Oh no, this could get ugly - the Podcast Pickle could be turned to relish!
Watch what Loco has to say about the Podcast Pickle:
You may have noticed that when we launched the new cool homepage on Monday, we did so with a new featured artist - Taylor Hicks! We’re really excited Taylor spoke with us about his music, Daughtry and McPhee, Ray Charles, his other influences, and what he’s listening to these days.
Soul Patrol!
SpotDJ uses the song and artist information from iTunes to determine which spots to send you. In general, the more accurate your iTunes library is, the better the chance that your spots will be heard.
Our matching technology is able to correct some basic differences. For example, if you record a spot for “The Doors,” it will still be heard by people whose libraries use “Doors, The” or even just “Doors”.
For artists who have a first and last name, we highly recommend that you record spots using the standard naming that Apple uses. Instead of marking a spot as “Lewis, Huey”, record it as “Huey Lewis”. That way, your spot is much more likely to be heard.
If you’ve already recorded a spot and want to correct the song or artist information, just log into the SpotDJ web site, click on the “My Home” tab, then “My Spots” and you can edit the information.
Last week I had the pleasure of presenting SpotDJ at Christian Perry’s SF Beta. What a fantastic crowd - over 200 folks packed into 111 Minna to meet and mingle.
For those unfamiliar with SF Beta, presenting companies not only give short descriptions of the business but also present a limerick about their company. Scott, SpotDJ’s technical genius and creative mind, came up with this limerick that I presented before the crowd:
There once was an MP3,
Which didn’t mean much to me.
But I added a spot,
And it taught me a lot,
I’m an expert on Katharine McPhee.
Now we’re hoping Katharine will record some spots on SpotDJ!
Sometimes you upload a spot then decide that you could do a better job with one more chance. Or, you record a spot talking about how Green Day’s latest single is an allegory for Social Darwinism and Malthusian Ideals and then later that day you find out that it’s really just a song about drinking and playing soccer. Either way, you want to delete your spot — no problem!
To delete a spot, simply:
SpotDJ needs to use your network connection so that you can hear the latest spots as you listen to music. We also use the web to show you information about songs and spots, to allow you to contact us with questions, and to check for updates. SpotDJ does not contain spyware. To work properly, you need to tell your firewall that SpotDJ can access the network.
If you’re using McAfee’s firewall, you’ll see a window like the one below. Just click Grant Access and SpotDJ will be able to operate properly.
We’ve been adding great new stuff to SpotDJ with such rapid fervor that we almost forgot to blog about all the new features! This isn’t an exhaustive list of all the new stuff, but here are some of the highlights:
If you’ve ever woken up on a ratty couch in a mysterious apartment with no memory of how you got there and a hankerin’ to record a spot, this feature is for you! With our new web-based Create feature, you can record spots without waking up the strange curly haired girl you went home with to get permission to install SpotDJ on her computer.
All you need to do is log in to SpotDJ and click Create. You can record your spot right there in the web page — no installation necessary!
Of course, you’ll still want to install SpotDJ on your home computer so that you can hear other people’s spots within iTunes. Plus, the installable version of SpotDJ has much better recording quality. But in a pinch or at a computer where you can’t install software, check out our web based recorder!
Most spots are about a particular song or artist. You know, stuff like “This song is about…” or “I like this song because…”. Fan Blasts don’t have to be about any particular song — they’re spots that your SpotDJ fans will hear regardless of what they’re listening to.
For example, maybe you’d like to use Fan Blasts to tell your listeners more about yourself, or to recommend an album you just bought. If they’ve added you as a Fave, they’ll hear your blast!
To record a Fan Blast, just to go the Create tab and record your spot, making sure to select a Fan Blast! from the “This spot is…” section. Or, if you want to change an existing spot to be a Fan Blast, just click on the title and change the spot type.
We’ve made it easier than ever to bring your spots to your MySpace page, blog, or web site. Just visit our Bling page to build a SpotDJ badge. Your badge can even include a player so that people can hear your spot from any web page. Neat!
Several of you are really into audio. For you guys, our simple “click to record” interface isn’t enough — you guys want to use Pro Tools or GarageBand to record spots.
That’s fine by us! Now you can use whatever sofware you want to record spots. Just save your spot as an MP3 and you can upload it directly to SpotDJ!
That’s all I have time to describe for now! Kevin just IM’d me saying “More features, slacker!”
If you download SpotDJ, you can hear spots while you listen to music in iTunes, or create spotted playlists that you can sync with your iPod. So you really oughta download SpotDJ!
However, if you just want to record a spot quickly and don’t have time to download and install SpotDJ, you can still contribute a spot! Just sign up or login to SpotDJ, then click the Create tab:
Under the Create tab, you can record your spot right through the SpotDJ web site using Flash. Just click the Allow button to give Flash access to your microphone. Then click Record to record your spot. Fill in the details on the form and submit it — your spot will be available shortly!
For you? Sure!
SpotDJ has a (currently experimental) feature that lets you take spots to go. Simply click the small iPod button near the top of the SpotDJ window. It looks like this:
Now you’re in iPod mode. You’ll see a drop down menu with a list of your current iTunes playlists. Pick the playlist you’d like to add spots to and then click Create Spotted Playlist. SpotDJ will create a new playlist with spots based on the original. Your original playlist will be left untouched.
Now, just sync your iPod to download the new playlist and you’re ready to take your spots on the go!
We’ve recently begun hosting Bay area bands in our offices on Friday afternoons for some drinks and to record spots about their music.
This past Friday the hot band Scissors for Lefty dropped by (have you seen their Billboard and Spin write-ups?). Check out this spot they recorded about their next San Francisco show at the Noise Pop Music Festival:
Stay tuned for more commentary from your favorite bands!
