i Life’s home cinema collection has some amazing projects (but im sure they dont come cheap). Projects can be found on the: River Thames, Bristol, St Albans, Totteridge and more. It seems like your basic home theatre setup will cost you around £10,000. I really wish I could afford to spend that on my living room, I cant even get my girlfriend to agree to a large screen tv.

St Albans is an iLife home automation technology solution. This offers a  B&W 7.1 surround sound system complete with Denon amplifier / processor; Draper drop down screen; Sim 2 projector and Phillips Pronto control. This is great for anyone who loves their music and films.

If your looking for a home theatre solution and you have the pounds to shell out for quality, then you have to get in touch with i Life.

• Tesla Coil Playing Music – September 19, 2011
• Convert your Files Online with Fileminx – September 18, 2010
• A Video Projector in Your Pocket – November 30, 2009
• 26 New And Awesome Web Apps You Probably Don’t Know About – March 3, 2009
• Example of How Powerful Photoshop Can Be – November 10, 2011

i Life Solutions: Best In Home Personalised Theatre originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

Spotify is about to release their own version of Gift cards that will be in store in time for Christmas.

Gift cards will come in £10, £30 and £50 options. You can redeem the cards for Spotify subscriptions or download tracks.

To redeem a card just head over to our ‘Redeem your code‘ page and enter the PIN number on the back of the card. Starting today Morrisons will be the first store to start selling our gift cards. Spotify will be dding many more retail shops in the near future, stay tuned.

• Spotify Gapless Playback – October 17, 2011
• Share and Listen to Music on Facebook with Spotify – September 23, 2011
• Spotify Conversion Rate is at 12.5 Percent in the US: Major Labels Rejoice – August 9, 2011
• 2 Tools to Turn YouTube into a Genre-Based Radio Station – October 3, 2011
• Pandora Launches All New Website – September 21, 2011

Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Share and Listen to Music on Facebook with Spotify – September 23, 2011
• Spotify Conversion Rate is at 12.5 Percent in the US: Major Labels Rejoice – August 9, 2011
• 2 Tools to Turn YouTube into a Genre-Based Radio Station – October 3, 2011
• Pandora Launches All New Website – September 21, 2011

Spotify Gapless Playback originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

YouTube has a huge database of music clips of all imaginable genres and types. It’s a great source of inspiration – we just need more tools to enjoy it.

The following two tools will add a lot of fun to your YouTube music-listening experience: they will let you endlessly listen to your favorite music genres.

Zebralizer

Zebralizer is YouTube-powered online tool that will play your music as long as you want it to. It won’t work on Internet Explorer, nor will it work on FireFox if you are on Mac. Google Chrome has been the best option to use the tool so far.

The site has a fun search option that will suggest to you results while you are typing:

Once the results are loaded, music will start playing immediately.

While listening, you can browse through the search results to add any clip to the play list. There’s also a “radio” button that will instantly create a play list from the similar music clips to the one currently running.

You can even load the lyrics next to the current song and start singing:

The built-in player controls let you play the music louder, jump to the next track, watch the video in the full-screen mode and shuffle your current play list.

Jukesy

Jukesy is a fun, yet not widely-known web-based app that allows you to enjoy an endless sit-back-and-listen YouTube experience.

To select the genre, you can browse through the vast selection of popular tags (anything from “art rock” to “hip hop” can be found there) or use the search option.

Once the genre is chosen, you can enjoy an endless video and music stream: Just keep the tab open and keep working or browsing the web – the music of your preferred genre will play until you stop it.

The built-in player controls let you easily adjust the volume, toggle the full-screen view or repeat your favorite song.

That’s a great music discovery tool: With its vast search capabilities, you are most likely to come across a new song or band that will become your favorite one. Besides, the tool offers plenty of information about genres and bands (powered by Last.fm).

You can continue searching for music, while the current clip keeps playing. You can add a new clip to the play list or queue video clips right from the search results (without interrupting your current music stream).

If you create an account, you can save your play lists as well.

Are there any other tools for the similar lean-back music experience? Please share them in the comments!

Jennifer Moline writes for the PsPrint Blog. PsPrint is an online commercial printing company.

• Best Music Streaming Services – January 27, 2011
• TubeRadio Redefines Online Music Listening – November 20, 2009
• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Spotify Gapless Playback – October 17, 2011
• Share and Listen to Music on Facebook with Spotify – September 23, 2011

2 Tools to Turn YouTube into a Genre-Based Radio Station originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

• Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Rainbows – September 20, 2011
• Listen to Your Music on the Google Music Player – August 9, 2011
• i Life Solutions: Best In Home Personalised Theatre – February 9, 2012
• Google Offers Available in Charlotte, Kansas City, Milwaukee, San Antonio and Tampa – January 25, 2012
• Flying Carpet Optical Illusion – November 26, 2011

Google+ Song originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

p.s. Facebook Music was a joke and never existed. Most of the top tech blogs really need to check their sources.

• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Spotify Gapless Playback – October 17, 2011
• Spotify Conversion Rate is at 12.5 Percent in the US: Major Labels Rejoice – August 9, 2011
• 2 Tools to Turn YouTube into a Genre-Based Radio Station – October 3, 2011
• Pandora Launches All New Website – September 21, 2011

Share and Listen to Music on Facebook with Spotify originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

Some of our new features include:

Simplified Station Creation – Enhanced auto-complete choices and personalized suggestions make creating new stations and discovering new music or comedy more intuitive and personal.

Discovery of Music with Friends – Enhanced listener profiles and a new music feed offer a centralized place to find, like and comment on what friends and like-minded listeners are discovering and enjoying on Pandora. The music feed will roll out slowly over the course of the coming days. In addition to the prominent new “share” button, stations now have their own URLs, making it super easy for listeners to share favorite stations via Twitter, Facebook, or email.

Improved Control – Prominent and ubiquitous access to familiar player control buttons including Play, Pause, Thumbs-Up and Thumbs-Down icons helps listeners to easily personalize their music and comedy stations. A new shuffle feature also allows listeners to shuffle any collection of stations to add variety to their listening experience.

Enhanced Artist Information – An option to learn more about the music, find lyrics, read artists’ biographies and expand the album art size.

Unlimited listening – We’ve removed the 40 hours listening cap – you can now listen as much as you want for free.

via – Pandora

• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Spotify Gapless Playback – October 17, 2011
• 2 Tools to Turn YouTube into a Genre-Based Radio Station – October 3, 2011
• Share and Listen to Music on Facebook with Spotify – September 23, 2011
• Spotify Conversion Rate is at 12.5 Percent in the US: Major Labels Rejoice – August 9, 2011

Pandora Launches All New Website originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

• i Life Solutions: Best In Home Personalised Theatre – February 9, 2012
• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Gdgt Sign Deal with Engadget and in Acquisition Talks with Cnet – October 25, 2011
• Nokia’s Windows Phone 7 Mobile Phones Coming Next Week – October 24, 2011
• Wowee One Slim Review – October 17, 2011

Tesla Coil Playing Music originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

Free Music Downloader is yet another music downloading application that allows users to browser the most popular music sites on the web and then download mp3 files from those sites. Free Music Downloader allows users to download 10 tracks at the same time.

Im quite surprised that these applications are only hitting iOS at the moment, as they are very basic applications.

Free Music Downloader is available to buy in the App Store at the moment for $0.99. Click here for the full iOS review

• Hype Machine Radio: Turn Music Blogs into Radio Stations with this iPhone App – May 12, 2011
• Create Your Own Native Looking iPhone and iPad App Using HTML, CSS and Javascript – April 8, 2011
• Download Music from MySpace with Grab That File! – May 19, 2010
• Gigzee: Find Gigs in Your Area With an iPhone App – December 2, 2009
• i Life Solutions: Best In Home Personalised Theatre – February 9, 2012

Free Music Downloader: iOS and iPhone App to Download Music from Music Blogs originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

The player is a web version of the music service inside an app, you need to first login to your Google Account and then access the Google Music.

For me it seems like Google Music is a complete waste of time. You can simply sign up to Spotify and use their amazing player for your locally hosted music. I know that your music with Google Music is hosted in the cloud, which is great, but its just a very basic service and its only as good as the devices I can get the service on.

Anyways, if you want use Google music then check out the Google Music player (not official version).

• Google+ Song – September 29, 2011
• Install Google Music on Ubuntu – August 30, 2011
• Google Music Beta Now Available: Average Music Locker Service! – May 11, 2011
• Hacker Stumbles Across Google’s Upcoming Cloud Music Service – March 9, 2011
• i Life Solutions: Best In Home Personalised Theatre – February 9, 2012

Listen to Your Music on the Google Music Player originally appeared on: Crenk
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This is amazing news for the music industry, because MOG, Rdio and other music streaming services have been having trouble gaining traction.

Spotify is all about conversion rates! The major labels want to see highest possible conversions to the premium service from the free option. In Europe Spotify has a conversion rate of 15% and so far in the US they are seeing 12.5%. Very promising signs for Spotify.

• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Spotify Gapless Playback – October 17, 2011
• Share and Listen to Music on Facebook with Spotify – September 23, 2011
• 2 Tools to Turn YouTube into a Genre-Based Radio Station – October 3, 2011
• Pandora Launches All New Website – September 21, 2011

Spotify Conversion Rate is at 12.5 Percent in the US: Major Labels Rejoice originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

Long term: “We’ll launch premium accounts in the coming months, giving you access to new ways for you to live off of the music you create & control.”

There is a huge amount of competition in this space and it already seems as though Official.fm is going to have a lot of problems with copyrighted content. Already on the site I can download a huge amount of illegal content, so only going to be a matter of time before the labels sue them.

Disclosure: Im founder of RouteNote a digital music distributor based in the UK.

• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Spotify Gapless Playback – October 17, 2011
• 2 Tools to Turn YouTube into a Genre-Based Radio Station – October 3, 2011
• Share and Listen to Music on Facebook with Spotify – September 23, 2011
• Pandora Launches All New Website – September 21, 2011

Official.fm Gains $8 Million for Music DIY Social Network originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

I received an email from Amazon when the cloud drive was launched and was given $2.00 in credit towards mp3 purchases. Intrigued by this new development (and the free music credits), I ventured to their website to check it out. I quickly found a song I wanted and clicked the buy button. It asked if I wanted to save the music to my cloud drive. “Simple enough,” I thought. Then I wouldn’t have to download it – I could just stream it. I immediately went to my new cloud drive, selected my new song (which was available immediately) and pressed play. It buffered up the song and played but I discovered it was also downloading to my computer as well. Bummer.

Next I decided to try uploading some music. I clicked “Upload to your Cloud Drive” and was prompted to download the “Amazon MP3 Uploader.” Wait a minute – so I have to use proprietary software to upload music? “That’s a bit inconvenient,” I thought, but I downloaded it anyway. After installing the software, it decided it had to scan my entire hard drive for music, which was a long and tedious process.  Once it finally loaded, it told me I had X playlists and X songs not in my cloud drive and asked if I wanted to upload it all now. I declined (as it would have been way more than 5GB of space) and chose a few albums to upload. What I found was that it killed my internet speed and I saw no way to limit the upload rate. Frustrated after about 20 minutes of sluggish internet, I killed the uploader until that night when it could run and not bother me.

In the meantime, I checked out the Android mp3 player from Amazon, wondering if it too would have to download my music before playing it. I discovered that while it can play the song through buffered memory, it still has to download; so listening while downloading isn’t a good option as the song often plays faster than it downloads (unless you’re using Wi-Fi). So once again I’m stuck waiting.

Ultimately, I was able to get the music I wanted uploaded and then downloaded again (to my phone). Now that I have done so, I can simply open the Amazon cloud player and quickly hear what I want (slightly faster than searching my hard drive and includes better filtering options). So was the hassle worth it?

Pros:

• Music can save directly to the cloud (optional). This allows me to download my new music at my convenience and on whatever computer or mobile device I wish to listen to it on.
• I no longer have to use a USB flash drive or external to move music around.
• Creating a playlist is simple
• Music can be viewed by songs, albums, artists, or genres.
• In addition to music, the cloud drive can also store documents, pictures and videos
• Music can be listened to through a web browser or via a mobile device using Amazon’s MP3 app.
• 5GB free storage space

Cons:

• Uploading and downloading again is time consuming
• No upload speed limiter makes for doing anything else while uploading nearly impossible (and I have a 15MB connection)
• Must use proprietary software to upload music
• Must buy an annual subscription if you want more than 5GB of storage at $1/GB.
• No true streaming – music has to be downloaded to each device you wish to listen on

Overall, I would say Amazon has a potentially great thing going on here. If they simply added the ability to stream without downloading, I would give the Amazon Cloud Player and Drive 5/5 stars. As it is now, and considering their hefty fees for storage in excess of 5GB, I give it 3.5/5 stars. It’s a great concept, but could use a few tweaks to make it the best.

• iTunes, Amazon and Spotify Controlling Digital Music Revenues in the UK – March 29, 2011
• Waterproof MP3 Player – June 26, 2010
• Download Music from MySpace with Grab That File! – May 19, 2010
• Cincopa Cloud Stores & Streams Your Media – February 20, 2010
• Album Art to Complete Your Collection – February 10, 2010

Amazon Cloud Drive as Dreamy as it Claims? originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

It seems as though Live Nation have just jumped into the bidding war for Warner Music Group. Live Nation has been trying to get into the publishing business for quite some time now, but so far they havent been able to find the right strategy. Live Nation recently abandoned their 360 deal strategy, so it makes sense that they are now going after a major label. Im also quite surprised Live Nation isnt interested in parts of EMI.

Currently, it seems that there are six bidders on the table for Warner Music. Its expected that the new owner will be announced within the next month or so.

• i Life Solutions: Best In Home Personalised Theatre – February 9, 2012
• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Spotify Gapless Playback – October 17, 2011
• 2 Tools to Turn YouTube into a Genre-Based Radio Station – October 3, 2011
• Google+ Song – September 29, 2011

Live Nation Now in the Bidding War forWarner Music originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

Musician Social Sites

• HitSquad
  It is like Digg for musicians, you can submit articles, vote on articles and good stuff gets to the frontpage.
• WeAreTheMusicMakers – Sub-Reddit
  A Reddit category just for music makers, good news and discussions are regularly posted here.
• Recording Questions
  It’s like Yahoo! Answers but for musicians, ask questions and someone might answer you to help out.

Musician Forums

• GearSlutz
  A forum for talking about gear with people who like gear. Great place for people who need info on hardware topics.
• DubStep Forum
  Not just for people who like DubStep because the production category has some great posts that would apply to musicians from all styles (link points to Production category).
• IDMForums
  Another forum that has a good production section with lots of great topics for musicians to scan through.
• Harmony Central Forums
  Very popular forum for musicians with some great categories for individual instruments.
• Future Producers
  Music producers forum, very popular and good topics.
• Virtual Instrument Composers Forum
  Forums swaying more towards virtual instruments and talk about DAWs.
• Mac OS X Audio
  A forums for musicians who use a Mac, but not bad for those who use PC too as many topics apply to both.

Musician Tutorials

• Audiotuts+
  Fairly new site that has lots of tutorials to do with audio recording and production created by people who get paid to make them.
• Ricci Adams’ Musictheory.net
  Lots of lessons to learn music theory and a few useful utilities.
• Sonic Academy
  You need to pay for some stuff, but there are some free tutorials available and if you upgrade you won’t be disappointed.
• Production Advice
  The advice is pretty good too with well written regular articles mostly on mixing music.
• War Beats
  Great video tutorials, most are showing you techniques using FruityLoops and the videos can also be found on YouTube.
• Music Tech Tutorials
  Lots of tutorials collected from around the internet and sorted into categories for you.
• Tunetorials
  Loads more tutorials using various music making software collected from around the internet.

Musician Magazines

• Sound on Sound
  Top magazine for recording music, good forum to check out. Some things need a subscription but there is plenty for free.
• MusicRadar
  Another great magazine style site with lots of great articles for all sorts of musicians.
• Electronic Musician
  Music magazine site which has regular interviews with music industry insiders, tutorials and reviews.
• Remix Magazine
  Another magazine which reviews music gear and with articles. Not much on remixing though that you would expect from the name.
• Mix Magazine
  A magazine aiming more towards the studio or live mixing rather than the actual music making.
• Future Music
  A very popular magazine which contains news based more towards new hardware, software and music products.
• Pro Audio Review
  Magazine with reviews of music hardware.

Musician Blogs and Web Sites

• Create Digital Music
  Very popular blog that contains news about new hardware and other music industry news.
• Key Of Grey
  Nice blog with lots of news and interesting articles.
• NoiseAddicts
  Although there has been a small drop in new posts recently, it’s still not a bad blog for Noise Addicts.
• Wire to the Ear
  Regularly updated with interesting posts and many videos.
• Home Studio Corner
  A blog by Joe Gilder for the Home Studio enthusiast.
• Audio Geek Zine
  A blog for Audio Geeks with regular new updates.
• HipHop Makers
  A blog aiming more towards the musicians who like to make HipHop beats.
• Musformation
  Lots of tips and news for musicians of all sorts.
• Berklee Music Blog
  Blogs by the teachers from the famous Berklee College of Music.
• Music Think Tank
  Another blog with posts about the music industry and musicians.
• Indie Music Tech
  A look at new technology that can help the indie artist.
• We Are Listening Blog
  Music industry news, many of which applies to indie musicians.
• Ask a Sound Guy
  Ask the Sound Guy a question and he will answer with a blog post. The blog also includes music news of interest to musicians.
• Recording Review
  Articles and news about recording gear and tutorials.
• Audio Cookbook
  A blog with a slant towards the experimental side of audio production and sound design.
• Pro Sound Web
  A site for music professionals with news and information.
• Waveformless
  A freeform discussion of electronic music and the techniques and gear used in making it.
• SonicState.com
  A large and old site with lots of info, news and reviews.
• HypeBot
  A blog about news within the music business.
• The Indie Digest
  Articles to do with media and how it affects you as a musician.
• DJTechTools
  A blog serving musicians who love to DJ. Good forum on there too.
• TweakHeadz Lab
  Learn about home and project studios, helping you pick the right gear.

Music Hardware Sites

• Gear Junkies
  News about releases of music gear.
• Rekkerd
  News and articles about new releases of music software.
• Matrix Synth
  A blog with lots of posts about synths and the technology behind them.
• Synthtopia
  Another blog dedicated to synthesizers.
• Synth Gear
  A site all about the wonderful world of electronic music and electronic instruments.
• Vintage Synth Explorer
  Find out about synthesizers from the past.

Music Contests

• OurStage
  Win cash, festival slots, magazine coverage and more when you get top places in the fan powered charts.
• Remix Comps
  Site for finding out about all the latest remix contests.
• Music Comps
  Keep in the know about contests that involve music, songwriting and more.
• LaptopRockers
  Another site that lists remix contests and also has music industry news.
• MixMatchMusic
  A site which allows you to create your own remix promotion.

Music Collaboration

• Indaba Music
  Collaborate with other musicians in their on-line software.
• Kompoz
  Another site which allows collaboration between musicians.

Audio Samples

• The Freesound Project
  Share and find sounds licensed under creative commons licenses.
• CCMixter
  Stems of music licensed under creative commons licenses.
• Acapellas4U
  Big database of downloadable acapellas for personal use and Mashups.
• SampleSwap
  Big database of free to use sounds.
• Looperman
  Lots of free to download loops, new ones added nearly everyday.

Software

• KVR Audio
  Huge site which lists virtual instruments and effects. Lots of patches are available too.
• HitSquad Shareware Music Machine
  A database of software which is useful for musicians.
• Gersic
  Database of free software plugins for those who love plugins and love free too.

Online Sound Distribution

• SoundCloud
  Great site and online software for sharing tracks around the internet, free for upto a certain amount of songs.
• BroadJam
  A web community for indie musicians and find opportunities.
• BandCamp
  Allows you to upload your music and distribute or sell easily.
• ReverbNation
  Lots of tools for musicians including Facebook integration and some nice web mp3 players.
• OurStage
  Win cash, festival slots, magazine coverage and more when you get top places in the fan powered charts.
• Fairtilizer
  Site which you can upload music, take part in the community and get nice players for your homepages.

Shopping

• Musician’s Friend
  Online shop for instruments, hardware and other music gear.
• zZounds
  Another great shop for musicians who need more gear and stuff.
• Instrumentpro
  Yet another fantastic online shop that stocks lots of musicians gear.

Online Distribution

• CDBaby
  Will make up cheap CDs and distribute your music to all the top online stores including iTunes.
• TuneCore
  Upfront fee but you keep all of the royalties when they sell your music through all the top onlines stores including iTunes.
• Zimbalam
  Another place that will get your music into some of the top online stores.
• OOiZiT
  Allows you to sell your music on your online profiles and keep the royalties.
• RouteNote
  Sell your music in Digital Stores for no upfront payment.

Music Marketing

• Bob Baker’s Indie Music Promotion
  A blog by Bob Baker with articles about self promotion for the indie musician.
• MusicMarketing.com
  A blog detailing how to sell more music and make more money from being a musician.
• Artistshouse Music
  A site with lots of information on creating a sustainable career with music.

Guitar

• Guitar Noize
  A blog and news site for the musician who loves guitar.
• I Heart Guitar
  A blog for those who just love the guitar.
• Guitar Site
  News, reviews and more for guitarists.
• Effects Bay
  A blog all about those great effects that you can use with your guitar.

Other

• Musician Wages
  A website about making yourself a career as a musician.
• GroundZero Projects
  An online music community for DJs, producers and music junkies.
• BandCentral
  Online tools to manage your band on the internet with both free and paid for accounts.
• Join My Band
  Post adverts to find new band members or find bands which require your music skills.
• MobBase
  Make your very own iPhone app for your band and get it into the iPhone app store.
• Band Metrics
  Get detailed statistical reports about your band by following your stats.
• BandZoogle
  Allows you to make a professional looking web site for your band without the need to be a complete internet geek.
• AudioMastermind
  A directory of links to music sites for musicians.

• Attack Of The Music Communities – April 8, 2008
• i Life Solutions: Best In Home Personalised Theatre – February 9, 2012
• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Spotify Gapless Playback – October 17, 2011
• 2 Tools to Turn YouTube into a Genre-Based Radio Station – October 3, 2011

Music Startups Musicians Should Use on a Daily Basis originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

It seems as though a hacker has stumbled upon Google’s upcoming Cloud based music service.

• Listen to Your Music on the Google Music Player – August 9, 2011
• i Life Solutions: Best In Home Personalised Theatre – February 9, 2012
• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Spotify Gapless Playback – October 17, 2011
• 2 Tools to Turn YouTube into a Genre-Based Radio Station – October 3, 2011

Hacker Stumbles Across Google’s Upcoming Cloud Music Service originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

The Digital Music Report is out and it claims that 95% of all digitial music downloads are illegal. Bittorrent is still on the rise, but it seems like adoption of digital music services is growing and more music is being consumed now than ever before.

CD sales are still on the rapid decline and sales of downloaded music rose by 6% to 4.6 billion U.S. dollars (3.4bn euros). Meanwhile, nearly a third of the total turnover for record companies comes from digital business.

via RouteNote

• IFPI Report on Global Music Sales: Digital Music Sales Are Up – March 29, 2011
• i Life Solutions: Best In Home Personalised Theatre – February 9, 2012
• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Spotify Gapless Playback – October 17, 2011
• 2 Tools to Turn YouTube into a Genre-Based Radio Station – October 3, 2011

95% of All Digital Music Downloads are Illegal originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

Musicmetric

The paid-for service is designed to provide enough data to enable users to better make decisions like which social networks to advertise on or where an artist or band should tour.

So, quite cleverly, that unauthorised P2P downloading that’s going on can be harvested to know where there exists actual market demand. And unlike other services which only track P2P availability, Musicmetric product tracks actual downloads, globally and regionally in real time, hence providing much more valuable data.

• i Life Solutions: Best In Home Personalised Theatre – February 9, 2012
• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Spotify Gapless Playback – October 17, 2011
• 2 Tools to Turn YouTube into a Genre-Based Radio Station – October 3, 2011
• Google+ Song – September 29, 2011

MusicMetric Updates Their Music Data Aggregation Service: Now Tracks P2P Downloads and Activity originally appeared on: Crenk
Join our Community: Twitter, Facebook

Spotify

Availability: Finland, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, UK
Pricing: Varies by country, but UK customers are offered:
• “Open,” 20 hours of lower-bitrate streaming with advertisements: Free
• “Free,” unlimited streaming at lower bitrates with advertisements: Free (with invitation)
• “Unlimited,” with no restriction on streaming and no advertisements: £4.99 per month (just under $8 U.S.)
• “Premium,” with no ads or restrictions, higher bitrate streaming, offline storage of playlist tracks, and mobile apps and streaming: £9.99 per month (just under $16 U.S.)
Platforms: Web, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, Symbian; BlackBerry under development; unofficial client available on Windows Mobile.
Size of music library: Approximately 8 million tracks from major label and indie artists.
Stream rate: 160 kbps for Free and Unlimited plans, 320 kbps for Premium.
Offline storage: Premium subscribers only, up to 3,333 tracks.
Other features: Desktop apps do a fine job managing all your offline music.
Free trial of subscription: No.

Rdio

Availability: U.S. and Canada.
Pricing:
• Rdio Unlimited, with desktop players, mobile apps, and music downloads: $9.99 (U.S.) per month
• Rdio Web, unlimited streaming through web site: $4.99 per month.
Platforms: Browser only through “Web”; browser, Adobe AIR desktop apps for Windows and Mac, and iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry apps with “Unlimited” plan.
Size of music library: About seven million tracks.
Stream rate: Undisclosed, but representatives claimed it ran “higher than the 64kbps streaming bit rate offered by Rhapsody.”
Offline storage: Playlists can be synced offline with Unlimited, no limits described.
Other features: “Syncing” to iTunes and Windows Media Player, so that your existing offline music and playlists is reflected in your online Rdio dashboard, and you can access an online copy of your playlists anywhere.
Free trial of subscription: Three days of Rdio Web, no credit card needed.

Rhapsody

Availability: U.S. only.
Pricing:
• “Rhapsody Premier” with unlimited streaming and (subscription-restricted) downloads to one phone or MP3 player: $9.99 per month.
• “Rhapsody Premier Plus” ups the total of portable synced devices to three: $14.99 per month.
Platforms: Windows and Mac, with apps for iOS, Android, select Verizon Wireless phones, and compatible MP3 players. BlackBerry app in development.
Size of music library: Over 10 million songs
Stream rate: 128 kbps (MP3) for paid accounts, 64 kbps for free previews.
Offline storage: Unlimited downloads of Rhapsody tracks, expire upon subscription ending.
Other features:
Free trial of subscription: 25 streams through the web site per month, and a 14-day trial of Premier, requires credit card and deactivation.

