Latest Gear Live Videos
Spotify has a ‘special announcement’ to make on Wednesday
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Music, Software,
Spotify is set to reveal a special announcement in just five days. The CEO of the music streaming service, Daniel Ek, will be giving a keynote address at Ad Age Digital, and immediately after, Spotify will hit us with the news. Of course, as soon as the announcement is made, we'll give you the scoop on what's up. In the meantime, what do you think it'll be? Sound off in the comments!
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Are cloud music services like Rdio and Spotify the same song and dance?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Internet, Music,
We sat in on a panel where Pandora's Jackson Gates, Daren Tsui of mSpot, and Kevin Wortis were interviewed by Gartner's Mike McGuire about the future of cloud music services at SXSW. It was an interesting discussion, focusing on what the benefit of the cloud brings to music, and the problems associated with expecting users to pay for something that they've been used to getting for free for at least a generation. It's an interesting time, and obviously the models differ substantially for companies like Pandora and Spotify, for example. Click on through for the highlights of the discussion!
Click to continue reading Are cloud music services like Rdio and Spotify the same song and dance?
Justin Bieber is ‘Figuring Out’ Love
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Music, Dating, Child Stars,
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Justin Bieber is "figuring out" love.
The 18-year-old singer - who is in a relationship with Selena Gomez - admits his ideas of dating and romance have changed now he is getting older.
"When you're 13, that's when you're first trying to figure out what it means -- that's kind of a puppy love. Now, being 18 and trying to figure out what it actually really means is a totally different story," he said.
Justin released his new single "Boyfriend" yesterday and admits he is hoping the track will give him a whole new set of fans: "I was younger and my voice was higher [on my old songs]. My music was geared to a younger audience. Now I'm broadening my audience. We wanted to show people that I can evolve."
Although Justin's new musical direction has been the subject of much speculation, he insists he doesn't pay attention to other people's opinions because he knows he has to take charge of his own career. "There's so many people that are going to give me opinions, but I'm the only one who can ultimately make those decisions, because I'm going to have to live with my career for the rest of my life. So I thought this was the perfect single. It was me all the way; it is a representation of me."
Bleeding Edge TV 445: MyStream iOS app shares music wirelessly between devices
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Features, Music, Podcasts, Software, Videocasts, Videos, Wireless / WiFi,
In this episode we give you a look at MyStream, an iOS (and soon, Android) app that lets you share your music with multiple devices, eliminating the need to share headphones. Sharing of content happens over Bluetooth, streaming to up to 5 devices, or Wi-Fi, which will stream to up to 30 separate devices.
Big thank you to GoToMeeting for sponsoring Bleeding Edge TV. GoToMeeting provides rich, super-simple collaborative virtual meetings - be sure to check them out!
Hands-on with New Rdio redesign: More social, much faster
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Internet, Music, Product Reviews, Software,
Last week at a press event in Austin at SXSW, Rdio gave us a look at its brand new, completely overhauled music experience. We got a look at the new Rdio, and we walked away impressed by the beauty of what the streaming music company is attempting to pull off. There are a lot of changes, and we think that most people will think they're all good.
New Rdio isn't just a visual makeover though. Wilson Miner, head of design for Rdio said, "We want back to ground zero and rethought the whole user experience from the groud up to put the focus 100% on music and people." That people part is a big deal, because social integration is a big part of the new Rdio. When you log in, you've got a constant bar on the right-hand side that shows your online contacts and what they're listening to. There's also another tab that gives recommendations of who to follow (oh, and you should definitely follow the Gear Live Rdio profile!) Wanna share a track or album with a contact? The old way still works, but now you can just drag and drop content onto contacts as well. Very fluid.
Click to continue reading Hands-on with New Rdio redesign: More social, much faster
Spotify Apps are a success, change the way we enjoy music
Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Corporate News, Music, Software,
When Spotify launched in Europe, social music sharing officially arrived, and many services soon folllowed. However, the company soon realized that releasing an API that allowed third-parties to tap into the spotify catalog would mean new features and new ways for its users to interact and enjoy music, and with that came the release of Spotify Apps.
Spotify has shared info on the success of four of these apps. Truth be told, some of them are a runaway success. Each app is unique in its own way in changing the way we do music.
Soundrop, “let’s you discover, listen to, and share music with friends in ‘rooms’ created by genre or theme,” Spotify says. According to the company, Soundrop users in Feburary listened to 15 million songs or the equivalent of 100 years’ of music.
The second app, Tunewiki, lets you sing along to the lyrics of the song you’re listening too. Though we can’t guarantee this will make you a better singer, it's certainly cool to be able to see the lyrics in real-time while playing a track.
Moodagent, plays music according to how you're feeling, which is fantastic time saver. No longer are you a slave to searching your library for the music you wanna listen too when you're 'Angry' or 'Happy', as you can now have Moodagent handle that for you.
The final app, SpotOn Radio, which was built into the mobile version of the app, hit number six on the Swedish iPhone app store.
The success of Spotify and the widespread use and development of its apps should continue to result in new, refreshing ways to both listen to and share music, with Spotify living on the back end. All Spotify apps are free to use, but require a Spotify account (also free!)
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Why Turntable.fm matters, and how it enhances music discovery
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Editorial, Features, Internet, Music,
Right now I'm at SXSW, sitting in on the Turntable.fm DJ Battle that's taking place over the next two hours. There are a few DJs on stage playing their best tracks in an attempt to rock the crowd, and as things are unfolding, I can see some real potential for Turntable.fm to bring something to the table that the Spotifys, Rdios, and Rhapsodys of the world just aren't able to deliver at the moment, especially now that Turntable has secured licensing rights from all four of the major record labels here in the U.S.
Click to continue reading Why Turntable.fm matters, and how it enhances music discovery
GarageBand for iPad update brings Smart Strings, note editor, iCloud sharing, Jam Sessions
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Music, App Updates, Apple, $4.99,
Yesterday, after its iPad event, Apple released an updated version of GarageBand for iOS that includes a few new features. First is Smart Strings. Similar to the other smart modes, Smart Strings makes it easy to control a set of string instruments and to have them work together to create music on the fly. There's also a new note editor, as well as iCloud integration that allows you to push a track to iCloud so you can then access it from your other iOS devices. Lastly, Jam Sessions allows multiple iOS devices to all play together, mimicking a live jam session. Pretty neat. You can download the update now from the App Store, or buy it for $4.99.
GarageBand updated to 6.0.5
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Music, Software,
Apple just updated GarageBand to version 6.0.5, bringing with it compatibility with the updated iOS version of the software, as well as squashing a few bugs. You can download the update now through Software Update or the Mac App Store!
Avril Lavigne’s British Influence
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Celebrities, Fashion Designers,
Avril Lavigne's clothing range is heavily influenced by British music.
The Canadian singer's Abbey Dawn line is inspired by some of her favourite 70s punk bands, such as the Sex Pistols and believes her influences are clear to see in her designs.
"Sexy and rock 'n' roll, that's my style. Messy hair, black eyes, fishnets. And you see this in my clothing collection through the colors and the styles. A lot of my designs are inspired by British music. I'm a big Sex Pistols fan and I love the old-school rocker grunge look, so a lot of my pieces feature red plaid and skulls."
The name of Avril's clothing line comes from an old nickname and alias she used to check into hotels without being spotted: "It's called that because I'm Abbey Dawn. It was my nickname when I was growing up and it was the first alias I used when I didn't want people to know which hotel I was in."
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