Review Of Whole House Fm Transmitter

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I leave in a sunny country in Europe and my house has a big backyard where I, my wife and two kids spend a lot of time outside almost any season of the year. We are also music lovers and we have tons of CDs and MP3s stored on my computer. I was looking for a solution to somehow broadcast music to the backyard of my house from my music library. We all know the difficulties to stream audio and music from an electronic source (PC with MP3s for example) to an analog receiver (FM Radio for example). This is not a problem at all if you look at the Whole House FM Transmitter which can receive audio from almost any audio source and transmit it to any FM receiver.

At the beginning I was a little skeptical about getting an FM Transmitter for broadcasting music in my house and backyard. The reason was that most FM Transmitters are relatively weak in terms of coverage and they are mainly for use in your car. After testing the Whole House FM Transmitter 2.0 I was relieved to find out that their claims of 150 feet (50 meters) radius coverage are actually true.

Some Specifications

Before continuing with my review for the Whole House FM Transmitter 2.0, let us see some of the specs of this device below:

Use it anywhere you want (Home, Back Yard, Car, Office, Garage, Boat, exercise room, pool side etc).
Covers the entire FM Band Range from 88.1 to 107.9 MHz in steps of 0.1 MHz. This means that you can easily find any unoccupied frequency to transmit your signal.
Receives as input any audio source (MP3 players, iPod, Home Stereo, TV, DVD, DVR, Satellite Radio, Computers PC or MAC, Microphone etc).
Transmits to any FM Receiver.
Covers 150 feet distance but still satisfies the FCC part 15 regulations.
Compact Size and light weight (a little bit larger than the size of a deck of playing cards).
The new Whole House FM Transmitter version 2.0 is built from the ground up with better features, versatility and reliability.
Four ways to power the device (AC Outlet, 3 AA Batteries, Computer USB Port and 12V Car Adapter).
30-Day Money Back Guarantee.
It includes all necessary cables and adaptors to start using it immediately (AC adapter, 1/8 (3.5mm) stereo audio cable, USB power cable, 12V DC car power adapter, stereo Y cable, RCA Jack Stereo audio cable).
If you purchase, you will get also 4 Free Bonuses such as Lavalier Microphone, Free USPS Shipping within USA, 1 Year Warranty and Lifetime customer support.

In the box you will find the following items:

Whole House FM Transmitter 2.0
110/220V AC Wall Outlet Adapter
12V DC Car Adapter
1/83 (3.5mm) Stereo Audio Cable
RCA Jack Stereo Audio Adapter
Stereo Audio “Y” Cable
Computer USB Power Adapter

Testing done on Coverage

My first test on how long the unit can transmit was pretty simple. I just connected a CD player with the FM transmitter using the 1/8 stereo audio cable and selected an unused FM frequency in my area. Power for the transmitter was from the AC outlet. Now, because I live in Europe, we use the even numbered frequencies so I selected 104.6 MHz on my FM radio receiver. After setting up the same frequency on the FM Transmitter, I was able to receive the audio strong and clear on my radio from the living room of my house to the far side of my backyard (around 120 feet away).

My second testing was a little more demanding, but I will reveal this test on my website.

Conclusion

The reviewed Whole House FM Transmitter really stands up to its name as a “Whole House” coverage system. If you are in the same situation as me, that is you like to listen to streaming music from a CD player or from your laptop without being bound by distance from the music source, then the Whole House FM system is a great device to broadcast your music on any FM receiver within your home vicinity. Its price tag has also dropped considerably, so why don’t you take a look at the official website of the product to see if it fits your needs. And don’t forget the free shipping within USA and the 30-Day money back guarantee.

Podcast Safe Music

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Podcasting is the new thing in broadcasting nowadays. Practically anyone can create his own podcast and make himself known to the world. Perhaps the best thing about podcasting is that it is meant to be free. In addition to that, podcasts transcend the boundaries of traditional broadcasting. You may be from the US but anyone with access to the internet can listen to your podcast. A person may be in Timbuktu and yet have access to your podcast.

Music is inherent to the success of any podcast. It adds spice and flavor to an otherwise bland broadcast. That is why a large pool of resources has been developed by people in the podcasting community. Beginners and veterans a like search for the perfect background music or filler sounds for every podcast they make. So how do you go about looking for that spice?

Despite the freedom provided by podcasting, there are some issues you must address before jumping into the bandwagon and creating your own podcast. Copyright and intellectual property rights have been a main concern in all aspects of broadcasting for some time now and podcasting is not exempt from that. As a result, the term podsafe has come into existence. What exactly is podsafe? This term encompasses any material that may be used for podcasts without violating any copyright or license. A special thing about podsafe material is that the very same material might require some sort of license in other media but totally safe for podcasting. Due to the open community nature of podcasting, many songs, music, and other type of materials are allowed to be used for free exclusively for podcasts. While you might have to acquire the permission of the copyright holder for other broadcasting media, with podsafe material, you can use it freely in podcasts.

Some specific kinds of work are inherently podsafe. Works that fall under the public domain or some works with Creative Commons licenses can be used in podcasts without any issues. They are meant to be used, and used freely.

There are some entities on the web that license music especially for podcasts. Their podcast safe music is generally available to anyone for downloading and for use in free broadcasts over the internet. The only restriction they have is for the user to duly acknowledge the source. Anyone may also post music on their sites as long as the piece of work is totally original.

Some sites make their music available for no fee at all. On the other hand there are sites which promote artists particularly independent ones and charge a small fee for downloading their songs. Notably, these sites also offer labeled artists and are supposed to split the downloading fees with them.

The important thing to bear in mind when looking for podcast safe music is that most of the groups offering materials make them available to the general public for free. The caveat is that your podcast must not be used for commercial purposes. If that is the case, then you will have no problems finding the right track for your podcast.

Effective Music Branding Strategies And Tips

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Branding is instrumental in defining and determining the success of any business. This goes without saying in the music industry. People connect emotionally and mentally with music. Finding a way to promote branded music services and to develop music-based marketing strategies for a wide range of clients is the clear goal of all music branding agencies. However, it is the creativity and emotionality that will produce the most optimal results in regard to music branding.

Music boasts tremendous power over human beings. We turn to music when we need motivation, when we want to be happy, and when we are going through rough times, in addition to a plethora of other reasons. Because of the strong emotional connection that music harnesses, many reputable companies and organizations contact music branding agencies in order to identify a way to leverage the power of music when targeting consumers. In order to ensure that your musical selection will empower potential and present consumers, it is imperative that you know your audience in depth. If you release an irrelevant sound, then it can cause you to lose customers and cause detriment to your success.

When used in commercials, endorsements, and sponsorships, music can easily attract attention and interest; but you will want to ensure that you are garnering the respect of your target audience and not merely random consumers. Deploying surveys, entertaining suggestions, and encouraging customer feedback are all avenues to explore when you are trying to deduce how to most effectively connect with your audience. These factors combined with the expertise of a music branding agency should enable you to develop a sound that will resonate with your employees and your customers. It is important to note that there can be high costs associated with your vision depending upon the artist, song, and the popularity of both when you are deciding upon a relevant sound.

Your music selection should convey a message that accurately represents your brand. It should define your values, your goals, and how you choose to communicate. Yet, it should also reveal emotional points that evoke a deeper understanding and connection between your brand and your customers. Music branding can work quite effectively so long as it harmonizes with your other initiatives and seamlessly flows with your overall marketing strategies while simultaneously connecting with your audience on an internal level. If you can successfully accomplish these three elements, then not only will you spark a sense of pride and unity among your employees, but you will also establish your integrity to your consumers.

Running An Underground Death Metal Music Record Label

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My first injection of Extreme Metal Music was back in 1985, i was 13 and a Metallica – “Ride The Lighning” cassette crossed my paths (Yes back then that was considered Extreme). I remember being at home alone with my crappy old “Ghetto Blaster” (that ‘ate tapes’) and fascinated at the cool “Electric Chair” cover art, it was at that moment within the first 30 seconds of “Fight Fire with fire” that my life would no doubt be set down a new path and Extreme Death Metal Music would be my fate. I remember being blown-away and scared shitless at the same time. The shear aggression and speed of the music was unlike anything i had ever heard (remember this was 1984 and i was 13 and Def Leppard was about the heaviest i had ever heard) and it was that very song that forever changed my life (thanx James) and led me to investigate this style of music even more. Bands like Slayer, Venom, Possessed and Death became the metal music that “Got me thru the day”

Well, the year is now 2008 and even though Metallica’s “Ride The Lighning” is still one of my top 20 favorite albums of all time, Extreme Metal Music is like drugs, one is too many and a thousand is not enough. The need for faster, heavier, more brutal and intense music dosages becomes the addiction. In today’s world of Extreme Metal Music – Metallica would probably be considered choir boys.

