EPIC WIN for Weezer!

Stop what you're doing. Read my blog later. Watch Weezer's new video Pork and Beans that's below, right now. 

This is the greatest video I have watched in 2008 and possibly in the past 10 years. It was first posted on Youtube this past Memorial Day weekend and it absolutely blew up the website: over 3 million views in under 3 days! According to People.com, Pork and Beans became the most viewed video on the internet. 

The director of the video, Mathew Cullen, explained to People.com that "the whole concept was based on the song," says Cullen. "It's an anthem to not conforming to what people want you to be. I wanted to celebrate the creativity and individuality that's happening on the Internet. These are all completely different people from different walks of life who have achieved their fame through unorthodox or unintentional methods but regardless they did something that people loved."  

I've been big on Youtubing for a long time, so I was able to catch all the references and Youtube stars from the past couple years in the video. Weezer and Cullen made an awesome decision to go with a viral theme for the new video. Not only does it give homage to all the most popular viral videos of all time, but the video itself will be a viral phenomenon. I think it's already achieved this, actually. 3 million views in 3 days is amazing and it's only growing. The beauty about viral videos is that once one person watches it, they will show 20 others of their friends, post it on facebook/myspace, blog about it (hehehe), and basically spread it everywhere they can. Not only was this move to make this video artistic and creative, it was smart marketing and promoting. Bravo to Weezer and Cullen for making one of the most original, fun and entertaining music videos I have seen in a long time!

Weezer's much anticipated sixth studio album, Weezer (also known as The Red Album), will be released Next week- June 3rd, 2008. Pork and Beans is currently sitting at number one spot on Billboard's Hot Modern Rock Tracks and has been for the past 5 weeks. Hell yeah, I'll be picking this album up as soon as it ships!

I can already guess you are thinking about who to show this video to. Isn't weird that's how we're wired now;)

Aww, I was just getting over my carpal tunnel...

It's official: Guitar Hero World Tour, the fourth installment of the popular series, will feature a set of instruments including lead guitar, bass, drums and a microphone. Check out the video below! IGN.com also reported today that the up-coming game will also include a new feature that will allow gamers to compose, edit, record, and share their creations through an in-game studio tool. 

Sweet.

Some might say that this is a cheap shot at Harmonix, the people that made Rock Band (which first incorporated drums and vocals into gameplay) and Guitar Hero 1 and 2, but it's the nature of the business. Pretty much every major innovation is "copied" or incorporated by rival companies. It happens with Nintendo all the time! Nintendo revolutionized the way we play 3D games with Super Mario 64 and other companies followed suit. Probably the most blunt showing of competition was way back when Nintendo first release the Rumble Pack with Star Fox 64 in 1997, but now a rumble feature in controllers is a standard across all the next gen consoles. It's only logical that Activision/RedOctane incorporates Rock Band's success with adding drums and a microphone.

As for the innovative aspects, Dusty Welch, head of publishing for RedOctane, is quoted saying that this new in-game studio tool feature "has the potential to revolutionize consumer generated music, much in the same way that video sharing hubs have driven user generated video. With the introduction of our advanced high-quality new wireless instruments, in-depth customization options and advanced online functionality, the game enables music fans and gamers globally to share in the most social and expressive music experience ever."

An interesting note is that Guitar Hero World Tour will also include a "Battle of the Bands" feature where eight players can link up online and challenge each other, band-to-band. This will no doubt have a tournament mode as well, which I can see there be tournament weekends on Xbox Live to see who's the best ranked.

The dream of being a rock star may not be so far fetched:)

New Busta Rhymes/Linkin Park song!

Busta Rhymes recently released a hot new track called "We Made It" featuring Linkin Park. I'm feeling it, but Mike Shinoda steals the show with his rap verse along with the rest of Linkin Park. Check it out!

Linkin Park will be touring this summer for the Projekt Revolution Tour, also featuring Chris Cornell, The Bravery, and Ashes Divide. I'm definitely gonna try to make it out to this awesome event! More news on this later.

Don't Touch That Dial!

I apologize for the short break from blogging- I've picked up a new TV show addiction called LOST. All the seasons are available to watch on abc.com for free. I know, I know, I'm really late. I'm probably one of the few who have not gotten into this show, not because I didn't want to, but because I missed the first couple seasons and didn't want to jump in the middle of the story. It's the nature of a serialized drama, or a show with continuing plot arcs that can span entire seasons or series. 

Serialized TV shows have become popular in the past couple years, stemming from the popularity of shows like 24 and Lost. These shows rely on a central story arc that develops over time, episode by episode, and features character driven action and exciting twist and turns. Usually, the story arc is stretched over an entire season or series instead of the self-contained episodes of most traditional TV shows. Other shows that have adopted this method and is also gaining popularity are Dexter and Heroes. Why are these type of shows gaining such a large following? In the past, most TV programs operated on a stand-alone episode basis, with shows you could pick up on at anytime. I think, today, viewers want to be absorbed in engaging stories. Being the busy, on-the-go guy I am, I never really had much time to watch TV. That and I didn't have much interest to invest so much time into TV programs that didn't engage me the same way movies did. Then I see some news about Heroes and after I watch the first episode, I'm hooked. America can't get enough of these shows! There is one drawback though- network ratings.

TV Networks begin taking a gamble with show that feature a continuing story line arc. This fantastic nature of a serialized TV show can also be it's demise. People that catch the show from the beginning get hooked and stick with the show, but for those miss the beginning miss on important plot points which may alienate new viewers from entering the show. It's what happened to me and Lost, but luckily Lost gained enough popularity to last it 4 seasons. Some shows get cancelled before that can even finish.

Fox's 2005 Reunion was one of the unfortunate TV series that was cancelled before it could conclude. The synopsis of the show that each episode what a murder mystery between a close group of friends from their high school graduation to their 20th reunion where one of them is murdered by another. Each episode took place one year after another, slowly unraveling the mystery of who the killers was and their motive as to why and implied a definite ending. Unfortunately, even after initial great ratings, the show was cancelled due to falling ratings, and the mystery was never solved. Thousands of viewers who tuned in were left in the dust half way through the season probably wont see even a DVD release. Another program that has seen the same fate was ABC's Day Break staring Taye Diggs in another murder mystery. It was to feature only 13 episodes and was on air between Lost's short hiatus to tide viewers over, but even though there were many viewers (around 4 million) and great reviews, ABC decided to cancel the show in favor to air reruns. 

Networks have a hard time backing their efforts in programing and it only effects the viewers and their favorite shows even more. Serialized programming requires viewers to be engaged in the show and not missing one episode. Some networks have taken steps in helping catch more viewers like Fox's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles this pass Spring by replaying the season premier on multiple nights along with following episodes and other networks have already put up most of their programming online for free. Because of this, they can get more viewers for their shows. Hey, it worked with me and Lost (thank you ABC!!). I believe this is the way that TV programming needs to head toward.

No longer are we bound by showtimes, thanks to TiVo and other recording devices, we can watch shows whenever ever we want. People are getting busier and busier every day. I know I don't want to rush back home in time to watch Heroes or Lost, but I do anyway. It's what you and I are use to. But times are changing. I can watch my favorite show online now- and for free! I compare this the changing music industry. I talked a little about this in one of my last posts- how more and more bands are giving away their music, like Radio Head, Coldplay, and Nine Inch Nails. They do this in order to gain more listeners and ultimately more fans. Soon, we will be able to pay a monthly fee for all the music we want- like it's a utility. It's going to work in the music industry, why not adopt a familiar model for TV? It may be the only way serialized shows can survive and still successful, other than DVD sales and other merchandise. But before DVDs, before t-shirts, networks have to grab viewers before they decide to continue watching or not. And when they have viewers hooked, that's when the magic (or the money train) happens.

Don't disappoint us, you corporate whig-heads. If you have a great show, get us to watch it, and take a risk and stand by them!

Okay, I'm done. Back to watching Lost:)

X-Files - Believe Again

Let the geeks in all of us start getting excited! We will be seeing Mulder and Scully back together on the big screen this summer.

The trailer for "X-Files: I Want To Believe" was released today- go check it out at www.xfiles.com right now. 

