Music

Apple reportedly looking to shut down Beats Music [updated]

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

Apple is looking to shut down its Beats Music streaming service, according to a new report from TechCrunch. Citing "several prominent employees" at both companies, the outlet says that many Beats engineers have already been pulled off the product, and moved on to other projects.

If true, such a move would be interesting considering the public praise Apple and its execs—namely Tim Cook and Eddy Cue—have given the service. It also recently added Beats Music to the 'Apps by Apple' section in the App Store, and launched a new Beats Music channel on Apple TV.

U2’s Bono says Apple has 885 million iTunes accounts, talks new music format

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 22, 2014

Paul David Hewson aka Bono Vox (also known by his stage name Bono), the frontman of the Dublin-based rock band U2, revealed that Apple now has an astounding 885 million iTunes accounts in an interview Monday with Dave Fanning on the Irish radio station 2FM.

Moreover, he shed more light on the rumored new music format designed to revitalize stagnant digital downloads. The 54-year-old rocker also said he complained to Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs five years ago that the iTunes application “looks like a spreadsheet” and more.

Apple and U2 working on secret project to tempt fans into buying music again

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 18, 2014

Apple has been working with the popular Irish rock band U2 on a secret project that should result in birth of a brand new music format designed to tempt music lovers again into buying both whole albums and individual tracks, according to TIME Thursday.

As a longtime partner of Apple, the Irish band helped the Cupertino firm push the iPod music player into the mainstream by producing a special edition U2 iPod in 2008.

Apple is also one of the biggest proponents of U2 lead singer Bono's Product(RED) initiative to fight AIDS. And earlier this month, U2 played at Apple's iPhone 6 event and is currently giving away its latest album, “Songs of Innocence”, for free on iTunes.

Apple creates tool to remove U2’s free album from both your iTunes music library and purchase history

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 2, 2017

After taking some heat over its decision to force the free U2 album, “Songs of Innocence”, onto users' devices last Tuesday, Apple today published a support document and released a tool which removes the album from users' iTunes music library, as well as from their iCloud purchase history.

The decision to give away the Irish rock band's latest album has backfired because having added it to purchase history has automatically downloaded the album for folks with automatic music downloads enabled in Settings.

U2’s “free” album download cost Apple $100 million, other projects with U2 on the way

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 12, 2014

As people continue to freak out over Apple’s forced iTunes download of U2’s new album titled “Songs of Innocence,” the New York Times newspaper has learned from sources that the value of the arrangement between the iPhone maker and the aging Irish rock band is in the ballpark of $100 million.

“To release U2’s album free, Apple paid the band and Universal an unspecified fee as a blanket royalty and committed to a marketing campaign for the band worth up to $100 million, according to several people briefed on the deal,” writes NYT.

And according to the band’s manager Guy Oseary, the Cupertino firm has other U2-backed music related projects in the works.

Spotify gains support for Ford SYNC AppLink

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 10, 2014

Spotify, the popular Swedish music-streaming startup, on Wednesday refreshed its free iPhone and iPad application with improved music discovery and support for the Ford SYNC AppLink platform.

When browsing albums in Spotify for the iPhone and iPod touch, you can now easily check out more releases from the artist in one tap.

More importantly, owners of Ford vehicles outfitted with the car maker's proprietary SYNC AppLink platform can now use Spotify in their car.

How to grab your free copy of the new U2 album

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Apple wrapped up yesterday's presentation by inviting U2 to perform onstage and announce that it will be giving away the band's latest album, titled “Songs of Innocence”, to iTunes users completely free of charge, no strings attached.

During the exclusivity window which closes October 13, iTunes user 13 or older can grab their free copy of the aging rock band's album.

Company CEO Tim Cook called the deal “the largest album release of all time” and here's how you can grab your free copy right now.

U2 closes Apple event, gives latest album away for free in iTunes

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

As rumored, Apple brought up U2 on stage to perform at the close of today's event. Bono and the band played a single off of their new record "Songs of Innocence," and following the set, Tim Cook announced that Apple will be giving a free copy of the album away to iTunes users over the next month.

NYT: U2 to play role in tomorrow’s Apple event

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

It sounds like U2 is going to be involved in tomorrow's festivities after all. Citing sources familiar with the matter, The New York Times is reporting this evening that the popular rock band will be performing at Apple's iPhone 6 event tomorrow, and even says that it will reveal an integration with Apple’s products that is connected to its next album.

Control your music from anywhere in iOS with Clex

Alihassan Mahdi ∙ September 8, 2014

We've seen quite a few tweaks that provide system-wide access to music controls such as the popular iTunes-inspired MiniPlayer and the Musiex tweak. Clex is yet another addition to the group that aims to achieve the same goal but comes with additional features.

Created by the popular developer Gabriele Filipponi, Clex provides a quick access to a list of all the songs available on your device as well as the music controls by swiping from the left or right side of the screen. Doing so opens a new sidebar-like interface which sports a design similar to Control Center.

Spotify promises 30 minutes of uninterrupted music if you sit through 13-30 second video ad breaks

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Spotify, the popular music-streaming service with 40 million strong user base, on Monday announced a new way to stream music for free.

Leveraging its video ads for mobile and desktop that have been in limited testing since mid-June and are now rolling out, free Spotify streamers who opt-in to view short 15-30 second videos on their device will receive 30 minutes' worth of uninterrupted, ad-free music. Spotify, which hails from Sweden, opened its mobile service to non-paying users in December.

Apple Store app offering ‘iMaschine’ free for a limited time

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 1, 2018

Folks looking to kill some downtime this weekend should head on over to the Apple Store app. Apple is always offering up free iOS content in its digital storefront, and its latest benefaction is the popular beat-making app 'iMaschine.'

iMaschine promises to put "professional groove production in the palm of your hand." It features 16 pads with over 400 samples, a melody keyboard, and a voice recorder for vocals. You can even sample sounds directly from iTunes.