music - page 13

When you have the kind of cash Apple has, the easiest way to take down the competition is to just buy it. That’s exactly what the Cupertino company is planning to do with Apple Music rival Tidal, according to a recent report.

But would a Tidal takeover be a good move? Would Apple be using its money solely to wipe out a rival, or will Tidal’s talent and connections to the music industry be great for Apple Music?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over the latest Apple acquisition rumor!

Apple is allegedly stopping Spotify from competing with Apple Music by blocking the streaming service’s latest iOS app update from the App Store.

Spotify sent Apple’s general counsel Bruce Sewell a letter this week claiming that Cupertino is inflicting great harm on its streaming music competitor (and Spotify’s customers) by not allowing Spotify to use its own billing system for subscriptions.

Apple is today celebrating one year of Apple Music and Beats 1 radio. The company has put out a new video that showcases some of the station’s highlights, like big interviews with stars like Drake, Adele, Taylor Swift, Will Smith, and Alecia Keys.

Nothing is worse at concerts than having some dude block your view of the band for 45 minutes to take crappy iPhone pics. But those days may be coming to an end soon thanks to Apple.

The company was recently granted a patent that would allow concerts and other private events to block iPhone users from taking photos and videos of the event by using infrared signals.

Just over a month after launching its own live video service, BitTorrent is getting into music. Legal music, that is. Its new BitTorrent Now app for iOS and Apple TV brings you the latest tracks and videos from independent artists as soon as they’re available.

WhatsApp could soon give users the ability to share their favorite music tracks with friends, according to leaked screenshots. The popular chat platform is also expected to support larger emoji characters, public groups, and more.

Spotify now has more active users than any other music streaming service on the planet, but when it comes to paid subscribers, it looks like growth has stalled.

The Swedish music streaming service revealed today that it now has 100 million active users — up from the 75 million it had last year — however its paid subscribers total hasn’t budged since March.

Parry Gripp was the lead vocalist of a promising pop punk band that had a record deal and stardom just around the corner.

Success never came and just as Parry Gripp was set to give up, a new career in music rose from the ashes — by accident — thanks to the iPhone and Apple.

The technology company was not only fodder for Gripp’s brand of absurd novelty music he was creating but, through iTunes, Apple provided a way for him to publish his music and start to make a living.

AmpMe, the awesome music app that syncs playback between multiple devices to create one powerful sound system, now plays nicely with YouTube. The latest update lets users grab their favorite music videos and sync them seamlessly with friends.

The iPhone’s classic marimba ringtone has grown a bit annoying after nine years of playing in pockets across the globe. We’ve seen the classic tone remixed a ton of different ways, but perhaps none are better than this classical remix cooked up by musician Tony Ann.

The pianist has recreated the most popular ringtones ever into one incredible classic arrangement that includes some little gems from other carriers and cellphone makers that you’ll recognize instantly.

Check it out:

Using iTunes just got slightly less crappy.

Apple has pushed out iTunes 12.4 to the public bringing some minor design tweaks that makes Apple’s most contorted and bloated app ever a little bit easier to navigate.

Oh, and it might not destroy your music library anymore either.

iTunes music downloads still rake in millions of dollars every quarter for Apple, but they’re falling fast.

According to sources who claim to be actively working with the company, it is already mulling the idea of chopping music sales completely in as little as two years, and instead placing an even greater focus on Apple Music.

Is it a good idea for Apple to boot such a popular service in the same way it massacred floppy discs and FireWire, forcing users to stream all their music? Or should it keep iTunes alive until downloads die out naturally?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over the future of the world’s most popular music store.

Update: Apple is denying a report that it plans to stop selling downloads within the next few years. “Not true,” Apple rep Tom Neumayr told Re/code Wednesday afternoon without elaborating.

Apple is planning to give iTunes music downloads the boot in as little as two years, according to sources currently working with the company.

With sales already falling, Apple will instead focus its efforts on persuading fans to stream tracks and albums through Apple Music.

The labels may have resisted music streaming early on, but Warner Music Group will be grateful it’s big business today.

So big, in fact, that thanks to services like Apple Music and Spotify, streaming music just raked in more revenue than anything else last quarter.

