iPhone Predictions

Well, the iPhone is officially announced and I have to say that it looks absolutely insane! I have been a loyal Mac user for a number of years now since they are arguably the most stable and hassle free computers to host Pro Tools and many of my power hungry media apps. However, in spite of my bias, I have to say that the iPhone, as far as I can see, will be the most influential technological device of 2007 and the effects will likely change the landscape of the entire telecommunications industry!

RIM, the company that makes the Blackberry, saw a 6% drop in their stock value as result of Apple announcing the iPhone, which will offer a free "push" IMAP email account from Yahoo! as well as a fully functional web browser (not the "baby web" as Steve Jobs called it). Basically, they are giving away the main service that people have been paying for on a Blackberry but in a much cooler package and with way better functionality when you buy the iPhone.

It will be interesting to see what comes of the major cell phone manufacturers when this thing hits the market. I think the hardest hit will be RIM and the other high end "smart phone" companies. Clearly the iPhone is going to make there services and features seem obsolete and kind of primitive. However, the $499 US price tag will likely mean that the lower end phones won't likely be to threatened... not yet anyways. If the devepment of the iPod is any pattered of prediction, I wouldn't be surprised to see an iPhone Nano or something like that with a smaller footprint and a more budget friendly price tag by the end of the year or early 2008.

If you haven't seen the video of this thing in action yet, check it out. You will want to throw your cell phone in the garbage.

iPhone

The Story of CoLabs Pt. 1

So how did CoLabs get started?

The company is pretty unique and I probably wouldn't have started it if it weren't for all of the crazy experiences that brought me to this point.

Here it is...

I always saw Calgary as a great location to start something new in the music industry since it had such a hot economy, large population and relatively young music scene. I initially moved to Calgary, Alberta to help establish a small studio and record label with a company that was relocating to Calgary from BC. I essentially took over the studio end and wore a lot of hats as I wrote, produced, engineered, and mixed albums of a pretty wide variety of genres. At this point I had been producing albums with bands and solo artists for just over a year and a half and I was just starting to get the hang of this stuff as a serious profession. I was on the other hand, getting tired of the craziness that came along with trying to make albums without any real studio to work out of or any decent gear to do it with. I owned a small recording rig and would rent space or work after hours in rehearsal halls or churches to get the work done. Fun at first but the idea of working out of a real studio sounded much better.

Over the next year I worked like crazy and really began to work at learning the craft of record production. I loved producing albums, I loved engineering a tracking session, and I especially began to sink my teeth into mixing albums. For the first time I experienced how the learning process in the music industry was truly a lifelong endeavor.

As fun and exiting as it was, the studio was really poorly managed and after about a year, the stress effects of the long hours, unpredictably pay and crazy management style began to take it's toll. Also, I began to see things in the way artists were treated and often taken advantage of that really bothered me. It was around this time that I started dreaming about new ways that the whole recording and production process could take place.

But, I was committed to the artists I was working with and I loved being in the studio so, against my and my wife's better judgment, I stuck around. At the time I was working on what would be one of the biggest album I had ever produced. It was getting a tonne of buzz and everything was in place for the album to get some serious recognition.

Unfortunately, right before I was about to mix the album, the stress and frustration with the studio and label owners finally bottomed out. Everyday was a battle to keep the artist and the music first and not let all the stress kill the creative process. It was one of the hardest decisions I had ever made, but I had to quit the studio. In a lame turn of events, the album was quickly released after being rushed through a mix that left the album sounding dull, lifeless, and totally unprofessional. The buzz around the album carried it a long way in spite of it's lackluster presentation, but at the end of the day, a "breakthrough album" it was not.

The lessons I learned from this stage of life have been invaluable. namely...

• The Artist and the Music must come first.
• Integrity is a must, both for yourself and those you work with.
• You are only as good as the last project you touch - every day needs to be better then the last, every project needs to be the best you have ever done.

The decisions I made over the next few months would start me down a path toward some pretty crazy events...

HNY

Happy New Year!

2006 was a crazy year and there is a lot to reflect on as I look back and plan for 2007. A major highlight for me was definitely the launching of CoLabs. CoLabs has been a long time coming and the story of how this all got started is a little crazy. I'll share the unabridged version in my next post!