I’ve been eagerly awaiting the new Coldplay release, Mylo Xyloto for sometime now. Call me soft, call me ladylike, call me simpleminded; I think they’re a great band that has constantly been able to re-invent themselves while somehow retaining the core elements of their identity as a group. Also… I like the music.

I was really perplexed when I opened up Spotify on Tuesday morning to find that Coldplay’s latest release was absent from the album library.

“That’s werid, I guess they released it early on iTunes…”

Wrong.

It came out yesterday on CNet that Coldplay will NOT be releasing the album on Spotify… like, ever.

This is so backwards on a few levels. Some people in the Coldplay camp are saying that the band wants their new work to be heard in its entirety as an album, rather than allowing listeners to pick and choose singles. If that’s the case, why can I pop on iTunes right now and buy any ONE track from the album? Not to mention the fact that the band let the album out one track at a time via iTunes last week anyway.

I think the true motive is that they want to collect more revenue from the songs now, rather than waiting for smaller payouts from streaming services. This solution is VERY short-sighted though.

Restricting your music to pay-only channels is going to drive certain consumers toward other free channels, since the legal ones are closed (and by “other free channels,” I mean piracy).

The public is moving toward streaming at a furious pace. Every time I open Spotify, my friends list seems to be multiplying faster than a nest of rabbits; and with saturation in every demographic on Facebook. Artists need to be where the people are.

EMI, the band’s label, is quiet on the matter and is continuing to hurt after losing Robbie Williams to Universal. Likely too scared to ruffle any more of their artists’ feathers, they’re content to allow their larger artists to do as they please.

As for me, I’ll have to wait until Monday when the vinyl comes in to my local shop to pick it up. Why they released that a week later, I’m not sure. Scratch that. I think they were hoping fanboys would need to hear the new album so bad that we’d buy it on iTunes this week, then get it on our preferred medium, vinyl, next week… kind of like when movies do the DVD release before the Blu-Ray or “collector’s edition.”

To clarify, I’m not against the band trying to make a buck. On the contrary, I want long-term success for them. A business model that at best ignores, and at worst spits in the face of, where trends in music acquisition are headed is exactly the model that will perpetuate the struggles of the music industry.

This goes for you too, Adele.

To be clear, this is not a debate over download vs. streaming. I’m an advocate for legal download channels, as well as streaming. I simply think that artists need to get behind streaming services if they hope to cut back on piracy.

Without the support of chart-topping artists, streaming services have no shot at overtaking downloaded content as the primary means of media consumption. While that may sound great to those rooting for the success of downloaded media, it basically puts us in the same place we’ve been for the better part of the past decade; extinguishing the one technological advance that could have saved the music industry.

Coldplay Snubs Spotify is a post from: wax&wires

No doubt by now, some of you ubernerds are drafting your comments about ZumoDrive or DropBox, but neither of those solutions offer start-to-finish music purchasing, storage and listening… not to mention that none of those services are offering 20GB free either!

MP3s bought in the Amazon MP3 store can be stored directly in your cloud, accessed anywhere, and downloaded at anytime. You can also upload files from your local hard drive to your Amazon Cloud Drive. Those files could be music files, documents, anything you want. The music ones will be accessible from within your Cloud Player as well.

Presently, the only mobile support is for Android, since the player is Flash based. Hopefully that will change sooner than later.

PROMO: If you purchase an MP3 album from Amazon between now and the end of the year, you can bump up for free storage from 5GB-20GB. Need a good album to check out? Scope out our Wax Picks section or check out this months’ $5 albums (especially The Civil Wars!). ACCESS THE PROMO HERE.

Way to go Jeff Bezos, slay the dragon.

Free Amazon Cloud Drive + Cloud MP3 Player is a post from: wax&wires

We’ve all been wanting a little more Justice ever since “Cross” blew up our speakers in 2007. Now we have a sneak peak on SoundCloud. It doesn’t quite possess the pumping, smashed, compressed aggression we know and love; and the added vocal presence brings the track a little more “pop-friendly” edge, but it’s still dirty, it’s still French, and I still love it.

Justice “Civilization” High Quality by 1077 The End

New Justice Track – “Civilization” is a post from: wax&wires

I always find it funny when music periodicals and blogs start putting up their best albums of the year in early November, when we’ve still got 15% of the year left. Now, the final Tuesday has passed us, we’re two days out from 2011, and it is more than safe for me to assume that I will not have my mind blown by any new records over the next 48 hours.

The following are in no way “the best” albums of the year, or the “most important and influential” albums of the year. I won’t pretend to be the arbiter of taste; that’s for more pretentious and established (read: legitimate) publications to front. Albums on this list need only meet two criteria: 1) they came out in the calendar year 2010, and 2) I enjoyed them very much.

