music

Music poll: How do you get your music? CD? iTunes? Napster?

Do you buy CDs, LPs, MP3s, iTunes, or 8 track cartridges?

If so, do you buy them from Amazon or other online retailer, brick and mortar chain store, or local "record" shop?

Do you regularly buy used CDs or LPs? And rarely buy new CDs or LPs?

Do you subscribe to a subscription service, if so, which one? Rhapsody, Yahoo, Napster, etc?

If you really like a tune you heard from a subscription service do you buy it? Do you buy individual tracks or complete albums?

Or do you get your tunes from a P2P like Morpheus or … Read more

Security flaws found in Yahoo Music Jukebox

Folks who are tapping into their tunes via the Yahoo Music Jukebox music player may find themselves at risk of allowing a malicious attacker into their computer, according to a security advisory issued Monday by Secunia.

The "extremely critical" security vulnerabilities are found in Yahoo Music Jukebox version 2.2.2.056 and possibly other versions, according to Secunia. The heightened warning comes as exploit code has been made public, which could give malicious attackers a road map to follow should they want to compromise a user's computer.

According to Secunia, users who have the Yahoo Music … Read more

Get the song stuck back in your head with Songerize

Got a song stuck in your head? Get a quick fix with Songerize, a super simple Google-esque search engine for popular audio tracks. Just type in the song name and artist, and within seconds it'll start playing right under the results. It's powered by SeeqPod, which offers a more robust feature set, but without as much simplicity. Songerize doesn't tell you where the tracks are from or where to get them, but in testing it managed to pick up nearly every mainstream artist and popular hit I stuck in.

Another service that has been doing this with … Read more

Slacker Portable Player unboxing

We're creeping up on a year since I first got a hold of the Slacker Portable Player at SXSW in Austin. I'm pleased to see that the fledgling company has not lost track of its vision, and is indeed making good on all the hype. That's right, folks: we've finally got our hands on a real, honest-to-goodness, working Slacker Portable Player. It's about darn time, too. Actually, it's in the knick of time, because the units have also just gone on sale to the public, and I want to make sure you all get … Read more

Update: Yahoo kills Yahoo Music

On Friday, I pondered if Microsoft would kill Yahoo Music. Now, it looks like Microsoft won't have to bother: this morning, Yahoo announced an agreement with RealNetworks to transfer all Yahoo Music subscription customers to Real's Rhapsody service. In all likelihood, this deal was well underway before the Microsoft announcement--Yahoo's been rumored to be considering a free service for several weeks now--but the timing certainly makes it look like Yahoo's accelerating its cuts. And it appears that Rhapsody's the default partner of choice for companies that want to cut their digital music ties with Microsoft--recall … Read more

Yahoo axes music service, strikes deal with Rhapsody

It's been a tumultuous few days for Yahoo--you know, with that takeover bid from Microsoft--but the company continues to shake things up internally, too.

On Monday, the company announced that it will discontinue its Yahoo Music Unlimited subscription service and will transfer its customers to RealNetworks' Rhapsody service.

In mid-2008, Yahoo Music Unlimited subscribers will be guided through an in-browser process to convert their music libraries to Rhapsody's service. For a limited time (length unknown), they'll be able to keep paying Yahoo's subscription fees, which cap out at $8.99 per month, before being required … Read more

Would Microsoft kill Yahoo Music?

One of the first things Microsoft did when launching the new Zune was kill the 2-year-old MSN Music download service.

The business reasons were plain: MSN Music was a PlaysForSure service, but the Zune wasn't PlaysForSure-compatible, and it came with its own music download service, integrated into the Zune software.

Sure, there's still something with the brand name MSN Music, but it's basically a shell--a few music videos, some promotional tie-ins with Zune (through a program called Ignition), and a radio station powered by Pandora.

So what might that mean for Yahoo Music, if Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Yahoo … Read more

Music and movies - give away the soundtrack

This week the Soundtrack to Juno bounded to number one on the charts. A measly 65k units is all it took. Not great for a #1, but these days, its a great total for any theatrical soundtrack. Which raises a question. If a best selling soundtrack sells about 100k units, and 99pct of the rest sell under 10k units, is selling a soundtrack the best use of the music ?

I think not. Whether sold digitally or by CD, the reality of today's music and theatrical release market is such that music from movies would generate more total dollars for … Read more

Quality doesn't equal popularity

If you see a lot of live music in small clubs, you've probably had the experience of being blown away by a band that hardly anybody else knows about. Once in a great while, your instincts are validated by the masses--the band becomes popular and you get to brag about how you knew them back when. But more often than not, the law of averages kicks in, and the band continues to toil in obscurity for a few years before breaking up because the bass player's pregnant or the keyboardist got a high-paying corporate advertising gig. You ask … Read more