I received a promo CD in the mail the other day. This is not an unusual occurrence, but this CD was different. It was a professionally packaged mix CD. It was like an old skool mixtape, crafted by a human being who selected songs they knew I would like. It came from a UK company call Mixpixie who has a very interesting business model in a world where competition to sell music is fierce. When a user goes to the Mixpixie site they can pick a CD packaging design, add text, upload photos and pick songs to create their very own mix CD. The company then burns the CD and packages it in a professional Digipak CD case that is printed with your selected design. Pre-designed templates are available for all occasions including birthdays, holidays, parties, weddings, etc.

I think it's a great idea and believe the model can fit a specific niche very well. However, there were some significant sticking points for me.

The first is that packaging customization options are limited. Although you can upload a photo with some of the designs and add text, you are limited to using only Mixpixie templates, which will not be winning any graphic design awards. The canned templates may be good for the grandmother wanting to buy  a custom birthday CD for granddad, but they need to offer a template that allows a user full control over the images printed on the Digipak. Creative people will find the templates frustratingly limited and not that exciting. Give people the choice to make their designs available for other users and you will soon have a database of CD sleeve designs that put the current selection to shame.

The second point of frustration was the amount of unavailable music. I understand that licensing rights take time, and this could change in the future, but during my testing there was a plethora of pretty standard artists not available. I selected 15 artists to test what was available and Mixipixie did not have any Queen, Rolling Stones, Tom Waits, U2, Wilco or Lady Gaga. They only had pre-Stevie Nicks Fleetwood Mac. But they did have the Steve Miler Band, Radiohead, the Velvet Underground, XTC, Pink Floyd, Miles Davis, Black Sabbath and Bob Dylan.

The third strike against Mixpixie is the pricing. This will be a hard business to make money in as they need to pay licensing fees for every song they sell, and they are offering a custom manufactured product. But the ten song CD I put together cost $27.39 after calculating the exchange rate and shipping. That is simply too high a price for a ten song mix CD, even with quality as high as what Mixpixie offers.

I hope companies like this can succeed, but at this point in time I don't see how.

Below are the songs Mixpixie put on my CD.  So one thing is certain. They have great taste!

I sometimes get flack for playlists I create that tie songs together with an odd, or unusual themes. But in my view,  if enough songwriters feel the need to write a song about earthworms, or ground beef,  they deserve a list. It's also a great way to listen to a playlist that is sure to include songs you have not heard before.

One of these playlists was a 30 song compilation I put together called Egg Songs.  At the time, I thought 30 songs was a lot for such a unique theme, but according to the comments I missed some important ones.

Today, I thought I would create another playlist about eggs, but this time I decided to only use egg songs that include a specific preparation method. Now, before you tell me that an egg cream does not include eggs, I am completely aware of this fact. However, I included the song "Egg Cream" by Lou Reed for two reasons: the egg cream originally did in include eggs, even though they do not today, and it's Lou Reed who's an instant add for any playlist I compile if the song fits the theme.

So what's your favorite egg song?

Let's Take It To The StageNext to James Brown there doesn't exist a more sampled funk act than the mighty Funkadelic. Their grooves are legendary, and the nasty, infectious beats they've created have been cut up and re-assembled into a myriad of hip-hop hits. Funkadelic is directly, and indirectly responsible for more booty shakin' than most other whole genres can claim.

For this playlist we're examining tracks that sample parts of Funkadelic's classic 1975 album Let's Take It To The Stage.

The album peaked at #14 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and #102 on The Billboard 2oo, but important samples from the record have reached the top 10 multiple times. Let's Take It To The Stage continues to live on as young producers discover it, and use it to create brand new art.

This playlist is an excellent collection of old skool hip-hop. Take note of how Funkadelic has left their footprint.