The Goat

Introducing Blip

Fri, 09 May 2008 21:22:15 -0700

So what's a Blip? I'll get into that, but first let me give you all a quick disclaimer 'cause i know if I stick a link at the top you're just going to click on it without reading the rest of the post. That's what I would do. (If you really don't feel like reading, just click the link at the bottom)

Like most things we build at fuzz, we thought we'd leak a little sneak peak to you guys (Fuzz users) before we tell the rest of the world what's going on. I think you guys will dig this one.

Here's the disclaimer part: Development isn't done yet, so think of it as a work in progress ('beta' status). Things might appear or disappear over the next week, and some stuff will more than likely break on occasion. Don't worry, we're probably on it. If you want to make sure, send us a PM. Which reminds me...

Make sure to PM The Goat with any feedback. The engineers (us) actually read everything you email/PM, so send us thoughts and suggestions. Doesn't mean we like everything people send us, but we do read it.

OK so the Blip... It's the best instant gratification music discovery engine we've ever used. We know because that's why we built it. If you use Twitter, you can think of it like Twitter for music. If you don't, think of it like a never ending playlist that you and your friends build in real-time, and you know why they picked each song.

Check it out: http://www.fuzz.com/blip

Love,
- The Goat

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:44:20 -0800

We'd like to wish you a very happy Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, The Goat will be eating tin cans alone tonight. But maybe you'll have better luck with this sexy-time Mixtape.

New Mixtapes Homepage

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:28:46 -0800

Hey music fans and bands,

If you haven't noticed or checked it out yet, head on over to the new Mixtapes homepage. You can now browse and search mixtapes on the new Mixtapes Browse and Search page also. Let us know what you think by sending a message to the goat, baaaaah!

- The Goat

Music Blogs on Fuzz (Embedding MP3's)

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:16:21 -0800

This is a repost for those who missed it the first time around
-------------------------

We've added a tag called "[mp3]". This fancy new tag, when used correctly (please reference the formatting guide), will embed an mp3 directly in your blog. You can use it as many times as you want and it's smart enough to play only one song at a time.

You can thank Martin Laine from 1pixelout.net for the inline mp3 player. It's the same one all my favorite music blogs have, so I thought, "why mess around? Lets use it on Fuzz." So I used it on Fuzz.

Just to make things clear, we don't host the mp3s ON fuzz. When you enter the url for the mp3 file make sure it is an absolute url (starting with 'http:' ) that points to the mp3 file you want to play.

For example:
http://www.phatduckk.com/music/VictimNation/Sunday%20Insomniac.mp3 begets

MP3: Sunday Insomniac.mp3

Please make sure you have the rights or permission to include the music on your blog; many savvy labels will provide promotional material for anyone who is willing to ask. We are all about sharing good music, but we are also about supporting the artists. If the copyright owner asks us to remove the song, we gotta do it.

Now you can use Fuzz as a fully fledged mp3 blog. You can share your page with all your friends and newcomers will discover your fantastic taste through the main Fuzz Blogs page.

(repost) Text Formatting Guide

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:13:20 -0800

This is worth mentioning a second time for those who were busy with holiday parties all weekend and missed the first post:
---------------------

So it's about time we made a reference card for our super awesome blog entry formatting tags. Those who have been around since the early days know that you can create rich style in blog entries using our BBCode-based formatting system. For those who don't know, we have a simple system for adding fancy things like colored text, links, images, videos and mixtapes to your blog entries (bios, reviews, and comments too). But until now there has been no quick reference sheet to remind you of what all is possible.

Today we fix all that. Now there is a quick little cheat sheet that you can access from your blog management page. The next time you go to write a blog post, click the link just above the content text entry area that says, "View the formatting guide". A helper window will pop up to the left of the entry form that looks strikingly similar to the following screenshot:

Feel free to save the above image for future reference. I'll make sure to keep it updated with the latest tags and whatever other fanciness abounds.

Creating a separate band login

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 17:05:19 -0700

Hey everybody,

So if you've already created a band through your user account and you would like to create a separate login for your band so say other members of your band can change stuff without having to login as you, here's how: Just click the 'edit profile' button from your band's manage page and then enter an email and password. You can then use that info to login as just the band. Cool, that's all.

More NEW FEATURES -- including one huge BIG DEAL change... read it now

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:24:28 -0700

We sure can't think of any better way for you to spend the next couple hours than playing with this stuff... so without any filler we present to you, our beloved artists and fans, some of the major new features we've just released:

-- Big deal stuff --
For those of you in bands who were confused/annoyed by needing to have a normal user profile in order to create a band profile, and then managing your band as that user... no longer! You can now have a single, solitary, band-specific login that goes straight to your band management dashboard, instead of having to jump through a user profile.

