Lulu Community activities need to look like Flickrvision and Twittervision.

You gotta check out Flickrvision and Twittervision. As top 100 community sites, Flickr and Twitter obviously have a lot going on, and Flickrvision and Twittervision display this community activity via Goggle’s Google Earth functionality.

Wow.

It’s really cool seeing photos that users are uploading in real-time, or twitter comments being presented as they occur. I, for one, could watch it all day.

This has real possibilities for displaying activities from Lulu’s dynamic community, too. Whether we’re showing the 1000+ new creators we have registering every day, or displaying the book cover image of newly published content by geographic location, or showing an image of the content that’s being purchased, there are opportunities to better convey “World Lulu” to creators and visitors alike.

Let me know what you think. I’m at henry@lulu.com.

hbh

Lulu now has social tagging

It’s taken a while, but we’ve finally taken an important step at Lulu.com. Lulu creators, their audience, and internet lurkers in general can now “tag” Lulu content for wider internet visibility. If you go to any Lulu marketplace item, say Bylli Crayone’s Court of Love mp3, you’ll see Digg and del.icio.us icons and links. In a nutshell, these two popular internet sites provide a means for you to market your Lulu content outside of Lulu–which is good for everyone!

As a primer, check out these links to better understand the value of these features:

• What is Del.icio.us? What is social bookmarking? What are “tags”? http://del.icio.us/about/
• How does Digg work? http://www.digg.com/how

You might also want to view their FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions):

• Del.icio.us’s FAQ
• Digg’s FAQ

Lastly, to post on these sites you need join them!

• Join Del.icio.us
• Join Digg

I hope you take advantage these new capabilities bring for maximizing the online reach of your content, and widening your audience. Enjoy!

hbh

Derek Powazek is leaving 8020 Publishing

Wow, Derek Powazek, the founder of JPG Magazine, is leaving his baby–8020 Publishing. 8020 is a unique experience in collaborative publishing, but it looks like Derek has had a falling out with his partner. You can read more about it here as well.

Derek and his wife, Heather, have been valuable members of the Lulu creator community. Their earlier issues can still be found on our site.

I wish them both the best, and am confident that better opportunities await them.

hbh

Finally, we have “legal” DRM-free MP3s

Thanks to our friends at Amazon, your favorite music can now be legally downloaded in mp3 format. Check out the Wall Street Journal article (you have to be a subscriber), or from Slyck.com. Things are finally moving in the right direction…

Amazon.com Inc. plans to launch a digital music store later this year that will sell all songs without antipiracy technology, creating a rival to Apple Inc.’s iTunes store.

The Seattle online retailer said its music store will have “millions of songs” in the MP3 format without so-called digital rights management, or DRM, software, which prevents consumers from freely copying and transfering their music among a variety of devices.

Amazon said the store will launch with music from EMI Group PLC, which said last month it would allow Apple and others to sell its music without copy protection.
The burning question is whether it’s too late to matter. Mp3s are freely available everywhere, and most musicians don’t make the lion’s share of their income from downloads. Will consumers change their behavior? It comes down to convenience, price, and, in the case of illegal downloading–guilt.

Time will tell…

hbh

Jonathan Coulton gets it. Do you?

This somewhat lengthy NYT article highlights the opportunities, challenges, and benefits of “B-list” bands and musicians utilizing online technologies to interact with and build their fan base. Wearing so many hats–creator, promoter, distributor, etc, brings the advantage of controlling your own destiny (along with some $$), but also has its share of headaches.

Nevertheless, it is this independent creator–in books, music and video–that we must better attract, embrace and support if we’re to remain successful.

The crux of the article concerns Jonathan Coulton, a Brooklyn musician. Utilizing the power of the web–Myspace, Youtube, mail lists, etc–he’s built up quite a following. It’s a clearly stressful situation to be the owner of your success, but it’s also refreshing to hear this:

“Maybe this is what my career will be,” Coulton said: slowly building new fans online, playing live occasionally, making a solid living but never a crazy-rich one. He’s considered signing on with a label or a cable network to try to chase a higher circle of fame, but that would mean giving up control. And, he says, “I think I’m addicted to running my own show now.”

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize that this is the model of how personal success will be judged in the future, whether artists are prepared for it or not.

The fundamentals are returning. Music is not a product, and it’s not a service. It’s a passion that may eventually build itself into an outlet for expression, for recognition, and possible success. The barriers to distribution that have historically “filtered” what could be heard, enjoyed, and judged have been lifted. The playing field is level, as it should be.

Furthermore, music is, by definition, a message. Musicians are the messengers. The opportunity for the masses to connect with musicians (and all artists) is a tremendous advantage of this internet world we live in, and the music environment (never say industry) has changed forever.

This is good for everyone. Well, maybe not for those unwilling to accept it. But we’ve already passed you by anyway.

hbh