http://current.com/items/90893661_community-broadc...

So far we can see their is a worldwide broadcast network out there in the form of indie broadcasters just waiting to be utilized to as a channel for indie music and film/videos. The program content for such a network is nearly limitless in the form of music, music videos and independent film. All that really needed to be done was to tweak a few legalities in order for the content to be attractive to such broadcasters and the whole thing becomes viable. In order to bring it all together I guess someone could create a website/service which would aggregate material that was properly licensed to enable free broadcast and make that content available to individual broadcasters via digital stream. That would give small broadcasters a wealth of content to augment the content that they create locally themselves. It would also allow them to sell more advertising locally. I think this content would have to be free to broadcasters to use which is a large part of what would make it attractive. There could be genre specific streams, regional streams or whatever the broadcaster wanted to play by setting up their own playlists. The site could create their own hosted programs, etc. I mean the potential is really huge when you think about it. The artists can make money by selling hard copies of their product on CD/DVD/mp3 or whatever and anticipate selling more of these things due to the potential exposure they will get from this service. The broadcasters can make money by selling advertising to local business. But how would the service itself make money? The aggregator service/site could also sell advertising within the broadcast stream as well as charging artists a small ($20 or less) monthly fee to participate in the service. I know that isn't a lot but if all 600,000 indie bands/artists listed on myspace jumped on board that is a nice income for the site each month. Will this be the next stage in the evolution of the indie music world? I don't know but I think it could be in some form.

http://current.com/items/90893400_community-broadc...

I first encountered the Future of Music Coalition ( http://futureofmusic.org/ )the other day when I wrangled press credentials to attend their upcoming Future of Music Summit in Washington DC Oct 4-6. I'm pretty hyped about that as there will be some major players in the music industry in attendance and it will give me a firsthand look at the directions that the industry intends to take in the future. Thanks to Scott Macaulay (Editor) and Filmmaker Magazine for setting it up for me ( http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/ ). In the video above The Indigo Girls talk about why they support community radio. When I read this story I started thinking about the importance of having these kind of small, local broadcasters. The Indigo Girls talk about how these stations gave them some of their first exposure as a band and it does seem to be a relatively untapped avenue by which indie music can get mainstream broadcast exposure (ie; outside the web). One thought led to another and before you know it I had a full fledged plan to rule the indie music world concocted. That is just the way my mind works, I run across a subject and if it catches my interest I end up thinking about ways to improve it or make use of it in some larger way. In this case I think there are a lot of opportunities out there to make use of this nearly forgotten resource and I figured I would take the time to put my line of thought out there via this story and see if anyone agrees with me. First off, think about the market potential, there are thousands of small, low power broadcast stations out there pretty much worldwide on AM and FM radio bands as well as shortwave and TV. Individually their reach is very small but as a whole they represent a broadcasting network that covers the entire world. I started reading up on low power broadcasting on the FCC website and it seems that such stations are not that hard to set up and are free to broadcast whatever they want, including commercial broadcasts. If the power level used for the broadcast is low enough you don't even need to get a license (please read the rules before you try setting up your own station). That opens up a world of possibilities. My first thought was that anyone could set up their own little radio station in conjunction with their online account on sites like blip.fm or grooveshark and broadcast to their neighborhood. That would be kinda cool and a low power transmitter doesn't cost very much so someone could get rich selling that system (suggestion: iRadio....hehe). There are of course legalities involving music and what you can play over the airwaves without violating someones right to get paid. With that in mind I read an intro to how music royalties work ( http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/music-royalties.htm ) in order to see if indie music could be played on indie radio/tv stations. From what I read on that topic, combined with what I was reading yesterday about the Creative Commons License ( http://creativecommons.org/ ) it seems that the answer is a qualified yes. In order for it to work the artist/band would ideally be the writer/composer/performer of the song and license it via Creative Commons giving up mechanical rights to the material permitting it to have unlimited radio/TV airplay for free. That really isn't that different that what we have now in the digital world where pretty much every band out there allows you to stream their music on your site and nothing stops you from making money from advertisemants on the site you stream the music through. In both cases the bands make money from CD sales, mp3 sales, band merchandise and live shows so it is a win/win for both the artists and the broadcaster/streamer. The artist gets exposure to a wider audience and the broadcaster/streamer gets content for their site/station which allows them to earn money via local advertising. End Part 1

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/aug/30/tr...

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Methane being released from melting permafrost and oceans in arctic areas. Be afraid, be very afraid.

http://current.com/items/90782317_exclusive-inside...

Imogen Heap takes Current Music shopping in the California desert, where she searches for rare and unusual instruments to recreate the ethereal sounds of her new album, Ellipse (RCA), when she performs live on tour.

http://push.pickensplan.com/profiles/blogs/its-the...

