Music

I had always imagined that attendees at sci-fi conventions were peaceable sorts.

I know they turn up waving lightsabers and other implements of war, but I imagined that these served no greater threat to society than an elongated ball-finder at a golf course.

And yet word reaches me that fans of "Star Wars" were embroiled in a confrontation with aficionados of "Doctor Who" at a sci-fi convention in the U.K.

Alright, that word initially came from my religious reading of the Sun. But it is supported by reports from august organizations like the BBC.

It … Read more

Apple's App Store on Wednesday passed another major benchmark, topping 50 billion app downloads.

That's according to the countdown timer on Apple's Web site and in iTunes. Apple also confirmed the benchmark on Twitter:

We just hit 50 billion app downloads. Thank you. It couldn't have happened without you. #50BillionApps tw.appstore.com/hgE

The person who downloaded the 50 billionth app will get a $10,000 App Store gift card from Apple, and the 50 people who downloaded apps right after that each will receive a $500 gift card. … Read more

Google launched a music streaming service Wednesday, taking its first stab at the growing industry with a new service linked to Google Play for Android.

The All Access service costs $9.99 a month and you get a 30-day free trial. And it's launching Wednesday in U.S., with additional countries coming soon. If you sign up by June 30, you get it for $7.99 a month.

The move puts Google in direct competition with music streaming companies like Pandora and Spotify, and also potentially with Apple, which has been inching in that direction. Just last week, for … Read more

Ticketfly, a ticketing and marketing service, has launched an initiative aimed at giving venues and event promoters the ability to direct targeted rewards at their most loyal customers.

The impetus behind the Fanbase initiative, announced Wednesday, is that while 7 percent of ticket buyers generate 30 percent of the revenue brought in at the gate of events utilizing Ticketfly tickets, there has previously been no way to adequately identify, reward, and motivate those people.

While other ticketing and marketing services have rolled out other loyalty programs, San Francisco-based Ticketfly said its new program is the industry's most sophisticated effort … Read more

Google is close to unveiling its streaming music service, as it prepares to take on Pandora, Spotify, and possibly Apple.

In March, Google signed a deal for two streaming services with Warner Music -- one tied to YouTube, the other to Google's Android music platform, Google Play. And now Google has struck deals with Universal Music as well as Sony Music, according to a report in The Verge, which suggests that Google could make the announcement at tomorrow's big developer conference, Google I/O.

While Google has been working with the music labels on two services, sources tell … Read more

Ever had to go on a long trip, knowing you'll be outside your data network or a Wi-Fi access point? Now you can easily store all of your favorite videos ahead of time and load them up to any device for later viewing. Clip Extractor Pro is perfect for downloading all of your favorite online videos. Whether your video-streaming site of choice is YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, or MetaCafe, Clip Extractor has got your back.

Grab movies uploaded by friends and family from the biggest video providers out there. Save birthday and anniversary memories off YouTube, archive Epic Fail movies … Read more

Amazon quietly released a Cloud Player app for PCs as an extension of its music streaming service.

While PC users could already use the player through the Web, the new app, noted by Mashable on Monday, also allows for offline storage. We've contacted Amazon for more details and will update if we hear back.

The app automatically syncs your music library with any files on your computer that you haven't added to the cloud yet and exports your Amazon MP3s to iTunes and the Windows Media player.

You also can upload an unlimited number of Amazon songs, plus … Read more

When the sense of personal competition has gone, when time has passed, the memories become more acute and more accurate.

During Bill Gates' interview Sunday night with Charlie Rose on CBS's "60 Minutes," Microsoft's chairman released some emotion when speaking of visiting Steve Jobs during the Apple CEO's last days.

He said they're talked about what they'd learned and about families.

He said the conversation wasn't melancholy, but it clearly is an emotional memory for Gates.

When it came to business, Gates admitted that Apple "put the pieces" together on … Read more

How do you top months of amazing photos, demos, and tunes done aboard the International Space Station? If you're Chris Hadfield, you cover David Bowie's "Space Oddity" in a showstopping finale.

On the eve of his return to Earth, the Canadian astronaut released a beautifully done video of himself singing the 1969 classic.

Mixed with the help of staff at the Canadian Space Agency, musician Emm Gryner, and others, the cover features a somber piano intro and modified lyrics that reference the Soyuz capsule that will return Hadfield to Kazakhstan. … Read more