iTunes

Apple in talks to create custom Net music service, says report

Apple may be looking to expand its dominance of the online music landscape with a Pandora-like service.

The company is in talks with record companies to license music for a custom music service that would create "virtual" music stations based on a song or artist of choice, sources familiar with the matter tell The Wall Street Journal. The service would reportedly operate on the family of Apple devices, including the iPhone, iPad, and Macs, and possibly on Microsoft's Windows.

However, Google's Android operating system would be cut off, one source said, as a result of the … Read more

Surprise! Artists make pittance on streaming services

Music-streaming services are big business for labels and even the companies that offer them. But for artists, they're not so great.

Josh Davison, a member of the band Parks and Gardens, yesterday took to Twitter to divulge the exceedingly small amount he and his fellow musicians make from streaming on iTunes Match and Spotify. According to Davison, each time one of his songs streams on iTunes Match, the band makes $0.00330526797710. When that same song plays on Spotify, the band makes $0.00966947678815. In other words, if Davison wants to make just one cent off a song play, … Read more

Who owns your downloaded music after you die?

Earlier today, a story emerged from the British tabloids that Bruce Willis was considering suing Apple in a bid to determine who gets his iTunes music collection after his death. Perhaps something more suited for April Fool's Day? We reported it (and fell for it) and we've updated the piece to reflect that the original source was a work of fiction. (Willis' wife tweeted this morning that the story was not true.)

But the one thing still not settled or answered from today's misreporting: what happens to downloaded content when the buyer passes away? (Spoiler alert: just … Read more

Bruce Willis not suing Apple over music inheritance rules

Reports of Bruce Willis' discontent over who will inherit his massive music collection when he dies have been greatly exaggerated.

The "Die Hard" actor, who has reportedly spent thousands of dollars on his iTunes music collection, was concerned that upon his demise, the rights to his music collection would pass back to Apple instead of to his children, according to a report in The Daily Mail. He was reportedly considering setting up trusts to act as legal "holders" of the music, as well as exploring the possibility of bringing a lawsuit against Apple to clarify the … Read more

Bruce Willis to take on Apple over iTunes inheritance [updated]

Updated 3:40 p.m ET.

Reports that veteran Hollywood actor Bruce Willis is reportedly looking to take on Apple in a bid to pass on his vast music collection to his children after his death have been disputed. The claims, which were originally reported by The Daily Mail have been debunked by Willis' wife via Twitter.

Emma Hemming has taken to Twitter to pour cold water on the claims made by British media earlier today that her husband Bruce Willis was considering legal action against Apple over the rights to his iTunes account after his death. She said in … Read more

Apple updates iTunes and app content dispute forms

iOS developer Brad Larson has tweeted a pointer to the new forms that developers and content producers can use to notify Apple of copyright claims related to applications or content. (Hat tip to Matthew Panzarino.

You can find the iTunes Content Dispute tool here:

If you believe that an application available in the App Store violates your intellectual property rights, you can use this form to submit a claim to the App Store Legal Team. If you are looking for the form to submit a claim for any other type of content available on the iTunes Store, please visit here. … Read more

iPhone 5 mania lifts Apple stock to all-time high

Less than one month ago, shares of Apple plunged after the company's third-quarter earnings "disappointed" the bean counters on Wall Street. Less than a month later, shares of Apple are up more than 12 percent and are again trading at an all-time high. In fact, earlier today, Jefferies & Co. raised its price target from $800 to $900, as Apple's valuation now tops $600 billion.

If you want to understand why, cue up the 1960s' hit by The Happenings, "See You in September."

That's when the iPhone 5, the biggest, worst-kept secret in … Read more

Podcasts apps make their way back to iTunes

Podcast applications have made their way back to iTunes.

When users type "podcast" or "podcasts" into Apple's desktop iTunes application, they'll find a full listing of programs that allow users to subscribe and listen to audio and video podcasts.

Apple's store surprised some searchers yesterday when only the iPhone maker's official Podcasts app was displayed after inputting those queries into the program. Upon searching for the same queries on the iPhone or iPad, all available apps were listed.

It's not immediately clear when the podcasts apps listing was restored or what … Read more

iTunes vs. Amazon: What's the best video service on the iPad?

The future of TV, movies, and home entertainment feels like it's changing by the day, thanks to the impact of the digital revolution. Netflix is the top dog thanks to its $8 subscription streaming service, but your viewing choices are severely limited. For a la carte, pay-as-you-go services, Apple's iTunes has been the default choice for many when it comes to buying, renting, and viewing videos. Splitting the difference was Amazon's Instant Video: it offers a diverse library of pay-per-view TV shows and movies, plus a subset of "free" content for subscribers to the company'… Read more