Spotify has expanded its music service to reach customers in Australia and New Zealand. As of today, both Southern Hemisphere countries will be able to use the streaming service, and will have country-specific apps offering curated music playlists. The launch takes place three months after Spotify first arrived in Germany.
The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal against a $675,000 damages award to the RIAA and Sony in a file-sharing trial, reports Wired. Attorneys for Joel Tenenbaum, formerly a Boston college student, argued the defendant should be protected against "unrestrained discretionary jury damage awards against individual citizens for copyright infringement," but was denied by the court without further comment.
A new version of the subscription streaming music service Rdio has launched, bringing with it a native Mac OS X application for the first time. Previous versions were web-based. The new version is available on browsers, and applications Windows, the iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7. All versions allow listening to over 15 million tracks on the Rdio service.
In the latest maneuver during a legal battle with EMI that began in 2007, MP3Tunes has filed for bankruptcy. The move puts the ongoing case on hold, and could prevent a judgement in the matter. EMI isn't abandoning the suit, and as the CEO of MP3Tunes is a co-defendant in the case, he is personally facing liability for the alleged infringements.
Earlier this week, Netflix added about 100 rock concerts and documentaries to their US catalog. The selections lean heavily towards classic concerts featuring acts such as Queen, Deep Purple, and early ZZ Top. While Netflix is no stranger to music-related programming, such a large increase in the library of offerings without a pre-announcement is rare. All of the new additions are available for instant streaming.
Google has updated its Google Play (formerly Android Market) Music subsection with some new, "experimental" controls that include a toggle for using HTML5 rather than Flash for desktops, along with the replacement of the "thumbs up/down" rating system with a five-star rating, the iTunes standard. For Chrome users, the service can now provide desktop notifications. The changes mark the continuation of efforts to improve the service, which officially launched in November.
Grooveshark, a rogue streaming music service that has now been sued at least once by all the major labels over copyright issues, has lost its only partner. EMI, which had sued the company and then agreed to sign onto the service under the condition that Grooveshark license the EMI catalog, has terminated its agreement and sued the company anew, alleging non-payment on its license fees. Grooveshark claims that it has paid EMI over $2.6 million.
Apple has updated its music-creation and editing program Logic Pro, and has extended the update to the recently-discontinued Logic Express. The update fixes an issue that produced error messages when editing fades on numerous regions, and updates compatibility with Garageband for iOS projects. The Logic Pro update also fixes downloading and installing content bugs.
In addition to offering a selection of hardware Mbox audio interfaces with the full Pro Tools 10, Avid is now including a new, lighter version of the music-creation software, called Pro Tools Express, for free with the current Mbox and Mbox Mini, allowing users who don't need the full Pro Tools package to work with the software. The software replaces the Pro Tools LE software that was previously included.
Vevo has brought its music video library to the Xbox 360, enabling users to access more than 45,000 titles. The content is available in HD resolution and for free, through an ad-supported app that supports Kinect navigation.
Fighting both increased competition and increasing reluctance by major artists to get involved with subscription services, MOG has contacted interested companies about a potential sale, reports CNet. The company, which has been providing both free and subscription-based music streaming since 2005, may also be in financial trouble, having failed to ever turn a profit and, like all other subscription-based music services, report any significant revenue.
While still not a place serious audiophiles would be caught dead shopping from, Apple has opened a "Mastered for iTunes" section on the iTunes Music Store. The new section features albums from a variety of artists that have been remastered from the highest-fidelity source files and tuned specifically for optimum reproduction within the limits of iTunes' 256kbit AAC file format. The company also issued guidelines for mastering practices.
MakeMusic has introduced a free sheet music creation app for Mac and Windows, Finale NotePad. Based on the company's flagship Finale software, NotePad lets users produce notes, lyrics, and markings for compositions, the main limitation being an eight-instrument cap. It also handles functions like clefs, key signatures, and instrument transpositions.
