Music Gifts

Well, it’s almost that time.  In fact next week starts the rush of Christmas, family, and great food!  We here at Alberts Gifts wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season as we prepare for the new year.  It’s amazing how fast time changes and progresses as we all become a year older.

The music industry changes constantly, we’ve lost a superstar in Michael Jackson, not to mention the world famous guitarist Les Paul.  It’s a strange world we live in, and certainly nothing really shocks us anymore.  It seems to be more influential when a musician passes away because of the feelings they put us through with their music.  Either way, the world continues to turn and we’ve all learned as this year goes by.  It’s coming to a close and here’s to it ended safely and as happily possible.

Alberts Gifts has undergone some transformation blog wise this year, and it’s a good thing I believe.  Were doing what we can to provide you music gift ideas as well as current and relevant stories that are happening or have just happened in the music world.

As of right now, all we can do is wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season!  Enjoy it!

I also must inform you that our wonderful holiday sale is ending on AlbertsGifts.com.  You have two days left to receive free shipping on orders over $25, of course ground/domestic.  Take advantage of the sale, even if your gifts may arrive after Christmas.  It’s a deal that you just can’t pass up.

While this may sound like a good thing to the P2P users out there, it certainly could provide another snag in the pirating industry.  The RIAA announced last week that it will end all litigation of trying to sue individual users, and instead will now work with the internet providers in limiting bandwidth of users who upload and download large file sizes over the internet.

However, most see this as another “bullying” attempt from the RIAA as most Internet Service Prodivers are watching the case of FCC vs. Comcast.  Which just ended in the user’s favor, due to Comcast limiting bandwidth of a certain user without notification.  This breaks into the whole “net neutrality” issue, that most people have been up in arms about for the past six months.  How much have our American ISP’s been withholding in bandwidth to keep their cost down while charging us the most they can?  At this time, its still a secret as to how much is being hidden, and will probably never be known how much they hide from the user base.  But, this much is now known, if limited they can be sued in court.

Which, comes back to the whole, limiting bandwidth in partnership with the RIAA, will it be possible to do?  What do the ISP’s get out of this, aside from alienating their customer base and potential loss of customers?  At this time, its all unclear and won’t be known for some time.

But either way you look at it, it could be a good or bad thing for illegal downloads on the net.

Information about the press release regarding the RIAA can be found here:  Daily Pennsylvanian

Well, we hat at Alberts Gifts, figured we should get into the top ten list making and show off the top 10 best Christmas songs provided by the associated press.   So tell us what you think.  Should another one be at the top?  Should something not even listed be in the top ten?  Let us know!

1)  “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”

2)  “Gloria.”

3)  “All I Want for Christmas is You.”

4)  “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”

5)  “O Holy Night.”

6)  “White Christmas.”

7)  “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

8)  “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

9)  “Winter Wonderland.”

10)  “Silent Night.”

Personally, I think “White Christmas” should have retained the number one spot from last year.  I just don’t see how a Mariah Carey song, could come in about the classic heavy hitters for Christmas.

Guns and Roses has finally come out with a new album!  Although, Slash isn’t in the band anymore, so can it really be called Guns and Roses?  However the great news about the release of this album is the fact that Dr. Pepper is giving away a free can of Dr. Pepper from a promise it made a long while ago regarding this much fought over album.

“The soft-drink maker said in March that it would give a free soda to everyone in America if the album dropped in 2008. “Chinese Democracy,” infamously delayed since recording began in 1994, goes on sale Sunday.

“We never thought this day would come,” Tony Jacobs, Dr Pepper’s vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “But now that it’s here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper’s on us.”

So finally with the release of this album, a major corporation has stuck behind its thoughts on a band that hated each other throughout its entire life span, and will be rewarding everyone with a free can of Dr. Pepper!  However there is a catch, you must get the coupon located on Dr. Pepper’s website, and is only available for 48 hours on Sunday.  So check there and get your free can!  From all of us here at Alberts Gifts have a safe and productive weekend preparing for thanksgiving!

Well, another blow for the pirating industry as the Senate passed an RIAA back bill that will further make stricter rules on intellectual property. This past week the Senate finally agreed with the RIAA backed bill and will now begin to enforce stricter rules and regulations of the piracy and distribution of all illegal and intellectual property.

