Category Archives: Digital Publishing

Jac Holzman,The Doors Digital Conceptualist

Posted on by Musicofourheart

An enthusiastic music of our heartfelt thanks to Jac Holzman, Robin Hurely, Brandwidth U.K., and Warner Music Group for delivering to us music technology fans an intelligently designed, highly accessible multimedia app, The Doors Official App for the Apple iPad. Smartly priced at $4.99 it is half the price of a vinyl EP ($10) but a tremendous value as a content reservoir to immerse ourselves inside.

The Doors – The Doors App (Official Trailer)

Jac Holzman is the consummate music visionary who continues to shape our entertainment taste by effectively wielding technology for highest interpretation value. I love that he is excited about the fiber optic connection he has to Warner Music Group and the InterWeb. I continue to be influenced by Jac Holzman as he asserts himself as subject matter authority in digital music content usability.

It stands to reason that the first person to review the app on iTunes would be Bruce Botnick, The Doors audio engineer and record producer. He is the definitive source along with Jac Holzman to the band’s creative historic output. What better seal of approval existent (next to Ray, Robbie and John) is there to confirm the digital archive than Bruce’s role and responsibilities with The Doors.

The Definitive Doors – Five Stars

Beautifully laid out with great depth and sensitivity to the true history, the band and their music. It works extremely well on my iPad 1 with no crashes or gotcha’s. I highly recommend it to all present and future Doors fans.

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Marvel Comics – Project Gamma – Intelligent Audio

Posted on by Musicofourheart

I am writing a music book about live music. My goal is to publish the book digitally with Apple’s iBook. I envision the reader immersed in an interactive multimedia reading experience. The idea of adaptive or intelligent audio that Marvel Comics Labs announced approximates what I envision for an interactive digital book. I am on the hunt for iBook authoring and Adobe digital publishing tools to carry out just the right interactive reading/listening sensory form factor.

Project Gamma from Marvel Comics is closer to the vision I have in mind for my book. Each comic will be infused with a soundtrack meant to absorb readers in the story.

A new 13-chapter story about Wolverine will be featured in Marvel’s Infinite mobile comics, with new chapters weekly.

The SXSW Interactive Festival 2013 in Austin, Texas is the announcement stage for intelligent audio from Marvel. Project Gamma was created in partnership with two agencies 1) music company CORD Worldwide and 2) Momentum Worldwide.

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Music Journalism A-Z – Daphne Carr

Posted on by Musicofourheart

I appropriate the letter C music journalism post to Daphne Carr who helms the independent publishing project for best music writing.

Daphne Carr

I discovered the resolve of Daphne Carr in my pursuit of music writing excellence. First and foremost Daphne has been the series editor of Best Music Writing (Da Capo Press 2007-present). The Best Music Writing book series (2000-2011) was published by Da Capo Press until the 2012 edition.

Daphne Carr is taking the Best of Music Writing publication independent in 2013. Last year a  Kickstarter project was created and successfully funded to carry out that goal.

Launch Best Music Writing as an independently published book series

I pledged $15 to get an e-book version of Best Music Writing 2012 delivered to me on launch day and a thank you postcard. Launch day has not been announced yet but I remain hopeful for future communications in this regard.

Daphne Carr has started Feedback Press which provides a home for new writing about music, along with other reflections on culture and fiction. Feedback’s titles will be available in print and electronic editions.

The first publication from Feedback Press was Pop Papers, a series of short works about music that were  released simultaneously in print and digital formats. The first five titles in the series (Session One) had their début at the IASPM-US/Experience Music Project Pop Conference (March 22-25 at New York University).

I am very interested in this music writing appreciation community. The Music Book club meets periodically in Greenpoint, Brooklyn at WORD the Independent Bookseller to discuss music writings and published works. I hope to attend one of their 2013 meetings the writer series looks interesting.

So hopefully you have a better inkling why Daphne Carr’s momentum matters in the dynamic evolution of music publishing. I know I do ;)

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A Visual Compendium of Guitars – Pop Chart Labs

Posted on by Musicofourheart

Digital print continues to advance visual interpretation with eye appealing content. Direct from Brooklyn, NY, the music capital of the world we find an exceptional catalog of 64 famed guitars, A Visual Compendium of Guitars. This distinctive publication is a limited-edition print from Brooklyn’s Pop Chart Lab that illustrates some of rock’s most iconic guitars in beautifully articulated illustrations.

