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ArtistServer
Wednesday, Jan 11, 2006 2:54:35 PM
ArtistServer Playslist now support XSPF ArtistServer now offers support for "XSPF," which stands for "XML Shareable Playlist Format" in the playlist system.
You'll see the new button next to the playlists which have songs by members who have upgraded, which is the same as the Podcasting feature.
These options require more of the service's resources and requires me to scale the service at a faster rate - so in order to ensure that expenses don't get out of hand, I've selected to make these two aspects of the service open to upgraded accounts only.
Why would you care about XSPF?
- it's support by Yahoo in their Yahoo Music Engine player
- it's also a somewhat new standard for playlists
- it's the format used at WebJay (which was just acquired by Yahoo)
- and this cool little Flash mp3 player supports the format: http://musicplayer.sourceforge.net
For more info on XSPF: http://www.xspf.org/
Back to the new Yahoo acquisition... here's some more information: Yahoo! Music Blog: http://ymusicblog.com/blog/?p=20
WebJay owner - Lucas Gonze: http://gonze.com/weblog/index.cgi/thanks.ongoing I wonder how much. I didn't see that one coming. It makes me wonder how many times Last.fm has been approached. Seems like Google would be trying to talk to them.
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ArtistServer
Monday, Jul 18, 2005 10:35:08 AM
The Status of this Web Apparatus If you've stopped by ArtistServer lately, you probably noticed a few things are different as I've recently launched several new site features/tools. In order to help you get up to speed on these new additions, I'll introduce you to each one below:
Ringtones:
For Artists, this means each song you upload on the site can also have a 'related' mp3 ringtone. We now have a ringtone transfer tool which helps site visitors get the ringtone on their phone.
For those looking for mp3 ringtones, you'll find we currently do not have very many to offer you, but this will change by the end of the year. If you find a song you like on the site - email the artist and ask them to make a ringtone from the song and that ArtistServer.com has info on how to do it.
Tags and Tag Clouds:
Tags, as I mentioned in an earlier blog post, are basically keywords. This in iteself isn't very cool. What is cool, is how we can use tags to find new content - think of it as a 'discovery system' and you'll start seeing how tags and 'tag clouds' can serve your needs.
Tags and tag clouds provide an organic method of finding new and related content. As we progress with the tag concept, we will eventually evolve to offer the ability to subscribe to tags or tag clusters.
Stations, Playlists and Podcasting:
This set of tools isn't currently available, but it's basically done. I can't open the site up for playlists and podcasts right now due to server load. There's just no way our single server could handle the increase in traffic. So expect these tools to become available in the next two months. For now, you can check the stations area out on the site, just visit http://www.artistserver.com/stations to take a look.
Why don't I go over each of these three items so you understand how this all fits together.
Stations are at the top level, they retain a name, a location on the site, a feed URL for all your playlists and bascially, they serve as a point of presence if you want one - otherwise, you'll mainly be interacting with playlists.
Below stations are playlists - where each station can have multiple playlists. You could consider each of your playlists a show if you wanted, as we do tag each playlist with a date. Or, you could treat your playlists as nothing more than collections of your favorite songs on the site - whatever - it's up to you.
Playlists also offer you the option of adding comments below each song and adding your own content to the side of the site - where you could add your own graphics, links, etc.
Now for the podcasts! You won't have to do anything to create a podcast - as soon as you finish creating your playlist - it's also available as a podcast. Bam! The only thing to consider, is that not all the songs on the site are 'podcast compatible.' What this means, is that music by Freeware members is not available for podcasts - on music by artists who support the site by upgrading their account.
In order to get this all started, there will most likely be a trial period where all music will be available for podcasting. I hope to open the stations/playlist/podcasting tools and area by the end of September 2005.
Mobile Website:
I won't say much about the mobile version of the site just yet, as it's still very much in beta and I haven't been able to work on it for a few weeks. You can check it out if your mobile phone supports WAP 2 - which is basically xHTML. Just pop open your phone's browser and go to artistserver.com and you'll get routed to mobile.artistserver.com.