	10) Phantogram - Eyelid Movies I was actually kind of surprised to see this album on the list because there are probably only 3 or 4 songs on the whole thing that I really like a lot. When I look through my iTunes most played list though, this one creeps in as a top contender. Every time I tried to think of an album that I liked more or listened to more than this one, I was found without. So, sort of by default, here's number 10.
	9) Ratatat - LP4 Every now and then, you just need some good dirty electronic music to crank up and dance to. Ratatat, and what the Glitch Mob's album should have been, is the perfect soundtrack for driving fast through a city at night... (in my prius...?) Get some good subs and crank it up, it's swagger in a bottle.
	8) Jonsi - Go I didn't like the record as much as the live show, but nobody on earth is doing what Jonsi can do. Creative songwriting, unique instrumentation, and moving melodies create a landscape of timbres and emotion that transcends language.
	7) Oh Land - Oh Land Nanna's going to go big in 2011. This short EP redefined her sound from 2008's darker Fauna, and as a whole is a bouncy, poppy, feel-great album.
	6) Yeasayer - Odd Blood Yeasayer caught me off guard with Odd Blood. I had their previous album, All Hour Cymbals, and bought it mostly for the first track. Odd Blood showed up with song after song bringing the beat and begging me to put the album on repeat... I obliged.
	5) The Bird and The Bee - Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates Nobody does covers like Greg Kurstin. Beautiful chord voicing and arrangements give Hall and Oates fresh life. Inara's voice is as smooth as ever and I look forward to what she'll be up to post-baby.
	4) Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs - God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise Every now and then you need to get away from the noise of over-production and just hear a good song, sung well. Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Ray LaMontagne and a host of others are the perfect candidates for such times. God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise gives listeners the simple and soulful craftsmanship that true songwriting is built on.
	3) Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More Mumford and Sons is on the list for the same reasons as Ray's album above. I'm in an interesting stage in life perhaps where I really enjoy tight vocal harmonies and folksy guitars. Give me some music that we could play on the front porch, in the backyard, or down by the river. No extras, and no effects needed. Just music, and every emotion, in its purest form.
	2) The National - High Violet This album had a lot of hype, and I really had to sit with it for a good few listens before I started to hear why. Once I "got it," it shot up my list quickly. The melancholy vocal delivery and somber mood really pull the listener into the lyrics, which are absolutely crushing at times. As my wife always says, "nothing makes me happy like a sad song."
	1) Beach House - Teen Dream The haunting vocals and original guitar work on Beach House's latest are delicious. All of the production and orchestration really serve to transport the listener to another space. The album as a whole has a very dreamy and nostalgic quality that I've yet to feel from any other album of 2010.

Music needs to make us feel something. So many albums on this list evoke strong emotional responses. I think that’s why I struggled with Phantogram, I wasn’t feeling anything when listening to the album… over and over. No joy, no sorrow, no awe, nothing. It’s like zombie robot music… or if they had been allowed to make music in Equilibrium, something like that.

Other albums that I beat myself up for leaving off:

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz

It’s not that I think those albums are worse than the ones that made the list, I just didn’t spend enough time with them on to really learn and enjoy them. Maybe I heard each one through from start to finish 4 times. I’m sure if I had another month or two with each one, they may well have stolen the throne, or definitely knocked off Phantogram. That’s another reason I don’t like other sites that put out ridiculous top 100 lists. Has anybody really had the time to contemplate 100 full albums and rank them during the year? And to make a list of 100 albums, that means you’ve listened to even more. Anyway, enough on that.

You have my list. Don’t get mad, just tell me what I missed.

My Favorite Records of 2010 is a post from: wax&wires

So now that you have said gear, how do you go about ensuring that you’ll be productive with it, maximizing its use for your creative inspiration and workflow?

Two years ago, when nobody was reading this site (as opposed to the six of you now), I wrote a few articles trying to help you create better music more efficiently. Here’s a repost of one that I think still might be relevant for you:

The Chronology of a Good Mix

Let me know what you think. Was your Christmas wish list fulfilled? What did you get?

What To Do With Your New Christmas Gear is a post from: wax&wires

I kid, I kid; I’m not a hater. Seriously though, Zac and brother Josh Farro really did leave the chart-busting Paramore last week. You can hear a clip of Zac’s new band, Tunnel, below. Tunnel is a duo comprised of Zac Farro and Jason Clark. It has tinges of Coldplay-esque vocals and the melancholy electronic dirge of some Paper Route tracks. None of that should be surprising, as Paramore and Paper Route toured together for some time, developing relationships on the road.

Check out “Hide Your Eyes” here, and let me know what you think. I’m digging it. I’d pay for it, which is more than what I could say for all but a few of Paramore’s tunes.

Hide Your Eyes by tunnelmusic

Zac Farro Quits Paramore To Make Music is a post from: wax&wires

“I Do Not Care For The Winter Sun”

And I share the sentiment. I grew up in Northern California, not too far from the bay area. We had lush deciduous trees that changed in color and form with each passing season. Our attire reflected the time of year out of necessity more than nostalgia. I woke up early to scrape the frost off of the windshield in the biting cold of morning before driving to school. All that and I never even had to fight the snow that many of you might have.

