Music

YouTube launches standalone YouTube Music app

Cody Lee ∙ November 12, 2015

YouTube on Thursday released a new mobile app called YouTube Music. The app lets you watch and listen to a nearly endless catalog of music, and you can use it for free, with ads of course. The ads go away and you get more features if you sign up for YouTube's recently-launched Red service for $10/month.

So what does it look like? Well searching any video, album or artist in YouTube Music starts a personalized radio station. From there you can check out recommended tracks, trending music, top 40 hits, and up-and-coming artists. There's also a lot of video content here, such as music videos, concert footage, etc.

Facebook launches Music Stories with Spotify and Apple Music integration

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 5, 2015

Facebook is announcing today a brand new feature called Music Stories, basically a new post format for Facebook that should make it easier to discover and share music from Spotify and Apple Music.

Now every time you share songs or albums shared from Spotify or Apple Music using Facebook's iPhone application, these links will automatically get turned into the new post format which lets others listen to 30-second previews while on Facebook.

Plaaying for Mac review: a better way to share what you’re listening to

Lory Gil ∙ November 2, 2015

Some people like to share what they are listening to with others. You might see a half-dozen tweets in an hour from a friend, but then nothing for the rest of the day. What gives? Did he stop listening to music, or just forget to share it?

Plaaying for Mac is a third-party music player that has a customizable auto-sharing feature so you can let your friends know what you are listening to without having to actually share it manually. We've got a full app review of Plaaying for Mac for you today.

Google launches YouTube Red, charges iOS users Apple tax

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 29, 2015

Following its official announcement less than two weeks ago, Google today formally launched a new music and video subscription service—YouTube Red.

In exchange for a monthly fee of $9.99, Red provides ad-free access to videos across all of YouTube, the ability to save clips and playlists for offline use and support for background playback. All these perks are available to Red members users across desktop, mobile and the web.

Due to Apple's 30 percent cut on In-App Purchases, Google has decided to raise Red's subscriptions on iOS devices to $12.99 per month in order to compensate for the Apple tax. A free 30-day trial of YouTube Red (US only) is available to those who want to try out the service and see if it's worth the asking price to them.

New Apple TV lacking Siri search for Apple Music and App Store apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 29, 2015

As the new Apple TV is scheduled to hit Apple's retail stores tomorrow, first reviews are now in. Journalists who were given a chance to spend some quality time with review units are praising evolutionary improvements to the living room experience while highlighting untapped potential for the refreshed $149 device.

One of the common complaints focuses on Siri and its inability to search apps for the Apple TV in a dedicated App Store. In addition, reports are noting that users won't be able to search Apple Music with their voice at launch, the omission Apple claims will be addressed with a software update due at the beginning of next year.

Activision launches Guitar Hero Live for iOS with optional wireless guitar controller bundles

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Publisher Activision today announced immediate availability of a new iPhone iPod touch and iPad game, called Guitar Hero Live. It includes two free of charge trial songs, with hundreds more available when you purchase a controller bundle.

The game is available in the United States starting today and will be launching in Europe this coming Friday, October 23, with an Apple TV version releasing later this year.

An optional $99 bundle is available from major retailers around the country with an AA batteries-powered Bluetooth Low Energy guitar controller along with guitar strap and included redeem code. A two-guitar bundle is $149.99.

Apple Music has convinced 6.5 million users to pay for the service past the free trial

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 20, 2015

Following the expiration of the inaugural three-month free trial at the end of September, Apple Music has convinced approximately 6.5 million users to stay with the service as paying subscribers and currently has 8.5 million more customers on three-month trials, said Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Wall Street Journal’s WSJ.D Live conference last night in Laguna Beach, California.

“The runway here is really good,” Cook said. By comparison, the leading subscription music service Spotify currently has more than 20 million paying customers.

On the other hand, Spotify's service has been on the market for a few years now, since 2008, so it is my personal opinion that Apple should be commended for getting a quarter of Spotify's subscriber base in just a few short months.

Deal alert: tons of great albums currently on sale on iTunes

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

iTunes is currently having a massive sale on some great albums, all of them available for only $6.99. Of course, if you are an Apple Music subscriber, it might not be worth it to you, but if you like to buy and own your music albums, then there are a few deals in there you can't pass.

Apple Music and iTunes Match scan-and-match quadrupling to 100,000 songs by year end

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 14, 2015

Following last month's iOS 9 release, Apple's failed to raise the song-matching limit to 100,000 tracks.

Eddy Cue, Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, said back in the summer that Apple was “working to” quadruple the scan-and-match song limit by iOS 9's release.

In an effort to clarify the situation, MacRumors reached out to Cue and got the definitive confirmation that the limit for matched Apple Music and iTunes Match libraries will raise from the current 25,000 tracks to 100,000 songs “before the end of the year.”

How to play Apple Music high quality streams on cellular

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 16, 2019

Apple Music on iOS includes an option to stream your music at high bitrates over a mobile data network at all times. As you know, Apple Music defaults to high-quality streams on Wi-Fi.

With this toggle, you can control your cellular data usage by enabling or disabling high bitrates when streaming or downloading music over your carrier's cellular data network.

Apple Music, iTunes Movies and iBooks make their long-expected debut in China

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 30, 2015

Apple on Wednesday announced that users in China can now enjoy Apple Music, as well as browse and download their entertainment from the iTunes Store and iBooks Store, marking the first time customers in the 1.33 billion people market will have access to Apple’s entertainment ecosystem with music, movies and books right at their fingertips.

“Customers in China love the App Store and have made it our largest market in the world for app downloads,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “One of the top requests has been more great content and we’re thrilled to bring music, movies and books to China, curated by a local team of experts.”

Google Play Music to offer new $14.99 family plan later this year

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2015

Ahead of Apple Music launch tomorrow following its three-month trial period, Google at today's event announced that its own subscription-music service, called Google Play Music, will offer a new family plan later this year.

Like Apple Music, Google's service costs $9.99 per month. As you know, Apple Music also offers a $14.99 per month subscription for families up to six. While Google has yet to reveal a precise timeframe for upcoming family tiers, it did confirm the pricing.