Apple’s iTunes may have ushered in a digital revolution to the music industry, making music more affordable and—in tandem with the iPod and other MP3 players—more of a feature in people’s day-to-day lives, but according to Pete Townshend, iTunes is a “digital vampire” that’s bleeding musicians by taking a commission for each download …
music
Why Isn’t Coldplay’s New Album on Spotify?
Spotify users who are also fans of Coldplay may have found themselves wondering something over the last few days, and it’s not “Why does Chris Martin always sound so sad and tired?” Instead, they’re probably asking themselves when “Mylo Xyloto,” the Coldplay album released earlier this week is going to show up on the streaming music …
Snoop Dogg, Sean Parker and 5 More Spotify Users You Should Add Now
Until Google irons out its music licensing issues with the big record labels, its Google Music service (which the Wall Street Journal says is rumored to launch within the next few weeks) probably won’t reach the popularity of the music industry’s latest big thing: Spotify. One thing Google does want to do is emulate Spotify’s social …
The iPod Turns 10: How It Shaped Music History
Though the Apple Store memorials have since given way to long lines for the iPhone 4S, it’s still difficult to imagine the technology company without Steve Jobs at its helm. And while much has been written about the gadgets that defined perhaps Jobs’ most productive decade, it’s tough to isolate one device for its impact above the …
Google Music Store ‘Close’ According to Google SVP
Rumors of Google opening its own online music store have been floating around for quite some time, especially after the company launched its own cloud music service earlier this year. According to Google’s SVP of Mobile, Andrew Rubin, however, the service may appear sooner than many thought.
The New York Times reported this weekend …
The Digital Media Revolution: Analog Strikes Back
If you consider the move towards predominantly digital media to be a slow but inevitable one, recent events in the worlds of movies and comic books might make you want to reconsider that last part.
In the past week, protests by movie theater owners have pushed Universal to scrap plans to test a premium video-on-demand release for the …
Kickstarter in Legal Battle with Former ‘Journey’ Musician (No, Really)
Kickstarter has made a name for itself by giving all manner of artists a chance to afford to fulfill their ambitions through the wonders of crowdsourcing, but now the start-up is facing an unexpected legal battle over whether or not it can do so without infringing on a patent owned by a former member of Journey and Phish, of all …
Napster No More: Rhapsody Nabs Subscribers, Assets
Napster’s long, troubled life is finally coming to an end, with Rhapsody acquiring the service’s subscribers and assets from Best Buy. The Napster brand will be phased out as part of the deal.
Napster was best known for its early run as a peer-to-peer music sharing service (read: a way to download pirated MP3s) before the advent of …
Want to Use Spotify? You’ll Need a Facebook Account First
This may not end well. In order to sign up for popular streaming music service, Spotify, you’ll now need to be a Facebook member first. That’s right, you’ll need a Facebook account in order to use Spotify.
Here’s one Spotify employee’s answer to the question, “Can you sign up for Spotify without Facebook?”:
“Hey Guys thanks for your
…
Time to Kiss the Compact Disc Goodbye (Thanks, Netflix!)
It’s not something you think about most days. In fact, it’s almost taken for granted: The compact disc’s days as a viable medium for music are nearly over. Oh, I’m not telling you anything you don’t know. You use iTunes, or something like it. You’ve probably purchased music online and know, for better or worse, what music-related torrent …
Will Facebook Music Actually Work?
Facebook’s music integration is finally here, and it’s unlike any sort of music sharing we’ve seen before as part of the Open Graph. Ostensibly you’ll be able to keep track of what your friends are listening to via Facebook’s new real-time Ticker, which Zuck promises will deliver updates in—his actual words—“real-time …
Pandora Ends the Tyranny of 40-Hour Listening Caps
Remember back in the day when you listened to Pandora and hit your 40-hour listening limit?
“Wait, what? No more music?” you ask, brow furrowing as you slowly remove your earbuds. “Geez, 99 cents? For an entire month of streaming radio that I can customize as I please? Does it LOOK like I’m made of money?”
(MORE: Which Music …