Like many of you, I like my music collection and have amassed a large collection of music CDs over the years. Because I commuted a lot and wanted to listen to a large range of my music collection I purchased a portable minidisc recorder/player. Later I replaced this with a full deck and a portable player. Now, the problem having moved to Canada recently from New Zealand it was not worth me bringing over my full deck and with my large range of music, I found it time-consuming copying audio to the MD discs at 1x speed. Recently SONY introduced the NetMD format for their new range of MD walkmans but I decided it was not what I was after. I did not like the software “checkout” system they used and heard there were problems with variable bit rate mp3 files.
I started to look at other solutions and had the Nomad Jukebox II for a short time. I found the USB copying of large number of tracks to be flakey, and the software to be full of bugs that would cause it to crash. I delved into the world of CD based mp3 players and found the iRiver iMP-350 SlimX. This unit has solved some of my issues and provided a great means of listening to my tunes.
Hardware Specs
Dimension: Approx. 135(W) X 145(L) X 16.7(H) mm
Weight: Approx. 189g (Excluding Batteries)
CD Type: CD-DA, CD-Text (8cm/12cm), CD-ROM Mode1, Mode 2 Form1, Enhanced CD, CD-Plus
CD-R/RW Readability: Packet-Write, ISO9660, Joliet, Romeo, Multi-Session
File Support:
File Type MPEG 1/2/2.5 layer 3, WMA, ASF
Bit Rate 8Kbps ~ 320Kbps
Tag ID3 V1 Tag, ID3 V2 2.0, ID3 V2 3.0
Power Supply: AC Adapter DC 4.5V, 300mA, Rechargeable Two STICK Type Ni-Mh Batteries, External Battery Two 1.5V AA Size Batteries
Connections: Headphone Out (combined with special remote connector), Line Out, AC Adapter
Additional Features: Built in FM tuner, Backlit Graphic Display on Remote, Adjustable equalizer (5 Presets and 1 User Defined), Supports multiple languages.
Box Contents
• SlimX 350 CD/MP3 Player
• Remote control
• Bud style headphones
• Instruction Manual
• Cloth bag
• AA battery extender
• AC Adapter (I forgot to put it in the photo!)
The big thing to note about this unit is that it is slim line at 16.7mm and is currently the worlds thinnest CD based MP3 Player. It plays standard audio CDs, Enhanced CD, CD Plus, home-made CD-R and CD-RW discs, supporting the popular music formats of MP3, WMA and ASF!
There is also an 8 minute antis-shock buffer to avoid any skipping during playback and the unit’s firmware is user upgradeable. This means when future audio formats are released or features added to the player software, these can be downloaded from the company website and burnt to a CD-R. The unit is powered on and the firmware is upgraded to include the new changes. I have already successfully completed this capability twice.
Build Quality
I found the build quality to be excellent. It feels solid to hold and possibly would take a few knocks (Not that I tested that out!!) The design and look of the player is very nice.
Remote Control
Unfortunately, I found the remote to feel “squarish” in the hand, and a bit awkward to use with the small buttons. While trying to navigate the menu I often would press the wrong button. Now, having a remote is a major consideration for me for buying a portable music-playing device. I like to have the player tucked away in a bag or in a pocket and control it from my remote. I found the clip to be tight and strong. Ideally my favored style of remote control has both the wire from the headset and from the unit connected on one side, like some of the AIWA MD player remotes are designed. This enables you to clip them easier to the outside of your jacket and have the wires coming from one general direction.
It would be great if iRiver release a more ergonomic styled remote. Update, September 2002, iRiver have released a new remote with the iRiver 400 player that looks to resolve the problems I mentioned above!
Rechargeable Batteries & External AA holder
The other great feature for the player is that it uses rechargeable batteries. These are of the “gum stick” varieties that are now commonly used in many types of portable devices. (Walkmans, cameras etc). If you are out and find out you have run out of juice, you can use 2 x AA batteries in the supplied pack to provide more playback time. A great idea and concept. Unfortunately the pack does not attach to the player but dangles precariously from it by the attached power cable when used.
Support
After about 2 weeks, I actually lost the tiny spring to that holds the clip to the body of the remote. It pretty much came off when I was walking down the road and I was clipping the remote to my jacket.
I gave a quick call to the friendly guys at www.mp3playerstore.com and asked about the warranty for the unit. They directed me to the manufacturer, who I contacted at their North American web-site at www.iriveramerica.com. I emailed them explaining my plight with the remote control and after a few days without an acknowledgement of receiving my email, I gave them a call. The person I spoke to checked their email and said they had had it in their inbox. Warranty claims were dealt with another party and my email will be forwarded to them. I would expect to hear from them and receive a RMA in about 10days time. (That was over 6 weeks ago and I STILL have not heard a thing from either of them) Update – September 2002, still no word from iRiver or their warranty team.
After about 2 weeks, I called the guys at Mp3PlayerStore up and had a chat to them explaining my problem with the missing remote control spring. They said that they had received similar returns and that I could infact return it to them and they will swap it out. They promptly sent me an RMA and I sent in the remote. Within the week, I received an email stating that my remote had been shipped. (They shipped it XpressPost as well)
Needless to say, I am very, very pleased with the customer relations from mp3PlayerStore and would like to thank the guys there for helping me out when they did not really have to. (My only association with them is that I am a happy customer!)
Iriver have a great product, but their marketing/sales/team could do better. Ok, this may be one of *those* “one-off” experiences, etc but in my email to them I actually highlighted the fact that I was in the process of reviewing the player!!! Something I did not mention this to the Mp3PlayerStore guys.
That said and done, the product is great.
http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/iriver_slimx_mp3_cd_player_review
Monday, April 30, 2007
Tweaking the Light Fantastic
High end audio gets away with murder. By the standards of the non-audiophile, most of the stuff we buy, and what we pay for it, can be explained only by a form of selective dementia affecting us in all areas having to do with reproduced sound. How many other industries cater to a demographic as fanatical, as restlessly compulsive, and as willing to suspend its collective disbelief? The answer may lie in another question: How many businesses are charged with selling something as slippery and unquantifiable as the aesthetics of sound?
In high-end audio the rules which govern the realm of normal consumerdom do not often apply. While mid-fi and mass market gear tends to be sold based on common and easily quantifiable factors like price, abundance of features, and reputation, the high-end hawks its wares with an avalanche of subjectivity, with lures which are less easily grasped but far more enticing to the truly addicted audiophile. Features? Value? Ha! Wrong end of the store pal. This stuff is sold with something you can't see on the spec sheet; the promise of soul stirring musical experiences in your very own home, of music which bears no trace of its reproduction. Once these sonic fruits are tasted, and the passion and dedication with which many audiophiles pursue them understood, the concept of loudspeakers costing more than luxury sedans begins to seem, if not sane, at least conceivable.
Venture a little deeper into the high end's lunatic fringe, however, into the innocuously named world of audio accessories, and things get downright perverse. By normal consumer logic when mature adults are spending substantial sums of money on cones, stones, pucks, wraps, sprays, and phosphorescent discs to be used in conjunction with their stereo systems something is terribly wrong. In high end audio it's called tweaking, and it's pretty popular.
Many would dismiss tweakery outright, claiming indiscriminantely that all such products (which often seem to have little or no rational explanation and little, if any, perceived value) are tantamount to snake oil, the people who use them gullible rubes, and that the whole business just contributes to the high end's image as a hobby for insane, obsessive madmen more interested in the quest for some holy grail of sonics than in enjoying music. The Continuum of Tweakery
While this may be true in many cases it's unfair to most serious audiophiles. Like most things tweaks and tweakers occur in degrees; or for purposes of convenience here, on a continuum (see graphic). Starting at left, or zero, is the practical, logical, inexpensive and often home made tweak, which may not involve purchasing anything at all; like floating the ground on your amp to avoid hum or putting tennis ball halves under your equipment for a little budget isolation. Somewhere in the middle are commercially available but seemingly logical and reasonable tweaks which don't cost a ton of money and aren't impractical or inconvenient to use. Our own Audio Ideas Imagers are a good example: cheap, effective, easy to understand and, once installed, can be forgotten about. At the far right (from seven to ten, say) are expensive, impractical, arcane tweaks which, if their alleged effects can be explained at all, are explained in very nebulous terms dealing more with the timbral signature of a violin or the placement of the soprano in your soundstage than with any understood acoustic or electronic theory. In other words these tweaks are so mysterious and so unusual that they require serious suspension of disbelief. More often than not these are what I call audio placebos, improving the sound only in the listener's mind. I would put products like the Bedini Clarifier in this final category (see my review in Vol. 17 #1)
As a tweaker I would place myself somewhere on the left side of the line. I'm inherently skeptical but when faced with a weird tweak I do my best to try to decide with my ears rather than with a sense of predestined impossibility. In other words I try to refrain from muttering things like "this can't possibly work". My approach is more like "I don't fully understand why this should work, and the supplied literature is pretty lame (and it usually is - see below), but let's see how it changes the sound." Besides, my job is to tell you how it sounds, not to delve into a deeply technical speculation of what's its doing or not doing.
With all this in mind, let's look at some tweaks which have been piling up at the AIG offices over the past few months.
Harmonix RF-11 CD Tuning Sheets: $22 (CAN) for a package of 8 Harmonix Tuning Sheets
The first of several CD-specific tweaks Harmonix RF-11 tuning sheets are thin, adhesive-backed pieces of plastic meant to be stuck on the label side of a disc. Although largely transparent (allowing you to read the label once applied) the sheets have green rings around their inside and outside circumferance and four, evenly-spaced cross shaped cut outs.
What is sticking a sheet of plastic to the backside of my CDs going to accomplish, you may well ask? Well, according to the back of the package (the only available literature) the sheet "helps achieve the full musical potential of the compact disc format by eliminating resonances and jitter induced by the CD drive mechanism and airborne vibrations." Upholding the grand tradition of audio accessory literature this explanation is not only confusing and vague it's so awkwardly worded that it reads like a bad translation (which it most likely is). The cardboard flap goes on to say that with the RF-11's stuck to a disc "the music reproduction becomes sweet and pure, free of hardness often associated with CD sound... extraordinary clarity, greater delineation of individual instruments and voices, and expanded sound-stage presentation." Hot dog! They've found a way to make a CD sound like an LP!
While the explanation of how they work might be frustratingly vague it's easy enough to conclude that weighing down a spinning object may, if done evenly, smooth and steady its rotation, and in the case of a CD, make it easier for a laser to read information off the disc.
Listening tests helped justify relatively central position on the continuum for the Tuning Sheets, revealing a very subtle but audible improvement in sound. Using a couple of sets of identical CDs (A Koss Classics edition of Beethoven's Ninth [KC 1003], which I happen to have in duplicate, and our own Test & Reference CD) I placed a sheet on one disc in each set and alternated back and forth between the bare disc and the CD wearing a sheet. Drums became a little tighter, transients and dynamics a little more lively, and, true to the promise made on the package, the delineation of instruments did marginally improve. It must be kept in mind, however, that these improvements were on a very small scale, equivalent perhaps to the difference between two digital interconnects. In other words, it won't make your CDs sound like good vinyl.
As for practicality and ease of use, there are worse (see below) but I'd say the likelihood of yours truly spending the better part of a day applying very expensive stickers to 300 odd CDs is roughly equivalent to that of AM purchasing a Radio Shack rack system and a stack of Kraftwerk albums this weekend. As for the money, I think it would be better applied elsewhere in your audio system or your music collection. If you're still keen to try these things consider one more thing: most car CD players will likely react negatively to CDs which are even slightly thicker than they should be. My life lesson in this involved a delightful hour with a pair of tweezers contorting myself in various ways inside AM's car. On the continuum of tweakery these rate a 6.5
QR Design Statmat $US 40.00 ea.
From one piece of plastic to stick on CDs we go to another. This time, however, both the goal, and the approach, are different. From the makers of the highly effective Ringmat (one of the best and easiest turntable tweaks extant) the Statmat is a very thin slice of polypropelyne film coated with a pattern of conductive inks which is meant to sit on the label side of CD while it plays. Unlike the Harmonix sheets it is almost weightless, non-adhesive, and is meant to be used and re-used with whatever disc is playing. Statmat
The stated goal of the Statmat is easy enough to glean from its name: to discharge static electricity from the CD as it plays. The conductive inks, we are led to assume, dissipate the charge into the air. Just as it is easy to see why the Tuning Sheets might help stabilize a spinning disc, it is logical enough to assume that the Statmat may help reduce or eliminate static electricity from CDs. However, while one may be able to infer that smoothing disc rotation may reduce reading errors, and therefore digital jitter, the assumption that a static charge is harmful to CD playback strikes me as less sound, if you'll excuse the pun. As for how static electricity could effect the reading of pits off a spinning CD, I'll leave that question to the electrical engineers and physicists among us. Needless to say the suspension of disbelief factor on this one is higher than with the Tuning Sheets.
Listening tests did not dilute my skepticism. Spinning various discs with the Statmat alternately on and off the CD in question produced mixed results. After several runs with both Chris Isacc's Wicked Game (Reprise CD25837) and Casandra Wilson's New Moon Daughter (Blue Note CDP 532861) I actually thought that the CDs sounded better without the Statmat, giving up more detail and a smoother more neutral sound in their naked form. Moving on to other types of music I could hear no discernable difference using our own T&R CD (the Bach cello suite at the very end) and Dick Hyman's From the Age of Swing (Ref. Recordings RR-59CD).
Not only did the Statmat not improve the sound of CDs it was a serious pain in the butt to use. Try getting something this light and flimsy (to say nothing of its propensity to become airborne with the slightest hint of a breeze) to remain centered on a disc as you try to put it in a player. With only mild suction keeping it on the disc I was always relieved to see it emerge from the player still attached to the CD, visions of trying to remove shredded bits of polypropylene from my drawer mechanism dancing through my head.
Combine the sketchy science with the lackluster sonic effects, the outrageous price (especially considering the materials!), and the inconvenience of using the thing and you've got a tweak which sinks deep into serious voodoo/placebo/mysterioso territory. I'd give it a ten but that would be unfair to all the insane tweaks which cost so much more money, so I'll give it a nine.
Audio Prism CD Blacklight: $65 (CAN) ea. Audioprism CD Blacklight
Yet another product designed to sit on top of CD comes from AudioPrism, the folks who brought you CD Stoplight (a green paint meant to be applied to the edges of CDs). With the CD Blacklight Audioprism has basically combined the goals of the Statmat and the Harmonix Tuning Sheets into one product, while adding one other dimension to the CD tweaking equation. Like the Harmonix sheets the Blacklight is fairly heavy, one of its stated goals to act as "an effective vibrational short circuit and rotational mass for dynamic stability." Like the Statmat it also uses a series of conductive lines to "effectively lower [the] electrostatic potential of the compact disc itself." The Blacklight, however, goes one step further by adding "a proprietary, frequency specific, highly emissive, phosphorescent surface layer" which "optically saturates the compact disc as well as the disc compartment." This last feature requires the user to "charge" the CD Blacklight by placing it under a light source for about a minute (fluorescent and natural light sources are said to work best), after which it will take on an eerie green glow, signaling that you're ready to apply the glowing side of the mat to the CD and play away.
As with the other CD tweaks, explanations or inferences about what's its doing are fairly easy to come by, the literature being slightly better than with the others. As usual it's when asking "why" that we have to suspend our disbelief. On the Blacklight box, for instance, Audioprism explains that stabilizing the disc through the addition of mass will increase "bass definition and slam"; that reducing the electrostatic potential of the disc will result in "less read interference with the laser sub-system, improving imaging and soundstage"; and that saturation of the disc compartment with black light will reduce "jitter resulting in a more open and smoother presentation." As for WHY these approaches should improve the sound in these ways we are, despite the eerie green glow, left in the dark ( This is not to say that all companies should have to explain exactly how all their products work. I think, however, that in a case such as this, where both the approach and the intended effects are quite unorthodox and unclear that a more rigorous explanation is required. In other words, if tweak makers expect people to buy these things they should do a better job convincing us that their products can be beneficial).
As far as listening results go the Blacklight fared similarly to the Harmonix Tuning Sheets, producing very subtle but audible sonic improvements. On the Dick Hyman Disc there was a slight improvement in resolution and transient attack, a phenomenon I also noticed on Patricia Barber's Cafe Blue (Prem-737-2). The Barber disc also demonstrated slightly better bass articulation with the Blacklight in place, giving some credence perhaps to the claim that mass loading the disc would firm up the bottom end. Listening to Frente's Marvin the Album (Attic MR 0083-2) and the Barber disc again the Blacklight seemed to open up the vocals a bit, the non tweaked discs sounding a little overly warm by comparison.
These minor benefits, however, do not outweigh the inconvenience of using the CD Blacklight. Not only do you have to spend a minute or so charging the thing before each use, it behaves much like the Statmat in that it does not like to remain centered on the disc during loading. What's worse, the CD player in question (a Pioneer Laserdisc transport) would often reject the disc if the blacklight was not perfectly placed; not to mention the fact that if the thing's not perfectly centered, rotational stability will actually suffer. In other words, this is not a "set it and forget it" kind of tweak, but a fiddly and irritating one. Combine this with the hefty price and the suspension of disbelief required to buy into why its changing the sound and you've got a tweak which ends up just slightly left of the Statmat on the ol' tweak line. Peg this one up at about eight.
Black Diamond Racing Pyramid Cones $85 (CAN) for three Black Diamond Racing Cones
I suppose once you've treated your CDs so extensively that they are impervious to instability, static electricity, jitter, bad miking, poor mixing, and bad music the next step is to attack the player itself; not to mention components further down the chain. A increasingly popular weapon in this attack is a trio of cones placed under a given component, de-coupling it from its shelf. Much of the popularity of "coning" can be attributed to the buzz surrounding Black Diamond Racing's Pyramid Cones, which have received an awful lot of attention of late (In case you're wondering (and I certainly was), the company got its start, and much of its experience with carbon fiber, in yacht racing).
About an inch in height the cones look exactly like what they are, little triangles of carbon fiber with smooth, rounded points. Subtle and nondescript in their matte black finish they feature a small 1/ 4-20 thread on the flat end which is compatible with bolts on certain equipment (i.e. B.A.T.) meant to hold the original feet.
As for the why and how of this tweak, the trend of the CD tweaks continues. While the Black Diamond product literature asserts that "vibration is having a far more significant effect on audio than most people had realized" it does not shed any light on why vibration is our enemy. Aside from pointing out that the cones use a "combination of high rigidity along with high damping rates" they don't say much about how their cones deal with this alleged problem either. At the same time, however, it's easier to conceptualize (even for a physics-challenged film major like myself) how a set of cones, especially ones which purport to have significant damping properties, could attenuate vibration by acting as a buffer between a component and shelf (while the rigidity of the cones keeps it solidly in place, avoiding added vibrations), than it is to understand how reducing a CD's static charge could change the way a laser reads its pits. Assuming that this damping could reduce effects like microphonics in "coned" equipment, the causal chain leading to the justification of such a product is a little more solid than for most of the other tweaks reviewed here. In other words, the suspension of disbelief factor is lower, giving the BDR cones a fair chance of a better placing on the continuum.
That fair chance becomes a sure bet once you hear what the BDR cones can do to the sound of a component. Of all the tweaks I messed with this was surely the most effective. The improvements were surprising to say the least, especially under my digital gear. Using the Pioneer transport and the Sentec DiAna DAC I listened to both the LD/CD player alone, and as a transport with the DAC (both alternately with and without cones). With the cones each component gave up more resolution and more low level detail creating a deeper, more seamless soundstage in which microdynamics were better preserved. In general the sound benefited from increased smoothness, delicacy, and three dimensionality making for more involving listening. In addition, these improvements were as audible and as substantial as upgrading a DAC or adding a good jitter reduction box, making the effects of the previous tweaks seem far less significant in comparison.
Using the BDR cones under other gear had similar results. Under the lovely Rega Mira integrated amp (see my review elsewhere in this issue) the cones opened up the sound a little and tightened up the bass a smidge but these improvements were not nearly of the same magnitude as those wrought with the digital gear. Under my Rega Planar 2 turntable, however, the effects were very positive. When I removed the original rubber feet and plopped three cones between it and the Ikea Lack table it sits on the sound took on a character best described as rock solid. Bass, image focus, and delicate low level transients all improved substantially making for much more palpable and involving sound. I'm so happy with how it sounds, in fact, that I'm going to leave it that way indefinitely. One note however, the Rega is an unsuspended table which reacts very well to being supported on light, rigid platforms. (the very light Lack end table and the BDR cones proved to be a synergistic combination - the Lack table is also spiked to the floor using a Target speaker spiking kit. This setup, by the way, makes for an ultra rigid stand, a great, and very cheap way, to support equipment). Suspended tables may react very differently to cones so try before you buy.
Throughout my listening I used the cones with their points down, BDR recommending that the point touch the more resonant surface, which in the case of a component on an MDF shelf, is the shelf. When using BDR's carbon fiber shelf (cheekily called The Shelf) it becomes the less resonant surface and the cones should point up.
The only negative experience with the BDR cones occurred in conjunction with yet another Rega product, the justifiably praised Planet CD player. The Planet, which comes with its own very soft, sorbothane type feet, did not benefit from the cones, sounding leaner, cleaner and doing a better job of rendering vocals on its own feet, thank you very much. One might thus assume that if the component you want to cone has been designed around a soft, compliant suspension then putting something as rigid as the BDR cones under it is going to fly in the face of that design and very possibly comprimise it.
Combine these unusually positive sonic results with the fact that the BDR cones are easy and practical to use, a "set it and forget it" type of tweak, and you've got a product which ends up damn near the coveted middle of the continuum. I would place them further to the left but, after all, it's still a lot to pay for three little carbon fiber triangles. I give em' a five and a half.
Golden Sound DH Cones: $70 US (set of three) DH Cones
Although less popular than the BDR cones, Golden Sound's DH Cones have been making inroads in the tweak world as well. Unlike BDR Golden Sound makes four sizes of its DH Cones, small (5/8"/$20), medium (7/8"/$40), large (1"/$50), and jumbo (1 3/8"/$70), supplying me with the latter. Much heavier than the BDR triangles the DH Cones are ceramic, finished in a glossy black on the sides and in natural white ceramic on the flat top. They also feature a sharper point than the BDR cones.
It is unclear whether the larger cones are supposed to sound better or just increase the distance between shelf and equipment. In fact, plenty more about these things is unclear, the Golden Sound product literature consisting exclusively of enthusiastic recommendations from happy customers. It neglects to offer anything in the way of technical or setup information. Having discussed some general thoughts on cones above I'll jump straight into listening results.
Listening to the DH Cones during the same sessions as the BDR cones I was able to put together a pretty good impression of what each was doing and how they compared. Under the digital gear the DH cones produced similar effects to the BDR's, yet to a lesser degree. As with the carbon fiber triangles the DH Cones helped bring out more ambient detail, a greater sense of delicacy and improved microdynamics, contributing to a more involving sound. Although they took on a slightly different tonal character than with the BDR cones, vocals also improved, sounding a little more open and natural. With the Planar 2 it was a similar story, the DH Cones producing a sound that was even closer to that achieved with the BDR cones. Performers became locked in the soundstage and the delicacy and involvement quotient rose substantially. With the Rega Planet CD Player the DH Cones, like the BDRs, could not improve upon the Rega's original soft rubber feet, bloating the bass and masking clarity in a similar way. Under the Mira integrated, however, the pattern reversed, the DH Cones sounding slightly more open than the BDRs; proving once again that such tweaks should be rigorously tested under various pieces of gear before buying. Not only are they likely to work very differently under various components in the chain, different brands and models will no doubt react differently to coning as well. From my experience with this kind of tweak the only constant seems to be that digital gear seems to benefit the most dramatically.
As far as our trusty continuum goes, I would place the DH cones just slightly right of the BDR pyramid cones, at about six. They're slightly less effective, and, due to very poor product literature, require greater suspension of disbelief to try.
Enacom Audio Noise Eliminators: Speaker ($220/pair) and AC ($95) Enacom Audio Noise Eliminators
Finally we have these odd little products from Combak Corporation of Japan. Looking like electric shotgun shells they consist of a small metal barrel with two bare copper cables emerging out one end (or in the case of the AC Enacom a standard 2 prong mains plug). Exactly what's in that little barrel is not entirely clear, the characteristically vague info sheet avoiding any detailed descriptions of what these things are doing. What is fairly clear is that there is a capacitor in there. One of the stated intentions of the noise eliminators, in fact, and the only possible function of the AC version, is to filter out RF noise making its way into both AC lines and speaker cables. Like the Audioprism Quietline wall wart filters they sit in series on your home AC circuit, filtering out anything above a given frequency (200Khz according to the manual). Apparently the speaker model works the same way but is also supposed to eliminate what they call "ringing distortion" caused by load resistance in the speaker/amplifier interface. How this happens is as elusive as a good explanation of exactly what constitutes "ringing distortion", and so some suspension of disbelief is, as usual, involved. As far as I'm concerned ringing distortion is a lot more likely to come from your phone than from your speakers.
I first did a little messing around with the AC version, cycling it in and out of an outlet near my audio system during a listening session. Having played with a few AC treatments before I'm familiar with the positive effects good RF suppression can have (see my review of the Innoye Synergistic Powerline Conditioner). Benefits can include darker sonic backgrounds, crisper microdynamics, and much more lively and involving low level performance in general. These, unfortunately, were not to be had with the Enacom AC filter, which caused no audible improvement once plugged in. It is possible that in greater number, used in several outlets around the room or house (like the much less expensive Quietline filters) that they would have a more noticeable, cumulative effect. However, I would much sooner put that money into a decent power conditioner like the Inouye, which will also protect your gear from surges and spikes.
Not expecting much from the speaker version of the Enacom I threaded them in parallel across the high frequency binding posts on my Newform Research R630 Ribbons (this the recommended configuration when dealing with bi-wired speakers) after having listened carefully to several selections of music. The Newforms are fed by about ten feet of Wireworld Atlantis speaker cable and were being driven on this occasion by the wonderful Rega Mira integrated.
Revisiting the amazing Ritmicas disc from Dorian Recordings (DOR-90245) it became slightly easier to decode the immensely wide and cavernously deep soundstage captured on this recording, the location of players coming into even greater focus. On Arvo Paart's Litany (ECM 78118-21592-2) I noticed a slight increase in low level detail and a more thorough rendering of subtle and delicate ambient decay; both common indicators of reduced RF interference. As for the mysterious "ringing distortion" it may very well be a factor in these improvements, but I'm holding out for a better explanation of what it is and what it sounds like.
Having lived with the Enacoms on the speaker for a few weeks now, however, I'd add that the system sounds smoother and more transparent than ever, the little caps having perhaps warmed up and broken in to a certain extent. So, despite this sketchy ringing distortion business the speaker Enacom turns out to be a pretty reasonable tweak, sitting in about at about six and a half on the continuum (they would have fared much better if not for the high price). Like the cones, a fair bit to pay for what they are, but they do work and are not a bad investment considering what they can do for a high resolution system, especially in RF rich urban centers. As for the AC Enacom, spend that cash elsewhere.
So, after all this tweak talk you may well be asking, if you had to pick just one of these things, which would it be? Well, as it turns out, the best system tweak I've come across lately isn't meant to be an audio accessory at all. It's the Ikea Lack table I mentioned earlier (special thanks must go to Ron Sanders for the hot tip on this one). If you want the maximum sonic benefit for the dollar spend twenty bucks on the table (the much nicer beech version is $40) and then another thirty on a Target speaker spiking kit (which even includes a drill bit and will leave enough spikes to do another table) and you've got an effective and attractive source stand for a song. If you're turntable or CD player is riding high on some wobbly, swaying, overloaded monstrosity than this is definitely worth a try. Combine this great homemade tweak with the runner up for value and effectiveness, the BDR pyramid cones, and you've got a killer source table for a fraction of what a good rack costs. If you still feel that, as an audiophile, it behooves you to be spending more money, I've got some little wooden pucks you might be interested in....
http://www.audio-ideas.com/articles/tweaks.html
In high-end audio the rules which govern the realm of normal consumerdom do not often apply. While mid-fi and mass market gear tends to be sold based on common and easily quantifiable factors like price, abundance of features, and reputation, the high-end hawks its wares with an avalanche of subjectivity, with lures which are less easily grasped but far more enticing to the truly addicted audiophile. Features? Value? Ha! Wrong end of the store pal. This stuff is sold with something you can't see on the spec sheet; the promise of soul stirring musical experiences in your very own home, of music which bears no trace of its reproduction. Once these sonic fruits are tasted, and the passion and dedication with which many audiophiles pursue them understood, the concept of loudspeakers costing more than luxury sedans begins to seem, if not sane, at least conceivable.
Venture a little deeper into the high end's lunatic fringe, however, into the innocuously named world of audio accessories, and things get downright perverse. By normal consumer logic when mature adults are spending substantial sums of money on cones, stones, pucks, wraps, sprays, and phosphorescent discs to be used in conjunction with their stereo systems something is terribly wrong. In high end audio it's called tweaking, and it's pretty popular.
Many would dismiss tweakery outright, claiming indiscriminantely that all such products (which often seem to have little or no rational explanation and little, if any, perceived value) are tantamount to snake oil, the people who use them gullible rubes, and that the whole business just contributes to the high end's image as a hobby for insane, obsessive madmen more interested in the quest for some holy grail of sonics than in enjoying music. The Continuum of Tweakery
While this may be true in many cases it's unfair to most serious audiophiles. Like most things tweaks and tweakers occur in degrees; or for purposes of convenience here, on a continuum (see graphic). Starting at left, or zero, is the practical, logical, inexpensive and often home made tweak, which may not involve purchasing anything at all; like floating the ground on your amp to avoid hum or putting tennis ball halves under your equipment for a little budget isolation. Somewhere in the middle are commercially available but seemingly logical and reasonable tweaks which don't cost a ton of money and aren't impractical or inconvenient to use. Our own Audio Ideas Imagers are a good example: cheap, effective, easy to understand and, once installed, can be forgotten about. At the far right (from seven to ten, say) are expensive, impractical, arcane tweaks which, if their alleged effects can be explained at all, are explained in very nebulous terms dealing more with the timbral signature of a violin or the placement of the soprano in your soundstage than with any understood acoustic or electronic theory. In other words these tweaks are so mysterious and so unusual that they require serious suspension of disbelief. More often than not these are what I call audio placebos, improving the sound only in the listener's mind. I would put products like the Bedini Clarifier in this final category (see my review in Vol. 17 #1)
As a tweaker I would place myself somewhere on the left side of the line. I'm inherently skeptical but when faced with a weird tweak I do my best to try to decide with my ears rather than with a sense of predestined impossibility. In other words I try to refrain from muttering things like "this can't possibly work". My approach is more like "I don't fully understand why this should work, and the supplied literature is pretty lame (and it usually is - see below), but let's see how it changes the sound." Besides, my job is to tell you how it sounds, not to delve into a deeply technical speculation of what's its doing or not doing.
With all this in mind, let's look at some tweaks which have been piling up at the AIG offices over the past few months.
Harmonix RF-11 CD Tuning Sheets: $22 (CAN) for a package of 8 Harmonix Tuning Sheets
The first of several CD-specific tweaks Harmonix RF-11 tuning sheets are thin, adhesive-backed pieces of plastic meant to be stuck on the label side of a disc. Although largely transparent (allowing you to read the label once applied) the sheets have green rings around their inside and outside circumferance and four, evenly-spaced cross shaped cut outs.
What is sticking a sheet of plastic to the backside of my CDs going to accomplish, you may well ask? Well, according to the back of the package (the only available literature) the sheet "helps achieve the full musical potential of the compact disc format by eliminating resonances and jitter induced by the CD drive mechanism and airborne vibrations." Upholding the grand tradition of audio accessory literature this explanation is not only confusing and vague it's so awkwardly worded that it reads like a bad translation (which it most likely is). The cardboard flap goes on to say that with the RF-11's stuck to a disc "the music reproduction becomes sweet and pure, free of hardness often associated with CD sound... extraordinary clarity, greater delineation of individual instruments and voices, and expanded sound-stage presentation." Hot dog! They've found a way to make a CD sound like an LP!
While the explanation of how they work might be frustratingly vague it's easy enough to conclude that weighing down a spinning object may, if done evenly, smooth and steady its rotation, and in the case of a CD, make it easier for a laser to read information off the disc.
Listening tests helped justify relatively central position on the continuum for the Tuning Sheets, revealing a very subtle but audible improvement in sound. Using a couple of sets of identical CDs (A Koss Classics edition of Beethoven's Ninth [KC 1003], which I happen to have in duplicate, and our own Test & Reference CD) I placed a sheet on one disc in each set and alternated back and forth between the bare disc and the CD wearing a sheet. Drums became a little tighter, transients and dynamics a little more lively, and, true to the promise made on the package, the delineation of instruments did marginally improve. It must be kept in mind, however, that these improvements were on a very small scale, equivalent perhaps to the difference between two digital interconnects. In other words, it won't make your CDs sound like good vinyl.
