Internet Music Services

Why I Wish I Hadn't Streamed Daft Punk's Random Access Memories

I told myself that it wouldn't matter much, when Tuesday rolled around and I could finally purchase Daft Punk's Random Access Memories from the record store, that I'd already been streaming the album for a week on iTunes. I think I was wrong.

Google Play Music All Access Is The Goofiest-Sound Spotify Competitor Ever

There's a new Spotify competitor in town, and its name is--take a breath here, if you're reading out loud--Google Play Music All Access. What separates it from Spotify, besides the increased time it will take to type (or speak into your Google Glass)? It always costs money--$9.99 a month, after a 30 ... More >>

Fine Lines

Will Pandora and Spotify and the Internet Ever Figure Out How to Pay Artists?

Music-discovery apps like Spotify and Pandora are free, but they have social costs. Among them: Every six months or so, we get an open letter from an artist who is being cut comically tiny checks for thousands of plays on one service or another. This week, it's musician and label-owner Blake Morgan, ... More >>

Rivers Cuomo's J-Pop Album Is Out In America, Whether You Want It Or Not

If you and I visit the same Weezer forums, you've probably had Rivers Cuomo's J-Pop album--okay, Rivers Cuomo and Scott Murphy of Allister's J-Pop album--for a while now. If you don't visit the same Weezer forums I do, now's your chance: It was released yesterday on iTunes. It's called Scott & River ... More >>

20 Prince Albums You Still Can't Get On iTunes

Three years ago, Prince's relationship status with the internet could best be described as "It's complicated." "The internet's completely over," he toldThe Daily Mirror, the UK newspaper which give away copies of his 20Ten album (no, I haven't heard it, either.) "I don't see why I should give my ... More >>

Twitter #Music Doesn't Get Why Friends Give Friends Music

Twitter #Music -- the music-discovery service from the people who brought you #SomaliDirectionersLoveZayn-style declarations of collectivist fandom love -- rolled out this week, and people are . . . not especially happy with it. A blunt summary of the problems with it was passed around among tech-li ... More >>

ArizonaTunes: River Jones Launches a Hopeful "Local Alternative to iTunes"

See also: River Jones, What Are You Listening To? See also: River Jones Music Featured in NPR's Wavelength MagazineChances are, you've heard the name River Jones thrown around, either surrounding the many artists his label represents (such as Courtney Marie Andrews, Sareena Dominguez or You Me and A ... More >>

Spotify Ruffles Feathers, Promises Paradigm Shift

What Are the Top 10 Most "Spotified" Songs in Phoenix?

You have to look pretty hard for someone who doesn't have an opinion about Spotify, the Swedish music streaming service that launched in 2008 and hit the States in 2011. It's hard to deny its ease, selection, and um, free-ness, but it's also been a magnet for controversy. In both the controversial ... More >>

Squeeze's Chris Difford on England, John Cale, and the Paul McCartney-Produced Record That Never Came to Be

Coachella is a weird beast: In addition to hotly tipped acts like Avicci and Justice, big name standard bearers like Radiohead and The Black Keys, and holy-hell-they're-reuniting bands like Refused and At the Drive In, there's always a few bands that have just kept soldiering on, whose break-ups and ... More >>

Celtic Punk Band Bollox (Featuring Members of Authority Zero and Sister Cities) Re-Release Debut Album

Just in case Flogging Molly's annual St. Paddy's Day stop in Tempe doesn't make it abundantly clear to you, the Phoenix metro area loves Irish stuff, and it loves its Celtic punk. In 2009, Authority Zero frontman Jason Devore (who headlines the New Times Soundcheck festival this weekend) formed The ... More >>

David Bickford, What Are You Listening To?

David Bickford​David Bickford Bickford writes two prominent local blogs, PHX Rail Food and PHX Trail Dude. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? I listen to KJZZ for news by day and jazz by night. I grew up listening to rock, and it still ... More >>

New Times' Best of App Gets Rave Reviews from iTunes, wired.com

iTunes​Aw, shucks. Here at New Times and Village Voice Media, we're more accustomed to telling you all about the best places to eat, drink and otherwise enjoy life in Phoenix (traditionally in our annual Best of Phoenix issues, which hits the stands each September) than brag on ourselves ... More >>

For the Record

Hoodlums Music Turns 13: Reflections From Owner Steve Wiley

​Birthday parties for 13-year-olds are usually pretty awkward (or maybe I'm thinking of my own, just-sorta-pubescent 13th birthday), but that doesn't seem to be the case with Hoodlums Music's 13th birthday bash this weekend. On Saturday, November 5, the local record store institution celebrate ... More >>

Spotify Finally Lands in the U.S.

Spotify is now available in the U.S.​Do you like your music collection? Do you wish you had it on you at all times? Does it bug the shit out of you when you go to a friend's house for a small gathering and they play their special 2-hour mix of Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Michael Franti and Cou ... More >>

Foursquare up, Pandora Down, MySpace Out: Grand Predictions About Digital Music Trends in 2011

​NME's deputy editor Luke Lewis published an interesting article about the future of digital music last week.Lewis made a list of 10 insightful music predictions regarding what the developments of digital music might entail in 2011, and I've got to hand it to him, he did a great job and taught me ... More >>

The 8 Most Awesome Music Stories of 2010

​ Despite what you may have concluded from yesterday's list of the stupidest music stories of 2010, this year in music wasn't all that bad.In fact, a funny blog of Photoshopped album covers was created, a concert for dogs was proposed, and musicians exchanged some choice words.As promised, here ar ... More >>

Heather Mills Claims She Arranged Beatles Deal With iTunes

​Heather Mills may be the one to thank for getting the Beatles' music catalog up on iTunes, according to Consequence of Sound.Mills, Paul McCartney's ex-wife, claims she talked to Steve Jobs and organized the deal to finally get the digital Beatles albums onto iTunes.Also, she said she won't be go ... More >>

Now on iTunes: The Beatles Catalog

​Stop the world. Apple has announced that the Beatles catalog is finally available on iTunes, according to Billboard. I love when Christmas comes early.After plenty of rumors went around yesterday about what Apple's big announcement regarding iTunes was going to be, practically everything under th ... More >>

Limewire Shuts Down, Giving Less Options For Free Downloads

​A U.S. District Court judge has ordered LimeWire to be shut down, according to Consequence of Sound. Four years ago, 13 record companies sued Lime Wire LLC so that their company and their artists could properly be paid for their hard work.The LimeWire program is the only part of the company that ... More >>

What Can Apple Do With $75 Mil Instead of Running iTunes?

​Apple co-owner Steve Jobs has more money than God by now, which is why Apple has unlimited options for what they could do with everything they've earned from iTunes alone.According to Hypebot, it costs around $75 million per month for Apple to operate iTunes. Prefix pulled together a solid list o ... More >>

Glee Is Second Only to iTunes as Music Retail's Biggest Force

Music Retail’s Second Biggest Force

Fox’s Glee is Second Only To iTunes Nowadays

Google Vs. Music Bloggers: Blogger Service Annihilating Copyright Infringers

This Google-owned logo is used for a newsgathering purpose with the tacit understanding that Google allows such use. Please alert me by e-mail if you wish to see it removed.​Google's vast stretch of the blogosphere is going silent. The search giant, who owns the popular Blogger service and blogspo ... More >>

OiNK Administrator Cleared of Charges

Alan Ellis, operater of former p2p juggernaut OiNK, was cleared of all charges last Friday in a British court.​For those not in the know, file-sharing is a pretty big way of life for some music fans. Shawn Fanning pushed the practice into prominence in the late 1990s with his super-slick software ... More >>

Big Four Music Labels to Launch New CMX Album Download Format

Music's big four are launching CMX in the hopes of offering fans more for their digital music download bang -- will it work?​As announced Saturday, the Big Four music labels -- Sony, EMI, Warner and Universal -- are all planning a new technology that will allow an album sleeve to be included in di ... More >>