Sony Music briefly inflated the price of a Whitney Houston album -- The Ultimate Collection -- only hours after the singer's death on Saturday, a Guardian report notes. The company is said to have initially raised the album's wholesale price at about 4AM on Sunday, causing its price to automatically jump at places like the iTunes Store. At the UK iTunes Store, the cost rose from £5 to £8; the album is actually an old one, a best-of compilation dating back to 1997.
Two different tech gear companies have announced two new products for music lovers who want small speakers. Gear4 out of El Segundo are launching the AirZone Series 1 home speaker and iPhone/iPod dock that incorporates AirPlay compatibility for remote sounds and control, while iPod accessory maker iHome is offering two different mini-speakers that stream music and more via Bluetooth connections, one including a mic for speakerphone use.
Most people know that iTunes Match, Apple's latest music-related service that offers to backup and make available whole iTunes libraries online, costs $25 year. While many assume the fee is at least in part a "bribe" to record companies to allow unlimited re-downloading, in fact Apple pays rights holders a fee each time a song is re-downloaded -- and for independent distributors who work with iTunes such as BandCamp, CDBaby and TuneCore, the royalty is a windfall for their artists.
Pop musician Paul McCartney will host a live, streaming concert through iTunes on February 9th at 7PM Pacific time, according to an announcement. The event is being hosted at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, and is meant to promote Kisses on the Bottom, a new McCartney album released on Tuesday. Backing him live will be Tommy LiPuma, as well as Diana Krall and her band, all of which contributed to the record.
On his last day as chairman of Warner Music Group, industry leader Edgar Bronfman Jr. sat down for an interview at the D: Dive Into Media conference in Dana Point, California. He was asked about a wide variety of topics, including his thoughts on various technological aspects of music which inevitably includes Apple, Spotify, Google and other players in the digital music scene. While defending the necessity of record labels, he warned of over-consolidation.
Music software company MakeMusic kicked off its NAMM industry trade show presence with a pair of announcements: in February, the company will make an as-yet-untitled iPad viewer app available for its Finale sheet-music users that will let them view print and play electronic sheet music. It also announced an improved 2012 version of its ">Finale NotePad.
Sony has announced today that it will bring its Music Unlimited subscription service to iOS devices, seven months after the Android app version and a year since its US debut on PlayStations, Bravia TVs, PCs and other connected devices. Sony Entertainment Network head Tim Schaaff told reporters a free universal iOS app would be available this quarter, and that the iOS app will offer up to 5GB of offline caching for premium subscribers to compete with other services like Spotify, reports MobileBeat.
A new notation editor and playback app, Notion for iPad, offers the ability to write down musical ideas and hear them performed using samples performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The app also features the LSO performing piano samples, together with other instruments and a track mixer. Scores can be customized using a full range of expressions, dynamics and articulations. For a limited time, the debut is being celebrated with a sale price.
Keith McMillen Instruments has received enough Kickstarter pledges to introduce the QuNeo pad controller for musicians. The device integrates 27 pads, sliders and rotary sensors, with each sensor able to distinguish pressure, velocity and the exact location of touch input. Multiple LEDs in several colors are fitted beneath the opaque input locations, providing feedback and reference.
The SiriusXM app for iOS devices has been updated to version 2.0, which now features the long-promised ability to listen from the beginning of a show even if the user joins the show at any point. In fact, users can now go back in time up to five hour previous to the point at which they joined the stream in order to hear previous programming. Music channels now automatically start at the beginning of the song during which the user tuned in.
A tip from a South American website has suggested that Apple will kick off the launch of its long-awaited full iTunes Store in Brazil on December 15th with a star-studded party at an unnamed hotel in Sao Paulo, featuring both well-known names in the Latin America music scene as well as Apple executives. Performances at the party will be recorded and offered on iTunes itself, according to the rumor.
Pioneer may be best known for its vehicle electronics, however the company has also worked to establish its presence as a high-end brand in the DJ and music-production markets. The S-DJ05 speakers epitomize the expansion, placing the Pioneer brand on a pair of active reference monitors. In our full review, we try out the new speakers and attempt to determine if the offering is worth its hefty price tag.
