Happy Radiohead Day! Their new album “The King of Limbs” was released a day early, making it a very happy Friday for me. I’m about to head over and redeem my pre-purchase. I’ll write a comprehensive review when I’m done enjoying it thoroughly.

That is all.

SF MusicTech Summit | Performer Magazine | Download Issue

Networking Hotspot Invades the Bay

The SF MusicTech Summit opened for its seventh year on December 6. The conference, focused on the convergence of music and related technologies, featured a total of 19 expert panels and new product demonstrations. The list of speakers included notables from both the music and tech worlds: reps from Universal, Avid, MOG, SoundCloud, RootMusic, Talenthouse, Gracenote and Blip.fm, to name a few; and musicians like Del the Funky Homosapien, Evan Lowenstein and Rana Sobhany, New York City’s iPad DJ. Attendees flew in from all around the world, making SF MusicTech a hot networking spot for both up-and-coming musicians and app developers.

In the opening panel, “Engaging Your Community,” moderator Brenden Mulligan from Sonicbids led a discussion on how independent musicians could tap into the vast resource of social media platforms, including tips on uniting online fans. The panel recommended an online hub, such as the band web page, linking an artist’s various profiles to one location. Author David Meerman offered tips from his book, Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead, such as involving fans by providing items of value for free. He suggested artists ask themselves not only what fans are going to like, but rather what fans are likely to share.

The afternoon’s “Live Electronic Musicianship” panel focused on the future of the live “controllerist.” Featuring artists from LoveTech SF, an amazing electronica troupe, they acknowledged that innovations arise when artists test the limitations of their gear. Similarly, the speakers in “Tour Secrets from the Pros” recommended working with the restrictions of live surroundings and listening to your best friend: the sound guy.

Closing the day, “The Artist Panel” offered tips from a list of successful musicians. “Good music. Product. That’s where it all starts,” advised Del, “Bring back the mystery between artists and fans.” The panel closed with an uplifting nod to indie musicianship from recording artist Raul Malo: “This is the most promising time for the young artist,” he said, “We don’t need the wizard behind the curtain anymore. We’ve seen the wizard, and he’s an idiot.”

The next SF MusicTech Summit is scheduled for May 9, 2011.

-Keane Li

Once again, I found myself rooting for my favorite team: commercialism. Here were my favorite ads aired during Super Bowl XLV. If I didn’t include one you thought was particularly good, please let me know in the comments.

THE BEST

I own a Passat, so I felt particularly proud by this lighthearted and well-made commercial. Hip, relatable and sunny; it incorporates family values without being bogged down by sappiness. It almost makes me want a kid to mess with. Almost.

I’m not usually a fan of when one company swipes another with tongue-in-cheek, but Verizon really nailed AT&T at the end of this ad. I don’t think a single person in the room wasn’t laughing (granted we live in San Francisco and pretty much all have iPhones and AT&T).

I actively root for the American car industry to retain its former luster, and, since the bailout, it seems we’re moving in the right direction: fewer extraneous car models with different names under the same companies, an increase in innovation, a sharpened focus on green tech and (most likely what is making me think all this is happening) cleverer marketing. This Chrysler ad is a great example of soulful and almost gothic Americana, with the brilliant tagline, “Imported from Detroit.”

Coke has always been good at evoking a positive emotional response which, from what I’ve learned by watching Inception, is what you need to implant an idea successfully into someone’s mind (basically what an ad is trying to do). If I had to choose one favorite commercial, it would be Coke’s “Border” ad. It’s both uplifting and relevant, and in view of the world’s recent events.

THE WORST

I don’t know what Sony Ericsson was thinking by inserting scenes from what one can only assume came from Saw IV or V into a commercial about a gaming phone. I found the ad so disturbing I didn’t even know what the commercial was for. Instead, it made me wonder how many backdoor surgical procedures were taking place in third-world countries as the commercial aired.

While Groupon’s heartless ad is nowhere as bland as the CarFax and Cars.com commercials, and far from the deplorable nature of pretty much every Go Daddy commercial ever created, I think I just expected more from them.

I suppose we could argue that even bad commercials are successful since we take the time to review and post about them. The fact that I now despise Go Daddy makes me disagree.