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Microsoft Copilot can now make cute little songs on demand
Microsoft Copilot can now make songs via text prompt, thanks to a partnership with Suno. Just type in what you want and let the AI algorithm do the rest.
Arcade Fire release a 45-minute song through Headspace's mindfulness app
'Memories In The Age Of Anxiety' appears on a John Legend-curated playlist.
Queen guitarist Brian May wrote a song for NASA's historic flyby
Queen guitarist Brian May hasn't been shy about his fondness for astronomy (he does have a doctorate in astrophysics), and he's making that patently clear as 2019 kicks off. The artist has written a song to mark NASA's historic flypast of Ultima Thule, appropriately titled "New Horizons (Ultima Thule Mix)." As he explained in a presentation, the tune is an "anthem to the human endeavor" -- it pays tribute to our species' insatiable curiosity about the universe.
Text 'Call Me Maybe' to your crush with Genius Lyric Messages
Genius is where the internet turns for rap lyrics (mostly) and song annotations, and tomorrow you'll be able to send those to your pals without leaving iMessage. The way the press release describes it, the process sounds fairly simple. And even a bit GBoard-like with its card structure. "Users can create Genius Lyric Messages for any song available on Genius, regardless of artist, genre, language, year or chart popularity," the press release reads. From there you can customize the card's background image and send it to whoever you want, be it via iMessage or your preferred social apps. Don't use iMessage? You can send lyrics from within the iOS-exclusive (for now) Genius app itself.
Jukebox Heroes: Top 40 MMO themes, #30-21
We're back with our second part of our Top 40 MMO main themes countdown, this time digging into the middle of the pack. To repeat my self-imposed rules for this list: I limited myself to just one theme from a particular title, even if there were multiple themes in a game. Entries had to be a main theme or the closest equivalent of that; they had to be from MMOs, not from MOBAs; and I had to divorce my weighting of the track itself from the popularity of and my experience with that game. So there were no points added or subtracted based on my love of the game; I'm counting down the best music, period. If you missed the first part, check out themes #40-31. Otherwise, hit that continue button and get listening already!
Are we ready for WoW: The Musical?
The more I hear about the Warcraft movie, the more excited I get. Everything seems to be lining up pretty well so far, and what we finally see on screen will no doubt live up to Blizzard's exemplary cinematic standards. But I think it's safe to assume that we'll probably see a fairly straight narrative story. Is there a different option? Following certain horrible precedents, could something like WoW: The Musical work out? Imagine Thrall singing an Azerothian, "I dreamed a dream of Horde's gone by!" or Ragnaros reprising some version of Hellfire. All things considered, maybe the music of Warcraft resembles in-universe chants like we saw from the Hobbit movies. Music, sure, but music that makes sense in the theme of the story. I can't help but hope, though. And if our favorite characters were to bust out into song, what would they sing? What kind of music are you hoping to see in the movie?
Charlie Murder wants you to give punk a chance, download a song
Charlie Murder is gearing up to trash XBLA sometime in the future, and Ska Studios is hard at work beating out all of the bugs in that version. James Silva and Michelle Juett Silva, the Ska Studios dream dishwashing team, are the voices, art, design, programming and music behind Charlie Murder – get a glimpse of their renaissance ways in the above video.Charlie Murder is a four-player, punk-themed, RPG brawler featuring tattoos, magic, dual-nail-gun-wielding, battles of the bands, clothes shopping, friendship and other things you never knew you wanted within one game.To tide us over until Charlie Murder launches, Ska offers us a song from the game's soundtrack, available for download right here. Fictionally, the band is Charlie Murder, but in reality it's the soothing sounds of James and Michelle themselves.
WildStar's development team thanks the fans with a song
The fanbase for WildStar has only grown since the game's initial announcement, and the team behind the game knows that this is the hardest time to be a fan. The game isn't out yet, after all, and that means that all fans can really do is chew on bits and pieces of interviews and previews. So in honor of Thanksgiving, the team found a special way to say thanks to the fans. A couple weeks ago, WildStar Wednesday outlined the lore behind the Exile/Dominion factional split. The story of Brightland's rebellion caught the imagination of a fan by the handle of Dyraele who penned a poem about the event. The team was so taken by the poem that they sat down, grabbed some instruments, and made a song out of it. Now everyone can enjoy a little musical adaptation of the game's lore in the video just past the cut, which we can all agree is a pretty effort-intensive way for the developers to thank fans for their devotion.
