Lala Brings Muisc To The Cloud For 10 Cents

Posted by Aaron Zollo Categories: Hot Deals, Internet, Music, Portable Audio / Video

I have been using Lala for about a week and the service turns out to be one of the best ways to get all of your music from wherever you are.  The concept is quite simple, allow access to songs you already purchased and also bring a music store to the cloud for 10 cents a song.  You can further purchase songs for download at around 90 cents per song.  The best part of the service is you can listen to a full album prior to purchasing it online.  That’s right, full quality MP3s for free, as long as you are listening to them on Lala.

The library is over 5 miillion songs and is updated every Tuesday when new content comes out.  Lala also allows you to import your entire purchased collection of music from iTunes or any other music folder you may have on your current Mac or PC with a downloadable importing utility.  There is no monthly fee and all you need to do is sign up and you’re in.  You can then invite people to join and network, sort of like Facebook or Myspace, but it keeps track of what you and your friends listen to and gives suggestions based off what they listen to.  The whole thing seems too good to be true, but it certainly doesn’t disappoint.  This is one site that could provide itself as the next big thing in music as long as the RIAA continues to think it okay.

Read More | Lala

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Spotify Launches Free Music Service

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Hot Deals, Internet, Music

Speaking of EMI, the new music service Spotify launched this week. Other companies they are dealing with include UMG, Sony BMG, WMG, Merlin and the Orchard. Already in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Finland, Norway and Sweden, it will make their way elsewhere by next year. Download and installing is simple for access to millions of tracks, and you can create and share playlists with your buds. The streaming is free since it is financed by advertising.

Read More | Spotify

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EMI To Establish Online Music Source

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Music, Portable Audio / Video

EMI has decided to offer their music directly to consumers with an online Web portal. Not only will they offer tracks and videos, there may be some freebies and non-EMI artists as well. The label says that it is doing this to collect customer behavior data and may use something akin to Pandora, which recommends tunes based on what music the user already prefers. We find this a fine idea, not only because it might cut costs in the overpriced and ailing CD sales market, but also isn’t it nice that someone may actually be listening?

Read More | Daily Tech

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(RED) Subscription Music Service

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Music, Portable Audio / Video

For those who bought a (RED) iPod, there will now be a new music service which will donate half of its profits to fighting AIDS in Africa. Set to launch in September, a subscription will cost $5.00 a month. Similar to a newsletter, members get an e-mail weekly that has an exclusive song from well known artists as well as one from an emerging one. The subscribers will also get a bonus “Crackerjack Surprise,“ such as a video and an update about Project Red. All songs are DRM-free so even non-iPodders can take part.

Read More | Join Red

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Jukefly Keeps Your Tunes for You

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Music

Jukefly is a free streaming music service that you can use to access your music as well as dig new stuff from others’ suggestions. Sign up, create an account, and download its server. Select folders and stream the music. It will be there any time you want to throw a mini-music party. Jukefly supports WMAs, OGGs, MP3s, and DRM iTunes. Expect FLACs in the future. We can see this as a handy way to access your tunes without taking up space on your own computer and finding new music from those who have the same taste.

Read More | Jukefly

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QTrax Music Makes its Debut

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Internet, Music, Portable Audio / Video, Software

QTrax appears to be available with 25 to 30 million copyrighted tracks for file sharing. The free service is funded with advertising revenue that the company shares with music labels and will operate without spyware and pop-up adware. Users can exchange and download tunes, hopefully without the hassle of sites such as Limewire. QTrax then counts the number of times each song is played to compensate both artists and rights owners. USA Today reported yesterday that the coming out party was delayed after it was found that the company hadn’t quite finalized all the details, but we managed to download the beta service this morning without a hitch. We have yet to put it to a test drive, however, but we noticed that 30,000 others were utilizing the service.

Read More | USA Today

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AT&T Frees Pandora For Cell Phones

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Cell Phones, Corporate News, Internet, Music

For AT&T phone users, the company now offers music from Pandora. Type in a song or artist, and the service creates a station for you in that genre. We have enjoyed the service for a couple of years now, but for the rare bird that is not familiar with it, Pandora works on the basis of its Music Genome Project. All songs have been analyzed by musical qualities such as harmony, rhythm, lyrics, and melody to suit your preferences. If you already have the service online, AT&T will deliver the music through a universal account. If not, you can subscribe for $8.99 a month after a 5 day free trial. They also offer a MEdia Max bundle with browsing and access to video for $19.99.

Read More | Pandora

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Blackberry to Offer Music in U.K.

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Handhelds, Internet, Music, Portable Audio / Video

Blackberry has announced that their latest phones, due out in November, will feature unlimited music. Omnifone, in cooperation with mobile device maker Vodafone, plans to debut the inexpensive service in November in the U.K. before releasing it to the rest of the planet. Customers will only pay a weekly fee of £1.99 (~$4.59) for the service that is about 10 million songs strong in 30 countries. This service will allow direct downloading even when on the go and may be adaptable to Vodafone mobiles and 2.5G and 3G handhelds without an upgrade.

Read More | The Courier Mail

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UMG Jumps to the Beat of SpiralFrog

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Internet, Music

New company SpiralFrog has just signed an agreement with UMG (Universal Music Group) to include them in their catalogue. SpiralFrog’s service is a no-cost alternative on the net that allows users to legally download music. Included in this service are quick-loading legal digital files with no worry of spyware or viruses.

Robin Kent, SpiralFrog’s CEO claims, “SpiralFrog will offer those (young) consumers a better experience and environment than they can get from any pirate site.“

How can they do this? SpiralFrog is ad-supported and you have to log in to their service at least once a month, or your music files cease and desist. Scheduled for a December beta launch, the company is currently talking to other major record labels for inclusion. Their target audience is the 16-34 crowd, but that’s good news for all of us former Napsterites. We really dig the logo, too.

Read More | SpiralFrog Press Release

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