Beats Music

So I have this problem….I’ll admit it. Most of the applications on my smart phone are totally as well as completely useless. I download them because it’s all people are talking about on social media (AKA Flappy Bird which I now blame for my high blood pressure) and then stop using them after about a week later. The applications I continually go back to and use on a regular basis seem to be the music based ones. While browsing the app store this weekend, I came across the “Beats Music” app.

This app appealed to me:

1 because it was new

2 I recognized the name “Beats”

3 it was free

As like any new app, there are issues. It seems that glitching, freezing, and issues logging in to one’s account seem to the most common ones. Being in the market only a few weeks, these are the types of issues I would expect a new application to have though. Beats and it’s developers are aware of these issues and are apparently working to fix them in the near future.

The music streaming business is not something new with names like Pandora and Spotify already dominating the market. Beats Music offers users over 20 million tracks to choose from, but at a price. Yes, the application is free to download, but having an account and access to those 20 million songs is not. Pandora and Spotify have free versions of the application which most users are completely content with. Beats Music offers a free 7 day trial. After the 7 days, AT&T users are eligible for a $15/month family plan while all other users pay $10/month for a subscription. This is definitely one of the down sides for me, making some of Beats Music competitors a little more appealing. I mean iTunes Radio is even free…

The interface is one of the better ones I’ve seen, showing lots of pictures, drop down menus, but also user friendly at the same time. Here is a demo of a using scrolling through the app and all of it’s features.

I think Beats Music will do OK. I do not think it will surpass those already dominating the music streaming industry, but I don’t think it will flop either. Having offers such as the AT&T Family Plan as well as the 7 day free trial will attract users. Hopefully within one of the new few upgrades Beats Music has, it will provide users with an experience that no other application out there is able to provide.

Love could change the Twitter world forever

I’m not talking about that lovey-dovey romantic feeling you get either. I’m talking about Courtney Love, the singer-songwriter once married to Nirvana singer, Kurt Cobain.

Photo source: celebuzz

Twitter has been in the social media game for quite some time now, allowing any and every one with an account to express their thoughts in 140 characters or less. Twitter isn’t just for the everyday person either. The application is used by thousands of celebrities ranging in social status all around the world.

So what’s the big deal?

Love is going to trial because of a tweet. Yes, you read that correctly. For the first time in history a “Twibel,” Twitter liberal case, is being brought to trial in the United States. Rhonda Holmes is taking Courtney Love to court over the below tweet. The tweet was originally posted in 2010 and has since been deleted.

@CourtneyLoveUK: "@noozjunkie I was f*cking devastated when Rhonda J Holmes Esq of san diego was bought off @fairnewsspears perhaps you can get a quote

Brian Claypool, an attorney not associated with the case, told ABC News his input on the scenario.

 “The Courtney Love Twitter lawsuit is monumental because the judge has now determined that tweeting in California can potentially give rise to liability under the theory of defamation.”

“The Courtney Love case will set a precedent that will result in, potentially, the average person being liable as well.”

Basically, Love is calling out Holmes for not defending her in a real estate issue from a few years back. Love claims that this tweet was not meant to be public, but instead should have been a direct message to two individuals.

Love made it a point to state that regardless of the message being public; it was an opinion, not a fact. Therefore she felt that she should not be penalized for it. The judge did not see eye to eye with Love which is why a trial is now set in place.

This article does an amazing job explaining what is going on with this trial and what could happen is Love is charged and how it could affect the Twitter world as we know it.

I’ve got to say I’m leaning with Love on this one. I know I’ve posted things on social media that are inside jokes between friends and family. An outsider could easily read something I’ve posted and misinterpret it. Social media platforms are a lot like those gossip magazines you see on newsstands. They are basically posting whatever they want about people from “sources” who may not even know the celebrity at all. So if they are allowed to profit off of stories bashing celebrities without being penalized, then why should someone who posted something on their personal Twitter account for free, and quite possibly by accident, be charged?

Let me make it clear that I am not saying Courtney Love is right. It’s most certainly not ok to get all crazy and start bullying people on the internet. I just think that there are much bigger fish to fry such as paparazzi websites and gossip papers that post these types of things all the time than worrying about 1 person. If Love is convicted, I can’t even imagine what “Freedom of speech” issues will arise from something like this also.

Only time will tell how this will all play out. 

A little about me...

My name is Alicia! I grew up playing field hockey, basketball, and softball. I even went on to continue to play field hockey at the collegiate level at the University of Scranton. While at Scranton, I studied for a degree in finance as well as a degree in management. I graduated in 2012.

A week after graduation, I began life in the “real world” as a trade analyst at State Street Corporation, & I have been with this company ever since. Shortly after working in the finance field, I felt as if something was missing, and realized it was entertainment. For as long as I can remember, music has inspired me in every aspect of my life. It's what I love. In the past I’ve been able to be backstage at some major music productions, and I have realized that this type of work is I want to spend the rest of my life doing. This is the field I hope to enter in the months to come. 

I don't just enjoy music. I enjoy everything that makes the entire production possible. I look up to people like L.A Reid and Scooter Braun, some of the best at what they do. 

Since the World Wide Web has become easily accessible, literally at our fingertips thanks to smartphones and tablets, it seems as if the possibilities to communicate and share what we love with one another are endless. That’s what I hope to do on here.

I plan on sharing my musical taste, the musical taste of others, and my thoughts on things going on in the music industry as well as anything that happens to fall in between. One of my favorite sayings goes along the lines of: music speaks to people. You can sing a song to 100 different people and they will sing it back to you for 100 different reasons. Here, my reasons will reflected.

I hope to inspire others. I want to make my little corner of the internet a place of endless possibly for any and everyone that may come across it. I want to make it a place to share with others what inspires me the most. It will be a place to share my work, and in the end I hope that it may possibly inspire others.

Kick back. Enjoy. And be inspired.