Home > Archived Issues > 1999 Issues > Issue 9

I Love Pogoradio - radio for the rest of us

    For the average person, commercial radio that plays "N Sync," and "Britney Spears," is fine.  Luckily, I don't think anyone who reads this is an average person.  That's why I'm glad to have found Pogoradio.   It is truly radio for the rest of us.  As far as I can tell, commercial-free, it's an internet radio station the excels where commercial stations fall short.  Just a quick example of that is with requests.  On a commercial radio station, they rarely take requests.  When they do, you either have to wait three hours before you hear yours, or they use your request as info for a self-perpetuating "top 8 at 8" countdown, featuring Britney Spears, or some Backstreet Boys sound-alike band.  With Pogoradio, there is a request page.  I requested "Policy Of Truth" by Depeche Mode by scrolling down their page of artists and songs (found by following the request a song link), and five minutes later it began playing.  That's because it was the only request, but it still was extremely responsive.  There was only one song between when I made the request and when it played.     

    What's even more impressive is that I liked every song they played.   There were no annoying DJs.  It's just great music, and it's growing.   Pogoradio has only been around for two months, and already they get a couple of hundred hits per day.  They were only getting a couple dozen a month ago.  With that kind of growth, you can expect them to be one of the leaders in internet radio.   I prefer internet radio because the internet isn't nearly as subject to censorship as regular radio.  Therefore, you get unedited, full versions of songs.  Not some "made for radio" remix that changes half of the words (like "My name is" by Eminem).  You get the full emotion of the music, and afterall, that's what music is all about, evoking emotions.  Whether they be happy, sad, angry, subdued, aggressive, passive, or confused.  Pogoradio gives you good music, whether it's Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Depeche Mode, or any number of independent musicians such as The Outcast.    They play about half independent musicians, and half major bands.  It's a nice mix, and I think will draw more people than a strictly independent station. 

    Anyway, onto how to use Pogoradio.  It's not very difficult at all.  I figured out how to do it, and I had never got an MP3 player to work before in my life.  I went to their site, and followed their installation instructions (there is a link for them by the CDNow.com and Amazon.com mini-banner links).  After that, just click on listen on the left side of the main page (or on their tuner).  Choose to open the file, not save to disk, and use select app from the plug-in menu.  Browse your hard drive for your MP3 player (WinAmp or Sonique suggested, not sure if others work or not).  I use WinAmp, now, thanks to Pogoradio.  If you have any problems, just refer to their install page, and it should fix them.  It's definitely worth downloading the WinAmp player (took 6 minutes for me at 56K).  The "what's playing" on their tuner only half-worked, but their playlist was very accurate.   They listed the last ten or so songs they played, and what was currently playing.   You can get to the playlist by scrolling a little more than 3/4ths the way down the main page. 

    As far as directing people to buy your CD, they link to CDNow.com and Amazon.com.  I have suggested they link to CDBaby.com as well.  We'll see if they do or not.  I have a feeling they will.  They're smart people.  To submit your music to them, email them and talk to them first.  They'll give you directions from there.  I know I'm going to try to get my music to them before they get really big, so I can start getting some airplay as soon as possible. 

    The last thing I have to say is that the music doesn't get hung up very often.  If it does, just go back and press play on WinAmp or Sonique. 

    Check out www.pogoradio.com to beginning listening and then come back here.  You can listen to Pogo will reading UMM.

W.I.M.S. Showcases Female Musicians

by Gary Milholland

    This is not something I normally do, but I got an email from someone involved in the Women's Independent Music Show (W.I.M.S.), so I figured I'd check it out.   Basically, the show features female musicians, especially independent female musicians.  I'm not a big fan of segregation in music, but I see it as a way for more independent musicians (in this case women) to get their music exposed, and to a specific audience, people who like independent female musicians.  Target marketing doesn't get much easier than that.  WIMS is an internet radio show that was created to give the world a place to hear some of the finest music performed by women.  Each week they spotlight a specific artist, highlighting their favorite songs.  The show also discusses women's issues throughout the world in their segment called "Womenly Correct."  Sometimes they bring in special guests to discuss female related topics.  The show airs on www.EyeQRadio.com every Monday night at midnight.  If you want to know more, go to http://www.clandestineproductions.com/wims-bio.htm.   They have a mailing address there and a list of the musician's web addresses.   Plus, they have a weekly playlist.  They've played everyone from Yvonne Dolls and The Locals to Sinead O'Connor.  Obviously, if you are a guy, there's no interest to submit your music, but you may want to listen to the program if you ever want to hear good music performed by Women Monday nights at midnight.  The show is actually rebroadcast a few times through the week.  See www.EyeQradio.com for more information on that.

Riffage.com, 1 of 2, Artist Agreement

    By now, I'm sure you've all heard of Riffage.com.  If not, you don't listen to the radio.  They are the newest big site meant to help independent musicians.  I'm going to explore their site, and give you the numbers.  You can decide for yourself whether or not you think they will help you.

    According to their website, there's no fee, and you only have to offer one free MP3 to get started.  You get to keep 85 percent of all your sales from the site, control the content, and set your own prices.  You also get to connect to your fans using calendars, custom email, message boards, playlists, and reviews to reach thousands of new listeners.  They also claim to invest in radio, online, print, event, and TV advertising to draw traffic to their site.  I can vouch for the radio advertising, I've heard their ads.  They asked me to review their site about three months ago, before they were big.  I was all wrapped up in "Delve Deeper," though, so I didn't have a chance to.  Now, I've decided to do a two-part article.   After I get done with this one, I'm going to actually sign up with Riffage, and in early 2000, I'll let you know how my first few months with them was.  Riffage.com is non-exclusive, and you can cancel at any time. 

    The artist agreement is pretty straight-forward.  I'd read it yourself to catch all of the details, but I'm going to try to sum it up here.   Basically, it says if you want them to promote the CD, you give them the right to promote it in any way they can, whether that be sampler CD, streaming audio, etc.  If you want to sell your products, you get 85 percent of the base selling price (i.e. retail, before sales tax, shipping, etc.).  They will send you a report once every three months saying how much you've sold, and how much they owe you.  They will also pay you once every three months in a single check, unless they owe you less than $10, then that balance will carry over into the next quarter, or they will pay you when you end your agreement.  If you feel the numbers disagree with what you have, you have one year to object, and have an accountant go over the numbers.  They will let you use an accountant for free once in the year for such a purpose.  You get to keep your copyright, which is VERY important.  They get to use your name, likeness, etc. to promote your stuff.  That's standard.  No problem there.  Basically, if they are playing your CD, they can say "This is Mission Man with Delve Deeper," etc.  "You hereby waive...." you basically can't sue them if you get famous and it invades on your privacy because of them.  Also, what you send them has to be legal.  That is, if you have sampled something on the CD, you need to get permission from the person you sampled before sending the CD to Riffage.  That protects both Riffage and you.  If you don't get permission (to use someone else's music on your CD), and you sign the artist agreement, then Riffage won't be held liable because as far as they know, you had the right to use it.  If you don't have permission to sample someone else's music, you shouldn't put it on your CD anyway.  You can get sued for that.  Also, if your lyrics are demonic, then Riffage won't be held responsible.   The content is your responsibility.  If Riffage messes up, they'll do their best to correct the situation.  Riffage won't be held liable for damages if their site is down for a while, or they go out of business.  The agreement is for ONE YEAR, and is automatically renewed unless one of you gives written cancellation within thirty days of the renewal date.  You can't use Riffage's name without their permission.   If any part of the agreement is held invalid, then the rest of it will remain in effect.

    That's the summed up version of the artist agreement.  The actually agreement says basically the same thing in a lot more words.  I don't have any problem with any of it, however.  If you are confused by any of it, you may want to have a lawyer look at it, just to make sure everything's ok.

Spitshine has Punk energy, Rock Quality, Strong Lyrics

   The first thing I noticed about Spitshine was that they have two female guitarists.  I think that's a really cool thing to see (*cough* hear) personally.  It definitely gives them a unique sound.  That is one with the energy of punk, without the screaming and unintelligible lyrics usually associated with that genre.  It also has the quality of rock.  The two female guitarists are also the vocalists for the band. 

    They are also a strong band lyrically.  This can be seen in "What's So Hard?"  It says "Whoever I am, that's who I want to be... Whoever you are, that's who you need to be."  It's pretty straight-forward in just saying that you should be yourself.  That's what will lead to being happy.   This statement is so true, and so many people don't get it.  So many people are walking around tyring to be something they're not, and it's causing frustration and confusion.  It just makes you think, which is the sign of good music.

   "Lady Truck Diver" starts out beautifully, with an acoustic guitar that reminds me of classic rock.  It's sung very well too.  The energy picks up, and the song sounds really good.  I've only listened to it once, but it sounds like a song about a woman who just wants to be free, and explore the world, and therefore becoming a truck driver to do so.  It's kind of reminiscent of "Fast Car" in that respect.   "Drive out of the city, drive away free..." is just one phrase in "Lady Truck Driver," but I think it's probably the most appropriate.

    "Kill The Messenger" is about people not being responsible for their actions, and trying to stay on top while keeping others down.   "Those who speak the truth, pay the price, in the grand tradition of Jesus Christ," is one of the gretest lines I've heard in a long time.  Anyone who knows the story of Jesus Christ, knows that he was killed because he claimed to be the son of God, and his messanger.  For Christians who believe in Christ, this line is even more powerful because they belive he spoke the truth., and was killed for it.   Therefore, he paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth. 

    If you are looking for an energetic band with strong lyrics, look no further than Spitshine.  Go to  http://www.members.home.net/spitshine1/ and check out their site.  The name of the album is "Kick Me Hard."

Vykki Vox, "Can You Feel It?" Yes I Can

   Vykki Vox's CD asks in it's title "Can You Feel It?"  I have to say, yes I can.  When the CD started out, I wasn't sure what to think.  But halfway through the track, I realized it was because I haven't heard enough blues and jazz.   I like what I've heard.  I just haven't been exposed to it as much as I'd like to be.  I also don't have the money to go out and just buy blues and jazz CDs.  Anyway, as the CD goes on, I really like what I hear.

    Track 4, "Purple Funk," is an extremely upbeat song, with some very cool trumpet and saxophone work.  When the saxophone was blowing, I was moving.  It's a very fun song to listen to.  "Hannah's New Age Daydream" is just plain beautiful.  She has a strong voice, that's for sure.   The songs are excellent musically, ranging in sound from blues and jazz to ballad to Elvis Presley.  There are 18 musicians in all who worked on this album together to give it the great sound it has.  The only thing I don't like about the album is the fact that she covers "I Just Want To Celebrate," as well as "Get Rhythm" by Johnny Cash.  Everything else is cool, especially the bass in "Interpretations."  Normally, I don't mention this many songs from an album, but I don't know how else to do this review.  It's really impossible to sum it up very quickly.  It's just something you'll have to listen to for yourself. 

    If I had to pick the two best songs on the CD, though, they would be "Hannah's New Age Daydream" and "Turn It Around."  Both songs are lead by Vykki's beautiful voice, and strong lyrics.  There's no real aggression in this album, so if you are looking for that, you'd be wasting your time look to Vykki Vox.   But, if you are looking for quality musicians, a beautiful voice, and good story lyrics, with some passion, then go to www.VykkiVox.com and check out her album for yourself.