music - page 5

Enjoy Apple Music on American Airlines without buying Wi-Fi

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Apple Music on American Airlines
Forget downloading your playlists before takeoff.
Photo: Apple

Starting Friday, Apple Music subscribers can enjoy the service on domestic flights with American Airlines without purchasing Wi-Fi.

Complete access to the service and its more than 50 million songs will be available on flights equipped with Viasat satellite Wi-Fi. American Airlines is the first commercial airline to offer the service.

Today at Apple adds 50 new sessions in expanded formats

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'Today at Apple,' artists try to make a living.
'Today at Apple,' artists try to make a living.
Photo: Apple

Apple is expanding its slate of Today at Apple sessions with 50 new classes that offer free educational experiences for iPhone, iPad and Mac users.

Today at Apple first started at Apple store in 2017, providing 18,000 free sessions a week that have been attended by millions of people around the world. With the new sessions, Apple is expanding on its most popular sessions, giving participants more opportunities to create and explore with their products.

Spotify will let you mute artists you don’t want to hear

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Spotify
You won't have to listen to music you don't like.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Spotify will soon let you mute artists you don’t want to listen to.

It is currently testing a “don’t play this artist” feature in the latest version of its iOS app. Using it will prevent the artist’s tracks from playing altogether — even if they feature in a playlist, chart list, or on a radio station you listen to.

Meet Korg’s new hardware groovebooxes: Volca Drum and Volca Modular

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Who wouldn’t want to play with one of these little tykes?
Who wouldn’t want to play with one of these little tykes?
Photo: Korg

Hey, iOS musicians. Not just you, in fact: Hey anyone who likes fun! Meet Korg’s new music-making boxes, the Volca Drum and the Volca Modular. They’re new additions to the Volca family of paperback-size music machines that hook up together or work alone. And they work great with your iPad or Mac, if you like.

Apple acquires startup co-founded by iTunes Festival boss

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Denzyl Feigelson 2
Apple has snapped up an artist-friendly music marketing firm.
Screenshot: Tileyard Education

Apple has reportedly acquired U.K.-based music creative services and artist development company Platoon.

The company has history with Apple, being co-founded by former Apple live events and artist relations exec Denzyl Feigelson. Described as “a platform for fearless creatives,” Platoon has helped develop a number of early stage artists in the U.S. and UK since launching in 2016.

Apple Music could soon be open to businesses

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apple-music
Grab the latest update from the Play Store now.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music could be opened up to businesses to allow streaming in public places.

The “Apple Music for Business” trademark was filed for late last month in the U.S. — and in other territories back in June. The filing states the trademark would be applied to a number of different areas, including commercial use.

Chill and escape Thanksgiving with Chillscape

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I don’t know about you, but I’m so frickin’ relaxed right now Chillscape
I don’t know about you, but I’m so frickin’ relaxed right now.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Is your family driving you nuts this Thanksgiving weekend? Of course it is. That’s what families are for. So when you need relief from the endless offers of snacks and drinks, the catty remarks about the fact that you’re “still” child-free, or your nephews’ and nieces’ constant pestering to let them play with your new iPad Pro, while simultaneously ridiculing your attempts at flossing, you might turn to Chillscape to calm yourself back TF down.

Brilliant Pod Case concept turns Apple Watch into iPod

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Podcase
This needs to be a thing.
Photo: Joyce Kang

iPod lovers have been waiting years for Apple to resurrect its portable music player, but a brilliant new concept case could give us the next best thing.

Designer Joyce Kang created a brilliant mockup of a case for Apple Watch that transforms it into a music player reminiscent of the original iPod. The tiny case even comes with a working click wheel — and still gives you access to Apple Watch’s best features!

Spotify’s Apple Watch app arrives with minimal features

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Apple Watch
This is the new Spotify app for Apple Watch.
Photo: Spotify

The world’s largest paid music streaming service is finally landing on Apple Watch.

Spotify finally revealed its first app for the Apple Watch today that will give wearers the ability to play, pause and skip songs from their wrist. The first version is a bit limited in features, but Spotify is teasing some cool new options that will be coming down the pipeline real soon.

Clips adds new Selfie Scenes, stickers and more

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Clips
Apple just added some big updates to Clips
Photo: Apple

Apple’s quick video editing app, Clips, just got a big update today that adds new features that take advantage of the TrueDepth camera on the iPhone XS, XS Max, XR and iPad Pros.

The new update brings new Selfie Scenes, stickers, soundtracks more, making it even easier for iPhone and iPad users to create fun videos on-the-go.

These are the best accessories for your 2018 iPad Pro

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The awesome new iPad Pro deserves some awesome accessories.
The awesome new 2018 iPad Pro deserves some awesome accessories.
Photo: Andrea Nepori

You’ve got your new iPad Pro, and it’s all set up. Now, you might want to start tricking it out with accessories. The bad news is that most of your old accessories won’t work. The good news is that some of them will, and the rest can be replaced, or hooked up with dongles. Let’s check out the best accessories for the new 2018 iPad Pro.

