music posts

Ever since Google bought Simplify Media and killed it for the iPhone, there has been a need for a reliable way to get your DRM-free music library to your iPhone. Audiogalaxy has done that, and quite a bit more. Audiogalaxy basically streams your music collection, using a helper app, to another computer, an iPad, iPhone, or an Android phone.

To get started, you sign up for free, and a Web-based client will scan your hard drive for your music collection. If you have a lot of music, it can take a lot of time, so be patient. When that's done, you can grab the free iPhone or iPad client, sign in, and your music is with you. The app works fine over 3G or Wi-Fi; audio quality is good, but it's not CD quality. I tried the app several times, and it worked well on a three-bar 3G connection. The app also supports background play in iOS 4.

It's time for another installment of our favorite viral program, "Bands You've Never Heard Of Play A Song On Their iPhones." In this case, the band is Brooklyn's Atomic Tom, the song is the decidedly catchy Take Me Out, and the performance is live on the 6th Avenue line of the New York City subways, crossing the Manhattan Bridge on the B train.

Add the degree of difficulty of shooting the video on iPhones, the noise and lighting challenges of the train, and the likelihood of an overeager "see something, say something" New Yorker getting the boys into trouble with the transit cops -- all in all, an impressive effort.

Thanks Howdy!

[via NYT Bits, Daily What and The Loop]

This is just a heads-up to let you know that Moog Music is releasing their own iPhone / iPod touch music app on the App Store on Monday.

From the PR, we can glean that Filtatron is a real-time audio effects engine and studio tool that has a finely-modeled Moog Ladder Filter at its core. Yes, it's the same filter that gives Moog instruments their warm, thick character and tone. Now, in the palm of your hand (and at a mere fraction of the cost), you can make your own deliciously eerie, yet oh-so-creamy Moog tones.

Mike Adams, president of Moog Music had this to say.

"Filtatron represents the first time that the signature Moog sound is available outside of a high-end, hand-made Moog synthesizer. This powerful app extends the studio capabilities of traditional Moog users, and also provides music enthusiasts and Moog fans a fantastic way to create and share their personalized presets. All for a price that makes the Moog sound accessible to a wide audience."

With loads of presets and samples, it looks like Filtatron will have plenty to get your creative Moog tunes flowing. What's quite exciting is that you can use the Filtatron sampler to record your own unique sounds, and then you can mash them up with the Moog Ladder Filter as well as the built-in effects module, including delay. It seems that the overall sound is controlled with a virtual amp, which provides tones that range from warm analog overdrive to extreme distortion.

Filtatron will be available from Monday on the iTunes Store for US$4.99.

We're certainly looking forward to having a play with this one. Check out the demo video after the break, and let us know what you think in the comments.

For all the Filtatron details, click here.

If you've read our reviews of the Sonos ZonePlayer S5 or their iPad and iPhone remotes, you may have said, "I'd like to get a Sonos system but I can't afford the price." Well, today may be your lucky day as we're giving away a Sonos ZonePlayer S5 and a Sonos ZoneBridge to one fortunate winner!

The ZonePlayer S5 allows you to play music through a plug-and-play 5-speaker device, whereas the ZoneBridge hooks into your router and creates a wireless zone for the S5. Now all you have to do is plug the S5 into an outlet anywhere in your house and easily stream your music using free control apps (and yes, there's a Mac app). Sonos allows you to stream not only your iTunes library, but also music from services like Pandora, Napster, Rhapsody, SIRIUS and Wolfgang's Vault plus Internet radio.

To enter, leave a comment on this post telling us the last song you played (on any device, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod or AM transistor radio). To learn more about the S5 and ZoneBridge, check out this Sonos page here. Full rules for the giveaway are here, plus the short version of the rules are listed below.

• 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 telling us the last song you played.
• The comment must be left before Monday, October 18, 2010, 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time.
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: One Sonos ZonePlayer S5 and one Sonos ZoneBridge (Value: US$500)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

I first saw Superbrothers' Sword and Sworcery in person back at GDC earlier this year. This past weekend, developer Capy's Nathan Vella met up with me at the IndieCade festival in Culver City, California to show off the latest build of the game. It's much farther along in development these days. While the GDC demo was more of a working prototype, Vella said the title is basically content-complete, and the creators are just polishing out the kinks at this point.

What they've created is one heck of an experience. The concentrated story that I saw at GDC has grown into a gorgeous, expanded universe for your Superbrothers-style warrior to explore and interact with, and the game plays like an interactive piece of art, with mystery and magic around every turn. It's a game that's hard to categorize; there's not much text, and what's there is pretty incoherent, with phrases like "she knew whence we had come," and a quest for a book called the Megatome. When I asked Vella what genre he considered the game to be, he said it was "inspired by old-school adventure gaming, but we call it an exploration and experience."

The basic mechanic is this: touch. Almost everything you touch in the world reacts in some way -- if you touch plants or animals, they will shake or run and hide. You can drag to move your character, or double-tap to send him around the screens. The general theme is exploration -- find caves, meet people, and learn about the world you exist in.

Apple is rumored to be discussing music subscriptions with major labels that would bring unlimited, streaming music to its iTunes customers.

According to the New York Post (NYP), Apple's VP of iTunes, Eddy Cue, has been in talks with major labels about a subscription model that would give customers unlimited access to music for a monthly fee. Details are few and far between, but NYP's sources suggest that the monthly cost could be around US$10-15. They also suggest that label representatives are receptive to the idea, as single-track sales have begun to decline.

Similar services like Rdio have gained a following by offering streaming and cached versions of favorite tracks for a small fee (Rdio starts at $4.99 per month). Spotify offers a similar service in the UK and is currently pushing for a US release.

WINtA is probably the best brand new game that I've seen so far at GDC Online 2010 (this week in Austin, Texas). It's a title published by a group called OneBigGame, which is a nonprofit video game publisher. They commission and publish games, which are created for free by luminaries in the video game field, and then they sell them to customers for money that goes straight to charities around the world. Founder Martin de Ronde took the stage at GDC to allegedly talk about how to take an app from iPhone to the iPad, but what he actually did was show off this really amazing game and music platform, and he gave a road map to where the iPad version will eventually go.

"WINtA" stands for "War is Not The Answer," which is what game creator Masaya Matsuura felt after September 11th, and that's what he wanted to transfer into game form. WINtA itself is actually a rhythm game -- Matsuura is well known in the gaming community for making PaRappa the Rapper, which is a highly regarded PlayStation game known for pioneering the genre that eventually launched Guitar Hero and Tap Tap Revolution. de Ronde approached Matsuura under the OneBigGame banner, asking if he would create a game to sell for charity, and with the help of Dutch developer Triangle Studios, Matsuura came up with WINtA. The app will be out on the App Store for free later this year.

Check out more, including a video of the demonstration, after the break.

Last we heard, Facebook and the new iTunes-based social network Ping were at odds with each other, with Facebook providing "onerous terms" and Apple trying to hook into the bigger network anyway. But maybe they can still heal the rift. Facebook CTO Bret Taylor told Silicon Alley Insider that he's "very confident" that the two networks can find some common ground.

Unfortunately, he didn't say anything other than that, so as for what kind of common ground they'll find, that's still up in the air. But Apple would do well to enlist Facebook's help in their fledgling network, "onerous" as the terms may be. Ping is an interesting network, as we've said, but given the lack of action that I've seen in my own little slice of Ping lately, bringing in some links and eyeballs from a more active and veteran social network seems like it would be worth the compromise.

[via Cult of Mac]

Personally, I'd like to have an FM tuner in my iPhone, but then again, I'm a radio geek, so I guess I'm in the minority. According to a survey from the Consumer Electronics Association, more than half of Americans polled say they don't want an FM tuner in their cell phone. That seems strange to me -- why would you not want that extra functionality? The new iPod nano still has an FM tuner on board, so it must be pretty easy to get one in there. Of course, if there's no demand for it, Apple's not likely to eventually include one in a future version of the iPhone. If this survey is any indication, you'll have to try and get American Top 40 in podcast form.

Then again, there are some political machinations going on here, too -- the CEA also reports that over 80% of Americans would be opposed to a government mandate on including FM tuners in mobile phones. As big a fan of radio as I am, even I wouldn't support that one. It's not the government's business to determine what features are in my cell phone. But sure enough, that's what the NAB is pushing for, trying to require FM tuners in cell phones for emergency usage and information.

At any rate, politics aside (and commenters, please be civil), I'm surprised that so few people are interested in having an FM tuner. Sure, it's not cutting-edge technology, but certainly there are still times that you just want to tune into the radio, right?

Ping is Apple's first earnest foray into the social network game. Introduced with iTunes 10, Ping lets users see the music their friends are buying from the iTunes Store, leave comments, and point out what they like.

There are also several musicians participating. The more active among them post photos and videos, stories, and so on. It's a young network with lots of potential, but for now, some folks are less than impressed. A recent update to iTunes put Ping in your music library (it used to be limited to the iTunes Store) and added a big 'ol sidebar.

Our question to you is: are you using it? I'll admit that my interest has waned, and that's because nearly all of the updates I see are of the "[Person X] is now following [Person Y]" variety, which isn't very interesting. Perhaps if the artists I followed were a bit more active, I might use it more.

Am I the only one? Complete our short poll below and let us know if you're using Ping. We'll post the results at a later time.

Sonos has announced a new accessory for owners of the Sonos wireless music system. The Wireless Dock allows you to quickly connect an iPod or iPhone and access the music on it from any room in the house that has a Sonos ZonePlayer.

The device is a pretty clever idea that is a natural expansion of the existing Sonos brand. Of course, most people will have the music that is on their iPod or iPhone in their Sonos system already, but the device will allow visitors to plug in and access their own music, which makes it great for drop-ins or weekend guests. The music data on the device will not have to be indexed, so it really is just plugging it in and playing the music.

The dock will be released before the end of October, and sell for US $119.00. It works with the iPod touch (1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation), iPod classic, iPod nano (3rd, 4th, and 5th generation), iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, and iPhone, and it has been certified by the developer to meet Apple performance standards.

There are, of course, other ways to spread your music around the house (don't forget that iTunes now allows you to plug and play others' music as well), but Sonos owners will find this to be a quick and easy solution to integrating your portable iOS devices into an existing music system. We'll have a sample for testing soon and let you know how it does.

Raise your hand if you remember gorging yourself at the feast that was Napster. After tough times and much retooling, Napster is now available for iOS devices (free) with a per-month subscription model.

Here's how it works. For US$10 per month, users can stream and cache any of the 10 million available songs to their iPod touches, iPhones or iPads. You can create on-the-go playlists, re-order songs, cache up to 100 songs at a time and browse the Billboard charts all the way back to 1955! 80's playlist, here I come!

New customers can enjoy the service for free for a limited time, and then receive 20% of should they become new customers. Have fun, music lovers.

[Via Engadget]

Apple's official iMovie app for iPhone has been updated to version 1.1. The new update requires iOS 4.1 and is compatible with the new iPod touch. It also adds the ability to split up video clips, automatically loop music for a longer videos and updated Photos browser. There are a few other upgrades to help performance and reliability, and a new tips and indicators to help you use the app. High Dynamic Range photography is new in iOS 4.1, but since HDR requires multiple exposures of a still picture, there's nothing in the new iMovie app to similarly improve your videos.

Current users can upgrade right now via the App Store. iMovie for iOS can be purchased for US$4.99. Enjoy the update!

Here's two tips for the new iTunes 10 that you might not have seen yet. First up, 9to5Mac shares the news that you can now plug any iOS device with music on it into iTunes 10 and listen in to whatever music is available without having to enable "manual sync mode." That's a nice bonus -- if you're at a party, and your friend wants to hear a tune you're carrying around on the iPhone, you can just plug it in, hit play, and dance the night away. I presume all of the usual restrictions on sharing music are still there (music bought on one account can't be downloaded to another, obviously), but at least just for listening, iTunes 10 makes things much easier.

Mac OS X Hints also shares a tip for those disappointed by the look of the grayed-out icons in the iTunes 10 sidebar. By putting a certain line into Terminal, you can enable "high contrast mode" for the app. It won't bring back the colors (it basically just inverses the sidebar from black-on-white to vice versa), but if you need a little more action in the iTunes sidebar, you can give it a shot.

One of the things that was widely rumored to appear but ultimately absent from Apple's music event last week was an extension of song previews on the iTunes Store from their current 30 seconds to 60 or even 90 seconds. According to CNET, we can blame the Byzantine licensing arrangement of the music industry (surprise, surprise).

Apple had a deal worked out with Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), all four major record companies, and a contract with American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) that never limited preview lengths in the first place. Apparently that still wasn't enough to increase preview lengths, because CNET says the National Music Publishers Association objected and basically said, "No, you have to make a deal with us, too."

All of which just makes me wonder: how many different licensing associations does this cash cow industry need, anyway?

The music industry giants gave up a lot of their power (and money) to Apple in the mid-2000s, and it seems they've learned their lesson. Unfortunately for us users, this obstructionism means we end up losing out on neat features. As CNET notes, the current mini-battle over song previews is likely just a warmup for the headliner bout: Apple's predicted music streaming service.

Music industry execs already tried to get Apple to pay "performance fees" for its 30-second song samples; I can imagine Steve Jobs's response to that one was something like maniacal laughter followed by a hearty "No." If Apple does finally manage to get 90-second previews pushed through, it could be a good sign for its music streaming aspirations.

[Via MacRumors]