Stone's 50 Greatest Live Acts

Just finished reading Rolling Stone's list of 50 Greatest Live Acts Right Now. Performers were eligible to make the list if they have toured in the past 5 years and have not yet announced retirement, and were picked by a panel of writers, industry leaders, and artists.

SPOILER ALERT: I was pleased to see artists like RHCP, Janelle Monáe, and Tool make the list, though many of the listed artists could have been placed higher or replaced others. Naturally, Bruce Springsteen takes the cake at #1.

I was not pleased to see that Imagine Dragons didn't make the list - I just saw them last week at the Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY. They had an incredible performance - both visually and aurally - and were generally pretty tight as a live group. It was also wonderfully refreshing to see such a humble band perform and actually appreciate their audience. Fortunately, the band is still relatively young and while have plenty of time in the years to come to make the list.

What do you think of the list? Who would you have liked to see on it? Who do you think should have been left off?

More Artists Should Be Doing This

...or at least more things like this.

ZZ Ward is a relatively new and upcoming artist, already making a big name for herself in the few short years she's been on the scene. Now, she / her management are making an even smarter name for herself with her newest app.

The app, called "365 Days of ZZ Ward," launches when a fan opts to visit her website. The fan is prompted to connect with their Facebook account, and the app searches their Facebook timeline to find the first time they liked or discovered ZZ on Facebook. These findings are posted to a timeline featuring ZZ on her website. Fans are encouraged to finish a checklist of items that are considered contributions to their ZZ timeline. These various checkpoints are all items that help spread the word about ZZ (e.g. liking her on FB, following on Twitter, sharing videos, etc.).

Fans can also earn points by making contributions, which can be redeemed for rewards.

This app is not only a great way for fans to easily spread the word about ZZ, but it's also a fun way for fans to connect with ZZ and feel like they have a real relationship through supporting her. More artists might find themselves in happier situations with their fans if they were willing to work with a developer over something like this.

Easy Money

When I first started reading this, I didn't understand what the benefit of letting your fans download your music, remix it, and forcing them to sell could be. Then I kept reading, and that's actually really smart.

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2012/11/uk-band-chapel-club-encourages-fans-to-remix-and-resale-their-music.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FDqMf+%28hypebot%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

The Gigstation

This is really clever, and great for a band that can't afford extra merch people or roadies:

The Lights Out merch stand

The first 3 minutes is mostly a band member setting up the stand, but if you're just interested in the final outcome, skip ahead.

It's certainly not flawless; non-devoted fans may be tempted to just steal a CD or t-shirt, and allowing fans (or non-fans) to pay what they want for a CD could mean the band is getting short-changed. On the other hand, this is becoming a more popular trend, so it must be doing okay.

And not only does this stand look cool, but it creatively provides all the information fans may need about gig dates and the band's music.

Now instead of a merch girl, every band needs a techie.

The Beginning of the End...

for Justin Bieber?

Do preteen girls get upset when their dreamboy pukes in front of them on stage at his own show?

As most people already know, JB chirped his chips on stage at the first show of the American leg of his "Believe" tour. He after being pushed off stage, his back-up dancers continued to dance around the mess, his back-up tracks sounding incredibly just like his live vocals *cough cough*. He returned to perform an abbreviated acoustic set, only to quickly dash off stage again. After the show, he tweeted that "milk" was the cause of the problem. 

I've been debating with myself over whether or not this could be a downhill slide for JB. On one hand, he may no longer be viewed as "perfect" by the members of his fanbase. On the other hand, in a way this humanizes him, making him seem easier to relate to.

Either way, this has given many non-fans another thing to criticize him for (which wasn't affecting him in the first place).

So, it's hard to say if this is the beginning of the end. I guess we'll see.