A recording project from the Netherlands has introduced a novel way to record music showcasing collaborations between new artists from different parts of the world. Every two months, In A Cabin With invites one or more Dutch musicians to travel to an inspiring location somewhere in the world—a farmhouse in Sweden, a wooden house in northern Thailand or a church in Ottawa, for example—to write, produce and record an album in collaboration with some of the area's own musicians. The recorded material is mixed and mastered in an Amsterdam studio, and an upcoming artist and/or graphic designer is invited to design the album artwork.

Several of the artists involved in the sessions have subsequently been offered their own record deals. The CDs are distributed by V2 music and can also be ordered through the In A Cabin With website. Best of all, the concept comes with a generous side of free love: all the In A Cabin With albums are also available as free downloads. One to emulate outside the Netherlands, harnessing the talent of upcoming musicians or other artists? (Related: Free accommodation for visiting creatives.)

Website: www.inacabinwith.com
Contact: maarten@inacabinwith.com

Spotted by: Marc Frencken

It's no secret that brands can inspire love, and sites such as Hollrr and Thinglink are built on that fact. Now, starting with a concept much like Saatchi & Saatchi's Lovemarks, MyBrandz has built a virtual stock investment portfolio based on the top 20 “most lovable” brands.

Now in beta, MyBrandz provides an online community to unite fans of the best-loved consumer brands. Aiming to test the correlation between brand love and success on the financial markets, the Brands Love Portfolio is based on the top 20 most loved brands on the web. Those brands were chosen using MyBrandz's proprietary algorithm, which takes into consideration 28 different parameters including the number of positive mentions on Twitter and the number of Facebook fans. Apple is the No. 1 best-loved brand, according to these measures, followed by Starbucks, Google, Playboy and Disney; Nike, Sony and Blackberry are also on the list. Taken together, the Brands Love Portfolio has shown much higher results than the Dow Jones, NASDAQ and S&P 500 indices, MyBrandz says, with an annual return of about 64 percent.

Currently, the Brands Love Portfolio functions only as a virtual one, but anyone can follow, test and compare it with other indices. MyBrandz plans to continue developing it, however, possibly eventually releasing it to the market as a new investment product. In the meantime, the Israeli company recently launched its “Own Your Brand” contest whereby members can win real shares of their favourite brands by submitting related content and winning “hearts” from fellow users.

It stands to reason that consumer love should be a predictor of a brand's financial success, and what better way to gauge that love than through the buzz generated by the online masses? Of course, whereas MyBrandz focuses on the top consumer brands globally, the same model is crying out for application to specific industries or regions. One to emulate on a localized or niche basis!

Website: www.mybrandz.com
Contact: info@mybrandz.com

Most dedicated music fans have their favourite genres and playlists, but finding new music can be a challenge. Aiming to keep aficionados up on the latest tracks and trends comes 22tracks, a Dutch site that offers constantly updated playlists in 22 different genres.

22tracks is essentially a jukebox consisting of 22 playlists in as many different genres, each filled with 22 tracks specially selected by DJs from Amsterdam. Upon selecting a genre, users can listen to the current 22 tracks on the site; those they like they can purchase via iTunes or promote via Twitter. Each week those tracks are updated with roughly five new ones, however, giving fans a constantly updated selection. People can also create their own, personal lists of favourites, and a 22tracks iPhone app is slated for release in January/February 2010.

By packaging music in bite-size nuggets for week-long munching whenever the desire strikes—and of course offering instant gratification for those motivated to buy—22tracks provides a lovely example of the "see-hear-buy" model that's part of what our sister site would call today's snack culture. Keep it short, sweet, simple and fleeting—but make it easy for consumers to make it their own—and you'll have them hooked in no time! ;-) (Related: An online music store of one's own.)

Website: www.22tracks.nl
Contact: info@22tracks.com

Spotted by: Stephan Hoberg

Thanks largely to the anything-goes nature of the online world, audiences in mature consumer societies are not easily shocked. As a result, brands are harnessing ever higher levels of risqué to stand out from the crowd. The Icecreamists recently grabbed our attention by sexing up dessert with their x-rated gelato dubbed The Sex Pistol—touted to have the same charge as a dose of Viagra. For those of you who need added proof that maturalism is rife, look no further than Hot Wax, an adults-only colouring book created by Atlanta-based pin-up artist Tyson McAdoo.

Pushing the boundaries in a traditionally child-centric domain, Hot Wax is a 32-page colouring and activity book (USD 14) filled with raunchy graphic illustrations. The images may be just outlines but the themes are unambiguous. With nudity, tattoos and lingerie featuring prominently, clearly this is not a colouring book for kids.

If you’ve read our sister-site's latest trend briefing, you will know that 2010 is set to be rawer and more risqué than ever. What will be the next plain-vanilla product to be infused with a saucy new twist? Could a side of daringly super-charged seduction be the order of the day for your brand?

Website: www.tysonmcadoo.com/store_book/storeBook_02.html — www.facebook.com/pages/Tyson-Mcadoo/54928786199
Contact: store@tysonmcadoo.com

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann

Buskers have played on city streets for hundreds of years, working on the premise that people are willing to pay for a decent performance. Operating on a similar model, Anjuno could be seen as returning music to its pay-what-you-want roots. Launched in May, Anjuno allows creators of music, games and ebooks to post their work on the site, which fans can download and enjoy, then pay the artist whatever they think it's worth. The system accepts payments at any level—including free. Anjuno takes a commission of 15% per sale.

Anjuno aims to make the economics of digital media better for both the producer and the consumer. Summing up the advantages for both the artists and their fans, Anjuno urges: “Instead of pirating that new album because you don't feel like paying $15, pay $2 here on Anjuno. And since we don't take huge cuts of the profit like record labels and publishers, the artist ends up making more from your small payment on Anjuno.”

Up until now, similar (un)pricing schemes have predominantly been used as a promotional tool. Does this this mark the beginning of a shift towards pay-what-you-want pricing models becoming more widely adopted as the basis of a business? Will we see more new businesses fundamentally eschew traditional pricing models in favour of letting their customers decide the prices? One to watch. (Related: pay-as-you-want magazines, restaurants, hotels and ad agencies.)

Website: www.anjuno.com
Contact: office@anjuno.com

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann