itune

Seriously, this just gets more pathetic every day. Now the Macalope reads that Real and -- are you read for this? -- MTV are joining forces against iTunes.

Yes, it's the greatest team-up since Ant Man and Tigra!

But, wait. Didn't Real already try partnering with some other has-been juggernaut?

A year ago, analysts loved the idea that Microsoft appeared to be challenging Apple's powerhouse music store, iTunes, by joining forces with a music-industry icon in MTV.

Ah, analysts! And they're never wrong.

But MTV's Urge music service fell flat.

One reason may have been … Read more

Viacom's MTV has plans to align its digital music strategy with RealNetworks, a move that likely marks the end of a similar partnership between MTV and Microsoft, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal.

A year ago, analysts loved the idea that Microsoft appeared to be challenging Apple's powerhouse music store, iTunes, by joining forces with a music-industry icon in MTV.

But MTV's Urge music service fell flat.

One reason may have been that shortly after Urge launched, Microsoft directed much of its attention toward the Zune music player and a digital download store that … Read more

The Register has an excellent article today on the compact disc, which was first pressed for commercial release 25 years ago. If you've ever been curious about terms like Red Book or 44.1, or wondered why CDs can hold 74 minutes of music, it's worth a read.

I have little to add. Except: Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms was not only the first CD that was recorded all digitally, but it was also one of the first in which the CD had different, longer versions of some of the LP album tracks. I specifically bought the CD … Read more

I've often said no matter how good a piece of software is, there's someone out there who can make it better. Sometimes a third-party add-on can be so simple that I can't figure out why the developer didn't think of it in the original program. Then, of course, I wonder why I didn't think of it myself. As the great inventor Thomas Edison once said, "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Well, here's to an idea for which I should have donned the proverbial overalls.… Read more

Interestingly enough, those My iTunes widgets that popped up last week have a new distribution partner in the form of Widgetbox. While the widgets you'll find at Widgetbox's site are the identical to the standalone Apple widget builder you get sent to via the iTunes music store, Widgetbox also has their own widget called MixIt that will let you share your iTunes iMix on blogs and Web sites.

If you're unfamiliar with the iMix feature, it lets you publish any regular iTunes playlist to the iTunes music store for others to view, rate, and (hopefully) purchase. A … Read more

Quincy Jones has launched a series of video podcasts with behind-the-scenes looks at some of his projects with famous artists.

As part of the new series, the music, film, theater and television-producing legend has relaunched his MySpace page to include streams of the videos, as well as a list of his achievements and music selections to listen to while you visit.

Jones has technically been a member of MySpace since October 18,2006, according to his profile.

The video series can also be subscribed to via the podcast section of Apple's iTunes store. But can the icon make a … Read more

Beatles fans can imagine a world where the iTunes Store can sell Rubber Soul, but today they'll have to settle for a working-class hero.

Apple announced Tuesday that the solo work of John Lennon is now available on The iTunes Store in the DRM-free iTunes Plus format, as part of Apple's agreement with EMI, Lennon's record label. Lennon joins Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as solo artists featured on iTunes, but despite what appeared to be a truce in the bitter battle over the Apple trademarks between the California Mac maker and the famous Apple Records of … Read more

James at Shots Ring Out looks at Universal's power play (tip o' the antlers to Daring Fireball) and comes to the same conclusions the Macalope did and then some.

Universal Music Group, the largest of the four big music labels, has become the second major to offer DRM-free MP3 downloads.

EMI was first to take the plunge, selling DRM-free files first on Apple's iTunes (in the AAC audio format) and later offering MP3s through a variety of other services via a deal with MediaNet.

Unlike EMI, the Universal deal is only a five-month trial, and the company hasn't announced any such deal with Apple--not surprising, given the two companies' recent history. In fact, nobody should see this as an act of kindness on Universal's part. Rather, … Read more