Google Launches Music Search

Google has just announced the launch of Google Music available only in the US for now, reports the NY Times.

From Google Blog:

Today, we're rolling out a search feature that does just that by enabling you to search and more easily discover millions of songs, all via a simple Google web search. If you're searching for music, "time to result" is really "time to music."

Now, when you enter a music-related query — like the name of a song, artist or album — your search results will include links to an audio preview of those songs provided by our music search partners MySpace (which just acquired iLike) or Lala. When you click the result you'll be able to listen to an audio preview of the song directly from one of those partners.

For example, if I search for [21st century breakdown], the first results provide links to songs from Green Day's new album. MySpace and Lala also provide links to purchase the full song.

Hail to the Chief ringtones

Stumbled on this this morning, Hail to the Chief ringtones. Most of them are free.

German musicians sue YouTube, their own fans

TechRadar reports that a group of 25 publishers, producers and musicians are asking that YouTube hand over server logs showing who uploaded, as well as watched, their material.

Apparently oblivious to the notion that they could target just such an online fan base with relevant advertising or even increase their popularity, the group, led by Hamburg lawyer Jens Schippmann, is claiming lost income from over 125 million page views on YouTube.

Whether or not the plaintiffs will actually be able to sue their own fans for that perceived lost money remains for the German authorities to decide before the complaint gets to court.

The new musical instrument: Your phone

CNN on the pocket-sized revolution in the music world: Smartphone apps and programs for handheld gaming consoles now let all kinds of people create and remix tunes on-the-go.

... There's been an absolute explosion in [music] production on mobile devices across all kinds of different platforms," said Peter Kirn, editor-in-chief of createdigitalmusic.com.

Professional musicians are taking smartphones on tour with them for their musical capabilities, too. A video of the band Gomez shows the group using an iPhone as an instrument. The Gregory Brothers, the band formed by the siblings who make the "Auto-Tune the News" video series, have used the I Am T-Pain application to add robot-style vocal effects to their live shows.

Click here for 10 cool videos of the iPhone as a music instrument.

Vodafone Symphonia played on 1000 phones with 53 different ringtones

Vodafone NZ hired a production team to orchestrate cellphones into “playing” Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture. The effort took 1000 phones and 53 different ringtone alerts, synchronized to recreate the famous classical piece. [via Mashable]

Watch the video of the performance as well as the making-of in two parts (part 1, part 2)

Not a first though, a collection gathered by American composer Golan Levin initiated the first original «Dialtones Symphony», where the 200 instruments played were the audience's ringing cell phones. The first concert took place on September 2nd, 2001, at the Brucknerhaus Auditorium in Linz, Austria during the Ars Electronica's annual festival. Golan Levin performed his symphony again in the summer of 2002, at the Arteplage Mobile de Jura as a production of the Swiss National Exposition. (Ringtonia)

More on cell phone and ringtones concerts/symphonies.

Music Stars Demand Records On Bush Administration's Use Of Music For Torture

Not related to cell phones. Just chilling. From The Huffington Post.

A group of prominent musicians are joining a campaign to close Guantanamo Bay and demanding the release of records about what music was used during the potential torture of detainees there and at other facilities.

... Hoping to cast further light on the potential illegalities that took place at the detention facility, the group is also working to obtain records about why and how music was used (under laws authorized by the Bush administration) to effectively torture suspected terrorists. The musicians have officially endorsed a Freedom of Information Act request for the declassification of all secret government records pertaining to music utilized during interrogations. At least two members of the coalition, Reznor and Morello, have had their music linked to interrogations.

Read full article

Apple's iTunes Music Store Starts Tweeting

Apple has opened three new iTunes Twitter accounts, iTunesMusic, iTunesMovies, and iTunesTV.

[via Switched]

New Google Music Service Launch Imminent

Google will soon launch a music service, we’ve heard from multiple sources, and the company has spent the last several weeks securing content for the launch of the service from the major music labels. One source has referred to the new service as Google Audio.

Read full story in TechCrunch.

MocoSpace to launch mobile music app

Fierce Mobile Content reports that Mobile social network MocoSpace will launch MocoSpace Music.

MocoSpace Music is a new application enabling consumers to discover new releases and featured acts, view artist photo slideshows and video interviews, search for nearby live shows and purchase ringtones.

