MetaFilter posts tagged with iTunes and Apple

Le DRM est mort, vive de musique numérique!

Talez — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:15:22 -0800

Who would have known that that the death of DRM would come in the form of a press release? While MP3 stores are nothing new, with iTunes moving to a 100% DRM free catalog by the 31st of March this now cements a de facto standard of DRM free music in the marketplace. As a side effect it's now a near certainty that AAC will become the successor of MP3.

Playsforsuren't

desjardins — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:18:50 -0800

The Day the Music Died The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) [...] has also been warning anyone who would listen that they should not “purchase” encrypted music from these services, since if these services go under then all that “purchased” music will no longer… what’s the word… “play”. But mostly people ignored them (and me), because, you know, Microsoft was at the center of it all, and nobody ever got fired for “buying” from Microsoft.

The U2 iPod: Back when we were friends.

phaedon — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 08:00:33 -0800

Bob Lefsetz has been sharing his opinions on the music industry for years. In last night's newsletter, he announces, "Let the games begin!" - and indeed, let them. Universal Music has declined to re-sign to a long term deal with Apple, essentially leaving them open to exclusive deals with other services. The fact that Doug Morris (chairman of UMG) and Zach Horowitz (President of Universal's parent company, Vivendi) have been gearing up to loosen the stranglehold that iTunes has on online distribution is not exactly news. They've used similar tactics against Microsoft's Zune and YouTube. But with the release of the iPhone and following his well-timed decision to openly "share his thoughts" on DRM, not to mention his landmark deal with (perennial "armpit of the industry") EMI to sell their music DRM-free and at a higher cost - the real question is: is Steve Jobs ready to play hardball?

More than a browser.

clevershark — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:14:12 -0800

Safari: innocuous browser alternative or sneaky way for Apple to build its homegrown platform on top of Windows? Through suggestions and bundling Apple is installing more on your PC than just a browser.

iTunes Loses a Little DRM

mkultra — Wed, 30 May 2007 08:49:39 -0800

iTunes Plus has been released. Following EMI's announcement that it would begin offering its entire catalog DRM-free (and a barely-averted torpedoing of that plan), Apple has released an update to iTunes that offers DRM-free, 256kps AAC songs for $1.29. Entire albums are the same price as their DRM-laden counterparts. Those who have purchased EMI music can upgrade their files for $.30/song, $.60/album, or 30% of the album price. Currently only EMI is on-board, but Apple is perfectly happy to bring other labels into the DRM-free universe.

Apple's New Starmaking Power

nevercalm — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 07:32:00 -0800

Music's New Gatekeeper - From their Silicon Valley cubicles, Apple staffers have become music's unlikely power brokers.

Steve Jobs' Thoughts on Music

timeistight — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 12:52:09 -0800

Thoughts on Music "...in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store." — Steve Jobs

Find out when your fave bands are playing your town.

dobbs — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 08:21:19 -0800

iConcertCal - The most awesomest iTunes plugin ever--tells you when bands you have MP3s for are playing your town. {via an email from this dude.}

"Oh, I own that song?"

beaucoupkevin — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 07:07:50 -0800

Peter Gabriel has introduced a new iTunes plugin for Windows XP called The Filter. Using the All Music Guide in a fashion similar to Pandora, the software builds playlists from your library for you after you select a few tracks. Their marketing copy tells you that you should "Prepare to be reengaged and reinvigorated by your iTunes library."

OS X, WinAMP, and WMP versions are slated for the near future.

FairPlay is turned about.

mkultra — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 13:41:18 -0800

FairPlay is turned about. "DVD" Jon Lech Johansen, of DeCSS fame, has reverse engineered Apple's FairPlay DRM technology, which has thus far prevented 3rd-party digital music players from playing music purchased from the iTunes Store. RealNetworks did something similar in 2004, but Johansen is licensing it to whomever wants it.

Bob Dylan joins the Apple team

persona non grata — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:35:52 -0800

iPod + iTunes + Bob Dylan = Modern Times?

Apple to include ads in iTunes

vannsant — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 11:26:09 -0800

AdAge reports that Apple is adding ads to iTunes. The ads will only appear if you're listening to a podcast and not while listening to your own music, according to the article. I suspect this will be greeted with the same enthusiasm as was the mini store that was included with iTunes 6.

Is Apple's iTunes countdown counter rigged?

eener — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 18:59:28 -0800

The iTunes Billion Songs Countdown is bringin' out the nrrrrds: they developed a widget, published stats, wrote a Java applet, and even hacked a more accurate counter than Apple's (which by all appearances, seems to be to be rigged!)

Skål!

