It was only a matter of time before cyberspace prevailed in the music industry …

‘Crazy’ by Gnarls Barkley made history by becoming the Number One song in the United Kingdom’s singles charts without one CD being available in stores. Over 31,000 legal downloads were compiled after the song was featured on BBC’s Radio One.

Among other things, that would rank the song right up there as the ultimate impulse buy.

To be accurate, ‘Crazy’ won this distinction because of a recent amendment to the British music industry’s rule that a song’s download couldn’t count against its sales until it became available in stores. However, the point has been made that, just as digital discs replaced tapes and records in personal music consumption, the torch has now been passed to digital transfers.

PC World noted this eventuality in its January 2006 issue, noting that music download sales tripled in 2005. That accounted for six percent of the music industry’s sales for the year, impressive in that it also signifies a dent in the number of pirated tracks. Figures released by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry — the authoritative source — revealed a tally of $1.1billion in download sales during the year.

Gnarls Barkley’s digital achievement came just over a month after another cyber-landmark was attained. The billionth download in iTunes history occurred in late February 2006, when a Michigan teen ordered Coldplay’s ‘Speed of Sound’ for the sum of 99 cents. That price is yet another reason why singles — almost eradicated by the trend toward albums in the 1970s — are back, and in a big way.

And to think that the music industry spent the early years of the Cyber Era trying to deny, or at least discourage, its existence.

Perhaps finally realizing that such a tactic didn’t work for blacksmiths at the turn of the last century, the recording moguls — albeit grudgingly — sought to learn from the new technology. The key to their success to date is their seeming awareness that their objective is to find their niche in the cybermarket, rather than attempt to dominate it. Granted, it’s a mega-niche, but the industry apparently accepts that it will no longer be the lone gateway between artist and consumer.

Retailers, for example, are beginning to capitalize on the social aspects of music purchases. There will always be teens, and congregating for music is a long-standing trait of theirs. When it’s in the malls or on Main Street, the major chains are preparing to offer kiosks where downloads can be purchased on-site. With their vast inventories of stock, these stores present an ideal means of searching for songs, sampling them and then sharing opinions, which perfectly describes the normal buying habits of both teens and tweens (ie- the 9-to-12 set).

Verizon is on the front lines for the mobile niche of music retailing with its VCast technology. This service transforms the wireless phone into a portable music player by synchronizing music already stored on the user’s PC. It can also be used to buy new songs or albums from the Verizon Wireless music catalog, which is accessed via cellular phone or PC.

Quality of sound for music downloads continues to improve exponentially, which further increases the attractiveness of downloads. FXSound is on the cutting edge in this respect with its critically acclaimed DFX Audio Enhancement package. Compatible with virtually every major music platform, from MP3s to Internet radio, DFX is trumpted as “the first plug-in to make truly professional-quality audio processing available to Internet audio users.” They do this by restoring the full range of frequency harmonics, thus creating the auspices of a high-end home music system. Its effects are amazing.

Where Gnarls Barkley has gone, legions will follow. Cyber-dominance in the music industry is now a hard fact, so the real top has yet to be popped.

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While the subject of karaoke elicits a roll of the eyes for many people, there’s no doubt that karaoke has had a huge cultural impact, first in Japan and then around the world. For a myriad of reasons, people enjoy singing and performing, and there’s no device that’s more successfully leveled the playing field for public performances than the karaoke machine.

Traditional karaoke machines incorporate a microphone, a recording of the instrumental tracks of a song, an audio output device, and a video screen that displays the lyrics of a song. Singers (or those who consider themselves to be singers) use the microphone to sing along to the music while following the lyrics on a video screen. Karaoke singing gained popularity in Japan in the 1980s and then spread throughout the world in the 1990s. Typically, people would gather in bars or clubs for “Karaoke Night,” although some clubs featured karaoke every night of the week.

In the new millennium, karaoke machines got much more personal. Singles and families started buying home karaoke machines for their own enjoyment, as well as for entertainment at parties. It was easy to simply hook them up to the television, put a disc in the DVD player, and have a blast. Karaoke continued to evolve when “Karaoke Revolution” was released for the PlayStation 2 gaming console. The player used a USB microphone or headset to sing along and received a score based on his or her performance. Subsequently, several more versions were released, including a “Party Bundle” for the PlayStation2, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox. The latest offering in the franchise, “Karaoke Revolution: American Idol,” built on the smashing success of the TV series, “American Idol.” In this version, up to eight people can compete in duets, in teams, or as single players.

There’s no doubt that “American Idol” has been a factor in the continuing popularity of karaoke. The premise that almost anyone has what it takes to become America’s next singing sensation (and that, even if you don’t, you can still get sympathy votes) has aficionados singing their hearts out – whether at home or in public.

The television series has also brought about the next evolutionary step in karaoke – turning MP3 players and MP3 downloads into hot gadgets that are perfect handheld karaoke machines. These specialized MP3 players allow aspiring “American Idol” contestants – and anyone else who enjoys singing out loud – to buy and download any song, input the lyrics, then remove the vocal track and record their own voices over the music while reading a display of the lyrics. The internal speaker and microphone, as well as the display screen, make recording and playing karaoke-style songs a breeze. That’s probably why this type of MP3 player is touted as the most widely used, pocket-sized karaoke player.

These types of hot gadgets, the continuing success of “American Idol,” and the spawning of similar television shows like “The Singing Bee” and “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!” all prove that karaoke is alive, well, and evolving to new heights.

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With “American Idol” making news by drawing upwards of 40 million viewers, it’s no wonder that “The Singing Bee” and “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!” jumped on the musical television bandwagon. It’s not simply that Americans are keen on choosing the next singing sensation; rather, they have aspirations to BE the next music superstar. That’s why the latest trend in hot gadgets is to turn MP3 players and MP3 downloads into personal karaoke machines.

The concept is simple but ingenious. With specialized MP3 players, users can buy MP3 downloads, load them into the player, and input the lyrics of the songs – the original lyrics or their own versions. They can then remove the voice track from the song and record their own voices over the music while reading a display of the lyrics. After that, they can listen to their own voiceovers and share them with others.

The advantages of these types of players are obvious. For one thing, you don’t have to wait for a Karaoke Night at your local watering hole to sing your favorite tunes. For another, you actually have the opportunity to record your own voice and listen to what it sounds like – and record it again and again until you get it right. In addition, most karaoke CDs are from songs that are out of date and out of fashion. With these new players, you can purchase and download new releases of songs and current hits without having to wait for them to come out on karaoke CDs. Further, people of all ages can use it to sing their favorite tunes – in a truly convenient and portable handheld device. In addition, you can customize the lyrics by inputting your own version of the words to a song. Finally, it’s perfect for both those who have aspirations to become professional singers and those who just enjoy the pleasures of singing.

With these new devices, singing for pleasure is just the beginning. With an internal speaker and microphone, as well as a display screen, music fans can certainly remove the vocals from their favorite tracks and sing their own versions of their favorite songs. But they can then take their “albums” and incorporate them into social networking sites like MySpace or even upload them to YouTube. If they want to be America’s next singing sensation, they can even send them as auditions to shows that are looking for the next big star.

Pre-teens and teens in particular are causing this handheld karaoke phenomenon to gain momentum. After school gatherings and evening get togethers are abuzz with kids clamoring to try these new hot gadgets and urging each other on to record over their favorite songs.

Handheld karaoke machines are definitely heating up the electronics market and represent the next logical step in the singing phenomenon that began with “American Idol.”

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