Music

Apple poaches top radio exec to lead iTunes Radio ad sales

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

In another move meant to capitalize on the success of its free iTunes Radio streaming-music service, Apple's hired a top radio exec as the company preps to offer iTunes Radio to advertisers in 2014 and take the service international, AdAge claims.

Former Cumulus Media Executive Vice President of Sales, Michael Pallad, has now joined Tim Cook & Co. and is now overseeing ad sales for iTunes Radio internationally, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to AdAge. He will report into the iAd unit, which is led by Apple Vice President and former Yahoo exec Todd Teresi...

Watch LeAnn Rimes’s latest music vid, shot entirely on iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 9, 2013

Here's something awesome. The Grammy award-winning artist LeAnn Rimes has tasked her crew with filming the entire video for Gasoline and Matches, a single from her latest album, Spitfire, on Apple's iPhone, the artist has confirmed.

They opted for the Apple smartphone for footage and stop-motion animation because that particular pocket camera is "easy, affordable and portable" versus your average filmmaker's heavy gear. The result is nothing short of astonishing, as Rimes' music video included after the break attests for itself...

You can now wake up to your fav Pandora station

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 9, 2013

Pandora, the popular streaming-music service and one of the rare few Internet radio apps that saw a surge in listening following September's iTunes Radio debut, has been updated this morning with a pretty useful alarm clock feature which lets you start your day to your favorite music with your own choice of Pandora stations. Pandora 5.1 for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad includes refreshed iOS 7 design and other improvements "to make your listening experience even better".

Jump past the fold to learn more about the alarm clock feature...

Spotify reportedly planning to introduce free mobile music service

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 23, 2017

Spotify is reportedly planning to launch a free mobile music service. According to a new report by The Wall Street Journal, the Sweden-based company has reached licensing deals with all three of the global music companies to use their recordings.

Spotify currently offers a free service for desktop and laptop computers, and offers a Pandora-like radio feature via its mobile app. But this new service would allow smartphone and tablet users to play a limited number of songs on-demand, with ads...

ScratchPad HD turns your iPad into a club mixer

Lory Gil ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

The iPad is great for using a mobile version of a digital turntable. If you are a professional deejay, the tablet can house hours of music, literally at your fingertips. Plus, there are dozens of compatible deejay apps that let you pretend you are scratching vinyl while you mix the perfect playlist on the fly.

ScratchPad HD is not a deejay app, but it does create the perfect sound bites for scratching, stuttering, and tweaking loops to add to your house, dub step, or drum and bass music…

Your free Holiday Playlist awaits you in Apple Store app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

As is its wont, Apple is once more giving away a bunch of Christmas-themed songs to make your holidays merrier.

Akin to its 2009 promotion of the then-new iTunes LP format which gave U.S.-based users a free downloadable selection of 20 holiday songs from a variety of popular artists, this time around Apple is giving away individual holiday favorites through a special link in its Apple Store application for the iPhone and iPad.

A total of eight songs are available for download, including performances by such acts as Mary J Blige, The Robertsons and Kool and the Gang. Jump past the fold for the instructions on claiming your free music...

Shazam now connects with Rdio

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 2, 2013

Shazam's music fingerprinting app for the iPhone and iPad is continuously getting better and more useful after each new update. Right following the September 18 release of iOS 7, Shazam mobile apps were immediately updated with iOS 7-friendly design and technologies.

And just a month ago, the app was refreshed with the handy artist updates, the ability to see what your friends have tagged and a new newsfeed-like interface for real-time updates and interactions with the Shazam community.

On Monday, Shazam got bumped to version 7.2 which brings a very interesting feature: if you're a Rdio user, you can now listen to your Shazam tracks as an Rdio playlist. A few other goodies are included in this Shazam update, listed after the break...

Spotify update brings Browse mode to iPad, lets you follow friends/artists and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

The Swedish streaming music startup Spotify has pushed a new update to its free iPhone and iPad client today. The new Spotify 0.9.1 enables the Browse mode on iPads, while bringing the ability to follow friends and artists, enabling the search/public toggle for playlists on the iPhone and introducing more responsive searching and revamped playlists, along with the usual bug fixes and performance improvements.

Spotify, which received its major iOS 7 update on October 22, two months ago brought out the completely revamped Browse tab. Basically a new way to search for music, Browse taps a simplified interface for finding your favorite artists and albums or discovering new ones with just a few taps.

Browse used to be iPhone-only, but today's update brings the feature to iPad devices as well while replacing the old What’s New view...

Songkick Concerts lets you know when your favorite bands are playing in town

Lory Gil ∙ Updated December 4, 2013

I love watching live music. At least once per week, you will find me at a local music venue, bopping (or moshing) to one of my friend’s bands. I am always searching the web to find out when cool concerts are coming up.

Songkick Concerts is a music app that searches your iPhone’s song library, and then shows you when and where your favorite bands are playing next. It's a great way to keep track of the artists you like and easily be alerted when they're playing somewhere near you...

Official Google Play Music app finally hits iOS with free 30-day trial

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Nearly 6 months after announcing that it would be coming in 'a few weeks,' Google has finally launched an official Google Play Music app for iPhone. The software allows you to use both Google's All Access and standard music services.

All Access is similar to Spotify and other like-services, allowing users to listen to unlimited songs and create custom radio stations. And the standard service lets you upload 20,000 of your own songs to the cloud for playback anywhere...

Reliable leaker corroborates Google Music iOS app late-November launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 6, 2018

Google Music launched back in November 2011 with a music store, Google+ integration, artist hubs, carrier billing and initial support from Universal Music Group, EMI and Sony Music Entertainment, along with other smaller labels. Fast-forward two years and we still don't have a native iOS app.

Google in its typical fashion has tried to appease its disgruntled Apple audience with a Google Music iOS web app.

Alas, nobody cared!

The search Goliath later promised to bring a native app and a report recently claimed it would launch later this month. Today, a prominent leaker has corroborated that the native Google Music iOS app is indeed due by the end of the month...