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As a follow-up post for the new Media Monkey, you should know that the Amazon Black Friday-Cyber Monday Music Sale is going on now! Get some new music and add it to Media Monkey right now. Amazon has a huge selection of music and it’s all DRM free. I get all my music (other than the occasional physical CD) from Amazon. You should too.

I’ve been a long time user of Media Monkey software going back to sometime around 2007. When my music collection seemed to be growing at a rate beyond what current media managers could handle effectively. Windows Media Player was ok, but super laggy. iTunes was out of the question (sorry, I don’t do Apple). And open source options like Songbird where still very basic.

I decided to try Media Monkey and it has been my go-to media manager ever since. I’ve tried others over the years but the Monkey does such a great job that nothing has even been able to replace it. I even chose my OS based on Media Monkey. I tried to switch 100% to Ubuntu but because I couldn’t get Media Monkey to work in WINE switched back (I still use Ubuntu in a VM all the time, in case you are wondering. Yes, I love Linux).

Last week Media Monkey 4.0 was released and it really brings a whole new element to Media Monkey… and makes it not only a music manager but also a video manager. Sweet molasses.

Media Monkey, as always, is sleek and takes a minimal amount of memory. Right now I’m listening and managing some files and it’s using 50MB. Not bad considering it’s managing 24,964 tracks and I have it cranked.

Where Media Monkey shines is not only the ability to play your music but to manage it too. Tagging songs with ID3, transcoding (get the Gold license for more options), moods, tempos, ratings and tons more. You can make your library what you want it to be. Now I’m looking forward to applying some of the managing features to my video collection as well.

When you need to manage a lot of tracks, or simply want a great interface for listening to music, Media Monkey can’t be beat. Grab it and check it out.

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If you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, you’ll see that I am a big fan of Netflix. It’s DVD by mail service revolutionized the way we watch movies at home. As for me and my family, we’ve been with them for almost 10 years. But all that is about to change.

No, they still deliver DVD by mail, but with broadband speeds they way they are, who wants to bother with that, right? I used to look forward to that red envelope in the box every few days. But when Netflix announced they would be offering streaming, I knew the time had come. I mean, we’re talking virtually no wait time here. It’s not that I’m impatient (although that could be up for debate) but with streaming media there are no DVDs to wait for or be broken, nothing getting lost in the mail and almost instant access to movies. The only way this works though is if the movies that are available are worth watching. This is why I was excited to hear Netflix was working toward focusing on streaming content and splitting the DVD by mail service out into a new company. But alas, they have chickened out of this approach due to those customers who complained.

There is quite a bit of discussion going on regarding Reed Hastings and why in the world he’s still CEO of Netflix. I have a feeling it will either be him going or me going from the Netflix family. I’m already looking at alternatives to Netflix in terms of how to get the media I want via a streaming method. I suppose only time will tell. But I’ll keep you posted here with what direction I move.

Bottom line, I’ve lost faith that Netflix has what it’s going to take to get streaming movies into the forefront and get some great content in their Watch Instantly service. If this changes and shakes the world with it’s amazingness, I’ll think about coming back.

Oh, and if you haven’t seen this SNL sketch on Netflix, you need to. It’s hilarious.

The internet is a-buzz with negative comments regarding the recent letter and price changes from Netflix (NFLX), of which I’ve commented on before.

Reed Hastings, CEO and Co-Founder of Netflix recently wrote a letter, which was emailed to all customers as well as posted on the Netflix blog. In the letter, Mr. Hastings apologized (admirable and humble, a sign of a true leader) for the lack of communication regarding the price change as well as detailed a massive change (massive unless you paid attention to the details the first time around) to the Netflix corporate structure. This change comes in the form of the DVD portion of the Netflix company becoming it’s own organization (again, not a surprise if you paid attention during the price change) named Qwikster, with it’s own website and seperate name on your monthly credit card statement. The new service changes only in name but the function remains the same, shipping movies to your home. As a bonus, they also announced that video games for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii would be available through the service soon.

So, two things from me. First, I think Reed did a great job handling this whole thing. While initially there seemed to be information missing (like what exactly did they mean by separating the streaming and DVD portions of the company) the follow-up sought to remedy that and announce further what they intended for the company. Secondly, I believe they see the two services as needing to grow at different paces, with streaming taking the lead. The move makes complete sense IF you understand the future of the business to be streaming, which I believe is the future and Reed and associates seem to agree with me. STARZ will be regretting the departure when Netflix moves to fight for streaming and picks up better distributors.

So, what’s the bottom line, Netflix has communicated their commitment to the future of movies at home, and that future IS streaming. If the company restructeruing, a few more bucks a month (come on people, it’s waaaay cheaper than cable!) achieve this, then I’m all for it.

For the record, my DVD plan ended September 1st. I now only subscribe to the streaming side of Netflix. If you’re a movie studio and you want a piece of the pie, it’s time to get on board.

The future is streaming. Netflix, make it happen.

One of the greatest bands of all time has gone and done it again. No, it’s not Led Zeppelin’s new album (different greatest band), it’s the Ohio based The Devil Wears Prada – and their new album Dead Throne comes out today.

The Devil Wears Prada holds a very special place in my heart. During some tough times in my life TDWP was a source of joy and a wonderful release from tension and a struggle with the flesh. The new album is very much the Prada I have come to expect, and brings the intensity, emotion and techincal proficiency I’ve come to love from TDWP. Lyrically and musically this album rocks. I’ll write more about the album in the coming weeks as I have time to dissect it. But for now….

Pick it up today from Amazon or iTunes and have a listen yourself.