Time magazine reporter Laura Locke has posted a previously-unseen interview she did with Apple CEO Steve Jobs in 2003 on the day he unveiled the iTunes Music Store. In it, Jobs passionately defends the company's use of the sometimes-misinterpreted "Rip. Mix. Burn." ad campaign, denigrates the pre-iTunes download experience, and expresses some uncertainty over whether consumers would embrace the then-nascent iTunes store over piracy.
(Updated with AP info) Apple will finally expand the iTunes Music Store to the rest of Latin America on December 8th, moving beyond Mexico, claims Brazilian magazine Veja. The company has allegedly already secured deals with Brazilian music labels. To make a splash in that country, Apple has reportedly secured the rights to songs from Roberto Carlos, who like The Beatles was previously a long-time holdout on digital sales. Beatles albums only reached iTunes late last year.
New details regarding the Music Experience, which will debut at the upcoming Macworld | iWorld conference, have been released. The event will feature special performances and presentations from sonic architect and Public Enemy mastermind Hank Shocklee, the rock group moe., and award-winning electronic artist, producer and technologist BT. The organizers are also currently looking for DJs to compete at the first annual RISE Electronic Music DJ Battle & Bash. Anyone interested in competing must fill out the online registration form before December 19th.
The Monster Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, widely popular with hip-hop, urban and top 40 music listeners but sometimes derided as overly bass-heavy by critics, are expanding the lineup beyond other celebrity-designed earphones to an entire new line aimed at an older and more business-oriented demographic with the new, brushed-metal-finish Executive line. The new headphones offer a brushed-metal styling and auto-shutoff when idle.
Two titans of late 20th-century music have released new apps for iOS devices that showcase not the latest music from the performers, but rather analysis and information, interviews, song lyrics and other tidbits from across their respective long careers. Pink Floyd, who first emerged in the psychedelic late 60s, offer a trivia-laden app called This Day in Pink Floyd, while Police frontman Sting celebrates 25 years as a solo artist.
The Recording Industry Association of America has sent a cease-and-desist letter to ReDigi, threatening to sue the company over its marketplace for "used" digital tracks. The trade group demands that ReDigi shutter its operations, erase references to RIAA member artists from its site, "quarantine" current digital copies and provide access to sales records.
The team at doubleTwist have released a major update for their music playing app for Android. The new version of the app brings a major overhaul to the user interface as well as a host of new features. Among them is a 'premium' equalizer, however, this function will only work with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) devices.
An unofficial app that streamed music from Amazon Cloud Drive has been removed from the App Store, says developer James Clancey of Interactive Innovative Solutions. aMusic was reportedly pulled because of legal concerns involving the music industry. Clancey claims that the removal from the App Store is temporary, but has no date for when the app will be back.
Native Instruments has released iMASCHINE, a new audio production app for the iPhone and iPod touch. The software allows small-scale music production; 16 pads, for instance, can be used to play included drum kits or individual samples, while a keyboard can be used to create elements like melodies, and an audio recorder is meant for singing and sampling. Some 10 projects, 25 instrument kits and 400 individual samples are included by default.
Apple has dramatically expanded the presence of iTunes in Europe, reports say. In addition to Poland, the iTunes Music Store is now accessible in 11 more European countries. The remainder of the list includes Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
(Updated with Swedish info) Ten more European Union countries should soon be getting access to the iTunes Music Store, according to a music industry source in touch with Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita. Only Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic are mentioned by name. Apple though is said to be essentially ready to go with the expansion; a separate source suggests an October launch, which could in theory coincide with the company's October 4th press event or follow sometime thereafter.
Spotify has issued a statement defending its new Facebook sign-up and login process for access to its streaming music service. Previously, users just signed directly into Spotify itself; now, new users are expected to use their Facebook account, or create one, in order to access the Spotify service. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek claims that users can adjust their privacy settings within Spotify if they do not want to share what they are listening to on the social network.
