EMusic.com – is it the only music company that GETS the Internet?

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After joining several websites that offer paid music downloads, I had finally given up on ANY music website. Most websites suffer from DMCA and similar legislation that enforces geographic boundaries on copyright, and completely disregard the intrinsic the it-is-everywhere nature of the Internet.

Pandora used to be a standout, but then was hammered into line by its fear of lawyers and lawsuits who chose to play a very conservative hand at a time when bold suits were needed.

As I pointed out in my long letter about Pandora, to which the owner of Pandora Tim Westergren thoughtfully and generously commented, the door is open for a short time for new technology to make inroads into our lives before other technologies come along and crowd it out.

The door for Pandora.com was open, but was firmly slammed shut a few months ago. Naturally, I’m still keen to buy and enjoy online music, but there are so few services that are suitable for me, and millions of other listeners out there. Why?

Because we don’t live in a country with an Itunes store or similar legal venue to purchase music, we don’t have a credit card with an address in one of those countries, and we can’t listen to music services like Pandora.com or many of the other services like XM.Radio online…

As a loyal listener, I’m limited (thankfully) to three primary services for finding my music, and I’m making increasing use of each over the past few years. In fact, it’s almost becoming a habit…

1. Amazon.com where I can legally order and receive CDs, DVDs, and many other physical goods. That’s fine, if I’m already familiar with the artists. (Local radio plays few artists that I really like, mostly it’s mush for the under 17s who buy CDs here). The only downside is that I can’t pay by Paypal which I like.

2. EMusic.com which allows international sales of its music. The upside is that you get to hear a lot of independent music, can download legally, and can burn CDs as you wish. The downside is that you don’t really hear many well-known artists, can only download a certain amount, and don’t get any actual radio streams.

3. Sky.FM is an online radio service that streams dozens of channels along with DI.fm. I enjoy both of these and would gladly pay for them. In fact, as soon as my bill for Emusic.com comes in, I’ll buy a 12-month subscription to SKY.fm. It makes a great difference in my life, as I get to hear the music I can’t find on EMusic.com.

So, one way and another I can find music online. As each of these services innovates, expands and creates new opportunities, it will be much harder for upstarts to grab market share or even mind share. This is all money that Itunes Stores or Pandora or Yahoo! Music or any of dozens of other traditional companies could have had, but now I’m enjoying the different selection. And, like thousands of other music lovers, I discovered something amazing:

There is a WORLD of music outside the big four (‘dumb’) record companies, and much of it is GOOD.

Shhh! Don’t tell SonyBMG! They might try to buy it!

Working hard? Take a break or just a change of office space!

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The InvestorBlogger would love a change of pace, and a change of space! And if he didn’t have his own place of business, the life of an itinerant blogger might be just thing. Just imagine the places he could go… perhaps even taking a Caribbean cruise on the Queen Mary 2.

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Of course, the trick with a cruise has to be that you don’t get stuck on board the ship for too long. You need a chance to hop off and on, so an island cruise is perhaps best for this: you get the chance to visit different places, and can return to your own luxury hotel on the ocean.

Oh, and indeed it is a luxury: copious amounts of space (for a ship), hotel-standard suites and rooms (no hammocks here!), lots of recreational activities, restaurants, movies, exercise, and so on.

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This may not be cheap, but you’ll likely fine a cruise to suit your own pocket as Holiday Hypermarket offers a variety of cruises, ships, room and flights, and so on. Just make sure your room has a data socket for access to the Internet! Then you’ll be able to make all your readers envious of your life style!

So, on a cruise, here’s my itinerary (with suggested activities for bloggers) for those sailing from New York:

Day -3 You fly to New York , check into your hotel. Blog about your flight!

Day -2 You tour New York , do all the touristy things… and check out the places where InvestorBloggers dream about: the NYSE, Wall Street, and the other financial attractions! You take photos of these great places and write them up in your blog! Try to ‘bump’ into some of the people who work there, and interview one or two them for a podcast!

Day -1 It’s SHOPPING ! You get stuff for the Caribbean trip and learn how to spell it properly for your blog postings! Clue: it’s NOT Carribean as I thought!

Day 0 You get to the ship and embark, taking as many pictures, videos and recordings as you can! The Queen Mary 2 is a fantastic ship… You can simply put the best ones on your blog, add video to YouTube, and post the stuff. You won’t need to write much. The ship departs at 7:00 pm. It’s probably getting dark, get ready from some wonderful scenic shots of the city.

Days 1-2 You are on the ocean , relaxing and making good use of all the recreational activities. Of course, you manage to do some real postings!… Remind people that your blog isn’t ALL play, and NO work!

Day 3 Your arrival in the British Virgin Islands where you will come across your first Caribbean experiences of the sands, seas and atmosphere! Tortola welcomes you! At night, you post pictures and share how you achieved your dream vacation!

Day 4 lands you on St. Kitts where you’ll see the colonial old town, fortress and markets! Perhaps a little light blogging and email before bedtime!

Day 5 is on to Bridgetown, Barbados . In Barbados, you get time to stay overnight and enjoy the real Caribbean lifestyle. Perhaps it’s time for some lively blogging and photos about how the other half really live! Show your readers, too. They’ll believe you are the other half!

Day 6 will show you how the local people on St. Lucia run their markets as you shop for antiques, souvenirs, and whatever else takes your fancy! Markets are a wonderful place to shop, and you require your wits… it’s so different to the sterile stores of North America! You can blog about how the locals trade and do business! Sprinkle the post liberally with shots of the markets, people and products.

Day 7 In St. Thomas , you’ll be able to experience quaint streets lined by duty-free boutiques. What are those taxes for after all? Blog about how taxes are used to rob the rich, pay for services, or redistribute wealth! Whatever angle takes your fancy! But do make your readers envious as you purchase perfumes, wines and all manner of goods duty free!

Days 8-9 see you on the high seas , but you ain’t no pirate! Still time for a little swashbuckling on your blog! You’ve got time to reflect on your time as you begin the trip home.

Day 10 it’s back to New York . Time to attend to some banking, investing, bookstores, good restaurants, and theater. Then off home. No time to blog much except at the airport, as you wait for your flight back to Taiwan.

So, there you go, the flights, the cruise, the itinerary and a blogging schedule… What else do you need? Why are you still reading this? Go, now, go…

Thanks for lettting me cruise the blogosphere with you from HolidayHypermarket.co.uk.

Did this drive you around the Benz?

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We were at Taipei’s 101 Shopping Mall, on the 4th floor where we discovered that there two new coffee shops and a Harper’s Bazaar exhibition with a very unusual exhibit. Pictured below… how would you like to drive one of these?

Is it enough power to turn the ladies’ heads, John? This is my Moon Festival Car of the Year, 1886 to be precise. Enjoy.

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Look at its rear mounted engine that could generate 2/3rds of a horsepower at 250rpm. A later version could ‘gallop’ along at nearly 10mph. That’s 0-10 in about 120 years, perhaps. Still, a wonderful feat of engineering, and worthy in any car museum.

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I don’t think too many Zonda mechanics would know how to fix this engine! Apparently, Benz’s wife, Bertha, undertook the first long distance car trip in the world (without her husband’s knowledge! “honey, I just borrowed the Benz!”) and drove nearly 200km. I had a look at the wheels, it can’t have been too comfortable, but what a thrill! A mechanized carriage without horses!