I haven’t lived an ideal winter like that since moving to San Diego 8 years ago. I think a lot of people glamorize the year-round-sun of southern California, but all it does is make me miss the smell of rain and sight of my own breath in the air. Winter doesn’t really count when people are wearing flip-flops and dripping sweat because they’re hell-bent on wearing scarves and sweaters just to make it feel like December. Seasons remind us to appreciate change.

So the closest I can come in this climate utopia is to shut myself in and pull the drapes to convince myself it’s not sunny out. Then put on some music that will cast clouds overhead and usher in the cold. This song sits well in that mix.

I’m a sucker for sleigh bells this time of year… and not the bit crushing Brooklyn duo, though I’ve been rocking Treats for a while. Grab this track if you need a little visit from Jack Frost.

Free Beach House – I Do Not Care For The Winter Sun is a post from: wax&wires

TC has put the PolyTune iPhone App on sale for just 99 cents for the next three days. How many of you have used it or the stomp box version? Do you like it? I’m still rocking my Peterson StroboStomp 1, but will definitely get this for tuning when I don’t have my board out.

You can get it here.

TC Electronics PolyTune iPhone App On Sale for $0.99 is a post from: wax&wires

We’ve been in a retro revival for a good while now. It seems like every other band is rocking skinny ties and sport coats. Dapper wear has become nearly synonymous with the “hipster” icon, and our culture’s newfound cliche has earned a lot of true artists a tougher and more cynical crowd to conquer. So how do you still make your point and succeed when your potential audience has already written you off as “another one of those” bands? The answer is simple, but not easy: make good music.

Fitz and the Tantrums are an LA based group that started when leader Michael Fitzpatrick purchased an organ from an ex-grilfriend’s neighbor. A song was written, a voice was found and shared with a friend, saxophonist James King. The vision for a guitar-less band was born. Less than two years later, and the band’s debut full length “Pickin’ Up The Pieces” was released and climbed the Billboard Heatseekers chart to number 20.

Fitz and the Tantrums are notorious for having a live show energy that far surpasses what their album can capture. I love the album, so if that’s the case, I’m stoked to catch them live.

If you’re into Mark Ronson, MoTown/Stax or Don Draper, be sure to snag this one for just $5 right now.

Fitz and the Tantrums – Pickin’ Up The Pieces

Wax Pick: Fitz and the Tantrums – Pickin’ Up The Pieces is a post from: wax&wires

“Levels in Digital Audio” deals with overall theory in digital audio, which applies whether you’re in Logic, Cubase, ProTools, Ableton, or any other DAW.

It’s a very quick read and covers questions about bit depth, the various triggers and stages for clipping (and how to avoid them), whether or not to normalize, and he also debunks several myths about what can help or hurt your audio fidelity.

You can also find a great thread on GS about “Loudness when Producing and Mixing.” Very helpful.

About the author:
Holger Lagerfeldt is a Danish composer and record producer known for numerous pop and dance hit songs. Lagerfeldt received a Danish Grammy nomination as Producer of the Year 1999 and has so far received 50 gold and platinum records during his career. (wikipedia)

Levels in Digital Audio is a post from: wax&wires

I don’t really care too much about who actually ends up winning the thing, but I do care (and A LOT) about who you would vote for if you had a vote.

Still working out some of the cosmetics of this form, but you can still use it:

2010 Grammy Awards – You Decide is a post from: wax&wires

Here are the nominees: www.grammy.com/nominees

Florence and the Machine and Mumford and Sons are up against Bieber and Drake for Best New Artist. The clowns on E are talking about it right now and knocking Mumford and Sons all over. I’m sure Bieber will win it, but Florence gets my vote.

Any surprises? Who are your picks? Who’s missing from the list? Share your votes and opinions in our own little Grammy poll here.

The Grammy Noms Are Out is a post from: wax&wires

You can purchase the new song here.

Coldplay – Christmas Lights Video is a post from: wax&wires

Related posts:

1. Coldplay Snubs Spotify

New Jonsi Song – FREE Download is a post from: wax&wires

I first heard The Civil Wars live back in October in Waco, TX. Their chemistry and woo factor was potentially the best I’ve seen; very few artists can make a room of 1000 people feel like a living room. Joy Williams and John Paul White are a phenomenal musical pairing with beautiful moving harmonies, gut wrenching lyrics, and more emotion than a pregnant woman watching The Notebook.

You can grab their live album for free here, and the duo have just released two new songs today, which you can snag for free, here.

The Parlor has some great live footage. The last video on the page encapsulates the group best, with a few fun covers and then their new single performed flawlessly. Check it out here.

Here’s a video of their strongest original to date, “Poison and Wine.”

The Civil Wars – 2 Free Songs is a post from: wax&wires