5 Horas de Música Para Concentração e Estudo! Escute os Links!

Five hours of incredible music for concentration and studying

We’ve often received feedback that the music we write is really conducive to working, studying, and focusing. So we decided to been explore other music from a wide variety of artists and bands whose output has also be described as concentration music. This is a bit of a different article, and we’re not going to dwell extensively on each album or release – rather, we want to let the music do the talking.

As always, you can listen to the playlist on Spotify, and this time round it’s a five-hour extravaganza of concentration music. It features over thirty different musicians, whom we have listed below – you can find out more about them by clicking on them.

Listen now (Spotify)

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What is concentration music? Do a Google search and you’ll get a whole load of different definitions! From our perspective it’s calm music that focuses, rather than distracts. The kind of music you can happily have on in the background without getting drawn into it – you won’t find heavy drum-based tracks or uptempo orchestral scores in this selection. At the same time, we feel there should still be enough interest to stimulate thoughts and inspire creativity, so strictly ambient / drone tracks are out too! Hopefully you’ll feel the balance is a good one, and we’d love to hear what you think about this collection of concentration music! Leave a comment below or let us know on Facebook! Have any suggestions for other music to include? We’d love to hear them too.

Concentration music featured in the playlist

Here is the wide spread of music featured in the playlist, with a short comment about each:

The Album Leaf (The Sailor) – Calm, organic and atmospheric.
Aphex Twin (Aisatsana [102]) – Minimalistic piano explorations.
Bethel Music (Interludes from ‘Without Words’) – Instrumental, inspiring, and inherently positive.
Carinthia (a selection of music from his two albums, as well as some music released as Daniel Jorgensen) – Nature-inspired, evocative and reflective. Also featured in our meditation music playlist.
Dustin O’Hallaran (An Ending, A Beginning and We Move Lightly) – Minimal yet stunningly beautiful piano-focused compositions.
The Echelon Effect (Tracking Aeroplanes) – A inviting, enjoyably meandering and organic journey.
Esbjörn Hazelius (Fenix) – A concentrated slice of Swedish folk nostalgia.
Fragments (Echoes) – Minimalist, developmental, and full of intrigue.
Gidge (Fauna, Pt 1)- Orchestral and creatively atmospheric music from northern Sweden.
Goldmund (Threnody) – Calmness, openness, and focus: perfect music for studying by Keith Kenniff (Helios).
Good Weather For An Airstrike (selection) – Slow moving yet organically evolving.
Helios (selection) – Masterful use of evocative ambience alongside guitar and piano motifs.
In Cathedrals (Reverie) – Constantly developing reverb-filled guitar swells.
James Newton Howard (I’m Listening) – Sad, yet subtly hopeful.
Jóhann Jóhannsson (a selection from The Theory Of Everything soundtrack) – Minimalist and positive concentration music.
Jon Hopkins (selection) – Stunning soundscapes surround beutifully simple organic motifs.
Aye Kye (Celeste) – Haunting synths envelop a background of evolving strings.

Kyle McEvoy (Serendipity) – A light, positive, developing guitar-based composition.
The Last Dinosaur (Gusts Of Wind Blowing In Different Directions) – Atmospheric and organic.
Library Tapes (Fragment II) – Experimental, light tones with a hints of a serious backdrop.
Lowercase Noises (Silence Of Siberia) – Encapsulates the location perfectly.
Message To Bears (Closed Doors) – Field recordings meshed with simple organic motifs and melodies.
Nils Frahm (Some and Ambre) – Reflective piano pieces with a hopeful streak.
Ólafur Arnalds (selection) – Haunting Iceland-inspired neo-classical compositions
Parachute Band (Consecrate) – Calm, positive, focused, and affirming.
Paulette Wooten (Peaceful Reverse) – Minimal, evocative, and concentrated.
Port Blue (selection) – Owl City’s ambient alter-ego. Also featured in our meditation music playlist.
Random Forest (First To Wake and Leaving Safe Places) – The best in atmospheric rock.
Rhian Sheehan (Sileo) – An inspiring journey through nature and sound.
Salt Of The Sound (selection) – Reflective, atmospheric and intriguing: great music to study to.
Sleeping At Last (selection) – Exceptionally evocative instrumental compositions.
Slow Meadow (A Farewell Sonata) – Slightly experimental, and wonderfully creative orchestral music.
Tony Anderson (selection) – Beautifully crafted and calm, yet eminently cinematic.
Flor (Pale Lights) – At dusk, by the camp fire, a meandering guitar.

