music

Note from Dennis: The newest version of the most popular CD, DVD and Blu-ray disc burning or writing software is now available! At the end of the review, we're offering an amazing 40-80% discount for Infopackets readers (offer expires Aug 20 @ ... 11:59PM EST). If you already own an older version of Burning Studio and want to purchase version 11 at a discount, you can click here to go straight to the offer . Otherwise, continue reading below. -- Are you confused by the complexities of creating a CD, DVD or Blu-ray on your computer or laptop? Do you wish you just could tell the computer what you ... (view more)

Legendary rock musician Neil Young intends to release a digital music player and service, claiming to offer better-quality music than Apple's iTunes or Amazon.com's digital download platform. Young, widely known for hits like "Old Man," "Rockin' in ... the Free World," and "Heart of Gold," says he originally worked on a similar project with Steve Jobs, former Apple chairman, but the experiment was sidetracked and shelved by the Cupertino, California firm. Compression Reduces Quality of Music Young says his goal is to offer a device that plays music of the highest quality. For those who aren't ... (view more)

Facebook has unveiled a new feature that allows users of the popular social networking site to share their favorite music with other users. Called "Listen With Friends," the feature supports online social groups oriented toward music-listening. "You ... can listen to the same song, at the exact same time," explained Facebook product designer, Alexandre Roche. "So when your favorite vocal part comes in you can experience it together, just like when you're jamming out at a performance or dance club." (Source: pcmag.com ) Spotify, Rdio Key to Listen With Friends The new system ... (view more)

It might be the biggest retail company in the world, but Walmart has flat-out failed in its crusade to defeat digital music giants iTunes and Amazon.com. The company recently announced it will exit the market on August 29, 2011. Walmart opened its ... online doors to digital downloaders in beta form about eight years ago, not long after Apple first introduced its iTunes Music Store (a name since reduced to just iTunes). After some substantial testing, the final version of Walmart's digital store was unveiled in March 2004. Walmart's Low, Low Prices Not Enough Its main draw, unsurprisingly given ... (view more)

Google is reportedly testing a streaming music service. It doesn't necessarily mean a public launch is imminent, however; the company would still have to reach an agreement with record labels, which may be complicated by the nature of the service. ... Google Music wouldn't be a download service in the same way as the iTunes store. Indeed, it's possible it wouldn't necessarily involve buying music at all. Streaming Music Across Devices a Possibility The idea is to provide a legal way for users to stream music from one device to another. While precise details are under wraps, it appears there would ... (view more)

The one-time king of file-sharing services, LimeWire, is officially kaput. The service, which offered thousands of music downloads for free, was at the heart of a bitter and intense four-year-long debate over copyright infringement with the Record ... Industry Association of America (RIAA). Single Mom Sued for $2 Million for Illegal File-Sharing The RIAA is a copyright-protection body well-known for its many attempts to shut down file-sharing sites and file sharers, the most famous case being that of Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the single mom who was at one time fined $2 million for illegally ... (view more)

Imagine being fined almost $2 million dollars for illegally downloading two albums' worth of music. Minnesota single mom Jammie Thomas-Rasset couldn't believe such a decision, and neither could a U.S. District court judge, who recently cut the fine ... down to $54,000. Original Fine $200K, Upped to $1.92M Thomas-Rasset's case is a long and prolific one, dating back almost four years. It was in 2006 that a case was brought against her on behalf of the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA), for the illegal downloading of 24 songs. At the conclusion of that trial, Thomas-Rasset, who is a ... (view more)

It appears Apple has gone ahead with plans to buy the rather unique music streaming service, named "LaLa." Some say the purchase could lead to big changes and, hopefully, improvements to the company's own iTunes service. LaLa has tested several ... different projects in the past, including CD swapping and radio, but in recent years has been known as a challenger to other popular music streamers like Pandora and Last.fm (frustratingly, like those other streamers it's also unavailable internationally). LaLa allows site members to create playlists of their own uploaded music and to allow ... (view more)

A couple weeks ago, we reported on Microsoft's plans to unveil special Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm applications for its popular Xbox Live online service. They've now been officially set live on Live, and they're being heralded as handy ways to ... keep in touch with friends. For those unfamiliar with Xbox Live, it's Microsoft's online service for the Xbox 360 console. It allows those who subscribe to the service (about $60 per year) the ability to play games with one another, chat, download free (and not free) games and movies, and upload music and videos to the system's hard drive. Although ... (view more)

The Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA, is infamous (or, depending on how you look at it, famous) for its prosecution of regular folk for downloading and ripping music onto personal computers. However, now it seems that the ... organization is willing to admit that their most notorious form of copy protection, DRM, is dead. DRM, or Digital Rights Management, has been used for years to protect legitimate artists from piracy. For a long time, a band and its record company could use DRM technology to prevent the end user from passing an album or a song from computer to computer. The ... (view more)