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Look up presenter or host in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

A presenter, or host (sometimes hostess, in feminine form), is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies (also MC, emcee, or host) is a person that hosts or presents a show.^[1] In films, a presenter (but not a host) is a usually well-known executive producer credited with introducing a film or filmmaker to a larger audience. In broadcast media, especially British, a presenter is the person who hosts, narrates, presents, or takes the main role in the program.

[edit] Television presenter

A television presenter is a person who introduces or hosts television programmes. Nowadays it is common for minor celebrities in other fields to take on this role, but there are also a number of people who have made their name solely within the field of presenting, particularly within children's television series to become a television personality.

Some presenters may double as an actor, model, singer, comedian etc. Others may be subject matter experts, such as scientists or politicians, serving as presenters for a programme about their field of expertise (for instance, David Attenborough). Some are celebrities who have made their name in one area, then leverage their fame to get involved in other areas. Examples of this latter group include British comedian Michael Palin who now presents programmes about travel (such as Around the World in 80 Days), and Alan Alda, who has presented Scientific American Frontiers for over a decade.

The term is also used in other countries, such as Ireland. In the USA, such a person is typically called a host or an MC (Master of Ceremonies). There are many most popular television personalities in Nepal. For example: Bikash Thapa Chhetri, Bijay Kumar Pandey and Bhusan Dahal are the most popular.

Radio presenter[link]

Broadly speaking, a radio presenter (often radio personality) is the same as a television presenter, except that they present radio programs instead of television programs. Big name presenters include Scott Mills, Tony Blackburn, Dale Winton, Steve Wright, Chris Moyles, Howard Stern, and Hamish and Andy.

News presenter[link]

Sports presenter[link]

A sports commentator (also sports announcer, sports broadcaster, sportscaster, or sports presenter) is a type of journalist on radio and/or television who specializes in reporting or commentating on sporting events. Sportscasting is often done live.

Weather presenter[link]

A weather presenter is a type of journalist on television who specializes in presenting weather forecasts.

References[link]

Lauren Conrad
Born	Lauren Katherine Conrad (1986-02-01) February 1, 1986 (age 26) Laguna Beach, California, U.S.
Other names	L.C.[1]
Occupation	Television personality, fashion designer, author
Years active	2004–present
Website
www.laurenconrad.com

Lauren Katherine Conrad (born February 1, 1986) is an American television personality and fashion designer.^[2] She came to prominence with her starring roles on the MTV reality series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and its spin-off series, The Hills, which at one point followed her personal and professional life as she pursued a career in the fashion industry.

Conrad has written three books in her L.A. Candy trilogy with a spin-off trilogy in the works, and has two fashion lines; LC by Lauren Conrad and Paper Crown. She, her hairstylist, and her makeup artist run a beauty website, The Beauty Department.^[3][4][5]

Early life[link]

Conrad was born in Laguna Beach, California to parents Jim and Kathy. She is the oldest of three children. Her younger siblings are Breanna and Brandon.^[6] In 2004, Conrad appeared on MTV Cribs, giving a tour of her Laguna Beach home.^[7]

Career[link]

[edit] 2004–09: Laguna Beach and The Hills

During Conrad's senior year of high school, she appeared in the MTV reality series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County in which she agreed to have her life taped. Upon graduation in 2004, she attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for one semester along with her friend, Heidi Montag. During the second season of Laguna Beach, she returned home and began taking classes at a local community college before subsequently transferring to the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising.^[6]

Conrad at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.

