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Who needs a record label? Submit your own music to the iTMS with Tunecore
Are you a musician with some tracks that deserve their time in the iTMS spotlight? No one's promising you'll make the Top Songs list, but Tunecore can at least help you take a shot.While Apple offers an online application through which you can ask them to 'consider your music for the iTMS,' Tunecore (notice the hip 'beta' marking) can actually submit your music to not only the iTMS, but Rhapsody, MusicNet and Napster too. They offer what I would consider a reasonable one-time fee structure (meaning: the don't take a % of each song/album sale), and they can add your music to a number of international stores (not just the U.S.) with 'more coming soon!' One last feature to note about their service which might be music to indie musicians' ears: you keep all the rights and ownership of your music, i.e. - Tunecore a middle-man who actually remains a middle-man.This sounds like a great service. I hope more musicians can use it to hop on the digital distribution bandwagon.[thanks Andre Dupont!]
Your home movies in iTunes
You have got to love The Onion. Today, they've got a great parody article up announcing Apple's intention to sell everyone's home movies in the iTunes Music Store for $1.99 each. From the article, "quoting" Steve Jobs:"As soon as you record that precious footage of your daughter's first steps, you'll be able to buy it right back from iTunes and download it directly to your computer and video iPod." Now that's funny. What will they think of next, Macs running Windows?Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Patent infringement lawsuit hits Apple
In a move that screams 'I was waiting for the right time to mention it,' Burst.com yesterday filed a patent counterclaims lawsuit against Apple Computer, claiming that their iTunes, iTMS, iPod and QuickTime Streaming infringe on four of their patents.It appears that this time around Apple actually fired first. Earlier this year, Apple asked the courts to render Burst's patents invalid, which sparked this counterclaim they filed yesterday. Burst has stated that they had hoped to avoid the courts and negotiate a "reasonable license fee," but it seems that a court is exactly where these two companies will need to settle the dispute.Check out Macworld's article if you're interested in more details surrounding the case.
iTunes gift cards from Coinstar machines
You may have seen those Coinstar machines in your local supermarket. Basically, they turn the coins you've collected in your change jar into bills (for a small fee, usually 8.9%). Recently, they've added a few non-cash alternatives for you to choose from, like charitable donations and prepaid gift cards. Most recently, iTunes gift cards have been thrown into the mix. Toss in your coins and out pops a gift card, all ready to go. Sounds like a good "I-need-a-gift-right-now" solution.Unfortunately, none of the machines in my area are currently offering iTunes cards. You can use the official Coinstar Locater to check on your neighborhood.[Via Infinite Loop]
Switch iTMS countries via the command line
I think we can file this one under 'Just because I can.' Erica Sadun has written a perl script that allows you to change your currently selected country in the iTunes Music Store. Both iTunes and Safari have to be open for this script to function.If you aren't a Terminal jockey you can just pop open the iTunes Music Store and choose your country from the pop up menu at the bottom of the main page, but who likes using GUI's anymore?
New in iTunes
It's Tuesday, and that means new content in the iTunes Music Store. Every week we'll highlight some of the additions to the store, picking different genres and styles of music (because covering them all would be one long post) as well as any new television/video programming. Here's just a sample of what has been added to the US store today:Music - Rock Bruce Springsteen pre-order and exclusives. A pre-order of Bruce's new album is available, along with a digital booklet and two videos [link] Queen video album. An iTunes-exclusive collection of music videos from the band Queen. Seven in total for $11.99US [link] Pussycat Dolls. New single featuring Big Snoop Dog. We don't know when he added the "Big." [link] Mercyme pre-order. Place your order for Mercyme's new album and receive a digital booklet, two live tracks and a bonus track [link] Music - Hip Hop/Rap DMX. Exclusive remix album of We In Here (five versions) for $4.95US. [link] LL Cool J. L uses his real name, Todd Smith, on this self-titled (literally) album. The download features a digital booklet [link]. T.I. Both a clean and explicit version are available of the new album King [link]. Music - Free Single of the Week Rock Kills Kid. The free single this week is Hideaway by Rock Kills Kid. Call it teen angst pop [link]. Video - Television South of Nowhere. Ten episodes of season one have been added. No season pass [link]. Wonder Showzen. The season premiere of season two is available. No season pass [link]. Jackass. Volume three is ready to go [link]. The Emperor's New School. Seven episodes of season one have been added [link]. Dora the Explorer. Season two is ready for download (my daughter is very happy about this one) [link]. Law and Order: A season pass is available for season #16 of this show. When will it stop [link]?
