The other day I was setting up a Wordpress sandbox to do some theme testing and I ran into a small snag. I wanted to populate the blog with data from smmguru.com and the Wordpress export feature is a bit flawed. For many reasons (mainly security) I did not want the sandbox blog running off the same database so a backup/import was the way to go. Unless you can upload a 6mb export to your site (highly unlikely) then you cant import any data.

The first route I took was manually trying to split the file but I quickly realized it would take forever with that many lines of code. I took my problem to Google and found a nice little gem called “Shoes.” Its a WXR file splitter written in ruby by  mvManila. The program is very easy to use and it runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux and there’s also a command line version for the nerds. You can get the latest version here (just pick the latest version number for whichever platform you are running.) The program will then install itself and your ready to roll.

Select the local copy of your WXR file, then pick how small you would like each chunk to be. You can even append a name that will automatically be ordered in number. For example entering “backup-part-” will create WXR files labeled “backup-part-1″, “backup-part-2″, etc. Then all you have to do is import all the files through WordPress and your good to go.

So lately there has been a lot of crying over Apple introducing variable pricing in the iTunes music store. Soon after both Wal-Mart and Amazon raised their prices following a similar pricing structure as Apple. A lot of the top tracks have been raised 30 cents to $1.29 for new hits while recent songs will still cost 99 cents and older tracks will cost 69 cents. While the music industry is always pushing for more pennies I think the raise on Amazon’s end came purely out of pricing strategy. As the fourth (Amazon) and second (Wal-Mart) biggest online music retailers it does not come as a surprise to me. If Apple is charging $1.29 for latest hits then they too can jump on the bandwagon charging the same amount or even a little less to appeal as a better value.

Although there is a recession I don’t think it will have much effect on music downloads. The people who pay for music now will continue to pay for it until it becomes ridiculously high. Personally I don’t see the incentive of download music online for the same price it costs to buy the CD without getting the CD or anything that comes with it. Especially when you can still find all the music you want online for free. It won’t be long for others to follow suite. Best Buy and Target where listed as the 3rd and 5th largest online music sellers my bet is they will change their pricing structures by the end of the year. Cant wait to see the numbers that Apple posts from its iTunes sales this year.

The artists seem to be making plenty of cash… I don’t see any rappers complaining about their Bently’s and bitches which says something. I think the music industry has seen a sift in consumer use like watching videos online or using online radio services. While im not a huge fan of Little Wayne his success is a perfect example. Up to the release of “Tha Carter III” album he flooded online mixtape outlets with music. Not only did this create an amazing hype train, it combated the leaking of his album material. Putting out over 80 tracks and remixes before putting out an album will make it so people really dont know what to expect on the album. And if the content is good, the hype and interest of whats on the album does the rest of the work. Some of the tracks on the album were songs released on mixtapes that were later extended or remixed.

The industry is not the problem. You just have to make the right records.

NPD Data.

Looks like Facebook ads is down again. I noticed they have been having issues for the last view days. Around Sunday or Monday I started noticing some whack ass CTRs and click prices… Later that day I was unable to create or modify any ads and the service seems to be tottaly down. Not sure if this has been an issue previous to this incident but I’m sure it wont be the last with the growing pains they are facing being a new player in this market.

I have not gotten any response back from Facebook as to what the issue is but I really hope they get this shit ironed out soon… I cant even get to my Ads Manager to pause my campaigns… Which really sucks because I happen to be doing loads of split testing right now. If you know anything drop a comment or shoot me an email.

Note: If you can still manage your ads I would recommend pausing them if you will need constant access to them.