After the success of Laguna Beach, MTV developed The Hills, a spin-off series. The series originally documented the personal and professional lives of Lauren and her friends (Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge, and Whitney Port) while living in Los Angeles, California. The first season premiered on MTV on May 31, 2006. At the time, Conrad was an intern at Teen Vogue while living with then-housemate Heidi Montag.^[8]

The series was later renewed for a second season, which was filmed from late summer 2006 through February 2007 and premiered on January 15, 2007. During that time, Conrad and Montag's friendship deteriorated, as Heidi was increasingly spending her time with her new boyfriend, Spencer Pratt. By February 2007, Audrina Patridge became Conrad's roommate after Montag moved into a separate apartment with Pratt.^[9] Filming for the third season of The Hills began in mid-summer 2007 and lasted through March 2008. The premiere episode of season 3 aired on August 13, 2007. During that time, Conrad was able to revive her position at Teen Vogue and was offered a trip to Paris alongside Whitney Port. By March 2008, Port had left Teen Vogue for fashion PR firm People's Revolution, and after asking Conrad to assist at an event, Kelly Cutrone invited her to work for her company.

Filming for the fourth season of The Hills began in mid-summer 2008 and lasted through November 2008. The premiere episode of Season 4 aired on August 18, 2009. Filming for Season 5 began in January 2009, and the premiere episode aired April 6, 2009. Conrad confirmed that the fifth season would be her last.^[10] She made her final appearance in the series on May 31, 2009. The program continued without her, with former Laguna Beach castmate Kristin Cavallari being hired as Conrad's replacement. In March 2010, it was announced that the sixth season of The Hills would be the last.^[11] There was much speculation that Conrad would make a guest appearance for the series finale. The series ended on July 13, 2010, after airing six seasons and 102 episodes. She did not appear in the finale, but later said that she filmed an alternate ending of the series with Brody Jenner.^[12]

2007–09: Early fashion and retail endeavors[link]

Conrad at VH1's 2009 Divas concert

Conrad landed an internship at Teen Vogue while filming season one of The Hills.^[6] Conrad and her reality show appearances have been credited with improving sales of Teen Vogue. It was reported in March 2007 that since the second season of The Hills began airing in mid-January, newsstand sales for the magazine increased by double digits over 2006 sales. According to Lisa Love, the West Coast editor of Vogue who evaluated Conrad for the internship position, Conrad had to interview successfully in order to get the job, "regardless of what the cameras wanted".^[13] In January 2007, Conrad was named the first official spokesperson of "mark.", a line created by Avon and marketed toward young women. She was featured in the brand’s magalog and in the "mark." online community.^[14] Conrad was replaced by Ashley Greene in June 2010.^[15]

In 2007, Conrad appeared as a satirical version of herself in the comedy Epic Movie. In 2008, Conrad made a cameo appearance in an episode of Greek. In May 2009, Conrad appeared as a cartoon and ironic version of herself in an episode of Family Guy.^[16] Conrad had previously done voice work for the show in the episode Prick Up Your Ears in a spoof of Laguna Beach. Conrad's first fashion line, The Lauren Conrad Collection, debuted at the Mercedes-Benz LA Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in March 2008. In March 2009, Conrad announced that she would be taking a break from the fashion line. As a result, 2009's spring and summer lines were canceled. She earns an estimated $1.5 million annually for her television appearances, fashion line, and product endorsements. In fall 2009, Conrad launched LC by Lauren Conrad in Kohl's stores nationwide.^[17] Conrad appeared as a guest judge during Cycle 13 of America's Next Top Model.^[18] In August 2009, Conrad appeared on an episode of the tenth anniversary edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, playing for her charity: m.powerment by mark.^[19] She was asked one question for $50,000 and answered correctly after using her "Ask the Audience" lifeline. In 2010, she guest starred on Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List.

[edit] 2009–10: L.A. Candy and defunct reality series

Conrad released her first novel, L.A. Candy, on June 16, 2009.^[20] Inspired by her personal life, the book focuses on a young woman who moves to Los Angeles and becomes the star of a reality show. It was a New York Times bestseller.^[21] The second novel, Sweet Little Lies, was released on February 16, 2010.^[22] The final novel, Sugar and Spice, was released on October 5, 2010,^[23] along with another book, Lauren Conrad Style, which is about her experiences in and her knowledge of the fashion industry as well as being a style guide. In 2011, Conrad made another three-book deal with publisher HarperCollins. The books, titled The Fame Game, will be a spin-off series of the L.A. Candy trilogy and will follow character Madison Parker.^[24][25] Conrad launched a production company, Blue Eyed Productions, in early 2009. It has purchased the rights to turn L.A. Candy into a movie, in which Conrad would serve as an executive producer. The movie would be based on all three books.^[26]