I guess it’s time to talk about what this article is actually about… running an underground Death Metal Record Label. First off, running an underground death metal label like this usually means running it from your parents basement, or if your a grown man who just can’t seem to grow up, your running it from your own basement and are constantly having to remind your wife, “would you rather me be here at home with you wasting all our money, or at the strip clubs wasting all our money). Truth be told probably 90% of Death Metal Record Labels that exist do it for the pure love of the music and do it on top of working 40 – 50 hours a week doing something that actually makes money, and to those who continue to do it while investing their own money and risking their marriages and relationships i raise my Corona and “Cheers You!”… But that’s just what Extreme Metal does to people, there is a devotion to it, there is just this undeniable force that encapsulates you… it’s likebeing in a gang… a really large gang!

I work for a small record label CDN Records, a basement run 2 person operation managing over 2000 Extreme titles in the genres of Death Metal, Brutal Death Metal, Melodic Death metal, Grindcore, Goregrind, Black Metal, Thrash Metal and more. The other person involved again and actually the one who started the label, a grown man like myself in his late 30’s obsessed with metal music in it’s most extreme form and probably the biggest “Death” (the band) fan you will ever meet. He started the label over 15 years ago, originally called “Civilian Death Network”, but after 9-11 it was apparent that we needed to change the name, hence (CDN Records). The label started out mostly as a “Tape Trading” network trading various Death metal bands demos with other Death Metal music fans around the world, and back then without the internet and low-cost’s of producing cd’s the cost involved could bankrupt most people. Most of us doing this tape trading stuff usually spent every last extra penny we had, we begged borrowed and stole just so we could pay for postage.But with the advent of the internet and the ability to manufacture “CD’s” cheap the label was able to evolve into a full-blown record label, signing and releasingbands.

Currently we have over 15 of our own titles, and what we do is trade our titles with other Extreme Labels around the world which increases our distro catalogue. It’s a great system, and its probably the only form a music in the world (that i know of) that operates like this… again reminding me of the bond and devotion to Extreme Music us “Metalheads” have. It’s like there is no competition between all Underground metal labels, we work together to create an even larger network. Its and even better deal for alot of the bands in the Death Metal, Extreme Music genre. We have taken bands who would never have been able to get their music on a cd let alone shipped out and into the hands of metalheads around the world… and that’s a great feeling and what fuels us to keep going.

Although, we first do this for the love of Death Metal music, we definitely work very hard at trying to get “Death Metal Music” to pay the bills. How much better could it get? promoting the music you love and making a living do it…

Tips for staring your own Death Metal Record label:
1. Find a band that you really like and has already recorded their own full-length cd (This saves you money)
2. Sign the band to a simple distribution deal, you press 1000 copies and give the band a few hundred copies (most death metal bands will jump at the chance for this)
3. Get yourself a simple web site and the ability to sell your product online.
4. Spend countless hours surfing the internet looking for other small Extreme Death Metal labels… create a long list
5. Contact all the labels you found online and ask if they do “Trades”, usually trades are based on a point system you’ll figure that out quick.
6. Most labels will trade 3-5 copies to start, trade with 100 labels you now have 300-500 titles to add to your web sites online catalogue
7. Don not take more than 10 copies of any one title… 3-5 at most
8. Promote online, Promote Online, Promote online… forums, blogs, myspace etc etc.
9. Repeat steps 1 thru 7 once you have no more of the original 1000 cd’s you pressed, of the cd traded well press the same release, if you struggled
to get other labels to take it on trade, search for a new band and try again.
10. You will be very lucky to sell more than a few thousand copies of any 1 Extreme Death metal cd, Grindcore cd or Black Metal CD (unless you happy to get lucky enough to sign the next Cannibal Corpse or Cradle of Filth) release so don’t get frustrated, the key is to
build your online catalogue with 1000’s of titles to chose from and enjoy the fact that you are now promoting and selling 100’s of Extreme Metal bands.

For all you Death Metal, Brutal Death metal, Melodic Death metal, Grindcore, Goregrind, Black Metal and Thrash Metal needs, stop on by www.cdnrecords.com

Hip-hop Trashing The Rights Of Women

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Hip-Hop music includes violent and abusive lyrics that could possibly mirror other illegal activities used for sexual intent. The music identified as hip-hop verbally violates basic human rights, particularly the rights of women. Excessive and blatant sexual abuse connotations can be found in almost every musical score, as women are portrayed as whores and assets worth no more than existing for man’s sexual pleasures. Much of the lyrics in rap songs are abusive and degrading to all women.