A federal appeals court has reversed a federal judge's slashing of damages against college student Joel Tenenbaum, who was found guilty of sharing 30 music tracks on Kazaa -- and reinstated the jury's award of $675,000 in damages, or $22,500 per song, reports Wired reports. The previous judge, Nancy Gertner of Boston, had reduced the jury's verdict to 10 percent, or $67,500 ($2,250 per song). The appeals court ruled that Gertner should have used a different approach.
iTunes users can, for the first time, stream an entire album through the iTunes Store. The stream is a preview of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' I'm With You, which can only be preordered at the moment with the exception of one single. The complete download will unlock on August 30th.
Various music publishers and the National Music Publishers Association have agreed to settle their lawsuit against Google's video sharing site, YouTube. The class-action lawsuit originally claimed YouTube was actively encouraging copyright violations, as users uploaded content that included music videos, album tracks, movies and television programs.
Popular accessory maker Griffin Technology has brought out a tool for musicians, a programmable multi-function foot controller called the Stompbox that, in conjunction with iOS software, enables a wide range of virtual guitar effects. Designed to work with Frontier Design's iShred Live software, users can change effects with their feet, using the device with other instruments and changing effects without taking their hands away from playing.
Deskew Technologies' new app for musicians, Scorecerer, is a desktop and iPad companion app combination that allows performers to scan sheet music (a library of public-domain music is also available), sync it to an iPad and flip pages using either a swipe or an optional Bluetooth foot pedal. The app also allows handwritten annotations and highlights directly on the iPad app, enabling notes to ease difficult passages on the fly.
AOL Music's Play app, originally launched for Android, will be coming to iOS devices tomorrow, TechCrunch's MG Siegler has learned, offering not only compatibility with the device's local iTunes library, but also opportunities to stream full CD releases, share recommendations on social networks and content on the service itself, listen to Shoutcast streaming radio, an exclusive MP3 feed and bonus music from events such as the SXSW festival.
Virgin Media has signed a deal with Spotify to add streaming music to its cable content offering in the UK. Virgin's subscribers will be able to buy a bundle which includes access to Spotify's 13 million tracks. Although Spotify does offer a free, ad-supported streaming service, Virgin's subscribers will have to pay a subscription for their songs.
Yamaha has introduced a new iOS app that serves as a virtual representation of the company's Tenori-On musical arrangement hardware. The app, titled TNR-i, offers the same 16x16 button grid, which is used to control time and pitch of looped samples. Users can simultaneously configure a variety of different sound layers and song patterns, while six different performance modes further change the presentation style.
Music fans who are also iOS device owners will get an added benefit to their iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch via the iTunes Festival London 2011 app (free), which will serve up live and on-demand high-definition streams of the performers from the historic Roundhouse stage. Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay and Duran Duran will be among the featured acts.
Apple and major music publishers are very close to cementing a deal for the former's cloud music services, two sources claim. Described as having "knowledge of the talks," the sources say that only a relatively small amount of money is still separating the two sides. The informers add, however, that because cloud licenses are new and complex, there remain several ways in which Apple's service could be delayed.
eMusic has announced that it has signed a deal with EMI Music to expand the range of content available through the latter company's subscription-based music service. The deal is said to enable eMusic subscribers to access over 15,000 new albums from a range of artists such as Radiohead, the Beastie Boys, Brian Eno, Hot Chip, and LCD Soundsystem, among others.
Apple may have signed licensing deals with several major labels to secure necessary rights for the company's upcoming media locker. Earlier reports suggested the cloud-based service lacked significant licensing agreements, however unnamed sources have told All Things Digital that the company already has established deals with at least two of the four primary labels.
IK Multimedia has launched a v3.5 update to its amp and effects modeling software, AmpliTube, simultaneously introducing the Custom Shop. Accessed from within AmpliTube, the Shop hosts some 200 gear models, covering stompboxes, amplifiers, cabinets, microphones and rack effects. Available brands include Fender, Ampeg, Orange, Soldano, Groove Tubes and Gallien-Krueger.