Launching later this fall across multiple U.S. operators and optimized for both smartphones and feature phones, MocoSpace Music promises an extensive library of sample tracks, enabling users to share discoveries with friends--in addition to adding more than 400 new recording artists to the site each day, MocoSpace regularly hosts live video and phone interviews with hip-hop and rock artists from labels like Island Def Jam and Sony Music.

Read full article.

Rock Band iPhone app

TechCrunch reviews the much anticipated Rock Band iPhone app (not available though in the Swiss iTunes store).

The game features a multi-player mode (via Bluetooth), allowing up to 4 players to rock out on the go. While you can also play via single-player mode, you can use the integrated Facebook Connect to invite your friends to join in.

Rock Band for iPhone allows players to choose between vocals, drums, bass, or guitar. and features 20 tracks from a varied list of artists and musicians.

Read full review.

Verizon Needs No ‘Performance’ License for Ringtones

Verizon Wireless doesn’t need a public-performance license for ringtones it sells, a judge ruled, dealing a setback to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), reports Bloomberg.

The company, the largest U.S. mobile carrier, doesn’t need such a license because the rings aren’t played in performances, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in New York ruled yesterday.

... ASCAP and another licensing company, Broadcast Music Inc., charged for ringtones for years before wireless providers formally began challenging the practice two years ago.

Today’s ruling is the first on the issue. A decision on behalf of ASCAP might have generated millions of dollars annually for the groups’ members.

Read full article.

Related:

-- Verizon pays $5m to ASCAP for ringtone "performances"

-- ASCAP Sues AT&T Over Ringtones Heard In Public

-- ASCAP Wants To Be Paid When Your Phone Rings

Cake Recording Solar Powered Album

Cake - one of the most principled, enduring, self-reliant, and best-selling artists in post-alternative rock - are currently in the midst of recording their sixth studio album, with an entirely green twist: the new project is being written, rehearsed and recorded entirely with solar power. Rock Star Weekly reports.

During the recording process, Cake is sharing the results with their fans via a set of free ring tones--each based on a song from the upcoming album--released via the band’s mailing list.

Starting Oct. 13, the first of six ring tones based on brand new album tracks will be released through Cake’s mailing list. The first ringtone, titled “Long Time,” is only available for download to members of the Cake mailing list; to sign up, visit: cakemusic.com. Every six weeks, a ringtone for a new Cake song will be released via e-blast to all mailing list members up until the new album launch in Spring 2010.

G-20 Themed Ringtone

After comments on a popular comedy show about police tactics used in Pittsburgh during the G-20 summit, a special ringtone is now available on the Internet, reports wpxi.com

Comedian Jon Stewart joked about protesters using the sound produced by the L-RAD sonic cannon as their ringtone.

Pittsburgh police used the cannon to get the attention of protesters, and now a local Web site offers the sound as a ringtone for your cell phone.

Locallytoned.com offers the piercing noise for download. You can listen here.

Vringo launches social caller ID and video ringtone app for Android

Vringo launched a caller ID and video ringtone application for Android-powered smartphones called Vringo for Android. Available as a free download from Vringo’s website, the beta application is designed to “redefine the traditional caller ID experience letting users find, create and continue to share full screen video ringtones with their friends.”

[via Intomobile]

RjDj to Sell Whole Albums as Interactive Sound Experiences for iPhone

RjDj, the exceptionally cool “reactive sound platform” app from Reality Jockey, which turns the iPhone’s microphone into an audio synthesizer, just got even cooler: Now available in the App Store is “Kids on DSP,” an entire album featuring collaborations from two well-known techno artists — Carl Craig and Acid Pauli — converted for play in the RjDj app.

[via The New York Times]

Astral Radio launches ringtone superstore

Canadian ringtone lovers now have another store from which to purchase and download ringtones. Astral Media Radio has just launched 61215.ca - The Mobile Superstore, a multi-operator mobile downloads site.

Compatible with Bell, Rogers and Telus, ringtones selected and promoted on the air at Astral Media Radio stations - 82 across Canada - are available for purchase (at the cost of $3.50 through SMS), including an exclusive "Answer your phone!" messages produced by Astral Radio hosts.

[via Media in Canada]

T-Pain iPhone App: 300,000 Downloads in Three Weeks

It’s been a little less than a month since the sing along I Am T-Pain hit the app store. So how has it faired? Pretty good, it looks like. Smule has told Mashable that the app has been downloaded 300,000 times since its launch.

Related: Smule's I am T-Pain iPhone app let's you sing with auto-tune