concert

Women sometimes buy quality audio, but that doesn't make them audiophiles.

With rare exceptions, all the audiophiles I've known are men. The unifying mantra for audiophiles is that there's always something, maybe an amplifier or speaker just out a reach that might get them a little closer to the music. Audiophiles are gear junkies. They want to have Aretha Franklin or the New York Philharmonic or their favorite music sound like it's in the house. Audiophiles crave an emotional, visceral connection with their music.

That pretty much sums up Margery Budoff's audiophile urges. Like most audiophiles I know, Margery had an unusually strong affinity for music at a young age. She described herself as "A child musician with an industrial design fetish." Even as a little kid she loved the look of stuff, especially older, big and clunky 1950s and 1960s record players.

The first record Margery bought was "Telstar," then Dionne Warwick, then the Rolling Stones. The record player was the thing that could "Decipher the secret code encrypted in the records. I wanted to hear the sound in all its glory. That's how I became an audiophile."… Read more

Band tracker and concert reminder service Songkick is venturing into new territory on Tuesday. The site is launching a feature that lets users chronicle all the shows they've ever been to. Think of it like a virtual shoe box for your old ticket stubs.

Users can either add these shows by hand, or search from a database that includes more than a million concerts. Each show page includes things like set lists, photos, videos, and posters. This information has been aggregated from various Web sources, including blogs, band pages, and event sites. If users have their own videos or … Read more

If you are an iTunes fan with a large library of music, chances are you have several songs with missing tags and cover art. Most people get their music from a number of sources, making it inevitable that some of your music doesn't have the right tags. While you could go in and fill in the genre, album name, and artist fields by hand, a huge library would take a long time to get through--not to mention all the time it would take searching for all the missing album artwork.

TuneUp Companion (Windows or Mac) is a plug-in for … Read more

As a final treat for our fans, we've also got a live acoustic version of Jonathan Coulton's in-studio performance of "Re: Your Brains" Again, please be sure to visit him at jonathancoulton.com.

Due to popular demand, we've decided to push out for your listening enjoyment the live acoustic version of Jonathan Coulton's in-studio performance of "Codemonkey" from his concert DVD album "Best. Concert. Ever." Be sure to visit him at jonathancoulton.com and pick up a copy of his latest album or DVD. Or if you're feeling extra generous, donate a little cash flow via PayPal.

I have to confess that sometimes I get so consumed in the world of my iPod and my MP3 collection that I lose sight of the fact that songs are made by people--real people--many of whom are living, and touring and putting on outstanding shows. Sure, recorded music is convenient, cheap, and accessible, but it's live performances that really make you fall head over heels for a band. No amount of Pandora, Last.fm, or iTunes could make me want to buy a band's T-shirt--but give me a good show, and suddenly I'm putting the band's … Read more

FanSnap announced Monday a $5.5 million funding round, which it aims to use on completing the build-out of its search engine.

FanSnap, which launched its ticket search engine beta in September, received funding from existing investor General Catalyst Partners, which led the round.

The FanSnap site is designed to allow users to search for tickets based on a number of criteria, from price range to number of tickets sought, as a well as an at-a-glance ticket price range based on the stadium section using a colored map.

The site gleans its data from 56 ticketing providers including StubHub, Ace … Read more

This performance from the Tower Theater in Philadelphia is loaded with hits. Musicianship is impeccable, but that's pretty much always the case with Simon, the guy's a real perfectionist. It's a rather laid-back show, and the Philly concert has a more intimate feel than the Simon & Garfunkle DVDs like "The Concert in Central Park."

"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" has a terrific groove, but for me the sparser songs, like the "The Boxer" work best. The mix of hope and regret running through "American Tune" is a … Read more

Music giant Live Nation announced on Thursday that it has partnered with SMG, the operator of 216 stadiums, arenas, convention centers, and concert halls, in an agreement that lasts through 2011.

The announcement is in anticipation of Live Nation's ticketing service, which launches in January and will sell tickets for venues that Live Nation already represents as a promoter as well as third-party partners. Under the terms of the agreement, Live Nation will be the exclusive outlet for SMG's tickets; Live Nation expects the SMG deal to raise its potential ticketing volume by 25 percent.

Live Nation recently … Read more