Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Music & Tech News: Cheap iTunes Movies, Gmail Video Chat, Live Nation to Sell MP3s

Lots of news already this week in the world of tech and music....

* iTunes has launched a digital bargain bin for movies, says Ars Technica, offering a set of movies that will be offered for download each week for $5.

* Google has packed some more features into Gmail, launching on Tuesday video and voice chat functions for the ubiquitous free Web mail service. The features are embedded in the interface. Cnet takes it for a test drive, and notes that while it's no Skype, it's simple to use and a good addition to Gmail.

* Mega concert promoter Live Nation has confirmed that it will begin selling DRM-free music MP3s from three of the four major music labels. But it won't be using a store or database like Apple's iTunes; instead, buyers will be taken to artist pages that than an iTunes-style database, Live Nation's MP3 store will route fans to artist pages that are "somewhat similar to the ones found on MySpace," says Wired.com.

* and finally, Aretha Franklin has been named the greatest singer of the rock era in a poll conducted by Rolling Stone. She was already the Queen of Soul; now I guess we can just call her the queen of all genres.

No comments :