MOG

Availability: Global
Pricing:
• “Basic” provides web streaming and customized “radio” stations: $4.99 per month.
• “Primo” covers the Basic plan, plus mobile access and offline storage: $9.99 per month.
Platforms: Web-only for Basic. Primo adds iOS and Android devices.
Size of music library: 7.4 million
Stream rate: 256 kbps through the web, 64 kbps mobile.
Offline storage: On mobile, with either 64 kbps AAC or 320 kbps MP3 files.
Other features:
Free trial of subscription: Three days of Primo service, no credit card needed.

Napster

Availability: U.S., UK, Canada, Germany and Japan
Pricing:
• One-month, three-month, and one-year streaming plans; three-month and one-year plans also provide 15 song download credits every three months: $5-$7 per month
• “Napster to Go,” with unlimited song transfer for up to three mobile devices: $14.95 per month
Platforms: Windows and compatible MP3 players.
Size of music library: “Over 10 million.”
Stream rate: 128-192 kbps, depending on track.
Offline storage: Via download credits.
Other features: Extremely annoying woman appears and starts talking to you in lower-right corner of web site when not signed in. She has human-like features.
Free trial of subscription: Seven days of streaming, no download credits, credit card required.

Grooveshark

Availability: Global
Pricing:
• Streaming through Grooveshark’s web site, with ads: Free
• Grooveshark VIP, with desktop and mobile apps, no ads, customization options: $3 per month or $30 per year.
Platforms: Desktop streaming through web for free; VIP members get Adobe AIR app for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and mobile apps for Android, Nokia, Palm, BlackBerry, and jailbroken iPhones.
Size of music library: Seven million (unverified)
Stream rate: 192kbps
Offline storage: Yes (through mobile apps)
Other features:
Free trial of subscription: Have appeared in past.

Radio-Style Streaming

Pandora

Availability: U.S. only
Pricing:
• 40 hours a month of streaming music, limited (five per hour) skips: Free.
• “Pandora One,” with unlimited streaming and skips, no ads, higher quality, and desktop app: $3 per month.
Platforms: Web, Windows & Mac (AIR app), mobile apps for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, webOS, Windows Mobile.
Size of music library: 700,000 tracks.
Stream rate: 64 kbps (AAC+) for free users, 192 kbps for Pandora One
Offline storage: None.
Other features:
Free trial of subscription: None.

Last.fm

Availability: U.S., UK, Germany for continuous free streaming, 30-song trial in all other countries
Pricing:
• Basic sign-up, with unlimited streaming (U.S./UK/Germany) and “scrobbling”: Free.
• Subscriber accounts, with no advertising, custom/”Loved” playlists, server priority, and international streaming: $3 per month
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, and iOS, Android, BlackBerry.
Size of music library: 6.5 million songs.
Stream rate: 128 kbps (MP3)
Offline storage: None
Other capabilities: Near-universal “Scrobbling”: Keep Last.fm informed about what you’re playing and liking through most media players and smartphone apps.
Free trial of subscription: None.

Slacker Radio

Availability: U.S., Canada
Pricing:
• Unlimited streaming but limited skips: Free.
• “Slacker Radio Plus,” with unlimited skips, no ads, mobile app caching for online-to-offline continuity: $4-$5 month (monthly or annual billing).
Platforms: Web streaming through browser, and mobile apps: iOS, Android, BlackBerry, webOS, Windows Mobile.
Size of music library: More than 2.4 million songs.
Stream rate: 128 kbps (MP3) through web, sometimes 64 kbps (AAC+) mobile.
Offline storage: Mobile apps can cache streams for playing when disconnected.
Free trial of subscription: Seven days of Slacker Radio Plus, requires card and must be deactivated.

• 2 Tools to Turn YouTube into a Genre-Based Radio Station – October 3, 2011
• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Spotify Gapless Playback – October 17, 2011
• Share and Listen to Music on Facebook with Spotify – September 23, 2011
• Pandora Launches All New Website – September 21, 2011

Best Music Streaming Services originally appeared on: Crenk
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Fileminx

Fileminx takes most common type of files document, video, music and image. Besides being completely free, the steps involved are really simple:

1.      Access Fileminx website and select your file (up to 50MB).

2.      Select the format you would like to change the file. The selection, of course, varies depending on the file you just uploaded.

In my case, a Word file can be converted to PDF, TXT, RTF, OpenOffice format, etc.

3.      Processing…

4.      Done! Just download the new and converted file.

Simple as that, this web app represents a perfect fit for most cases, when you need a fast option for conversion.

