Archive for Music
Cool (and FREE) Internet Radio – Slacker.com!
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I’m always on the lookout for new internet radio sites. I’ve blogged about Lala (not a fav of mine anymore) and I’ve tried Music Of Your Life (good music, too many commercials).
Last week, I heard on a Leo Laporte podcast about Slacker (yeah – weird name). I went to check it out and I like it a lot! They have only a few 20-30 second commercials every hour – very painless. If you don’t want to hassle with registering, just click on one of the genre buttons and you’re off and running. Here’s a snapshot of what’s available:
You can also choose to build an account and structure a radio station to your liking. There’s even a little heart-shaped button you can click on when you hear a song or artist you really like and they will play more of that artist!
Something unique about this service is a player you can purchase (for $200) that can be pre-loaded with the music you want and then it’s portable!
Give Slacker a try!
Technology Preserves our American Heritage
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Is your interest in history heightened with two movies in recent years that dramatize the history of the U.S.? There is also a show on PBS called “The History Detectives”, that delves into all sorts of interesting questions.
Technology is playing a huge part in getting all kinds of historical information to the typical user. Do they even publish encyclopedias any more?? There is a wealth of information on-line. We’ll focus on the patriotic since it’s the 4th!
The Library of Congress has been busy digitizing American Music, Theatre & Dance at their site: http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/ihas/lcp-home.html.
It seems like we don’t hear our great American patriotic songs much, but at this site you can click the link, “Patriotic Melodies”, and it will bring up a list of many beloved songs and their history, such as “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, and “You’re A Grand Old Flag”. Many of the songs have sheet music and mp3s available.
Fast, Free & Fabulous Music – Lala!
Posted by: | CommentsI came across Lala a couple months ago. It’s an on-line music service that has been around for a year or so.
There are many free internet radio stations out there such as the huge variety from within iTunes and Musicmatch. However, if you need a quick music fix without having to log into one of these services or hook up your iPod, this is great! My fav thing to do is go to lala.com and without even having an account there, I can type in the search artist box one of my Rat Pack heroes and click the “play this artist and similar artists” button and settle back. . . ahhhh. I leave the page running and can go about my work, listening to commercial-free streaming music! If you want to check out the name of a particular song playing, it’s in the upper left corner of your screen. You can skip to the next song if you don’t care for what is currently playing. I have not found a limit as to how long I can listen at one sitting.
You can sign up for a free account and there are several things you can do after that.
- upload your iPod to Lala and have your tunes always available to you on-line
- Listen free to any Warner label album
- Make your own playlist, publish it for you and others to enjoy
- Buy music – anything you buy will play on your iPod. Prices are very competitive
- Buy used CDs – see the list for buying CDs – on the cheap
Delve into the nooks and crannies of Lala and take full advantage of the site, or just go to lala.com and start hearing the music you want in a few seconds.
