Following up from our earlier post, if you thought the $1/CD for Geek Squad’s new archiving/ripping service was bad, Moon Dog Digital one ups…or more literally seven ups Geek Squad. Don’t exactly understand what I mean? It’s pretty simple. MDD goes above and beyond and charges $7/CD — 700% more than Geek Squad. See for yourself at this estimate page. Did you just purchase a new CD and would like to take part in MDD’s services? Unfortunately they only do batches of 100, which rounds out to roughly $724. Finally, doing the 3rd grade math will bring us right back to where we started: $7/CD. Ouch. It’s sad when someone makes Geek Squad look like a bargain.
Even though mobile devices are capacious enough to store many days worth of music, there are times when we just get bored with the music we have with us. With an old, outdated media player, you might have the choice of using the FM radio however, unless you’re in a big city, radio stations rarely play anything except the hit singles which also tires pretty quickly. Smartphone users and select feature phone users have within the last few years been able to take advantage of web enabled devices to stream music to their device thereby opening up new doors to break the monotonous playlist we listen to everyday.
For Palm Pre users, getting any worthwhile apps is a plus as Palm’s current release schedule is rather boring and slow. However, one app is aiming to change that. Fans of streaming music services will find Chicago-based webcaster, AccuRadio, a welcome addition to their Palm Pre’s sparse app screen. The benefits of joining club AccuRadio come in the form of 450+ radio stations covering any and every genre you can think of. If you like music, discovering new music, and just hearing something other than the same 40 songs that get the repeat treatment on the radio, AccuRadio is your app. The channel breakdown is as follows:
50+ Channels of Jazz
45 Classical Channels
35 Broadway Channels
30 Indie-rock
25 Country
25 Pop
10 World Music
And multiple channels of reggae, Celtic, classic hip-hop, French pop, and much more.
As you can see, this isn’t the typical mix of sonic selections. While they many stations aren’t my personal favorite, it’s nice to see someone finally catering to the many genres that are less popular and the people that often get left out when it comes to music apps. Unfortunately since this is Palm Pre only at the moment and because I don’t have a Palm Pre, I can’t test this app out and give it a true review. Any Pre users care to give some insight?
By the way, one other interesting tidbit that may tickle your digital fancy is the fact that the makers of AccuRadio are planning on subsequent Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone releases so that everyone, no matter their personal platform preference, gets in on the music streaming pie.
The digital touch is creeping into everything these days as is internet access it seems. A perfect example of this is the HP DreamScreen. A 10.2″ or 13.3″ picture frame that also connects to the internet to allow you to stream Pandora tunes, view Facebook, and more — all from a picture frame. Prospects of said frames will be able to also enjoy snap fish integration and the ability to choose from over 10,000 different internet radio stations. The choices we face.
Now, the technology is certainly cool and shows how the internet is becoming a necessity in every aspect of our lives, but I just don’t see the real usefulness of such features on a device. Heck, you nor anyone else is going to spend more than 20-30 seconds on average in front of this. Still, if you feel so inclined, that 10 incher will set you back $250 while the 13.3 inches of photo frame glass will come in a dollar under $300.
Count me thoroughly impressed and disgusted by the actions that music labels and bass akwards governments will go to in the hope of preventing piracy innovation. If you thought certain “3-strikes” plans that kicked suspected, not convicted file sharers off the internet were bad enough, a new friendship forming in Japan may signal an even more daring assault on consumers’ rights. According to a report revealed by Elmundo, the Japanese government and one or several music companies are in the beginning stages of teaming up to create a technology that would disable the music functions on cellphones of users who listen to “unauthorized music”. Now, as of right now, unauthorized isn’t detailed meaning there isn’t any distinction between pirated content or content that is simply purchased through a third party in which some greedy entitlest feels they deserve a stake in. Such a technology is essentially just like a mobile version of the 3-strikes plans that are floating around the planet in various forms. Just think how quickly some greedy music label could abuse such a service.
If a cellphone manufacturer were to partner up with a certain music label and that label in turn demanded this software or DRM of sorts be installed on the handset, any user who put music content on that headset that wasn’t purchased from the label/manufacturer partnership could have that phone or in the very least music services disabled — a measure that is extremely far reaching and one of the greatest invasions of privacy I’ve seen yet!
Details are scarce but apparently the system would consist of a central database which contains information about music which is authorized to be downloaded, and would be responsible for verifying that cellphone users weren’t downloading illicit music. Those that do would be sent warning messages…with persistent violators having the music functions on their phones disabled…
This is all in it’s early stages and again, this report is preliminary. However, I’ll definitely follow this story closely. If policies or controlling schemes such as these are enacted on mass produced devices, I will officially stop paying for anything marketed by any label. Stay tuned…
You may remember back a few months ago I wrote about a new band called “We are the fallen”. Bands come and go everyday. However, the way this particular band is planning on marketing themselves and connecting with the public is in stark contrast to many bands/labels and their sue first, continue to stall innovation, and apply old business models to new technology. I figured that since I will start adopting music/tech related news into my normal allotment of gadgets and other digital goodies, why not add this band, whom is embracing technology in an increasingly digital age to the list of videos to check out.
One other tidbit that shoehorned We Are The Fallen into my new music spot on the site is that you can actually embed their content — something that some other bands and pretty much all record labels feel will rob them of precious dimes and nickels. If you idiots only knew…
Many companies in corporate America spend a lifetime fighting to get to that upper eschelon, the elite section where multi-billion dollar companies hang out and do business. eMusic was a favorite by many indie music fans for the low prices, great feature set, and lack of any major music labels. It seems greed is again the downfall of the great. In record time, eMusic has gone from a much loved company to one that is quickly becoming one of the most hated. So what exactly is the new low eMobile has stooped to?
While Pandora was looking for the exit door just a few short months ago, it seems as if the streaming music giant will live on. The high royalty rates that online music vendors were being forced to pay were almost the death of one of this decades greatest online companies, Pandora. However, founder Tim Westergren says that brighter and happier days are ahead, even some with real profits/money! Money and making money is always a good thing as no one likes to live in debt. So what exactly is the news concerning Pandora’s new found fortune?
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Even though mobile devices are capacious enough to store many days worth of music, there are times when we just get bored with the music we have with us. With an old, outdated media player, you might have the choice of using the FM radio however, unless you’re in a big city, radio stations rarely play anything except the hit singles which also tires pretty quickly. Smartphone users and select feature phone users have within the last few years been able to take advantage of web enabled devices to stream music to their device thereby opening up new doors to break the monotonous playlist we listen to everyday. 