New Air Single -- "Do the Joy" Free Download

"Do The Joy," the new single from French electronic duo Air, carries the band's tradition of spacey, undeniably French electronic musicThose fine French folks that call themselves Air have offered their newest single, "Do the Joy," from their forthcoming album Love 2 (awesome title) on iTunes f ... More >>

Virgin, Universal to Offer Unlimited MP3s

Can Virgin - with the help of Universal Music - effectively end online music piracy? We'll have to wait and seeIn an effort to help and curtail online music piracy, Universal Music will partner up with U.K. telecommunications ("telco," if you're British) provider Virgin Media to launch an unlimited ... More >>

Sony Ruins eMusic's Indie Credibility, Raises Rates

eMusic adds Sony and pisses off its indie rock-savvy clienteleThese troubling financial times call for belt-tightening across American society. We all know what's going on with the auto industry, and the record industry is not safe from this recession. As announced Monday, online music retailer eMus ... More >>

iTunes Update: Sales May be Down, but Revenue is up

On Monday I wrote about a report from Billboard on the initial effects of iTunes increased prices. That report showed that the increased prices hurt a song's chart positions on iTunes top 100 singles charts compared to those songs that did not see a price increase. Well Billboard has a new report o ... More >>

iTunes Price Hikes Hurt Some Track Rankings

The big music news today is a report from Billboard on iTunes price changes and their negatively affecting chart positions for the top 100 songs.Last week, iTunes introduced variable pricing, with some newer and more popular singles priced at $1.29 while other songs remaining at 99 cents and some ol ... More >>

Janet Napolitano at DHS Equals Russell Pearce with Skunk Hair and Shoulder Pads

Embedded video from CNN Video What's the difference between neo-Nazi hugger, and forwarder of white supremacist e-mail, state Senator Russell Pearce and Gov. Janet Napolitano on immigration? Well, to judge by this CNN excerpt from Nappy's DHS confirmation hearings yesterday, I'd say, not much. A lo ... More >>

Up on the Sun's Top 5 Entries of 2008

Happy New Year, Phoenix. Here's one last look at 2008 with the top five blogs as determined by the sheer number of eyes that read them. Catch the top three slots after the jump. 5 - The Nintendo Experience Mobile Tour I want to be the kind of Nintendo fan that happily shrieks at the chance to pl ... More >>

Strung Out singer appears on track from Valley's Intrinzik

  Strung Out singer Jason Cruz lends his vocals on Valley hardcore/hip-hop artist Intrinzik's "Live Fast, Die Young," a track from Intrinzik's latest disc Fall Guy: Resurre6t7on. The single and the disc can be found on iTunes. Intrinzik will open for (hed)p.e. at the Marquee Theatre on Sunday ... More >>

Weezer Releases Holiday Songs

Today Weezer digitally released six Christmas songs originally recorded for the recently released iPhone app "Tap Tap Revenge Christmas With Weezer.""For the first time ever a band recorded music for an app but demand was so great from non-iPhone users that the band decided to make the songs availab ... More >>

The new Metallica album leaks onto the Internet; singles available for download

Metallica goes diva on the Internet…again

When every song ever recorded fits on your MP3 player, will you listen to any of them?

Everyone Gets a Deal!

The son of Napster moves to sign every unsigned band on Earth

Big in Japan

Tempe rapper Intrinzik's journey from the Valley of the Sun to the Land of the Rising Sun

Burning the Faithful

New copy-protected CDs screw over the only honest customers the music industry has left

The Download

"Do They Know It's Halloween?"

Rock Royalty

Local entrepreneur John-Scott Dixon has the artillery to win the free music wars

When Online Got Off Base

Or: How Mark Cuban would have and could have saved the music biz

File Shearing

After whacking Napster, the labels needed their own digital download alternatives, and fast. It shows.

Ransom Notes

Can one man persuade millions of people to pay for their 'free' music?

Ransom Notes

Can one man convince millions of people to pay for their 'free' music?

Pirates of the Cyberspace

Music, money and mayhem clog MP3 download sites