The Buzz and the Biz: A Blog about the music and entertainment industries.

Is Google+ creating a new breed of social network user?

Mel Rodriguez — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 21:21:33 +0000

With the recent invitation-only release of Google’s newest attempt at social networking, Google+, the internet has been inundated with conversation about the site, its future and what this means for social networking giant, Facebook.

Only a few weeks old, the service already has more than 10 million users and from the looks of it people are taking a new approach at how they interact online. While users on other networks seem to favor the more self-absorbed “everyone needs to know about me” approach, Google+ members seem to be more interested in sharing ideas and commenting on the world around them. Some blogs have noted that this may be due to the fact that Google+ offers its users an opportunity to start fresh and revamp their online persona. Leaving behind their old habits and taking a more mature interest towards the online community. Most posts you find tend to incite thoughtful conversation on a diversity of subjects. And with plenty of bloggers and news sites joining in on the fun, there is no shortage of interesting topics to comment on.

Now, this is not to say that Google+ is a utopia of online socializing. Far from it. But for the time being it is definitely a more enjoyable experience than, lets say, Facebook.

Kanye West’s Latest Stunt

Mel Rodriguez — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:45:31 +0000

By now everyone knows about Kanye West’s dissing of Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV VMAs. If you are one of the few people who have not heard of it, here is a clip of the event:

As you can see, Kanye is still convinced the world revolves around him. There has been talk about boycotting his music. Should it? No. The music world is one of the few places where freedom of speech still exists. Now, should he be taught a lesson? Yes. The problem is how.

Being the big baby that he is, some may suggest sending him to the corner for some quiet time. Something tells me that will not work on this baby, he will just get angrier and throw more fits. So this leaves us with the problem of how to discipline someone like him. Maybe we should just stop paying attention to him since this is obviously what he seeks.

Obviously this was a most important moment for Taylor Swift and her career. But Kanye, who was earlier seen drinking alcohol straight out of the bottle on the red carpet, decided to do what he does best; FREE publicity. The best kind of publicity there is. I mean, everyone is talking about it, even I am writing about it. Shame on us. Now, whether it was a drunken binge or just another megalomaniac outburst by Mr. West we may never know. My vote goes to the latter.

This is not the first and definitely not the last immature outburst we will see from this character but it sure beats paying a publicist to promote you.

Kudos Mr. West for you have taken us again, but next time please leave your whining for behind the scenes as you used to do, or even better, take it home and write an angry letter to the world just because it does not agree with you.

Let’s put this one to rest now and try to concentrate on other things. Like the fact that after winning Best Video of the Year, Beyonce gave Taylor a chance to recover her moment of glory on stage. So all in all, the story has a happy ending and for Taylor Swift this will be an experience she will never forget.

Mr. West: Next time you may want to bring a baby bottle, instead of a liquor bottle, along with some duct tape.

2009 MTV Video Music Awards Winners

Mel Rodriguez — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:53:05 +0000

Yes, we all know that for a network called Music Television, MTV does not play as many music videos as they should. Nevertheless, their yearly MTV Video Music Awards are an important part of the music business and 2009 was no exception.

Honoring the best of the best, here is a list of this year’s winners:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Beyoncé
“Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”

BEST NEW ARTIST
Lady Gaga

BEST HIP-HOP VIDEO
Eminem
“We Made You”

BEST MALE VIDEO
T.I.
“Live Your Life”

BEST POP VIDEO
Britney Spears
“Womanizer”

BEST ROCK VIDEO
Green Day
“21 Guns”

BEST FEMALE VIDEO
Taylor Swift
“You Belong With Me”

BEST VIDEO (THAT SHOULD HAVE WON A MOONMAN)
Beastie Boys
“Sabotage”

BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO
Matt And Kim
“Lessons Learned”

BEST ART DIRECTION
Lady Gaga
“Paparazzi”

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Beyoncé
“Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Green Day
“21 Guns”

BEST DIRECTION
Green Day
“21 Guns”

BEST EDITING
Beyoncé
“Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS
Lady Gaga
“Paparazzi”

For more information on the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards visit http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2009/

Hello world!

Mel Rodriguez — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:00:36 +0000

We are just getting this blog up and running so please bare with us while we get going.

-Melvin A. Rodriguez Administrator