The Democratization of Music in an iTunes Era

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Posted By: Dan Cohen

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Say what you will about iTunes and the electronic age’s impact on music and the music industry but one thing is clear — they have been great about is giving talented people exposure long before they might come to the attention of agents, scouts and record labels. That’s the case with Applegirl, who caught the world’s attention with her rendition of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face performed with nothing more than a number of iPhones.

Over three million views later she has a contract with a record company. Pretty neat.

Then there is Ben, one of my students and an aspiring musician. I’ve watched Ben grow up and have been super impressed by his growing talent as a musician. I’ve seen him play a few times and have always enjoyed watching and listening to him. Since I’ve known him most of his life I guess the best word to describe it is that I… KVELL.

So imagine my surprise when, while browsing iTunes the other day I came across a three song EP entitled One Thousand Reasons. And the artist behind the EP? My student Ben.

No, Ben doesn’t have a recording contract, not even close, but thanks to iTunes his music can be out there and available to anyone interested. That’s the democratization of music in action. And who knows… maybe by having his music up on iTunes he will get discovered. After all, he is actually pretty darn good!

So here’s my shameless plug… You can check out his music here, and I hope you will.

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About the Author

Dan Cohen
Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. Dan is married to Raina Goldberg who is also an avid user of Apple products. They live in New Jersey with their golden doodle Nava.

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12 Comments on "The Democratization of Music in an iTunes Era"

  1. Gadget Freaks | July 24, 2010 at 6:51 pm |

    The Democratization of Music in an iTunes Era #gadgets http://bit.ly/9TL9fe

  2. Katrina Britt | July 24, 2010 at 8:22 pm |

    The Democratization of Music in an iTunes Era | Gear Diary: Say what you will about iTunes and the electronic age'… http://bit.ly/cLQeWT

  3. Rick F. Barnes | July 25, 2010 at 12:15 am |

    The Democratization of Music in an iTunes Era | Gear Diary http://bit.ly/b0hEJJ

  4. Dan Cohen | July 25, 2010 at 1:12 am |

    The Democratization of Music in an iTunes Era | Gear Diary http://bit.ly/cLQeWT

  5. GraceBarkwell | July 25, 2010 at 1:31 am |

    The Democratization of Music in an iTunes Era | Gear Diary http://bit.ly/dCoHFW

  6. Ian Spicer | July 25, 2010 at 1:31 am |

    Itunes – The Democratization of Music in an iTunes Era | Gear Diary: Say what you will about iTunes and the electr… http://bit.ly/bEVxCv

  7. Thomas R. Hall | July 25, 2010 at 1:38 am |

    RT @dmcohen: The Democratization of Music in an iTunes Era | Gear Diary http://bit.ly/cLQeWT

  8. Hook | July 25, 2010 at 7:47 pm |

    Dan,

    You might be interested to know that Ben’s EP is also up on Amazon. Yes, among my other sins, I don’t use iTunes. 😉

    Very nice music. Ben is a talent.

  9. Dan Cohen | July 25, 2010 at 10:16 pm |

    Very cool. Yup, he is quite talented.

    But no iTunes??? What is this world coming to?

    Actually, I was officiating a wedding last night and the bride and groom were using an iPod and dock for something. They asked a friend to turn it on at some point and he wouldn’t… he refuses to touch an iPod. Talk about taking the anti-Apple thing to an extreme!

  10. Hook | July 25, 2010 at 10:27 pm |

    I’m actually not anti-Apple. I’m hoping my next computer will be a Mac and then I will be fine with iTunes. I just don’t like iTunes on Windows (I’m not a great lover of Windows to begin with). Media Monkey + Amazon is much smoother in a Windows ecosystem. 😉

  11. Giant Gizmo | July 27, 2010 at 1:05 am |

    The Democratization of Music in an iTunes Era http://bit.ly/92himO

  12. Henry Lum | July 30, 2010 at 7:53 am |

    RT @geardiary : The Democratization of Music in an iTunes Era http://tinyurl.com/36fttxo

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