iLounge has posted the a look at iTunes HD Radio tagging. Very cool… too bad it’s so expensive.
http://ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/the-complete-guide-to-itunes-tagging/
I’ve really been diggin’ Jackie Green since I heard him a few weeks back at Island Burger over lunch with my dad. He sounds like a combination of Dylan and Ryan Adams.
Please do check out his album “Sweet Somewhere Bound
.”
DoubleTwist is the latest venture from the infamous DVD Jon. On his blog, he posts:
“The goal of doubleTwist is to simplify the flow of media across devices and social networks. To give an example: say you shot a video with your Nokia N95 cellphone. How do you send that video to your friend and make sure he’ll be able to play it on his iPod or Sony PSP? Yesterday, the easiest solution was to give up. As of today, the answer is doubleTwist. With doubleTwist, you’ll be able to share and sync digital media without worrying about codecs and bitrates.”
I’m curious to see how well he supports encrypted media like iTunes Music Store files and for how long he’ll play the inevitable cat and mouse game with Apple and others.
Today, BusinessWeek is reporting that Sony BMG has agreed to offer music for sale without DRM. Of course it was only last week when Warner added DRM-free tunes to Amazon’s MP3 store.
The music should be available for Amazon’s 1 billion song MP3 Superbowl promo with Pepsi.
No more rootkits, I suppose.
Sean Heber has justed announced 31 days of fresh iPhone apps. His new package source in Installer.app promises a new downloadable app every day for the month of November.
They’re all going to be free and I now have something definite to look forward to each morning when I check for new apps. Thanks, Sean.
Apple is changing the price of all DRM-free “iTunes Plus” songs on the iTunes Store from $1.29 to $0.99. Certainly this is a response to recent announcements from Amazon (DRM free and often less than $0.99) and now Napster’s web portal.
Jobs is quoted in the WSJ as saying: “It’s been very popular with our customers, and we’re making it even more affordable.”
Update: Apple now claims largest DRM-free catalog with 2 million songs.
Led Zeppelin is apparently going to be available on iTunes next month. Sounds like nearly the entire catalog will be available. This is great news as it means that more people than ever will be able to enjoy easy access to one of my favorite bands.
“Over the Hills and Far Away” was the first song I every figured out how to play on the guitar all by myself. Shout out to Mike Sabatino for introducing me to Zep and teaching me to play many of the songs on guitar.
Stats: Led Zeppelin is the only band in history that managed to get all of its albums into the U.S. Billboard Top 10 and has sold more than 300 million albums globally with almost 110 million of those sales occurring in the U.S. alone.
I came across this interesting interview with Will Friedwald, “Owner Of The Worlds Largest iTunes Collection” this morning.
I’d also love to see a “Pro” version of iTunes geared toward massive collections. But, I do think that iTunes will finally get there on its own.
Just look at the growth of the capacity of iPods: a 160GB model holds 97% more data than the original. iTunes will have be enhanced to hold a similar growth in music libraries. iPhoto has been similarly enhanced in recent versions with exponential storage capacity updates.
For the record:
Will’s Library:
849 GB | 172,150 tracks | 809.2 days
2,935 artists | 11,561 albums
iTunes library database file - 282 MB
iTunes library XML file - 259 MB
Mine:
260.37 GB | 59,915 tracks | 147.6 days
9,778 artists | 7,083 albums
iTunes library database file - 104.9 MB
iTunes library XML file - 91.5 MB
The constant rumbling of artist and tech company complaints about “the music industry” is getting turned up this month. Here’s what I’m hearing:
- Amazon’s launch of the high-bitrate, non-DRM’d, MP3 music store is what we’ve all been waiting for.
- Apple locks down iPhone ringtones even tighter with digitally signed audio files.
- Radiohead’s self-published, online release of “In Rainbows.”
- Yahoo’s head music honcho, Ian Rogers (formerly of Nullsoft, WinAMP and Gnutella fame) states that Yahoo! will never go back to using DRM.
- And finally frequent industry malcontent, Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails), made a statement about being freed of their recording contract after 18 years.
What next, the month’s only just begun?
Update (dfbills 10.11.07 @ 8:48AM ET)
One day later, I’m starting to see what’s next:
- Madonna signs a $120M deal with Live Nation to sell her next three studio albums, promote concerts, and license Madonna’s name.
- Oasis will release their next album directly to fans via the “pay as you wish” system used by Radiohead.
- Jamiroquai to follow suit after seeing Radiohead on the digital download charts.
Apparently this is the complete list of the songs to be given away by Starbucks in conjunction with their Apple / iPhone deal. I sure hope that I don’t re-read this in November and compare my final collection… 
10/02 Bob Dylan - Jokerman
10/03 TK Tunstall - One Day
10/04 Joni Mitchell - Night of the Iguana
10/05 Keith Urban - I Told You So
10/06 Emily King - Moon
10/07 Mavis Staples, We Shall Not Be Moved
10/08 Ceu, Roda (Bomba Dub Orchestra Grateful Dub Radio Mix)
10/09 Band of Horses, No One’s Gonna Love You
10/10 Gloria Estefan, 90 Millas
10/11 Fine Frenzy, You Picked Me
10/12 John Legend, Show Me
10/13 John Fogerty, Gunslinger
10/14 Patti Scialfa, Looking for Elvis
10/15 Herbie Hancock, Maiden Voyage
10/16 Angie Stone, Happy Being Me
10/17 Annie Lennox, Dark Road
10/18 Brandi Carlile, Turpentine
10/19 Alice Smith, New Religion
10/20 Rogue Wave, Lake Michigan
10/21 Alice Russell, Hurry On Now (Featuring TM Juke)
10/22 Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, Grace is Gone
10/23 Sonya Kitchell, I’m In Love With You
10/24 bitter:sweet, Heaven (Nicola Conte Remix)
10/25 Greyboy w/ Sharon Jones, Got To Be A Love
10/26 Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Sacala Bailar
10/27 Rissi Palmer, Country Girl
10/28 Raul Midon, Pick Somebody Up
10/29 Joss Stone, Tell Me ‘Bout It (Live from the Bowery Ballroom)
10/30 Federico Aubele, Maria Jose
10/31 Sara Bareilles, Love Song
11/01 Hilary McRae, Consider Me Gone
11/02 John Mayer, Dreaming With A Broken Heart
11/03 Galactic, I Got It (What You Need)
11/04 Bebel Gilberto, Um Segundo
11/05 Suzanne Vega, Frank & Ava
11/06 Sia, Day Too Soon
11/07 Paul McCartney, Only Mama Knows