Spotify Premium subscriptions grow after family plan crackdown

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Spotify app now playing screen
Spotify shows no signs of slowing down.
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac

Spotify has seen a rise in Premium subscriptions after the music streaming service started cracking down on family plan subscribers who aren’t really family.

New data reveals 38 percent of Spotify users in the U.S. now pay for the Premium service — up from 36 percent last quarter. Apple Music remains the only platform that has presented Spotify with real competition, but it still has a lot of catching up to do.

This smart ukulele teaches you how to play via app [Deals]

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This ukulele's fretboard lights up to show you exactly how to play your favorite songs.
This ukulele's fretboard lights up to show you exactly how to play your favorite songs.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Learning an instrument is one of the most rewarding things you can do for yourself (maybe not for your neighbors). But it’s also one of the hardest things to make time for, even for relatively easy instruments like the ukulele. So this high-tech uke has education built-in.

Apple snaps up music analytics firm Asaii

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apple-music
Asaii's platform could help improve Apple Music.
Photo: Apple

Apple has acquired a music analytics startup called Asaii, according to a new report.

It is believed the acquisition, which could help Apple deliver better recommendations to Apple Music subscribers, cost less than $100 million. Asaii claims its platform can pick out the hottest artists “10 weeks to a year” before they even hit the charts.

Sirius XM plans to buy Pandora for $3.5 billion

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Pandora is finally catching up.
Pandora is about to become part of Sirius XM.
Photo: Pandora

Two of the biggest companies in the music business are teaming up to try to better take on Spotify and Apple Music.

Sirius XM revealed today that it plans to acquire the music streaming service Pandora in a $3.5 billion all-stock deal. The merger is far from a done deal though and according to a report, Pandora will have the opportunity to find a better deal from another company.

How to use the amazing new iOS 12 Voice Memos app

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iOS 12 Voice Memos redesign is way more than just a lick of paint.
Voice Memos' iOS 12 redesign is way more than just a lick of paint.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Even if you never make a voice memo, you might be interested in Apple’s updated Voice Memos app. Powerful new features in iOS 12 make it much more than just a way to record voice snippets.

In fact, in iOS 12, Voice Memos morphs into a full-fledged audio recorder and audio editing app. As such, it’s useful for people recording interviews, and for musicians working on ideas. Let’s take a look around.

Zane Lowe discusses future of radio DJs in age of streaming

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Things are looking good for Beats One and leading DJ Zane Lowe, one of the world's top radio personalities.
Things are looking good for Beats One and leading DJ Zane Lowe, one of the world's top radio personalities.
Photo: Apple

Beats 1 Radio host Zane Lowe says he’s excited that Apple Music’s competitors are starting to rip off his live streaming radio show.

Lowe, who left the BBC’s Radio 1 to lead Beats 1 Radio, said in a recent interview that he still questions how his radio show fits in with the music scene. In the age of social media where artists can interact directly with fans, radio hosts don’t seem like a necessity, but Spotify and YouTube Music are planning to launch radio shows of their own and Lowe is ready to welcome them to the league.

Get deeper into the mix with this accessible DJ app [Deals]

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Get your hands on the deeper details of DJ-ing with this accessible yet powerful platform.
Get your hands on the deeper details of DJ-ing with this accessible yet powerful platform.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

These days, anyone with a Spotify account can call themselves a DJ. But making a room move is about more than pressing play. If you want to get you hands deeper in the mix, this adaptable, accessible DJ platform is worth checking out.

Apple Music adds new Friends Mix playlist

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apple-music
Grab the latest update from the Play Store now.
Photo: Apple

You don’t want to be that guy who’s never heard the track all your friends are raving about. But if you use Apple Music, you don’t have to be.

The new “Friends Mix” playlist makes it easy to enjoy the songs your friends can’t get enough of. It’s updated every week, and you can enjoy it now across all devices.

FretBud is the simplest, most useful guitar-scales app ever

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Fretbud is super-simple, and that’s what makes it so useful.
FretBud is super-simple, and that’s what makes it so useful.
Photo: FretBud

If you’re learning to play the guitar, then you will constantly be looking up two things: Scales and chords. After you get a bit further into it, you’ll add arpeggios to that list. And you will keep referencing them for years, becasue there are a zillion way to play each chord, scale, or arpeggio on the guitar. And here’s the problem. Reference materials for these three essentials are a pain to use. Either you spend more time clicking around an app than you do practicing, or you have to keep a ton of PDFs around, and try to keep those organized. Now, though, a super simple (maybe too-simple) app finally ge ts it right. It’s called Fretbud, and I love it.