We still think that it's good to encourage artists to be more active in supporting other acts and using the site as a fan too every once in a while, but we no longer require it. If you'd like to convert your existing fan+band combo account over to this new band-only style, just shoot me a PM me or email support@fuzz.com. And tell all your friends in bands who haven't bothered getting on Fuzz yet, that they can now sign up with these more simple band accounts!

-- Private Messaging stuff --
* Sent Messages box -- we've got a LOT of feedback that people wanted this, so now you've got it. We can't magically show you old messages you've already sent, but you'll get a copy of all future messages you send to other users in your new Sent box.
* New filters -- you can now limit the types of messages displayed to actual private messages from users, music recommendations, or fuzz notifications. this'll make it a lot easier to look thru what's most important at the moment.

-- Invitation stuff --
Some people have let us know that the little popup "Plaxo" widget for inviting more friends onto Fuzz wasn't working right. And yeah, they were right. So we wrote our own, and it's rad. Give it a try-- go invite more friends now and bask in the glory of a quicker and actually working friend invitation system.

-- Adding band members --
We used to require you to know your bandmate's email address to link them up with your band profile-- turns out, not everyone knows that! So now, all you need to know is their own Fuzz username to link 'em up (and don't worry, you can still invite bandmates who aren't on fuzz yet by emailing them, too. You've now just got two options there instead of one.)

-- Randomness --
Of course, there have also been gobs of bug fixes and other little coolnesses added, so be sure to go check everything out and see how you like the site now. And as always, send your feedback to The Goat. Word.

BIG NEWS

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 10:18:21 -0700

People of Fuzz!

Thanks so much for your feedback – we appreciate your help in making Fuzz better every day. We make changes to the site daily based on your suggestions. Please keep sending your thoughts and suggestions! You know the place, http://thegoat.fuzz.com.

On with the show, here are the latest updates at Fuzz…

OFFER FANS FREE DOWNLOADS
* You know it’s easy to mark your music for sale on Fuzz (individual songs or albums). Now you can offer some or all of your tunes as free downloads.
* We’re setting up a place in the Fuzz store where fans can find free downloads, so this is a great way to find new fans who dig your music.
* How? From your artist Dashboard, click on “Manage Music” on the left navigation bar. Select Upload Songs, and in the bottom section where all your songs are listed, just click on the yellow check mark to mark them for “Free”. The song immediately shows up on your artist page and store as “Download” instead of “add to cart”. Just like with your sales, you’ll know exactly which fans are downloading your music.
* This feature *might* still have some bugs (esp. in IE7, so try to use another browser and send a note to The Goat if you have any trouble).

NEW MUSIC PAGE
* Check out our new music page: http://www.fuzz.com/music. The redesign has been getting good reviews. As it should, since it’s awesome.
* Bands are now featured by genre and you’ll see that some pretty amazing bands are now on Fuzz (Lateef the Truthspeaker, Hawthorne Heights, T.S.O.L.,
New Young Pony Club...)
* Scroll down a bit to the Tic Toc You Don’t Stop section… now you get a nice summary of all the very latest things that artists are doing on the site: new songs, latest events, news updates, new fans…

GET YOUR PLAYLIST FEATURED ON FUZZ
* We'll be listening to all your new playlists, and selecting some of our favorites to feature on the site - so go make good ones.

NEW PLAYLIST FUNCTIONALITY
* You can now add other people’s playlists and artists’ albums to your music bank and then make playlists from there.

BUZZ
* We have big plans for Buzz, so tell The Goat what you’d be most interested in seeing and reading every day! But even some minor changes have made this more fun. You can now filter content here by Artist News, Blog Entries and Artist Reviews, and sort by latest entry, most comments, etc. Sweet.

ROCK THE NET ON FUZZ
We'd like to introduce one of the newest members of the Fuzz community. Please become a Fan of Rock the Net http://rockthenetcampaign.fuzz.com/ and join their mailing list. Rock the Net is a nationwide coalition of labels, musicians and music fans that support net neutrality (the principle that preserves a free and open Internet). As musicians and entrepreneurs, we understand the importance of treating all websites and online music stores equally, from the busiest website to the smallest blog. From their Fuzz page, you’ll find a link to their official website to learn more. Please sign the petition to join the campaign and demonstrate your support to Congress and the FCC.

