Happy birthday, iTunes Store! The music-buying platform, which later expanded to sell videos, mobile applications, and books, opened on April 28, 2003. Yahoo commissioned folk singer-songwriter Mike Doughty to write the service a little birthday song, which describes the key iTunes experience of downloading entire discographies in the wee hours of the morning while drunk. The song is not available via iTunes. [Yahoo Music] (Thanks, Angelos!) [More]
mp3’s
When Buying Music From Amazon, It Can Sometimes Be More Expensive To Only Buy Mp3s
By 3.27.13
In most cases, it will cost you more to purchase a new CD than it would to buy that same music as an mp3 download. Which makes sense, since digital files don’t have the high manufacturing, shipping, or storage charges that physical discs do. But sometimes, you could end up on the short end of the stick if you just assume that the mp3 will be cheaper. [More]
Ever Bought A CD From Amazon? It Might Be Eligible For Free MP3 Conversion
By 1.10.13
This morning, Amazon.com launched a new service called AutoRip that allows buyers of certain music CDs to automatically receive access to downloadable MP3s of the album via Amazon’s Cloud Player. But the most interesting feature is that it will convert any qualifying CD you’ve purchased on Amazon since 1998. [More]
Thanks, Napster, But You Don't Need To Send Me My Password
By 11.3.10
Stephen says Napster sent him an email with his username and password because his subscription was about to expire. Upset by what he saw as an unsolicited violation of his privacy, he complained to the music service and got a response that assured him his “private information is safe.” [More]
Amazon Cancels My MP3 Download Order, Giving Me Free Music
By 8.9.10
Brent says an Amazon billing snafu gave him two free MP3s then sent him an email saying the transaction was canceled. By the time Amazon had shut down the order Brent had already downloaded his songs. He has a theory as to why the muck-up occurred: [More]
Judge Slashes RIAA's $675,000 File Sharing Award To $67,500
By 7.10.10
A federal judge yesterday bench slapped the Recording Industry of America, calling a jury’s $675,000 verdict against file sharer Joel Tenenbaum both eye-popping and unconstitutional. The judge struck a strikingly populist tone in reducing the verdict to $67,500, arguing that the same legal reasoning that protects large corporations from excessive punitive damages also protects “ordinary people” like Tenenbaum. [More]
Company Sued For Selling Beatles MP3s Says They're Original Works, So It's Okay
By 11.5.09
Since the Beatles are notorious for refusing to release their music online, the mere fact that BlueBeat.com was selling them was kind of strange, which probably explains why EMI just sued them for copyright infringement. But BlueBeat has come up with a perfectly reasonable explanation. The songs aren’t really Beatles songs, you see, but “psycho-acoustic simulations” and therefore original works.
Man Loses All His iTunes, But Apple Gives Them Back
By 11.2.09
When Nathan switched computers he lost all the music he bought off iTunes, but he got it back by e-mailing Apple’s iTunes support at iTunesStoreSupport@apple.com.
Google's New Music Search Launches, But Your Buying Options Remain The Same
By 10.29.09
The new music search capabilities that Google introduced today will make it easier to quickly find a song you can’t remember the name of, or sample some tracks from an artist you’re interested in. But it’s not so much a new service as a more efficient combination of a bunch of services already scattered around the web.
Google To Launch Music Search Service Next Week
By 10.23.09
You’ve probably seen Google Finance, where each company has its own page made up of content scraped from all over the web. Google is about to launch a similar service for musicians, says the Hollywood Reporter: “The music pages will package images of musicians and bands, album artwork, links to news, lyrics and song previews, along with a way to buy songs.”
By 9.2.09
../..//2009/09/02/heres-an-affordable-non-piratey-way/
Here’s an affordable, non-piratey way to round out your music collection for half (or less) of what you’d pay to Amazon or iTunes. Pitchfok has published their selection of the top 500 tracks of the 2000s. Online music service Lala is offering most of them for 50 cents each for a limited time.
30 Songs? That'll Be $675,000
By 8.1.09
A Boston jury yesterday ruled that file sharer Joel Tenenbaum would have to pay the Recording Industry of America $675,000 for sharing 30 copyrighted songs. The hefty award was all the more surprising because Tenenbaum was represented by a crack team of legal eagles from Harvard’s law school. The trial didn’t unfold nearly the way they planned…
Good Day For Bad Guys: Court Says 'Pirate' Jammie Thomas-Rasset Must Pay RIAA $1.92 Mill
By 6.19.09
The long, sad saga of lawsuit-bedeviled MP3-ripper Jammie Thomas-Rasset reached a harrowing twist Thursday when Minneapolis federal court found her guilty of willful copyright infringement for sharing more than 1,700 songs. The judge says she owes the RIAA $1.92 million.
Sony Adding All Songs Over Two Years Old To EMusic; EMusic Raising Prices
By 6.1.09
Although eMusic is a great service—for a flat monthly fee, you get a set number of downloads per month of DRM-free music tracks—it’s about to get better. Or maybe worse, depending on the breadth of your musical tastes. Today eMusic will announce that Sony is adding its back catalog of songs to eMusic’s library. The bad news is that eMusic also plans to slightly raise prices and/or drop the number of downloads per month. Even if it works out to between 50-60 cents per track, though, that’s still far less than iTunes Music Store or Amazon, and probably the cheapest way to grab music from Sony artists without resorting to piracy.
By 1.5.09
../..//2009/01/05/want-to-download-every-beatles/
Want to download every Beatles track ever made, legally? [NRKbeta.no via BoingBoing]
Walmart Decides To Honor DRM-Protected MP3 Purchases After All, At Least For Now
By 10.10.08
Last month, Walmart announced it was shutting down the DRM side of its online music store, and too bad if you were a customer, because they were also going to turn off the DRM server that authorized your music for playback. Apparently enough customers complained, because they came to their senses—at least for the time being—and decided to keep the server running. Read their email below.
Morning Deals
By 9.8.08
- Banana Republic: 30% off today only with coupon code HAPPY30 or printable coupon
- Sears: Free Masterlock with printable coupon
- MusiciansFriend: AKG Handheld Condenser Microphone for $100 + free shipping. Today only.
Highlights From Dealhack
- Timbuk2: Save up to 60% off Messenger Bags, Backpacks, & More
- New York & Co.: Extra 20% off Store-Wide Women’s Apparel
- Office Depot: Viewsonic N3235w 32-inch LCD HDTV $470 & Free Shipping