According to an NYCC 08 interview with X-Files creator, Chris Carter, this movie will be a stand-alone story apart from the over arching alien conspiracy of the series. This was actually an original story from 2003, but had to be set aside for several years because of legal reasons. This time around, the writers have more freedom with the story to be more intimate with the relationship between Mulder and Scully and mold ideas from the show into an all new story. The tone will be much more suspenseful and scary and promises to have many twists and turns.

The geek in me is pretty much going crazy with anticipation for this movie. I am a little excited/scared that it will feature a stand alone story. It'll be very interesting what the writers will do with these characters and the story around them. In the interview, the writers mentioned that this movie would be more intimate in nature. The 1998 "X-Files: Fight the Future" was pretty large in scale, packing impressive special effects for the time. Will "I Want To Believe" feature a similar style? Maybe it won't be as large in scale, but hopefully it'll make up for it in story and suspense. Either way, July 25th cannot not get here soon enough.

Free: The Growing Business Model

I like free.

In today's skyrocketing market, "free" is sounding better each day. Especially for the broke college student. In the May 10th issue of Billboard, the article, "Free For All?" praises Coldplay's decision to give away the lead track from their new album for free. "Violet Hill" was downloaded 600,000 times in only 24 hours on April 29. Compare this to the first week digital sales for the lead track, "Speed of Sound," off of their last album, which was only 44,000. Kinda not fair since the new release was free, but the results from this move is heavily evident. "Violet Hill" is topping the BBC Radio charts and seeing heavy play time over here in the states as well. Last.fm is making reports saying that Coldplay's new single could be the most played song ever tracked on its service with around 33,000 listens in slightly less than 24 hours from its launch.

To make sure that people understood the concept of free, Coldplay will be playing two free shows in large arenas promoting their fourth album, "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," in London and New York. Their manager, Dave Holmes, has confirmed that there will not be any sponsors for the shows.  He expects that merch sales will help cover the costs of the shows hopefully let the shows pay for themselves. 

I personally think this is an awesome idea. If you would have told me of these plans before Radiohead's release of "In Rainbows" last Fall I probably would have looked at you funny, raise one eyebrow and backed away slowly. But times are-uh changing. Radiohead has inspired other bands to pick up the same plan or something similar to it like Coldplay and Nine Inch Nails.

NIN recently announced that they wanted to thank their fans by giving away their next album, "The Slim," for absolutely free via their website. I, of course, did it and found downloading it was easier than putting my pants on in the morning (or afternoon). After much thought, I realized that by letting fans download an entire album, it addressed a problem I find growing larger each day in the industry: singles vs. albums.

Back before the age of iTunes and Napster, fans and consumers had to purchase an artist's album to listen to the single they would release- for better or for worse. It was always a treat, though, when I would buy an album for the lead single and then end up liking other tracks of the album even more so. I could gauge how well I thought a band was if there were more tracks on the album that were better than the lead single. But then the age of iTunes appeared and the option to buy just one song off an album took over. This is, in my opinion, slowly killing the album as an artform. Bands may release an awesome group of songs that will never be heard because the single is the only one people will buy (of course, this does not include the die hard fans). 

So NIN releases their new album for free. Instead of people downloading just the songs they know, they will be able to listen to all of the band's efforts on the album- FOR FREE. It's a win/win situation. Unfortunately, this is not a realistic approach for most bands in the music industry, especially new bands. Nonetheless, it's an issue that growing larger each day and I thank NIN for tackling it head on. We'll have to wait and see how well this works for them to see if it could work in the future.

One last concern brings me back to Coldplay's decision to host free promotional shows in London and New York. This initially surprised me. The way for an artist to earn a living is leaning away from music sales and more toward touring and merchandising. Holmes wasn't sure if a free show in Madison Square Garden would affect a future show in the market. He did assure Billboard that it was going to be compared to a "buzz gig" and that it would not be a full set or production. Even for a well-established band like Coldplay, it's still a risk, but in a struggling market, risks are what is going to lead this industry into bold new directions. 

I like risks. 

"You Have No Chance to Survive Make Your Time"

Ahh.. My first post. Well, where do I even start? It's pretty late but I work best during late nights. Or maybe I'm just an insomniac. Anyway, here's to an awesome summer chock full of entertainment muses over my favorite topics- music business, the film industry, and new media updates including video game related items. I plan on updating several times a week- but after this week. I need some time to relax after finals;) 

In the meantime, a puppy: