Showing posts with label iPod. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iPod. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Shannon Hurley on the Weekly Top 20
Shannon Hurley is climbing up my Weekly Top 20 chart. This week her new single "California" climbs 5 positions from #12 to claim the #7 slot. The song was released in late February and is getting no regular airplay on AC, CHR or Modern Rock radio. I think Ms. Hurley has a real radio friendly winner of a song here. "California" needs wider distribution than through the usual online social and music networks. Radio airplay, TV appearances, sales and good old fashioned word of mouth can help this track take off.
Hurley has issued a new video for "California". It's posted at YouTube and embedded here on this page. Enjoy the video and a most beautiful song by Shannon.
Since last week's Top 20 chart was not posted to this blog, I am taking the liberty of posting 2 week's worth of charts. Just by looking below you can trace the progress of my 20 most favorite singles and tracks that currently dominate my iPod and iTunes time.
MEL'S WEEKLY TOP 20 FOR THE PAST 2 WEEKS
April 5, 2009
This Week - Song Title - Artist - Last Week
1 No You Girls - Franz Ferdinand - 1
2 Poker Face - Lady GaGa - 2
3 Magnificent - U2 - 4
4 People Got a Lotta Nerve - Neko Case - 7
5 Time Lapse Lifeline - Maria Taylor - 6
6 I'm Not Over - Carolina Liar - 9
7 California - Shannon Hurley - 12
8 Working On A Dream - Bruce Springsteen - 3
9 Gives You Hell - The All-American Rejects - 5
10 Is Anybody Out There? - The Downtown Fiction - 10
11 Natalie - The NuRu - 11
12 The Rake's Song - The Decemberists - 13
13 My Lucky Day - Bruce Springsteen - 8
14 Good Days Bad Days - Kaiser Chiefs - 17
15 Please Believe Me - Darrin Kohavi - 19
16 Halo - Beyoncé - 20
17 Still Have My Heart - Caitlin Crosby - 14
18 1, 2, 3, 4 - Plain White T's - new
19 Lucky - Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat - new
20 The Show - Lenka - new
March 29, 2009.
This Week - Song Title - Artist - Last Week
1 No You Girls - Franz Ferdinand - 1
2 Poker Face - Lady GaGa - 3
3 Working On A Dream - Bruce Springsteen - 2
4 Magnificent - U2 - 6
5 Gives You Hell - The All-American Rejects - 5
6 Time Lapse Lifeline - Maria Taylor - 7
7 People Got a Lotta Nerve - Neko Case - 8
8 My Lucky Day - Bruce Springsteen - 4
9 I'm Not Over - Carolina Liar - 11
10 Is Anybody Out There? - The Downtown Fiction - 12
11 Natalie - The NuRu - 13
12 California - Shannon Hurley - 18
13 The Rake's Song - The Decemberists - 14
14 Still Have My Heart - Caitlin Crosby - 9
15 Get On Your Boots - U2 - 10
16 Boys With Girlfriends - Meiko - 15
17 Good Days Bad Days - Kaiser Chiefs - 20
18 Just Dance - Lady GaGa - 16
19 Please Believe Me - Darrin Kohavi - new
20 Halo - Beyoncé - new
For the past 2 weeks Franz Ferdinand and Lady GaGa have held on to the #1 and #2 spot for consecutive weeks. Ferdinand's #1 hit track is at the top position for the 3rd week. It's not doing as well on some of the mainstream charts like iTunes. Lady GaGa on the other hand has recently topped a couple of the national charts with "Poker Face" the follow-up hit to "Just Dance" from late last year.
iTUNES PRICE INCREASE! I just noticed Apple's iTunes Store has increased the price of some of its downloadable single tracks to $1.29 each. That bites! More on the price increase in a follow-up post.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Music Tech: iPod Shuffle
This post starts a new series focusing on music delivery devices: stereos, radio, media players, more. First up, Apple's iPod Shuffle.
A friend recently asked what kind of media player can one get for under $50. Coming quickly to mind is Apple's iPod Shuffle media player. The Shuffle is a no-nonsense, bare-bones player that plays music or audio content from a built in flash memory card to tiny earbuds or an external listening device. It is small, the newer ones "tiny" and is ideal for the active music fan who engages in walking, jogging, running and other activities. It is the perfect player to take with you almost everywhere.
The current models come with either 1GB or 2GB worth of flash memory, enough to hold 240 to 400 songs. All iPods come with a non-replaceable, rechargeable battery. The iPod Shuffle is the low end model and currently retails for either $49 or $69 depending on the flash memory size.
Being Apple's low end model, the Shuffle lacks most of the features you'd expect to find in the average media player. There is no screen to tell you what songs are currently playing. You cannot make more than one playlist. The list of songs you download from the required iTunes software is what you are stuck with until your next synchronization between the player and the software. The default play position is :"shuffle" which scrambles the play order of your playlist. Some people may not like this, for others this is fine.
The two iPod Shuffles I own are the white, first generation, chewing gum pack sized model (pictured at the top of this post). They came with earbuds that deliver decent sound and a USB cable for synching with your Mac or Windows XP or Vista PC. Leaving the unit plugged into the computer also recharges the built-in battery, which for this model lasts about 12 hours per charge. I'm not very sure. The iPod Shuffles sound great and give a nice in-ear or external audio sound performance. I'd recommend connecting good quality headphones to this or any other player to listen to the best sound your music can deliver.
My iPod Shuffles are aging gracefully and still holds a long charge to make them a practical on-the-go player. The first generation models sold for about $129 brand new. They are no longer available unless you buy one in the used market.
Today's 2nd generation models, shown above, are smaller, cheaper and come in a variety of colors.
Overall the iPod Shuffle is a good value for the money spent. You get a solid, bare-bones basic player that can play many songs.
Pros
A friend recently asked what kind of media player can one get for under $50. Coming quickly to mind is Apple's iPod Shuffle media player. The Shuffle is a no-nonsense, bare-bones player that plays music or audio content from a built in flash memory card to tiny earbuds or an external listening device. It is small, the newer ones "tiny" and is ideal for the active music fan who engages in walking, jogging, running and other activities. It is the perfect player to take with you almost everywhere.
The current models come with either 1GB or 2GB worth of flash memory, enough to hold 240 to 400 songs. All iPods come with a non-replaceable, rechargeable battery. The iPod Shuffle is the low end model and currently retails for either $49 or $69 depending on the flash memory size.
Being Apple's low end model, the Shuffle lacks most of the features you'd expect to find in the average media player. There is no screen to tell you what songs are currently playing. You cannot make more than one playlist. The list of songs you download from the required iTunes software is what you are stuck with until your next synchronization between the player and the software. The default play position is :"shuffle" which scrambles the play order of your playlist. Some people may not like this, for others this is fine.
The two iPod Shuffles I own are the white, first generation, chewing gum pack sized model (pictured at the top of this post). They came with earbuds that deliver decent sound and a USB cable for synching with your Mac or Windows XP or Vista PC. Leaving the unit plugged into the computer also recharges the built-in battery, which for this model lasts about 12 hours per charge. I'm not very sure. The iPod Shuffles sound great and give a nice in-ear or external audio sound performance. I'd recommend connecting good quality headphones to this or any other player to listen to the best sound your music can deliver.
My iPod Shuffles are aging gracefully and still holds a long charge to make them a practical on-the-go player. The first generation models sold for about $129 brand new. They are no longer available unless you buy one in the used market.
Today's 2nd generation models, shown above, are smaller, cheaper and come in a variety of colors.Overall the iPod Shuffle is a good value for the money spent. You get a solid, bare-bones basic player that can play many songs.
Pros
- Small
- Long Battery Life
- iTunes software required - easy to use, load, manage playlists
- 2G models come in different colors
- Sounds good
- 2G model has built-in clip
- Affordable
- Music file formats: MP3, AAC, Protected AAC, WAV, AIFF
- Built in battery not user replaceable
- iTunes software required - cannot load device without it
- Small - can easily be lost or stolen
- No screen that displays songs
- No multiple playlists
- Earbuds tiny and may not be comfortable for some users
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