Tag: iTunes

Amazon MP3 One Ups Apple, Gets Warner Music MP3s DRM-free

December 27, 2007August 20, 2008 Bob Caswell No Comments

Hot on the heels of news of Apple soon offering rental movies via iTunes, Amazon has some even better news (in my opinion). Another sign that DRM (Digital Rights Management, music with restrictions) is on its way out: Amazon MP3 now offers DRM-free MP3s from Warner Music Group’s catalog.

This makes Amazon’s MP3 download store the first to offer DRM-free music from Warner Music and brings Amazon’s library up to 2.9 million songs, all without restrictions. And Warner’s catalog includes some of the most popular artists: Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Madonna, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc.

Amazon, Apple, Music, Tech News

Transferring More Than Data from Computer to Computer, Why So Hard?

November 2, 2007 Bob Caswell 15 Comments

Google, Apple A friend of mine asked me how to transfer his data from his old laptop to his new laptop. In particular, he was interested in the big three types of files on most personal computers these days: documents, music, and photos. “I know where I keep all my files, so I just copy them over to where I want them on the new computer, right?”

Well, he’s right for one of three categories of files: documents. But when I asked him if he was interested in preserving his iTunes playlists, song ratings, and album art or his Picasa photo albums (basically, any of his “metadata”), he gave me the “of course” look. Little did he know the headache that awaited him, none of that information moves when you simply copy or backup files.

Apple, Do-It-Yourself Tech, Internet, Microsoft

Amazon MP3 Gets It Right: Cheaper, DRM-Free, Higher Quality, and No Switching Costs

September 25, 2007July 16, 2008 Bob Caswell 18 Comments

Amazon MP3 So everyone and their dog is talking about Amazon’s announcement today to offer MP3 downloads. In brief, Amazon MP3 songs are DRM-free and start at $0.89/track with the top 100 best-selling albums priced no higher than $8.99. The store opened with 2 million songs from 80,000 artists. EMI and Universal are the two big labels on board. Song quality is even very high – 256 kbps. All of this, of course, is available via iTunes for $1.29/track or $9.99/album.

Amazon, Apple, Internet, Music, Tech Reviews

Wal-Mart Now Offers DRM-Free Downloads But Still Has Issues with Firefox

August 21, 2007 Bob Caswell No Comments

Wal-Mart is trying to step up its competition with Apple iTunes. The retail giant, which is already the No. 1 seller of recorded music because of CD sales, will now sell digital downloads of songs without any copy protection (DRM) via walmart.com for 94 cents a track, or $9.22 an album. The service will launch with music from two of the major record labels: Universal Music and EMI.

The company plans to continue offering its existing WMA protected format for other music downloads, which cost 88 cents a track but won’t work with iPods and plenty of other digital music players. Here’s what Kevin Swint, Wal-Mart senior director for digital media, had to say, “As we consistently strive to help our customers shop smart at Wal-Mart, our new ‘DRM-free’ MP3 digital tracks give them the ease and flexibility to play music on virtually any device at a great value.”

Apple, Music, Tech News

Can iTunes & Musicmatch Work Together on the Same Computer?

May 1, 2007August 20, 2008 Bob Caswell 2 Comments

Appleitunes One of the first articles I ever wrote for Computers.net was back in 2005, and it was called Music Downloads Explained: Musicmatch, iTunes, or Napster? Since then, it’s been getting hits every day from Google and other search engines. The most popular queries are different takes on the same problem: “musicmatch will not open itunes problem” or “other MP3 won’t work on computer after iPOD software downloaded.” I figure it’s time to bring the issue out in the open again.

Apple, Do-It-Yourself Tech, Music

Why I Switched to iTunes from Musicmatch 5 Years & 5,000 Songs Later

April 3, 2007August 20, 2008 Bob Caswell 4 Comments

Appleitunes I’ve always been one to root for the underdog. In this case, I picked Musicmatch five years ago and even skipped out on the iPod craze by using another brand of digital music player. But for all my time spent with Musicmatch, I was somewhat disconnected from that group of friends big into using iTunes. So I decided to give iTunes a test run, and now I don’t think I can go back. Here’s why:

Apple, Gadgets, Just For Fun, Music, Tech News

New iTunes Feature: “Complete My Album” at a Discounted Price

March 29, 2007August 20, 2008 Bob Caswell No Comments

Appleitunes Apple today is introducing a new offering at its iTunes store. Called “Complete My Album,” the new service allows you to purchase the remaining songs of an album at a discount if you’ve already purchased singles from that album. So, for example, if you have already bought two songs for 99 cents, you could buy the rest of the album for $8.01.

Will you go back to buying music the old way? Will this help boost sales of albums? Probably not much, but it’s still a great option, anything that provides us with more flexibility in our music purchases is a good thing.

Apple, Music, Tech News