We all have different strengths, and for too many of us, they do not include computer programming. By converting drawings into programs that play music, Tunetrace (iOS; free) makes computer programming a touch (get it?) more accessible to the right-brained among us. From QApps, an app venture from researchers at Queen Mary, University of London, Tunetrace for iOS…
We like 8Tracks (web, iOS, Android) for mixtape sharing, because it makes it easy, and pretty. You simply upload songs from your computer (or choose them from SoundCloud or Free Music Archive), then share them anywhere, even on a webpage: The original idea for 8Tracks, according to founder and CEO David Porter, was to build…
One of the big stories of 2012 was that the big music services, most of which are losing money themselves, are stiffing artists. Hopefully, 2013 will be the year when payouts from subscription services make the big leap we’ve heard they will, and maybe even when physical distributors will stop bullying labels into giving them part…
Another artist has come out against the royalties paid out to artists by the top two music streaming services of our times (Pandora and Spotify). In a widely-circulated Pitchfork article called “Making Cents,” Damon Krukowski of Galaxie 500 and Damon & Naomi reveals some truly startling figures: “Galaxie 500′s ‘Tugboat’ was played 7,800 times on…
Even if you weren’t around for the original Breakout videogame for Atari, in which the player controls a horizontal bar in order to bounce a ball against bricks in order to destroy them, ideally clearing the board and moving on, you just might remember the similar Brick game from the first iPods. It’s one of the…
After experiencing some confusion surrounding exactly which unlimited music services are available in Canada — in part because we don’t live there — we decided to look for an authoritative resource that details which music services are available in the various regions of the world. We think we found it at Pro-Music.org, a consortium involving a…
Market research firm Nielsen released its latest “Music 360” study this week, bringing a few revelations about how people discover and enjoy music these days. Among them: While only seven percent of music fans of all ages use YouTube to discover music, a whopping 64 percent of teens prefer to do their music listening on…
A bold upstart from Venice, California turned heads this week with the proclamation that it’s about to unveil a “new ultra-fast HTML5 player to rival Pandora and Spotify.” Another audacious claim: “This alpha test of our innovative player shows it to be a Ferrari in a field of minivans.” Let me get this straight: The…
The technology world has been abuzz with news of Apple’s newest iOS. It’s also been an exciting week for the tens of thousands of music fans who gathered in Manchester, Tennessee for Bonnaroo, which kicked off its eleventh annual music festival in cooler-than-usual weather. Meanwhile, we’ve been busy gathering a new batch of music apps to delight and amuse. This week, I’ll…
First, it must be said: Many people already DJ with an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. They works just fine in many settings, even without using fancy DJ apps that enable cross-fading, EQ, headphone cuing, and other mainstays of the DJ trade. After all, when most people talk about DJing at a bar or party,…
Spotify has received plenty of attention for its app platform, and rightfully so. Rdio also has an app platform, offering access to the same songs, more or less. Evolver.fm caught up with Rdio vice president of engineering Todd Berman to discuss the one-year anniversary of Rdio’s developer API; the service’s approach to third-party apps; and his belief…
We’ve been digging the Soundrop Spotify app since it launched last year, allowing Spotify users to create or join listening rooms where they can listen to the same song at the same time with their friends. Yes, Turntable.fm popularized this concept, and that app remains the favorite of many, but Turntable.fm hardly has a monopoly…
“We like it hard, we like it fast We got the biggest amps, man they blast True metal people wanna rock not pose Wearin’ jeans and leather, not crackerjack clothes.” Manowar – “Kings Of Metal“ Heavy metal is a force. Of that, we are certain. But what makes heavy metal truly “metal?” Is it the…
Exfm began as a Google Chrome extension more suitable for geeks than music nerds, who might not really grasp the concept of browser extensions. Then it evolved into a ready-for-primetime web app, and after that, an app for Android and iOS that made us ponder the question, “With friends like these, who needs iPods?” However, the app…
We’ve seen plenty of apps promise to allow musicians to play with each other in real time across the internet, as if they were in the same room. However, they generally didn’t work perfectly, due to the signal taking too long to traverse an internet already teeming with cat videos and Angelina Jolie’s right leg….
