As we noted yesterday, Napster has now rolled out the world's largest DRM-free MP3 store. In the spirit of the Amazon MP3 review we ran last year, I thought I would take Napster for a spin to see how the service works from a Mac-user's perspective.
The first thing to note is that this is a download service. While Napster continues to run its subscription-based service (with downloads limited to Windows computers with Microsoft DRM), you do not need a subscription to purchase MP3s from the Napster Store (though you need an account, of course). Once downloaded the files are just straight 256kbps MP3s that should play without problem on any of a variety of devices. With that in mind, let's have a look at the Napster experience.
Apparently this iPod-enabled dance performance has been around for quite a while (here's an NYT piece on it from 2006), but it's the first we've heard of it, and it's pretty amazing. The 87-year-old choreographer, Merce Cunningham, who has collaborated with John Cage and Andy Warhol among others, has created a dance performance piece called eyeSpace.
Apparently, the music, which can be downloaded preperformance and is written by composer Mikel Rouse (no relation at all to TUAW's own Mike Rose) plays in the audience's iPods while the dancers dance (and other atmospheric sounds are added during the performance as well). Very interesting. The NYT piece seems to hint that the tracks are meant to be played in random order on each iPod, which would mean that the timing wasn't too important, but it's a cool idea (even more cool that it's done by an artist of Cunningham's age, but what else do you expect from a Mac fan?).
Definitely reminds me, too, of the MP3 Experiments done by Improv Everywhere in New York. Just goes to show you that we're still in the middle of the digital music revolution -- when we can listen to almost anything anywhere at any time, who knows what other creative folks will come up with?
Ohai ZOMG. Realz! MySpace can has fab nu Music cheezburger. Wurks with iPod, all 4 awzom Muzik labels! Dayz wil haz MP3 for $$. "MySpaceMusic" so kyoot! Universal Music/MySpace fwends -- bai bai "copyright-infringement lawsuit" for realz. iTunes ftl. MySpace ftw. kthxbai.
You'll be hard pressed to find anyone outside of the Music Industry who thinks that DRM is a good thing, and today it looks like more people in the Music Industry are seeing the error of their ways. Warner Music Group has announced that starting today people can buy their entire digital catalog via Amazon MP3 (see our review of Amazon's digital music store front here). The unique thing about Amazon MP3 is, as you might have guessed , they only sell music in the MP3 format sans DRM. That's right, all those lovely Warner Music Group tracks are yours to have without DRM and, generally, for less than what you'll pay in the iTunes Store (Amazon MP3 has a sliding scale of prices but most tracks cost $.89 or $.99).
Some might say, 'Why should I care about this? I'm on a Mac!' The beauty of this is that these MP3 files will play on your Mac, your iPod, your iPhone, and even that Zune you got in a box of cereal. No DRM means more flexibility in how you can consume your media, and we all like that.
We wrote about Ringtonator a while back, reader Joe's GUI program that used Cleverboy's hack to make ringtones. At the time, we were looking for a program that didn't require AAC, where you could pull any mp3 out and turn it into an official ringtone on iTunes. Then 7.4.2 hit, and we had bigger problems with ringtones than just converting them from mp3.
But now, Joe's sent us his new version, called Ringtonator Studio, and he tells us that not only will it accept any Quicktime formats, but it will also let you crop your tunes, and then translate them directly into ringtones. And, he says over on his blog, it will work with iTunes 7.4.2. That's probably a YMMV thing, but if you're really frustrated that you haven't found a way to get around Apple's lockout, it's worth a try.
And no guarantee, of course, that any ringtones made won't disappear with 7.4.3. But kudos to Joe for putting this all together, and doing his part in the fight to give us control over our ringtones.
Around this time last year I wrote that Amazon had scrapped ideas for a music download service to focus on their movie streaming service. Turns out that was wrong. Today Amazon has announced that they will, in fact, be launching their very own downloadable music store. The kicker? All downloads will be in MP3 format (so you can play 'em on your iPod) and there won't be any DRM. Amazon claims to have 12,000 labels signed up (I had no idea that 12,000 music labels existed). Pricing hasn't been discussed yet.
Thanks to everyone who entered the Xmod Giveaway! We only had one unit, which means only one winner. A big congratulations to Morgan-William in Brooklyn, who proved it is possible to leave a comment on a post-- and wind up with a cool Xmod from Creative. We're hoping to roll out some more giveaways throughout the year, so stay tuned!
