We’re a pretty hard-nosed, cynical bunch here at Wirefresh, but Arcade Fire’s Google Maps interactive video mash-up got a few jaws dropping around the office.
With MySpace recently discovering the devastating news that they’d managed to lose half their UK audience, you’d think they’d be going flat out to improve the user experience.
Music retailers HMV are looking to rattle Apple with the announcement of their new hmvdigital download store which will offer 10 million songs with every UK Top 40 single costing just 40p each.
Android users annoyed at the ability of their iPhone-owning pals to annoy other folks with Auto-Tune ‘singing’ can rejoice: MicDroid, is here.
Slicker than the black seas around BP’s rig in the Gulf of Mexico, DoubleTwist for Android is a new, fully featured music and video player vying to replace the built-in player.
Spotify have declared themselves “excited” as they announce what they’re describing as “a major evolution” in their innovative music streaming service.
From today, the company are rolling out Spotify version 0.4.3, which packs in their largest feature upgrade since launching in late 2008.
When it comes to the relatively simple task of watching a video file or getting an earful of an audio file, most people are happy to stick with whatever’s already installed on their machine.
But is there anything better out there?
![How much do music artists actually earn online? [Infographic]](http://www.wirefresh.com/images/artists-earnings-1.jpg)
For years, the music industry has been walking around like Private Fraser declaring, “Doomed – we’re all doomed!,” but what about the artists?
We’ve often wondered how the online music revolution is working out for artists, and are keen to see how distributing music online compares to selling physical CDs.
Well, it’s a Friday so what could be better than a Chatroulette version of Lady Gaga’s smash hit, ‘Telephone’?
The original video – all nine preposterous minutes of it – helped make Lady Gaga the first artist to have her music videos watched over one billion times online.
We think the Chatroulette version is better.
There’s all sorts of snazzy docks available for iPod/iPhones, but music-mad users looking to squeeze the last drops of sonic goodness out of their MP3 collections should perhaps take a peek at Arcam’s irDock.
Replacing their earlier rDock, Arcam’s shiny new high-end audiophile dock sports a die-cast aluminium anti-vibration enclosure with a damped rubber base offering RF shielding, and comes with a bundled remote for full loafing-on-the-sofa control.
Fabulously daft- yet somehow compellingly clever – are these bizarre eye-controlled earphones which have been shown off at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
We cant say we’ve ever felt aggrieved by the lack of eye controlled earphones out in the market, but Japanese communication giant NTT Docomo reckon they could be reaching into an untapped market of potential eye twitchers.
Some of the head honchos behind the the development of the original trusty MP3 new music file have unveiled details of an upgraded music format, called MusicDNA.
Created by Norwegian developer Dagfinn Bach – who worked on the first MP3 player back in 1993 – the new MusicDNA format can pack in extra information, including lyrics, videos, artwork and blog posts, and the data can be continually be updated.
Guitarists who find tuning their instrument a bigger challenge than scaling the Eiger in a suit made of fish may find salvation in TC Electronic’s revolutionary new Polytune – claimed to be the world’s first polyphonic tuner.
The stomp-box sized “tuning miracle” invites guitarists to strum all the strings on their guitar or bass at once, with a 100-strong LED display matrix immediately flagging up which strings are out of tune.
Musicians on the move have long been partial to lobbing portable recording equipment into the Transit van, ready to lay down any ideas when inspiration strikes.
Back in the day, Tascam Portastudios were all the rage, offering 4 track recording and sound ‘bouncing’ down to a lowly cassette tape, but digital technology has seen the size of recorders shrink, and sound quality improve immeasurably.
Blue Microphones have updated their ‘Mikey’ bolt on microphone for iPods and iPhones, and it should prove a handy tool for sound recordists, interviewers, musicians and shifty bootleggers.
The first version arrived in 2008, and the new and improved version boasts “improved circuitry for superior recording and enhanced new features,” plus a pair of custom-tuned Blue capsules with settings for recording high-volume concerts.
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