May 7 - 7:55pm EDT   Peer-to-peer music service Qtrax may be more than three months late, but new reports have the company finally signing a deal with Universal Music Group. Back in January, the new company announced it would work with the four major labels to bring users free music, with ads as the sole source of revenue. The labels, comprised of EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner, promptly denied the claims. [full story]

May 5 - 3:45pm EDT   After an extended beta period, MachineCodex has released v1.0 of AudioCodex, an unusual music and video application. The program unifies iTunes libraries with Quartz Composer, and CoreAudio Audio Units (AU) effects; while the software can be used strictly for playback, it also allows time- and pitch-shifting, along with real-time AU chains. Users can moreover create their own loops and Quartz visualizations, enabling the creation of original art and music. [full story]

May 2 - 9:15pm EDT   Sound Studio 3.5.6 ($80) sound recording and editing tool. This new version provides enhanced marker support, localization updates and bug fixes, and is a free upgrade for existing owners of Sound Studio 3. The new release also includes Unicode marker name support in AIFF, AIFF-C, WAVE, and Sound Designer 2 formats and updated Japanese localization resources. [Download - 34.7MB] iMedia Browser 1.1 (freeware) a stand-alone utility, the Karelia iMedia Browser lets users easily browse and drag content from their entire collection of photos, music, movies, and bookmarks, including their Pictures, Music, and Movies folders as well as applications such as iPhoto, Aperture, iTunes, GarageBand, ... [full story]

May 1 - 6:35pm EDT   In brief: We have a review of iPlayMusic, ShadesCases for the iPhone have been released, the new iMacs have been benchmarked and a pink version of OtterBox is coming soon ... We have posted a review of iPlayMusic, which provides a Step-by-step Guide and QuickTime videos that show you the anatomy of a guitar, how to hold and tune it, plus many pages of chords and fingerings along with different music styles. Each section of the guide is matched with video, so that you can read and see exactly what you need to know. You can also export the videos to iTunes, to load onto your iPod. This is a handy feature so that you can review material on the go. [full story]

April 30 - 4:50pm EDT   The subscription-based digital music retailer, eMusic, launches today in Canada online and in over 80 Best Buy stores and Avis car rental locations. This marks eMusic's first expansion into other markets, as the service has been in operation in the US since 2003 and recently surpassed 200 million downloads, making it the second biggest online music retailer next to iTunes. eMusic offers 3.5 million DRM-free MP3-format songs and audio books, allowing users to burn them to CDs, transfer them to personal MP3 players and make multiple copies for personal use. [full story]

April 30 - 4:30pm EDT   Hercules has released the Mobile DJ MP3, a device it calls the world's "first wireless digital mixing mini-controller." Intended for novice DJs, the Mobile lets people pick tracks while away from their computer, and has controls for pitch, crossfading, effects, loops and over 25 other options. There are two jogwheels for scrolling and scratching, which are matched by two independent volume sliders. Should a DJ fail to pick tracks in time, the Mobile can be set to automatically pick a follow-up of its own. [full story]

April 28 - 4:20pm EDT   The music site Project Playlist has been hit with a lawsuit filed by the record industry, Reuters reports. Some nine labels, including companies owned by Warner, EMI and Universal, have filed suit in the US District Court of Manhattan, accusing the site of numerous copyright infringements. The site lets users search for songs and create streaming playlists, in a much more targeted fashion than services such Pandora or Last.fm; the site does not, however, have a license for any of the content it offers, even though it makes money on advertising. [full story]

April 25 - 7:10pm EDT   The Tennessee State government is reviewing the possibility of implementing a tax on digital media downloads, which would include music videos, movies, news and entertainment programs, music, ringtones, and electronic books, among others. Law firm Waller Landsen notes that standard software downloads would not be taxable, and while the proposition has not been shown to lawmakers, it is predictably drawing negative criticism. [full story]

April 24 - 3:45pm EDT   An iPod can store your entire music collection, and keep it with you wherever you want to go. While the iPod is great for listening to music through ear buds by yourself, it’s not so handy when you want to play your music so others can hear it too. If you want to broadcast your music throughout a room, consider plugging your iPod into a device such as the iH12 alarm clock. [full story]

April 23 - 8:10pm EDT   Music products and services made up 36-percent of Apple's second quarter, while revenue in the company’s retail stores grew dramatically, with over 33.7 million visitors to its 208 stores over the quarter. Apple reports that it sold 10.6 million iPods, up 1-percent from the year ago quarter, which reflects the same seasonal rate of decline which it observed from last year's December quarter. Overall iPod market share grew worldwide in almost every global market, while the US share was 73-percent of all MP3 players sold. [full story]

April 22 - 7:45pm EDT   Sony Corporation of America has signed a merger agreement with Gracenote, Inc, and will pay approximately $260 million plus other contingent consideration for the digital media information warehouse. Formerly known as CDDB, Gracenote delivers information -- including lyrics -- on music to various services including Apple iTunes and Yahoo! Music Jukebox. The companies say that Gracenote's existing business will continue to operate separately as a wholly owned Sony subsidiary, and that the senior management team will remain with the company. [full story]

April 18 - 9:35am EDT   The US Patent and Trademark Office has published an Apple application for a new digital audio processor, specifically geared towards live music events. As the patent defines it, several members of a band -- including guitarists, vocalists, drummers and keyboardists -- would be able to connect their inputs directly into an on-stage set-top box, which would also have various output jacks as well. Of these the most critical is a connection to some sort of remote control device, whether a notebook, a handheld computer, or a traditional mixer. [full story]

April 16 - 4:20pm EDT   A new website has been launched by the music industry, dubbed PluggedIn. The site focuses on hosting over 10,000 high-resolution music videos, by the likes of The Roots, Nine Inch Nails and Rufus Wainwright; in addition to watching in a window, the quality is said to be high enough that people can comfortably watch in a fullscreen mode. Other features of the site include news, blogs and photos, the ability to create and share playlists, and the option of giving or receiving recommendations. [full story]

April 8 - 8:15pm EDT   JoeSoft has announces the availability of Hear, a sound enhancement program for the Mac. The developer says this add-on "greatly" improves audio quality in movies and music throughout all Mac OS X applications. It offers a wide array of settings, purportedly delivering intra-app sound that is richer and clearer with regard to dialog. "Hear is a great new program that makes everything sound better on your Mac. All your music will be vastly improved, your movies will surround you with rich sound and your games will now blow you away" says Greg Brewer, CEO of Prosoft. "Once you've listened to your music or movies with Hear, you will never want to be without Hear." Hear ... [full story]

April 8 - 5:20pm EDT   Investment research firm Piper Jaffray today held a conference call regarding teenage spending habits and statistics, which brought to light several figures about Apple devices and services. Of the students surveyed, the report found that 87-percent owned an MP3 player, and of those, 86-percent are iPod owners. This also reflected in the students' choice of music store, with iTunes sitting at 79-percent. The advent of other iPod-compatible music stores eroded iTunes' share slightly from 89-percent. [full story]