What struck me about this article about the 2008 Ford Escape was the following line: "The instrument panel houses audio and climate controls, a standard MP3/iPod audio jack, and controls for the available heated seats and in-dash navigation system." Not only has the MP3 audio jack become standard, but the iPod gets listed coequally with MP3. Is the iPod about to become the next kleenex, jello, or bandaid as a proprietary eponym? Has the iPod reached that level of popularity where it has been absorbed into the buying public's mind as the standard unit of portable media playback? I'm sure the guys from Auto Spectator wouldn't have listed the iPod-compliance of the audio jack if they didn't think it would connect with their audience.
The other day, I said that slowing down podcasts sounded like a great job for automator. TUAW reader Dave agreed, and sent us a link to his PodastConverter (jpg) Automator action. Dave takes the long way around and follows the conventional wisdom of turning the podcasts into audiobooks rather than using QuickTime to manipulate the MP3s directly. The advantage to this approach is that the 'casts will be listenable at much higher speeds. Many people claim to be able to listen to most podcasts at 2.5x or faster. That's almost twice as fast as what you can get from QuickTime, where things start to sound garbled around 1.5x in most cases. On the other hand, converting a bunch of podcasts from MP3 to AAC takes time, processor power, and storage space, so YMMV.
Dave hasn't posted the action for download, but he has posted a JPEG of the entire action, complete with detailed instructions. So in addition to being a useful little app, this is also a great introduction to Automator if you aren't already familiar.
This is kind of neat. Yahoo! Music is offering a customized MP3 of Jessica Simpson's song 'A Public Affair.' What is customized about it? If your name is on a predetermined list you can buy a version of the song that includes your name in the lyrics for only $1.99.
Scott is currently on the list, but I don't think I'll be shelling out 2 bucks for this novelty, though it will play on your iPod (and you can burn it to a CD).
Call Recorder from Ecamm Network is a Skype plugin that allows you to record your calls (interviews, podcasts, etc.) as two-track AAC files for that perfect 'edited for your blackmailing pleasure' effect (calls can also be converted to MP3 for the AAC-haters in the audience). A recent version update also brings the ability to save voicemails as quicktime movies.
Call Recorder is a Universal Binary and requires Mac OS X 10.3.9, as well as Skype for Mac v1.4 or higher. A demo is available, while a license costs $14.95. As of this writing, Ecamm Network is offering a sale price of $12.95.
Companies are still trying to find that elusive iPod killer that they know must be out there. Competition is a good thing, so I thought I would link to MP3newswire's report of the contenders this summer. The article lists a dizzying array of MP3 players in every form factor you can think of. Some have more features than the iPod, and cost less.
It is interesting to note that at the very end of the article is an ad for the iPod, which I think just about sums up these MP3 players' chances.
Logic Express has been updated to version 7.2.1. This is mainly a maintenance release, tackling compatibility and reliability with the following issues:
Intel Macs: ReWire and ReCycle support, Standard MIDI file export, OMF import, VSL EXS instrument compatibility
Blank Sample Editor window in some circumstances
Unexpected halt of software instrument output
Compatibility with Logic 7.1 songs
Direct playback of MP3 files
EuCon support for the Euphonix MC and CM408T control surfaces
The update should be available via Software Update, or you can grab it from Apple's download page.
RadioLover allows you to easily record streaming internet radio stations (not just from iTunes) into MP3 format for listening to later or on your favorite portable music player (It's like TiVo for internet radio!). Songs can be automatically tagged with relevant metadata like artist, station, etc., you can schedule shows to be recorded and even record multiple streams at a time. Other features include support for drag and drop, international streams and even Shoutcast streams.
RadioLover is Universal. A demo is available that cuts off recording after 30 minutes, and a license will cost you $15.
The most excellent jack-of-many-formats VLC media player has just reached version 0.8.5, and boy does it pack a whallop - just check out the release notes. The biggest new additions to write home about are Universal Binary support, Growl notifications, a statistics system, new skin support including skins from Winamp 2 (for those who just can't let go), new video filters, support for downloading updates (possibly due to Sparkle?) and a whole lot more.
As we noted yesterday, Napster has now rolled out the world's largest DRM-free MP3 store. In the spirit of the Amazon MP3 review we ran last year, I thought I would take Napster for a spin to see how the service works from a Mac-user's perspective. 
Apparently 
We wrote about Ringtonator
Around this time last year I 
Thanks to everyone who entered the 
What struck me about 
Call Recorder from Ecamm Network is a Skype plugin that allows you to record your calls (interviews, podcasts, etc.) as two-track AAC files for that perfect 'edited for your blackmailing pleasure' effect (calls can also be converted to MP3 for the AAC-haters in the audience). A recent version update also brings the ability to save voicemails as quicktime movies.
Companies are still trying to find that elusive iPod killer that they know must be out there. Competition is a good thing, so I thought I would link to MP3newswire's 
Logic Express has been updated to version 7.2.1. This is mainly a maintenance release, tackling compatibility and reliability with the following issues:
