Spotify, the latest in music on the Internet

Posted by Marcel Soleda on February 24, 2009  |  1 Comment

What is it?

It’s a revolution in music distribution. Spotify is an application for Windows and Mac with a music catalogue that users may search and listen to in streaming audio. The idea is similar to iTunes but downloading is not possible. Instead, users can listen free of charge to any track and without any limitations. The only drawback is the advertising that users hear every certain amount time or number of tracks.

What’s in the catalogue?

For the time being the music published by the four biggest music labels (EMI, Warner Music, Sony BMG y Universal), as well as a large number of small labels from the Long Tail associated with The Orchard and Merlin.

Limitations?

There are a few breaks for advertisements, but they may be expected to increase as the application gains new users. In any case, the advertising can be eliminated by acquiring Spotify Premium for 9.99 € / month or a Spotify Day Pass for 0.99 € / day.

Is it the future?

Probably. It is certainly an example of the reinvention of the music distribution model, which has been years pending a new approach to combat piracy.It’s has been proclaimed the future of music but until now was limited to last.fm and not much else.

The fact is that the predictions made by media futurists such as Gerd Leonhard are gradually coming true: The only way to combat piracy is by offering better services. The future of the music business on Internet lies in the service and not in the product. So be it.

Controversy

The invention, being revolutionary, is the subject of controversy. For the time being, it is only available in certain countries whose societies of authors have permitted it (Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the UK). At the time of writing some groups have already expressed their disagreement and demanded the removal of their music. We hope that this will not be the general trend and that the recording companies do not make the same mistakes as they did with the Napster phenomenon.

How to obtain it?

Previous registration is necessary to activate the program and, in theory, downloading the application is only possible with an invitation. That’s the web 2.0. But to save time you can use a direct link to the download window:   https://www.spotify.com/en/get-started/

The young team of Spotify:

Further information in:

http://lefsetz.com

http://en.wikipedia.org

Mexico-Spain Contemporary Music Festival

Posted by Leticia Martin on February 12, 2009  |  Leave a comment

After a 25-year hiatus, Mexico and Spain once again co-organize a festival of contemporary music, this February 17 to 28, to present the leading exponents of the genre from both countries, along with poetry recitals and master classes in composition.

The new Spanish-Mexican Festival of Contemporary Music will revive artistic exchange and end a quarter of a century of isolation and lack of awareness of the work of musicians from either nation, says the director of the event, Marcela Rodriguez. “Now,” she adds, “we are going to reactivate the exchange and presentation of the latest from genre, with works of high quality in terms of composition and execution. They are fresh and define the vision and influences of each of the participants.”

She recalled that the original festival was organized by the Mexican Alicia Urrueta and the Spaniard Carlos Cruz de Castro. “It was called the Spanish-Mexican Festival and was held from 1973 to 1983. After that, contact between the composers from the two countries was broken off.”

She explained that the programme consists of concerts of chamber and electronic music. “There will be five world premieres and 17 pieces will be played for the first time in Mexico.”

In total, she said, there will be six concerts with pieces by Mexicans Lara Ana and Gabriela Ortiz, among others, and the Spaniards José Manuel López, Carlos Cruz de Castro, José Luis Castillo, Javier Arias, Jesús Rueda, Santiago Lanchares, Ramón Humet and Mercedes Zavala. She also highlighted the performances by the ensembles Onix and Catrina String Quartet, plus the piano soloists Carlos Apellániz and Alberto Rosado.

See the program

Hèctor Parra, winner of the Premio Tendències award for up-and-coming creators

Posted by Leticia Martin on February 5, 2009  |  Leave a comment

The composer Hèctor Parra (Barcelona, 1976) has had a good start to 2009, a year that is going to confirm him as one of the most important Spanish composers on the international scene. On 19 January he received the Premio Tendencies for the outstanding, up-and-coming creator of the year in Catalonia, awarded by the Catalan edition of the newspaper El Mundo.

The composer was thrilled to win this prize, in particular because it represents recognition of his work in his home city, something that up till now has been more evident abroad. A good example of the interest this composer is arousing is the programming of his opera Hypermusic Prologue by the Teatre Liceo in Barcelona, undoubtedly his most ambitious work to date. This opera, with a libretto by the American physicist Lisa Randall, was commissioned by the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris, and will be premiered in that city before coming to the Barcelona theatre.

Madrid has also just recently been the venue for a concert with works by Hèctor Parra. As part of the programming of Musicadhoy the Ensemble Recherche played his works Abîme- Antigona IV, String Trio and Piano Trio nº1: Wortschatten. These works have been recorded by the same ensemble on a monographic CD produced by the Austrian label Kairos in conjunction with Caja Madrid.

Poética, by Jesus Torres, winner of the “Millenium Chamber Players” prize

Posted by Leticia Martin on February 5, 2009  |  1 Comment

Poética (2007), a work for a trio with piano and clarinet, by Jesús Torres, has won the “Millenium Chamber Players” prize awarded every year by the musicians of the Chicago ensemble.

This year there were over 300 competition entries and the jury, formed by Augusta Read Thomas, Kyung Mee Choi, Bernard Rands and George Flynn, admitted it had had difficulty in choosing a winner when it announced its decision.

As a prize Jesús Torres will receive a commission for a chamber work to be performed by the musicians of the “Millenium Chamber Players”. David Adamcyk and Miguel Villanueva received special mentions from the jury and Clifton Callender, Amos Elkana, Massimo Lauricella, Ned McGowan and Todd Tarantino received honourable mentions.

Poética is a work in five movements based on different texts by German poets: Novalis, Hölderlin, Rilke, Trakl and Celan. It was premiered by the Trío Arbós with the clarinettist José Luis Estellés.

Further information in Victor Rebullida’s blog.