I just found this offer poking around on Digg. It looks legitimate, but you may be dooming yourself to endless catalogues and the like. Sun will send you a free 512 MB thumb drive if you provide them with an address. Visit the site here or click the banner above to check it out.

technorati tags: USB, thumb, drive, Sun, SUNUSB, Digg

I am down in Memphis, Tennessee right now preparing for a concert tomorrow night with the IRIS Chamber Orchestra. I have been a member of this fantastic ensemble since its inception seven seasons ago, and I am having a great time preparing for the first concert of this 2006-2007 season.

This concert features violin soloists Gil Shaham and Adele Anthony in a program of Mozart, Sarasate, Mendelssohn, and Sibelius. The IRIS Chamber Orchestra was created by Michael Stern, and he serves as the conductor for this ensemble. He recently became music director of the Kansas City Symphony.

My friend Jeff Kail recently won a double bass position in the Kansas City Symphony. We have played many concerts together over the last few seasons in the IRIS Orchestra.

technorati tags: IRIS, chamber, orchestra, Michael, Stern, Gil, Shaham, Adle, Anthony, Memphis, Tennessee

Drew McManus recently wrote in his blog Adaptistration about the best (and worst) websites of 2006. Check out his complete list of the worst websites here. Check it out–it is a fascinating read. It is amazing to see some of the problems that many orchestra websites have, such as the inability to make online donations. The Los Angeles Philharmonic sold 73% of their single tickets online last year, but they have no system to accept online donations. What kind of craziness is this? Every other blog I visit has a “donate” button on it, but the L.A. Phil can’t get it together enough to put this system in place? This is unbelievable, especially given the obvious heavy usage of their website by their patrons.

Many orchestras obviously make their websites a priority, and it is reflected in the excellent content management system and user experience. Drew singled out the Nashville Symphony’s website as the best recent orchestra website, and it certainly is a polished and attractive experience. Check out the Nashville Symphony’s website for yourself here.

Having a quality website didn’t come cheaply for the Nashville Symphony. Drew states in his recent post:

If you pump enough money into a website, at the very least you will likely end up with something that looks good. However, according to Michael, they ended up getting much more for their money than they initially expected.

“The cumulative price for all of the start-up work, the special seating module, and content creation came to approximately $220,000,” said Michael. “Out of that figure, the seating module alone cost $70,000 and although it wasn’t a necessity, we decided it was worth pursuing. The good news is we expect annual maintenance from here on out to cost approximately $35,000.”

Much of the start-up work was to integrate the new website design with Tessitura, an enterprise-wide, integrated system for marketing, development, and box office management. According to Michael, if Nashville already had Tessitura integrated into their previous website, their start up costs would have been closer to $75,000.

Come Fly With Me
What exactly is a seating module and why did it cost $70,000? Simply put, the seating module is the most impressive adaptation of the traditional seating chart I’ve ever come across. It’s cool, entertaining to use, and oozes an unmistakable techno-panache. Better yet, it goes a long way toward alleviating the stereotype that everything connected with orchestras is old, unimaginative, and stuck in the 1960’s. All of this should conspire to have an especially powerful impact on new ticket buyers.

The Nashville Symphony makes their website a priority, and it shows.

technorati tags: Adaptistration, Drew, McManus, Nashville, Symphony, website, best, worst

This is a very interesting post from Ars Technica about file sharing (illegal music downloading). Is it bad for the industry? The post cites a recent study on this matter:

The data used was from 1995 through 2003. Michel wanted to see if there’s a link between owning a computer and decreased CD buying during those years. It turns out that there is. During 2002 computer owners’ CD sales decreased by $4.79 a year, and by $5.55 in 2003. Those without computers only decreased by $0.80 and $0.22, respectively. On the other hand, in 2001, the year that Napster closed, people with computers increased their CD buying by 19 percent while non-computer owners held steady. Could the decrease in CD buying the following two years be chalked up to increased sales of digital downloads, which started to become popular just at that time? The paper does not address the question.

According to Michel’s methodology, those who owned a computer bought almost 13 percent fewer CDs from 1999 to 2003, with those who bought the most music showing the largest decrease. His conclusion is that file-sharing does have an effect on music sales, a conclusion shared by Zentner (2005), Hong (2004), Liebowitz (2004), and Rob and Waldfogel (2004).

A consensus?

The scholarly consensus is not unanimous, however. Michel notes that Oberholzer and Strumpf (2004) found no correlation between file-sharing and P2P use in 2002, and a more recent paper by a Harvard student found that file-sharing benefited more obscure artists.

Read the complete post here.

I really don’t care if file sharing hurts the bottom line of Britney Spears and P Diddy. It is good for smaller (i.e. classical and jazz) artists, which have been notoriously sidelined and underrepresented by major record labels. The forward march of technology will only help art music, not hurt it.

technorati tags: art, music, ars, technica, britney, spears, classical, record, industry

I recently stumbled upon Catster, a MySpace/Friendster website for your cats. Give each cat their own page and let them network. Maybe this is silly, but it is also fun, especially if you are a big time cat lover like me. Click the Catster logo to check it out.

Even stranger is the site called Cats that look like Hitler. This site is good for a laugh. Neither of my cats look like Hitler at all, really, so I won’t be posting to this site anytime soon.

Ever think about herding cats? I have. Here is a cute video (actually a commercial) demonstrating this:

technorati tags: cat, cats, Catster, Hitler, herding, cute, fun