Browsing Tag

iTunes

Material Girl

Prior to the Queen of Pop’s Super Bowl halftime show, I noticed she received lots of criticism, yet couldn’t fathom why. I’ve been a Madonna fan for as long as I can remember. Some of my early childhood memories include watching documentaries about how her career escalated before I was born and lip syncing singing along to her duet song, “Me Against the Music” with Britney Spears over the phone with a close friend. A few years ago, I even painted a ceramic plate with an iPod in the center and the tagline, “Get into the Groove.”

At 53, not only does she hold records for her chart-topping tracks, but she also looks incredible and shows no signs of slowing down. After dazzling us at the Air Canada Centre on her Sticky and Sweet Tour, where I regrettably didn’t buy an “Express Yourself” concert tee, it was difficult to see the superstar in a negative light.

Since “Give Me All Your Luvin’”, the first single from her 12th album, MDNA, debuted, reasons to dislike Madonna started becoming more apparent, but I find it hard to turn my back on one of my favourite performers.

Today Madonna made news because Malawi’s government officials are fed up with her donations that they feel are motivated too much by corporate interests in her global brand image than concern for children. When I first read the Toronto Star’s article, I mistook “state of the art girls school” and thought she’d arranged to build an arts school for girls because that sure would be thoughtful of her!

To be “fed up” with Madonna for wanting to improve Malawi’s education system is like being fed up with Angelina Jolie’s mass adoption spree or even Oprah’s generosity overseas for that matter. All of the above women have significant personal brands to protect, but along with their high status careers comes gigantic salaries and I hardly think we should criticize Madonna’s generosity to this extent. I hardly recall criticism from urban planners when Madge opened her first fitness centers in North America, so why so much outrage when she tries to do good in the world?

The blatantly excessive product placement in the “Give Me All Your Luvin’” music video was far from impressive, but it’s sure a catchy tune. That said, I confidently predict that it will not rank high on media professors’ list of video clips to show in future celebrity classes, the way that “Material Girl” was shown and then discussed at length last Friday at Western. They might as well just show separate commercials for Smirnoff, Adidas and whatever other brands were featured because aside from the ladies resembling Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Girls, the brands were the standout visuals in the video, and I certainly don’t mean that in a good way.

Madonna’s professional contributions to music, not to mention my iTunes library, combined with her ongoing philanthropic projects make her an icon to watch. I’m curious about what critics will say once MDNA’s full length tracks are released, but until then, let’s remember the positive memories Madonna offers fans and focus on that.

Music Video: Coldplay – Paradise

Coldplay – Paradise

Coldplay debuted their new music video for Paradise today and it’s wonderful from beginning to end. Watch it, play it in the background as you download the song on iTunes, and then play it on loop on your iPod, I dare you.

I’ll be keeping an eye open for information about an upcoming tour from the group because I loved their last show!

The New Girl

Before I delve into my commentary about Facebook’s changes, I want to share a recommendation for FOX’s new TV show, The New Girl.

Katy Perry’s highly charming doppelganger, Zooey Deschanel stars in the sitcom about a girl who moves in with 3 guys who she meets by responding to a Craigslist ad.

Thanks to Deschanel’s comedic timing, the pilot is funny from beginning to end. Her A-list Hollywood status leads me to believe that The New Girl has staying power and the men’s spontaneous serenade to cheer up their new friend cemented this show into my fall TV schedule.

The New Girl airs Tuesday nights at 9 on FOX/CityTV.

TIP: The pilot episode is available as a free download on iTunes!

Breaking News: Limes are for drinks, not P2P File Sharing

It’s time to uninstall Limewire, folks.

“As a result of a court-ordered injunction, we are required to disable ‘the searching, downloading, uploading, file trading and/or file distribution functionality, and/or all functionality; of LimeWire’s P2P file-sharing software”, reports a Limewire spokeswoman.

The Social Network prompted many people to reminisce about Sean Parker’s launch of Napster. Once his software faced lawsuits, Limewire’s green icon found a place on my desktop and has sat there since the early 2000’s.

Now Internet users must find alternate sources for downloading their favourite shows and music. University students enjoy peer-to-peer file sharing on campus using programs like DC++ and Shakespeer, while millions of others seem content listening to songs on YouTube.

Steve Jobs must be thrilled about the potential boost iTunes sales will have as a result.

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