Apple's Ping no longer pinging back, leaves memories of white noise in its wake
"I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride Something touched me deep inside... the day the music died." R.I.P. Ping (09.01.2010 - 09.30.2012)
Ping going dark on September 30th, no longer accepting new members
Ping, Apple's foray into music-centric social networking, hasn't seen much in the way of updates since it was announced two years ago, and now the folks in Cupertino are set to shut it down on September 30th. Struck with the sudden urge to sign-up for the service and take it for a spin before it goes offline? You're out of luck. Visiting the network's home in iTunes reveals that Cook and Co. are no longer accepting new members. From here on out, you'll just have to find other avenues to keep tabs on what tunes are playing within your social circles.
Seedio app networks iDevices into loudspeaker, blasts music far and wide
Yearning to break free from earbud-induced isolation and spring towards a music listening experience with a social slant? Seedio for iOS can help. Built by a team of six developers, the app networks local iDevices over WiFi and allows one user to stream music to others. Audio from iTunes or YouTube is queued up by the designated disc jockey, or "seeder," and plays through each device's speakers in unison to create a distributed, makeshift loudspeaker. If the situation calls for a quieter jam session, however, you can forgo the speakers and listen in with headphones instead. Up to 150 devices can connect through a single router, but four is the current limit when relying on an ad hoc network created by an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Seedio isn't the first of its kind to roam the wilds of the App Store, but its creators claim to have nailed syncing audio across gadgets. The app is free for a limited time, but will soon pick up a $2.99 price tag. For those content with merely tuning in and leaving the playlist duty to others, the app will remain free.
New Beck songs get visualized, inspire musical platforming
Beck's latest album won't debut on the shelves of your local brick-and-mortar retailer. Instead, Cities, as its called, will roll out on Sound Shapes for the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita. The platformer's song-inspired stages transform the record's three tunes, Cities, Touch the People and Spiral Staircase, into interactive music videos, with original art and lyrics inserted into the environment. If traipsing through the included soundscapes -- not all of which are Beck-centric -- isn't enough to please, the developers are gifting gamers with the tools needed to build levels of their own. As a cross-play game, the $14.99 price tag nets both the console and portable versions of the downloadable title. Sound Shape won't hit digital shelves until August 7th, but you can catch a sneak peak (and a quick listen) after the break.
New Flaming Lips song features Siri on vocals
Siri has been getting around lately. When she's not guest starring on popular sitcoms, she's apparently lending her vocal talents to the music scene. The Flaming Lips have produced an experimental song (embedded below) called "Now I Understand," which features both Siri and Erykah Badu as vocalists. This isn't the first time Siri has been part of a musical collaboration. Just a few days after the iPhone 4S launched, musician Jonathan Mann (perhaps most famous to Apple watchers for the Antennagate song that Steve Jobs actually played at a press conference) posted his own duet with Siri. To my ears, all these musical experiments show is how far we have to go yet before computerized voices sound truly human. Siri does a much better job than the Mac voices of the mid-1990s did on songs like Radiohead's "Fitter, Happier," but the voicing still sounds very artificial in a musical context. We're still a long way from the vibrant, natural tones of 2001: A Space Odyssey's HAL 9000 and his rendition of "Daisy, Daisy." Then again, with so many human singers over-utilizing autotune and starting to sound more and more robotic themselves, perhaps all we're seeing with Siri is the next step in a weird human/machine convergence in the music world. [via Electronista]
Yes, someone made a SWTOR hip-hop song already
So you have the Star Wars: The Old Republic Collector's Edition, the lunchbox, the action figures, the pajamas, and the bedsheets*. The game launched 12 hours ago and you have two level 50s. What else would you possibly need to make your life complete? How about a hip-hop song based on your new obsession? Yep, there's now a hip-hop song all about SWTOR entitled Cold Republic, created by the already-established hip-hop artist Richie Branson. It seems Richie enjoys playing his Empire character Kazen on the Ven Zallow RP-PVP so much that he stopped playing just long enough to write and record a song about it. According to his website, he plans to create more SWTOR-related songs, using samples from the game itself. *Most of these items are not real. [Thanks Matt for the tip!]
Shazam offers unlimited free tagging to iPhone app
Users of Shazam, the popular iOS app that allows people to discover what song is playing on the radio, television, or almost anywhere, will be happy to hear that Shazam is offering unlimited free tagging in its iPhone app. Shazam allows users to simply hold up their iPhone while a song is playing, which the app will then identify, or tag. Previously, Shazam users got five free song tags a month and if you wanted more you had to pay for the Shazam Encore service. Now however, iPhone users get unlimited free song tagging. Shazam is offsetting their Encore revenue by partnering with Capital "What's in your wallet?" One. So expect plenty of ads. But hey, I'd rather be able to identify any song I hear at any time and see come credit card ads rather than having to shell out for a subscription to tag music. Shazam is a free download in the App Store.
The National contributing new song to Portal 2
Ohio-born indie rock group The National has officially become video game famous. The band, responsible for such tunes as "Bloodbuzz Ohio" and "Conversation 16" (video after the break), will be lending its sound to Portal 2 with a new song written expressly for the game.
Lost Pages of Taborea: An interview with Dynamedion
A lot of people like music in video games, and for good reason. Today there are some amazing tracks being recorded by professionals and artists for us to listen to as we own noobs, take down mighty dragons, and explore serene vistas. The world of video game composing even has its own fanbase filled with players who pay close attention to who is making the musical score to tomorrow's buzz-worthy game. I have personally clawed around in the dark for months looking for scraps of information on Runes of Magic's soundtrack. Some fragments have been unearthed here and there, but I was finally able to get in touch with the source. Dynamedion is the music production company behind many of the tracks in RoM. It has a number of games listed on its resume, including Halo Legends, Alan Wake, Call of Duty 4 and many more. I nabbed an interview with some of the lead composers to try to get some more information about the music in RoM. Where did the inspiration for these tracks come from? Who worked on them? Did they steal all the music from Bardy Woods? Set your metronome to epic fantasy and click to read on.
No Comment: Sesame Street's iPogo and the App for That song
If you had a smart pogo stick, wouldn't you want it to run apps? It just makes sense, in a strange sort of way. Thanks to Sesame Workshop and those lovable Muppets, here's your Tuesday No Comment. Click the image or Read More to see the video. [via Switched Tumblr, Laughing Squid & Minyanville]
Sunflower sings about blood elf druids
It's no secret that we love Laura Shigihara, the composer for Pop Cap's amazing Plants vs. Zombies and now the voice of Cataclysm's singing sunflower pet. Shigihara has stepped into the WoW machinima world with her own original song and video, Blood Elf Druids, an adorable song making a plea to Blizzard for the inclusion of blood elf druids. Shout-outs to Tooga the turtle are pretty obscure, which makes it even more fun. It's adorable, catchy and a great first shot at machinima. There's even a behind-the-scenes video posted here. If this is the quality of song we're getting for the first video, I cannot wait to see what's coming next. An orc ballad, perhaps? I can only hope.
The Pocket God Update Song, by Jonathan Mann
Pocket God is still rolling along. It was one of the first big original iPhone games out there, and more than any other title on the App Store, Bolt Creative has been able to both keep the app popular with constant updates and content additions, and even license the app elsewhere in the form of comics (and presumably other media, if they can swing it). Here's another example of that -- Bolt posted this video of Steve Jobs' favorite new singer songwriter Jonathan Mann (he of the extremely awkward iPhone Antenna song played at the Apple event a while back) singing a new tune about the game and its fans' constant requests for updates and new content. The song was commissioned to show off the new Dance Pack content, which lets your little islanders boogie down for 99 cents. It's cute. We've heard this from the Doodle Jump folks as well -- one of the best things that App Store developers can do for their apps is provide a string of content updates, as those both keep current fans interested, and do well to drive new purchases of the app. Of course, it sounds like Bolt is a little stressed out over all the requests, but the app is doing so well that they have to be happy with it.
