TrendWatch: Musicians as digital curators

Artists have always had opinions about what music (other than their own) is great. But in the digital era, there are far more chances to trumpet those tastes to their fans. The idea of 'artist as curator' is gaining currency, with a variety of examples.Usher's Top 100 iPhone appR&B star Usher is the star of Melodeo's latest streaming music iPhone application. It's a playlist of 100 songs apparently hand-picked by the man himself from his favourite ever tunes. That means Arethra Franklin, James Brown and Michael Jackson among other artists.The app – powered by Melodeo's NuTsie service – then streams the songs to users, who've paid $3 for the privilege of downloading it. Melodeo has released a number of generic streaming compilation apps like this, but Usher is the first big star to put his name to one. Clear Channel's A.P.E. radio stationsRadio giant Clear Channel has got together with Irving Azoff's Front Line Management for the next big thing in online radio (possibly). It's called A.P.E. – standing for Artist Personal Experience – and it involves artists fronting streaming radio channels with a selection of their songs and their favourites.Christina Aguilera, Weezer and Joe Walsh of The Eagles were [...]