As for practicality and ease of use, there are worse (see below) but I'd say the likelihood of yours truly spending the better part of a day applying very expensive stickers to 300 odd CDs is roughly equivalent to that of AM purchasing a Radio Shack rack system and a stack of Kraftwerk albums this weekend. As for the money, I think it would be better applied elsewhere in your audio system or your music collection. If you're still keen to try these things consider one more thing: most car CD players will likely react negatively to CDs which are even slightly thicker than they should be. My life lesson in this involved a delightful hour with a pair of tweezers contorting myself in various ways inside AM's car. On the continuum of tweakery these rate a 6.5
QR Design Statmat $US 40.00 ea.
From one piece of plastic to stick on CDs we go to another. This time, however, both the goal, and the approach, are different. From the makers of the highly effective Ringmat (one of the best and easiest turntable tweaks extant) the Statmat is a very thin slice of polypropelyne film coated with a pattern of conductive inks which is meant to sit on the label side of CD while it plays. Unlike the Harmonix sheets it is almost weightless, non-adhesive, and is meant to be used and re-used with whatever disc is playing. Statmat
The stated goal of the Statmat is easy enough to glean from its name: to discharge static electricity from the CD as it plays. The conductive inks, we are led to assume, dissipate the charge into the air. Just as it is easy to see why the Tuning Sheets might help stabilize a spinning disc, it is logical enough to assume that the Statmat may help reduce or eliminate static electricity from CDs. However, while one may be able to infer that smoothing disc rotation may reduce reading errors, and therefore digital jitter, the assumption that a static charge is harmful to CD playback strikes me as less sound, if you'll excuse the pun. As for how static electricity could effect the reading of pits off a spinning CD, I'll leave that question to the electrical engineers and physicists among us. Needless to say the suspension of disbelief factor on this one is higher than with the Tuning Sheets.
Listening tests did not dilute my skepticism. Spinning various discs with the Statmat alternately on and off the CD in question produced mixed results. After several runs with both Chris Isacc's Wicked Game (Reprise CD25837) and Casandra Wilson's New Moon Daughter (Blue Note CDP 532861) I actually thought that the CDs sounded better without the Statmat, giving up more detail and a smoother more neutral sound in their naked form. Moving on to other types of music I could hear no discernable difference using our own T&R CD (the Bach cello suite at the very end) and Dick Hyman's From the Age of Swing (Ref. Recordings RR-59CD).
Not only did the Statmat not improve the sound of CDs it was a serious pain in the butt to use. Try getting something this light and flimsy (to say nothing of its propensity to become airborne with the slightest hint of a breeze) to remain centered on a disc as you try to put it in a player. With only mild suction keeping it on the disc I was always relieved to see it emerge from the player still attached to the CD, visions of trying to remove shredded bits of polypropylene from my drawer mechanism dancing through my head.
Combine the sketchy science with the lackluster sonic effects, the outrageous price (especially considering the materials!), and the inconvenience of using the thing and you've got a tweak which sinks deep into serious voodoo/placebo/mysterioso territory. I'd give it a ten but that would be unfair to all the insane tweaks which cost so much more money, so I'll give it a nine.
Audio Prism CD Blacklight: $65 (CAN) ea. Audioprism CD Blacklight
Yet another product designed to sit on top of CD comes from AudioPrism, the folks who brought you CD Stoplight (a green paint meant to be applied to the edges of CDs). With the CD Blacklight Audioprism has basically combined the goals of the Statmat and the Harmonix Tuning Sheets into one product, while adding one other dimension to the CD tweaking equation. Like the Harmonix sheets the Blacklight is fairly heavy, one of its stated goals to act as "an effective vibrational short circuit and rotational mass for dynamic stability." Like the Statmat it also uses a series of conductive lines to "effectively lower [the] electrostatic potential of the compact disc itself." The Blacklight, however, goes one step further by adding "a proprietary, frequency specific, highly emissive, phosphorescent surface layer" which "optically saturates the compact disc as well as the disc compartment." This last feature requires the user to "charge" the CD Blacklight by placing it under a light source for about a minute (fluorescent and natural light sources are said to work best), after which it will take on an eerie green glow, signaling that you're ready to apply the glowing side of the mat to the CD and play away.
As with the other CD tweaks, explanations or inferences about what's its doing are fairly easy to come by, the literature being slightly better than with the others. As usual it's when asking "why" that we have to suspend our disbelief. On the Blacklight box, for instance, Audioprism explains that stabilizing the disc through the addition of mass will increase "bass definition and slam"; that reducing the electrostatic potential of the disc will result in "less read interference with the laser sub-system, improving imaging and soundstage"; and that saturation of the disc compartment with black light will reduce "jitter resulting in a more open and smoother presentation." As for WHY these approaches should improve the sound in these ways we are, despite the eerie green glow, left in the dark ( This is not to say that all companies should have to explain exactly how all their products work. I think, however, that in a case such as this, where both the approach and the intended effects are quite unorthodox and unclear that a more rigorous explanation is required. In other words, if tweak makers expect people to buy these things they should do a better job convincing us that their products can be beneficial).
As far as listening results go the Blacklight fared similarly to the Harmonix Tuning Sheets, producing very subtle but audible sonic improvements. On the Dick Hyman Disc there was a slight improvement in resolution and transient attack, a phenomenon I also noticed on Patricia Barber's Cafe Blue (Prem-737-2). The Barber disc also demonstrated slightly better bass articulation with the Blacklight in place, giving some credence perhaps to the claim that mass loading the disc would firm up the bottom end. Listening to Frente's Marvin the Album (Attic MR 0083-2) and the Barber disc again the Blacklight seemed to open up the vocals a bit, the non tweaked discs sounding a little overly warm by comparison.
These minor benefits, however, do not outweigh the inconvenience of using the CD Blacklight. Not only do you have to spend a minute or so charging the thing before each use, it behaves much like the Statmat in that it does not like to remain centered on the disc during loading. What's worse, the CD player in question (a Pioneer Laserdisc transport) would often reject the disc if the blacklight was not perfectly placed; not to mention the fact that if the thing's not perfectly centered, rotational stability will actually suffer. In other words, this is not a "set it and forget it" kind of tweak, but a fiddly and irritating one. Combine this with the hefty price and the suspension of disbelief required to buy into why its changing the sound and you've got a tweak which ends up just slightly left of the Statmat on the ol' tweak line. Peg this one up at about eight.
Black Diamond Racing Pyramid Cones $85 (CAN) for three Black Diamond Racing Cones
I suppose once you've treated your CDs so extensively that they are impervious to instability, static electricity, jitter, bad miking, poor mixing, and bad music the next step is to attack the player itself; not to mention components further down the chain. A increasingly popular weapon in this attack is a trio of cones placed under a given component, de-coupling it from its shelf. Much of the popularity of "coning" can be attributed to the buzz surrounding Black Diamond Racing's Pyramid Cones, which have received an awful lot of attention of late (In case you're wondering (and I certainly was), the company got its start, and much of its experience with carbon fiber, in yacht racing).
About an inch in height the cones look exactly like what they are, little triangles of carbon fiber with smooth, rounded points. Subtle and nondescript in their matte black finish they feature a small 1/ 4-20 thread on the flat end which is compatible with bolts on certain equipment (i.e. B.A.T.) meant to hold the original feet.
As for the why and how of this tweak, the trend of the CD tweaks continues. While the Black Diamond product literature asserts that "vibration is having a far more significant effect on audio than most people had realized" it does not shed any light on why vibration is our enemy. Aside from pointing out that the cones use a "combination of high rigidity along with high damping rates" they don't say much about how their cones deal with this alleged problem either. At the same time, however, it's easier to conceptualize (even for a physics-challenged film major like myself) how a set of cones, especially ones which purport to have significant damping properties, could attenuate vibration by acting as a buffer between a component and shelf (while the rigidity of the cones keeps it solidly in place, avoiding added vibrations), than it is to understand how reducing a CD's static charge could change the way a laser reads its pits. Assuming that this damping could reduce effects like microphonics in "coned" equipment, the causal chain leading to the justification of such a product is a little more solid than for most of the other tweaks reviewed here. In other words, the suspension of disbelief factor is lower, giving the BDR cones a fair chance of a better placing on the continuum.
That fair chance becomes a sure bet once you hear what the BDR cones can do to the sound of a component. Of all the tweaks I messed with this was surely the most effective. The improvements were surprising to say the least, especially under my digital gear. Using the Pioneer transport and the Sentec DiAna DAC I listened to both the LD/CD player alone, and as a transport with the DAC (both alternately with and without cones). With the cones each component gave up more resolution and more low level detail creating a deeper, more seamless soundstage in which microdynamics were better preserved. In general the sound benefited from increased smoothness, delicacy, and three dimensionality making for more involving listening. In addition, these improvements were as audible and as substantial as upgrading a DAC or adding a good jitter reduction box, making the effects of the previous tweaks seem far less significant in comparison.
Using the BDR cones under other gear had similar results. Under the lovely Rega Mira integrated amp (see my review elsewhere in this issue) the cones opened up the sound a little and tightened up the bass a smidge but these improvements were not nearly of the same magnitude as those wrought with the digital gear. Under my Rega Planar 2 turntable, however, the effects were very positive. When I removed the original rubber feet and plopped three cones between it and the Ikea Lack table it sits on the sound took on a character best described as rock solid. Bass, image focus, and delicate low level transients all improved substantially making for much more palpable and involving sound. I'm so happy with how it sounds, in fact, that I'm going to leave it that way indefinitely. One note however, the Rega is an unsuspended table which reacts very well to being supported on light, rigid platforms. (the very light Lack end table and the BDR cones proved to be a synergistic combination - the Lack table is also spiked to the floor using a Target speaker spiking kit. This setup, by the way, makes for an ultra rigid stand, a great, and very cheap way, to support equipment). Suspended tables may react very differently to cones so try before you buy.
Throughout my listening I used the cones with their points down, BDR recommending that the point touch the more resonant surface, which in the case of a component on an MDF shelf, is the shelf. When using BDR's carbon fiber shelf (cheekily called The Shelf) it becomes the less resonant surface and the cones should point up.
The only negative experience with the BDR cones occurred in conjunction with yet another Rega product, the justifiably praised Planet CD player. The Planet, which comes with its own very soft, sorbothane type feet, did not benefit from the cones, sounding leaner, cleaner and doing a better job of rendering vocals on its own feet, thank you very much. One might thus assume that if the component you want to cone has been designed around a soft, compliant suspension then putting something as rigid as the BDR cones under it is going to fly in the face of that design and very possibly comprimise it.
Combine these unusually positive sonic results with the fact that the BDR cones are easy and practical to use, a "set it and forget it" type of tweak, and you've got a product which ends up damn near the coveted middle of the continuum. I would place them further to the left but, after all, it's still a lot to pay for three little carbon fiber triangles. I give em' a five and a half.
Golden Sound DH Cones: $70 US (set of three) DH Cones
Although less popular than the BDR cones, Golden Sound's DH Cones have been making inroads in the tweak world as well. Unlike BDR Golden Sound makes four sizes of its DH Cones, small (5/8"/$20), medium (7/8"/$40), large (1"/$50), and jumbo (1 3/8"/$70), supplying me with the latter. Much heavier than the BDR triangles the DH Cones are ceramic, finished in a glossy black on the sides and in natural white ceramic on the flat top. They also feature a sharper point than the BDR cones.
It is unclear whether the larger cones are supposed to sound better or just increase the distance between shelf and equipment. In fact, plenty more about these things is unclear, the Golden Sound product literature consisting exclusively of enthusiastic recommendations from happy customers. It neglects to offer anything in the way of technical or setup information. Having discussed some general thoughts on cones above I'll jump straight into listening results.
Listening to the DH Cones during the same sessions as the BDR cones I was able to put together a pretty good impression of what each was doing and how they compared. Under the digital gear the DH cones produced similar effects to the BDR's, yet to a lesser degree. As with the carbon fiber triangles the DH Cones helped bring out more ambient detail, a greater sense of delicacy and improved microdynamics, contributing to a more involving sound. Although they took on a slightly different tonal character than with the BDR cones, vocals also improved, sounding a little more open and natural. With the Planar 2 it was a similar story, the DH Cones producing a sound that was even closer to that achieved with the BDR cones. Performers became locked in the soundstage and the delicacy and involvement quotient rose substantially. With the Rega Planet CD Player the DH Cones, like the BDRs, could not improve upon the Rega's original soft rubber feet, bloating the bass and masking clarity in a similar way. Under the Mira integrated, however, the pattern reversed, the DH Cones sounding slightly more open than the BDRs; proving once again that such tweaks should be rigorously tested under various pieces of gear before buying. Not only are they likely to work very differently under various components in the chain, different brands and models will no doubt react differently to coning as well. From my experience with this kind of tweak the only constant seems to be that digital gear seems to benefit the most dramatically.
As far as our trusty continuum goes, I would place the DH cones just slightly right of the BDR pyramid cones, at about six. They're slightly less effective, and, due to very poor product literature, require greater suspension of disbelief to try.
Enacom Audio Noise Eliminators: Speaker ($220/pair) and AC ($95) Enacom Audio Noise Eliminators
Finally we have these odd little products from Combak Corporation of Japan. Looking like electric shotgun shells they consist of a small metal barrel with two bare copper cables emerging out one end (or in the case of the AC Enacom a standard 2 prong mains plug). Exactly what's in that little barrel is not entirely clear, the characteristically vague info sheet avoiding any detailed descriptions of what these things are doing. What is fairly clear is that there is a capacitor in there. One of the stated intentions of the noise eliminators, in fact, and the only possible function of the AC version, is to filter out RF noise making its way into both AC lines and speaker cables. Like the Audioprism Quietline wall wart filters they sit in series on your home AC circuit, filtering out anything above a given frequency (200Khz according to the manual). Apparently the speaker model works the same way but is also supposed to eliminate what they call "ringing distortion" caused by load resistance in the speaker/amplifier interface. How this happens is as elusive as a good explanation of exactly what constitutes "ringing distortion", and so some suspension of disbelief is, as usual, involved. As far as I'm concerned ringing distortion is a lot more likely to come from your phone than from your speakers.
I first did a little messing around with the AC version, cycling it in and out of an outlet near my audio system during a listening session. Having played with a few AC treatments before I'm familiar with the positive effects good RF suppression can have (see my review of the Innoye Synergistic Powerline Conditioner). Benefits can include darker sonic backgrounds, crisper microdynamics, and much more lively and involving low level performance in general. These, unfortunately, were not to be had with the Enacom AC filter, which caused no audible improvement once plugged in. It is possible that in greater number, used in several outlets around the room or house (like the much less expensive Quietline filters) that they would have a more noticeable, cumulative effect. However, I would much sooner put that money into a decent power conditioner like the Inouye, which will also protect your gear from surges and spikes.
Not expecting much from the speaker version of the Enacom I threaded them in parallel across the high frequency binding posts on my Newform Research R630 Ribbons (this the recommended configuration when dealing with bi-wired speakers) after having listened carefully to several selections of music. The Newforms are fed by about ten feet of Wireworld Atlantis speaker cable and were being driven on this occasion by the wonderful Rega Mira integrated.
Revisiting the amazing Ritmicas disc from Dorian Recordings (DOR-90245) it became slightly easier to decode the immensely wide and cavernously deep soundstage captured on this recording, the location of players coming into even greater focus. On Arvo Paart's Litany (ECM 78118-21592-2) I noticed a slight increase in low level detail and a more thorough rendering of subtle and delicate ambient decay; both common indicators of reduced RF interference. As for the mysterious "ringing distortion" it may very well be a factor in these improvements, but I'm holding out for a better explanation of what it is and what it sounds like.
Having lived with the Enacoms on the speaker for a few weeks now, however, I'd add that the system sounds smoother and more transparent than ever, the little caps having perhaps warmed up and broken in to a certain extent. So, despite this sketchy ringing distortion business the speaker Enacom turns out to be a pretty reasonable tweak, sitting in about at about six and a half on the continuum (they would have fared much better if not for the high price). Like the cones, a fair bit to pay for what they are, but they do work and are not a bad investment considering what they can do for a high resolution system, especially in RF rich urban centers. As for the AC Enacom, spend that cash elsewhere.
So, after all this tweak talk you may well be asking, if you had to pick just one of these things, which would it be? Well, as it turns out, the best system tweak I've come across lately isn't meant to be an audio accessory at all. It's the Ikea Lack table I mentioned earlier (special thanks must go to Ron Sanders for the hot tip on this one). If you want the maximum sonic benefit for the dollar spend twenty bucks on the table (the much nicer beech version is $40) and then another thirty on a Target speaker spiking kit (which even includes a drill bit and will leave enough spikes to do another table) and you've got an effective and attractive source stand for a song. If you're turntable or CD player is riding high on some wobbly, swaying, overloaded monstrosity than this is definitely worth a try. Combine this great homemade tweak with the runner up for value and effectiveness, the BDR pyramid cones, and you've got a killer source table for a fraction of what a good rack costs. If you still feel that, as an audiophile, it behooves you to be spending more money, I've got some little wooden pucks you might be interested in....
http://www.audio-ideas.com/articles/tweaks.html
The message in the music: popular culture and teaching in social studies.
highest form of musical expression, where the music is not merely listened to but felt. --Flaska 2000
Music is the universal language, or so the saying goes. Most people love music and may even find solace as they listen to their preferred musical genres. How often do songs "take us back" to a memory long since past? Because music can evoke deep personal meanings, social studies educators often use songs to emphasize larger historical moments. This personalization phenomenon continues as today's youths explore their own musical genres and store today's memories. Because music is a vital component of youth popular culture, preferred over even movies and television (Rideout, Roberts, and Foehr 2005), a teacher's understanding and application of popular music can be a powerful tool for instruction and learning in social studies education.
Popular music is most often used to enhance history education through an investigation of the music of a period, a practice suggested by Harris (2004), Bafumo (2004), and Palmer (1998). Music's full potential, however, is often underused, especially that of contemporary popular music. As social studies educators, our ongoing challenges are to provide students with effective tools to examine relevant societal issues critically and to make connections to the world of students; current popular music is a way to do that. Although traditional social studies education often focuses on covering essential knowledge to ensure high test scores and teachers often do not have enough time to include music, which some consider inappropriate for the classroom, teachers interested in a relevant social studies curriculum that facilitates active participation and problem solving may apply contemporary popular music in a variety of significant ways.
With myriad present social problems, meaningful integration of current issues is vital in social studies education. Music is a powerful tool that teachers can use for a serious examination of such social problems as poverty, racism, abuse, and addictions and such global issues as hunger, disease, and war. Following in the footsteps of former entertainers, today's artists, like the Black Eyed Peas, Dixie Chicks, and Green Day, focus on social issues that should be considered in our classrooms. Through the students' exploration of lyrics, music becomes a tool that offers social studies educators opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations about major social issues and to connect with students. Part of our responsibility as educators is to analyze the historical role that music has played in raising social consciousness, but more important, teachers need to use these examples to connect to the struggles that are being waged now.
Our Stories
Coincidentally, we both first stumbled on this music strategy as we began our careers as eighth-grade American history teachers, diligently plugging away at the prescribed curriculum and using district-approved textbooks and ancillaries. In a never-ending attempt to engage students, we tried more creative strategies such as simulations and cooperative learning. Our early teaching experiences remain similar in that we realized that we achieved little success in making connections with a majority of students in our classroom settings. We were increasingly disillusioned and knew that changes had to he made but were unsure of which ones. We both knew that if we wanted to ensure that students learn the material, we would have to challenge them through active learning. Although it often seemed as if the students were unwilling to participate, the real problem rested with our inability to make the content engaging. Our students were unable to make personal meanings with the material. Fortunately, that trend changed. We both have powerful stories in which our students provided the push that created an epiphany regarding contemporary popular music's potential for teaching and learning.
Midway through the inaugural semester as McCormack introduced material about acts and other historical events that happened before the American Revolution, her eighth-grade students demonstrated a determined resistance to learning. Perplexed by their blatant challenge, she was unable to connect with students, despite using the usual traditional pedagogical tools. On a morning drive to work, she heard a catchy tune played on the radio. Mentally running through the list of events to cover during that day's lesson, she decided to change the lyrics of the song to reflect the events leading up to the Boston Tea Party. "The roof, the roof, the roof...
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-17627131_ITM
Music is the universal language, or so the saying goes. Most people love music and may even find solace as they listen to their preferred musical genres. How often do songs "take us back" to a memory long since past? Because music can evoke deep personal meanings, social studies educators often use songs to emphasize larger historical moments. This personalization phenomenon continues as today's youths explore their own musical genres and store today's memories. Because music is a vital component of youth popular culture, preferred over even movies and television (Rideout, Roberts, and Foehr 2005), a teacher's understanding and application of popular music can be a powerful tool for instruction and learning in social studies education.
Popular music is most often used to enhance history education through an investigation of the music of a period, a practice suggested by Harris (2004), Bafumo (2004), and Palmer (1998). Music's full potential, however, is often underused, especially that of contemporary popular music. As social studies educators, our ongoing challenges are to provide students with effective tools to examine relevant societal issues critically and to make connections to the world of students; current popular music is a way to do that. Although traditional social studies education often focuses on covering essential knowledge to ensure high test scores and teachers often do not have enough time to include music, which some consider inappropriate for the classroom, teachers interested in a relevant social studies curriculum that facilitates active participation and problem solving may apply contemporary popular music in a variety of significant ways.
With myriad present social problems, meaningful integration of current issues is vital in social studies education. Music is a powerful tool that teachers can use for a serious examination of such social problems as poverty, racism, abuse, and addictions and such global issues as hunger, disease, and war. Following in the footsteps of former entertainers, today's artists, like the Black Eyed Peas, Dixie Chicks, and Green Day, focus on social issues that should be considered in our classrooms. Through the students' exploration of lyrics, music becomes a tool that offers social studies educators opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations about major social issues and to connect with students. Part of our responsibility as educators is to analyze the historical role that music has played in raising social consciousness, but more important, teachers need to use these examples to connect to the struggles that are being waged now.
Our Stories
Coincidentally, we both first stumbled on this music strategy as we began our careers as eighth-grade American history teachers, diligently plugging away at the prescribed curriculum and using district-approved textbooks and ancillaries. In a never-ending attempt to engage students, we tried more creative strategies such as simulations and cooperative learning. Our early teaching experiences remain similar in that we realized that we achieved little success in making connections with a majority of students in our classroom settings. We were increasingly disillusioned and knew that changes had to he made but were unsure of which ones. We both knew that if we wanted to ensure that students learn the material, we would have to challenge them through active learning. Although it often seemed as if the students were unwilling to participate, the real problem rested with our inability to make the content engaging. Our students were unable to make personal meanings with the material. Fortunately, that trend changed. We both have powerful stories in which our students provided the push that created an epiphany regarding contemporary popular music's potential for teaching and learning.
Midway through the inaugural semester as McCormack introduced material about acts and other historical events that happened before the American Revolution, her eighth-grade students demonstrated a determined resistance to learning. Perplexed by their blatant challenge, she was unable to connect with students, despite using the usual traditional pedagogical tools. On a morning drive to work, she heard a catchy tune played on the radio. Mentally running through the list of events to cover during that day's lesson, she decided to change the lyrics of the song to reflect the events leading up to the Boston Tea Party. "The roof, the roof, the roof...
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-17627131_ITM
The Making of a social history of popular music in Chile: problems, methods, and results.
COPYRIGHT 2007 Australian Consumers' Association
They've become an almost essential accessory for those who like to take their music with them. But there's a lot more you can do with some of the digital music players (often called MP3 players after a common type of digital file) in our latest test. You can use them to store photos you take while on holiday, if you run out of room in your camera. To watch a movie, if the screen size allows. To store and transport datafiles, say from your workplace to home, much like you'd use a USB drive. And, of course, to store and play back large amounts of music in digital format.
If you're a novice with digital music, see our article in CHOICE, April 2006, for detailed information, or go to www.choiceextra.com.au and click on Apr 06 under 'digital music'. Briefly, though, to transfer your CDs onto a digital music player, you have to copy ('rip') them onto your computer and encode them before you can transfer them to the player--a process made legal just late last year. You can also download music directly from a legal music website or download audio broadcasts (podcasts).
Memory matters
Players using flash memory use no moving parts to store your music (and data)--it's stored on a memory chip. This means they tend to be smaller and lighter than models with a hard drive, but they also hold fewer songs --roughly 500 can be stored on the flash players in this test (all with 2 GB memory).
Players with a hard disc drive, on the other hand, have greater capacity so you can store much more music, transport large files, etc.
Weight, size and shape
The MP3 players in our latest test--both flash and hard disc players--come in lots of different shapes and sizes. If you want one to carry around, a traditionally shaped, rectangular player is easily slipped into a pocket, especially if it's thin and relatively lightweight like the APPLE iPod Nano, SAMSUNG YP-Z5FQB Or CREATIVE Zen Neeon 2.
Although it's pretty small, you wouldn't want to carry the top-scoring IRIVERT10 around with you all day in a shirt pocket or stuck in your jeans' waistband, because of its unusually bulky shape.
The SONY NW-E005F, looking a bit like a USB key, is incredibly small and weighs just 25 g, the lightest in the test (see the photo, below). It's probably the best of the lot to take jogging or to the gym, but no good if you're looking for larger, easy-to-use controls or a bigger screen to watch movies on. For that sort of thing, you're better off with a hard disc player with a larger screen. The largest screen of the hard disc players in the test belongs to the COWON A2. It looks eminently suitable for displaying photos or watching movies, but comes at a price: $699, the most expensive in the test and the heaviest by far.
At the other end...
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-30069339_ITM
They've become an almost essential accessory for those who like to take their music with them. But there's a lot more you can do with some of the digital music players (often called MP3 players after a common type of digital file) in our latest test. You can use them to store photos you take while on holiday, if you run out of room in your camera. To watch a movie, if the screen size allows. To store and transport datafiles, say from your workplace to home, much like you'd use a USB drive. And, of course, to store and play back large amounts of music in digital format.
If you're a novice with digital music, see our article in CHOICE, April 2006, for detailed information, or go to www.choiceextra.com.au and click on Apr 06 under 'digital music'. Briefly, though, to transfer your CDs onto a digital music player, you have to copy ('rip') them onto your computer and encode them before you can transfer them to the player--a process made legal just late last year. You can also download music directly from a legal music website or download audio broadcasts (podcasts).
Memory matters
Players using flash memory use no moving parts to store your music (and data)--it's stored on a memory chip. This means they tend to be smaller and lighter than models with a hard drive, but they also hold fewer songs --roughly 500 can be stored on the flash players in this test (all with 2 GB memory).
Players with a hard disc drive, on the other hand, have greater capacity so you can store much more music, transport large files, etc.
Weight, size and shape
The MP3 players in our latest test--both flash and hard disc players--come in lots of different shapes and sizes. If you want one to carry around, a traditionally shaped, rectangular player is easily slipped into a pocket, especially if it's thin and relatively lightweight like the APPLE iPod Nano, SAMSUNG YP-Z5FQB Or CREATIVE Zen Neeon 2.
Although it's pretty small, you wouldn't want to carry the top-scoring IRIVERT10 around with you all day in a shirt pocket or stuck in your jeans' waistband, because of its unusually bulky shape.
The SONY NW-E005F, looking a bit like a USB key, is incredibly small and weighs just 25 g, the lightest in the test (see the photo, below). It's probably the best of the lot to take jogging or to the gym, but no good if you're looking for larger, easy-to-use controls or a bigger screen to watch movies on. For that sort of thing, you're better off with a hard disc player with a larger screen. The largest screen of the hard disc players in the test belongs to the COWON A2. It looks eminently suitable for displaying photos or watching movies, but comes at a price: $699, the most expensive in the test and the heaviest by far.
At the other end...
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-30069339_ITM
Saturday, April 28, 2007
How to add music and Mp3s to Myspace
The first step you will do if you are interested is to login to your profile and click on the link that says Music that is located right between Classifieds and Videos near the top of the page. It will then open to Myspace Music page and gives you the chance to browse or find some of your favorite and cool music. There is a search option here that will let you search by band name, band members, as well as by musical influences or even based on ‘sounds like’. You can also do specific searches according to your type of music or just simply look for bands from a specific geographical region or area.
Once you found the music you like just click on that group’s page. You will then see a list of songs. You can view the lyrics or listen to the songs and you can also rate the songs. When you have decided what song to add you will need to click the Add button that will be located next to the song you have chosen. There will be a confirmation box that will pop up asking if you really want to add the song to your page. Just click on Add Song to Profile and the song will be added. That will now play as background music on your page.
Aside from adding music directly from Myspace, there are also other options in doing it. A better way is to add an MP3 player from profilepitstop.com – Where you can choose your own MP3 player graphics, add your favorite tunes and create your play list. If you wish to add a song from your hard drive, you can do so but, you need to upload it first to the web. The MP3 file must be on the web for you to use it on your Myspace profile page or else it will only be available to you if it’s only in your hard drive. You can upload it to your personal website but if you don’t have there are some for free like GeoCities or many other sites. Once you have uploaded the MP3 file just take note of the URL or web address of the file.
After choosing your preferred player you can also change its color that will best match your profile page. Next is to create a play list after you have made the color selection.
To create a play list, simply get the web address of the MP3 files that you want to include. Either the one you have uploaded onto your personal webpages or from other pages. Here’s an example of the web address: http://www.domainname.com/foldername/songtitle.mp3
After knowing the locations of the song just simply copy the web address (CTRL+C) and paste it into one of the MP3 field provided. Then write the title of the song in the title box and click Add to Playlist.
Most likely you will need to right click on the MP3 files and go to properties to get the URL. Note that the correct and working URL must begin with http: and must end with .mp3. Once you are done clicking on Add to Playlist button just click on Go to Next Step. It will then generate the code and just simply copy the code. Next open your MySpace profile page and click on Edit profile then paste the code that you have copied wherever you want the player to appear on your page.
About the Author
John McCann is the Editor for ProfilePitstop.com – the best Myspace Resource Site on the Web. You can read more of his articles and the latest Myspace news at the ProfilePitstop.com's Myspace Blog.
Once you found the music you like just click on that group’s page. You will then see a list of songs. You can view the lyrics or listen to the songs and you can also rate the songs. When you have decided what song to add you will need to click the Add button that will be located next to the song you have chosen. There will be a confirmation box that will pop up asking if you really want to add the song to your page. Just click on Add Song to Profile and the song will be added. That will now play as background music on your page.
Aside from adding music directly from Myspace, there are also other options in doing it. A better way is to add an MP3 player from profilepitstop.com – Where you can choose your own MP3 player graphics, add your favorite tunes and create your play list. If you wish to add a song from your hard drive, you can do so but, you need to upload it first to the web. The MP3 file must be on the web for you to use it on your Myspace profile page or else it will only be available to you if it’s only in your hard drive. You can upload it to your personal website but if you don’t have there are some for free like GeoCities or many other sites. Once you have uploaded the MP3 file just take note of the URL or web address of the file.
After choosing your preferred player you can also change its color that will best match your profile page. Next is to create a play list after you have made the color selection.
To create a play list, simply get the web address of the MP3 files that you want to include. Either the one you have uploaded onto your personal webpages or from other pages. Here’s an example of the web address: http://www.domainname.com/foldername/songtitle.mp3
After knowing the locations of the song just simply copy the web address (CTRL+C) and paste it into one of the MP3 field provided. Then write the title of the song in the title box and click Add to Playlist.
Most likely you will need to right click on the MP3 files and go to properties to get the URL. Note that the correct and working URL must begin with http: and must end with .mp3. Once you are done clicking on Add to Playlist button just click on Go to Next Step. It will then generate the code and just simply copy the code. Next open your MySpace profile page and click on Edit profile then paste the code that you have copied wherever you want the player to appear on your page.
About the Author
John McCann is the Editor for ProfilePitstop.com – the best Myspace Resource Site on the Web. You can read more of his articles and the latest Myspace news at the ProfilePitstop.com's Myspace Blog.
New Mp3 players – Isn’t it cool
If you wish to listen all the music that is stored on your PC even when you are on the go, you should have a portable mp3 player. There are two kinds of mp3 players- hard drive players and flash memory players and each type has its own unique advantages.
Hard drive players have a hard drive inside them and can store a lot of digital music files that make them ideal for serious music lovers. These are generally compact and slim with all the storage and also have moving parts which means that they could skip under high impact conditions.
Players that have embedded flash memory are tiny and usually rely on built in flash memory to store digital music. Since flash memory has no moving parts these players can also handle bumping and jostling without any risk of skipping. Their light weight also makes them good choice for using during jogging or aerobics. But they are limited in capacity and as such these store fewer tunes than hard drive players.
Although many Mp3 CD’s and MP3 portables can handle MP3 they are really not MP3 players. These may be an affordable and versatile choice for them who don’t mind to transfer their music files to a collection of discs. CD portables are noticeably larger than today’s hard drive and flash players, the MD portables are closer in size to a hard drive player.
Cool extras you should look for
You would always look for your MP3 player to perform a great job by storing and playing your tunes but there are additional perks as well that you might never think off when you are shopping.
FM Tuner
If you want to listen for FM radio then you should look for a portable that incorporates an FM tuner so that you can switch over to radio listening to your favorite program.
