Rexblog Playlist 001: Buzzmachine

What’s Buzzin’ Cousin (Cab Calloway)

Buzz Me (B.B. King)

Lucky Buzz (Richard Buckner)

Ultimate Buzz (James Eternal)

I Don’t Need No Booze to Get A Buzz On (Alan Jackson)

Buzzy (Bud Powell & Charlie Parker)

Buzz Me Baby (Fleetwood Mac)

Buzz (Paul Kelly)

You heard it on the rexblog playlist: Every Friday, I’ll be posting a Rexblog Playlist of that week’s bumper music so that you can line up your weekend iTunes downloading plans accordingly. Also, you can get the complete list of bumper music at the “you heard it on the rexblog archive” (Remember, this is a profit deal. I’m trying to get the seven readers of this weblog to download 20 million songs so that I can make $1 million.)

Rexblog Playlist 002: Weekly Bumps #1

Time and Time Again (Counting Crows)

C.C. Rider (Chuck Berry)

Chain Reaction (Diana Ross)

I’m a Woman (Peggy Lee)

Over the Rainbow (Judy Garland)

In the Jailhouse Now (Jimmie Rodgers)

Search, Find (Bee Gees)

Colour My World (Chicago)

Couch Potato (“Weird Al” Yankovic)

Handy Man (James Taylor)

Suede (Tori Amos)

Math Suks (Jimmy Buffett)

Saturday Night (Ozomatli)

Big Shot (Billy Joel)

Nine to Five (Dolly Parton)

Twisted Teen (Béla Fleck & Tony Trishka)

One Way or Another (Blondie)

Money for Nothing (Dire Straits)

Black (Pearl Jam)

Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne)

Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Flatt & Scruggs)

Breathe (Faith Hill)

Everything Old is New Again (the Method and Result)

Update: Tom Brio also has a Friday playlist & here’s Rox’s (that’s right, Rox) playlist of her “Friday Random Ten.” It appears I’m joining in a great tradition.

Custom publishing gimmick: I’m not quite sure why, but I think some of the readers of this weblog may be interested in this online “book” offer from Cadillac (Canada). (via adrants.com)

Hmmm: Eddie Rider e-mailed me this link to a Denver Business Journal story about a new Denver Broncos for Kids magazine with an obvious suggestion for “what I should be all over.” Unfortunately, there already sorta is one.

bumper music: C.C. Rider (Chuck Berry)

Media value chains: Via Jeff, I saw this post by VC Tim Oren regarding “the possibility that one of the major value chains in modern society – media and advertising – will be rearranged (by the Internet, “people’s journalism,” et al), at least in part. That makes an economic analysis of the issue rather interesting.” Jeff amplifies what Tim says.

But let me disagree (agreeably, as Jeff once complimented me). When dissecting media into “content” and “transactions” you display why I share Doc Searls’ dislike of the term “content” (I couldn’t find the Doc reference I was looking for, but found this relevant post on “mediaism”). I agree that much of the information we have historically obtained through “old media” is much more accessible via new means. And I’m first in line for the blogging-new media-internet-technology-changes-everything band-wagon.

But while I think “old media” is forever changed, I believe one has to examine the various roles of specific “old media” before one dismisses entire categories as buggy whips (my metaphor, not theirs).

I live my life in new media. But my great passion (obviously) is magazines. And while I agree with Jeff/Tom that old media that is focused on the dissemination of “breaking news” will likely be displaced by new media, I must remind everyone that “news magazines” take up but a small chunk of shelf space on the consumer newsstand. Even in the business-to-business world, where I can make a fairly persuasive argument that much of the “content” in trade publications can be disseminated more efficiently electronically, I also know that magazines play a role in people’s lives that transcends content.

If I had more time (and may do this later), I would talk about the role of “experience” in how we encounter media or, better yet, I would quote Virginia Postrel in trying to argue that certain media bring with them (beyond the information they provide) a certain aesthetic value that “remakes” our consciousness.

I don’t know. All this makes me feel the need to go back and reread some Mcluhan (or, my favorite,Osmo Wiio — no way, if you Google “Osmo Wiio,” the rexblog shows up second) or perhaps Adam Smith.

Bottom line: media economics may be about bundles and values chains and transactions…but that’s not why someone displays a magazine on the coffee table.

bumper music: Chain Reaction (Diana Ross)

Pre-vaporzine watch: The NY Post’s Keith Kelly reports (scroll down through the whiny Maxim editors part) on a vaporzine that hasn’t yet even vaporized.

Quote:

Catherine Romano, a one-time top editor at Maxim —once described on the masthead as the “editrix” — quietly quit her most recent job as deputy editor at Reader’s Digest to join Hearst. She is said to be working on secret women’s magazine project for Hearst magazine President Cathleen Black and Good Housekeeping Editor in Chief Ellen Levine. Levine has emerged as something of a start-up queen after the tremendous success of the joint venture with Oprah Winfrey on O, the Oprah Magazine. The new venture is not a fashion title, said one insider, dispelling a rumor that it was being worked up to eventually supplant embattled Harper’s Bazaar.

Correction: Levine is not merely a queen, she’s a goddess.

bumper music: I’m a Woman (Peggy Lee)

(via iwantmedia.com and others.)

Technical difficulties: Due to some apparent problems with the blogrolling.com servers (I use their handy service to maintaing my blogroll on the left), I’ve had some problems this morning with access the rexblog. So, I’ve temporarily removed the blogroll. It should be back up later today. On another technical matter, the linking problems with iTunes has been fixed so now you can get to all your favorite buzzworthy songs. (Speaking of buzzworthy music, Jim Jazwiecki (who is, unlike me, a real magazine industry journalist) suggests that no buzz playlist would be complete with some songs from the group Buzzcocks. )

Audited audit: Michael Shields asks some good questions about Business Week’s decision to use both a belt and suspenders to hold up its circulation pants. In addition to being audited by ABC, they will also be audited by rival auditing service BPA. Although one of the questions sounds a bit like the old, “When did you stop beating your wife?”

Quote:

Business Week said the move has nothing to do with any looming scandal, and there have not been any red flags over the magazine’s circulation. Indeed, the company appears to have a pretty clean auditing history. Is the magazine simply making a statement within a magazine industry that has been hammered by shady practices? One that says: “Look, we are cleaner than most?” According to Tom Masterson, Business Week’s vice president-worldwide circulation director, that’s exactly the case. “We are a very transparent company,” he said. “We are trying to take a leadership position in the industry. We really want to send a message.”

If the message is, “you need two audits to be believable,” then that’s a message that will come back to hurt the messenger as well as the intended audience.

For the sake of the magazine industry, I hope (and feel certain due to my respect for the company involved) that what we see here is what we get. If not, well, I’ll remind folks that when others were trying to bury news about circulation on Christmas Eve, there was at least one magazine geek blogger around to follow the story.

(More on this — and bumper music — to come.)

bumper music: Time and Time Again (Counting Crows) [I'm really proud of this one.]