Music

Apple’s iTunes owns 75% of digital music sales

Apple's iTunes is one of those happy ironies. Begun as a way to boost sales of Macs and other hardware and content with breaking even, the service now rakes in $20 billion per year selling digital warez such as video, books, apps and music - a whole lot of music. In fact, Apple now sells 75 percent of all digital music, according to a new analysis.

In a series of peeks into how iTunes earns all that revenue, independent analyst Horace Dediu paints a picture where more than a half-billion users are pointing to a future where apps surpass digital music sales...

Rdio responds to iTunes Radio with new Song Stations feature

Apple sent shutters through the music streaming industry last week when it confirmed rumors that it had been working on a new radio service. The still-in-beta service allows users to create custom radio stations based on their favorite songs, genres, artists or albums—similar to Pandora.

iTunes Radio won't be available to everyone until the fall, but early positive feedback has some music services scrambling to respond. And today, Rdio issued its response in the form of an app update that includes Song Stations, a feature that allows you to create custom radio stations...

Shazam updated with new ‘Pulse’ feature for discovering new music

It seems like music discovery is all the rage these days. Twitter launched a new iPhone app back in April, and Apple launched its iTunes Music service earlier this month, both of which place a large focus on helping users discover new music.

And today, Shazam pushed further into the space. The popular song, album and artist identifier released a significant update to its iPhone and iPad apps this morning with, among other things, a new 'Pulse' feature for discovering new music...

What happened to all of the curse words in iTunes Radio?

As expected, Apple introduced a new streaming music service on Monday during its WWDC keynote. It's built into the Music app in iOS 7, and it plays full songs, at random, based on a genre, album or artist of your choosing. It's a lot like Pandora.

But it's better than Pandora. I can't explain it, but I've been using it non stop the past two days and it almost always feels like the DJ is playing my song. Maybe it's magic. Or maybe it's my 5+ years of iTunes purchase history. Either way, it rocks.

My only complaint about the service is that, for some reason, there doesn't seem to be any music with explicit lyrics. Even with rap songs, all I get are edited versions. So I have to ask, Apple, what happened to all of the curse words in iTunes Radio?

Apple announces iTunes Radio, coming this Fall

Ending months of speculation, Apple here at WWDC talked about its Pandora-like service, dubbed by the press iRadio. The company is actually calling it iTunes Radio and pitches it as a free Internet radio service that features over 200 stations and “an incredible catalog of music” from the iTunes Store. Built right into a redesigned Music app in iOS 7, iTunes Radio streams music for free, in exchange for ads.

The new service also gives you access to “first listen” premieres from top selling artists and other exclusives. Tim Cook called it "the best way to discover new music." Here's your fine print...

iOS 7: Music app redesign

The big news with the Music app in iOS 7 is iTunes radio, but the interface to the Music app in general received a huge update. Compare what we're currently using to what we're going to get with iOS 7, and the current Music app appears hopelessly outdated.

WSJ confirms Apple will introduce new music service tomorrow

In what has become almost a customary, pre-keynote tradition, The Wall Street Journal has just posted a story claiming that it has confirmed the long-standing rumors that Apple will be introducing a new streaming music service tomorrow.

According to the report, Apple is poised to unveil the new service during its keynote address tomorrow morning in what it calls its most ambitious collaboration with the music industry since the launch of the iTunes Music Store a decade ago...

Sony reportedly joins iRadio for WWDC unveiling

The New York Times on Monday reported that Apple was rushing to close iRadio deals so it could announce the service during the WWDC 2013 keynote next Monday. The iPhone maker had previously signed the necessary music licensing agreements with the Warner Music Group in June and with Universal Music Group last weekend.

Notably absent from iRadio lineup: Sony Music Entertainment. CNET asserted that rough licensing negotiations between Apple and Sony Music have been stalling iRadio talks as a song skipping feature reportedly posed a major stumbling block for the record label. Fortunately, per a new report Friday, having resolved their differences the two parties have now found the middle ground...

Muzzy puts an iTunes companion in your menu bar

I’m always looking for fun new features that will make my music listening experience better. Music apps are a dime-a-dozen for iOS, but there are not a whole lot of good music apps for the Mac. There are even fewer good free music apps.

Muzzy is a music-related iTunes companion for the Mac that puts an icon in your menu bar so you can see what album you are listening to without having to call up your whole iTunes window…

Apple’s iTunes Festival app gains Passbook tickets

As we count the remaining days until Apple's summer developers conference, British Airways has eventually seen fit to add Passbook support to its iOS client. And now Apple is following suit.

Nearly a year following the introduction of the Passbook app that was unveiled alongside iOS 6 at WWDC 2012, the company has finally update its iTunes Festival London 2013 iPhone app with Passbook integration.

The updated software arrives as Apple last week confirmed its September music festival in London will be headlined by such acts as Jack Johnson, Justin Timberlake and Thirty Seconds to Mars...

iRadio tidbits: audio ads, iTunes Match syncing, no search/song skipping

As you may have heard, Apple is now rushing to close music licensing deals for iRadio. And with Warner Music apparently finally on board, the company should formally take the wraps off its Pandora-killer at the WWDC keynote next Monday.

Bloomberg yesterday explained Apple's ad team is prepping to sell in-app iAds to major brands, which apparently can’t wait to advertise on iRadio. And now a new report by a major advertising trade publication claims Apple is also keen on monetizing the free service by injecting traditional audio ads...

MiniPlayer 2.3 adds new ‘Play Next’ and share features

In case you haven't noticed, I'm quite fond of MiniPlayer. It's an app that started off a little homely looking, but has transformed itself into one of the better jailbreak tweaks that you'll find on iOS.

The dynamic duo behind the tweak — Surenix and MPow — have been obsessively refining MiniPlayer over the last few weeks; so much so that I'm beginning to worry about them a bit. Guys, it's really okay if you want to take a break. Remember, deep breathes.

At any rate, the end users have reaped the benefit of the development team's obsessive level of detail and thought. I once said that MiniPlayer 2.2 was the defining moment of the tweak, but let me restate that, MiniPlayer 2.3 is the defining moment of the tweak. That is, of course, until MiniPlayer 2.4 appears with lasers and its own built-in coffee bean grinder.

But seriously, MiniPlayer 2.3 brings quite a few new (and quite useful) features to the proverbial table. For starters, there's a new tap gesture to reveal repeat options, sharing options, and shuffling. There's also a great new addition that allows you to add an iTunes inspired 'Up Next' (here dubbed Play Next) track, along with the ability to rearrange the playing order of the tracks in your MiniPlayer queue.

Take a peek inside, as I step through a few of the most outstanding new MiniPlayer features in our video walkthrough.