You can now enjoy a Big Mac while you whip up your next hit track thanks to music-making food trays from McDonald’s.

The fast food giant has created touch-sensitive placemats that pair with your smartphone and allow you to interact with a custom music app.

It’s pretty darn cool watching talented human musicians bust out music using an iPad, but one thing we’re all limited by is the ability to react perfectly to 120 frames of motion each second.

Which is why it’s awesome to see the work of YouTube user DenverFinn, who recently built a D.I.Y. robot with the express aim of breaking the record for iPad piano game Piano Tiles. With the aid of an iPhone and a homemade machine able to hammer a specific tile on the screen when asked to, DenverFinn’s robot shows prodigy levels of piano-playing excellence.

Check out the video below.

Released on Friday as a short-lived Tidal exclusive, Beyoncé’s latest album, entitled Lemonade, is now available to download via iTunes — comprising 12 music tracks, a one-hour film produced for HBO, and a “digital booklet.”

The $17.99 Lemonade has so far received strong critical reviews, although we’ll have to wait and see whether it can come close to achieving her last album’s record-breaking sales feat, which became the fastest-selling album in iTunes history.

The iPhone’s “Marimba” ringtone has become one of the most common sounds you hear everyday, and if you’ve owned an iPhone for a while, it’s downright annoying.

Sure, the ringtone is somehow able to distill Apple’s light and whimsical platform into just a few notes played on an African xylophone. But after nine years, the iPhone’s iconic ringtone could use an update to give it a little more edge.

Video game guitarist ToxicEternity has created a metal cover of Apple’s most popular iPhone ringtones and he shreds so hard it just might melt your face.

Check it out:

Apple Music’s competition in the music streaming battle just got a little fiercer today with the introduction of a new subscription service by SoundCloud.

The new SoundCloud Go service costs $10 per month, giving you unlimited access to the YouTube of Audio’s vast trove of indie content without ads. You can also save files to listen to offline, but that might not be enough to take on Apple Music and Spotify.

AmpMe, the magical app that syncs multiple phones together to create one giant speaker, is getting a much needed update today that lets you take the party anywhere, even if you don’t have internet.

The Montreal-based startup revealed today that it has added a new ‘Offline Mode’ that will let users sync an unlimited number of phones together regardless of whether or not you have a data connection. And to make it easier to get the party started, the app has add a new ‘Auto-Join’ mode that makes it easier than ever to get the music listening party started.

Today, the iPod shuffle you’ve been hoping for is getting a shot at life — no thanks to Apple. Mighty Audio is launching its Kickstarter campaign for the new Mighty streaming music player, a small clip-on device that can stream Spotify wherever you go without having to use your smartphone. A portable, affordable music player with streaming capabilities? Yes please.

Vevo is today rolling out its brand new Apple TV app built for tvOS, giving music fans instant access to over 150,000 high-definition videos and exclusive original programming. 

Kanye West takes to streaming service Tidal tomorrow to unveil the latest Yeezy hype: a third line of clothing (Yeezy, Season 3) and a new album, so far titled T.L.O.P.

He’ll put on a show at Madison Square Garden, and even if you’re not a Tidal subscriber, you can check out the new threads and listen to the new tracks starting Thursday February 11 at 4:00 pm Eastern right on Tidal’s home page.

Originally, West was set to show his stuff in various theaters around the world (huh?), but this makes a bit more sense.

Gamers who grew up in the 90’s may not have heard of the Canadian punk rock band PUP, but they will undoubtedly love the crews newest video for the song ‘DVP’ that combines some of the coolest retro games of the era into a lyric video that’s truly amazing.

Directed by Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux who has produced most of PUP’s other videos — which are also incredible — the new vid features everything from Earthworm Jim to Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles while ratcheting up the angst.

See how many of your favorite games you can spot:

Massive Attack just jumped ahead of the curve with a new app called Fantom Sensory Music. It uses your iPhone camera, motion sensors, location data and even the heart rate from your Apple Watch to remix one of four new tracks from the trip-hop collective that hasn’t had an album out since 2010.

The app itself is a trippy, almost spooky black and white affair that will have you listening to the tracks as you point the camera in all directions, shake your iPhone, and jog in place to raise your heartbeat. Or, at least, that’s what I was doing.