Tag Archives: music

For The Birds

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This video was viewed by over two million people. It’s almost too strange to believe. Music composer, Jarbos Agnelli of Brazil, saw a picture of birds sitting on electric wires in a local newspaper. He thought it would be totally awesome if he put notes exactly where the birds were located. This is the melody he created. Unbelievable!

Thank you Marsha Levine for bringing this to my attention.

Miguel Elias

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My friend Miguel Elias died last week while I was at CES. He was in his mid 50’s. He learned a few weeks prior that he had stage four liver cancer. He declined faster than anyone could ever have imagined. His long-time partner, Joe Nass, has been hospitalized with a complete breakdown. Their dog Buddy suddenly died days after Miguel and Joe just couldn’t cope.

If it wasn’t for Facebook, texts, and emails, most of Miguel’s family and friends would not have been informed so quickly about his condition. His interior design clients live all over the United States (with a focus on Dallas and Minneapolis) and his family in Rio. Those closest to him immediately flew in to be at his side.

Miguel was a very special person. Not only was he very handsome and talented, he was a very good friend. Eliot and I met him when he was the boyfriend of one of our employees, Andrew Scott. Miguel took impeccable care of Andrew when he was drying of AIDS. He did the same thing for his next partner, Bob. There are few people on Earth who would devote their lives to take care of others as he did for these men.

Eliot and I witnessed Miguel at the lowest of low and then the highest of high. Miguel’s last partner Joe contracted cancer (nothing related to AIDS), so he spent two-plus years nursing him back to life. He basically gave up his career to be a devoted caregiver.

That was just a few years ago, Miguel was finally enjoying life, doing what he loved the most, making people’s homes absolutely spectacular. He just finished one major assignment on Central Park West. I am talking to the owners about showcasing one of his last masterpieces.

Eliot, Whitney and I were very close to Miguel. He and Joe even employed Whitney when they first opened their home accessories retail store in the Union Square district. Called XYZ, it was right across the way from ABC Carpet.

We will miss Miguel terribly and pray that Joe recovers quickly. None of this makes sense to those who love them both.

A Whole New Dimension in Music

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The music industry is about to go through a major transformation and we will be witnessing it in the next year or two. Sometimes I wonder if I am the only one who is so amazed by these changes. I guarantee you that if John, George, Elvis and Michael ever came back, they would be shocked to learn that Billboard has added a whole new feature for charts that has nothing to do with the sales of songs.

Starting in May, Billboard, the world renowned music trade publication, will be ranking songs being discussed and shared the most on Twitter. The real-time charts will be published on Billboard.com as well as through the publication’s Twitter feed.

Having been a Billboard reader for decades, this change is mind-boggling because the entire music industry lived and died on the weekly sales charts. In order to rank on the top of the list, you had to achieve more sales that week than any other artist.

Now the whole complexion is changing when Billboard starts showing which artists and songs are being discussed the most. Sales will still be reported too but chatter is going to have a major influence on popularity.

This is going to be an interesting journey in music because Twitter, like all social media, can be manipulated by users who have millions of followers. One good tweet can have a huge impact on trending and future Twitter conversations. Read more about it in The New York Times.

From where I stand, this is going be a very interesting new twist in the music business. I will report any new findings

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