Yahoo! News: Digital Music

Digital Music

• Detroit Symphony offering series of free webcasts (AP)

  AP - The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has launched a webcast player that will allow music lovers to enjoy an upcoming performance of Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 4 and other concerts online for free in the comfort of their homes.

• Google Music Manager: A frustrating way to download your music library (Digital Trends)

  Digital Trends - Google Music users, you can breathe a slight sigh of relief, but don’t get too excited. Google has finally enabled a way for you to retrieve the music you upload to its new music storage locker service. The announcement was made on the official Google+ page for Android and verified by a new help article on the Android Market Web site. 

• Ex-Palm chief leaves HP after WebOS move (Reuters)

  Reuters - Jon Rubinstein, who was instrumental in crafting Apple Inc's iPod music player, has left Hewlett Packard Co after two years on the job there.

  
  

• HTC Sense 4.0 will bring Beats Audio to third-party apps (Digital Trends)

  Digital Trends - Following the leak of the HTC Primo earlier this week, our very own Jeffrey Van Camp commented on the presence of Beats Audio on the phone, saying he was disappointed with the feature on the HTC Rezound, as it was only compatible with the standard HTC music player.

• The 10 most anticipated PlayStation Vita games (Digital Trends)

  Digital Trends - The North American launch of the PlayStation Vita is just a few short weeks away, so for those of you considering picking up Sony’s new uber-device, it’s time to start thinking about what you will do with it. As you might expect from a device of its sort, the Vita will have all the bells and whistles of a modern handheld media device: It will stream Netflix, have access to the PlayStation Store and all that it offers including video and music rentals, and have other neat-o things like Facebook. It would be odd if it didn’t. It will also play your own video and music files, and it even has front and back cameras. And oh, hey, it can also play games! Who knew?

• These mobile apps should be music to your ears (Appolicious)

  Appolicious - There are hundreds if not thousands of high-quality music applications available to download on smartphones and tablet devices. From apps that stream Internet radio stations, to music detection and discovery tools, to concert video services, there is no shortage of apps that rock (and appeal to other genres). Also note that while some apps aren’t built specifically for iPads and Android tablets, they run perfectly well on the larger screens and if anything have better audio capabilities.

• Murdoch-backed music startup bankrupt before launch (Reuters)

  Reuters - Beyond Oblivion, a digital music startup backed by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and investment bank Allen & Co Director Stanley Shuman has filed for bankruptcy protection after spending millions of dollars building a service that never saw the light of day.

• The top 10 songs and albums on the iTunes Store (AP)

  AP - iTunes' Official Music Charts for the week ending Jan. 23, 2012:

  
  

• Analysis: Megaupload shutdown unlikely to deter piracy (Reuters)

  Reuters - The crackdown on file-sharing site Megaupload is expected to do little to reduce overall piracy of music, software and Hollywood movies, while potentially stifling emerging means of distributing content online.

• Web music revenue growth stuck in single figures (AP)

  AP - A report by the global music industry lobbying group says the growth in digital revenues remains stuck in the single figures.

• Music sales fall again in 2011, but optimism grows (Reuters)

  Reuters - Digital music revenues rose eight percent in 2011 to $5.2 billion, but it was not enough to prevent another annual decline in the overall market to $16.2 billion from $16.7 billion in 2010.

• Music player app lets users sing along with lyrics (Reuters)

  Reuters - Can't remember the lyrics to your favorite songs? A new iPhone app might help.

• MegaUpload owner found hiding in safe room with sawed-off shotgun (Digital Trends)

  Digital Trends - Since the closure of file-sharing site MegaUpload and the following Anonymous attack on federal and music industry sites, details regarding the arrest of MegaUpload founder Kim “Dotcom” Schmitz have been made public. German national, 38-year-old Schmitz was spending the day in his country mansion hideaway when dozens of police officers with helicopters swarmed the home. Schmitz then engaged several electronic locks throughout the household and refused to allow police entry into the $23 million mansion in Coatesville, New Zealand. As police officers forced their way into the home, Schmitz barricaded himself in the mansion’s safe room. After police sliced through the safe room door, they found him next to a sawed-off shotgun. 

• After protest, Congress puts off movie piracy bill (AP)

  AP - Caving to a massive campaign by Internet services and their millions of users, Congress indefinitely postponed legislation Friday to stop online piracy of movies and music costing U.S. companies billions of dollars every year. Critics said the bills would result in censorship and stifle Internet innovation.

  
  

• US Internet piracy case brings New Zealand arrests (AP)

  AP - With 150 million registered users, about 50 million hits daily and endorsements from music superstars, Megaupload.com was among the world's biggest file-sharing sites. Big enough, according to a U.S. indictment, that it earned founder Kim Dotcom $42 million last year alone.

  
  

• Popular file-sharing website Megaupload shut down (AP)

  AP - One of the world's most popular file-sharing sites was shut down Thursday, and its founder and several company officials were accused of facilitating millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content.

• Anonymous shuts down federal and music industry sites as vengeance for MegaUpload; UPDATE: FBI.gov taken down (Digital Trends)

  Digital Trends - Popular site MegaUpload was shut down by the US federal government today, which accused it of stealing $500 million in lost revenue from copyright holders. In retaliation, Anonymous has taken down a number websites, including:

• Top Senate Republican wants Web bill shelved (Reuters)

  Reuters - The top Senate Republican urged Democrats on Thursday to set aside a bill aimed at stopping online piracy of movies and music, dealing yet another blow to controversial legislation that has pitted Hollywood against tech companies.

• U.S. accuses Megaupload of copyright infringement (Reuters)

  Reuters - A major Internet content hosting website, Megaupload.com, its founders and several employees have been charged by U.S. authorities for a massive copyright infringement scheme, the latest skirmish in a battle against piracy of movies and music.

• MegaUpload shut down by feds: Why do we need SOPA? (Digital Trends)

  Digital Trends - File-sharing mecca MegaUpload.com is dead, shut down at the hands of the US federal government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested four people, and charged three others, in the anti-piracy sting. The forced closure of MegaUpload comes just one day after a mass online protest against two pieces of legislation that aim to increase the power of copyright holders to block access to websites that illegally distribute intellectual property, like music and movies.