On September 24, 2010, Conrad announced during an On Air with Ryan Seacrest interview that she would star in an upcoming MTV reality series. The show would focus on her fashion career rather than focusing on her personal life, which she says "will be something very different" from The Hills.^[27] The series began filming in mid-October 2010.^[28] However, after MTV had viewed the pilot, the network decided to not pick up the series. MTV's head of programming, David Janollari, said, "She did do a pilot. There were talks about whether we could somehow manage to put together a special based on that footage but that's also a big question mark based on her interest in that and the finances. We decided not to go ahead with the show," later adding, "We love her! We would love her on our network! It was a great attempt but it just didn't feel like a perfect fit for us now." Conrad released a statement of her own, reading, "We sold a show to MTV, filmed it and are really proud of the final result. MTV felt the subject matter was too high brow for their audience and offered me the opportunity to change the show by incorporating more of my personal life. We agreed going into the project that this show would be an aspirational one, focusing on my career and my goals and not my personal relationships. We delivered the show that we sold and are sorry MTV didn't feel their viewers were savvy enough to appreciate it."^[29]

[edit] 2011–present: The Fame Game and continued career

Conrad is working on launching a new fashion line, Paper Crown, and is scheduled to be in stores by fall 2011.^[4][30] The line is her third collection after The Lauren Conrad Collection and LC by Lauren Conrad. Her now defunct reality show would have focused on the creation and launch of the line. In April 2011, Conrad, along with her hairstylist Kristin Ess and her makeup artist Amy Nadine, launched a beauty website called The Beauty Department.^[31] The site offers beauty advice and tips as well as how-tos and tutorials.^[32]

In September 2011, Conrad announced plans to expand The Beauty Department to include a beauty and cosmetic line as well as to expand her current fashion lines.^[33]

Conrad is writing a spin-off book series of her L.A. Candy novels. The first novel, The Fame Game, was released on April 3, 2012. The second book in The Fame Game series, Starstruck, will be released on November 6, 2012. She is also writing another book, titled Lauren Conrad Beauty.^[34]

Personal life[link]

In 2008, Conrad began dating My Boys actor Kyle Howard. The couple broke up in June 2011.

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

Film[link]

Published works[link]

• L.A. Candy (2009)
• Sweet Little Lies (2010)
• Sugar and Spice (2010)
• Lauren Conrad Style (2010)
• The Fame Game (2012)
• Lauren Conrad Beauty (2012)
• Starstruck (2012)

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

	Los Angeles portal
	Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lauren Conrad

• Official website
• The Beauty Department
• Lauren Conrad at the Internet Movie Database

John Hodgman
Hodgman in 2009
Born	John Kellogg Hodgman (1971-06-03) June 3, 1971 (age 41) Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, author, humorist, television personality
Years active	2005–present

John Kellogg Hodgman (born June 3, 1971) is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as The Areas of My Expertise, More Information Than You Require, and That Is All, he is known for his personification of a PC in contrast to Justin Long's personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a Mac" advertising campaign, and for his correspondent work on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

His writings have been published in One Story (to which he contributed the debut story), The Paris Review, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Wired and The New York Times Magazine, for which he is editor of the humor section. He contributes to Public Radio International’s This American Life, and CBC Radio One’s Wiretap. His first book and accompanying audio narration, The Areas of My Expertise, a satirical tongue-in-cheek almanac which actually contains almost no factual information, was published in 2005. His second book, More Information Than You Require, went on sale October 21, 2008. His third book, That Is All, went on sale November 1, 2011.

Hodgman was the headline speaker at the 2009 Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, D.C.