Voice recorder
Many players also capture voice snippets through a built in microphone or record radio broadcasts from a built –in FM tuner. These players are great for those people who want to save interviews or lectures to their player’s memory. In addition, since voice recording is usually mono and not stereo you can store lots of hours of voice recording.
Memory card slot
If you choose a player that has embedded flash memory and a memory card slot, you can expand the players memory capacity and all you can do is buy some compatible flash memory cards separately and then use them to store additional tunes.
Photos and videos
More portables are available that can handle photos or videos and are usually larger than usual LCD that displays home videos, TV shows, movies or any other digital photos downloaded from your computer.
Other accessory includes headphones, remotes, dock and other accessories that shall enable you to play and listen to your new MP3 player in the class.
Visit our recommended website freedownloadmp3song.info
About the Author
Olivia Andrews, writer of freedownloadmp3song.info is a freelance journalist and has written many reviews on subjects such as finance, education, health, entertainment, music, gifts, crafts, travel, apparels and mobile phones.
Hard drive players have a hard drive inside them and can store a lot of digital music files that make them ideal for serious music lovers. These are generally compact and slim with all the storage and also have moving parts which means that they could skip under high impact conditions.
Players that have embedded flash memory are tiny and usually rely on built in flash memory to store digital music. Since flash memory has no moving parts these players can also handle bumping and jostling without any risk of skipping. Their light weight also makes them good choice for using during jogging or aerobics. But they are limited in capacity and as such these store fewer tunes than hard drive players.
Although many Mp3 CD’s and MP3 portables can handle MP3 they are really not MP3 players. These may be an affordable and versatile choice for them who don’t mind to transfer their music files to a collection of discs. CD portables are noticeably larger than today’s hard drive and flash players, the MD portables are closer in size to a hard drive player.
Cool extras you should look for
You would always look for your MP3 player to perform a great job by storing and playing your tunes but there are additional perks as well that you might never think off when you are shopping.
FM Tuner
If you want to listen for FM radio then you should look for a portable that incorporates an FM tuner so that you can switch over to radio listening to your favorite program.
Voice recorder
Many players also capture voice snippets through a built in microphone or record radio broadcasts from a built –in FM tuner. These players are great for those people who want to save interviews or lectures to their player’s memory. In addition, since voice recording is usually mono and not stereo you can store lots of hours of voice recording.
Memory card slot
If you choose a player that has embedded flash memory and a memory card slot, you can expand the players memory capacity and all you can do is buy some compatible flash memory cards separately and then use them to store additional tunes.
Photos and videos
More portables are available that can handle photos or videos and are usually larger than usual LCD that displays home videos, TV shows, movies or any other digital photos downloaded from your computer.
Other accessory includes headphones, remotes, dock and other accessories that shall enable you to play and listen to your new MP3 player in the class.
Visit our recommended website freedownloadmp3song.info
About the Author
Olivia Andrews, writer of freedownloadmp3song.info is a freelance journalist and has written many reviews on subjects such as finance, education, health, entertainment, music, gifts, crafts, travel, apparels and mobile phones.
Friday, April 27, 2007
The 7 secret keys to wealth - Key #4: Residual Profits.
This article is one out of seven that I wrote about wealth. The whole series contain a lot of free valuable information about key factors that can help you become wealthy. The rich do things in a different way. That difference is the one I want to explain here. Let's scrutinize together these strategies that can make you more money and help you boost your income.
The whole series contain the following articles . . .
1. Add Value.
2. The Multiple Streams of Income.
3. Passive Income.
4. Residual Profits.
5. Leverage.
6. Specialization.
7. Compound Interest.
In one of my other articles on this series I share information about passive income. Here I will go one step further and I will show you how residual profits can boost your overall profits.
It is all in the multiplication. That technique can multiply your efforts the most. The more effective your leverage is the more your efforts will be multiplied. Streams of residual income are a perfect method to do this.
For example, let's say that you write a book. You realize that when you get paid royalties from your art you don't have to be present to get revenues from your efforts. This means that you make an effort once and you get paid several times, right?
If you write a book you are able to receive passive income but not residual profits. You can sell that product to one person once. That same individual may as well purchase one or two additional copies to give them away as gifts if they really liked the book. On the other hand, what I mean here is that the book is a product that is intended to be sold to one person once. On average every client you get will purchase only one copy.
So, writing books is a business that allows you to have passive income but not residual profits. The same happens with millions upon millions of other businesses out there. But what if you can find a way to receive residual profits while receiving passive income at the same time? The answer is simple: your income will be multiplied.
For example, let's analyze the web hosting business. Selling web hosting is a very competitive business for this same reason, because it can be very profitable. Let's say that you own a hosting company and you have about 1000 clients. These people will pay you monthly some money to have their websites hosted through your company. If the average client pays $4 per month then you will have a recurring profit of $4,000 every month.
This is income you receive month after month. As long as the client stays subscribed you will keep receiving profits. Most website owners stay subscribed for months and even years. So, if you use your available resources to get more clients, your income will simply grow exponentially.
This is just an example. The web hosting business is not as easy as it seems because of competition. The competition is fierce on this field as well as other highly profitable businesses on the Internet, but the way I see it is that when I can receive residual income, I don't need many clients to be profitable on these businesses. The secret is that I can sell the same product to the same client several times over and over again.
So, this is the key concept. No matter what business we are talking about, as long as you can sell the same product to the same client, several times every year, you can receive residual income. There are many businesses that operate this way. Membership websites are a very good example like dating websites.
The best businesses you can come up with are those that do not exist yet. If you can imagine a way to receive residual income that no one else have thought about before, it could be quiet profitable for you. What obscures the profits on these businesses is competition. They are highly profitable so they are also very competitive.
It is important to have imagination. Only you know what will work better for you. I will show you a few examples for you to have an idea. You can earn residual profits selling web hosting and memberships online as I said above. Another way is to own residential real estate, but this may require large investments on your part. You can also combine your streams of passive income and change them in such a way that you also receive passive income from them.
For example, if you sell e-books, you can post affiliate links on the text of their pages. Let's say that in one of the e-books that you actually sell you refer the reader to a hosting company where they can register a domain name and build a website. If that company offers an affiliate program you can join that affiliate program and when your reader registers with them, you can make money for as long as they stay subscribed.
You can join several affiliate programs and promote those products through your e-books. Furthermore, you may offer full resell rights on your e-books. This means that your clients after purchasing your e-books can resell them and your customers's clients can resell them again. This may lower the overall value of the e-books fast but it is a good way to have your affiliate links spread all over the Internet.
These are just a few ideas. Some may work better than others for you. Another method is to write articles and post a link to one of your websites. Then when your readers click on that link they will go to your website and they will be automatically redirected to your affiliate website. You may post the articles on affiliate banks and let thousands of webmasters use those articles. This is another way to let your affiliate links spread all over the internet.
You can post links on your e-books to other e-books you are selling. That way you can sell other products to the same client. If you sell hard copy books you can do the same thing. This is an effective marketing technique that can help you increase your sales.
In my opinion though, the best sources of residual income are those which allow you to sell exactly the same product, to the same client several times over. I think that this refers mostly to memberships of any kind plus other areas of the business world that I will explain bellow.
Notice that many times you don't need to sell the products yourself. You can be an affiliate for companies that sell these products and make a lot of money this way. For example, some hosting companies and dating sites offer the affiliates the opportunity to earn residual profits. They pay you a set amount of the membership profits for as long as the client stays subscribed.
This is amazing. You don't have to take care of the customers. You don't have to deal with refunds. You just advertise the products. Whenever a client purchase the membership, you get paid a portion of the profits for as long as those clients remain customers. This could last for just a few weeks or several months and even years.
Another way is using multi-level marketing programs. Multi-level marketing companies let you sell their products and train other people to sell the products as well. They will pay you a portion of the profits that your trainees (your sales people) generate. Not only that but they will also pay you for the profits that others bellow your sales people generate.
This multiplies your income exponentially and let you receive residual income because you make money not only from your efforts but from the efforts of other people as well. You may be receiving profits from the efforts of people that you don't even know.
This is not a pyramid scheme. Many people confuse this system with an illegal pyramid scheme. That's because this is exactly the opposite of what a pyramid is. A pyramid/ponzi scam requires you to make an investment to join the company and the only way for you to make money is to advertise the scam and convince more people to pay money to join the company as well. This makes no sense and it is mathematically inconsistent.
The idea behind multi-level marketing is the opposite. You join the company for free. You can sell the products and get paid for it like with affiliate marketing. You can train other people to sell the products too who can also join the company for free. You get paid whenever they sell something. If they train other people, you also get paid when one of those people sell something. This keeps going for several levels.
It is a win - win situation for everyone. Those who buy the products from the company receive a real product. It could be anything, from a book to a computer, to a CD player; anything that the company happens to be selling. So, the consumers are happy, the sales people are happy and the company selling the products is also happy.
This is an idea of other way to receive residual income. You receive residual income with multi-level marketing because while you won't be selling the same product to the same person several times, you can train some people to do the sales and make money from their efforts whenever they sell a product to someone else.
As you can see receiving residual profits is not only important but desirable. This is definitely one of the true keys to wealth. When you receive residual profits you leverage your efforts. Leverage is precisely the topic that I will be discussing on my next article on this series. You can find that article on my website.
I hope this information have been helpful to you. Since I started my business career I realized that I wanted to get as many streams of residual profits as possible. This is definitely one of the things rich people do to make money, and it is very profitable!
EasyWebRiches © 2006
About the Author
By Nathaniel Tabares - Visit his website at www.easywebriches.com for more details.
The whole series contain the following articles . . .
1. Add Value.
2. The Multiple Streams of Income.
3. Passive Income.
4. Residual Profits.
5. Leverage.
6. Specialization.
7. Compound Interest.
In one of my other articles on this series I share information about passive income. Here I will go one step further and I will show you how residual profits can boost your overall profits.
It is all in the multiplication. That technique can multiply your efforts the most. The more effective your leverage is the more your efforts will be multiplied. Streams of residual income are a perfect method to do this.
For example, let's say that you write a book. You realize that when you get paid royalties from your art you don't have to be present to get revenues from your efforts. This means that you make an effort once and you get paid several times, right?
If you write a book you are able to receive passive income but not residual profits. You can sell that product to one person once. That same individual may as well purchase one or two additional copies to give them away as gifts if they really liked the book. On the other hand, what I mean here is that the book is a product that is intended to be sold to one person once. On average every client you get will purchase only one copy.
So, writing books is a business that allows you to have passive income but not residual profits. The same happens with millions upon millions of other businesses out there. But what if you can find a way to receive residual profits while receiving passive income at the same time? The answer is simple: your income will be multiplied.
For example, let's analyze the web hosting business. Selling web hosting is a very competitive business for this same reason, because it can be very profitable. Let's say that you own a hosting company and you have about 1000 clients. These people will pay you monthly some money to have their websites hosted through your company. If the average client pays $4 per month then you will have a recurring profit of $4,000 every month.
This is income you receive month after month. As long as the client stays subscribed you will keep receiving profits. Most website owners stay subscribed for months and even years. So, if you use your available resources to get more clients, your income will simply grow exponentially.
This is just an example. The web hosting business is not as easy as it seems because of competition. The competition is fierce on this field as well as other highly profitable businesses on the Internet, but the way I see it is that when I can receive residual income, I don't need many clients to be profitable on these businesses. The secret is that I can sell the same product to the same client several times over and over again.
So, this is the key concept. No matter what business we are talking about, as long as you can sell the same product to the same client, several times every year, you can receive residual income. There are many businesses that operate this way. Membership websites are a very good example like dating websites.
The best businesses you can come up with are those that do not exist yet. If you can imagine a way to receive residual income that no one else have thought about before, it could be quiet profitable for you. What obscures the profits on these businesses is competition. They are highly profitable so they are also very competitive.
It is important to have imagination. Only you know what will work better for you. I will show you a few examples for you to have an idea. You can earn residual profits selling web hosting and memberships online as I said above. Another way is to own residential real estate, but this may require large investments on your part. You can also combine your streams of passive income and change them in such a way that you also receive passive income from them.
For example, if you sell e-books, you can post affiliate links on the text of their pages. Let's say that in one of the e-books that you actually sell you refer the reader to a hosting company where they can register a domain name and build a website. If that company offers an affiliate program you can join that affiliate program and when your reader registers with them, you can make money for as long as they stay subscribed.
You can join several affiliate programs and promote those products through your e-books. Furthermore, you may offer full resell rights on your e-books. This means that your clients after purchasing your e-books can resell them and your customers's clients can resell them again. This may lower the overall value of the e-books fast but it is a good way to have your affiliate links spread all over the Internet.
These are just a few ideas. Some may work better than others for you. Another method is to write articles and post a link to one of your websites. Then when your readers click on that link they will go to your website and they will be automatically redirected to your affiliate website. You may post the articles on affiliate banks and let thousands of webmasters use those articles. This is another way to let your affiliate links spread all over the internet.
You can post links on your e-books to other e-books you are selling. That way you can sell other products to the same client. If you sell hard copy books you can do the same thing. This is an effective marketing technique that can help you increase your sales.
In my opinion though, the best sources of residual income are those which allow you to sell exactly the same product, to the same client several times over. I think that this refers mostly to memberships of any kind plus other areas of the business world that I will explain bellow.
Notice that many times you don't need to sell the products yourself. You can be an affiliate for companies that sell these products and make a lot of money this way. For example, some hosting companies and dating sites offer the affiliates the opportunity to earn residual profits. They pay you a set amount of the membership profits for as long as the client stays subscribed.
This is amazing. You don't have to take care of the customers. You don't have to deal with refunds. You just advertise the products. Whenever a client purchase the membership, you get paid a portion of the profits for as long as those clients remain customers. This could last for just a few weeks or several months and even years.
Another way is using multi-level marketing programs. Multi-level marketing companies let you sell their products and train other people to sell the products as well. They will pay you a portion of the profits that your trainees (your sales people) generate. Not only that but they will also pay you for the profits that others bellow your sales people generate.
This multiplies your income exponentially and let you receive residual income because you make money not only from your efforts but from the efforts of other people as well. You may be receiving profits from the efforts of people that you don't even know.
This is not a pyramid scheme. Many people confuse this system with an illegal pyramid scheme. That's because this is exactly the opposite of what a pyramid is. A pyramid/ponzi scam requires you to make an investment to join the company and the only way for you to make money is to advertise the scam and convince more people to pay money to join the company as well. This makes no sense and it is mathematically inconsistent.
The idea behind multi-level marketing is the opposite. You join the company for free. You can sell the products and get paid for it like with affiliate marketing. You can train other people to sell the products too who can also join the company for free. You get paid whenever they sell something. If they train other people, you also get paid when one of those people sell something. This keeps going for several levels.
It is a win - win situation for everyone. Those who buy the products from the company receive a real product. It could be anything, from a book to a computer, to a CD player; anything that the company happens to be selling. So, the consumers are happy, the sales people are happy and the company selling the products is also happy.
This is an idea of other way to receive residual income. You receive residual income with multi-level marketing because while you won't be selling the same product to the same person several times, you can train some people to do the sales and make money from their efforts whenever they sell a product to someone else.
As you can see receiving residual profits is not only important but desirable. This is definitely one of the true keys to wealth. When you receive residual profits you leverage your efforts. Leverage is precisely the topic that I will be discussing on my next article on this series. You can find that article on my website.
I hope this information have been helpful to you. Since I started my business career I realized that I wanted to get as many streams of residual profits as possible. This is definitely one of the things rich people do to make money, and it is very profitable!
EasyWebRiches © 2006
About the Author
By Nathaniel Tabares - Visit his website at www.easywebriches.com for more details.
Unique Gift Ideas
Introduction:
Unique gift gives an impression about the gift provider. Gift should have been purchased keeping in mind the occasion for which the gift is being selected. There may be a number of occasions for which a special gift or unique gift is required. It is also an occasion at which you can express about your feeling to someone you care for. The unique gift not only gives you immense satisfaction, but it also you reminds about your attitude towards the recipients.
A unique gift suitable for particular occasion may not necessarily be suitable for another occasion or selection of unique gifts depends on the occasion for which the gift is being selected. Some of the occasions are being discussed below.
Gifts for Marriage:
If you are selecting a gift for newly couple and depending on your budget, you may select a unique honeymoon package from any travel agency. The package may include air tickets or air tickets with hotel accommodation. This unique gift is especially for those couples that are very close to you. If your budget does not permit this, you may select a jewelry item of diamond or gold. Whatever you select you should decorate the gift in such a way that it should reflect your love and affection for the couple.
Housewarming Gifts:
Housewarming gifts can be a number of types depending your relationship with the recipient and your budget a suitable unique gift can be presented. The gift may be house-decorating accessories such as beautiful sofa, wall curtains, table and sofa covers matching to the design of the rooms. The unique gift may also be some crockery, items required for preparing foods and kitchenware. If you are very close to the recipient, you can further select electronics item such as TV, refrigerator, washing machines, CD or DVD player, kitchen grill etc.
