Our Digital Music » iTunes

Here’s a quick sneak peak of the brand new iTunes 8 for all of you iPod users out there. Let me know if anyone finds the program easier or harder to use. I want some feedback.

Technorati Tags: itunes,itunes8,itunes 8,itunes 8 review,itunes 8 download,itunes 8 video

Post from: Our Digital Music

iTunes 8 Released

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 06:28:33 +0000

The popular music management software iTunes has just came out with it’s iTunes 8 release. You can download it now through your current update centre or online, though be weary that it might not be all that different. It has a new feature that scans your database and offers suggestions for more downloads though there have been complaints that it has yet to be perfected.

Read a complete review of iTunes 8 by Seth Rosenblatt at Download Blog.

Technorati Tags: itunes,itunes 8,itune 8

Post from: Our Digital Music

ABCs of Digital Music

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:06:08 +0000

A new series we’re going to be starting here on Our Digital Music is “The ABCs of Digital Music” where, if you didn’t guess, we’ll go through digital music terms that starts with every letter of the alphabet. Think of it as a crash course, or Cliff’s Notes, or a cheat sheet if you dare… There is a plan lined out, but if you would like to see something additional covered here, please feel free to comment below and tell us what you think! Post from: Our Digital Music

Post from: Our Digital Music

eMusic to fight iTunes with… Social?

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:41:05 +0000

What’s the key to fight the ultra-mega-super-giant iTunes? According to eMusic, social networks. eMusic will start adding links to their song pages where you can easily share your song of choice with the rest of the world, or just your friends. You’ll soon be able to share the song through del.icio.us, Digg, Facebook, and Twitter. Also to be added is the band’s Wikipedia page, Flickr pictures, and YouTube videos relating to the band.

“The aim is to make eMusic relevant for an audience that would otherwise link to bootlegs on blogs and elsewhere to get the same material.” -David Pakman, eMusic’s chief executive

I’m not sure about some, but I’ve seen plenty of iTunes links being shared around Twitter, Digg, and del.icio.us. Also, will adding Web 2.0 content like Wikipedia and Flickr content to the band pages make eMusic a better buying experience? My money is on no. Last.fm easily beats eMusic in the social networking field because they have been on the scene for some time now and already lets you add your friends to networks and find other people with similar tastes. My money is on Last.fm.

Via [Electronista]

Read [Fortune]

Image/Logo from eMusic

Post from: Our Digital Music

Apple releases iTunes 7.7

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:57:49 +0000

If you haven’t heard (and really, by now you should have), Apple released this new fangled thing called the iPhone 3G. Not sure if it’s hit the major markets of if any of them have sold… Anyways, the bigger news in the digital market is that iTunes 7.7 was released, and PLEASE hold your applause.

Now then… iTunes 7.7 does offer some nice new improvements. It adds the capability to sync with your iPhone 3G along with your newly updated iPhones and iPod touches with 2.0 firmware. It also adds functionality for remote functionality on your iPhone or iPod touch that allows you to control your iTunes library anywhere in your house that you have a Wi-Fi signal. I’ve used the Remote app (along with a bunch of other iPod touch apps which I will discuss that are relevant to music) and I have to say it is, by far, the easiest app I have used. Open Remote, open iTunes on your computer, and sync. But we’ll do a review later on.

If you haven’t already, you can use Software Update to update iTunes to the latest version (on both Mac and Windows) or download the latest version from here.

Image Source: Zach Flauaus/Apple

Post from: Our Digital Music

Guitar Hero is the new iTunes Store?

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:20:19 +0000

Who said the digital music market is just iTunes? Apparently, Activision wants to see if they can shake things up by making their own online music store. Now, what would a gaming company have to do with music downloads? Well, not much… Until you consider the fact that Activision is the publisher of Guitar Hero.

“I don’t think there have been a lot of credible alternatives to iTunes, but Guitar Hero certainly has that potential.” -Bobby Kotick, chief executive of Activision Blizzard

Well, you keep thinking that Bobby. I agree that Guitar Hero has potential in the online market, but they’d be better off joining iTunes and producing a joint product where you could tag songs that you play for download later on iTunes. Will they follow that road? Probably not because there isn’t a business that hasn’t followed my lead (and probably for good reason), but it’s definitely something they should consider.

Via [Financial Times]

Post from: Our Digital Music

Rhapsody makes entire MP3 collection DRM-free, Partners with Verizon

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:07:51 +0000

You may remember Rhapsody as the people who brought you the $15 unlimited music plan where, as long as you paid $15 every month, you could download as many songs as you wanted. Well, that plan had DRM (digital rights management) so iPod users and users of MP3 players who didn’t have a Plays For Sure-player were out of luck. They have no seen the light and changed their ways to become more like the highly popular iTunes Store.

For just 99 cents you can buy an individual song and $9.99 will land you most complete albums. This is really similar to the iTunes Store, which has been the industry standard. Speculation is that they changed their pricing structure to combat iTunes Plus, Apple’s solution to DRM free songs. Also to combat iTunes is the ability to listen to the whole song before you purchase it compared to 30-second clips iTunes offers. On personal experience, the songs are lower quality than what you would purchase when you stream them due to the fact that people could record the songs the old analog way.

Also introduced was a partnership with Verizon Wireless with their VCAST service. For $15 per month, Verizon subscribers with compatible phones can download as many songs to their phones as they want. In other words, this is the same plan as the old Rhapsody, just now partnered with Verizon Wireless. This plan does include DRM when you have an unlimited plan, but there is an alternative. You can still purchase songs for 99 cents on the VZW/Rhapsody store on your computer DRM free or when you download music over the air for $1.99, it will also include a higher quality, DRM-free download. Confused? So are we.

To sum it up: Rhapsody says no to DRM except on the $15/month plan. This is a step in the right direction and hopefully all the music providers will cave in to DRM-free music.

Via [Ars Technica] and [Broadband Reports]

Image from Rhapsody

Post from: Our Digital Music

New Writer, New Style

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:48:19 +0000

Hey everybody, my name is Zach Flauaus and you may recognize me from my previous b5 spot, High Def Delight. Well, I’ve moved onto Our Digital Music where I will blog about all the latest digital music news from the iTunes/iPod monopoly to the smaller folks like the Microsoft Zune and other MP3 players. Yes, this is a short post, but I think introductions are meant to be short most of the time.

Enjoy the blog!

Post from: Our Digital Music