WhammyBlast Launches - 1st Deal of the day site for musicians

Today my friend mDave is launching a new project called WhammyBlast. This is very cool- a deal of the day website for musicians and to celebrate their launch, they are GIVING AWAY a Fender guitar amp! Go to www.WhammyBlast.com to sign up. WhammyBlast: Simply, we're a deal of the day website for musicians. That's it. Daily Deals for Rockers, Rockin' Solutions for Manufactures. That's really it. For those about to rock - we've got deals. For those who've got deals, we got rockers! Well, you get the idea…

Actually, the idea for WhammyBlast was born when one of our founders got a baby grand piano for 300 bucks and thought to himself "Why can't I get deals like this on musical instruments all the time?" Except instead of it being a used 1927 Cable and Son's piano, it would be new instruments and accessories.

We're really just a bunch of musicians and music industry pros from Nashville, TN trying to make the world sound better. Created for musicians by musicians, WhammyBlast started in 2010 with the mission of becoming the definitive resource for finding the best deals on musical instruments, gear, accessories and services anywhere online. All of us here at WhammyBlast share the notion that musicians are spending more and more time online, and less and less time doing what they do best - performing, practicing and writing music!

That's where we come in. And the idea is simple. We work with manufacturers to find the best merchandise at the best prices, and then we generate excitement for those products by offering them at great rates for a limited period of time to our members. You have to sign up for membership to get the deal, but once you're a member, we notify you of these crazy deals before we push them on our site - so you see them first! We don't make any guarantees, but were confident that you'll be extremely hard-pressed to find that item on that day at lower price anywhere online!

Lady Gaga only worth 99¢

Well, this isn't my personal opinion... but according to Amazon.com today Lady Gaga's newest album (featuring the fastest selling Single in history)  is available for 99¢.  I'm not sure if I view this as the deal of a century or an absolutely offensive indicator of where the music business is going...  Of course what Amazon and Gaga are banking on is the fact that people who would have NEVER bought her full length album (like me) will now buy it, consume it, become fans, buy concert tickets/t-shirts/keychains, and join the legions of other Monster faithful in the cult of Gaga.  Incidentally, you can get all of the above from Amazon (except for the tickets- but I am sure they will find a way into that racket soon enough.)

The thing about this move that keeps me wondering is will the tonnage of sales of this one day $! album mean vast revenues for Lady Gaga and Interscope, or will it only cheapen her product when it has a retail face value more in line with what we are used to?    Certainly this is a calculated move, but really?  The whole album is only worth $1?  REALLY?  Of course this is not the first time an established act has done something outside of the box with a new release...  Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, and the entire label X5 have had releases built around the discount album but I find it hard to believe that arguably the most marketable name in pop music needs to result to this type of fumblrooskie on her album launch to gain (even more) chart dominance.  I would love to know if there is any back-end remuneration happening from Amazon on this "promotion."

File this one under "things that make me scratch my head" and "too cheap not to give it a try".  Here goes nothing...

Pitchfork Media + Spotify = Awesome

What kind of new math is this?  Awesome new math.

Pitchfork, known for their stellar reviews and trend-setting in underground music and Spotify known for mostly not being available in the US being such a fantastic streaming alternative for those wishing to consume without owning music have been teamed up to bring a stellar new site/service.  Pitchify marries the reviews and ratings of Pitchfork with the audio files of Spotify, making it easy for the user to discover and immediately hear new music.  This service seamlessly connects the dots between the two sites making for a great listening experience.  For those few that actually have access to Spotify, I recommend checking it out!

Thou Shalt Not Steal- Digital Media Consumption Manifesto

This was just forwarded to me.  The Digital Media Consumption Manifesto breaks down some very realistic guidelines for remaining lawful with digital media.  I personally find their pricing guidelines a bit interesting but nevertheless this is an noble effort.  Sign the manifesto if you can commit.