Each print is signed by the artists and numbered from a first printing of 500.

Using 100 lb. archival recycled stock certified by The Forest Stewardship Council, this poster is pressed on an offset lithographic press with vegetable-based inks in Flatlands, Brooklyn.

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Dhani Harrison – Guitar Aficinado Magazine

Posted on by Musicofourheart

I discovered something very cool while browsing the Barnes & Noble magazine stand today. I happened upon a new music magazine, Guitar Aficionado. I was struck by the photograph of Dhani Harrison on the cover of the Spring 2012 issue. I picked up the magazine and began leafing through the pages.

Guitar Aficionado-Spring 2012-The George Harrison Collection - Click Image to Close

Being an avid fan of digital publishing I was psyched to see on page four that Guitar Aficionado was available for the iPad and iPhone devices.  I took out my iPhone 4s and went looking on Apple’s App Store for the Guitar Aficionado App. I downloaded it and picked up the free issue with Richard Gere on the cover. It was added to my iPhone Newsstand. I knew I had to buy the magazine after that and walked the physical copy to the register.

I love what is happening with the convergence of print media and digital publishing through the iCloud. Publications like Guitar Aficionado are making tremendous strides in allowing readers choice in how they read and experience content.

The more exciting proposition is the added value that Dhani Harrison is bringing to fans of his father’s music. Dhani Harrison, along with the George Harrison Estate and Bandwidth Publishing will soon be making available a new iPad app which will allow Beatles and guitar fans the chance to check out the personal guitar collection of the late George Harrison. The app, The Guitar Collection: George Harrison, will be released through iTunes on February 23, two days before what would have been the former Beatle‘s 69th birthday.

You can get an in-depth preview of the iPad app with Dhani Harrison as your guide through the pages of the latest issue of Guitar Aficiando Magazine. I can tell you first hand its an exciting and informative set of articles. The information is complemented with brilliant color pages and wonderful memories for us all. I am so indebted to Dhani and Olivia Harrison for being so sharing with the world. It is another extension of George’s love to fans living in the material world. :)

Watch this video and see how you can touch and interact with George Harrison’s guitar collection. which is absolutely amazing if you ask me :)

I love how this continues the synergy between The Beatles and Apple through digital technology. Something tells me that George Harrison and Steve Jobs  are smiling hugely over this accomplishment.

Digital Publishing and The Beatles:The Ultimate Album By Album Guide

Posted on by Musicofourheart

Digital publishing is readying for a justifiable volcanic explosion. The tablet device is the platform that will usher in rich, interactive digital publishing solutions. Maybe you are reading this blog post as I am on an Apple iPad ;) Next week Apple will be hosting a major education market announcement in New York City regarding electronic textbooks. “The revolution will not be televised.” Rather it will be available to you to you in real time via the cloud. Just think no more late book shipments….

An interesting multimedia application for the Apple iPad for Beatles fans is available from Rolling Stone Magazine and Apple iTunes. The Beatles: The Ultimate Album by Album Guide. With a little help from their friends at Managing Editor Inc. MEI, an Adobe® premier development partner and a leading provider of software solutions for publisher.

MEI is playing a key role as a gold level reseller for Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite solution. It also helps that MEI supports and resells the vjoon K4™ Cross-Media Publishing Platform. The vjoon K4™ Cross-Media Publishing Platform is a versatile, powerful system that lets you deliver content to any output channel — print, online, iPad, iPhone and other digital formats. The vjoon K4™  is the major solution that is driving the digital publishing direction for leading publishers today.

I purchased The Beatles: The Ultimate Album by Album Guide for my wife, Rosemary. Rosemary is the most devout Beatles fan in the family. She is also the most avid iPad user. We looked at the app while playing The Beatles Stereo Box Set (Audio CD). The combination adds a vivid dimension to the listening context.

The track by track listings are pointed and helpful. The vital stats in the insert box provide a quick reference for each recording. I especially love the photographs that accompany each album.

My favorite section is “The Beatles Albums by the Numbers” its an infographic that is thought provoking.

I believe this technology to be the early adopter edition of how Rolling Stone Magazine will be utilized on an Apple iPad. I anticipate more innovation including interaction with digital publishing when Apple releases the iPad 3 this year. Perhaps that is when Rolling Stone Magazine will go live with their cloud subscription. Stay tuned as we all have more to discover in 2012. ;) All together now…

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