Rothko — Sat, 28 Jan 2006 00:10:35 -0800

Similar to the US Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Council of Norway, or Forbrukerrådet (PDF) strives "to achieve a balance of power between the consumer and the provider of products or services." This week, the council filed a formal complaint, citing several violations of Norwegian law in the fluid terms of service attached to iTunes music file downloads.

Michael, I'm On iTunes

eustacescrubb — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 05:38:53 -0800

iTunes Gets NBC Shows. And not just this season's: like a page out of Infinite Jest, iTunes and NBC are serving up classic NBC programs, including Knight Rider and Hitchcock Presents. (note: sorry - first link goes to iTunes Music Store -- no press releases available yet to link to.)

Three free downloads??

jonson — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 12:37:36 -0800

So, the US Army is having trouble meeting it's recruitment goals, and is lowering the bar for admission to try and make up the shortfall. Another tactic they are apparently trying is sweetening the deal with 3 free (FREE!!!) iTunes downloads if you agree to talk to a recruiter. It'd be foolish NOT to sign up, frankly!

iTunes, Brushed Metal. Lunch in this town again.

Tlogmer — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 21:45:37 -0800

The iTunes 5 Announcement From the Perspective of an Anthropomorphized Brushed Metal User Interface Theme.

iTunes Phone Rokr

benkolb — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 11:55:49 -0800

Apple iTunes to launch a phone. Made by Motorola nd will be available via Cingular. It will be called, 'Rokr'. Just goes to show how much Motorola dislikes 'E' s. (Razr & Rokr)

The Music Never Stops

terrapin — Wed, 02 Mar 2005 06:06:03 -0800

While the Grateful Dead were pioneers in the sharing of music, it wasn't too long ago that fans had to meet in-person with other DeadHeads at taping parties to grow their library of "bootlegs." In the late 1990s when CD burners became more prominent, The Dead again led the way. They went on record to say that fans were still welcome to copy, share and trade their music as long as no money changing hands—including no advertising on web sites with downloads. Yesterday, the band again made history when they announced they are releasing the contents of their vast vault electronically (and simultaneouly) on iTunes Music Store and their very own Grateful Dead online store, the latter making the songs available in mp3 (128 and 256kbps) and FLAC .

Should Apple be forced to open up iPod and iTunes?

tgrundke — Fri, 06 Aug 2004 15:21:07 -0800

Real and France's Virgin claim that they deserve to be able to sell their music on Apple's iPod. To prove they're serious, Virgin Mega has filed a complaint against Apple to do so. Perhaps I'm missing something here, but last I checked it wasn't anybody's responsibility to open up their product or service to purposely allow the competition in. That is, of course, unless the government steps in. Are Real and Virgin Mega just being whiny little brats, angered that they're not invited to the party? What are legitimate reasons for the legal system to get involved and to rule in favor of such plaintiffs? While the obvious Microsoft may come to mind, are there other examples you can think of? As for me, I'd like to hand out copies of "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" to both Real and Virgin Mega...

iTunes 9/11 and the DNC

rathikd — Fri, 30 Jul 2004 09:18:13 -0800

iTunes (and Audible) make the 9-11 Comission and speeches from the Democratic National Convention available for free downloads. Thought this was cool. Couldn't find a previous post about this, so pardon if a double post.

iTunes, iTunes, iTunes

seanyboy — Tue, 15 Jun 2004 09:34:26 -0800

Finally, iTunes Launches.

Hey Mama.

Down10 — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 14:39:16 -0800

Apple iTunes 4.5 was released yesterday, bringing with it several nice new features, such as a live-updating "Party Shuffle" playlist — as well as not-so-nice features like attaching Music Store links to every artist and album in your library (I turned this off immediately). As for the iTunes Music Store itself, Apple has integrated its QuickTime features of music videos and movie trailers (this is related to music how?), shopper-created "iMixes" and for this month, a new "Free Track of the Day," a questionable asset being that today's artist is Avril Lavigne. ...Perhaps you'd rather have an album sung entirely with "meows".

It's oh so quiet...shh...shhh

marzenie99 — Fri, 06 Feb 2004 10:59:35 -0800

Hey, shut up, I can't hear! What else will 99¢ get you from the iTunes Music Store? Nothin', that's what.

And euery nyght he perchit hym In myn ladyis chaumbyr

homunculus — Tue, 03 Feb 2004 17:28:44 -0800

"I Have a Gentil C**k." A rooster that is, but Apple may not have realized that when they altered the title on iTunes (iTunes link.) The song (sample: Real Audio, Windows Media), arranged by Carol Wood, is a 14th-15th century medieval love song, a variation of the aube. It may have inspired Chaucer's description of Chantecleer in the Canterbury Tales. [Via Digital Medievalist, SFW unless you work for Apple.]