Hip-Hop is a manifestation and spin on exploitation of African-American and Latino-American youth, and is often considered to have sexism and misogyny attributes. New York City blacks and Latino youths originally started the hip-hop culture, with included rapping, deejaying, break-dancing and graffiti-writing. But, it has evolved into something much more than just local expressions.

Hip-Hop is a lifestyle for many people between the ages of 13 and 30. It involves music, videos, fashion, club-scenes, and the ways that young people interact with each other. The media has embraced and adopted the hip-hop culture, as well as big corporations, such as Coca-Cola and Burger King. Versions of hip-hop can be found in marketing media and corporate advertisements. The Brooklyn Museum of Art even has an exhibit dedicated to hip-hop culture.

The most influential part of hip-hop has become known as rap music. Rap music is a form of poetry, recited over musical instrumentation. Many consider rap music to be brutally honest, violent, and misogynistic. But to others, the violence to and hatred of women appears blatant and offensive.

Much of rap music portrays black women in negative images. The hip-hop culture views all women, but mostly black women, as sex objects. Most hip-hop videos show women dancing or displayed in explicit sexual poses, clothed in bikinis (or less), with the focus on their body parts. The images go hand in hand with the explicit language that suggest women are nothing more than sex objects or money-generating commodities. Many rappers describe themselves as ‘pimps’ and women as second-class and sexual commodities. Many rap songs, not only, glorify the pimp lifestyle, and refer to women in ways a pimp might describe their prostitutes, but the lyrics promote violence to women that disobey.

Of course, not all rap music is misogynistic, and not all black men think of women in this light, but large percentages within the hip-hop culture do. The name calling in the rap music dishonors, disrespects, and dehumanizes women. When society accepts labeling women in this manner, will physical and psychological abuse become acceptable? Unfortunately, many black men battle racism or oppression within hip-hop culture, and have been conditioned to distrust intrusive feelings of trust and love.

Many women consent to these collaborations, and believe racism or subjugation are viable excuses or justification for the practice of degrading and exploitation of women. The numbers of women that show up for unpaid try-outs for video shoots indicate that significant amounts of hip-hop consumers are women. Groups of women can be seen loitering in concert backstage areas, expressing their willingness to perform sexually in return for money and jewelry, or perhaps realize a feeling of being wanted.

Black women have, historically, been used as sex instruments, and continue to fight for power and material wealth. When slavery was legal and rampant, black women were routinely sexually abused by any man that wanted her. They could be used for breeding purposes and create more slave trade for their owners. Black women, also, used sex in order to lower chances of cruel treatment by the slave masters. They were paying with their bodies to survive and achieve better treatment within the uncontrolled, abusive slave life.

Black women emerged out of slavery as oversexed and promiscuous. Some viewed themselves as society dictated, and believed they did not have control over their bodies. As they tried to fit into white societies, some black men wanted the women to be employed in subordinate roles in a white household; while some black women wanted the men to acquire jobs and be the sole provider. Hip-hop culture displays similar oppressive obsessions. Some black women prefer to use sexual powers to reap economical gain. And, many black men have learned how to manipulate women by using money. In order for many black women to get what they want, they accept mistreatment and allow themselves to be exploited through hip-hop images.

Sometimes black women are uneducated and have no job skills. Many believe their bodies are all they have to offer to gain status. Many dysfunctional relationships can be found within the hip-hop culture. Some women believe men are instruments of use to gain access to money; some men think women are only have value when it comes to sexual gratification.

Would censoring hip-hop music and lyrics be an answer? Perhaps, the solution would be to change the hip-hop society and ideology by discontinue negative and misogynistic lyric promotion. But, the first step to change gender relations within the hip-hop community is education. People need to be made aware of the negative and derogatory connotations that continue to violate the rights of women, in sexist lyrics, physical interactions, and at hip-hop gatherings. But, of course, people need to be receptive to the devastating results that violating human rights cause, and be willing to change.

Are human flesh traders alive and well in the United States? Of course, we all know trafficking women is illegal, but considering the more than 45,000,000 dating websites on the Internet, is this a modern legal tool that continues the exploitation of women?

Speaking out against exploitation of women in hip-hop cultures, and for women everywhere, can help change ideologies. But, if women are not interested or willing to stop exploitation tactics, they will continue to be used and considered as just sexual instruments.

Although women have come very far, their work is not finished, and they have a long way to go before equality will be realized.