7 Canções Escritas em Menos de 1 Dia! Assista aos Vídeos

7 Famous Songs Written in Less Than a Day

Bob Dylan once said "Tangled Up in Blue" took him ten years to live and two years to write. Sure, some singers pore laboriously over lyrics and melodies, but some plug out classic tunes in no time flat. Here's a tip of the cap to seven speed demon songwriters who whipped up some of their biggest hits in a matter of hours—if that.

1. MOTT THE HOOPLE, “ALL THE YOUNG DUDES”

Perennially underachieving Mott the Hoople almost called it quits in 1972 before David Bowie—probably assuming the messianic role of his glam rock alter ego, Ziggy Stardust—swooped in to save the band. He offered up “Suffragette City” if it meant the band would stave off breakup plans. Mott the Hoople’s bassist, Pete Overend Watts, turned it down.

Bowie called Watts two hours later, saying: “I’ve written a song for you since we talked, which could be great.” That song, penned by Bowie while sitting cross-legged on the floor of a room in Regent Street, London in front of Mott vocalist Ian Hunter, was “All the Young Dudes.”

2. THE ROLLING STONES, “(I CAN’T GET NO) SATISFACTION”

Guitarist Keith Richards was passed out in the Jack Tar Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Floridawhen he woke up, pulled out the tape recorder he carried with him, and recorded the riff to “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Richards recorded himself saying “Can’t get no satisfaction” before dropping his guitar pick and falling back asleep.

When he woke up and played back his tape, it was “two minutes of ‘Satisfaction’ and forty minutes of me snoring.” Richards worried that the inspiration for the riff drew from Martha and the Vandella’s “Dancing in the Street,” but the song (and guitar hook) stuck.

3. BLUR, “SONG 2”

Blur never settled on exactly how long they spent writing and recording “Song 2”—the track’s working title in the studio—but the bandmates agree they came up with the hit in all of its improvised “woo-hoo!” glory in ten minutes to half an hour.

Lead singer Damon Albarn dismissed the hit as “just headbanging,” but producer Stephen Street claims Albarn wrote the song’s nonsensical hook on the fly. Street recalls, “Damon went ‘woo hoo” because he had nothing else prepared.”

4. QUEEN AND DAVID BOWIE, “UNDER PRESSURE”

The Thin White Duke proved his marathon songwriting chops once again when he and Queen spent “an extremely long night” (according to Queen guitar slinger Brian May) in a jam session at Queen’s Mountain Studios in Switzerland. Bowie took charge of the song’s lyrics while Freddie Mercury spearheaded the music songwriting.

Mercury’s improvised scat singing from early in the jam session made the official cut, a song Queen debuted live quickly, though Bowie and May didn’t love the song. When the song was recorded and mixed (nothing was written before the session), Bowie and Queen went for pizza, according to Roger Taylor.

5. R.E.M., “LOSING MY RELIGION”

Guitarist Peter Buck spent a classy evening drinking wine, watching the Nature Channel on mute, and learning how to play the mandolin when he “played ‘Losing My Religion all the way through, and then played really bad stuff for a while.”

Buck woke up with the song’s chords all but forgotten, relearning to play it by listening back to the tape. The impromptu late night recording captured the song’s main riff and chorus—not bad for an unseasoned mandolin player who was lucky to think to tape his laid-back practice session.

6. TEARS FOR FEARS, “MAD WORLD”

Brooding Brit Curt Smith told the Boston Globe, “I remember it being written in an hour or two in Roland’s little flat above a pizza place.” Smith and Tears For Fears bassist Roland Orzabal penned it as the first single of the band’s 1982 album The Hurting. In the liner notes for the record’s 1999 rerelease, Orzabal confessed that his flat probably wasn’t the best place to pen a track called “Mad World": “That came when I lived above a pizza restaurant in Bath and I could look out onto the centre of the city. Not that Bath is very mad—I should have called it 'Bourgeois World.'"

