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Peter Gabriel releases MusicTiles for simplistic remixing of your favorite songs

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Music, iPad Apps, New Apps, $2.99,

MusicTiles for iOS

Peter Gabriel is releasing a new music app dubbed "MusicTiles," allowing the creation and sharing of fan-made remixes of popular songs.

The remixing process is handled by a simple tile interface. Each tile represents a song element, such as the individual instruments and vocal tracks, which users can blend together to form new sounds. The effects include a range of manipulation techniques, such as altering the timing of the tracks by fooling around with the arrangement.

MusicTiles sell for $2.99 -- though you'll probably spend a heck of a lot more through the in-app purchases -- and is available now for the iPad and iPhone.

Read More | MusicTiles

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Google Music’s Scan and Match now available in the US

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Google, Music, Storage,

Google Music scan and match

When Google Music came to Europe, it brought a new feature not available in the US -- Scan and Match. It's similar to iTunes Match, whereas it scans your local music collection and puts them in the cloud so that you don't have to.

After downloading the Music Manager, it will match your songs up with Google's, and begin "uploading" your songs into the cloud at a rate of about 30 seconds per album. After your music is in the cloud, you can listen to it on different devices, even iOS if you use Google's HTML5 web app.

Now US users are able to take advantage of this feature. It's free, and automatic for the most part, so you won't have to go through the cumbersome process of backing up your digital music collection solo.

Read More | Google

2012 Holiday Gift Guide Giveaway: Rdio steaming music subscription

rdio subscription holiday gift

They say music is the universal language, and as music lovers ourselves, we think it's one of the best gifts that you can give, and we're putting it in our 2012 Holiday Gift Guide. Rather than grabbing an iTunes gift card, or worse, a random CD from the bargain bin, we recommend hitting your loves ones up with Rdio gift subscriptions. Why? It allows the user unlimited access to the entire Rdio music streaming catalog. That means on-demand access to millions of tracks from the web, iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, and even your Sonos system. Rdio costs $9.99 per month for full access. We love it--check out Gear Live on Rdio!

We are giving away three 3-month subscriptions to Rdio to our readers as well! To enter, all you need to do is:

Good luck to all entrants, and be sure to look through the rest of our 2012 Holiday Gift Guide for more giveaways!

Read More | Rdio

WIth the release of iTunes 11, Apple’s music player enters 64-bit era on OS X

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Software,

iTunes 11 64-bit

iTunes has been one of the last first-party Apple software holdouts stuck at 32-bit over the past few years. Many wondered when Apple would rewrite iTunes to the point where it would be 64-bit like just about all of Apple's other OS X apps, and that day has arrived with the release of iTunes 11. A quick check of Activity Monitor confirms it--iTunes is now a 64-bit Mac app.


Completely redesigned iTunes 11 now available

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Music, Software,

iTunes 11

Apple's newly redesigned iTunes has finally been released after a one-month delay, for both Mac and PC. iTunes 11 sports a bevy of new music features, including a streamlined look and feel that focuses on album art when listening to music, a new bite-sized MiniPlayer, a new feature called "Up Next" that lets you manage a play queue. Outside of music, iTunes 11 brings tighter integration with iCloud, allowing you to stream your content library on your Mac or PC from iTunes in the Cloud. The iTunes Store has also been completely revamped, bringing the same look and feel that you'll find in iOS 6.

You can grab iTunes 11 now by running Software Update on your Mac or PC, or by checking the Mac App Store.


2012 Holiday Gift Guide: Sonos PLAY:3

Sonos Play:3

We're music fans here at Gear Live (seriously, check out the Gear Live Rdio channel!) so we wanna make sure to include great music gadgets in our 2012 Holiday Gift Guide. This year, we're kicking it off with the Sonos PLAY:3. If you're unfamiliar with Sonos, it's basically the best way to get music from just about any location (your computer, your iPhone, the web, the cloud, etc.) to play in any room in your house. It's super intuitive, and even years after using Sonos, the technology still blows us away. The Sonos PLAY:3 is a wireless all-in-one music system that lets you jump right into the Sonos experience. If you have an iOS or Android device, you can download the Sonos remote control app, and you can also control the system with a computer using the Sonos Desktop Controller. Here are some other Sonos products that go nicely with the Sonos PLAY:3, which itself you can get for $299 from Sonos, or order from Amazon and get a free Sonos Bridge included with purchase!

You can use a pair of Play:3 or Play:5 units to create wide stereo sound as well!


Fender Squier Strat with iOS and USB integration available at Apple Online Store

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Accessories, USB, Apple, Music, Videos,

Fender Squier Strat

Iconic electric guitar maker, Fender, has announced the new Squier Strat. It includes USB and iOS integration and is now available in the Apple Online Store for $199.95. The Squier Strat goes perfectly with music apps like GarageBand for iOS and also works with OS X. Check out some of the features, and a video, after the break.

Click to continue reading Fender Squier Strat with iOS and USB integration available at Apple Online Store

Read More | Apple Online Store

Apple iTunes 11 delayed, will launch by end of November

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Apple, Music, Software,

Apple iTunes 11

For those who wanted a faster, redesigned and polished iTunes, you're going to have to wait a bit longer. iTunes 11, which was slated for an October release, has been delayed, and will instead appear by the end of November. AllThingsD has received confirmation from an Apple representative.

“The new iTunes is taking longer than expected and we wanted to take a little extra time to get it right. We look forward to releasing this new version of iTunes with its dramatically simpler and cleaner interface, and seamless integration with iCloud before the end of November." - Tom Neumayer, Apple Spokesperson

iTunes 11 is said to have a cleaner revamped UI, deeper iCloud integration, a refined mini player, and faster search functionality. The inspiration is similar to the iPad music app, which reduces the amount of chrome visuals, for a better jukebox experience.

Click to continue reading Apple iTunes 11 delayed, will launch by end of November

Read More | AllThingsD

Windows Phone 8 users will get 1 year of commercial-free Pandora One

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Microsoft, Music,

Pandora Windows Phone 8

Microsoft is touting a bunch of the new apps that will be coming to Windows Phone 8, and one it's really excited about is Pandora. You're in for a little bit of a wait for the app, as it won't appear for Windows Phone 8 users until early 2013, but when it does, it will offer ad-free listening for the first year. That's basically free 12-month subscription to Pandora One from Microsoft for users of its new smartphones. Pretty nice.


Ian McKellen Ceased Elijah’s Punk Music on ‘The Hobbit’ Set

Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, and Peter Jackson on the set of 'The Hobbit'Ian McKellen made a deal with Elijah Wood to stop him playing punk rock songs when they were filming The Hobbit.

The 73-year-old screen legend wasn't a fan of the 31-year-old actor's choice of music when they were in the make-up trailer together, so had to find a compromise which worked for them both.

"We brokered a deal, where he could have 15 minutes of music, then I could have 15 minutes of no music," McKellen told Empire.

The star had a great time reprising his role as Gandalf the wizard for the movie - a prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy - but admits some of the modern shooting techniques left him in tears. In the film, Gandalf is a huge man and in order to make the scenes with the diminutive hobbits and dwarves look convincing McKellen had to film his scenes on his own, and the process depressed him:

Click to continue reading Ian McKellen Ceased Elijah’s Punk Music on ‘The Hobbit’ Set


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