SoundTrip Blog and Review

Yup, went to the show. See my review of the show and more pics over at SoundTrip central.

SoundTrip has just been added to podcast alley! Please help put it in the top music podcasts and give me your vote. What better way to spread the word? In return I will be able to continue adding the high caliber bands you have been hearing on the show!

Keep Jamming!
Trip

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Flawed and Invasive Rights Management Rejected

Copyright protection is a huge concern for everyone involved in the publication of creative works. But there is a problem with industries that overstep their bounds when trying to implement technologies to prevent and track illegal distribution of copyrighted material.

The following quote from the Electronic Frontier Foundation sums up the problem:

The problems with the Sony BMG CDs surfaced when security researchers discovered that XCP and MediaMax installed undisclosed–and in some cases, hidden–files on users’ Windows computers, potentially exposing music fans to malicious attacks by third parties. The infected CDs also communicated back to Sony BMG about customers’ computer use without proper notification.

The movie and recording industry has tried to limit recording technologies for years simply because of the threat posed by someone who might use such technologies illegally. Thus law abiding citizens must pay the price under the premise that everyone is a crook.

Why is this important?
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It appears that those new to Podcasting are having some difficulty with the technology and terminology. This should clear everything up.

Quite simply, a podcast (or SoundCast as I call it; branding and all), is an mp3 that is available from a web site for download via subscription or manual clicking. The MP3 can be a music show, a talk show, or just about anything that the author wants to put there. The cool part about podcasts is that they are available through data feeds (called RSS syndication feeds) that can be set up via many of the available clients (called pod catchers) such as ITunes, or even websites such as .
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Hi. I have been contemplating the best way to post both mid-band 192 kbs shows as well as higher quality 320 kbs feeds. The problem is that WordPress will automatically add the Podcast enclosure to the RSS feed when an mp3 is added to a post. This is somewhat convenient but amounts to an all or nothing proposition.

I have added a second RSS feed to compensate for this. You won’t hear much of a difference on your I-pod or mp3 player but those with studio monitors and higher end sound systems will most definitely want to use the Hi-band feed. If you have a slow connection or are the impatient type you should use the mid-band feed.

I have found that the 192kbs feed is still a bit larger than most podcasts but I couldn’t bear to encode down to anything less. This should provide a good compromise between those with slower connections and my promise to deliver quality audio.

Please point your catcher to one of the following 2 feeds to get automatic downloads of the SoundTrip SoundCasts.

SoundTrip Mid-Band 192 kbs feed

SoundTrip Hi-Band 320 kbs feed

Be warned, the 320 kbs feed is almost twice as big in size as the 192 kbs. We’ll see what happens to my bandwidth. For those of you who suffer from analysis paralysis let me assure you that these feeds are redundant with the exception of the encoding; pick one and be happy with your decision.

I suggest Juice for those who need a free desktop subscription client. Click on the following icon to download and install the application.

Please send me a e-mail or leave a comment on this post to get more information on Podcasting and subscriptions.

- Trip

Hi. The first official SoundTrip show is on its way after much work. Whew, it takes a lot of work to put these shows together; especially considering the short duration of each segment.

I have scoured the Internet for quality Independent music and would appreciate suggestions as we move along. The best way to get my attention is to send an e-mail to submissions@soundtrip.com. Please, no monster attachments; I’d prefer to be pointed to a web site or given an ftp account to where I can download material. Set up a Garage Band, My Space, or AMP account somewhere. This is best for me, you, the bands and everyone you would like to present your material to. I will not accept any material that I can not verify for licensing. Do not send me music licensed under BMI, ASCAP, SESAC or anything that falls under the the heavy hand of the RIAA (see below).

A Note on Sound Quality

I never re-encode mp3’s unless absolutely necessary. I prefer access to flac, ape, shn or wav files. Please do not send me re-encoded mp3’s and NEVER convert an mp3 to another format for distribution!

I personally think that mp3 as a storage medium sucks; it is the scourge of the music industry and might possibly be the biggest sham ever laid on the sound listening public. Even the much touted mp3Pro is crap. Lossy is lossy, popping pro on the end of it doesn’t make it any better. I especially hate the mp3Pro because they do a special trick to benefit those with decoders capable of reading the SBR (pro) encoded material in the file. However, those without an mp3Pro capable player usually suffer a worse fate because the remaining mp3 compatible part of the file is usually of very poor quality; likely down to 64 kbps and at best 94 kbps. Translated, crap. This is done to minimize file size, blah, blah, blah. We would all be better off with acceptance of a standardized lossless compression format.

This leads me to another point. Music services such as Rhapsody and ITunes are fine for listening and sampling. But I never would personally pay 99 cents or so for an mp3. This again is another sham. Provide me a flac or some other lossless format and we are golden. I love the services and subscribe to a couple of them, Live 365 included, but got burned on my first couple of downloads when I didn’t realize they offered only lossy format audio. I suspect the sound listening public is also keen to this issue and might be one reason torrents and file sharing are still so popular. Give the public a quality product and they will pay.

Licensing

UPDATE - All of the music I play is done with the permission of the bands featured on SoundTrip. The distribution and licensing of such material is exclusively that of the bands and their respective management agencies. In other words, you have to get permission from the bands, and not me, to put this music on your podcast!

Podcast Licensing

Yes, it’s true that ASCAP, BMI and SESAC offer licenses that cover podcasting. This covers the performance license paid to the artists. However, there is one kink in that whole scenario and that has to do with distribution rights. SoundExchange (RIAA) is dragging its feet on the whole podcasting thing because of the semantics of interactive versus non-interactive distribution. This is purely a semantic argument because any fool with audacity and a 24-bit card can grab streamed mp3Pro quality music without a probem. The RIAA is currently in some sort of legal netherworld and we, as the listening/paying public, have to wait the outcome.

Now I know that some people are going ahead and rolling the dice. Good for them. Lessons learned from Napster are not really learned until you become the next one. The RIAA is big and has a lot of lawyers and money. They can afford to have you roll the dice. Just don’t roll craps!

This is of course a disaster for everyone involved. I would personally love to play signed bands; especially new and upcoming bands which I would have access to with an ASCAP license. I view podcasts as one of the best promotional avenues for new bands and everything that is not crap (e.g. most stuff not played on your local FM station). Unfortunately somebody back at the RIAA sees different. In fact they just offered up some beefy Christmas time news with their December 23rd announcement that they are going to retroactively audit popular Internet Music sites. Isn’t that sweet? What do you expect from a company that designs their website with only Internet Explorer in mind? Send them your thanks.

Don’t get me wrong. Everyone should be paying for what they copy and download. It’s just a little bit non-competitive here and quite frankly all too laden with the threat of lawsuits. Technology has caught the industry by surprise for some unknown reason. Rather than innovate, they sue and try to limit access to technology. Why do you think DVD burning technology was so long in coming? But alas, that is another blog for a much less fun site.

This ends my rant. Bottom line, this is a site for non RIAA licensed music that falls under the Creative Commons license. It is about the music and really nothing more. Now on with the show!!

Trip

SoundTrip will be going live this week! Be sure and check back as I highlight the best news and music in the industry. I will have a primary focus on unsigned and independent artists. Song submissions and suggestions will be gladly accepted for consideration.

Attention bands, please keep me updated with your schedules if you are featured on any SoundTrip SoundCast so I can keep listeners up to date with band information.

Keep jammin’
Trip