What we're listening to. Aretha. 'Soul Queen'.

"Queen of soul, queen of soul" as Van sings about her and she is. In fact "you send me" is here which Van often covers and then, he doesn't really ever do covers as such - so much he's a fan of Aretha.

All the tracks are here - "Do right woman", "Save me", "Respect", "Chain of fools", "Say a little prayer", "The weight" (made famous by The Band and written by Robbie Robertson), "Call me", "Spanish Harlem" and 60 tracks which makes it a well-worthwhile compilation. Magic in fact.

18 Grammys, makes her pretty unbeatable and at 73 is still releasing Albums. 

From Memphis she started as a Gospel singer (her Dad was a Pastor) and you hear those Gospel tones on all her music. Often referred to as Whitney Houston's "aunt" in fact she wasn't - just an "honorary aunt".

There's something beautiful about Aretha and a smooth mezzo-soprano honey voice that just gets into you. Into your soul.

So this is a great introduction to a moment in time and a whole world of soul. It's one to start with to explore that whole genre. The genre of magnificent. This will give you a sense of it below -  Enjoy.

Apple to encourage Ad Blocking. Publishers worry.

Ad Blocking, which really hurts online publishers who depend on Advertising, just got easier.

It looks like Apple have just made it easier to block Ads on Ipad and Iphones through their new 'safari' browser release by allowing ad blocking extensions as an option. 

Ad blocking is growing by over +70% a year with 144 million users in 2014. It's going to hurt Google and Facebook and will push publishers onto Apple's iad product in order to have Ads on Apple devices.

So basically, if Apple is bringing traffic to Ads via their Safari, they want a cut and encouraging general ad blocking is one way.

We'll see but, not a good day for publishers.

Video Ads becoming the top Ad Format says Business Insider! We agree!

Video is becoming the top Advertising formats on desktop and mobile but particularly growing on mobile (3 x faster). That's according to a new Business Insider Report.

Video revenues this year is about 5 Billion usd but it will grow +21% each year for the next 5. It is replacing static display because it performs better and is more watchable.

On Social Media too, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram all now (recently) have video ad platforms/opportunities.

Although we have no doubt at Streamabout. Even in a local market, our business producing online digital video and video ads, is growing +50% year-on-year. It is an exploding space. Great.

And if you need Video Ads.....streamabout.com

What we're listening to this week. Neil Young, 'After the Goldrush'.

Another September 1970 Album (was all good music in the 70's and 80's?), the Canadian's third Studio Album.

It featured an 18 year old genius, Nils Lofgren (now with Springsteen) and at one time, was voted Best Album Ever. Which it could well be.

Stephen Stills of Crosby Nash Stills, is also on here.

It's one great record with 'Only love can break your heart' as a stand out but having been recorded mainly at Young's home, it has a real authentic feel. The songs stand up rather than the production.  

Famously too, the track 'Southern Man' was a dig at the South USA "Southern change going to come at last, now your crosses are burning fast....Southern Man when will you pay them back...."

It was the reason for Lynyrd Skynrd 'Sweet Home Alabama' as a response - "Well I heard Mr. Young sing about her, well I heard old Neil put her down. Well I hope Neil Young will remember, Southern Man don't need him around anyhow!".

You'll hear Neil Young mentioned especially in the intro here.

The full Album is here too. Went down great in Streamabout as a real summer classic. It is, a masterpiece.

Apple's new Music Service. Coming, today.

Apple's new music streaming service is on the way and it's going to change ITunes.

Called 'Apple Music' it will compete with the likes of Spotify, Deezer and Pandora and will be all encompassing (radio and downloading including) probably costing about 10 USD a month and be pre-installed in the next generation of iphones (giving it instant market distribution).

Plus Apple's extraordinary cash reserves, will give it the marketing edge on competitors simply by outspending them (Spotify has 15 million subscribers - the market is circa 40 million subscribers currently).

Unlike Spotify, Apple Music will not have a free tier so either you're in or you're not but they're likely to bundle some free months are part of a signing up offer.

Streaming may of course, hamper the declining download market which in turn, will impact on the general music business. But Streaming has shown significant growth - it's what consumers want vis-a-vis downloading.

All coming in an announcement today.
But it's a big change for the way in which Apple are attacking music.
And a big change for artists too.