songs

Slacker overachieves

In Slacker Radio, curated stations that are organized by musical genre meet algorithmically generated playlists based on artists you pick (a la Pandora). As with Slacker Radio on other mobile platforms, the Android app lets you stream music from preprogrammed genres and stations, or from stations you set up yourself. As you listen, you can view album art and bios, block a song or vote it a favorite, and skip ahead (limited for free users). If you like what you hear, you can share a link to that station on SlackerRadio.com via e-mail, text message, or Twitter.

Over the … Read more

Name that tune

If you're having trouble naming that tune, just fire up SoundHound to speak, sing, hum, type, or record a song for the music-identification service to identify. It will return a song, complete with YouTube links, lyrics (when available), a list of albums on which the song has appeared, and even a link to purchase the song through Amazon. But more than just a song-identifier, SoundHound also shows you tons of information on the artist, including a bio and feeds from the artist's Facebook and Twitter accounts. It lets you bookmark tracks, and shows you lists of similar artists, … Read more

Pandora for Android needs work

Just like the bigger Web-based version of Pandora, the Android app lets you create stations based on artists or songs, browse through its genre-based stations, or fire up a Quick Mix. If you're already a Pandora listener, you can enter your log-in credentials, or you can create a new account right from the app.

As you listen, Pandora lets you rate tracks up or down, or skip tracks at will. Your ratings here will help Pandora home in on exactly the types of music you like, so its important to be an active listener. If you're a lazier … Read more

Amazon Cloud Player for iOS gives you more options for music

Amazon Cloud Player (free) for iOS gives you an option of getting all your music from the iTunes App Store, and its simple interface is easy to pick up and use immediately.

Whether you have music already from Amazon or not, you can quickly log in with your Amazon account and listen to tracks already on your iPhone. If you have downloaded music through Amazon, with the app you'll be able to listen to both Amazon- and iTunes-bought music.

Once you have music uploaded to Amazon's Cloud drive, the interface is dead simple. Two tabs let you switch … Read more

Drop some beats with Turntable.fm

Fan favorite music-streaming and discovery service Turntable.fm is available on Android, and it does a great job of packing its full desktop experience into your mobile device.

The first thing you notice about Turntable.fm for Android is its absolutely stunning interface. The listening rooms look slick, with the DJ booth and speakers up top and the familiar rating controls on bottom. And of course, the hypnotic little avatars bumping their heads in rhythm fill out the rest. Tap an avatar to view that listener's vitals or hit the speech bubble to see what listeners in the room … Read more

How to view full track titles in iPhone iOS Music app

This is one of the quick and easy tips that makes iOS so remarkable. Yes, it's simple, but that small attention to detail makes all the difference in terms of user experiences.

Due to the iPhone's small screen real estate, compromises in how some information is displayed had to be made. A specific amount of characters are viewable when scrolling through the track listings on albums (in both landscape and portrait mode). When song titles are longer than the space available, an ellipses appears, indicating there is more to the title.

In a world where nearly every song … Read more

The best way to discover new music

Finding new music has never been easier, and music podcasts are my favorite discovery path. I prefer shows with hosts that put music in context. That's why I like discussion and music sets, and occasional interviews with musicians and live performances. The shows listed below (for the most part) can be downloaded and played back when you're ready to hear them.

WNYC's John Schaefer has two daily programs, Soundcheck, which features a wide mix of music genres, interviews, and live-on-the-radio performances; and New Sounds, which, if anything, covers an even wider range of music styles. Each episode … Read more

Figure lets you make electronic music in three easy steps on iOS: Hands-on

Figure (99 cents) lets you create a song with three tracks -- drums, bass, and synth lead -- through a series of taps on a beautifully designed touch interface. The easiest way to get started familiarizing yourself with Figure is simply by touching record, then holding drum sounds to lay down your first beat.

Once you're satisfied with your beat, touch the red Bass tab at the top to add a bass track. You'll see three circles at the top with Rhythm on the left (number of bass notes per eight bars) and Range in the middle (this adjusts what part of the scale your notes will come from). On the right side of the interface you'll see a circle divided up into pie pieces illustrating the steps of the scale -- the actual notes you are playing. Figure automatically makes sure you're in tune, only using notes from the same key. Once you've filled out the loop, let go and listen to your drum and bass lines.… Read more

Rumor Has It, Ep. 27: The fat lady sings for Rumor Has It (podcast)

Well, here we are. After only 27 shows, it's time to say our goodbyes to the little podcast that could!

This has been a great run. We've had the best time rounding up the weeks and weeks of rumors (and trying to find stuff that's not Apple-related), rounding up all of Emily's voices, and trying not to lose all dignity during Humiliation Day (remember the banana costume? Devil sticks?).

Please be in touch. E-mail us at Rumorhasit [at] cnet.com; call 1-800 750-CNET; or tweet to us @RumorShow, @EmilyDreyfuss, @karynelevy, and @stephenbeacham.

Thanks for everything, everyone!… Read more