Them Crooked Vultures Let It All Hang Out on YouTube

They may not be the first group to put their entire new album on YouTube, but it’s still not something you see every day. New “supergroup” Them Crooked Vultures has confidently made their self-titled new album available free for anyone to listen to on the wildly popular video sharing site YouTube.

This may be an interesting experiment, whether or not the band planned it as such, I do not know. Will the release of the entire album online for free have any impact on album sales? Some fans have commented on YouTube and indicated that they plan to buy the album and applaud the group’s decision to put their music out there.

Other fans indicate that those who download music illegally are mostly kids who cannot afford to buy their music or people who would not buy it even if the downloads were not available. Groups like the RIAA surely do not agree with that assessment, but might this move by the Vultures prove them wrong? Is there any measurement that is used to accurately predict album sales? It would be interesting to know if the YouTube release has any effect on the numbers.

Perhaps the group is just facing up to reality, knowing that their album will be available online whether they put it there or not. I don’t think it takes a seasoned internet veteran to locate free music to download online, and it seems that barely any popular group is immune to having their material shared though various methods, which include download sites, news groups, torrents, P2P Networks, and perhaps others I have never even heard about.

The official release for the new album is set for November 17th.

To check out their new album in its entirety, head on over to Them Crooked Vultures’ YouTube Channel.

Tags: Album, Free, Online, Streaming, Them Crooked Vultures, YouTube

Who Would Give Away A Free Album? John LeFebvre, That’s Who

OK, so the name may not mean much to most music fans when they hear it, but this guy has obviously earned the respect of some well-known names in the industry – people who have worked with the likes of Steely Dan, Bob Dylan, The Who, Cream and quite a few others.

I recently received a seven-song CD sampler along with a DVD that features the material from LeFebvre’s first album, entitled Psalngs (pronounced, appropriately enough, “songs”). As some readers may know, I don’t hold back when it comes to reviews. I tell it like it is. I’m certainly not being paid to do these reviews, although it certainly is not my intent to offend the people that are nice enough to send me this stuff from time-to-time. I just assume they can appreciate honesty above everything else.

Now, I bet you are ready to see me slam this album and tell you that it sucks. Not quite. The folks that worked on this album are professionals and they can play. Here’s the thing: I’m simply not a folk-rock guy. However, a lot of music fans are, and for those, this album is definitely worth checking out. Especially since you can download the entire thing for free!

I don’t often veer off course from my usual classic rock ramblings, but LeFebvre’s story is an interesting one, and he clearly has a message that he’d like people to hear. And did I mention you can download this album for free?

LeFebvre’s message may be one that resonates strongly during these times of economic turmoil, and what may be building resentment against a political system that never stops promising “change” and never seems able to deliver.

It seems to me there is little doubt that LeFebvre is allowing this album to be downloaded freely due to his motivation to get the message out about issues he feels strongly about. That says a lot for the man, since this 29-song collection probably had a good shot at being a commercial success.

I think John LeFebvre’s message is worth listening to. And if you like the music, that’s a nice bonus. You may not agree with everything he has to say, but it’s food for thought nonetheless – and pretty good folk-rock music, if you are into that sort of thing.

You can download Psalngs by visiting the official album website.

Tags: Album, Download, Free, John LeFebvre, Psalngs

Better Late Than Never For Late Arrivals To AC/DC Show

Some speculated that the show could outsell the 2005 Rolling Stones show. AC/DC’s show at the same venue – Magnetic Hill in Moncton, New Brunswick – was the first outdoor concert of that magnitude since the Stones drew about 78,000 fans four years ago.

Among predictions of an “AC/DC Flu” epidemic, the Australian hard rockers rolled into Moncton to much fanfare for their show last night. Some fans, however, made last-minute plans to attend and found themselves locked out when they were unable to purchase tickets.

A short while later, security officials learned that controlling crowds at outdoor venues can be more difficult than the more typical indoor venues.

After waiting outside for some time after the show began, some fans decided to try their luck at getting in for free and began to scale the fence surrounding the venue. Although it may sound like a poor strategy, it actually worked.

Concerned that the fence-jumpers would be injured, police and security personnel decided to open the gates and allow the assembled crowd of fans to enter and enjoy the remainder of the concert for free. With reported ticket sales of 55,000 and a crowd of 60,000 expected to show up, there was certainly the potential for a lot of disappointment among fan who were excluded.

Things appear to have ended far better for the excluded fans than they likely expected. It’s not every day that you get in free to see one of the world’s hottest rock shows. There were no injuries reported among the fence-jumpers, so I guess it’s safe to say that the event ended well for all.

Check out the CBC for more on this story.

Tags: AC/DC, Free, Magnetic Hill, Moncton, Security, tour, Video

Alice Cooper’s ‘Along Came A Spider’ Available For Streaming Free Online

No, I’m not talking about “LimeWire” or “eDonkey” or any other file-sharing network or any music-sharing website. I’m talking about Alice Cooper’s official MySpace page and he has generously made his new album, Along Came A Spider, available to listen to in its entirety.

That’s a pretty cool thing to do for his fans, but also makes me wonder if it will hurt the sales of the album. As I checked out the album on Cooper’s MySpace page, I did notice that there was a “Download” link for each one of them, but clicking them just presented me with a message that read: “Artist has not enabled downloads for this song.”

Admittedly, I am not much of an Alice Cooper fan myself, and really didn’t have any interest in downloading any of those tracks, but I did want to see if he had taken his generosity to that level.

It appears that the intent is to simply let fans listen to the tracks from the new album by “streaming” them in real time from his MySpace page. However, there are always ways around such things and some clever person has probably already written a “ripper” to pull music from MySpace and download them to their own computer. Let’s face it, if you can hear it, there is a way to capture it.

For all I know, Cooper and everyone else involved in the production of the new album are already aware of this, and they know that once fans get their hands on the CDs, some of them will be uploading them to file-sharing networks anyway. In that respect, I guess there’s really no harm done to those who are in line to profit from the new album.

Even for the multitude of fans who lack the technical expertise to download the tracks from MySpace, isn’t there a chance that some fans might spend so much time listening to the streaming versions that they get their fill of it and decide not to spend the money for the CD? Maybe I’m off my rocker here, and just don’t know enough about the level of dedication Alice Cooper fans have for the legendary rocker.

Anyway, I still think it was pretty cool for Cooper and the others involved in the decision-making process regarding this move, and I’m sure there are many fans out there who appreciate it. Check it out at Alice Cooper’s official MySpace page.

The official release for Along Came A Spider is set for July 29.

Tags: Album, Alice Cooper, Along Came A Spider, Free, MySpace, Streaming