music

CD Baby offers DRM-free digital downloads

I've written about CD Baby before. It's a great way for independent musicians to sell their recordings.

For a one-time fee of $35 per album, it will set up both mail-order distribution (for which it takes $4 per CD) and digital distribution through all the major music stores, including iTunes (for which it takes 9 percent of what the store gives its artists, which is usually about 60 percent of the list price).

A couple days ago, CD Baby began offering direct downloads from its site. According to an e-mail I got from a representative, CD Baby takes … Read more

Nokia event planned for tomorrow; Nokia N95, N81 and others to debut?

We'll get straight to the point here. Nokia has an event scheduled for tomorrow in London, and several blog sites, including Gearfuse and Unwired View, are reporting that the Finnish cell phone manufacturer will unveil five new mobiles. Among the rumored models are the Nokia N81, an 8GB Nokia N95, and several XpressMusic phones. Got your attention, didn't we? Yeah, sleep on that, as we'll have to wait till tomorrow to see if this all true or just someone's horrible idea of a practical joke.

Contrastream gives indie music a boost

Contrastream is a new social music Web site, in the same vein as Fairtilizer. Contrastream allows you to vote on new indie music with a system that is very similar to Digg.

There are a few different ways to view music in Contrastream. The first and default view is called "Fresh Albums." This contains new albums that are very active on the site. "Top Hype" contains the albums that are getting the most votes and activity on the site. "Upcoming" and "New Releases" are self explanatory.

One feature of Contrastream that I … Read more

No perfect pitch? Blame your genes

Update: I added where the study was published.

Perfect pitch, the ability to identify the absolute pitch of musical notes, looks to be the product of a small number of genes, according to a new University of California study.

Many traits, such as high blood pressure or height, have genetic links but span a broad spectrum with relatively few people having extreme measurements. But with perfect pitch, also called absolute pitch, a person either has it or doesn't, according to UC researchers in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

"This striking, bimodal distribution resolves the question of whether absolute … Read more

iPhone Redux: Streaming iPhone Music, the iPhone hack and no more bills

So this week a lot happened in iPhone-land--unlocked by a Jersey boy that allows anyone to use the iPhone, on T-Mobile...right! But for would-be iPhone owners in GSM-enabled countries, this could mark a watershed. Apparently, I'm told that the menus for selecting which network you want to connect to (provided they're GSM) are already embedded in the software/OS. How interesting.

As for streaming music, Seeqpod How long this site will be around I remain unsure, but it's still pretty cool over a Wi-Fi network, but with the EDGE? This has to be tested, so … Read more

Best new music: Common, Liars, and Porter Wagoner

It's a funny thing, television: no matter how many of our friends claim they'd rather read than watch, it turns out that most really do. Watch, I mean. At least, that's how it is with our weekly Download Music video report--the one where we sit in front of the cameras and ramble on about what we've been listening to lately. OK, we don't really ramble too much--the show's pretty short--but it is a chance for us to pass along tips on songs and albums that have been grabbing us lately. Personal favorites, and … Read more

SoundSquare standoff: Monome vs. Tenori-On

The latest testament to the geek appeal of blinking pixels are two handheld electronic musician interfaces called the Monome and the Tenori-On. Both are slated for a new release in the next few months and while they have a lot in common conceptually, there are a few key differences between the two that I'll explore here.

Even if you couldn't care less about electronic music, these products demonstrate stunning interface design (not to mention eye candy). Remember, it was an obscure music interface company named Jazz Mutant that pioneered the multi-touch screen interface long before the iPhone came to town. (Videos after the break.)… Read more

LG Fusic: Not for me, but maybe for my kids.

The LG Fusic sure isn't your corporate executive's cell phone, but for the younger market it's quite nice.

It's compact, looks attractive and 3G makes getting everything quick and easy. Sprint's Power Vision and On Demand kick in along with the music (hence the name) to make this definitely a fun phone. The micro SD card lets you store enough tunes to last you for days. Opening the clamshell is far easier than most, and the call reception is excellent.

Quite unique is the inclusion of an FM transmitter to play music from the phone … Read more

Twitter goes to the MTV Video Music Awards

Could this finally be what breaks Twitter out of the early-adopter geek set and into the population at large? The microblogging service has partnered with the inarguably mainstream MTV for its upcoming Video Music Awards (or VMAs), according to an e-mail sent to Twitter members by founder Biz Stone.

So far, the partnership isn't totally clear. A Twitter account has been set up for the VMA "Moon Man" mascot, the pop-culture awards' equivalent of the Oscar statue. In Stone's e-mail, he elaborated that the VMA Twittering will expand, too: "(MTV has) some fun ideas which … Read more

Former Microsoft partners unite

(UPDATE: RealNetworks has filed an 8-K form with the SEC that contains some more details about Rhapsody America. Most notable: MTV is contributing a $230 million note to the deal, and RealNetworks will in exchange be required to spend that amount with MTV on advertising. The joint venture is between RealNetworks and MTV, with Verizon as a distribution partner.)

The 2007 Consumer Electronics Show must've held some awkward moments for Microsoft.

The previous year, the company had trumpeted MTV's Urge music store as the showcase for the Windows Media Player 11 that was due to ship with Vista. … Read more