music

Everyone likes to know what everyone else is listening to, right? At Download Music we listen to a lot of music each and every day, and so we decided it was about time to get up from our desks, face the cameras (courtesy of our friends at CNET TV), and talk about some of the best songs and albums we've heard lately.

Our new weekly video report has the brilliantly simple title, Best New Music--clever, eh?--and includes photos, video clips, and songs as well as our bright and sunny personas. Give it a whirl, then check Download … Read more

As mobile phones grapple with their identity crisis as MP3 players, handset makers have worked themselves into contortions trying to provide decent sound quality--creating some ugly accessories in the process.

The Chinese-made "Super Audio Phone" aims to change all that by building in a speaker that's much larger than today's standard sizes in the back of the handset, where a second, smaller LCD screen that provides song titles and other audio information, according to Slashphone. The front looks like a regular phone, with a larger display and buttons.

We have no idea how its music actually … Read more

With all the iTunes/EMI DRM-free ballyhoo going on, it's easy to forget that sites like eMusic have already been offering inexpensive, DRM-free downloads for years. While Apple and Microsoft casually backpedal out of the DRM mess they've made, eMusic is announcing a very attractive new monthly subscription model that offers 25-cent downloads of DRM-free MP3s. It may not be Apple's reported 256kbps AAC quality, but for the average user a 192kbps MP3 sounds just fine--especially at 25 cents a song.

eMusic's new plans (called Connoisseur) come in three types 100, 200, and 300 downloads per … Read more

On Monday, the face of digital music was potentially changed forever when record label EMI Group announced that it would be offering premium versions of its albums available for download, with better audio quality and no digital rights management (DRM) restrictions attached. Even more surprisingly, EMI's first partner in the endeavor is Apple's iTunes Store, which many would argue is the poster child for DRM's shortcomings.

EMI's DRM-free offerings won't be available on the iTunes Store until next month, but the label has announced that the first premium album, the self-titled LP from The Good, The Bad, and the Queen … Read more

If you can't afford Manny Ramirez's grill (or even his neighbor's), fear not: Stainless steel and BTU levels aren't everything. For one thing, we're willing to bet that it doesn't play music.

That's right, you too can be the owner of what T3 calls "the world's first MP3 blasting barbecue." B&Q's "Memphis Barbecue" hides a speaker behind a retro-designed front panel that sports a chrome emblem worthy of the grille on a '50s hot rod (a grille grill?). In the back is an adapter that … Read more

And you thought the iPod bed was weird. The collision of two consumer technology trends--iPod docks and media furniture--may have seen the ultimate mashup in the iPod fireplace.

Yes, you heard it right. Cal Spas, the purveyor of Marin County-style hot tub culture products, has done it again in offering a musical hearth complete with built-in speakers and iPod docking station. It's not just for looks, either. BornRich reports that this "Home Resort" piece puts out a full 65,000 BTUs.

But, believe it or not, there's some stiff competition. Why confine yourself to … Read more

There hasn't been much change in Billboard's ringtone chart since last time. Chris Brown's "Poppin'" is still on top, and Buck Cherry's "Crazy B****" is still in the top three. Afroman's "Because I Got High" moved up three spots to number seven, and Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" dropped to the ninth spot. Other than that, there wasn't much movement in the top-10 chart.

Despite the lack of movement at the top of the chart, I'm going to put … Read more

It's the digital equivalent of the first few cracks in the Berlin Wall: soon EMI will be offering the bulk of its music catalog free of DRM restrictions. Steve Jobs was on hand at the press conference to enthusiastically endorse the idea--he did, famously, suggest as much in an open letter just a few short weeks ago. But is Apple simply fashioning its own hangman's noose? If the other major record companies follow suit, the one big advantage of the entire Apple "digital ecosystem"--iTunes, the iPod, and Apple TV--essentially becomes null and void. Jobs says Apple's superior design will keep the company's software and hardware at the top of the must-have list for digital media. For the iPod, maybe--but for the just-launched Apple TV, the answer isn't as straightforward. … Read more

We've seen MP3 players for swimmers, but JVC's Digital Audio Player XA-AW33-W is the first we've seen that's custom-made for the bath. At least, it's the first one we've seen that's made to float.

The player holds up to 256MB of songs, and is battery-powered so that you won't need to worry about frying yourself in the tub. Its stand lets you listen to the player in unfloating mode, and the song-loading process is handled by a USB connection to your PC--when it's out of the tub, of course.

On the … Read more