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Chance the Rapper wins the first Grammy for a streaming-only album
This year is the first time streaming-only albums were eligible to win at the Grammys and Chance the Rapper took full advantage. The hip hop artist won for Best Rap Album Sunday night, notching the first win for a collection of songs that weren't released as a physical album or sold digitally. Back in May, Coloring Book was the first streaming-only album to hit the Billboard 200 chart. Chance also took home Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance for the song "No Problem."
Chance the Rapper's streaming-only album hits Billboard chart
In late 2014, the Billboard 200 chart began to take into account both album sales and streaming plays for its rankings. When the list is updated this week, the first streaming-only album will be included on the chart. Chance the Rapper's Coloring Book debuted at number 8 on the list with 38,000 in equivalent sales since its debut on May 13th. The album is an Apple Music exclusive until May 27th where it has tallied 57.3 million streams so far. According to Billboard, there are no plans to make the album available for sale. When Billboard started including streams over a year ago, it announced that 1,500 streams from an album would translate to "an equivalent album unit."
If you love adult coloring books, you'll enjoy 'Hidden Folks'
Hidden Folks is a deceptive game. It appears simplistic, featuring black-and-white line drawings of industrial plants, dense cities, and forests populated by campers and critters. But, its black lines hide multitudes of secrets: It's an interactive hidden-object game with intricate, animated environments that players on iOS, Apple TV and Steam will soon be able to explore. Players interact with certain aspects of these scenes, tapping to open a garage door and reveal a hidden person inside, or discovering secret words in a tiny letter factory. The stark aesthetic of Hidden Folks makes it seem like a giant, digital, adult coloring book. Because of this association, it seems like an inherently soothing experience. That's on purpose, according to veteran independent game designer Adriaan de Jongh.
Add some color to somebody's holiday with a coloring book
What better way to add some color to someone's holiday than with a coloring book? With Kalle Svenson's Colorize your photos, converting your existing photos into ones with a coloring book effect is a simple drag and drop away. After dragging in your photos, you can make granular adjustments to the levels (fewer or more) of detail, as well as black and gray levels. In the above photo, my man Tobias Funke, originally covered up in Blue Man Group blue, has been colorized so that I can color him into whatever hue of blue my heart desires. One thing missing in the app that I'd like added is the ability to compile a coloring book. But this isn't that big an issue, as one can compile PDFs using Preview.app. Also, if you already own Adobe Photoshop, you may find that some of its built-in filters achieve a similar effect. These things aside, Colorize your photos is a straightforward and easy-to-use app suitable for both kids and the kids within us. Colorize your photos is available for purchase for USD $24.95, and as a free download trial. TUAW has 2 free licenses of Colorize your photos to give away to TUAW readers. To enter, leave a comment about the pictures you'd most want to turn into a coloring book. The rules: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, leave a comment below. The comment must be left by Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Two winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: One free license of Colorize your photos (retail value USD $24.95). Click here for Official Rules
Merchandising, merchandising, merchandising [Updated]
Over at Casual WoW, Delaney talks about some of the merchandising choices Blizzard has made with World of Warcraft. Sure, there's the card game, the board game, the action figures, and a variety of amusing t-shirts and hats, but it seems like we're still lacking. As an example of what Blizzard's missing, we're presented with some utterly charming screenshots that have been photoshopped into coloring book pages. And now, if you'll just excuse me, I think I need to fire up my printer and find my box of crayons...Update: Delaney's made a follow-up post with not only more coloring book pages, but instructions on how to make your own using Photoshop Elements.
