Articles about Music

As well as being a handy way of storing items you've bought from the site, Amazon Music also allowed you to upload your own tracks and stream them from its cloud.

Now though the company is quietly pulling the plug on this aspect of its service. Previously you could store 250 tracks for free, or 250,000 if you paid an annual subscription. But the ability to upload new songs is now being withdrawn.

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The massively prolific Neil Young has just made his entire musical back catalog available to stream free of charge. Obsessed with audio quality -- you might well remember Young's Pono music player and streaming service, as well as his hatred of the MP3 format -- tracks are provided at an extremely high bit rate.

Of course, this is not a completely selfless offering from the Canadian musician. The free availability of tracks is a time-limited offer -- it's really little more than an advertising stunt for his paid-for Xstream Music subscription service.

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YouTube is -- of course -- about video, but it is becoming more than that. Google has just announced that it is teaming up with Ticketmaster, giving people the opportunity to learn about concert dates and buy concert tickets while watching artists' videos.

For now, the feature is limited to the US, but there are plans to roll it out on a wider scale. With YouTube increasingly used as a marketing tool by musicians, the progression to using it as a ticket outlet is hardly surprising -- but it's not clear what sort of cut Google is planning to take, and whether this could ultimately push up tickets prices.

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You are almost certainly familiar with Pandora, the popular music app that allows you to build stations based upon your favorite artists or songs. It's available in both free and paid versions, and you can choose which one to go for based on your tolerance for commercials.

You may, however, be less familiar with Sonos. For those who don't know, it is a whole house music system that allows you to connect multiple speakers, each of which can be individually controlled -- you can have them all synced to play the same thing, or different songs in different rooms.

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There are lots of sites and tools out there that can be used to rip content from YouTube, saving them either as videos or MP3s. Predictably, this is something that the content owners -- record labels in particular -- take issue with.

YouTube-MP3 recently shut up shop following pressure from the music industry, and a number of MP3 ripping sites were lined up as the next targets. Apparently pre-empting any legal action that might be taken against them, MP3Juices.cc and YtMp3.cc have started to block traffic from the UK.

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Fans of Plex will very soon be able to access their music through Android Auto. Whether you have Android Auto built into your car, or you're going to rely on the app on your phone instead, Plex can now sit alongside your travel directions.

Plex for Android Auto allows for voice-control of music playback, and the interface has been enlarged and simplified for ease of use when in your car.

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How many times have you found yourself listening to your favorite music outdoors, and all of a sudden, you get very thirsty? Quite often, right? And then you reach for your bottled beverage and realize you don't have an opener. The horror! Even if you do manage to open your beer or soda with a stick or something, where are you going to put it? In the dirt? Ants and slugs can get in there, bro. If only there was an elevated place to put the drink.

What if I told you that your wildest dreams could be a reality? It's true, y'all. There is finally a giant Bluetooth speaker that not only has a bottle opener and cup holders, but it has a retractable handle and is on wheels so you can easily take it with you! Called "ECOXGEAR EcoBoulder+", it is quite possibly the most important device ever for camping, tailgating, or backyard barbecues.

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With many consumers owning laptops or tablets as their sole computers nowadays, the concept of installing a sound card -- let alone any add-on card -- can be totally foreign. Believe it or not, however, many people still use and love desktop computers -- including yours truly. Not only can a tower be more powerful than their mobile counterparts, but they can be much easier to upgrade too.

Even if you do own a desktop computer, a high-end sound card, such as the Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5 which I have been testing, may not be in your best interest. This card is designed for computer enthusiasts that are audiophiles, gamers, or both with decent headphones or speakers; there is no point in buying a high-end sound card to use with $10 Walmart speakers, right? The big question is, should you purchase the card?

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If you want to become the next YouTube star or record a thrilling podcast, content is king; you need to have interesting things to talk about so that you can develop an audience. Great content isn't enough these days, however. With so much competition, you need to have good production values too. No, you don't need fancy special effects, but exceptional audio quality is key -- no matter how good you are, people won't want to struggle to hear you.

If media creation is your goal, one of the best purchases you can make is a quality microphone. Believe it or not, you don't need to break the bank to get a respectable model. Today, Samson unveils a new professional-grade microphone, and it is rather affordable for all you get. Not only does it seem to be a good choice for vlogging or recording a podcast, but also for music creation. Heck, gamers and Twitch streamers should check it out too.

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Microsoft has announced plans to close down its Groove Music Pass subscription service. The company is also going to kill off the ability to purchase music from the Windows Store.

Microsoft is partnering with Spotify, and offering a seamless migration from Groove Music to its former competitor. The cull is coming on December 31, and after this date the Groove Music app will no longer offer the option to stream, purchase, and download music.

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It's the time of year that many college students dread, although some secretly love -- back to school. Yes, the university doors are open once again; textbooks are being loaded into backpacks and alarm clocks are being set for ungodly early hours.

When these students aren't studying or going to class, they need to relax. Many of them choose streaming music and video as a way to unwind. Unfortunately, college is quite expensive, so splurging on multiple services is often not possible. To cater to the needs of these cash-strapped students, Hulu and Spotify have joined forces on a new bundle deal that will save them a few dollars.

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If you are a student, you are probably back in school by now. Yeah, going to class can sometimes be a drag, but learning new stuff can be fun too. Heck, it is also a great way to socialize and meet new people. Not to mention, wearing freshly bought clothes and carrying a new backpack can be an exciting experience.

But what if you want to listen to music when you aren't doing school work? Yeah, you can play your favorite jams using your smartphone, but really, a Bluetooth speaker will provide more volume, and probably, better sound too. Today, Bose unveils a new model that should be ideal for students or anyone, really. It is incredibly small at just 1.5 inches high and 3.75 inches wide, making it perfect for tossing it into a backpack. Heck, thanks to the integrated strap, you can easily attach it to your bag too. If you are rough on your gear, do not worry as it is durable -- it has an IPX7 waterproof rating.

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Facebook is said to be offering hundreds of millions of dollars to music publishers and record labels to avoid having to take down user-generated videos that feature copyrighted music.

Bloomberg cites "people familiar with the matter" as saying Facebook's payments will allow for the legal use of songs in uploaded videos. At the moment rights holders can tell Facebook to remove any videos that feature copyrighted music, and the social network is keen to create a frictionless experience for users if at all possible.

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The Apple Music Festival -- formerly known as the iTunes Festival -- has been cancelled. The termination of the festival comes after a decade-long run which has seen performances from artists such as Oasis, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Lady Gaga and Elton John.

Once a month-long event, the Apple Music Festival shrank down to just a 10-nighter in recent years. Apple -- due to launch the iPhone 8 next week -- is unlikely to completely pull out of the music scene, having recently been involved in the sponsorship of shows by Lana Del Rey and Arcade Fire.

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Happy Labor Day, dear BetaNews readers! I hope you are off from work today, spending time with family and barbecuing some food on the grill. If you are working, as some folks have to do on holidays, I salute you. I just got home from a baseball game, where my beloved Mets beat the Phillies. America's pastime is a great way to celebrate today's holiday.

Another great way to celebrate? Listening to some rocking tunes! Whether playing some Lynyrd Skynyrd in the backyard on some speakers, or curled up on the couch with the latest from Lil Uzi Vert on some headphones, music can enhance the experience -- as long as you have some decent equipment, that is. Today, Apple launches a new set of wireless cans from its Beats by Dr. Dre subsidiary. The "Beats Studio3 Wireless," as they are called, look beautiful, but more importantly, they should sound exceptional.

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