Early life[link]

Hodgman was born and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts. He attended the Heath School and Brookline High School where he edited the underground magazine Samizdat, named for the grassroots dissident literature movement produced under the Soviet Bloc.^[1][2] During his last year of high school, he hosted the weekly Radio Consuelo show on freeform station WMFO in Medford.^[3]

In 1994 Hodgman graduated from Yale University with a degree in literature.^[4][5] Before gaining fame as a writer, Hodgman worked as a literary agent at Writers House in New York City, where he represented Darin Strauss, Deborah Digges, and actor Bruce Campbell, among others. Hodgman has used his experience as an agent in his column “Ask a Former Professional Literary Agent” at McSweeney's Internet Tendency.

Television appearances[link]

Hodgman appeared on The Daily Show on November 16, 2005, to promote his book, The Areas of My Expertise. Host Jon Stewart described the book as “very funny” and said that the section on hobo names in particular was written with “a certain kind of genius.” Hodgman has returned to the Daily Show numerous times for "resident expert" interview segments,^[6] and he is listed on the show's web site as a contributor.^[7]

In 2005, Hodgman played a character named "The Deranged Millionaire" in They Might Be Giants's Venue Songs DVD/CD, narrating in between songs with dialog he co-wrote with the band. He also narrated a number of Venue Songs-themed setlists during the band's live shows in 2005, and has introduced the band while in the role of The Deranged Millionaire as recently as May 16, 2007. Hodgman appeared again with They Might Be Giants on The Late Late Show, with Craig Ferguson, on December 11, 2009. Hodgman performed the spoken-word portions of the song Why Does the Sun Shine?

Hodgman at a reading in 2006.

In February 2006, Hodgman appeared on Attack of the Show, a show that airs daily on G4, to share some insight with the host and promote his book The Areas of My Expertise. In this appearance, Hodgman recounted the sad tale of the lobster (which he said were actually a small, furry, extinct species, killed and replaced by the creatures we think of as lobsters today) and brought along Jonathan Coulton, a frequent Hodgman collaborator and musical director of the Little Gray Book lectures. Coulton performed a song called Furry Old Lobster.^[8] Also, on October 18, 2008, Hodgman appeared again on Attack of the Show to talk about his newest book More Information Than You Require.

Hodgman appeared in the North American Get a Mac advertising campaign for Apple Inc., which ran from May 2006 through 2010. In the ads he plays the personification of a PC alongside his Mac counterpart, played by actor Justin Long. In reality, however, Hodgman himself became a Mac user in 1984.^[9]

In 2007, Hodgman appeared in the "Bowie" episode of the HBO television series Flight of the Conchords. He played the manager of a musical greeting card company who was considering using one of the band's songs for a greeting card.

Hodgman appeared in the episode "No Exit" of Battlestar Galactica, appearing as the civilian neurosurgeon, Dr. Gerard.^[10] He had earlier visited the set in 2005 to write about the show for The New York Times Magazine.^[11] A bottle of Edradour given as a gift to the show's producers also appeared in the episode "Crossroads, Part I."^[12]

On Friday, June 19, 2009, Hodgman was the headline speaker at the 2009 Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, D.C. Hodgman referred to this event as a "Nerd Prom." Many of his jokes were on the topic of President Barack Obama as the first nerd president, and quizzed the president on his knowledge of Frank Herbert's novel Dune. ^[13]

Hodgman appeared in the last two episodes of the first season of Bored to Death, "The Case of the Stolen Sperm" and "Take a Dive," as a literary reviewer who wrote a bad review that offended the main character.^[14] He returned in the second and third seasons.

Hodgman voice-acted on The Venture Bros. in the episode "Self-Medication" as Dale Hale, an ex-boy detective in therapy following the death of his father.

Also, during the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2009, Hodgman provided color commentary with made up trivia about the winners.^[15] He reprised this role for the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards in August 2010.

