Jay Paroline

One of my long-standing favorite bands is Soltero, and this song is a great representation of why.

Grooveshark + Local Music = match made in heaven?

Grooveshark has the potential to serve as a real boon to local music. Yeah, we’re based out of Gainesville and small enough that right now the majority of the benefit will be seen here, but as users start using it more intensely elsewhere (which is already starting to happen), it will help local music everywhere (or at least everywhere with internet access).

Two examples:
1. I went to a show last Sunday and saw Christabel and the Jons (playlist). They are not actually local; they were just passing through, but their music was delicious. I include them as local music because they came through and played at a very small local joint on a Sunday. Their music was not available on Grooveshark previously, so I bought their CD and ripped it to my computer. Now their music is on Grooveshark, and they are making money in two ways:

1. Royalties are now paid every time someone listens to their music on Grooveshark
2. They get paid if someone buys their music from Grooveshark

They also get the additional benefit that I have easily been able to share their sounds with other people in Gainesville thanks to Grooveshark, so next time they come through they will get an even better turnout.

2. The Barnacles (playlist). I saw them tonight (Saturday) for the second time. Both times they have not had a CD available for purchase, presumably because they ran out and CDs are expensive to produce, leaving me as a new fan with no way to support them by purchasing a CD. Fortunately for me and for them, when I went home I saw that their music was available on Grooveshark, so I was able to purchase it anyway. Now they will get the revenue from the sale, and I get to listen to their music some more (and share it with all of you).

If you’re anything like me, you like to have your MP3s organized with a consistent naming scheme *and* with correct ID3 info. It just so happens that if you scan your music in to Grooveshark, it really helps to have correct ID3 info and barring that, a useful file name. If the file information is incorrect or inconsistent, Grooveshark may get confused and create a new artist, album or song even though it actually already exists in the system. This also, of course, affects your chances of getting paid/having others download from you. Chances are if your info is wrong nobody is going to buy your music.

Therefore it’s a good idea to update your song info especially if you downloaded it from, ahem, less reputable sources. Fortunately, you can do this with minimal effort with the right tools. Or rather, with the right tool. All you really need is a free program called ID3-TagIT. It hasn’t been under development for quite some time and it shows, the interface is not slick, shiny or new feeling, but it works. I walked through the process of using file names to create ID3 tags and vice-versa via photo-journal on Flickr, go check it out.

I just recently posted a Paul Dateh Video and subsequently flipped out at marketing about how awesome he is.

They pulled through and lined up an interview with him next week. He had even already heard of Grooveshark, so that’s pretty awesome. It will be really cool if we can convince him to come play in Gainesville. Either way look for a post on the Grooveshark Blog next week with the interview.

One of the cool things about working at Grooveshark is that we are constantly exposing each other to new and interesting music. Today Vishal played this for us, and we were blown away: