In the latest episode of New Stuff, join your host Lee Yount as he welcomes a panel of guests to discuss all things new in the fast-paced world of technology. Mary-Margaret, Alan, Matt, Donnie and Lee tackle the recent, controversial issues of SOPA and lead into discussing the quirks of mobile app developing. Tune in as Lee educates and converses with his tech savvy co-hosts to bring you the latest in developing technology, including information about iTunes University. Find out what’s going on with the Kindle Fire and the iPad, and the trendy, new website Pinterest that’s taking the Internet by storm. All of these things and more will feed your inner techie and it’s all on the newest episode of New Stuff!
I had the opportunity to lead a workshop to local businesses about leveraging social media. It was received well and I think we all learned a lot! Below is the the presentation I facilitated. If you would like for me to speak to your group or organization, please feel free to contact me!
Spotify is an online music service offering users the ability to stream more than 15 million tracks on demand using Spotify’s unique technology. Spotify provides instant access to whatever music you want, whenever and wherever you want it, through a simple, clean and quick to use platform via an ad-supported, free-to-the-user service and a paid subscription service…legally.
What’s Cool?
Over 15 Million songs at your finger tips for unlimited listening and sharing.
Multi-platform: Listen to music on Spotify on your computer (free) or your mobile device (paid subscription)
Playlists: Create and share with your friends. Access them from anywhere.
Share your favorite music via social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
Premium Spotify
The added advantages of paying for Spotify Premium just might be great enough to drop $9.99/month for the following features:
No Ads!
Playing songs on my iPhone and iPad
Downloading songs to my mobile devices for when I might be in a place that I do not have an internet connection
Exclusive content: Being able to hear new albums before they are released
Higher quality music, up to 320kbps
Service Plans
Here is an abbreviated rundown of the different Spotify service plans. Click on the graphic for more information about the different plans.
Facebook + Spotify =
Facebook and Spotify announced a collaboration recently to allow over 800 Million Facebook users to share their favorite music with their friends. Here is a short video about this collaboration:
Conclusion
I am an advocate for Spotify. I think that their model is exactly what the music industry needs. Daniel Ek, Founder of Spotify was quoted in a CNN interview saying ”What Spotify is saying is, ownership (of music) is great, but access is the future,” Ek said. “The main reason people want to pay for Spotify is really portability. People are saying, ‘I want to have my music with me.’ ” The model of “give it to them free” has gained popularity in the past few years, so much so that I think it is almost expected. Companies that realize their revenue should not be focused on the end user, but with the content providers or ad creators, are companies that will make a lot of money while providing an outstanding customer experience.
This past Friday I had the opportunity to host the first episode of “New Stuff” on TheMESH.tv.
The MESH is a new media online network, designed to produce and deliver unique content to computers, mobile phones, iPods, iPads, and any other device connected to the Internet. Just like a traditional television network, The MESH has a series of programs and “shows” on a variety of topics… the difference is you can watch or listen to what you want, when you want, and where you want.
I recently had the opportunity to speak about leveraging social media at the NCARD conference in Boone, NC. This presentation was a mixture of how to create content in different social media channels as well as how Catawba County, NC is using social media to connect with citizens and visitors. Enjoy!
*note that this is an unmoderated stream and some content might contain foul language or content that you would not want your mother or children to see.
You have probably watched a YouTube video, sent, or at least heard of a tweet on Twitter, know someone that is using Facebook, and maybe even wondered why anyone would “check-in” when they are out and about. Mashable recently posted an infographic with some great stats about marketing in social media. These statistics are up-to-date, so this should be very helpful especially if your company is thinking about using social media to reach current and potential customers. Please feel free to comment below about social media, marketing, or anything else for that matter!
Since July 2006 Twitter has challenged us to get to the point with 140 characters or less. In the past 5 years Twitter has gone from 0 to 200 million users sending 350 billion tweets a day!
Twitter has been used by, and for almost every demographic in the world including movie stars connecting to their fans, protesters during Iranian elections, and asking for disaster relief during and after a disaster, in a medium that spans the world in mere seconds.
The general responses that I get when talking to people about Twitter is one of two: 1.) “Tweet me later” 2.)” I just don’t understand Twitter?”. If you answer like #2, you might want to check out this “Twitter in Plain English” video to help you join the 200 million other people that are already connecting.
Below is an infographic from visual.ly about the history of Twitter in the past 5 years. Oh and if you would like to follow me on Twitter, you can find me here: @leeyount Enjoy!
If you have not heard about Google + by now, this article will probably not interest you very much, or it might inspire you to join the millions (including myself) that have turned to Facebook, Twitter, and any other communication means, asking for a Google+ invitation.
Google’s clever, “invite only” way of launching many of their products has the ability to instantly create enough interest in their products that defines the very theory of supply and demand. This time they might have a winner as opposed to the most recent product launches such as Wave and BUZZ.
A lot of people have been comparing Google+ to Facebook since it’s launch. I have to say it is very similar, much like Facebook when it first began, but with more features. Below is an infographic from Technobombs comparing Google+ and Facebook.
What do you think about Google+? Will you be using using it? Will you be replacing Facebook with Google + or do you think it is just another poor attempt at a “Facebook Killer”?
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012 AT 10:57PM
