Articles about Music

With more than one Nest device or Google Home speaker in the house, it can be a pain to manually switch music streaming from one speaker to another as you move from room to room.

But now Google has introduced a new feature that makes the process much, much easier. The "stream transfer" option can be accessed with your voice via Google Assistant, or using apps.

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I recently canceled Amazon Prime, as I found the subscription to be deficient -- especially at $129 per year. What was wrong with Prime? Many things, such as the video library being atrocious and the included Amazon Music service having a very small library (two million songs). Amazon makes you pony up even more money to have a larger music library (50 million songs). Not to mention, the Amazon Music interface is nothing to write home about -- overall, die hard music fans should look elsewhere, such as Apple Music or Spotify.

But OK, let's say you are a casual music listener that takes advantage of either Amazon Music or the pricier Amazon Music Unlimited. If that is you, I have good news -- your music service is now available on some Garmin smartwatches!

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Ask Google what the lyrics to a particular song are and the chances are that the search results will display them in an info pane as well as links to lyrics sites. But where does Google get these lyrics from? Have Googlers sat and manually transcribed the words to songs ready or when people search for them?

No. Actually, there's a high chance that Google has simply scraped the lyrics from other sites, and one lyrics website says it caught the company red-handed. Genius.com used "Morse code" to catch the company lifting content directly from its lyric database.

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When, meteorologically speaking, the calendar hasn’t yet flipped to summer, it may be tough to switch your mind and consider an event that takes place in some distant future known as autumn.  But, hey, music has no season, right?

For the past several years internet music darling iHeartRadio has held a huge multi-day music festival in Las Vegas. 2019 will be no exception, and now the online giant is announcing some of the performers that are lined up for this go-around..

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At WWDC this week, Apple not only unveiled the new Mac Pro and an insanely expensive monitor stand, but also confirmed that iTunes is going away -- for Mac users, at least.

This did not come entirely as a surprise, but it has left iTunes users wondering just how the transition to the new Apple Music app will work, and what will happen to their music, playlists, credit and so on. Now Apple has explained how the whole process will work.

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There is no shortage of music services available to choose from and there really doesn’t seem to be a clear industry leader. Spotify is up there, but so is Apple Music. It really comes down to the features that each of us wants, the music selection and availability.

The latter is key for many people as not everything can be heard from every location in this great big world. If you reside in the UK, but plan to spend time in Kenya, for example, then you’ll want services that work in both countries.

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Creative's Pebble speakers are very popular with budget-focused shoppers. Over on Amazon, it has 4.5 stars with over 500 reviews. It's not hard to see why that is -- for a mere $25, you get a respectable 2.0 audio experience from a well-known brand. No, they aren't audiophile quality, but at this price, you should know that. They should be better than your laptop's built in speakers, however. One of the coolest aspects of the Pebble speakers is they are USB-powered -- you don't need an AC adapter when connecting them to your computer. You do need to simultaneously connect a 3.5mm audio cable, however, as audio is not transmitted over USB -- only power.

One of the big drawbacks to Pebble is a lack of bass. This really shouldn't be surprising, as they are small 2-inch speakers, and they don't have a subwoofer. Well, Creative heard the user feedback loud and clear and decided to bring a little boom to its budget offering. Called "Pebble Plus," it is the same stereo speakers, but now with a small subwoofer added. Amazingly, the price is barely higher than the non-plus variant. Seriously, folks, the price will shock you.

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Beats by Dr Dre has revealed details of its soon-to-be-released Powerbeats Pro wireless earphones. Scheduled for release in May, the earphones combine the engineering talents of Apple and Beats to create AirPod alternatives for music lovers and athletes alike.

Smaller and lighter than its predecessor, Powerbeats Pro provide both audio quality and comfort, and have been designed to withstand rigorous workouts. Available in four colors -- Black, Ivory, Moss and Navy -- the earphones deliver "powerful, balanced sound with dynamic range and noise isolation for a premium listening experience".

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MySpace -- that forerunner of the social networking phenomenon -- appears to have had a bit of an accident. In the process of migrating servers, it seems that the site has managed to lose 12 years' worth of uploaded music and other data.

The slip up means that photos, videos and music uploaded between 2003 and 2015 have been lost forever. This is not a case of data being temporary unavailable; MySpace has lost it, and -- almost unbelievably -- has no backup.

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Having enjoyed huge success in other parts of the world -- and despite currently fighting a legal battle with Warner Music Group over licensing -- Spotify has now launched in India.

To cater for the various tongues spoken in the country, the recommendation engine can be set to multiple languages. Subscription pricing has also been tailored to the Indian market, and while it is not possible to make direct comparisons across currencies, a year's subscription costs 1,189 rupees (under $17).

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Spotify has updated its Terms of Service agreement, implementing an explicit ban on the use of ad blockers.

While the music streaming service has a decent number of paying users, a large percentage of the userbase stick with free, ad-supported accounts. A proportion of these free users turn to ad blockers, and this is something Spotify has been increasingly trying to clamp down on.

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Streaming music is all the rage these days, and for good reason. It is affordable and convenient -- long gone are the days of spending $20 for a single CD. Seriously, folks, that is what many albums were selling for before Napster and other piracy offerings leveled the playing field. Nowadays, for a paltry monthly fee, you can access more music than you can possibly listen to in your lifetime. It rules.

There are many quality services from which to choose, but my favorite is Apple Music. It works well on my iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, but also, it is compatible with Windows, Android, and Amazon Alexa too. Sadly, there is no web version, but I digress. I happily give Apple $10 each month to be rewarded with a great music listening experience. If you are a Verizon unlimited customer, you may no longer need to pay for Apple's streaming service. You see, the cell provider will now be providing complimentary access to some of its customers.

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If you were hoping to get your hands on a Chromecast Audio, you're out of luck: Google has stopped manufacturing the device.

More than this, the audio-only version of Chromecast is out of stock pretty much everywhere, so your only hope of getting one now is probably to pick one up second hand. Google says it has a range of products that users can turn to if they want to enjoy music, so Chromecast Audio was deemed surplus to requirements.

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When I first opened the box containing the Grado Labs GW100 headphones, one word came to mind: "Cheap". The cans didn't look or feel like the classy Grado RS1i and RS1e, which I once owned, or the GS1000e that are still beloved and possessed. But after connecting to Google Pixel 2 XL (and later the 3 XL), via Bluetooth, I exclaimed: "Priceless". The first offering in the company's "Wireless Series" rises to an audiophile class unmatched by most competing cans; I prefer the GW100 to the GS1000e, which cost four times more to buy. Four words best describe the experience listening to music of any genre: Natural. Immersive. Balanced. Authentic.

The GW100 are unique among wireless headphones by design: They are open-back like Grado's wired models, but they are unlike all other major manufacturers' wireless cans, which typically cover the ears and/or impose oppressively confining noise cancellation. I understand that commuters on noisy trains or travelers on rumbling airplanes might want NC, but the feature creates a cone of silence that is very unnatural. By comparison, the GW100's open-air design allows music to expand, while—I must concede—letting in background noise going on about you.

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Hot on the heels of TIDAL arriving in the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 users, Plex has announced integration with the high-quality music service in its media tool.

You don't need a paid-for Plex Pass to enjoy TIDAL in Plex, but there are special subscription deals available if you do have one. There's also no need to have a server set up -- you can access TIDAL from within the Plex apps.

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