iTunes in the sky
How many times have you been on a plane, rocking out on your iPod, when you realize you want to Get Jiggy Wit It. You stare at horror upon your entirely Will Smith devoid iPod and sob quietly in your seat.This may soon be a problem of the past, since Apple is in talks to bring iTunes to an inflight entertainment center near you. Supposedly, the airlines would like it if people could connect to the iTunes Music Store and download songs directly to their iPods from 20,000 feet. How this would work has not been covered, but it would be very cool.Thanks, Gordon Werner.
Apple adds several new TV shows to iTunes
Attention, Law and Order fans: Special Victims Unit [iTunes link] and Criminal Intent [iTunes link] have just received season passes. New to the iTMS today are several Jetix shows [iTunes link], including Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers: Mystic Force and Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go (there's a sentence I couldn't have made up if I tried). There's also a free episode of the Andy Milonakis Show [iTunes link] as well as Little Einsteins for the kiddies [iTunes link].
Win a Red Hot Chili Peppers iPod from iTunes
You may remember the Red Hot Chili Peppers as being among those who were quite opposed to the sale of downloadable music. A couple of weeks ago, I was surprised to see some of their music in the iTunes Music Store. This week, the surprises continue: Not only has some exclusive Peppers music been added, but there's an exclusive Ticketmaster pre-sale going on, an album pre-order, an exclusive video and booklet and a contest giving away the band's entire catalog plus a limited edition Chili Peppers iPod [iTunes link]. Whew. If you're a Chili Peppers fan, check this one out.
The NFL in iTunes?
According to Market Watch, the NFL's internet licensing deal expires in May, and they've gone shopping for a replacement. They're supposedly in talks with several vendors, including Apple. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said that they're "...wide open" to all sorts of possibilities, which probably means they're waiting to see who has the biggest bank account.The college bowl games did well when they were made available in the iTMS earlier this year, and I believe that the CSTV programs [iTunes link] are also popular. So maybe Apple has a chance. I'm certain their pockets are deep enough.[Via Tunevision]
Scrubs, more South Park in iTunes
Season five of NBC's Scrubs has been added to the iTunes music store this morning [iTunes link]. No season pass, however. South Park fans will be glad to know that a season pass is now available for that show [iTunes link], as well as seasons 3 and 10, starting off with the infamous "The Return of Chef!" episode. Have at it.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Ballmer to his kids: "You don't use Google, you don't use iPods"
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is, let's say, a passionate guy. With Microsoft stagnating while the iTunes Music Store and Google (which is practically synonymous with "search" these days) becoming the standard of what they do, he's got a lot of stress to deal with. How does he manage? When he isn't sweating profusely, he's spending time with his kids...and telling them not to use Google or iPods. In an interview with CNN Money, he was asked if he owns an iPod. He replied: "No, I do not. Nor do my children. My children--in many dimensions they're as poorly behaved as many other children, but at least on this dimension I've got my kids brainwashed: You don't use Google, and you don't use an iPod."Call me crazy, Steve, but telling kids not to do something only makes that "something" more appealing. He also mentioned that Micorsoft intends to make announcements "...within the next 12 months" about their plans for dealing with the iPod. So, Steve's announcement was basically "come back in 12 months for another announcement." Gee, I can't wait.[Via MacDailyNews]
New video content in iTunes
Plug in your iPods, folks, there's new content in the iTunes Music Store. Comedy Central has added David Spade's The Showbiz Show [iTunes Link] and Disney has added Hannah Montana (which is up to 143 reviews already. Wow.), which features one episode and one music video [iTunes link]. New episodes of That's So Raven have also made their way into the store [iTunes link], and rumor has it that the current season of South Park, season 10, will be made available soon.Update: Even more changes! A free episode of Sci Fi's Ghost Hunters is available [iTunes link], as are video highlights from NYC's fashion week [iTunes link]. Plus, season passes are now available for Desperate Housewives and Lost.
