Cloud-based music circa 1892

I happened across this link and found this article simply too interesting not to share.  You can read the original article here.

What 'cloud-based music' looked like in 1892

by Chris Rawson

If you've ever spent time on hold with tech support, you've likely listened to a lot of tinny, cheesy music coming from your phone as you grit your teeth and count the seconds. Instead of making things better, hold music seems to make the minutes stretch into hours. Believe it or not, in the late 19th century people used to pay to listen to music over the phone. A French service called Théâtrophone was basically a steampunk version of Pandora Radio that allowed subscribers to have live music pumped into their homes at a price of 50 centimes for five minutes -- roughly one or two euros in today's money.

Microphones set up on stage would pump live music to a central switchboard, and from there it would go out to hotels, restaurants and homes across Paris. Scientific American wrote a piece on the théâtrophone system way back in 1892, and at that time there were about 100 of the devices running throughout Paris. The system sounds downright hokey today, but it was ingenious for the time; keep in mind that this pre-dates wireless transmission via radio, much less modern improvements, such as iPhones and internet-based "cloud" storage for music. The théâtrophone system actually ran for quite a while, and it wasn't shuttered until 1932.

Today, we're able to cart around weeks worth of music in a device about the size of a deck of playing cards, and if Apple's "iCloud" service really takes off, it may reach a point that we'll be able to store and stream more music than we'll actually be able to listen to in one lifetime. Meanwhile, the next time you're on hold with tech support and forced to listen to Huey Lewis and the News against your will, just be thankful that's not the only way you can get tunes into your ears.

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!

DAR.fm - "Record, play and pause your favorite radio using DAR.fm"

Well, he has done it again.  Michael Robertson, founder of MP3.com, MPRtunes, and a number of other rule-testing music startups has rolled our DAR.fm.  Aptly a shortening of digital audio recorder, this service allows you to choose any radio show broadcast on virtually every radio station in the World and seamlessly capture that show for later listening.  Featuring more than 1000 stations from countries all around the world, this is certainly an interesting offering. Upon first look, I figured I must give this a try... so I signed up for their Beta.  Quickly I realized that the back-end for this site is none other than MP3tunes.com (one of Michael's other ventures).  The interface is simplistic and easy to use.  It isn't the most attractive UI, but it gets the job done.  After a few searches, I found myself saving shows that aren't available in my neck of the woods..  and after going back to hear my recorded shows- I found that the audio is not as terrible as I had suspected it might be.  The service works.  It isn't fancy, or extravagant, but it works.  A Hyundai if you will.

As I find myself clicking around and saving radio shows which will be available to me later at my new MP3tunes.com account, I cant help but wonder about the legalities of such a venture.  Michael's defense is that this is essentially DVR, but for Radio.  Which is a point I can see being very relevant, however in my experience- anytime a digital service uses or makes use of other people's content red flags go up, sirens and bells go off, and take down notices ensue.  I kind-of hope that doesn't happen in this instance as I am really excited about actually getting to hear the Henry Rollins radio show which is not available in Nashville.. but knowing Clearchannel, Viacom, Cumulus, etc I am certain this will not go down without a fight.  I say way to go Michael, for seeing a need, creating a product and filling a niche.  Who knows how long the service will withstand the legal bombardment it is likely to get, but for the meantime...  listen on!