7. DAVID BOWIE, “LIFE ON MARS?”

Bowie quipped that writing “Life on Mars?” — a parody of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” cover — was “easy” in a 2008 article in the Mail on Sunday, and in true, flamboyant Bowie fashion, it was.

I took a walk to Beckenham High Street to catch a bus to Lewisham to buy shoes and shirts but couldn't get the riff out of my head. Jumped off two stops into the ride and more or less loped back to the house up on Southend Road. Workspace was a big empty room with a chaise lounge; a bargain-price art nouveau screen ('William Morris,' so I told anyone who asked); a huge overflowing freestanding ashtray and a grand piano. Little else. I started working it out on the piano and had the whole lyric and melody finished by late afternoon. Nice.

A Indústria da Música Cresceu Um Pouco em Termos de Receita em 2015

The Recorded Music Industry Actually Grew In Terms Of Revenue In 2015

First of all thanks to Hugh McIntyre for this article.

An image taken from the RIAA’s “News and Notes on 2015 RIAA Shipment and Revenue Statistics” report (image courtesy of the RIAA).

For a while there, it really seemed like the music industry was going to disappear, as revenues shrunk year after year, and there didn’t appear to be a solution to the problem. Now, for the first time in what seems like an eternity (especially to those in the business), things are starting to turn around, and the industry might be back on track,.

According to a report released on Tuesday by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), sales of recorded music amounted to $7 billion in 2015. That figure represents a 0.9% increase from the year prior, and while that may be a growth of less than one percent, that is still progress that is very, very welcome. The RIAA reports that increased revenues brought in from all types of streaming services offset the loss of digital downloads and physical purchases, which have been dipping for years now.

For the first time ever, streaming came out on top when looking at both how much money the categories (streaming, digital, and physical recorded music) brought in and what percentage of the total it constitutes. Streaming now accounts for 34.3% of all recorded music revenues in the U.S., while digital downloads are responsible for 34%, physical revenues are at 28.8%, and syncs are collectively at only 2.9%.

The report separates streaming services into three categories: on-demand (such as Spotify and Apple Music), radio services (like Pandora and SiriusXM), and “non-subscription on-demand options” (YouTube), but grouped all three together when examining the industry as a whole. According to the report, all three of those streaming types saw increases in monies earned last year, and for the first time ever, streaming revenues topped $2 billion. In fact, revenues for the streaming industry increased by a whopping 29% to $2.4 billion.

2015 saw companies like Spotify add huge numbers of new customers, as well as a fair percentage convert from free options to paid ones that offer no ads and more features. At the same time, new entrants came to the market, such as Apple AAPL -0.56% Music and Tidal, and those companies added several million paying subscribers to the total pool.

Digital revenues now account for 70% of all money brought in by recorded music, which is up from 67% in 2014. Part of the reason why that number jumped is because now digital syncs of tracks is included in those earnings, but the category is growing rapidly even without that add on. It will be shocking if streaming doesn’t gain even more ground when this same report is updated to see how well the industry performed in 2016. 

É a Música Para História Em Quadrinhos a Nova Arma Secreta?

Is Music The Comic Book Industry's New Secret Weapon?

First of all, thanks to Cherie Hu for this article.

Bandcamp, one of the most popular direct-to-fan platforms among independent and emerging musicians today, is usually not frequented by fictional characters. Yet, in an intriguing turn of events, one of the site’s newest members is a comic book superhero.

DC Comics superheroine Black Canary has a new EP on her own Bandcamp website, titled Kicking and Screaming. A collection of “songs for broken gods and superwomen” whose electrorock feel has been compared to Metric, the EP supplements the graphic novel of the same name, in which Black Canary sings lead vocals for her self-titled band that she also trains to become a superhero team. The songs feature the writing and performing talents of Black Canary co-author Brenden Fletcher and Montreal-based musicians Joseph Donovan (of Receivers) and Michelle Benison (of Caveboy). It is unclear whether Black Canary will go on tour in person, but the DC Comics website provides a simple warning: “Hitting a Black Canary gig is a potentially dangerous endeavour if untrained in self-defence.”

