezer‘s Blue album. During Sleeping Bag’s live set, Dave Segedy is backed by David Woodruff (Kentucky Nightmare, The Delicious) and Lewis Rogers (Busman’s Holiday), both seasoned local artists.

Dave Segedy is commonly seen backing regional bands on drums, and has been since his run with Arrah and the Ferns. He’s currently performing in two bands, Native Young and Prayer Breakfast. Sleeping Bag has been a new experience for him as this is the first time he has stepped from behind the drum kit. Outside of music, Dave Segedy is an art student at Indiana University.

“Unaccustomed to melodic instruments, he relied on pop instinct, simply writing and recording what he wanted to listen to. He focused on efficiency and the interaction of the songs.”

In November of 2010, Sleeping Bag released a split EP with Vollmar. Segedy tracked the songs with Mike Dixon, who also backed him up on pedal steel.

Sleeping Bag will be releasing a seven song EP called Adams Demos in early 2011. The EP was tracked by Mike Adams (Husband & Wife) and will be released on Mike’s label, Crossroads of America Records. The EP will be released on cassette tape (and digitally), so dust off your players! So far, we know that the tracklist for Adams Demos will be:
Ur Rume
EST
Knife Fight
Rental
Scone Zone
No Drums
Desker

You can find Sleeping Bag performing:
Jan. 28 @ The Bishop
Feb. 26 @ The Video Saloon with Say Hi
Mar. 10 @ The Bishop with Arrah & The Ferns

It used to be that artists strove to be on the radio. This aspiration became predominant in the 1950s and 1960s, when disc jockeys helped bring artists to the forefront of our conscience. Long gone are the days when disc jockeys had the freedom to play what they wanted, and could establish a name for themselves and their radio station. There are few radio stations that allow such liberty, and most of them are are college owned radio stations. Yes, exceptions can be found. For instance, BBC Radio still has influential personalities like Steve Lamacq.

This corporate control of radio is precisely what ruined radio. Forget the image you have in your mind of radio DJs carefully picking the next song. In fact, in most cases, DJs are no longer sitting behind microphones, running the board, and pressing play. It’s all computerized, prerecorded, and determined by lists that the manager compiles. The manager’s list is decided by trending songs. If you’re looking for creativity music selections on the radio, you’ll rarely find it. Instead, you’ll find nothing but formulas controlling the airwaves. For this reason, music radio is dead (there are a few exceptions to this).

Selective ears can still be found, but don’t look on the typical radio station. They’re everyday people that aren’t paid off by major labels and who curate music out of obsession. You’ll find them in a number of channels, from music bloggers to podcasters, from interactive sites to Youtube.

We can be certain that our children will find different ways of finding music as technology continues to advance. Music blogs may loose their appeal, or become corporatized and infected with formulas. Google may some day sell Youtube to a new owner that shuts it down overnight. But tomorrow’s disc jockey will find new ways of spinning wax and bring new artists to our conscience. We should not mourn what is gone, because elements of it will continue to thrive.