songs

If you're not familiar with Pandora, it requires you to create an account before listening to its streaming-radio content. Once you've created an account and have installed the app, you'll be able to listen to and create personalized Pandora radio stations, right from your mobile device. Just like the site, the Pandora app lets you create stations based on artists or songs, browse through its Genre stations, or fire up a Quick Mix. You can purchase any song that plays with a simple tap, or hit the info button to read interesting details about both the track … Read more

Slacker Radio, the popular streaming radio site and mobile application (iPhone | Android | BlackBerry), has just launched a third tier of service, bringing yet another layer of listening options to its music-hungry users. Dubbed Slacker Premium Radio, the new tier is the first to merge the ease and unpredictability of programmed radio stations with the power of an on-demand music service. Slacker's menu, dramatically bolstered by this new Premium offering, now appears to have something for pretty much everyone.

As a Basic, first-tier user you can listen to Slacker's standard curated and socially programmed radio stations. Meanwhile, as a … Read more

Smule's Magic Piano for iPhone brings the fun and beginner-friendly piano app to the small screen. Already a popular music-app pick on the iPad, Magic Piano offers up a unique touch-screen music experience, letting you play both classical and pop music hits by following and touching beams of light on the screen. If you don't like following along in Song Book mode, you also have the option to play freestyle in Solo mode, which lets you configure the keyboard into interesting shapes (circular, spiral, and other layouts) to add to the fun as you play.

Part of what … Read more

iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users can now access Amazon's new Cloud Player on their mobile gadgets, bypassing the initial lack of support for Apple iDevices. It doesn't work flawlessly, but if you follow the instructions detailed below, you'll be streaming cloud music to your iPhone in no time.

Unveiled late March, Amazon's cloud-based music player lets you play music purchased and downloaded from Amazon or uploaded from your own local music collection, providing a way to retrieve your various music libraries online.

Technically speaking, the Cloud Player is geared toward PC and Mac users as … Read more

Rdio, the subscription-based social music service, today announced the addition of its Rdio app to the Verizon V Cast Apps storefront. Available only to customers with select Android devices, the app is one of the first in Verizon's app store to offer subscriptions via direct carrier billing.

While the service remains the same, the new option to lump your monthly subscription fee in with your Verizon Wireless bill is sure to entice at least a handful of new subscribers. "Our new relationship with Verizon Wireless makes the Rdio social music experience available to millions of mobile subscribers and … Read more

Djay for iPhone and iPod Touch brings two turntables to your touch screen so you can beat match, scratch, and record mixes of music from your library. A unique interface lets you hold your iPhone sideways to view the turntables side by side, or you can switch to vertical and view a single turntable to adjust the EQ and BPM and get more screen area in which to work with your mixes.

Djay boasts a "hyper-realistic low-latency touch-screen interface," and we found that it definitely feels more precise than similar DJ apps in the category. As an added … Read more

Rdio, from the makers of Skype (Windows/Mac/iPhone), is a subscription-based music service offering more than 5 million songs as well as added social components that let you connect with friends to share and discover new music. Today, the service announced an updated version of its iPhone app that features an entirely redesigned interface and new options for song recommendations, popular music charts, and new releases. It also offers improved search tools and better syncing controls than previous versions.

Get started by downloading the free app, then sign up at the Rdio Web site for a 30-day free trial. … Read more

Apple has finally rolled out the 90-second samples on songs that are longer than 2.5 minutes, sold in the United States, and that iTunes has managed to equip with the longer preview.

Some bloggers and iTunes users have questioned why longer previews don't accompany every song. As first reported in August by CNET, Apple approached the top four recording companies last summer about the longer samples that iTunes users can hear to test-drive songs before buying. Researchers say that longer song samples stimulate sales.

According to several music industry sources, Apple has only acquired licenses to the longer … Read more

iTunes is finally letting its song previews play just a little bit longer.

Apple has, as promised, begun extending the length of song samples from 30 seconds to 90 seconds at the iTunes Store in the U.S. Many samples of the site's top-selling singles, such as The Black Eyed Peas' "The Time (Dirty Bit)" and Coldplay's "Christmas Lights," were available tonight in the longer format.

The length of song samples has been found to be key to a consumer's decision to purchase music online. Researchers at Robert Morris University reported last year … Read more