For an industry that has historically taken the film and TV worlds by storm with record-breaking box office hits and popular Netflix series, pursuing original music this deeply is an unexpected and refreshing move for comic book publishers. The partnership points to a growing trend of cross-pollination among creative industries, as companies strive to design experiences that both re-engage current customers and attract new ones. A collaboration between music and comics in particular alludes to the “necessity of brands to engage more with transmedia storytelling,” Larry Weintraub, Chief Innovation Officer of The Marketing Arm, told Forbes. “You need to build and continue a story in many ways, both on and off the page.”

Aside from improved messaging, transmedia storytelling also encourages a more strategic use of entertainment as a problem-solving tool, rather than simply as a money-making gimmick. The problems to be solved in Black Canary’s case were clear: how can you really get to know a comic-book band without hearing their music? On a more general level, amidst seemingly endless reboots and spin-offs of A-list comic characters like Spiderman and Batman, how does one bring more attention and sustainable fame to B- and C-list characters? Music can add a dimension of textural and emotional depth to characters that visuals alone could not achieve, while also bringing in unsuspecting audiences.

The Black Canary project also seems to address many problems in the music industry at large. With the economic and technological tumult of recent years, music companies are in a constant search for three things: new revenue sources, unconventional distribution channels, and fresh storytelling angles. While news such as the RIAA’s incorporation of streams into gold and platinum certifications shows that the industry is already implementing new metrics for success, the continual decline of physical sales amplifies the demand for alternative sources of more tangible, visual and visceral music consumption experiences. Hence, the music-comics partnership could be symbiotic, alleviating internal challenges while allowing both media to break new ground in their craft.

Why hasn’t music been given more of a spotlight in comics in the past? In fact, music already plays an important role in comic film franchises, with soundtracks often written by award-winning composers such as John Powell (X-Men: The Last Stand) and the late James Horner (The Amazing Spider-Man). Yet, innovation even on that spectrum seems to be declining, with the same comic-film music motifs being recycled continuously in the mainstream, amounting to little more than a “stiff collection of orchestral cues.” In an attempt to diversify both genres and audiences, Marvel has previously collaborated with Wind-Up Records, whose best-selling artists include Creed and Evanescence, on compilations of songs inspired by films like Daredevil and Elektra. The songs in these albums, however, are usually not even included in the films themselves, and therefore could feel detached from and irrelevant to the core comic book experience.

Integrating music more directly into comic book plots is an immense challenge and, ironically, works best when the storytelling in the music itself takes a backseat. Kicking and Screaming is not a substitute for reading the Black Canary comics, but rather a complementary creation that provides deeper insight into the story’s characters. In general, music works best as an auxiliary platform for expressing mood and emotion, rather than as the sole responsible storytelling agent; it supplements, rather than replaces, how a character’s reverence and fame are built over time. The way music is incorporated into video games is similar: the background music certainly enhances the gameplay, but you cannot understand the plot of a game just by listening to that music in isolation.

Another challenge in creating convincing musical content for comics is that comic fans are masters at detecting authenticity, or lack thereof. They exhibit a distinctly strong level of loyalty to their favorite characters, often viewing these characters as extensions of themselves, and are therefore quick to call out the slightest lack of ingenuity either in the content or in how this content is distributed. The introduction of music, therefore, should be done with gravitas and respect for the comics world and its history, which Kicking and Screaming pulls off quite well.

Regardless of the success of Black Canary’s musical endeavors, music will not be as important of a revenue stream to the comics world as film and TV have been, simply because historical financial figures for these sectors do not align. Consider, for instance, how Katy Perry topped Forbes’ list of highest-paid musicians in 2015 by making $135 million that year—less than one-tenth of the revenue generated by the first Avengers film, which ultimately grossed over $1.4 billion. Moreover, in releasing their own music, comic characters would be competing with an industry that is already so overcrowded with content and neck-deep in solving its own dilemmas around consumer engagement. It is difficult to get people to pay attention to you as an artist, and comic book characters would be no exception.

