Music

Apple confirms iTunes has suffered a decline in digital music sales

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 28, 2014

It's official: digital music sales on the iTunes Store decreased sharply this year, Apple has now officially admitted in an annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission covering its just-ended fiscal 2014 year.

Although sales of apps and In-App Purchases generated more revenue year-over-year, going from $9.3 billion in net sales during 2013 to a total of $10.2 billion during fiscal 2014, this was “partially offset by a decline in sales of digital music”.

Apple's SEC filing serves as a confirmation of last week's report by The Wall Street Journal which claimed that sales of digital music on iTunes had decrease between thirteen and fourteen percent since the beginning of 2014.

iTunes music sales dipped sharply since start of 2014 as iPod turned 13 yesterday

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

If you need another proof that Apple made the right move dropping more than three billion bucks on Beats's audio accessories and music-streaming service, here's one.

According to people familiar with the matter who spoke to the Wall Street Journal on Friday, the decline of digital music sales on iTunes is accelerating with latest data showing between a thirteen and fourteen percent dip globally since the start of this year.

By comparison, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry estimated that global revenue from music downloads fell just 2.1 percent in 2013. Clearly this development doesn't bode well for iTunes, but can Apple do anything about it? Read on for the full reveal.

iHeartRadio gains iOS 8 Today widget and CarPlay support

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 23, 2014

Thursday, an enhanced version 5.3 of iHeartRadio became available for download in the App Store.

The refreshed application brings out a nice Today widget allowing you to play your recent stations from the Notification Center in iOS 8. You should also appreciate its built-in support for Apple's in-car entertainment system dubbed CarPlay, so you can now listen to iHeart Radio in CarPlay-enabled vehicles.

The updated app can be grabbed for free in the App Store.

QuickMusic provides quick access to music controls with a stylish interface

Alihassan Mahdi ∙ October 22, 2014

We've seen quite a number of tweaks on Cydia that provide system-wide access to music controls including Musiex and the popular MiniPlayer tweak. QuickMusic is yet another similar tweak by developer Gabriele Filipponi, but this one features a unique functionality and stylish interface that I'm quite fond of.

With QuickMusic, you can swipe up the Music icon to bring up an awesome looking interface containing the album artwork as well as the music controls including the play/pause button enclosed by a circular progress bar, skip and previous buttons.

Google Play Music updated with revamped Listen Now, mood or activity based search and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 21, 2014

After refreshing Google Plays Newsstand for iOS yesterday with native display support for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the Internet giant Google on Tuesday pushed an update to another app, its Play Music client for the iPhone and iPad.

Taking a page from Betas Music's book, the new version of Google Play Music, available free in the App Store, enables mood or activity based search for radio stations. Jogging? Good, use the 'Running' tag to find music that matches your activity. Holding a party? The related 'Partying' should come in handy.

And because this is Google, they even let you search for 'Feeling Happy' radio stations. Other new features and enhancements are briefly mentioned right after the break.

Apple reportedly negotiating to cut Beats Music prices by half

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

As Swedish music startup Spotify announced Monday giving family members a 50 percent discount on additional accounts, Apple is reportedly pushing Beats Music, acquired as part of its $3 billion purchase of Beats Electronics, to cut the price of its monthly subscription by half, according to Peter Kafka of Re/code on Monday.

Beats Music, a free download for the iPhone and iPad, currently requires users to pay a subscription fee of ten bucks per month for unlimited streaming of tens of millions of songs from its catalog.

Rdio ushers in iPhone 6 and CarPlay support, interactive alerts and more in major iOS 8 update

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Following a recent overhaul with new features, free streaming in more than two dozen countries and other perks, Rdio, the popular Internet service, on Thursday pushed a major iOS 8 focused update.

Following in the footsteps of rival Spotify which two weeks ago added support for CarPlay, Apple's in-car iPhone entertainment system, Rdio has now jumped on the automotive bandwagon, too.

In addition to music playback and navigating your favorites and playlists from the built-in display in CarPlay-enabled cars, Rdio 3.0.4 has a handy new control to adjust streaming quality (should prove indispensable to those concerned about cellular data usage).

Moreover, this update adds support for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus screen sizes, iOS 8's Interactive Notifications (you can play music and follow other users directly from an alert) plus other nice-to-haves mentioned after the jump.

Tons of rock albums are currently on sale on iTunes

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

I don't know about you but I'm a big rock fan. From my punk rock roots to my alternative music adulthood, I've always been more attracted to loud guitars than electronic beats or vinyl disc scratches. While I listen to many different styles of music, rock & roll still is my go-to genre.

If like me you're a rock fan, or if you just like to listen to a little bit of everything, you'll sure want to have a look at this sale going on in iTunes right now on some major rock albums, all having been discounted to only $7.99.

Jonathan Mann’s new song has lyrics written by an iPhone, using iOS 8’s autocomplete feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Jonathan Mann, a musician, songwriter and unabashed Apple fan, has been churning out one song a day for nearly six years straight.

You may remember his iPhone Antenna song, posted to YouTube on the eve of the Antennagate presser.

Apple actually used it to open the event and Steve Jobs even danced to it. The song-a-day man also created a Siri duet not long after the iPhone 4s was released and another one to wish Siri a happy birthday.

He's back today with an entirely different experiment that somehow manages to sound catchy and listenable, which is remarkable given the meaningless lyrics were actually written by an iPhone using iOS 8's autocomplete function.

Impulse lets you control the music playing on your iPhone while it is locked

Alihassan Mahdi ∙ October 13, 2014

Impulse is a brand new jailbreak tweak dedicated to music lovers as it brings a new functionality many have been waiting for. Developed by Noeliel, Impulse allows users to control a currently playing song even when the device is locked. Yes, with Impulse, you no longer need to unlock your device just to control a song that is playing. Simply perform a gesture on the screen to perform a desired action.

Apple says U2 ‘Songs of Innocence’ album has been downloaded 26 million times

Cody Lee ∙ October 9, 2014

The controversial U2 album 'Songs of Innocence' has been downloaded nearly 30 million times since Apple announced it would be available to iTunes users for free last month. In a statement to Billboard on Thursday, senior VP Eddy Cue said that the album had racked up 26 million 'complete downloads' since its September 9 debut.

Cue adds that over 81 million Apple customers have experienced Songs of Innocence within the last month—a number that includes Beats Music, iTunes, and iTunes Radio streams. "To help put this into perspective," Cue says, "prior to this, a total of 14 million customers had purchased music from U2 since iTunes opened in 2003."

Apple in talks with record labels to lower Beats Music fees

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple is working to bring down the fees associated with Beats Music, reports Recode. The site says the company is speaking with major record labels about a new set of rights and features it would like to include in a revamped version of the streaming music service for less than $10 per month.

Discussions are in their early stages, as Apple isn't launching the overhauled Beats Music service until next year, but some critics wonder just how successful the firm will be in convincing folks in the music industry to agree to a price cut on a product they never wanted to exist in the first place.