If your budget does not allow you the above, you can simply select a few less expensive decorative items, such as candle holders, vase, indoor plants, CD stack and Feng Shui articles.
Anniversary Gifts:
Anniversary gifts are again preferred as jewelry items. If you want to present some one very close to you, select beautiful gold make jewelry for the recipients. If your budget is limited, you may select beautiful designer clothes for both the persons.
Unique Father's day gift:
If you want to present a beautiful gift to your father, select a beautiful purse for the father. A beautiful leather purse for father will be an ideal gift for him on the occasion of father's day. You may also select a beautiful designer watch or designers clothes for your father.
Birthday gift:
If you want to present a birthday gift to one of your best friend, a personalized card along with flower bucket and beautiful gold make jewelry is one of the best gift for her. If you want to present a birthday gift to one of your male friend, you should select a personalized card and present the card along with flower bucket and an invitation to dinner in one of the restaurant.
Unique romantic gift for her:
To say 'I Love You' not only from your mouth but the gifts presented by you should also endorse. Beautiful gifts such a heart shaped pendant of gold makes, silver bracelets, earrings and necklaces can remind her about your love for her. Each one of the present is unique and will make long lasting impression.
About the Author
Henry writes about Cool T-Shirts for Gifts on http://www.uneetee.com
Unique gift gives an impression about the gift provider. Gift should have been purchased keeping in mind the occasion for which the gift is being selected. There may be a number of occasions for which a special gift or unique gift is required. It is also an occasion at which you can express about your feeling to someone you care for. The unique gift not only gives you immense satisfaction, but it also you reminds about your attitude towards the recipients.
A unique gift suitable for particular occasion may not necessarily be suitable for another occasion or selection of unique gifts depends on the occasion for which the gift is being selected. Some of the occasions are being discussed below.
Gifts for Marriage:
If you are selecting a gift for newly couple and depending on your budget, you may select a unique honeymoon package from any travel agency. The package may include air tickets or air tickets with hotel accommodation. This unique gift is especially for those couples that are very close to you. If your budget does not permit this, you may select a jewelry item of diamond or gold. Whatever you select you should decorate the gift in such a way that it should reflect your love and affection for the couple.
Housewarming Gifts:
Housewarming gifts can be a number of types depending your relationship with the recipient and your budget a suitable unique gift can be presented. The gift may be house-decorating accessories such as beautiful sofa, wall curtains, table and sofa covers matching to the design of the rooms. The unique gift may also be some crockery, items required for preparing foods and kitchenware. If you are very close to the recipient, you can further select electronics item such as TV, refrigerator, washing machines, CD or DVD player, kitchen grill etc.
If your budget does not allow you the above, you can simply select a few less expensive decorative items, such as candle holders, vase, indoor plants, CD stack and Feng Shui articles.
Anniversary Gifts:
Anniversary gifts are again preferred as jewelry items. If you want to present some one very close to you, select beautiful gold make jewelry for the recipients. If your budget is limited, you may select beautiful designer clothes for both the persons.
Unique Father's day gift:
If you want to present a beautiful gift to your father, select a beautiful purse for the father. A beautiful leather purse for father will be an ideal gift for him on the occasion of father's day. You may also select a beautiful designer watch or designers clothes for your father.
Birthday gift:
If you want to present a birthday gift to one of your best friend, a personalized card along with flower bucket and beautiful gold make jewelry is one of the best gift for her. If you want to present a birthday gift to one of your male friend, you should select a personalized card and present the card along with flower bucket and an invitation to dinner in one of the restaurant.
Unique romantic gift for her:
To say 'I Love You' not only from your mouth but the gifts presented by you should also endorse. Beautiful gifts such a heart shaped pendant of gold makes, silver bracelets, earrings and necklaces can remind her about your love for her. Each one of the present is unique and will make long lasting impression.
About the Author
Henry writes about Cool T-Shirts for Gifts on http://www.uneetee.com
Why People Have different Tastes In Music
Music is such a diverse area of the arts in that there are literally hundreds of different genres that people from around the world listen to. whether it be classical music from the time of Bach or mozart, through to the latest rap music, there is something for everyone to listen to. how does this come about?
Why do people have such different preferences for music? There are many reasons that range from the period that people were born or the country and culture that they were raised in. Let's examine some examples so that this can become a little clearer.
Personally, I was born into a musical family, my father was a piano player and my older brother a singer and multi instrumentalist. Now because of that family influence I too became involved in music and pursued a career in music and music education. I was influenced by the music my family listened to and so was fortunate to appreciate a very wide range of music from jazz to contemporary music. My studies extended into the genres of classical music as well. Therefore, I have come to enjoy many varied musical styles.
Another example may be of a person born into a culture that has a very strong folk music component. for example, the country of Hungary has a very rich and valued musical culture and young children grow up involved in music on a daily basis. Therefore, the tradition of their folk music is passed on from generation to generation.
People who were part of the teenage generation of the 1960's will have extremely strong ties with the various social and political movements that were reflected so strongly through the music of the day. Who can forget the wealth of songs written to protest about the Vietnam War or the songs that portrayed the new hippy culture. Songs by The Mamas and Papas or Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Buffalo Springfield......the list goes on. This era was an extremely powerful one in terms of social, economic and poliitical events that occurred during this time and so you will find many people who are reminded of such momentous events through the music that was written at the time.
More recently. there are many more new styles that seem to convey a message to our younger generation, in particular, rap music has found a place and though some of the messages are very dark, nevertheless, they are messages that give younger people reason to listen to the music. Also, you will find the world over, that lots of people just like to listen to music to dance to or for relaxation purposes. It really doesn't matter - this is a great thing and it is good that all people have different tastes in the music that they liten to. It keeps things fresh!
so, next time that you walk into a CD shop remember that you a one of millions who possess different tastes in music for a whole range of reasons. This may make you think a little wider about music and give you a greater tolerance for those who may not like your kind of music but other styles completely foreign to you. How does the saying go?.....Variety is the spice of life!! You betcha!
To read more articles by Greg Culver, check out www.myrecreationweb.com
About the Author
www.musicweblive.com is a website dedicated to providing articles and information related to music, the arts and entertainment. Greg Culver is the owner.
Why do people have such different preferences for music? There are many reasons that range from the period that people were born or the country and culture that they were raised in. Let's examine some examples so that this can become a little clearer.
Personally, I was born into a musical family, my father was a piano player and my older brother a singer and multi instrumentalist. Now because of that family influence I too became involved in music and pursued a career in music and music education. I was influenced by the music my family listened to and so was fortunate to appreciate a very wide range of music from jazz to contemporary music. My studies extended into the genres of classical music as well. Therefore, I have come to enjoy many varied musical styles.
Another example may be of a person born into a culture that has a very strong folk music component. for example, the country of Hungary has a very rich and valued musical culture and young children grow up involved in music on a daily basis. Therefore, the tradition of their folk music is passed on from generation to generation.
People who were part of the teenage generation of the 1960's will have extremely strong ties with the various social and political movements that were reflected so strongly through the music of the day. Who can forget the wealth of songs written to protest about the Vietnam War or the songs that portrayed the new hippy culture. Songs by The Mamas and Papas or Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Buffalo Springfield......the list goes on. This era was an extremely powerful one in terms of social, economic and poliitical events that occurred during this time and so you will find many people who are reminded of such momentous events through the music that was written at the time.
More recently. there are many more new styles that seem to convey a message to our younger generation, in particular, rap music has found a place and though some of the messages are very dark, nevertheless, they are messages that give younger people reason to listen to the music. Also, you will find the world over, that lots of people just like to listen to music to dance to or for relaxation purposes. It really doesn't matter - this is a great thing and it is good that all people have different tastes in the music that they liten to. It keeps things fresh!
so, next time that you walk into a CD shop remember that you a one of millions who possess different tastes in music for a whole range of reasons. This may make you think a little wider about music and give you a greater tolerance for those who may not like your kind of music but other styles completely foreign to you. How does the saying go?.....Variety is the spice of life!! You betcha!
To read more articles by Greg Culver, check out www.myrecreationweb.com
About the Author
www.musicweblive.com is a website dedicated to providing articles and information related to music, the arts and entertainment. Greg Culver is the owner.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
How to Become a Successful Independent Artist or Songwriter
By far the most important skill to have if you wish to become successful with anything, is ATTITUDE. An old Chinese proverb once said, "90% of the journey towards success is over once you have stepped outside your front door". The reason many people fail, is because they'd rather stay in and watch the TV.
Of course, that first step outside is a philosophical one. As a musician or songwriter, you spend the vast majority of your time being creative. If you thought that writing a great song, or playing an instrument well, was the hardest part of being a successful artist, you are wrong.
Despite all the skills you need to know and perfect in order to make your music shine, this pales into insignificance compared with the hard work and other skills you need to learn in order to record, market and sell your art successfully.
Fortunately, most creative people also seem to excel at other things. The term "Jack of all trades" could quite easily apply to most musicians or artists. After all, the first thing most artists have to learn, is how to find time for their art whilst running a home AND holding down a Day Job in order to pay the bills! It is therefore not unusual to find musicians who are also Physicists, Engineers, IT Professionals or Teachers, to name but a few.
Most of these people are quite content to keep music as a hobby, at least whilst bringing up a family. However, we all get to a stage in our lives (usually once the kids have grown up and left home), where we want to cease working for a "Living", and instead, work for our own "Satisfaction".
There are few things in life more satisfying than being admired for something we created. If our creations also manage to influence others, then it is even more rewarding.
This "first step outside your front door" is taken when you decide to pause from the creative aspect (the ideas), and take a positive step towards learning new skills, or employing others who can do those things for you.
There has never been a better time in the history of mankind, to take those steps, either by yourself, or with others who would help you.
Where you used to have to pay for tutoring, or buy books, in order to learn the techniques of songwriting, or playing an instrument, you can now find scores of articles on the Internet (like this one!) that will help you for free.
Where you used to have to save up a considerable amount of money to pay studio costs and hire session musicians to make a decent demo recording, you can now find all the neccessary tools, and even the musicians, on the Internet who would help you for little or no cost at all.
Where you needed to sign a record deal in order to be able to afford a producer and a master quality studio, you can now buy your own PC and some music software, and collaborate with a producer online, who will give you the capability to make radio-ready recordings.
Where you needed a record company with a huge advertising budget to market and sell your recordings, you can now (with some hard work), market and sell your CDs to the Whole World for next to nothing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Music Industry doesn't like the changes that the Internet has brought to the business. Digital media can be freely copied by anyone with a PC, anywhere in the World. No longer do the record companies just have to worry about the CD pirates who manufacture illegal copies to sell on the black market; they also have to now worry about every PC-literate man, woman and child, making their own copies too! This has led the music industry into a perpetual fight against filesharers (making enemies of many consumers in the process), instead of embracing the business advantages that the Internet brings to us.
The Music Industry still believes that 8-16 year-olds buy most of the records, so they are still catering primarily for that market. Recent industry figures are telling a different story, and the secret is the "Baby Boomers".
Yes ... The same people who created the above market perception in the 70's by buying the largest proportion of records ever, whilst they were teenagers, have now grown up! The largest age group to buy CDs TODAY, at 26% of the population, are over 45. Not only that, but they still like the same kinds of music as they did then. So there is no need to change your art to fit today's teenybopper market if you aren't that way inclined.
Now that we know the secret, we also know that the next big thing in music, isn't going to be another form of Hip-hop, Techno, or R'n'B; but a return to real music, such as was made during the 60's and 70's. However, we'll be creating it with modern tools on a Home computer DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) system, instead of in a multimillion pound studio complex!
So, whilst the Music Industry is still hesitating by trying to shun the new digital era in favour of antiquated business models, hardware in the form of CDs, and markets that still only cover limited territories; we can now jump ahead of them onto a more level playing field, find our own markets, and sell to the Whole World with only a simple website!
Sounds easy, doesn't it? ... Well, that is the first hurdle you will face. So many musicians think it is easy, that there are millions already doing it! So to be successful you will need, like any other business, a proper business plan.
CONCLUSION
The road to being a successful independent musician, begins with ATTITUDE.
You need to find enough time in your schedule to drop the guitar & scoresheet and use your creative energies towards developing a proper BUSINESS PLAN. This means taking a step back and listening to your music through Joe Public's ears. You need to think up a business name, logo, and short slogan that encompasses what you are, and what your music is trying to say to people
Register your business "name" by buying a domain name that suits you as soon as possible.
Pages on free MP3 sites and Free domains do not give you a professional image. You MUST have your own site, or at least something that offers you a unique look and features of your own. If you want people to find your music unique & special, then you also need an image that is unique and special. That goes for your email address too. Genuine business people don't use their Hotmail, AOL, or Yahoo addresses for formal communications
Make sure all your paperwork is in order.
If you are planning on making an eventual living from your art, you will need to be registered as a business or as a self-employed sole trader. You need to make sure your tax and income are all accounted for, so you may have to buy yourself an accounting package, or learn to use Excel Spreadsheets, or employ an accountant. There is also a lot to learn about how copyright systems work and whether you feel you need to form your own publishing company, record company, or register your copyrights with an agency. Much of this will depend on the laws of your home country. Alternatively, you can sign a non-exclusive deal with a small independent label or publisher to handle all the music-related paperwork for you
You need to either take the time to develop some basic web design skills, buy ready-made templates, or employ someone to design a site for you.
Make sure your logo and colour scheme is fluent throughout your site, your stationery, your CD artwork, and any other communications device, such as email. Make sure your site includes some way of gathering a mailing list, such as a response form or a "double opt-in" form of registration
Plan a marketing strategy.
Marketing is all about finding the right market for your product. This may involve a certain amount of consumer research. This can be expensive, so use the Internet as much as possible to find groups of people who like similar music to yours. Try to find out other things about these people so that you can get a clearer picture of who would be interested in your music
Plan a promotional strategy.
Gather contact lists of magazines, local newspapers, TV and radio stations. Plan an 8-week promotional strategy leading up to the release of your CD. Use any press, or airplay you get as a news item on your website. If you have some money to invest, plan a set of concert dates in local venues for dates close to any publication dates. Plan a poster or postcard campaign. Contact local charities, hospitals, schools and shops, in fact anyone who might be prepared to play your CD in a public place. If you want local record stores to stock your CD, you will also need barcodes and counter display boxes. Use the mailing list you have been gathering from your site to promote any news to your fans with a regular newsletter. Offer free tickets to gigs, or run competitions for free CDs. Use your fans as extra leverage to increase the momentum of your promotional campaigns.
Don't under-sell yourself.
Make sure that any music you decide to give away as a promotional MP3 is different in some way to the music you are selling. E.G. It will either be an early un-mastered mix (demo), or a different mix, or a song you are never going to release for sale. Otherwise, make sure all samples you make of your records, are either short clips, or low-fi mono samples. The price you set for your releases should never be too far below that of major record company releases. Your price tells your customer what "stage" you are at in the business. Price yourself too cheap and you are more likely to lose customers because they will automatically assume you are an "amateur
Make yourself and your CD easily accessible to your fans.
Always answer any emails promptly. Check your emails at least once a day and reply to any new enquiries immediately. The avarage time expected by most people for a response by email is 12-24 hours. Do not SPAM. Make sure you only send bulk emails to people who have opted into your mailing list, and if anyone wants to opt out, make sure you delete them straight away (not several weeks and 10 disgruntled emails later!). To contact businesses, you will need to write individually and personally to each of them. Always use a business "signature" with your artistic or business name, slogan, web site address, and possibly your telephone number, on every email you send. If you have released a CD, make sure you add the link to that too! If you have had your CDs duplicated professionally and are barcoded, you can also expand from selling them in internet stores such as iTunes, Amazon, and CDbaby, to high street stores. You must also sell them from your own site or at least provide links to the stores where they are available
Never stop "Networking"
Carry your business cards with you at all times. At every conversational opportunity, if someone happens to mention music, or gigs, make sure you advertise yourself as an independent artist. If you have a modern mobile phone or MP3 player, make sure your latest CD is on it! You never know who you'll bump into in the supermarket. The first thing someone will ask when you mention you are a recording artist is "What kind of music do you play?" If you have your MP3 player with you, you won't even have to answer! (This is always a difficult question for an artist). You can just play it to them! Also make sure you frequent all the music-related newsgroups, forums, bulletin boards, MP3 sites, chat rooms etc. at every opportunity.
Finally, my "Promotional Tip of the Week"
Familiarise yourself with all the P2P filesharing systems that the music business hates so much. You can use them to your advantage. Make ads or lo-fi samples of your music or CD and label them like this...
"John_Mckeon_Friends_SoundsLike_Simon_&_Garfunkel.mp3"
Make copies labelled with every well-known artist you think you sound like, and keep all the files in your shared folder. Then, whenever you are logged onto the service and someone searches for music by these well-known artists, your music will be on their list of results!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Find out more about our artist services and recording contracts at http://www.WobblyMusic.net
Learn all the Internet marketing techniques that will help you be successful as a recording artist at http://www.DoThisToWin.com
Learn how to acheive a residual income as an affiliate to support you whilst you are building your music business at http://www.Music45.com
About the Author
Lynn Monk has experienced over 30 years in the music business as a musician, concert sound & lighting engineer, DJ and record producer; and is now the proprietor of Wobbly Music. An indie record company dedicated to supporting the "Mature Independent Artist". Lynn can be contacted at lynn at wobblymusic dot net
Of course, that first step outside is a philosophical one. As a musician or songwriter, you spend the vast majority of your time being creative. If you thought that writing a great song, or playing an instrument well, was the hardest part of being a successful artist, you are wrong.
Despite all the skills you need to know and perfect in order to make your music shine, this pales into insignificance compared with the hard work and other skills you need to learn in order to record, market and sell your art successfully.
Fortunately, most creative people also seem to excel at other things. The term "Jack of all trades" could quite easily apply to most musicians or artists. After all, the first thing most artists have to learn, is how to find time for their art whilst running a home AND holding down a Day Job in order to pay the bills! It is therefore not unusual to find musicians who are also Physicists, Engineers, IT Professionals or Teachers, to name but a few.
Most of these people are quite content to keep music as a hobby, at least whilst bringing up a family. However, we all get to a stage in our lives (usually once the kids have grown up and left home), where we want to cease working for a "Living", and instead, work for our own "Satisfaction".
There are few things in life more satisfying than being admired for something we created. If our creations also manage to influence others, then it is even more rewarding.
This "first step outside your front door" is taken when you decide to pause from the creative aspect (the ideas), and take a positive step towards learning new skills, or employing others who can do those things for you.
There has never been a better time in the history of mankind, to take those steps, either by yourself, or with others who would help you.
Where you used to have to pay for tutoring, or buy books, in order to learn the techniques of songwriting, or playing an instrument, you can now find scores of articles on the Internet (like this one!) that will help you for free.
Where you used to have to save up a considerable amount of money to pay studio costs and hire session musicians to make a decent demo recording, you can now find all the neccessary tools, and even the musicians, on the Internet who would help you for little or no cost at all.
Where you needed to sign a record deal in order to be able to afford a producer and a master quality studio, you can now buy your own PC and some music software, and collaborate with a producer online, who will give you the capability to make radio-ready recordings.
Where you needed a record company with a huge advertising budget to market and sell your recordings, you can now (with some hard work), market and sell your CDs to the Whole World for next to nothing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Music Industry doesn't like the changes that the Internet has brought to the business. Digital media can be freely copied by anyone with a PC, anywhere in the World. No longer do the record companies just have to worry about the CD pirates who manufacture illegal copies to sell on the black market; they also have to now worry about every PC-literate man, woman and child, making their own copies too! This has led the music industry into a perpetual fight against filesharers (making enemies of many consumers in the process), instead of embracing the business advantages that the Internet brings to us.
The Music Industry still believes that 8-16 year-olds buy most of the records, so they are still catering primarily for that market. Recent industry figures are telling a different story, and the secret is the "Baby Boomers".
Yes ... The same people who created the above market perception in the 70's by buying the largest proportion of records ever, whilst they were teenagers, have now grown up! The largest age group to buy CDs TODAY, at 26% of the population, are over 45. Not only that, but they still like the same kinds of music as they did then. So there is no need to change your art to fit today's teenybopper market if you aren't that way inclined.
Now that we know the secret, we also know that the next big thing in music, isn't going to be another form of Hip-hop, Techno, or R'n'B; but a return to real music, such as was made during the 60's and 70's. However, we'll be creating it with modern tools on a Home computer DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) system, instead of in a multimillion pound studio complex!
So, whilst the Music Industry is still hesitating by trying to shun the new digital era in favour of antiquated business models, hardware in the form of CDs, and markets that still only cover limited territories; we can now jump ahead of them onto a more level playing field, find our own markets, and sell to the Whole World with only a simple website!
Sounds easy, doesn't it? ... Well, that is the first hurdle you will face. So many musicians think it is easy, that there are millions already doing it! So to be successful you will need, like any other business, a proper business plan.
CONCLUSION
The road to being a successful independent musician, begins with ATTITUDE.
You need to find enough time in your schedule to drop the guitar & scoresheet and use your creative energies towards developing a proper BUSINESS PLAN. This means taking a step back and listening to your music through Joe Public's ears. You need to think up a business name, logo, and short slogan that encompasses what you are, and what your music is trying to say to people
Register your business "name" by buying a domain name that suits you as soon as possible.
Pages on free MP3 sites and Free domains do not give you a professional image. You MUST have your own site, or at least something that offers you a unique look and features of your own. If you want people to find your music unique & special, then you also need an image that is unique and special. That goes for your email address too. Genuine business people don't use their Hotmail, AOL, or Yahoo addresses for formal communications
Make sure all your paperwork is in order.
If you are planning on making an eventual living from your art, you will need to be registered as a business or as a self-employed sole trader. You need to make sure your tax and income are all accounted for, so you may have to buy yourself an accounting package, or learn to use Excel Spreadsheets, or employ an accountant. There is also a lot to learn about how copyright systems work and whether you feel you need to form your own publishing company, record company, or register your copyrights with an agency. Much of this will depend on the laws of your home country. Alternatively, you can sign a non-exclusive deal with a small independent label or publisher to handle all the music-related paperwork for you
You need to either take the time to develop some basic web design skills, buy ready-made templates, or employ someone to design a site for you.
Make sure your logo and colour scheme is fluent throughout your site, your stationery, your CD artwork, and any other communications device, such as email. Make sure your site includes some way of gathering a mailing list, such as a response form or a "double opt-in" form of registration
Plan a marketing strategy.
Marketing is all about finding the right market for your product. This may involve a certain amount of consumer research. This can be expensive, so use the Internet as much as possible to find groups of people who like similar music to yours. Try to find out other things about these people so that you can get a clearer picture of who would be interested in your music
Plan a promotional strategy.
Gather contact lists of magazines, local newspapers, TV and radio stations. Plan an 8-week promotional strategy leading up to the release of your CD. Use any press, or airplay you get as a news item on your website. If you have some money to invest, plan a set of concert dates in local venues for dates close to any publication dates. Plan a poster or postcard campaign. Contact local charities, hospitals, schools and shops, in fact anyone who might be prepared to play your CD in a public place. If you want local record stores to stock your CD, you will also need barcodes and counter display boxes. Use the mailing list you have been gathering from your site to promote any news to your fans with a regular newsletter. Offer free tickets to gigs, or run competitions for free CDs. Use your fans as extra leverage to increase the momentum of your promotional campaigns.
Don't under-sell yourself.
Make sure that any music you decide to give away as a promotional MP3 is different in some way to the music you are selling. E.G. It will either be an early un-mastered mix (demo), or a different mix, or a song you are never going to release for sale. Otherwise, make sure all samples you make of your records, are either short clips, or low-fi mono samples. The price you set for your releases should never be too far below that of major record company releases. Your price tells your customer what "stage" you are at in the business. Price yourself too cheap and you are more likely to lose customers because they will automatically assume you are an "amateur
Make yourself and your CD easily accessible to your fans.
Always answer any emails promptly. Check your emails at least once a day and reply to any new enquiries immediately. The avarage time expected by most people for a response by email is 12-24 hours. Do not SPAM. Make sure you only send bulk emails to people who have opted into your mailing list, and if anyone wants to opt out, make sure you delete them straight away (not several weeks and 10 disgruntled emails later!). To contact businesses, you will need to write individually and personally to each of them. Always use a business "signature" with your artistic or business name, slogan, web site address, and possibly your telephone number, on every email you send. If you have released a CD, make sure you add the link to that too! If you have had your CDs duplicated professionally and are barcoded, you can also expand from selling them in internet stores such as iTunes, Amazon, and CDbaby, to high street stores. You must also sell them from your own site or at least provide links to the stores where they are available
Never stop "Networking"
Carry your business cards with you at all times. At every conversational opportunity, if someone happens to mention music, or gigs, make sure you advertise yourself as an independent artist. If you have a modern mobile phone or MP3 player, make sure your latest CD is on it! You never know who you'll bump into in the supermarket. The first thing someone will ask when you mention you are a recording artist is "What kind of music do you play?" If you have your MP3 player with you, you won't even have to answer! (This is always a difficult question for an artist). You can just play it to them! Also make sure you frequent all the music-related newsgroups, forums, bulletin boards, MP3 sites, chat rooms etc. at every opportunity.
Finally, my "Promotional Tip of the Week"
Familiarise yourself with all the P2P filesharing systems that the music business hates so much. You can use them to your advantage. Make ads or lo-fi samples of your music or CD and label them like this...
"John_Mckeon_Friends_SoundsLike_Simon_&_Garfunkel.mp3"
Make copies labelled with every well-known artist you think you sound like, and keep all the files in your shared folder. Then, whenever you are logged onto the service and someone searches for music by these well-known artists, your music will be on their list of results!
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Find out more about our artist services and recording contracts at http://www.WobblyMusic.net
Learn all the Internet marketing techniques that will help you be successful as a recording artist at http://www.DoThisToWin.com
Learn how to acheive a residual income as an affiliate to support you whilst you are building your music business at http://www.Music45.com
About the Author
Lynn Monk has experienced over 30 years in the music business as a musician, concert sound & lighting engineer, DJ and record producer; and is now the proprietor of Wobbly Music. An indie record company dedicated to supporting the "Mature Independent Artist". Lynn can be contacted at lynn at wobblymusic dot net
The 7 secret keys to wealth - Key #4: Residual Profits
This article is one out of seven that I wrote about wealth. The whole series contain a lot of free valuable information about key factors that can help you become wealthy. The rich do things in a different way. That difference is the one I want to explain here. Let's scrutinize together these strategies that can make you more money and help you boost your income.
The whole series contain the following articles . . .
1. Add Value.
2. The Multiple Streams of Income.
3. Passive Income.
4. Residual Profits.
5. Leverage.
6. Specialization.
7. Compound Interest.
In one of my other articles on this series I share information about passive income. Here I will go one step further and I will show you how residual profits can boost your overall profits.
It is all in the multiplication. That technique can multiply your efforts the most. The more effective your leverage is the more your efforts will be multiplied. Streams of residual income are a perfect method to do this.
For example, let's say that you write a book. You realize that when you get paid royalties from your art you don't have to be present to get revenues from your efforts. This means that you make an effort once and you get paid several times, right?
If you write a book you are able to receive passive income but not residual profits. You can sell that product to one person once. That same individual may as well purchase one or two additional copies to give them away as gifts if they really liked the book. On the other hand, what I mean here is that the book is a product that is intended to be sold to one person once. On average every client you get will purchase only one copy.
So, writing books is a business that allows you to have passive income but not residual profits. The same happens with millions upon millions of other businesses out there. But what if you can find a way to receive residual profits while receiving passive income at the same time? The answer is simple: your income will be multiplied.
For example, let's analyze the web hosting business. Selling web hosting is a very competitive business for this same reason, because it can be very profitable. Let's say that you own a hosting company and you have about 1000 clients. These people will pay you monthly some money to have their websites hosted through your company. If the average client pays $4 per month then you will have a recurring profit of $4,000 every month.
This is income you receive month after month. As long as the client stays subscribed you will keep receiving profits. Most website owners stay subscribed for months and even years. So, if you use your available resources to get more clients, your income will simply grow exponentially.
This is just an example. The web hosting business is not as easy as it seems because of competition. The competition is fierce on this field as well as other highly profitable businesses on the Internet, but the way I see it is that when I can receive residual income, I don't need many clients to be profitable on these businesses. The secret is that I can sell the same product to the same client several times over and over again.
So, this is the key concept. No matter what business we are talking about, as long as you can sell the same product to the same client, several times every year, you can receive residual income. There are many businesses that operate this way. Membership websites are a very good example like dating websites.
The best businesses you can come up with are those that do not exist yet. If you can imagine a way to receive residual income that no one else have thought about before, it could be quiet profitable for you. What obscures the profits on these businesses is competition. They are highly profitable so they are also very competitive.
It is important to have imagination. Only you know what will work better for you. I will show you a few examples for you to have an idea. You can earn residual profits selling web hosting and memberships online as I said above. Another way is to own residential real estate, but this may require large investments on your part. You can also combine your streams of passive income and change them in such a way that you also receive passive income from them.
For example, if you sell e-books, you can post affiliate links on the text of their pages. Let's say that in one of the e-books that you actually sell you refer the reader to a hosting company where they can register a domain name and build a website. If that company offers an affiliate program you can join that affiliate program and when your reader registers with them, you can make money for as long as they stay subscribed.
You can join several affiliate programs and promote those products through your e-books. Furthermore, you may offer full resell rights on your e-books. This means that your clients after purchasing your e-books can resell them and your customers's clients can resell them again. This may lower the overall value of the e-books fast but it is a good way to have your affiliate links spread all over the Internet.
These are just a few ideas. Some may work better than others for you. Another method is to write articles and post a link to one of your websites. Then when your readers click on that link they will go to your website and they will be automatically redirected to your affiliate website. You may post the articles on affiliate banks and let thousands of webmasters use those articles. This is another way to let your affiliate links spread all over the internet.
You can post links on your e-books to other e-books you are selling. That way you can sell other products to the same client. If you sell hard copy books you can do the same thing. This is an effective marketing technique that can help you increase your sales.
In my opinion though, the best sources of residual income are those which allow you to sell exactly the same product, to the same client several times over. I think that this refers mostly to memberships of any kind plus other areas of the business world that I will explain bellow.
Notice that many times you don't need to sell the products yourself. You can be an affiliate for companies that sell these products and make a lot of money this way. For example, some hosting companies and dating sites offer the affiliates the opportunity to earn residual profits. They pay you a set amount of the membership profits for as long as the client stays subscribed.
This is amazing. You don't have to take care of the customers. You don't have to deal with refunds. You just advertise the products. Whenever a client purchase the membership, you get paid a portion of the profits for as long as those clients remain customers. This could last for just a few weeks or several months and even years.
Another way is using multi-level marketing programs. Multi-level marketing companies let you sell their products and train other people to sell the products as well. They will pay you a portion of the profits that your trainees (your sales people) generate. Not only that but they will also pay you for the profits that others bellow your sales people generate.
This multiplies your income exponentially and let you receive residual income because you make money not only from your efforts but from the efforts of other people as well. You may be receiving profits from the efforts of people that you don't even know.
This is not a pyramid scheme. Many people confuse this system with an illegal pyramid scheme. That's because this is exactly the opposite of what a pyramid is. A pyramid/ponzi scam requires you to make an investment to join the company and the only way for you to make money is to advertise the scam and convince more people to pay money to join the company as well. This makes no sense and it is mathematically inconsistent.
The idea behind multi-level marketing is the opposite. You join the company for free. You can sell the products and get paid for it like with affiliate marketing. You can train other people to sell the products too who can also join the company for free. You get paid whenever they sell something. If they train other people, you also get paid when one of those people sell something. This keeps going for several levels.
It is a win - win situation for everyone. Those who buy the products from the company receive a real product. It could be anything, from a book to a computer, to a CD player; anything that the company happens to be selling. So, the consumers are happy, the sales people are happy and the company selling the products is also happy.
This is an idea of other way to receive residual income. You receive residual income with multi-level marketing because while you won't be selling the same product to the same person several times, you can train some people to do the sales and make money from their efforts whenever they sell a product to someone else.
As you can see receiving residual profits is not only important but desirable. This is definitely one of the true keys to wealth. When you receive residual profits you leverage your efforts. Leverage is precisely the topic that I will be discussing on my next article on this series. You can find that article on my website.
I hope this information have been helpful to you. Since I started my business career I realized that I wanted to get as many streams of residual profits as possible. This is definitely one of the things rich people do to make money, and it is very profitable!
EasyWebRiches © 2006
About the Author
By Nathaniel Tabares - Visit his website at www.easywebriches.com for more details.
The whole series contain the following articles . . .
1. Add Value.
2. The Multiple Streams of Income.
3. Passive Income.
4. Residual Profits.
5. Leverage.
6. Specialization.
7. Compound Interest.
In one of my other articles on this series I share information about passive income. Here I will go one step further and I will show you how residual profits can boost your overall profits.