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T. Boone Pickens predicted that oil would hit $70 a barrel before the end of 2009 and it did just that earlier this week, He also said that all of the easy oil is running out fast and this story confirms that statement with a bullet. If the world's top oil experts are correct we now have 5 years

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/08/reb...

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Congress and the Obama administration have a historic opportunity to ensure that investments made in weatherization and energy efficiency as part of the recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act evolve into a sustainable clean-energy retrofit program and a linchpin of the American economy for years to come.

http://www.cleanskies.com/articles/arctic-ice-melt...

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This could be another record summer for Arctic ice melt. Scientists studying this year's developments are calling the melt this year relentless.

http://www.cleanskies.com/videos/clean-skies-sunda...

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Clean Skies News reports on the Senate vote to infuse money into Cash for Clunkers. Charles Territo, Senior Vice President for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, discusses what the program means to his group's members. Clean Skies News also reports on the $2.4 billion stimulus money allocated for advanced battery research

http://current.com/items/90632636_clean-skies-to-s...

CLEAN SKIES TO STREAM LIVE FROM NATIONAL CLEAN ENERGY SUMMIT 2.0: JOBS AND THE NEW ECONOMY Debate-Shaping, On-Demand Network to Capture Robust Energy Policy Discussion As It Happens WASHINGTON (August 6, 2009) /PRNewswire/ — Committed to delivering real-time coverage of the most pressing energy and environment news of the day, Clean Skies today announced plans to stream live from the National Clean Energy Summit 2.0: Jobs and the New Economy on Monday, August 10 in Las Vegas. Created by Senate Major Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the Summit convenes the nation's preeminent energy and environment newsmakers to discuss job creation and energy efficiency and independence, among other topics. The seasoned journalists of the Clean Skies news team will deliver gavel-to-gavel coverage of this high-level dialogue online, throughout the day, at: www.cleanskies.com. Highlights of the day's programming will include: 1:00-3:30 p.m. EDT: With the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Cox Pavilion as the backdrop, Clean Skies will follow the Summit's roundtable, "Building the Clean-Energy Economy" from opening statements to its close. After remarks by United Nations Foundation president, former Senator Tim Wirth (D-Colo.); Dr. Neal Smatresk, acting president, University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV); Vice President Al Gore; and John D. Podesta, president and CEO, Center for American Progress Action Fund, participants will engage in panel discussions on the case for clean-energy investment, bringing energy-efficiency retrofits to scale and how to promote the market for renewable energy and energy infrastructure. Confirmed roundtable participants include, among others: U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu; Van Jones, Special Advisor, White House Council on Environmental Quality; General Wesley Clark, Chairman, Growth Energy; Denise Bode, CEO, American Wind Energy Association; T. Boone Pickens, Boone Pickens Capital Management; U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis; and Dr. Stephanie Burns, CEO, Dow Corning. 4 p.m. EDT: Clean Skies anchor and managing editor Susan McGinnis will report live from the floor of the Summit during Clean Skies' regularly-scheduled Energy Report, with chief correspondent Tyler Suiters at the anchor desk in Washington, D.C. 5:00- 6:30 p.m. EDT: Join Clean Skies for coverage of the "Clean-Energy Policy Community Town Hall," which will begin after special remarks from President Bill Clinton. John Podesta will moderate a lively town hall discussion. Vice President Al Gore, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Cathy Zoi, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy, and T. Boone Pickens will participate.

One of the biggest challenges facing independent artists today is getting their work in front of as large an audience as possible and, without the money provided by a major record label, this has always been almost impossible. It seems as though the major labels create the music available for radio playlists and small or independent labels are pretty much shut out of that venue.

It is true that, with the evolution of the Internet, indie bands have had access to many new forms of exposure on Myspace and sites such as iTunes. However, none of those tools has given quite the same exposure that good old fashioned radio can. Radio can reach millions of random listeners at any given moment and thereby expose your songs to new audiences who have never heard of your band. With traditional Web sites like Myspace or iTunes you are pretty much limited in the exposure that you get as an artist to your own circle of friends and have to depend on those fans to give you exposure via word of mouth to their friends.

Twitter has created a whole new perspective on social media though. Via Twitter messages you can stay in touch with your friends just like on other networking sites but, unlike other sites, all of your "tweets" (messages) also post on the main twitter site feed. There is the beauty of it. Twitter has something like 6 million registered users with 55 million monthly page views and so posting to the public timeline on Twitter is essentially very much like reaching millions of random members of a radio audience.

Twisten.FM is a creation of the folks at Grooveshark.

Please go to blogcritics for the rest of the story: http://blogcritics.org/archives/2009/02/23/190150.php