• Save your Photos, Videos and Documents in one Place with PhotoRem – November 7, 2010
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• XbList is a Desktop Xbox 360 Friends List – May 8, 2011

Convert your Files Online with Fileminx originally appeared on: Crenk
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The new Kicker HP1973 Over-the-Eat Headphones are a great buy for a mid-range pair of headphones. Having hard a pair of Kickers in the past, these headphones are sure to get you the sound you’re looking for without breaking the bank. The classic retro look is being promoted to both music lovers and musicians alike for any of their needs. They feature a lightweight over-the-ear design, padded headband, black braided cloth cable, a 3.5mm iPhone-compatible plug, and a sleek black paint job.

The inspiration for the design is stated in the name, 1973, when the only way to hear great music was with a pair of cans like these. The dynamic full range of audio will, as they say, hit all the highs and lows of your favorite tunes. Coming in at $70, it’s a fair price to ask for style and substance.

• Streaming Music Online Via Browser – November 15, 2009
• Get That Missing Album Art For Your Music List – June 22, 2009
• i Life Solutions: Best In Home Personalised Theatre – February 9, 2012
• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Crenk is Getting Greatly Improved! – October 18, 2011

KICKER HP1973 Headphones Great Mid-Range Purchase originally appeared on: Crenk
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This new gadget is available only in a 2GB model. I know, this is not the best sized MP3 player, but still, in 2GB I’d say that you can have enough music for your swimming session. The interconnection system is, of course, USB.

Even though it could sound a little pricy, 89 euros, still the possibility to use it while you are showering or in a swimming pool it’s just awesome!

• Amazon Cloud Drive as Dreamy as it Claims? – April 29, 2011
• Download Music from MySpace with Grab That File! – May 19, 2010
• Album Art to Complete Your Collection – February 10, 2010
• Don’t Get Sued… Use Tunerec – February 17, 2009
• i Life Solutions: Best In Home Personalised Theatre – February 9, 2012

Waterproof MP3 Player originally appeared on: Crenk
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As you probably know, MySpace is the favorite site for many bands to start distributing new songs but of course the only way to listen it is using the website with an Internet connection. Grab That File! gives us the possibility for a direct download of the MP3 file.

The use of it is pretty simple: Login using your Facebook account; enter the MySpace URL with that contains the music; and download the file you want.

Of course, there’s a big disclaimer saying that you should only download music that does not infringe any copyright laws.

• Download MP3 Music for Free – September 26, 2010
• Free Music Downloader: iOS and iPhone App to Download Music from Music Blogs – August 17, 2011
• Amazon Cloud Drive as Dreamy as it Claims? – April 29, 2011
• Skreemr is Live Again: Best Free Music Mp3 Search Engine – March 2, 2011
• How to Upload MP3 files to YouTube – October 24, 2010

Download Music from MySpace with Grab That File! originally appeared on: Crenk
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Recently Soundcloud struck a deal with The Hype Machine and already the benefits are showing as the service has reached a million users and will quickly surpass that at a global level. The audio sharing site is becoming very popular with musicians to share their new music, collaborations and pet projects to the world. Seen as the “Flickr” or “Vimeo for audio” artists are posting up and users are able to interact with those posts seeking the audio they want.

Techcrunch recently did an article on their success which no one will argue is a very viable way to distribute music. It notes that the service is “winning the hearts and business of artists.”

• Digital Music Distributor RouteNote Signs Three New Online Music Stores – Deezer, Napster, Thumbplay – January 29, 2010
• Attack Of The Music Communities – April 8, 2008
• i Life Solutions: Best In Home Personalised Theatre – February 9, 2012
• Spotify Gift Cards Available to Buy in Retail Stores in UK in time for Christmas – November 1, 2011
• Spotify Gapless Playback – October 17, 2011

Soundcloud Growing Past One Million Users Globally originally appeared on: Crenk
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With a simple cross-fade and mix of some of your favorite music, not only are you providing your audience with great tunes, but paired with music videos is always a nice visual touch. I’ve tried playing with the web app and honestly, I’m not a good DJ. But, if you’ve got the talent give it a try. You can search for your favorite songs, and load them up in two play lists. You then set up your videos to cue at a certain point that will allow for a seamless integration. Start your music, and then adjust as necessary.

If you’re wondering what the final product will look like, below are samples of videos that have been mixed, and some of them are really really good. This won’t get you a moonlighting gig, but it’s a lot of fun to play with.

• 2 Tools to Turn YouTube into a Genre-Based Radio Station – October 3, 2011
• TubeRadio Redefines Online Music Listening – November 20, 2009
• Online Music Search with JukeFly – November 17, 2009
• 26 New And Awesome Web Apps You Probably Don’t Know About – March 3, 2009
• TuneUp Cleans iTunes on Mac – December 11, 2008

TurnTube for Video DJ’s originally appeared on: Crenk
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