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Pink Floyd's entire back catalog headed to Spotify, sooner or later (update: available now)
There aren't as many big bands and artists holding out on streaming or downloaded music as there used to be, but there's unquestionably still some noticeable omissions on today's most popular services. One of those gaps now looks set to be filled, though, as a tweet from the official Pink Floyd Twitter account has all but confirmed that the band's entire back catalog will soon be available to stream on Spotify. The catch is that it'll only be available once "Wish You Were Here" is streamed a million times. Not quite as original as a flying pig as far as publicity stunts go, to be sure, but we're not ones to discourage you from listening to a little Floyd on repeat. Update: Well, it looks like it only took a weekend for Spotify to reach its goal. The company's confirmed that "Wish You Were Here" has been listened to over one million times as of this morning, and that the rest of Pink Floyd's songs are now available for streaming as a result.
David Gilmour concert to be released as iPhone, iPad app
Rather than stick to a DVD-only distribution for concerts, DVD authoring group The Pavement is turning to smartphone apps to reach a larger audience. The company is working with David Gilmour, formerly of Pink Floyd, who will become the first musician to release a concert as a smartphone app. The now solo artist is releasing a compilation of songs recorded during Robert Wyatt's 2001 and 2002 Meltdown Festival. The critically acclaimed performance features Gilmour alone with just his voice and along with a vocal choir that's accompanied by a group of acoustic instruments. Robert Wyatt, Bob Geldof and Pink Floyd's Richard Wright also join in on some of the performances. I've seen clips of the show on YouTube and the music is top-notch. The concert app will be available for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch starting November 19, 2012. According to David Gilmour's website, the app will cost £5:99, US$8.99, or €6.99 or the equivalent.
Visualized: Samsung's PIN pop-up stores take London
Samsung deflated a few enthusiast tires when its "one more thing" Galaxy S III reveal turned out to be a pop-up retail plan. No matter now, as those great mobile expectations have shifted to the device's imminent launch, a debut the company's only too happy to showcase. Starting May 29th, PIN glass housings, like the one you see above, will begin to populate commercial centers in and around London, letting eager consumers gets hands-on with the ICS handset's nature-made design. Westfield's Shepherd's Bush and Old Spitalfields Market will be the first two UK locations for this temporary retail presence, with larger 7-by 7-meter versions, as well as a smattering of overseas appearances to follow in the coming months. In the meantime, check out our full review to get yourself well-acquainted with this flagship follow-up.
NASA films dark side of the moon, finds no evidence of Brain Damage (video)
Take a moment to Breathe, because this one's kind of heady. NASA has just published a new video of the Dark Side of the Moon and, contrary to popular belief, it's not really all that dark. (We'd probably describe it as a subdued gray, if we had to, but feel free to go with Any Colour You Like.) Compiled into a 30-second video clip, this footage provides a cursory glimpse of the moon's hind parts (its "B-Side," if you will), panning over the rock from north to south, in all its crater-y glory. It's all part of an initiative from NASA's Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL), which presumably spent a lot of Time and Money to build its twin spacecraft, nicknamed Ebb and Flow. On January 19th, the lab sent the pair up to that Great Gig in the Sky, as part of the GRAIL MoonKAM mission -- a "progressive" educational outreach program geared toward middle school students. Ebb was charged with filmic duties, and did a remarkable job of shooting On the Run with its MoonKAM camera, returning high res footage to NASA's engineers, and giving both Us and Them something to think about during the next lunar Eclipse. See the video (along with its eerily sync-able counterpart) after the break, and if you've got any questions about it, please don't hesitate to Speak to Me.
Pink Floyd, Sting release biography apps
Just coincidentally, I decided today to pull up some Sting on Spotify and listen to some old tracks. Turns out the musician released a big box set called Sting: 25 Years a few months ago, featuring three CDs worth of his songs, both old and remastered. And just recently, to go with that set, he's also released a companion iPad app, featuring concert footage, interviews, lyrics, handwritten notes from over the years, and lots of other biographical notes and info. You can even use AirPlay to send content to your TV while using the app, so that's pretty cool. Sting performed in New York to announce the app recently, and 9to5Mac says he performed "Fragile," dedicating the song to none other than Steve Jobs. The app looks pretty comprehensive, and thanks to some corporate sponsors, it's a free download, though a big one (442 MB). Pink Floyd also has an app out -- this one's a universal build called "This Day in Pink Floyd," and as you might imagine, it offers up news, song notes, and trivia about the classic band, with new content delivered every day. There's also an exclusive music video, some special Pink Floyd wallpapers, and even a "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" ringtone. That app is $2.99. Great to see some classic musicians like this really delivering some interesting content via the App Store. Neither app has any of the musicians' actual music in it for you to listen to (though they both allow you to play music directly from your own device's library), but as an ancillary reference, both of these are really solid.
