Music

Bloomberg: Apple’s iAd team gearing up for new iRadio service

Cody Lee ∙ June 3, 2013

This weekend was chock-full of iRadio news, with multiple reports claiming that Apple reached a deal with the Warner Music Group on Sunday in an effort to wrap up negotiations involving its Pandora-like music service in time for WWDC next week.

And that trend continues today with a new scoop from Bloomberg regarding the service. The outlet is reporting this afternoon that Apple is revamping how it sells mobile ads to better cater to businesses that apparently can't wait to advertise on iRadio...

Apple reportedly reaches iRadio deal with Warner Music

Cody Lee ∙ June 3, 2013

Citing sources "familiar with the negotiations," a new report is out claiming that Apple has finally reached a deal with Warner Music over iRadio licensing terms. Warner was one of the three remaining label holdouts on Apple's upcoming Pandora-like music service.

Rumors about the service have been flying about for months. It was expected to launch earlier this year, but Tim Cook and company have been having trouble reaching deals with the top four record labels. And now they are reportedly aiming for a WWDC launch...

NYT: Apple rushing to close deals for iRadio launch at WWDC

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 2, 2013

Last we heard, Apple and record labels couldn't agree on song skipping terms, with sources in the know telling CNET that tough licensing negotiations between Apple and Sony Music have been stalling iRadio talks. Today, The New York Times weighs in on the situation with its own tidbits.

The iPhone maker is apparently rushing to close the necessary licensing deals with music companies so it can formally reveal the service "as early as next week." And with just eight days until Apple's WWDC keynote, it's not that far of a stretch to believe the company is pushing hard to announce iRadio at its summer developers conference...

Google: All Access streaming coming to iOS in coming weeks

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 6, 2020

Earlier this month, the search monster at the Google I/O developers conference unveiled its new $9.99 a month subscription service called Google Play Music All Access. It offers streaming from Google’s catalog of "millions of tracks" and supports curated playlists, radio stations and ability to remove unwanted songs.

While Google initially said the service will run on Android devices and on the web, there was no mention of iOS whatsoever. During today's interview at the D11 conference, Google's new Android lead Sundar Pichai confirmed that Google Play Music All Access is coming to iOS in the next few weeks...

Apple announces London iTunes Festival starring Justin Timberlake and others

Cody Lee ∙ May 29, 2013

Apple has tonight announced details for its upcoming iTunes Festival, an annual music festival it's sponsored for the last 5 years. This year's event, like last year's, will be taking place at London's historic Roundhouse venue throughout the month of September.

Head of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue says that the Festival will be the "best ever," with a star-studded lineup of over 60 acts. Global superstars like Justin Timberlake and Thirty Seconds to Mars are scheduled to perform during the 30-day event...

MiniPlayer 2.2 released with new scrubbing and search features

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 27, 2013

Do you really even need to use the stock Music app anymore? That's likely what you'll be asking yourself after trying out MiniPlayer 2.2 — an update to an already fantastic tweak by MPow and Surenix.

The 2.2 update to MiniPlayer brings a couple of highly desired features to the mix, starting with search. Yes, you can now search your entire music library directly from MiniPlayer's interface. As if that feature wasn't enough to appease customers, we've also been provided with a new scrubbing ability to navigate to a specific portion of the now playing track.

MiniPlayer was already one of my favorite new jailbreak tweaks before hand, but at this clip, it's destined to make our top jailbreak tweaks list at the end of the year. Check out the details of the 2.2 update, along with an updated video walkthrough, inside.

Apple posts new ‘Music Every Day’ iPhone ad

Cody Lee ∙ May 23, 2013

Apple has started airing a new TV commercial for its iPhone this evening. The ad, which it has also posted on its YouTube channel, is called 'Music Every Day,' and it focuses on the handset's ability to play music.

The spot looks strikingly similar to the 'Photos Every Day' ad that started airing last month. There's a subtle piano backtrack, ambient noise, and people from different walks of life using the popular smartphone...

gMusic updated with support for Google’s new All Access music service

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 6, 2020

I've been keeping an eye on the gMusic Twitter account all week. Last year the app was first to iOS with support for Google's cloud-based Music storage, and I knew it'd be the same way this year with support for Google's new All Access subscription service.

That support arrived today in the form of gMusic 6.0. And in addition to 'All Access' access, the update brings a number of useful playback and management features like the ability to create and play radio stations, and to search for/ add music to your library...

Clinging for relevancy, Rhapsody revamps iOS app with tons of goodies

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 23, 2013

Remember Rhapsody, the jukebox app and music subscription service that once pitted itself as a chief rival to Apple's iTunes, only to fail miserably? It's been lingering out there ever since, watching its user base erode to not only iTunes, but to streaming music services Pandora and Rdio, which both received nice little updates yesterday. But don't write Rhapsody off yet. Today, they've revamped their iOS app which they likened to "the Ferrari of iPhone apps"...

Smule’s latest hit: social guitar-playing game for iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 13, 2019

Smule is among early iOS developers that have been continuously raising the bar on what's possible on Apple's iPhone. They make a bunch of social music-making applications and their latest offering is a free iPhone game called Guitar!.

Like many other Smule apps, Guitar! challenges you to play a virtual guitar on your iPhone or iPod touch and earn points based on your performance.

You can then compare your standings to your friends in global leaderboards. And as you progress, the app unlocks a range of Electric and Rock guitars that let you try out new guitar sounds. And no, you don't have to be a musician as the whole point of the game is social music making. A promo video and other highlights are right after the break...

Rdio 2.2 is out with new ‘Find People’ feature, improved UI and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

Hot on the heels of this morning's update from Pandora comes a new version of the Rdio app for iOS. The update brings the music client to version 2.2, and includes a number of new features and improvements.

Perhaps the biggest change in today's release is the addition of "Find People," a new tool that will make it easier for users to find friends and discover artists to follow. And the UI improvements are also blatant...

Change the way you look at songs with iMusic

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Apple’s Music app is kind of ugly. At least, that is what developers of music interface apps think. While I am perfectly content with Apple’s list and carousel design, plenty of iOS users are always looking for a diverse way to experience music.

Developed by jailbreak developer Saltb0x, the iMusic app satisfies your desire to view your music with a different design, plus makes it easy for you to share what you are listening to with others using a quick tweet, email, or text message…