[itunes] Forum Topics

I know that Apple has been expending a lot of hot air telling anyone who will listen that the new iTunes pricing regime is a good thing for consumers. I know that it reckons that for every song which is ramped up to the new 99p (here in the UK) …

Kid Rock, The Beatles, AC/DC and Garth Brooks would make for a bizarre and unlikely concert line up, yet they share something in common: they are the last men standing as far as making their music available on iTunes. In the case of Kid Rock, he is apparently refusing to …

Music sharing with Facebook friends just became easier, and if that isn't enough to distract you, how about a game of Internet pinball? Two manufacturers are banking that these innovations will keep Facebook users entertained 24/7. Facebook users that subscribe to [URL="http://www.thumbplay.com/"]Thumbplay Music's desktop app[/URL] can combine it with iTunes …

All the news and social media feeds seem to have overdosed on one story this week: will The Beatles be on iTunes after the big Apple 'Rock and Roll' event today? News at eleven: I don't give a stuff, and here's my top ten reasons why. [LIST=1] [*]Most people would …

[ATTACH=right]17013[/ATTACH]It's official - Apple says it will be [URL="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/09/01/financial/f100538D23.DTL"]offering individual TV episodes for download 'rental.'[/URL] While many are already heralding the announcement from yet another much-hyped media event in California as another nail in the coffin of old school television, Daniweb spoke to [URL="http://www.danrayburn.com/"]Dan Rayburn[/URL], a principal analyst at Frost …

[ATTACH=right]16889[/ATTACH]The Apple rumor mill is in full motion this morning, folks. [URL="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-24/apple-said-to-be-in-talks-with-fox-for-new-99-cent-tv-show-rental-service.html"]Bloomberg News[/URL] is reporting that two of the world's most powerful cult leaders and their companies are considering a partnership to take network television programs one big step closer to breaking free from the box for good. The rumor …

Nobody should have any reason to wish the fledgeling [URL="http://www.hmvdigital.com"]HMVDigital[/URL] music store, launching today, anything but the best of luck (unless you're an Apple shareholder). A bad business is in nobody's interests and a competitor to an obvious leader is a good thing. On the surface many of the omens …

According to a recent survey of Apple iTunes, iPod, iPhone and iPod Touch users, conducted by The NPD Group, more than a quarter of consumers participating had a strong interest in a free cloud-based music option. Many were willing to pay a subscription fee to access their own music libraries …

Last week was a tough week for Apple followers as we were bombarded with a slew of stories that sounded dire, but upon further examination maybe weren’t so bad (or maybe they were). Confused yet? You’re not alone. Let’s look at three stories from last week that illustrate this issue. …

The news - or rather unsubstantiated reports - that Apple is developing an online, cloud version of iTunes can be no surprise to anyone. The surprise, in the light of [URL="http://www.spotify.com"]Spotify[/URL], [URL="http://www.sky.com/songs"]Sky Songs[/URL] and other competitors is that Apple hasn't made a move before. You could actually argue that the …

Two years ago Apple introduced MobileMe. At the time I wrote a post called [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story219246.html"]Apple Has No Business Charging for Mobile Me[/URL]. My point was that people didn't want to pay $100 for a cloud service, that by all rights they should be getting for free. Folks pay a premium …

It has been a long time coming, but Apple has finally announced that iTunes is going DRM-free. As in, all songs on the iTunes site will ditch DRM. That's everything from Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI along with thousands of indie labels. All with their …

[I]The band is just fantastic, that is really what I think. Oh by the way, which one's Pink? ~Pink Floyd, Have a Cigar[/I] In the classic rock tale, the young, talented musicians are exploited by one of two entities: the unscrupulous manager or the greedy record company. This week Pink …

Two numbers that Apple fans won't forget in a hurry have made the headlines this week: 10 billion and 40 billion. The first refers to the 10 billion songs that have now been downloaded from the iTunes Store. The 10 billionth song was the eerily appropriate "Guess Things Happen That …

I came across an [URL="http://dailyme.com/story/2009121300001020/technology-narrowing-broadening-experiences.html"]interesting post[/URL] today by the Kansas City Star's Eric Adler suggesting that technology is robbing us of serendipity, those playful moments of spontaneous discovery. For example, he wonders when the last time a young person went into a library or book store and just found a …

After a swirl of rumors that Apple was in talks to acquire music-streaming service [url=http://www.lala.com/]Lala[/url], the [url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704342404574576544196064138.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection]Wall Street Journal reported[/url] yesterday that the companies had reached a deal. Exact terms were not disclosed. Lala, a four-year-old private company, offers a terrific Web-based [url=http://www.lala.com/#howitworks]music streaming and download service[/url] that lets you …

This is the third entry in the continuing "cave dwellers" [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story223037.html"]saga[/URL] and their new lives with Ubuntu. Someone posted a comment on the previous cave dwellers entry about [URL="http://www.apple.com"]iTunes[/URL] not working on Linux and I was absolutely sure that it did. It doesn't. Much to my surprise (and disappointment), iTunes …

Jon Lech Johansen is perhaps best known as DVD Jon, the chap who cracked DVD movie encryption at the tender age of just 15. He may soon have to adopt a new nickname, how about iTunes Jon, as he releases software that takes iTunes out of the iPod music equation. …

Sky, better known for news and sport television broadcasting, has today announced that it is entering the online music business with an ad-free streaming download service. All of the four million songs accessible by users of the service will be available by way of unlimited online streaming as well as …

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote, "[URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story220784.html"]Has Linux Fallen Into a Well?[/URL]." It was a tale of two brothers, aka The Cave Dwellers, who had too many complaints and angst concerning the Windows XP installation on my wife's old HP DV-5000 laptop. Reinstalling XP didn't do any good the …

With the[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qquCcT6O8cs&feature=player_embedded"] September 9th Keynote[/URL] in our rear view mirror, we can begin to look back at it with a more unbiased eye, and explore some of the new features more clearly. It's obvious by now that this wasn't in any way a major announcement. This was exacerbated by the …

Apple introduced a new feature today that lets you buy an album from iTunes complete with extra material like bonus recordings, video footage, lyrics and more. This is the kind of package I was suggesting the record companies need to bring to CDs a couple of weeks ago in my …

Yesterday was [URL="http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/09/09/apple-rock-roll-keynote-podcast-itunes/"]Apple's Keynote[/URL], and you would think we would have learned by now that Apple rumors are meaningless. As the buzz grows louder before each of these events, there are rumors so convincing we think they must be a fait accompli. I mean how many of you thought you …

Apple has launched new additions to its iPod range and improved two of its working environments, iPhone 3.1 software is out, and joined by a new version of the iTunes store. Only...there isn't much new in any of this. Let's take a look at the iTunes store first. You can …

Today Dynamite Records, a fixture in Northampton, MA for more than 27 years shut its doors. Probably doesn't matter to most of my readers, but consider this news against the backdrop of [URL="http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_090818.html"]figures released this week by the NPD Group[/URL] indicating that iTunes controls 25 percent of all US music …

This is just odd, for too many reasons. [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8177285.stm"]A file sharer has been fined $675,000 for downloading illegal music[/URL]. He is a student. People have offered him money because they think it's an unreasonable amount to pay. He has turned them down. Why do I think this is odd? Well, …

It was revealed yesterday that [URL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/16/AR2009071600811.html"]Apple began blocking Palm Pre users [/URL]from syncing with iTunes. Apparently the latest upgrade, which I installed just this morning won't allow Pre users to sync with their phones. Seriously, Apple? Are you really going to be this petty? Do you really feel this threatened …

Let's face it, when you have Macworld and the Consumer Electronics Show in the same week, it's an overwhelming amount of news to deal with, even (maybe especially) for a technology journalist like myself who gets paid to follow the latest and greatest and report back to you. I've been …

The iPhone App Store has been open for just five months, since July 11th to be precise. Yet in this time, so an Apple advert running in the New York Times informs us, no less than 300 million applications have been downloaded. Now those are two hugely important numbers, 300 …

Earlier this week Apple was adamant that it would close the iTunes Store if the Copyright Royalty Board raised the royalties paid to music publishers, rather than be forced into either accepting smaller margins on the music downloads it sells or be forced into hiking prices. The way these things …