The RIAA(Recording Industry Association of America) is the group that is trying to protect musicians and their right to release music and stop the pirating and illegal sharing of copyrighted music. This information and group all began to voice their disdain with pirating when Napster blew up the scene back in the early 2000’s. The full article and information regarding this bill can be found here.

On a light note next week we will be highlighting great new products brought to you by Alberts Gifts!

CNet.com – Senate passes RIAA-backed bill

This week, we lost someone who helped create a new sounding rock n roll industry.  Richard Wright passed away at the age of 65 on Monday September 15th, 2008, losing his battle with cancer.  Richard Wright was a founding member of the mega popular English band Pink Floyd.  Pink Floyd has helped create the music we listen to today, and are very worthy of being one of the best bands ever.  Albert Gifts is certainly raising a lighter for this lost musician.

Also another need to mention name in the music industry is Jimi Hendrix.  He died 38 years ago today(9/18/70).  Jimi Hendrix died of speculated Heroin use, and also helped create the rock and roll industry that is present today.  His was most famous for songs as “All Along The Watchtower”,  “Purple Haze”, and “The Star Spangled Banner” at Woodstock in 1969.

So please remember, the two magnificent musicians that we have lost this week and honor them by playing music from their collection.

Rest in Peace.

Was this past Saturday.  He died on August 16th, 1977, and this would end up being his 33rd year of death.  AlbertsGifts.com wanted to mention this date as an important one in time due to the death of a King.  His passing, shook the music and real world to the core and created a common feeling of sadness throughout the weeks after his death.

Elvis has been inducted into four music ‘Halls of Fame’: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1986), the Rockabilly Hall of Fame (1997), the Country Music Hall of Fame (1998), and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2001).

The King’s legacy lives on throughout his family, and his various roles as a movie star, war vet, and recordings.  Elvis 1935-1977.

AlbertsGifts.com has now joined the Myspace community.  If your a member of Myspace please feel free and join our group http://groups.myspace.com/albertsgifts.  AlbertsGifts.com is proud to provide you with wonderful music gift ideas.

Help us grow and create an experience that we can all enjoy!  So please again, if your a Myspace member and would like to join please do!  Were always looking to expand!  Also, below here is a random product of goodness from AlbertsGifts.com!  With the new movie hit The Dark Knight, we have a great stein that will certainly bring out the collector in all of us!

Batman Stein

Bo Diddley passed away of heart failure.  He was 79.  I feel like I must write something about it as AlbertsGifts.com deals with musical oriented gifts, and Diddley was certainly a rock icon, who must be mentioned in the shaping of modern rock and other musical genres of today.

Although not as famous as his label mate Chuck Berry, he arrived on the music scene with his musical adaptation Bo Diddley- I’m A Man at the age of 26.  Already present in these recordings was his attitude and his swagger.  Often his musical writings dealt with himself in third person, and desribing himself as “a lover, a gunslinger, a lumberjack, and more.”  As influential to the music industry as he was, Bo Diddley, never broke the top 20, but had 10 R&B hits in his lifetime.

Diddley has also been givin certain credits in his life that have impacted other facets of the music indrusty.  In his song Say Man which was his biggest pop hit, Diddley, and his Maraca player Jerome Green traded insults and bragged about each other.  This was the first known lyrical progression to the larger than life style rap that we have today.  Also, he was known for playing his own custom guitars and designing them to how he see fit.  Which led to newer generation artists making custom guitars and showing off more of creative style.

Bo Diddley certainly will be missed and will always be hailed as an artist that led to advancements in progression with rock music and other genres.   Bo Diddley 1928-2008

Another new music site has surfaced thats not really about music gifts its called http://music.podshow.com/ and it takes aim at providing an outsource to music lovers and musicians alike.  This music site enables users to create pod casts, music, blogs, or any other useful function to a networking site to provide incite on all things music.  It’s been my goal as of late to try and find some new networking sites for friends/family, because they are simply tired of the mega giants, and finding friends that aren’t of the same interests.

Of all the sites I have found, Imeem and Music.Podshow, have been the two most unique finds for music lovers so far.  Of course you could always try and register for the music giant purevolume.  But hey, why be trendy…do your own thing, and of course you can always pick up great music gifts at Alberts Gifts.