As you may know, Apple made some announcements today about their iPhone product line. I’m betting that the iPhone 5 ends up being the shortest lived iPhone in Apple’s history. Well, maybe except for the 3 and the 3G. I’ve got my eye on the iPhone 5s with its awesome new tech specs. Beyond that, I’m excited to see what comes of Apple’s new service inside of iOS 7 called iTunes Radio.

iTunes Radio

Several months back I had gotten what are known as NOI’s. A notice of intent to get a compulsory license for my catalog. It’s been a steady stream of services getting into the streaming service. One such service caught my eye – Apple. I found an NOI in my inbox coming from Apple. That made me think, wow, they’re finally going to get into the streaming game. Long before it was actually announced via any rumor site. I felt like I had a little bit of an inside scoop. 🙂

What’s The Deal

As Apple puts it, it’s radio re-imagined. You’ll be able to pick your own station, much like you can with another service that starts with a P. I’m getting a feeling that it will be like a cross between the P service and another service called Spotify. The immediate differences is that you’ll get super quick purchasing direct from iTunes. It’s like the best of both worlds inside one service.

Other Cool Features

Besides your ability to start a Jody Whitesides station 😉 is the ability to use Siri to play a song and start a new station. Use your mouth to get at your music as fast as you can! There will be iTunes Radio exclusives. Hopefully in the not to distant future, I’ll be able to be a part of that with some of the new music I’m creating for you now. One of the other features that makes this cool for the end user is no ads to listen to with the music. I wonder how long that will last?

Looking forward to seeing all of this when it arrives on September 18th in just over a week. The music world takes on another change for the better for the consumer!

One of the songs I’ve been working on lately that originally underwent a pretty big lyric rewrite. Oddly enough at it’s current stage it got voted into the top 18 from 72 songs. Lyrically, I’m still taking a look at the song to make sure it’s where it should be. The melody is strong so that helps a whole lot. Without giving away too much of the song – well, none of the music anyway. You can help produce it with me by Pledging. Here’s an early look at the lyrics in their current form.

Brighter Side Of Success

© Too Much Music – Jody Whitesides

Have you ever noticed
How the crowds seem to dance around the fame
Do you ever wonder
Why they act so over the top without shame

Rich or poor is only moments away
Can you believe one or the other is where you’ll stay

You’ve imagined your dreams
You’ve dared to believe
Would your friends all confess
You’re on the Brighter Side Of Success

Remember it used to be
You were someone who’d help out a hurting friend
And the tabloid’s new flair
They inflate your ego to set current trends

Rich or poor is only moments away
Can you believe one or the other is where you’ll stay

You’ve imagined your dreams
You’ve dared to believe
Would your friends all confess
You’re on the Brighter Side Of Success

Rich or poor is only moments away
Can you believe one or the other is where you’ll stay

You’ve imagined your dreams
You’ve dared to believe
Would your friends all confess
You’re on the Brighter Side Of Success
Would your friends all confess
You’re on the Brighter Side Of Success

Success is based on factors that seem intangible. Sometimes the craziest stuff will work, sometimes it won’t. Other times, the most amazing art will work, sometimes it won’t. No one appears to have the perfect formula for it. Either way, when you hit it, can you handle the brighter side of success?

Oh the things we can hear about ourselves when it comes to the Internet and the amazing stories it can bring. Or rather the interesting things I hear about myself via word of mouth. I do enjoy some good salacious news like anyone else, it’s mind numbing what people do actually conjure out of thin air to make themselves feel better when it relates to others. Then again, I really ought to be used to this by now – it’s part of being a public persona. Which brings me to a little post about some of the stuff I’m hearing that isn’t really true and I’ll debunk ’em right now. Yes, 9 BS facts about Jody Whitesides everyone thinks are true.

So lets get to this little list of tomfoolery that should stop spreading…

9 BS Facts:

1. Jody is a dwarf. Believe it or not, I’ve actually heard this and wondered how in the world it came about. Especially when I do actually stand at 6’4″ or 193.04 cm. It’s even on my biography page! Yet still… there are some who don’t believe until they meet me.
2. Jody is already dead and has been replaced by a clone like in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Or much like the controversy surround Sir Paul McCartney and the infamous photo of him crossing the street barefoot in front of Abbey Road Studios. I’m still very much me. Though I have also crosse the infamous street in front of Abbey Road Studios barefoot, in the dark and the rain. Unfortunately the photographic proof is too dark to tell if it really was me.
3. Jody dated Taylor Swift. Seriously? While I can understand dating her from a height perspective, she is tall and I am taller, I’ve never actually met her. Maybe this recent idea stems from the song I wrote as a joke poking a little fun at her. Regardless. No, I’ve never dated Taylor Swift.
4. Jody is a Vampire. This is pretty funny when you think about it. I don’t have fangs like a vampire. It is true that I plan on living a good 150 years without serious medical help. But I attribute that to exercise, sleep, and eating healthy, not from sucking blood.
5. Jody owns a TV. Yup, I’ve been made to be one of the masses on this one. Must be because so much music that I’ve done has appeared in TV shows in the past several years. However, I do not own a TV. Never have. I may some day in the future, but that time has not yet come. Some of you must think “Well, how do you watch stuff and talk about it?” The simple answer: technology – you don’t need a TV to watch stuff any more.
6. Jody is a girl. It’s true that I’ve gotten email addressed to Ms. Jody Whitesides. I’ve even had people exclaim “Wait, you’re a guy?!?” When they meet me or talk to me via phone or video chat. Yes, despite the gender bias of my name, I am not a female. I’m 100% male.
7. Jody has a phobia of horror movies. What?!? As a person who isn’t afraid of much of anything, I’m having difficulty understanding where this one came from. Maybe it’s because last year I decided to do 30 days of horror movies in 30 days. Someone must have thought that I was getting over a fear of scary movies. Nonetheless, being the movie buff that I am – I dig horror movies. Have you seen The Conjuring?
8. Jody can’t ski for shit. If we’re taking the term shit literally, then no, I’m not. However, if we take the concept of meaning that I can’t ski, well… then the reality is, unfounded. Turns out I’m a good skier. Good enough to have been nationally ranked in freestyle events. Though it’s been a few years since I’ve competed on a national level, I can still tear it up – even without a helmet (no, I don’t wear a helmet to ski).
9. (Going musical on this one) Jody can’t sing without Autotune. When I was first learning to sing a few years back, I’d admit that I would have loved to have been able to tune myself on the spot. However, as it turns out, I learned to sing the old fashioned way. Trial and error, while recording and listening back. It certainly helps that I can hear if I’m out of tune. So much trial and error eventually got me to the point where I can sing in tune even at times when I can’t hear myself. So no, I don’t not need autotune to sing.

And there ya have it. 9 BS facts about me that really aren’t true. Now you have the straight dope on it. Feel free to share and pass along to anyone not in the know and who thinks otherwise.

In case you’ve been around my spot of the web before, today you’ll notice a bit of a change. Yes, there’s a little bit of a change in the air. Think of it as a rebranding or more like a redesigning the look and feel of my digital home.

A couple of motivating factors led to this update. First and foremost in redesigning the look was a desire to have a site that works well with the responsive design of the programmer’s theme. The old version held some of it’s responsiveness, but I had made so many tweaks to the CSS that it had a tendency to fall apart when it hit the phone screen. Thus I had turned it off – meaning browsing on a phone had you zooming in and out. So 2012.

Now the site flows well from 30″ computer monitors, right on down to phone screens. That’s a big plus.

The second factor for redesigning the look was a desire to make better use of images as part of the navigational aspect of the site. I love sites that keep things simple. Certainly what I’ve attempted to do here, but with a growing catalog of material, it needed a spiffier interface. My theme has the capability and I’m making better use of it. Which is why you’re now seeing more images. Plus on specific pages, I’m focusing more on that content rather than a kitchen sink of everything.

Another recent update is the addition of limited liner notes on my lyric pages. Some more surprises are in store so bookmark me and come on back soon. Better yet, sign up to get on my email list and get a strong heads up as to when I have anything new and fun to write up about, especially the music!

Take a poke around, enjoy my redesigning the look and feel of the site. Tell a friend and share.

Thanks,
– Jody