Because of his continuing support for QI, the BBC's intellectual comedy quiz, to be shown on BBC America,^[16] Hodgman was invited to appear on the show. He was the first “fifth panelist" on the program broadcast 3 December 2009 (the usual line-up being Stephen Fry as host, Alan Davies as regular panelist and three guests)—and won, continuing the tradition of a guest winning their "rookie" appearance on the show.^[17]

In 2012, Hodgman guest-starred in an episode of Delocated called "Reunion Show," acting as the host of a fictional show-within-a-show. Also in 2012, he appeared in as a psychiatrist in an episode of Community called "Curriculum Unavailable."

Other media appearances[link]

Film appearances[link]

• 2007: Super High Me as Himself (deleted scene)
• 2008: Baby Mama as Fertility Doctor
• 2009: Coraline as Father/Other Father (voice actor)
• 2009: The Invention of Lying as Wedding Overseer
• 2011: Arthur as Candy Store Manager

Radio[link]

Hodgman has been a guest on a number of different radio programs including PRI's This American Life^[18] and The Sound of Young America,^[19] WFMU's The Best Show on WFMU,^[20] NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and North Carolina Public Radio's The State of Things.^[21] Hodgman has also been featured on several podcasts including occasional appearances as "Judge John Hodgman" on Jordan, Jesse GO! which led to a stand-alone podcast^[22] produced by Maximum Fun. Hodgman was also a guest along side Jonathan Coulton on a number of episodes of You Look Nice Today. Hodgman was also a guest on This Week In Tech with Leo Laporte^[23] and has been featured on the podcast Boing Boing TV.^[24] Hodgman also appeared in person and on the NPR radio broadcast of City Arts and Lectures, in a recorded interview by Dave Eggers, in front of a live studio audience on November 10, 2008, at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, California. He was a guest on Neil deGrasse Tyson's radio show StarTalk Radio on February 27, 2011.^[25]

Online[link]

• the show with zefrank
• TED^[26]
• Diggnation Episode 231^[27]
• Today in the Past (podcast)^[28]
• Two articles on the website Open Letters in the year 2000.^[29][30] In them, he details a family trip to Ocean City, New Jersey shortly after his mother's death, and uses his experiences there as metaphors for life and death.
• Transcript of welcoming remarks at a literary reading shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11^[31]

Music[link]

• Hodgman was featured on the track "Question and Answer Time" on MC Frontalot's 2010 album Zero Day.^[32]
• Hodgman has appeared in two indie music videos directed by Tom Scharpling. The first was Ted Leo & The Pharmacists "Bottled In Cork," followed by The New Pornographers "Moves."

In print[link]

Hodgman at the 2010 Brooklyn Book Festival.

As contributor:

• Hodgman appears on the cover of the February 2007 edition of Wired Magazine, as a contributor to their "What we don't know about..." articles.
• Hodgman oversaw the "True Life Tales" section of the Sunday New York Times Magazine.^[33] The section is currently on hiatus.
• Hodgman has guest written for the "Sedaratives" section of The Believer Magazine. "Sedaratives" is an advice column created by Amy Sedaris.
• Hodgman wrote the Massachusetts^[34] chapter in the anthology State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America.
• Hodgman wrote the introduction to The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out (2009), a collection of Adam Koford's "Hobotopia" comic strips.
• Hodgman founded The Little Gray Book Lectures in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The lectures have been on hiatus "for the foreseeable future" as of August 2007.^[35]

As author:

• The Areas of My Expertise (ISBN 0-525-94908-9, 2005)
• More Information Than You Require (ISBN 0-525-95034-6, October 2008)
• That Is All (ISBN 978-0525952442, November 2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site for The Areas of My Expertise
• John Hodgman on Twitter
• Good Evening—Hodg-man on Blogger (inactive)
• John Hodgman at the Internet Movie Database
• "Interview with John Hodgman"

Jonathan Coulton
Background information
Born	(1970-12-01) December 1, 1970 (age 41)
Origin	Brooklyn, New York City
Genres	Folk rock, power pop, indie rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, banjo, ukulele, zendrum, tenori-on
Years active	2003–present
Associated acts	Paul and Storm Kristen Shirts John Hodgman Molly Lewis Ellen McLain Ze Frank RiffTrax They Might Be Giants
Website	http://www.jonathancoulton.com/

Jonathan Coulton (born December 1, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are "Code Monkey", "Re: Your Brains", "Still Alive" and "Want You Gone".