SITE UPDATES
* The Goat (so what if I occasionally refer to myself in the third person?) has promised to start keeping a blog of new stuff at Fuzz. So in addition to sending your site feedback to The Goat, it’s where you can stay up to date with new features and Fuzz news. http://thegoat.fuzz.com/news. You should probably make it your homepage.
We’re pretty excited about the rapid growth of the Fuzz community -- Fuzz artists and fans now represent more than 60 countries! Thanks you for your support, and for being part of creating and building Fuzz. The Goat loves You.

-- The Goat

Fuzz Newsflash 5/17/07

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 11:57:12 -0700

So, there's been a lot of new stuff on the Fuzz site since it went live in March. Thanks for all the feedback – it’s really helped us figure out what you need and improve the site for you. Keep the comments coming!

Here are some updates on a few of the key improvements:

ARTISTS ARE SELLING THEIR MUSIC -- THE FUZZ STORE IS OPEN
* Fans are buying music directly on the artists' pages (check the Music tab or the Featured Songs list)
* Every artist with music for sale is also in the Fuzz Store tab -- http://www.fuzz.com/store
* Fans can browse the store by genre from the store's Catalogue link or from -- http://www.fuzz.com/store/catalog
* Artists also have their own store front and unique store URL (paste the link on other sites) -- http://www.fuzz.com/store/artist/ArtistNameHere -- or click on 'Buy Our Stuff' on the artist page -- or click on any artist in the store or catalog
* Artists can upload tracks for sale from their music management page
* Artists choose their own prices

MUSIC PLAYER IS BETTER
A lot of stuff still coming for the player, but for the moment...
* It's working on IE (even 7.0), as well as Safari and Firefox
* Check out the pop up player -- featured lists and playlists (your creations or others) will launch the pop up player so you can keep listening to music while moving around the site

INVITING FRIENDS & FANS
* You can invite friends or fans, tell friends about an event you're going to or an artist you discovered -- AND can track responses
* When you want to tell your friends and fans about sweet stuff you find on Fuzz, you can type or paste in email addresses, or you can access your other address books or mailing lists and select addresses to include in the invitation

OTHER GOOD STUFF
* Artists can now collect tracks into albums (lots more album stuff to come)
* The signup process is MUCH easier now for the friends/fans you invite to Fuzz
* Creating playlists, searching for music and people continue to be improved

SEND FEEDBACK TO THE GOAT
* If you have feedback, technical issues, or suggested enhancements, please send private messages to The Goat at: -- http://www.fuzz.com/artist/TheGoat

Thanks for being part of creating Fuzz. It's growing fast with a strong community of other independent-minded artists and fans. We’re staying focused on building the site with quality music and we're paving the way to do a lot more to support artists. We hope you'll keep inviting friends and fans that feel the same way.

Since we opened the site for beta in mid-March, through word of mouth alone there are already thousands of songs, hundreds of playlists, and tens of thousands of private messages, comments, blogs and reviews -- and Fuzz bands and users now represent 45 countries.

Thanks again for your support. We'll see you on Fuzz.
-- The Goat

Ssshhh... Don't tell anyone that you can do this:

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 17:45:59 -0700

Notable Progressions

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 02:36:32 -0700

We did a couple cool things yesterday:

1) The player no longer crashes Safari, which is awesome.

2) すしわおおしい (that's Japanese)

Oh, and "Lair of the Goat" has been a phenomenal success. Thank you to our fans. We owe it all to you.

Yea.

Custom artist profile captions

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 20:03:38 -0700

So you know how users get to choose a short "caption" for themselves that shows up at the top of their profile info? People seems to think that's pretty fun. So a lot of you picky musician types have been jealous because you couldn't set a custom caption for your artist profile.

Well, good news: my all-knowing caretakers just added more customization to the band profiles. Meaning, you can now set a custom caption on your artist profiles, too! Just go manage your band and choose "Edit Profile" like usual, and set up your caption and stuff. w00t. -- The Goat

Enjoy

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 21:12:40 -0700

So... here's the site. Yay - go have fun.

We're tired. We had a DB migration, ecommerce code and the Flash player to work on.... today. So the DB stuff took, oh, i dunno 5 hours longer than it should have. Damn UTF8. Um, the Flash player was a special pain in the ass. We got the streaming right about 10 times, and well other things went wrong. Later we ran into this rad problem where the player killed Safari (still can if you're lucky) ... we fixed the main Safari issue and then IE broke, the we fixed that. rock on

Its been a long 40 hours or whatever. I ran out of cigarettes which was a tragedy but otherwise it was as rad as writing 40 hours worth of code could be.

So - the ecom stuff is on hold for a day or 2. there was too much stuff to do to today and i really dont wanna fuck up dealing with your money.

baaaaaaa,
The Goat

Google is smart

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 17:48:28 -0800

So i was just doing stuff w/ adsense n all that and took a look at our access log to see if Google had come by and to see what they were doing if/when they got here.

