If you're a fan of rap music, or just like to listen to a little bit of everything, you'll want to check out these deals Apple is offering in iTunes right now. For a limited time, more than 200 hip-hop albums are on sale for $5.99.
The albums come from a wide variety of artists, ranging from newer faces like Kendrick Lamar, to old school legends like Big Daddy Kane. There's even some from mainstream heavyweights like Eminem, Jay-Z and Ludacris.
Increasingly, Apple is finding itself in hot water with regulators over its rumored subscription-based music service. Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that the United States Federal Trade Commission is now probing Apple's efforts to line up deals with record labels.
The agency is reportedly taking a closer look at the possible misuse of the iPhone maker's dominant market position as the largest seller of music downloads to put rival music services such as Spotify, Rdio, Pandora, YouTube and others at a disadvantage.
If you're not a big proponent of Reachability, then perhaps this new jailbreak tweak will at least convince you to use it, even if it's not the way that Apple intended it to be used. Aspectus is a recently released jailbreak tweak that brings a beautiful music control interface to the iPhone's Reachability view.
Even if you're using a device that doesn't support Reachability, Aspectus will work with Activator in order to provide access to the tweak. Read our walkthrough for more details as to how it looks and how it works.
App Switcher tweaks seem to be all the rage these days, so it's not surprising to see a tweak like Muswitch pop up on Cydia. Muswitch, as its name hints to, allows you to place music controls in the iOS 8 App Switcher.
These Music controls replace the contact shortcuts that normally reside above the cards found in the App Switcher. Watch our video walkthrough for more details.
Apple is really cutting it close if it wants to relaunch Beats Music at its developer conference next month. Citing sources familiar with the company's plans, Billboard reports that it is still missing a number of key licensing deals it would need to secure to unveil a new streaming music service.
"A June launch is still attainable," one source tells Billboard. "If any company can do it, they can." However, another source at a major record label tells the publication that there is no way Apple will be able to pull off a June launch for the new service, saying simply that "the deals aren't done."
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly taking a closer look into Apple’s business practices ahead of the rumored Beats Music relaunch, with DOJ officials having already interviewed high-ranking music industry executives about Apple’s business habits, The Verge reported Monday.
Citing multiple sources, the publication claims that Apple's “aggressive tactics” have garnered scrutiny from DOJ, which has apparently taken issue with Apple's push to kill free Spotify streaming ahead of Beats relaunch. If true, the cunning move has the potential to reduce competition for Apple's music service as popular service like YouTube, Pandora, Rdio and others are also the target.
In addition to transforming the Apple Watch into the world's first wearable DJ controller with djay for Apple Watch, German developer Algoriddim also refreshed its Mac app this morning.
Djay Pro 1.1 for Mac, the company's flagship product, includes major new features such as real-time video mixing, native support for Pioneer's CDJ and XDJ line-up of professional digital decks used by the likes of David Guetta, high-quality Spotify streaming with up to 320 kbps and a host of other advanced features and capabilities.
The vast majority of Apple Watch apps that have been appearing on the App Store ahead of the wearable's Friday launch are for the most part relegated to Glances and notifications, and that's just fine.
As someone who loves music but sucks at DJ-ing, Algoriddim's djay apps for the iPhone, iPad and Mac have for years excited and delighted me with a powerful selection of easy-to-use mixing tools that've turned me into the star of parties I threw at my home.
You could imagine I was watching with great intent how Algoriddim, which hails from Germany, would handle their Watch app. Well, djay for Apple Watch is now here and although I haven't had a chance to try it out on the actual device just yet, Algoriddim was kind enough to treat me to a private demo of the app ahead of its official launch.
Suffice to say that I was smitten by what I saw. The app acts as a full-on remote controller for djay running on your iPhone, untangling you from the mixing booth while putting such headline features as Automix with Spotify and EchoNest integration.
With the Watch app, you can easily cue up and mix your favorite songs, all while controlling audio effects and loops for each deck individually, on your wrist.
What more could an aspiring DJ ask for?
Fuse is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to combine the music controls and the Lock screen clock. This results in the ability to display both elements at once, something that’s not normally possible on stock iOS 8.
VOX Music Player for Mac by Coppertino Inc. has gone iPhone. Available at no cost in the App Store, the application lets you enjoy high-quality music encoded in the lossless FLAC format on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.
Of course, you can play the usual assortment of lossy audio files, too, including MP3, AAC and just about any type of audio file format you could think of. For example, the app is capable of rendering music formats like APE, WMA and CUE which are not supported by iTunes natively.
Your music can also be cached for playing offline.
If you've yet to go hands-on with the just-released iOS 8.4 and the redesigned Music app, then I recommend checking out our video walkthrough. In this video, we step through many of the new changes, from both a visual and functionality standpoint.
Pandora revealed on Tuesday it has plans to launch its online music radio on Apple's CarPlay, the in-car infotainment software set to be found in several vehicles on the market.
While Pandora is a little late to the party, as CarPlay launched in 2014, it's a seemingly perfect app to fit the car software. Many users already utilize the Pandora app on their iPhone to play music through their car's speakers.