labels

DAR.fm, a TiVo for radio, will enable downloads

Michael Robertson, founder of such companies as MP3.com and Lindows, appears to be daring big radio and music companies to challenge him on copyright again.

Robertson's latest company DAR.fm, billed as a TiVo for Web radio, is expected to announce tomorrow that the service will enable users to capture the radio shows they record instead of just streaming them to their PCs or Web-connected devices. In the future, DAR.fm users can record talk shows and music and download them to iPads, iPhones, or Android devices, Robertson told CNET today. Not surprisingly, DAR.fm users can store their recordings at Robertson's digital-locker service, MP3tunes.com.

The new feature is available for free for the first series, which means that if you listen to say, NPR's "All Things Considered," DAR.fm will record it and download it daily for free. For more series, up to 10, a user must pay $39.95 a year.

So, how is this different from subscribing to a podcast?

Remember that not all radio shows offer a podcast. Fans of Rush Limbaugh must pay a yearly subscription. Some shows post their podcast three days after they air and some offer only highlights. Robertson promises that DAR.fm can record any show on the Web, period.

The download feature will certainly be reviewed closely by the big radio companies, such as Clear Channel and CBS Radio ( which shares the same parent company as CNET), as well as record companies. "Yes, it's hard to imagine that the record labels are going to be excited about this," Robertson conceded. … Read more

iTunes' streaming music still a no-show

Turns out what appeared to be an iTunes streaming music service is really two functions--downloading and listening--occurring at the same time.

On Monday night, Apple developers thought they had found a streaming-music feature when Apple launched the iTunes Match developer beta earlier in the day.

But AllThingsD called Apple and was told: "Any music you want to access from your cloud-based 'locker' will still need to be stored on your iPad, or iPhone, or whatever device you're using to listen to the song."

We've reached out to Apple for further information but this is what we … Read more

Scoop: RIM in talks for BlackBerry music service

At a time when Research in Motion needs to sex itself up, the Canadian smartphone maker is in talks with the four largest record companies about launching a new music service to run on top of BlackBerry Messenger, the company's instant-messenger service, multiple sources with knowledge of the negotiations told CNET.

RIM has signed a deal with at least one of the top-four record companies and is close to signing at least two others, the sources said, adding that a test version of the service could be rolled out within the next few weeks.

The BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service is an instant-messaging service that enables owners of BlackBerry phones to chat instantly via the Internet with one another. Details about how RIM's new music service would work with BBM are few and a RIM spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

The major labels, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI Music, are eager to see new retail services and to continue being part of mobile devices, especially smartphones. Yesterday, pre-paid carrier MetroPCS Communications announced that Android phone owners who subscribe to the company's $60-per-month rate plan can receive access to the music-subscription service Rhapsody. … Read more

Turn an image into a comiclike panel

Halftone turns your photographs into captioned comics with a distinctive worn-paper style. Start by snapping a new photo with your iPhone camera or by selecting an image from your photo library. From there, you can use the buttons on the bottom of the interface to select from 27 different paper styles to give your final product that heavily dogeared comic look. You also can add customizable speech balloons and choose from a few different layouts, but we think there should be more layout options--especially multipane formats. For a little more excitement, you can pick from 24 exclamation balloons (Arrrgh! BLAM!) … Read more

How to set ringtones for Gmail labels on your Android phone

Have you ever wished you could set different ringtones for different types of e-mail the way you can for phone numbers? You can, with the latest version of Gmail (2.3.5), now available in the Android Market. With it, you can set distinct ringtones for each Gmail label you use. Here's how:

Before starting, make sure you have at least one Gmail label created and a filter that uses that label.

Step 1: Open your Gmail app and press the Menu Key, More, then Settings.

Step 2: If you have more than one Google Account set up on … Read more

RIAA chief Bainwol in talks for auto industry post

Mitch Bainwol, CEO and chairman of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), is in advanced talks to head up an auto-industry trade group, CNET learned this evening.

Bainwol, who has steered the RIAA, the trade organization representing the four largest music-recording companies, since 2003 was recently approached about running the a similar job working , according to multiple music-industry sources. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents BMW, Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors, has approached Bainwol about running that organization.

An RIAA spokesman declined to comment.

Bainwol has not accepted the position, but the talks have progressed far enough to … Read more

Baidu signs distribution deal with music labels

Baidu, the dominant search engine in China, says it has reached a digital music distribution deal with three of the world's largest music-recording labels that ends years of litigation over pirated music.

Baidu reached an agreement to stream and download Chinese and international music from One-Stop China, a joint venture of Universal Music, Warner Music, and Sony Music, the company today said in a statement. The China search giant will license the labels' catalogs and future releases, paying royalties for each song played or downloaded.

Baidu users will have access to music via Ting, an ad-supported social music platform … Read more

How committed are ISPs to graduated response?

As part of a plan to discourage customers from pirating films and music, some of the country's largest bandwidth providers announced last week that they will take punitive action against customers repeatedly caught in the act.

So far, most of the attention has been on the potential impacts to Internet users, but now some are asking how the major Hollywood film studios and four top record companies were able to convince the Internet service providers to take part. For years, executives from AT&T and Verizon have argued that enforcing copyright was up to the content creators and … Read more

What's driving rise in music sales?

Album sales edge up 1 percent for just the first half of the year and suddenly it seems everybody in the music industry is giddy.

That's likely due to the fact that since 2004, all the news about sales has been bad, bad, bad. Consider that the music industry hasn't seen growth since George W. Bush was preparing for a second term as president, the Boston Red Sox were breaking the curse of the Bambino, and Mark Zuckerberg was founding Facebook.

Last Wednesday, research firm Nielsen SoundScan announced that the industry recorded a 1 percent increase in overall … Read more

Apple, Google music clouds can't snub publishers

NEW YORK--Those in digital music should take notice of the olive branches being extended by David Israelite, the president and CEO of the National Music Publishers Association.

Israelite advised NMPA members Tuesday in Manhattan during the trade group's annual conference that it was in their best interest to help legal music sites thrive, Billboard reported. To do this, Israelite wants to streamline the process of licensing rights, a time-consuming task for Internet services that has frustrated managers from SpiralFrog to Apple to Google. Still, Israelite's comments about bridge building with the tech community could surprise some there.

For … Read more