So here's the super interesting thing (if you're a nerd). OK... we had adsense on our "buzz" page for a little bit. Anywho... open that page in another window so u can understand what I'm saying. On that buzz there's a search box in the top left. So, adsense was on that page which means google's mediapartners bot should swing by some time to figure out what the page is all about.

So sprinkled around that page are keywords like "jeff" and "Independent" etc etc. Now the cool thing is that Google's media partner bot started performing searches from the search box on /buzz with the keywords it found throughout that page. so the mediapartners bot was hitting urls like /buzz?search=jeff

I didn't know they did that... its pretty rad really. I dunno if this is specific to the media bot or its something Googlebot also does.

anywho... i found this interesting and thought some other nerds out there would get a kick out of it too

-Arin

MS Word is evil

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 13:45:44 -0800

I'm not gonna get into an MS bashing rant here - cuz honestly I'm not one of those people that bashes on everything MS does. Seems like that's some peoples' favorite hobby... frankly, i don't care. (ps: OS X rules).

ANYWAYS... looks like some peoples' and artists' profile are being copy and pasted straight from MS Word or some other insane program. If you see wierd Lucky Charms marshmellow looking things on peoples' profiles etc with some other strange character in em (like a ?) that's probably what's going on.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE convert a Word doc or other crazy doc to plain text BEFORE you copy and paste that stuff into your Fuzz profile. We're super, super, hella busy and would love to solve this on our nd - but in the mean time lend us a hand and do this...

EITHER:
open doc, File -> Save As -> select plain text. close doc, reopen with Notepad, then copy paste

OR
open DOC, open Notepad, paste MS Word madness into Notepad THEN copy paste from Notepad into your profile.

How do you get to Notepad?

Goto: start->run-> type "notepad" (without quotes) into the box and hit enter

Thanks
The Goat

New feature

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 16:48:24 -0800

So there's a new feature that I just put up... 1/2 of its obvious stuff we just hadn't goten to yet and the other 1/2 is pretty cool. so here's the deets....

On any person's profile page you'll see a link under their picture called "recommend music".
So you can click on link to send a special private message to em to check out any of your favorite bands.

The screen to "compose" the recommendation is basic...

Its got a dropdown with you fav bands and a box where you can type an optional message.

Now IF YOURE IN A BAND you get another dropdown
This dropdown determines who the message is sent from
you can send this message from YOU or on behalf of any band your in.

So this give you the ability to do essentially do the equivalent of " wants you to check them out".

The cool side effect here happens IF you're in a band you can send a send a recommendation on that bands behalf for another band.... here's an example. I'm in Victim Nation - but it just happens to be that I think The Lovemakers are awesome. I can send you a message that says something like "Victim Nation wants you to check out The Lovemakers".

This is cool for a few reasons.

1) bands recommending bands probably hold more water. so if Babes in Toiyland said "check out victimnation" its probably cooler than if Maureen recommended Victim Nation on her own.

2) IF youre in multiple bands you can leverage the "fame" and coolness of one of your bands to essentially pimp out your new side project.

get it ;-)

Maybe this sounds complicated but its easy - just make sure you've added some favorites and then cruise over to anyone's profile and click the "Recommend Music" link beneath their pic to check it out

booya
The Goat

Frank

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 00:20:54 -0800

People have asked if I'm related to Frank, the goat on LiveJournal.com. Honestly no, but Frank is a dear friend of mine. As far as goat mascots go he's definitely a legend. But Frank's a normal goat and I'm a pygmy goat... so anyways.

you know that goat from Adam Sandler's talking goat bit on that one CD of his. Ya.. that's my great uncle. He's since passed on and will always be remembered as a super important figure in the goat community. He bridged the human/goat divide. Thanks to him I can sit anywhere I want on the wagon, not just the trunk like goats before him.

I may be small in stature, but I'm big at heart. And that's what really counts anyways. You know? So the next time you see a pygmy goat crossing your path, be sure to stop and give a little "hey". You might just see a goat happy dance, we're a happy dancing bunch.

Player is getting gutted

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 00:18:22 -0800

Hey guys we're re-writing the player - or at least some chunks of it.

So ya... be aware that the player is a bit tempermental right now. Sometimes it wants to work sometimes it doesn't. We're considering this a HUGE priority. We just got a Flash badass on board to work his magic and get that bastard player into tip-top shape.

Anywho... so expect a new and WAY imprved player in a week or 2.

I know it's kinda annoying right now, but its a BETA right? So hang in there and we'll get it all squared away ASAP.

Booya,
The Goat