Archives For itunes

I’m still not sold on Netflix- never to this date I’ve ran into a film that I wanted to watch on it. At least in terms of this region, which doesn’t count with as much content as the US or Canada one. Similar issues with iTunes… and Amazon is out of the question.

I used to subscribe to MUBI for a long while (at least for a bit over a year), but eventually turned off my subscription because I wasn’t watching anything, while things I had added to my watchlist stopped being available, and the selection of their films eventually was reduced to their now curated content. I’m only subscribed to EROSNOW now, and have seen a few couple of films there, but had to turn to other mediums when found links that were region-restricted or surprisingly without subtitles.

My experience with streaming has been decent- and for as cheap as $5-9 bucks you can watch a lot in a month, and it just makes your life quite easy. Similar flawless experience with my first Vimeo On Demand watch. Thanks Joss Whedon for the heads up, and actually putting the film up there right after its premiere. To top it all off, subtitles in Spanish, German, French, Portuguese and Japanese (plus English CC) were available making it the smoothest watch if you decided to watch it with any bunch of people.

Paying $5 to stream a new movie can seem like the best way possible to make it look as if you’re going to the cinema. It takes me back to those days where I would watch 2 or 3 new movies a weekend. If studios ever decided to really go off their way to online distribute their new movies almost simultaneously, I’d be willing.

Here’s In Your Eyes.

Apparently Vimeo streaming is not as smooth (or at all) if you don’t have a Vimeo account, though. Take it as a good chance to get one, or don’t complain. I really don’t know any other streaming (paying) website that would let you use their content without an account. You need one in iTunes, in Amazon, in Netflix, HBO, et all. So please, people, stop complaining about THAT.

Spanish (more serious) related note.

Or, at least, you got your first steps into the door.

Yes, Shiina Ringo music videos are being uploaded on VEVO accounts, as well as Tokyo Jihen ones, at 360p or 480p- BUT, baby steps. They’re pretty good 360p videos, though. They look better than some HD versions unofficially uploaded and ripped from the net. I’m not picky as long as Japan lets me watch the music videos of the artists I like and stops me from worrying whether the video I’m posting is gonna disappear in the next few days.

Speaking of the devil.

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xiami-subscription

If you’ve (for some reason) been following this blog a while, you’d know that I’m a big fan of Xiami, the Mainland China-based music site that has never flashed me with a “this content is not available in your region” message. I’ve actually bought some tracks off of them, started way before iTunes became available in my country, and have continued with tracks that aren’t available in my iTunes store, or with overpriced albums/singles.

It’s particularly useful for Chinese-based artists.

In general, all tracks are priced at 0.8米 (Mi) and 1 Mi is 1 Yuan, which is about 0.16USD, which is like 1/10 of what iTunes charges. They accept Paypal as one of their paying options, which seems way simpler than paying with your credit card (I tried). And since Xiami is a community-based site, they give you points for activities. Every time you log in, you get points and once you log in for a whole uninterrupted week, they give you a red envelope which also serves to download tracks. If you log in every day for a month or a whole year, you’ll get even more for free downloads.

Downloading tracks, adding albums, adding information (photos, lyrics, etc), participating in community discussions, and joining groups also gives you points to raise your Xiami level. Though, I still don’t know what’s that for, other than showing off and user respectability.

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I know so many people who would download loads of music for free, but still buy the stuff they liked (usually discovered from their own or other people’s free downloads). Now those same people listen to Spotify and feel that they have paid the artists, so no longer feel the need to buy the songs they like.

Comment on Artists, Please! Don’t Put Spotify Play Buttons On Your Site…

Additional info: How Much Do Music Artists Earn Online?

Downloads, Streamings, and Buys- Oh, My!

We’re always bombarded with news at how the music (and movies, and everything else) industry is losing money to piracy, even though we keep hearing all these facts about how Glee has had more songs charted than The Beatles.

When Sarah, from the Music Production Schools’ design team, emailed me this infographic depicting all these facts onto one place… is hard not to share, right?

I won’t lie to you, the numbers are good — though I really don’t know how that works with adjusted inflation — but the numbers also make me sad. To imagine Katy Perry standing on similar ground as MJ or Flo Rida standing on similar ground to The Beatles… or Ke$ha selling MORE than The Beatles. It’s depressing.

Mainly because there are MUCH better artists out there, and half the world haven’t even heard about them. I think it’s a crime that everyone knows Katy Perry, but it’d be rare if someone knows who Shiina Ringo is.

In any case, this is an infographic about sales~ so there you have it.

Full infographic after the break~

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My purty iTunes Library~

April 22, 2011 — 4 Comments

I’m a dork, you can’t deny it.

I’m a dork, and I’m proud of my -mostly- tidied up iTunes library.

As with my CDs, and my DVDs… a little bit of books, and mostly with computer files, I like to know where my things are. Of course, iTunes makes it way easy to keep things organized with their “copy to folder” and “keep things organized” options, but then we’ve got album covers, song names, artists names… and music can get a little messy.

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Aiya They Didn’t reporting that Chinese fusion singer Sa Dingding and Chris Lee were topping World music downloads on iTunes UK, Switzerland and Belgium prompted me to look them up on iTunes Canada.

And color me surprise, they’ve got the first 3 albums (sans EP) by Bibi! I was also able to find Chris Lee, Han Hong, SHE, Eason Chan, Leehom Wang, among others~~~

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Been backing up stuff, so a lot of stuff seems to have dead links.
cannot think about the time to format. O.o

Just finished moving all my music (because that’s the easiest to move).
know some of them? xD teehee, predominantly Chinese and overall Asian-ness~~~ xD

iTunes - Dec 2009

I can’t remember the last time I did a music backup, and that’s a bit worrying… but not as worrying as the last time I made a backup of everything else. That’s another scary subject. I’m here to show you how neat is my iTunes library~~~

iTunes Library - June05 '09

See? Neat~~~ almost everything with a cover, but that’s because I ripped that from a YouTube video, which is lame… but I couldn’t find a proper mp3 of Sedated by the Young @ Heart Chorus. Do you know where can I get it?

Then… circled albums are the ones I don’t own, and want to buy physically… the ones marked with a “2” means I would be thinking of getting them physically as well. I really, really have fallen in love with the Hana & Alice OST, it goes with liking the film more and more.

The rest, as you can see is filled with Chris Lee, Coeur de Pirate, David Tao, Dirty Projectors, Green Day, The Sounds, St. Vincent, La Patere Rose etc etc… Shiina Ringo, Seo Taiji. When is Seo Taiji’s 8th album coming out??? I’ve been waiting for it since October last year – I remember because I was complaning too many albums coming on Oct/Nov.

First, let me tell you – I don’t physically own these collections. I am basing my opinion on the content of the dvds, their price and their overall value compared to other collections that contain some of the same shorts.

Disney Animation Collection 1: Mickey & Beanstalk [Amazon.com] which is another release related to this Fun and Fancy Free~~~ They both have Michey & Beanstalk short, what this new release has is the 1938’s Brave Little Tailor in which Mickey kills 7 flies in one blow and the townspeople mistake it for 7 giants, putting Mickey at the front to get rid of the town’s own giant. There’s also 1934’s Gulliver Mickey in which Mickey… eh, gets to a miniature people island. Also 1936’s Thru the Mirror and 1940’s Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip.

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