A former computer programmer employed at Cluen, a New York City software company^[1], and self-described geek, Coulton tends to write quirky, witty lyrics about science fiction and technology: a man who thinks in simian terms, a mad scientist who falls in love with one of his captives, and the dangers of bacteria. Rare topical songs include 2005's "W's Duty", which sampled President George W. Bush, and 2006's "Tom Cruise Crazy". Most of Coulton's recordings feature his singing over guitar, bass, and drums; some also feature the various other instruments Coulton plays, including accordion, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and glockenspiel.^[2]

Coulton graduated in 1993 from Yale, where he was a member of the Yale Whiffenpoofs^[3] and the Yale Spizzwinks(?). He is now the Contributing Troubadour at Popular Science magazine, whose September 2005 issue was accompanied by a five-song set by him called Our Bodies, Ourselves, Our Cybernetic Arms.^[4] He was also the Musical Director for The Little Gray Book Lectures.^[5]

Career[link]

Coulton's best-known works include his light-acoustic cover of the Sir Mix-a-Lot hit song "Baby Got Back" and original pieces such as "Code Monkey", which was featured on Slashdot^[6] on April 23, 2006 and linked from the webcomic Penny Arcade.^[7] It was also the theme song for an animated show on G4 called Code Monkeys.

His work has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered. Good Morning Silicon Valley featured a link to a video set to his song "Re: Your Brains".

Coulton accompanied John Hodgman on his "700 Hobo Names" promotional track for Hodgman's book The Areas of My Expertise as the guitarist (he was credited as "Jonathan William Coulton, the Colchester Kid"). Coulton also can be heard throughout the audiobook version of the same book, playing the theme song to the book, playing incidental music, and bantering with Hodgman, who reads the audio version of his work. Hodgman has also mentioned Coulton on The Daily Show: a Jonathan Coulton of Colchester, Connecticut, was Hodgman's pick to win an essay contest on overpowering Iraqi resistance to American invasion.^[8] Coulton wrote and performed "the winning entry", a song about dropping snakes from airplanes. Coulton appeared on the tour for Hodgman's second book, More Information Than You Require.

Coulton composed the title music for the show Mystery Diagnosis, and also has contributed other songs under "The Little Gray Book Lectures", a series of audio releases from John Hodgman.

Coulton, Paul and Storm, and Molly Lewis performing at Dragon*Con 2011

In 2006, Coulton began touring with comedy-duo Paul and Storm. At their first few shows, Coulton opened the concerts, but soon after his rise to fame, he was headlining.

Coulton wrote and performed a song titled "Still Alive" for the ending credits of Valve's 2007 video game Portal, with vocals by Ellen McLain. On April 1, 2008, Harmonix made this track available as free downloadable content for the game Rock Band.^[9] A version with Coulton's vocals was also included on the Orange Box Original Soundtrack,^[10] in addition to the one heard at the end of the game. "Still Alive" has also made an appearance as an easter egg in Left 4 Dead 2.^[11] The song has been called "the most influential game music".^[12] In 2011, Coulton followed up the success of "Still Alive" with a new song at the end of Portal 2, "Want You Gone".

A DVD & CD of a concert performed February 22, 2008, at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, entitled Best. Concert. Ever. was released in 2009. At the concert, Coulton played the aforementioned song "Still Alive" on its Rock Band version, along with guest "musicians" and geek/celebrities Leo Laporte, Merlin Mann and Veronica Belmont.^[13]

Coulton opened for They Might Be Giants for a few shows of their March 2010 tour.^[14] He toured with them again in February 2012.

Coulton had been working on his follow-up to the Thing a Week albums, tentatively titled The Aftermath. It has since been stated that the title is merely an umbrella term to classify non-album tracks released after Thing a Week. On May 25, 2010, Coulton said on his official site that he would be working on a new album, to be produced by John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants,^[15] and for the first time ever with a full band, including Marty Beller of They Might Be Giants,^[16] in a professional recording studio. The resulting album: Artificial Heart, was released on September 2, 2011.

In May 2011, Coulton was interviewed on NPR's popular economics-related program Planet Money. He disclosed that he makes about $500,000 a year from his music despite lacking a record label contact. He expressed gratitude towards his fans for his surprise success, the degree of which he called "absurd". In a broader discussion of whether or not the internet is good for musicians, Coulton answered in the affirmative, while journalist Frannie Kelley described him as a "fluke" such as the Snuggie.^[17] Coulton posted a tongue-in-cheek response on his blog about the comparison, saying "to which I say: snarkity snark snark!"^[18]

Licensing[link]

Coulton releases his songs under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license, allowing others to use them in their own noncommercial works. As a result, a number of music videos have been created using his songs, including such machinima as the ILL Clan's video for "Code Monkey" and a kinetic typography video for the song "Shop Vac".^[19]

Thing a Week[link]

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (August 2011)

From September 16, 2005, to September 30, 2006, Coulton ran "Thing a Week", during which he recorded 52 musical pieces in an effort to push his creative envelope via a "forced-march approach to writing and recording"; to prove to himself that he could produce creative output to a deadline; and to see whether a professional artist could use the Internet and Creative Commons to support himself. Early indications are that the experiment succeeded in generating a large number of high quality songs, boosting sales of music downloads, expanding Coulton's public presence, and enlarging his fan base. The success of the financial objective is more difficult to judge, but Coulton was quoted in a September 2006 interview as stating that "in some parts of the country, I'd be making a decent living".^[20] In a February 25, 2008, interview with This Week in Tech, he stated that he made more money in 2007 than he did in his last year of working as a programmer, 40% of it from digital downloads and 40% from merchandise and performances.^[21]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Smoking Monkey (2003)
• Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow (2004)
• Our Bodies, Ourselves, Our Cybernetic Arms (2005)
• Thing a Week One (2006)
• Thing a Week Two (2006)
• Thing a Week Three (2006)
• Thing a Week Four (2006)
• Artificial Heart (2011)

Compilations[link]

• JoCo Looks Back (2008)
• Best. Concert. Ever. (Live album - 2009)

Other releases[link]

• Other Experiments (Rarities Collection) (2005)
• Unplugged (Live on Second Life) (2006)
• The Orange Box Original Soundtrack (2007)
  • 1. "Still Alive" (Sung by Ellen McLain)
  • 19. "Still Alive" (Sung by Jonathan Coulton)
• The Aftermath (2009)
• Portal 2 Soundtrack: Songs to Test By - Volume 3 (2011)
  • 13. "Want You Gone" (Sung by Ellen McLain)

Most of Coulton's songs are published on his website as MP3 and FLAC downloads. Some of them are free, and none of them are subject to digital rights management. All of his original songs fall under the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 3.0 License. "Still Alive" and "Want You Gone" are the only exceptions to this, as Coulton assigned all rights for the songs to Valve. Along with "Still Alive," Coulton's song "Re: Your Brains" appears in jukeboxes in Left 4 Dead 2. "Want You Gone" also features in the end credits of Portal 2. All three of these games were designed by Valve.^[22]

Other versions and covers[link]

Pianist Louis Durra recorded an instrumental trio version of "Code Monkey" released on "Mad World EP" and "Arrogant Doormats" (2011).

NES Rock Band I Fight Dragons covered "The Future Soon" on their "IFD Super Secret Exclusives" EP (2009).

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jonathan Coulton

• Official website
• Jonathan Coulton on Myspace
• Jonathan Coulton on Twitter
• Jonathan Coulton at the Internet Movie Database
• Jonathan Coulton at the Open Directory Project
• Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog, a profile of Jonathan Coulton in the New York Times Magazine dated May 13, 2007.