Free iTunes Downloads blog
Who doesn't like free stuff? I sure do, and that's why I am subscribing to the Free iTunes Downloads blog. They blog a link to the content that Apple makes available for free on iTunes, from time to time. What's not to love? I get free stuff, and I don't even have to work for it?[via Life Hacker]
Avatar: The Last Airbender in iTunes
This afternoon, we noticed that Nick's Avatar: The Last Airbender (which I had never heard of) has been added to the iTunes Music Store [iTunes link]. Nineteen episodes from season 1 are available for $1.99US each. Season 2 follows the same subscription model that Apple is using to distribute The Daily Show and The Colbert Report: For $29.99US, you can purchase a season pass to Avatar and receive each episode automatically as they're added to the iTMS. Before you do the math, note that season 1 is listed as a "partial season," so it isn't certain how many season 2 episodes you'll get for your thirty bucks.
Linotype FontExplorer X is out of beta
The good news is that Linotype FontExplorer X is out of beta, the bad news is...there is no bad news! Dubbed "iTunes for your fonts," FontExplorer makes organizing and using the fonts in your collection extremely easy. You can even shop for fonts from within FontExplorer, iTMS-style. Changes in version 1.0 include: An optional WYSIWYG font list The ability to launch from a network volume (cool) TrueType Collection (TTC) font format recognition Universal goodness There's more, of course, and you can get the full run-down here. FontExplorerX requires Mac OS 10.3.9 or higher and is (amazingly) free.
Jack Black video podcasts in iTunes
Fresh from slaying Kong (beauty didn't kill the beast, Jack, you did), Jack Black is busy filming his next movie, Nacho Libre. If you can't wait until the movie opens on June 2nd to see what Jack is up to, you may want to check out his video podcast, Jack Black's Nacho Libre Confessional [iTunes link]. Starting on March 15th, Jack will upload two weekly, iTMS-exclusive video podcasts (every Tuesday and Thursday) that are all about the making of the film. The first one is mildly amusing. If you're a Jack Black fan, check them out.
Law and Order in iTunes
Ugh, this show is inescapable. I'm convinced that, if you surf around long enough, you can find one incarnation this show pretty much any time of the day or night. Now, you can find Ice-T and the gang in iTunes, too. Season 7 [Tunes link] and season 1 [iTunes link] are up and ready.I like that Apple isn't restricting updates to Tuesdays anymore. Every time I launch the iTMS now it's like going off on a little Easter Egg hunt to find new content.
Neuros MPEG4 Recorder brings TV to your iPod
So, you're sick of waiting for the shows you're interested in to make their way to the iTunes Music Store? Or maybe you're just sick of paying $0.99 per episode. Then check out the MPEG4 Recorder 2 by Neuros. It's a nifty little dohickey that connects to your TV and records programming in (you guessed it) MPEG 4 format onto compact flash or secure digital memory cards. Once you've grabbed your show, you pop the card into a card reader, drag the file into iTunes, sync up your iPod and you're all set. For a complete step-by-step guide for using the Neuros recorder with an iPod, look here.We haven't tried this, but it certainly looks interesting. You can pick one up for $149.99US.
Access Hollywood in iTunes
Last last night I saw the graphic to the right in the iTunes Music Store. I went to check it out again this morning to find that the related page had disappeard. Well, as of right now (2:48PM EST) it's back [iTunes link] with one (free) episode available. In the six minute video, Access Hollywood reporters antagonize interview the likes of Felicity Huffman, Reese Witherspoon and Amy Adams. If celebrities are your thing, check this one out.
