PaulMccartney
Latest
Paul McCartney will play a YouTube concert on September 7th
Paul McCartney is no stranger to embracing technology, and you're about to get further proof of it. The iconic musician is performing an "intimate" YouTube concert on September 7th at 8PM Eastern as part of a YouTube Original production. It's a plug for his new album Egypt Station, as you might have guessed, but he'll also play tunes from his Beatles and Wings days.
Buried ‘Destiny’ soundtrack ‘Music of the Spheres’ leaks
An epic game deserves an epic soundtrack, and Music of the Spheres, an eight-part musical work by Bungie composer Marty O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori and Paul McCartney (yes, of Beatles fame), was exactly that, designed to complement Bungie's ambitious Destiny. But, thanks to quarrels with publisher Activision and various other legal battles, it was never released. Now, nearly five years later, it's been leaked and can be enjoyed by fans of Destiny and sweeping soundscapes alike. Until Activision bursts in with copyright law, that is.
Jaunt adds Dolby's cinematic sound to its VR library
Immersive, 360-degree video is great, but there's a worry that while the pictures will surround you, the audio will not. Dolby and Jaunt are looking to remedy the situation by launching a dull-sounding but important way for you to find clips that sound as good as they look. The "dedicated VR content portal featuring titles mixed in Dolby Atmos" will showcase footage that are held to Dolby's higher standards for our ears. The films are available, via Jaunt's app, for a range of platforms including GearVR, Oculus Rift, Vive and third-party headsets for Android and iOS phones.
Facebook's 360-degree photos invade your News Feed today
We knew they were coming, and now they're here: 360-degree photos on Facebook are rolling out on the social network starting today. The new feature spans across Android, desktop and iOS and thankfully uploading your panoramic and spherical shots doesn't sound much different from how you'd share 2D photos. In the News Feed, you'll be able to differentiate between the two thanks to a compass icon denoting what photos you can drag around to get a different perspective. Folks with a Gear VR-compatible device (Facebook owns Oculus, remember) can even check out the fancy new uploads in virtual reality.
Paul McCartney adopts VR so your grandparents don't have to
For his latest release, Sir Paul McCartney is diving headfirst into virtual reality. As The Hollywood Reporter notes today, the 73-year-old former Beatle has filmed a six-part VR documentary series with Grammy winner Tony Kaye, who also directed American History X and the music video for Soul Asylum's 1993 breakout hit "Runaway Train."
Paul McCartney wrote tiny songs for Skype's new animated emojis
Last fall, Skype took the emoji and sticker craze and ran with it, introducing a new animated emoticon the company simply called the "Moji." It's basically an animation coupled with an audio clip, and they launched with big content properties like The Muppets and Jurassic Park. Now, to go along with Valentine's day, Skype has a new set of 10 Moji it designed to convey the feelings of the holiday in a bunch of silly / cute ways.
Dolby's all-encompassing Atmos sound comes to virtual reality
Virtual reality thrives on immersive sound, so it only makes sense that audio format makers should get involved, doesn't it? Dolby certainly thinks so. It's partnering with Jaunt to put its cinematic Atmos sound into VR content, starting with snippets from the horror-laden Black Mass, the giant monster short Kaiju Fury and a Sir Paul McCartney concert. While it's a modest start, the hope is that this ultra-precise positioning will both be more engaging and let VR movie producers rely more on audible cues to get your attention -- a snapping twig may be all it takes to have you look at the scary beast lurking in the bushes. You probably wouldn't want to buy an Atmos-capable system just for the sake of VR when there's hardly anything to watch right now, but it's something to consider if you take your virtual video experiences very seriously.
Paul McCartney banks on apps, not albums
Paul McCartney went through a rift with streaming services, but the former Beatle has been always been keen to keep his albums available on iTunes. Now, Sir Paul is following a growing trend for releases and reissues: apps. Five of McCartney's classic albums (Band on the Run, McCartney, McCartney II, RAM and Wings over America) are now available as iPad apps, complete with bonus material. On top of the extra videos, photos, interviews and remastered tracks, the standalone downloads are priced at $7.99 -- $5 less than the regular deluxe versions. Of course, you'll have to contend with streaming the tracks through each app rather than hopping around the complete set in your mobile library. The move is nothing new though, as Lady Gaga, Björk and others have taken a similar route with companion software and added content. It's no secret that artists are having a hard time paying the bills from record sales, so packaging music as paid apps seems a tactic to fill the void. [Photo credit: Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images]
Paul McCartney: 'You can keep free streaming for the birds and bees, now give me money'
A wise man once told Engadget that streaming and bought music services could live side-by-side like a piano keyboard. It looks like impoverished multi-millionaire Sir Paul McCartney didn't hear that particular song, as he's withdrawn all of his music from streaming service Rhapsody, after doing the same to Spotify some time ago. He's the latest in a long line of impecunious artists including Adele, Coldplay and Tom Waits, who have done the same as they feel they're not getting fair compensation for their labors. It would be cynical to point out that McCartney's move comes just ahead of a live performance that's exclusively streamed on the iTunes music store and Apple TV, so we won't.
Paul McCartney: Beatles on iTunes stalled, I'm not dead
In a new twist to the wearisome saga of the Beatles digitizing their music catalog for iTunes (or any digital service, for that matter), Paul McCartney says that the negotiations have "stalled." McCartney said, "It's between EMI and the Beatles, I think," before adding, "I really hope it will happen because I think it should." While an EMI spokeswoman sounded hopeful about the matter getting resolved, we'll just assume this is all Yoko's fault in keeping with tradition.
Beatles' catalog coming online at long last?
Word on the street (and by street, we mean mostly British tabloids) is that Paul McCartney's deal to sell the Beatles back-catalog is done, and the Greatest Works of Musical Art Ever Recorded will be appearing on the iTunes store "within months." Of course, we've been hearing whispers about this for what seems like a million years, and since both Apple Corps and Apple are delivering "no comment" and "rumor and speculation" responses on the topic, we won't get too excited. Still, there does seem to be some serious movement on this front, with everyone and their mother saying the lot is to be sold any day now for around $400 million -- which is no small sum. We will, of course, keep you abreast of any developments which will lead to you stocking your music players with the Fab Four's work.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Newest iPod ad star: Sir Paul McCartney
Apple has just unleashed their newest iTunes + iPod and it features a familiar face. Sir Paul McCartney, who you might have heard of before, is given the old iPod treatment. The ad features Sir Paul strumming a guitar mandolin whilst walking and singing 'Dance Tonight,' (iTunes link) from his latest solo album. We'll update the post when Apple posts a QuickTime version with a permanent home (there is a version available on Apple.com, but it won't stay at that location forever). While you wait you can watch it on YouTube. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.Update: It is now available in QT. Check it out.
McCartney on iTunes, Beatles to follow?
Everyone seems to be very excited about the possibility of the Beatles catalog being available on iTunes. Now, I'm a fan of the Beatles, but it seems to me that everyone who is big into the Beatles already has all their work, and even if they were missing somethings the real fans would demand high quality tracks than those currently available on iTunes (it would be great if the tracks were DRMless though).That being said, I am sure some folks are excited about Sir Paul McCartney's announcement that his next release will be his first available for download via iTunes. He also says that the Beatles catalog is very close to being available online.[via Digg]
