How iPads, apps and YouTube can be a band’s best practice tools
While OS X continues to be a starting point for my music, I find now when it comes to rehearsals, everything I need is on my iPad. Read more »
CheckinDJ is the Foursquare for Spotify
photo: Lancaster University
CheckinDJ uses music preferences from social network profiles to create Spotify playlists for coffeeshops and other venues. Read more »
Hands-on with latest Orange amp models for OS X
The latest $99 software amplifiers from Orange are not not a complete substitute for real amps, but they’re a decent choice for home recording. Read more »
Riffstation, an app to help you learn guitar parts by ear
Riffstation is a fantastic tool to help musicians learn to play new songs, but be warned that it is a complement to your ears, not a replacement Read more »
Twitter music app ready to launch on iOS soon?
Twitter is reportedly getting ready to launch its own social music discovery app on iOS. The app has been built by the team behind the music site We Are Hunted. Read more »
Facebook gets simpler with bet that we just want the news that fits
photo: Eliza Kern
Facebook took a step back on Thursday in unveiling the updated News Feed, focusing on the simpler design the company has historically championed and trying to surface more interesting content through changes to the feed. Read more »
Four ways to connect your instrument to GarageBand
A rundown of the best methods for connecting a guitar or other instrument to your Mac. Read more »
A potential clue about Apple’s streaming music service surfaces
9to5Mac say they found unused “buy” icons in the iPad’s Music app that appear to be linked to streaming radio, a service Apple has been said to be working on. Read more »
GarageBand 101: Using Apple loops to help songwriting
photo: Shutterstock / Elaine Barker
Not ready to shell out for Logic Pro? GarageBand can be a useful and relatively cheaper way to draft and write songs for budding songwriters and musicians. Read more »
What Andrew Sullivan and Amanda Palmer have in common — a fanatical devotion to users
photo: Flickr / Christian Scholz
Both Andrew Sullivan — the conservative blogger who recently announced that he is going independent — and former Dresden Dolls singer Amanda Palmer are taking the same approach to media: connect with your fans, and then ask for help. Read more at paidContent »
RIM revamps BlackBerry app store, adding music and video
photo: RIM
BlackBerry App World is becoming simply BlackBerry World as RIM prepares to revamp its mobile storefront. In addition to apps and games, RIM will be selling multimedia. Read more »
Rolling Stone finally comes to iPad, with buy links to iTunes
Two years ago, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner criticized magazine publishers’ “premature” rush to iPad. Now, the 40-year-old music magazine is launching an iPad edition that includes a music purchase partnership with iTunes. Read more at paidContent »
Music site This Is My Jam could spin out from Echo Nest
A year after it launched as a skunkworks project inside music data company The Echo Nest, trendy social music site This Is My Jam is “looking at options” for going independent — as well as getting ready to launch some fun new site exploration features. Read more »
Can the creation of music be crowdsourced? Ericsson and DJ Avicii think it can
Swedish DJ and producer Avicii has agreed to work with network builder Ericsson to experiment with a crowdsourced music composition on. Starting on Wednesday, the public will be able to submit audio tracks that could wind up in Avicii’s new single. Read more »
Interview: Spotify exec on royalties and keeping labels happy
Spotify labels relations director Will Hope addresses questions over supposedly low payments artists receive from plays on the service — and why Adele boycotted Spotify for so long. Read more at paidContent »
Spotify improves discovery with recommendations and follow system
Spotify rolled out new discovery tools that allow people to find new music. There’s a new Twitter-like follow system so people can follow musicians and influencers. Spotify also provides new recommendations based on what a user is listening to. Read more »
There’s life in iTunes yet – global expansion is good news for labels
photo: Shutterstock / Smith
Music labels can expect prolonged life for the track download format to come from new overseas markets, as Apple launches iTunes Store in 56 more countries, introducing a legal store to fast-growth and difficult territories. Read more at paidContent »
iTunes Match re-match: Have things gotten any better?
The original version of iTunes Match was a huge hassle when it came to uploading and matching my iTunes library to Apple’s iTunes in the cloud. I tried again this year to see what, if anything, about the experience had improved. Read more »
Music service Rara faces challenge to turn free in to $0.99
Music service Rara has spent the last 10 months quietly tweaking its offering following a quiet launch. Now it will start going live properly. The catch? Every user is going to have to pay to play. Read more at paidContent »
Interview: How Deezer’s CEO will spend his €100 million music round
photo: Flickr/LeWeb12
Fresh from raising €100 million, French music service Deezer’s CEO Axel Dauchez tells paidContent he wants to tip-toe around the US and Spotify while using funds to go global. Read more at paidContent »
Let’s get physical: in music, bits take on appearance of atoms
Though plastic sales may be waning, value may remain in ascribing physical characteristics to virtual content. But do “digital album signing” and “second-hand MP3s” add up to real innovation? Read more at paidContent »
In Warner’s stable, Deezer has funds for costly global Spotify fight
photo: Jordache/Shutterstock
Deezer now stands a much greater chance of challenging powerful Spotify in the race to sign unlimited-music subscription customers, after reportedly taking a €100 million funding. But can any of their ilk be a success? Read more at paidContent »
Apple can pick its moment to re-invent music again
photo: Tim Bradshaw (Twitter)
Any subscription music service from Apple could fundamentally alter the entertainment business. But it may come only when iTunes’ current gas runs out, and we’re not quite there yet. Read more at paidContent »
Music service Omnifone on acquisition trail as it moves to profit
The company which powers mobile music for Sony and RIM says it is buying a Swedish indie and will acquire further, after it turned a pre-tax profit last year. Read more at paidContent »
Spotify gets a leg-up in Germany from Deutsche Telekom bundling
photo: Spotify
Carrier bundling will help grow music subscription income by 46 percent a year, one analyst forecasts. Spotify continues on that road by allying with Deutsche Telekom in Germany. Read more at paidContent »
Declaring playlist bankruptcy – lost in a land of infinite choice
Subscription media services are rapidly seeing consumers build up libraries in their rental ecosystems. But, as they become more popular, operators must keep it easy for users to go back to the content they love and pay for. Read more at paidContent »
Updated: Expand your Google Play library with YouTube music on your Mac
Browsing YouTube for the latest music, downloading, converting and uploading to back to Google Play is the updated version of listening to the radio, hearing a song for the first time, and adding it to your music collection directly from the radio. Read more »
Drip.fm has indie labels eager to become subscription music services
photo: Will Calcitt
Waves of music labels are keen to join a recently-launched new platform that promises higher returns than big-name streaming services. But can Drip.fm, which charges the same for just a few tracks each month that Spotify does for millions, entertain users as well as owners? Read more at paidContent »
Learning the hard way: music service Wahwah.fm killed by license costs
Wahwah.fm was trying to bring personal radio into the social age, while doing it all legally. It failed – at least for now – and CEO Philipp Eibach has a very cautionary tale for startups planning to take on the music business. Read more »
Blog network Buzz Media acquires music magazine Spin
Los Angeles-based entertainment blog network Buzz Media, which owns over 40 sites including Stereogum and Just Jared, has acquired music publication Spin, including its print magazine, website, iPad app and events business. It’s unclear whether Spin will survive in print. Read more at paidContent »
Despite digital growth, albums’ days look numbered
photo: s_bukley / Shutterstock
Not even the biggest-selling album of all time can put a shine on it – the music album may be spinning its last revs per minute. Read more at paidContent »
Musicplayr: cross-platform harmony for web music
It’s easy to embed a wide variety of music players on your website, but hard to get them singing from the same hymnsheet. Musicplayr’s trying to fix that with a newly-revamped player it calls ‘eye-candy for the ears’ Read more »
Media store wars: iTunes vs Amazon vs Google Play
Google now activates one million Android devices per day and has 400 million devices in the wild, but its media store efforts have lagged. Google Play now has more digital content types, so here’s a look at how it compares to iTunes and Amazon’s digital store. Read more »
Why Apple has to iCloud-ify the next version of iTunes
Apple is reportedly going to integrate iTunes with iCloud, which makes sense: iCloud is said to be a core strategy. But it’s clear that Apple doesn’t really have a choice. It has to move iTunes into the cloud to more fully embrace its post-PC worldview. Read more »
Amazon’s Cloud Player plays on iPhone, iPod touch
Once a Google Android exclusive, Amazon released an iOS version of its Cloud Player app for iPhone and iPod touch devices. The free software provides streaming and download access to audio files on Amazon servers either purchased from Amazon’s music store or later uploaded by customers. Read more »
MOG just landed on a new device platform: Fords
You can already access music subscription service MOG on your smartphone, tablet, PC, and many home entertainment appliances. Now it’s moving onto the biggest gadget of them all, the car. MOG is launching on Ford’s Sync connected car platform. Read more »
Digital music sales and the role of the post-holiday surge
UK music sales reached the milestone of digital music revenues exceeding physical for the first time – but it’s mostly the effect of Christmas iPod sales. Read more at paidContent »
Songkick’s Tourbox is a one-stop shop for live bands
Gig listings startup Songkick has started its expansion into broader music services, with a new feature called Tourbox that lets bands manage and promote their live dates across the web, through integrations with the likes of YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud and Bandcamp. Read more »
Sunnyvale to Bangalore, Dhingana rides India’s music cloud
Music servlces like Spotify and Rdio are expanding around the world, but they should take heed in India – a slick, Silicon Valley-built service is already proving a draw with Bollywood fans. Read more at paidContent »
Quick tip: Reclaim space in a pinch on iOS devices
Don’t have enough space to download your favorite app’s update? For those of us that fill our phones to the brim with apps and media, it’s a familiar scenario. However, there’s a neat trick to easily and temporarily reclaim space on your iOS device. Read more »