Nonetheless, collaborations between the music and comics industries provide both interesting content for fans and more strategic value for businesses. “There is something inherently interesting about two creative businesses, each with their own distinct way in which they go to market, collaborating on content from the ground up,” Andre Gaccetta, CEO of G7 Entertainment Marketing, tells Forbes. “Beyond the creative processes, they can also use each other’s marketing and sync arms to reach consumers in a cadence that is mutually beneficial.” Christian Henderson, Talent Buyer and Account Executive at G7, adds that using tools across all media “helps brands understand their consumers better. As entertainment marketers, we are always looking for that holistic approach, as it helps us gain insight into the broader scope of what people consume.“

It is still ambiguous whether music-comic collaborations will actually become a trend. Kanye West’s declaration that “every superhero needs his theme music” is untrue. While music’s new place in comics can take the financial models for characters like Black Canary to a whole new level, the approach will work only with the right kinds of stories—characters who lead bands, for example—and is not generalizable to everyone. As FX’s chief executive John Landgraf asserted in an interviewwith the New York Times, media innovation is all about fitting “the business model to the artist, not the artist to the business model.” It is important to cater to artists’ and characters’ unique needs, instead of going for homogenization of an industry and over-reliance on just one strategy.

Only time will tell to what extent music will be integrated into the comics world, and vice versa. Perhaps we will see more comic characters singing or playing guitar in the future, thanks to Black Canary’s step forward; perhaps more musicians of all career stages will want to partner with comic publishers to pursue more inventive content. “The interweaving of comic books into pop culture has never been seen like this before,” notes Henderson, “and none of it’s going to slow down anytime soon.”

Esqueça Spotify! - 3 Serviços de Streaming Que Vale a Pena Tentar

Forget Spotify: 3 Streaming Music Services Worth Trying

By now, most people have had some experience with a streaming music platform, even if they haven’t fully adopted one as their go-to source for listening to music. Millions have signed up for Pandora, Spotify, and Apple Music, but those three aren’t a perfect fit for everyone. If none of those companies has convinced you to stick around, there are plenty of new or lesser-known options that are worth a listen, including these four.

AccuRadio

While certainly not the best-looking streaming service out there, AccuRadio offers a simple, no-frills option for listening to music. From the look of it—and the many call-outs and mentions on the site itself—this is the perfect source for listening for an older crowd while at work. Many of the office-specific playlists leaned top 40 and adult contemporary pop (think Bruno Mars, Kelly Clarkson, and the like), so it might not be the best option for those that are big followers of the music space, but rather for those that want a steady stream of familiar hits while they are busy.

Unlike fellow internet radio services like Pandora, AccuRadio does allow you to skip an unlimited number of times, though you can’t skip within tracks (so you’re just going to have to wait for that chorus). That’s a neat feature, and one that is hard to come by. Streaming is free, and there are just under 1,000 stations to choose from, so it’s unlikely that anybody will run out of choices anytime soon.

Slacker

Streaming music may feel like a new phenomenon because of all the discussion around the burgeoning industry, but some services are older than you’d realize. Slacker was launched in May of 2007, and while it has never been the most-popular option out there, it has been able to survive for almost a decade, which is truly an accomplishment in this business. 

Slacker Radio has all the same songs you can get on most other platforms (yes, Taylor is there), but it offers something particularly interesting: the feeling of listening to real radio, only you have better, more specific choices when it comes to genre. Before the music begins on many playlists, a DJ comes on to talk about what you’re about to hear for a few seconds. Sometimes that chat gives insight about the artist, while at other times it is up-to-the-day gossip about what’s happening in music now. Also, at just $3.99 a month for ad-free listening, Slacker is a really good deal.

Hype Machine

More a “music blog aggregator” than a proper streaming service, Hype Machine is still the best place to catch up on what is happening this minute in music. The site lists the tracks that are getting attention from tastemaker blogs around the world in various genres, though there is usually a lot more pop, electronic, and dance featured because of the nature of what is “cool” right now. Every song featured can be played right there on the page, and immediately beneath it you can read what a blog like Indie Shuffle, Free Bike Valet, or Music Is My Life is saying about it. 

Entirely free listening makes this an even more attractive option for those looking for a great new song to be obsessed with for the weekend. There really is nothing else quite like Hype Machine online today.