It is all in the multiplication. That technique can multiply your efforts the most. The more effective your leverage is the more your efforts will be multiplied. Streams of residual income are a perfect method to do this.
For example, let's say that you write a book. You realize that when you get paid royalties from your art you don't have to be present to get revenues from your efforts. This means that you make an effort once and you get paid several times, right?
If you write a book you are able to receive passive income but not residual profits. You can sell that product to one person once. That same individual may as well purchase one or two additional copies to give them away as gifts if they really liked the book. On the other hand, what I mean here is that the book is a product that is intended to be sold to one person once. On average every client you get will purchase only one copy.
So, writing books is a business that allows you to have passive income but not residual profits. The same happens with millions upon millions of other businesses out there. But what if you can find a way to receive residual profits while receiving passive income at the same time? The answer is simple: your income will be multiplied.
For example, let's analyze the web hosting business. Selling web hosting is a very competitive business for this same reason, because it can be very profitable. Let's say that you own a hosting company and you have about 1000 clients. These people will pay you monthly some money to have their websites hosted through your company. If the average client pays $4 per month then you will have a recurring profit of $4,000 every month.
This is income you receive month after month. As long as the client stays subscribed you will keep receiving profits. Most website owners stay subscribed for months and even years. So, if you use your available resources to get more clients, your income will simply grow exponentially.
This is just an example. The web hosting business is not as easy as it seems because of competition. The competition is fierce on this field as well as other highly profitable businesses on the Internet, but the way I see it is that when I can receive residual income, I don't need many clients to be profitable on these businesses. The secret is that I can sell the same product to the same client several times over and over again.
So, this is the key concept. No matter what business we are talking about, as long as you can sell the same product to the same client, several times every year, you can receive residual income. There are many businesses that operate this way. Membership websites are a very good example like dating websites.
The best businesses you can come up with are those that do not exist yet. If you can imagine a way to receive residual income that no one else have thought about before, it could be quiet profitable for you. What obscures the profits on these businesses is competition. They are highly profitable so they are also very competitive.
It is important to have imagination. Only you know what will work better for you. I will show you a few examples for you to have an idea. You can earn residual profits selling web hosting and memberships online as I said above. Another way is to own residential real estate, but this may require large investments on your part. You can also combine your streams of passive income and change them in such a way that you also receive passive income from them.
For example, if you sell e-books, you can post affiliate links on the text of their pages. Let's say that in one of the e-books that you actually sell you refer the reader to a hosting company where they can register a domain name and build a website. If that company offers an affiliate program you can join that affiliate program and when your reader registers with them, you can make money for as long as they stay subscribed.
You can join several affiliate programs and promote those products through your e-books. Furthermore, you may offer full resell rights on your e-books. This means that your clients after purchasing your e-books can resell them and your customers's clients can resell them again. This may lower the overall value of the e-books fast but it is a good way to have your affiliate links spread all over the Internet.
These are just a few ideas. Some may work better than others for you. Another method is to write articles and post a link to one of your websites. Then when your readers click on that link they will go to your website and they will be automatically redirected to your affiliate website. You may post the articles on affiliate banks and let thousands of webmasters use those articles. This is another way to let your affiliate links spread all over the internet.
You can post links on your e-books to other e-books you are selling. That way you can sell other products to the same client. If you sell hard copy books you can do the same thing. This is an effective marketing technique that can help you increase your sales.
In my opinion though, the best sources of residual income are those which allow you to sell exactly the same product, to the same client several times over. I think that this refers mostly to memberships of any kind plus other areas of the business world that I will explain bellow.
Notice that many times you don't need to sell the products yourself. You can be an affiliate for companies that sell these products and make a lot of money this way. For example, some hosting companies and dating sites offer the affiliates the opportunity to earn residual profits. They pay you a set amount of the membership profits for as long as the client stays subscribed.
This is amazing. You don't have to take care of the customers. You don't have to deal with refunds. You just advertise the products. Whenever a client purchase the membership, you get paid a portion of the profits for as long as those clients remain customers. This could last for just a few weeks or several months and even years.
Another way is using multi-level marketing programs. Multi-level marketing companies let you sell their products and train other people to sell the products as well. They will pay you a portion of the profits that your trainees (your sales people) generate. Not only that but they will also pay you for the profits that others bellow your sales people generate.
This multiplies your income exponentially and let you receive residual income because you make money not only from your efforts but from the efforts of other people as well. You may be receiving profits from the efforts of people that you don't even know.
This is not a pyramid scheme. Many people confuse this system with an illegal pyramid scheme. That's because this is exactly the opposite of what a pyramid is. A pyramid/ponzi scam requires you to make an investment to join the company and the only way for you to make money is to advertise the scam and convince more people to pay money to join the company as well. This makes no sense and it is mathematically inconsistent.
The idea behind multi-level marketing is the opposite. You join the company for free. You can sell the products and get paid for it like with affiliate marketing. You can train other people to sell the products too who can also join the company for free. You get paid whenever they sell something. If they train other people, you also get paid when one of those people sell something. This keeps going for several levels.
It is a win - win situation for everyone. Those who buy the products from the company receive a real product. It could be anything, from a book to a computer, to a CD player; anything that the company happens to be selling. So, the consumers are happy, the sales people are happy and the company selling the products is also happy.
This is an idea of other way to receive residual income. You receive residual income with multi-level marketing because while you won't be selling the same product to the same person several times, you can train some people to do the sales and make money from their efforts whenever they sell a product to someone else.
As you can see receiving residual profits is not only important but desirable. This is definitely one of the true keys to wealth. When you receive residual profits you leverage your efforts. Leverage is precisely the topic that I will be discussing on my next article on this series. You can find that article on my website.
I hope this information have been helpful to you. Since I started my business career I realized that I wanted to get as many streams of residual profits as possible. This is definitely one of the things rich people do to make money, and it is very profitable!
EasyWebRiches © 2006
About the Author
By Nathaniel Tabares - Visit his website at www.easywebriches.com for more details.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Never Pay Full Price for DVDs Again
There are many articles on the net that perport to advise the consumer on how to buy the best DVD player - and justifiably so, some might say. The sheer volume of choice a new consumer is faced with means that a friendly word in the ear certainly would not go amiss, especially when you have to consider things like SCART, RGB, S-video, Divx, VideoCD, Picture viewers, Dolby Digital, DTS, Progressive Scan or HD Upscaling - the list is daunting and seemingly endless as is the range and disparity in price of all the DVD players on the market. Despite this there are comparatively few guides offering advice on where you can purchase the DVDs to play on them without repeatedly handing over the sometimes extortionate RRP (which can break the £100 barrier if your interest lies with complete TV series boxsets). But fear not help is at hand and the first thing you have to remember is this: Seek and ye shall find.
The internet is literally filled with online stores offering the best available prices for DVDs, a quick search in any search engine for "Cheap DVDs" will bring out the best of these stores available in your locale. The majority of these sites will come with a glowing reputation and offer free postage and packing on all orders (although be aware that some sites, such as Amazon will only offer free postage if you spend more than a preset amount in a single transaction). These sites can offer better prices than the high street for a number of reasons,not least of which being that they are not bricks and mortar businesses and as such dont have the overhead involved in managing a vast chain of high street shops as do the likes of HMV or WH Smith. Many of these etailers are based offshore (Jersey is a popular outlet for many of the UKs most popular online stores, such as www.play.com or www.sendit.com to name but 2 and this means that they also benefit from certain taxbreaks which they can then pass onto the consumer. A highly recommended dvd retailer is CD-WOW, who deal in DVDs/CDs and Video Games, and are actually based in Hong Kong but offer free worldwide shipping on everything
So once you've identified your favourite online stores (and will find that they are numerous), you may be like a kid in a sweet shop - you might see your chosen DVD at a great price in Play.com (£10 cheaper than it was at that high street store you were in last saturday afternoon!!) so you place your place your order and wait for it to arrive, only to find as you skip across to Amazon that they had the very same DVD for another £10 less than you've just paid. Aargh. Quickly you cancel the order with Play and re-raise the order With Amazon with a secret smile and a pat on the back as you congratulate yourself on a lucky find, while you put the kettle on and check your email. But whats this? CDWOW are advertising the same DVD for another £5 less? Yes, shopping smart applies to the internet as much as to the high street. Fortunately, help is at hand in the form of price comparison sites. These are almost as numerous as the stores themselves. The biggies include Kellkoo.co.uk, and Pricerunner.co.uk - two sites that will search the internet and compare prices for just about anything you can buy online. Then there are the more specialist comparison sites which will compare prices on DVD's only - such as dvdbargainalerts.co.uk. You can search for your DVD by your chosen keyword (eg Harry Potter) and the engine will return a list of all matching DVDs (this might include Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix (Single Disc) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2 Disc) ) You can then select which DVD to compare prices for and a list of online stores and prices will be displayed with the cheapest price at the top, another click of the button will take you directly to that store - Simple! The legwork done for you and you dont have to worry about stumbling upon the same DVD at a cheaper price elsewhere.
Finally sites such as dvdbargainalerts.co.uk, or thedvdforums.com, effectively combine the price comparison feature with another popular internet price finding mechanism - the community forum. These are powerful tools for keeping abreast of all the latest bargains using online communities who dedicate themselves to finding and posting the best bargains around, either genuine sale prices or the more lucrative and worthwhile Mis-price - Yes occasionally the online store will muck up their prices and if they do you can guarantee that you will learn about it in one of these bargain forums first. So remember the price can always be right, so long as you can find the right price.
About the Author
Badwolf is the administrator of Cheap DVD, Video Game & CD Website DVD Bargain Alerts. Dedicated to finding the best prices on the Internet.
The internet is literally filled with online stores offering the best available prices for DVDs, a quick search in any search engine for "Cheap DVDs" will bring out the best of these stores available in your locale. The majority of these sites will come with a glowing reputation and offer free postage and packing on all orders (although be aware that some sites, such as Amazon will only offer free postage if you spend more than a preset amount in a single transaction). These sites can offer better prices than the high street for a number of reasons,not least of which being that they are not bricks and mortar businesses and as such dont have the overhead involved in managing a vast chain of high street shops as do the likes of HMV or WH Smith. Many of these etailers are based offshore (Jersey is a popular outlet for many of the UKs most popular online stores, such as www.play.com or www.sendit.com to name but 2 and this means that they also benefit from certain taxbreaks which they can then pass onto the consumer. A highly recommended dvd retailer is CD-WOW, who deal in DVDs/CDs and Video Games, and are actually based in Hong Kong but offer free worldwide shipping on everything
So once you've identified your favourite online stores (and will find that they are numerous), you may be like a kid in a sweet shop - you might see your chosen DVD at a great price in Play.com (£10 cheaper than it was at that high street store you were in last saturday afternoon!!) so you place your place your order and wait for it to arrive, only to find as you skip across to Amazon that they had the very same DVD for another £10 less than you've just paid. Aargh. Quickly you cancel the order with Play and re-raise the order With Amazon with a secret smile and a pat on the back as you congratulate yourself on a lucky find, while you put the kettle on and check your email. But whats this? CDWOW are advertising the same DVD for another £5 less? Yes, shopping smart applies to the internet as much as to the high street. Fortunately, help is at hand in the form of price comparison sites. These are almost as numerous as the stores themselves. The biggies include Kellkoo.co.uk, and Pricerunner.co.uk - two sites that will search the internet and compare prices for just about anything you can buy online. Then there are the more specialist comparison sites which will compare prices on DVD's only - such as dvdbargainalerts.co.uk. You can search for your DVD by your chosen keyword (eg Harry Potter) and the engine will return a list of all matching DVDs (this might include Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix (Single Disc) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2 Disc) ) You can then select which DVD to compare prices for and a list of online stores and prices will be displayed with the cheapest price at the top, another click of the button will take you directly to that store - Simple! The legwork done for you and you dont have to worry about stumbling upon the same DVD at a cheaper price elsewhere.
Finally sites such as dvdbargainalerts.co.uk, or thedvdforums.com, effectively combine the price comparison feature with another popular internet price finding mechanism - the community forum. These are powerful tools for keeping abreast of all the latest bargains using online communities who dedicate themselves to finding and posting the best bargains around, either genuine sale prices or the more lucrative and worthwhile Mis-price - Yes occasionally the online store will muck up their prices and if they do you can guarantee that you will learn about it in one of these bargain forums first. So remember the price can always be right, so long as you can find the right price.
About the Author
Badwolf is the administrator of Cheap DVD, Video Game & CD Website DVD Bargain Alerts. Dedicated to finding the best prices on the Internet.
Why People Have different Tastes In Music
Music is such a diverse area of the arts in that there are literally hundreds of different genres that people from around the world listen to. whether it be classical music from the time of Bach or mozart, through to the latest rap music, there is something for everyone to listen to. how does this come about?
Why do people have such different preferences for music? There are many reasons that range from the period that people were born or the country and culture that they were raised in. Let's examine some examples so that this can become a little clearer.
Personally, I was born into a musical family, my father was a piano player and my older brother a singer and multi instrumentalist. Now because of that family influence I too became involved in music and pursued a career in music and music education. I was influenced by the music my family listened to and so was fortunate to appreciate a very wide range of music from jazz to contemporary music. My studies extended into the genres of classical music as well. Therefore, I have come to enjoy many varied musical styles.
Another example may be of a person born into a culture that has a very strong folk music component. for example, the country of Hungary has a very rich and valued musical culture and young children grow up involved in music on a daily basis. Therefore, the tradition of their folk music is passed on from generation to generation.
People who were part of the teenage generation of the 1960's will have extremely strong ties with the various social and political movements that were reflected so strongly through the music of the day. Who can forget the wealth of songs written to protest about the Vietnam War or the songs that portrayed the new hippy culture. Songs by The Mamas and Papas or Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Buffalo Springfield......the list goes on. This era was an extremely powerful one in terms of social, economic and poliitical events that occurred during this time and so you will find many people who are reminded of such momentous events through the music that was written at the time.
More recently. there are many more new styles that seem to convey a message to our younger generation, in particular, rap music has found a place and though some of the messages are very dark, nevertheless, they are messages that give younger people reason to listen to the music. Also, you will find the world over, that lots of people just like to listen to music to dance to or for relaxation purposes. It really doesn't matter - this is a great thing and it is good that all people have different tastes in the music that they liten to. It keeps things fresh!
so, next time that you walk into a CD shop remember that you a one of millions who possess different tastes in music for a whole range of reasons. This may make you think a little wider about music and give you a greater tolerance for those who may not like your kind of music but other styles completely foreign to you. How does the saying go?.....Variety is the spice of life!! You betcha!
To read more articles by Greg Culver, check out www.myrecreationweb.com
About the Author
www.musicweblive.com is a website dedicated to providing articles and information related to music, the arts and entertainment. Greg Culver is the owner.
Why do people have such different preferences for music? There are many reasons that range from the period that people were born or the country and culture that they were raised in. Let's examine some examples so that this can become a little clearer.
Personally, I was born into a musical family, my father was a piano player and my older brother a singer and multi instrumentalist. Now because of that family influence I too became involved in music and pursued a career in music and music education. I was influenced by the music my family listened to and so was fortunate to appreciate a very wide range of music from jazz to contemporary music. My studies extended into the genres of classical music as well. Therefore, I have come to enjoy many varied musical styles.
Another example may be of a person born into a culture that has a very strong folk music component. for example, the country of Hungary has a very rich and valued musical culture and young children grow up involved in music on a daily basis. Therefore, the tradition of their folk music is passed on from generation to generation.
People who were part of the teenage generation of the 1960's will have extremely strong ties with the various social and political movements that were reflected so strongly through the music of the day. Who can forget the wealth of songs written to protest about the Vietnam War or the songs that portrayed the new hippy culture. Songs by The Mamas and Papas or Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Buffalo Springfield......the list goes on. This era was an extremely powerful one in terms of social, economic and poliitical events that occurred during this time and so you will find many people who are reminded of such momentous events through the music that was written at the time.
More recently. there are many more new styles that seem to convey a message to our younger generation, in particular, rap music has found a place and though some of the messages are very dark, nevertheless, they are messages that give younger people reason to listen to the music. Also, you will find the world over, that lots of people just like to listen to music to dance to or for relaxation purposes. It really doesn't matter - this is a great thing and it is good that all people have different tastes in the music that they liten to. It keeps things fresh!
so, next time that you walk into a CD shop remember that you a one of millions who possess different tastes in music for a whole range of reasons. This may make you think a little wider about music and give you a greater tolerance for those who may not like your kind of music but other styles completely foreign to you. How does the saying go?.....Variety is the spice of life!! You betcha!
To read more articles by Greg Culver, check out www.myrecreationweb.com
About the Author
www.musicweblive.com is a website dedicated to providing articles and information related to music, the arts and entertainment. Greg Culver is the owner.
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