If you have any feedback about the mobile site, please let me know.
Copyright and Creative Commons Licensing:
Every song on the site now carries either a copyright graphic or a Creative Commons graphic with a link to the license. This is the first step in our integration of licensing, the next step will be adding this information to our RSS feeds, then eventually, we will embed the license in your content for you (if the format supports it).
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How does ArtistServer Compare to the Competition?
If you click around and check out my competition, you'll find that they: - don't support Tags - don't have a mobile site - don't provide RSS feeds of their content - don't prodive music fans with their own site and blog for free - and don't offer or support ringtones
You would also find that only 2-3 have license integration and maybe 4-5 have stations support, while only 1 has Podcasting support and maybe 2-3 provide blogs.
What this says to me, is that the competition isn't evolving, that they aren't embracing new technology and distribution methods - and that ArtistServer will leapfrog it's competitors in 2006.
For more information on what has been developed here and what is coming up, please view the "Release Log" at this address: http://www.artistserver.com/releaselog.cfm
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ArtistServer
Saturday, Jun 25, 2005 2:46:30 PM
ArtistServer - Stations, Playlists, Feeds and Tags Development of the stations/playlist tools: =========================== Development of the stations/playlist tools is nearing completion. Everything is basically done, but I want to go in and try to break it to make sure I have all the holes filled.
What are stations and playlists? =========================== You probably already know what a playlist is - but in terms of using and creating them on ArtistServer.com, we are about to step into an explosion of music distribution and discovery. Our stations will be created and managed by the artists and members on the site - you name it, give it an icon, and a description. Next - you create a playlist - you add songs, resort them, write notes/comments next to each song, assign an icon to your playlist, add tags (keywords)... click and listen. If you want to create another playlist - no problem - make as many as you like.
What about Podcasting/Audio Feeds? =========================== Each Station and Playlist will have a feed URL to subscribe to for both RSS feeds (For Podcasting) and XSPF (XML Sharable Playlist Format). BUT - not every song in a playlist will be served in these feeds - ONLY songs by artists with upgraded accounts will be tagged as 'PodCast compatible.' To make the process of creating playlists for Podcasting easy, the playlist builder tools allow you to filter out all songs that are not 'PodCast compatible.'
Currently, all artists who were previously paying members are available for Podcasting/Audio Feeds.
Current Development Status =========================== Right now I'm working on the pages that display the stations, playlists and provide a listing/search page for all playlists.
Once those are done, I'll modify the current .m3u generator on the site so it will generate streaming files from the playlists.
Then... I'll add in the RSS feeds with 'enclosures' - which is another way to say "Podcast" or "music feed" or "audio feed" - it's basically a way for people to 'subscribe' to your playlists.
Tags - the 'proper' way to categorize content =========================== If you have some time, read this: http://shirky.com/writings/ontology_overrated.html
We're going to start using 'tags' as a means of organizing content on the site. A tag is just a modern term for 'keyword' :) If you've used sites like http://www.technorati.com or http://del.icio.us or http://www.flickr.com - then you've probably seen how 'tags' work. If you dont' know what I'm talking about, go http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/ - that's a 'tag cloud' - then read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tags
This doesn't mean 'genres' are going to be removed - not at all. It just means that we'll also have an alternate way of organizing and searching for content across the site.
Tags will most likely be applied to playlists first. After this, I hope to apply the newly developed 'tag manager'to Songs, Images, Artists, Articles, links, and all future content on the site. Then - maybe later down the road, you'll simiply define how 'you' want to consume ArtistServer.
For example... let's say you are a massage therapist, and you are always looking for music that is: "quite instrumental mellow." What you would do, is search on this - then add the generated feed URL to your feed program (like FeedDemon - or when Longhorn comes out, your feed reader will be embeded in Windows, or iPodder, etc.). Once you are subscribing to the feed, your software will download any songs that are tagged with these keywords.
Another example... let's say you want to be aware of Hip Hop in New York. No problem - you would search on, "New York Hip Hop" - then save the link to your feed reader - and there you go.
Yes - the future will be served to you in feeds. :)
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