Apple Offers Concert Downloads via iTunes

Cory Bohon — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:02:33 -0600

Live Nation and Apple have teamed up to offer exclusive downloads of concerts via iTunes.

Live Nation is one of the largest live convert recording companies around and their recordings are now available on iTunes for download.

According to the press release [PDF link], "Live Nation Studios will now offer exclusive recorded and filmed concerts from its network of “wired” venues for purchase and download only on iTunes. Exclusive live recordings from OK Go, Jesse McCartney, Saving Abel, A Fine Frenzy, Duffy, Plain White T's and Ziggy Marley, to name a few, have been released this week, with many more to follow."

Apple has added a new area in iTunes called Live Music that allows you to search for and purchase your favorite concerts. You can view the area by clicking here.

Apple has been involved in the music and movie distribution business for a few years now, so live music seems to be a logical step in the right direction for the Cupertino-based company.

via MacRumors

How to Make Your iPhone the Ultimate Music Festival Companion

Mike Spitalieri — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:01:38 -0500

Before you get in the van this summer for a hard day's rocking, you'll want to pack along the most indispensable tool since Fender invented a little six-string called the Stratocaster--your iPhone. We've already explained how to just survive with your mobile gear, now we'll show you exactly why God gave Rock an' Roll to you with an assortment of Apps, tricks and tips to crank it up to eleven.

No Way Home

Doesn't matter what you're into, rock, jazz, techno, or hip hop, spontaneously moshing in public will garner only strange looks and an arrest warrant. Better to first secure a public venue zoned for rocking using Local Concerts, an App that let's you browse hundreds of shows in your area using location data. Local Concerts will even redirect you to the appropriate ticket seller in Safari to fork over those dollars from a hard day's night. Not sure what you want to see? That's cool. You can browse indie or mainstream acts using your last.fm account, then browse an event calendar right on the iPhone with a dedicated App or at m.last.fm.

Digs

Right, so you've found a suitable show and purchased your tickets, now it's time to secure some digs. Google Maps can locate nearby hotels and hostels, but if you're on a roadie's budget (and have a low tolerance for squalor) you'll want to browse nearby accommodations by price and reviews at lonelyplanet.com or download one of their City Guide Apps. If you're really broke--still waiting for that debut album to hit big--you can truly live the rockstar life crashing with someone from CouchSurfing.org.

Setting The Stage

Getting to the site will be no sweat using this turn by turn GPS App. Upon arrival, though, it's crucial to mark your territory so that you're not drunkenly waving a car key clicker long into the night. To set your car's location in Google Maps with GPS data simply just flip up the page on the Maps UI and select Drop Pin. You can also share this location with friends via email.

Losing My ReligiPhone

Sure, losing your car would suck, but losing your iPhone would suck way worse. First, take a picture of yourself holding up an "If Lost please return to" message with your contact info then set it as your wallpaper. Even if you set a passcode anyone that finds it will be able to see the lost message by hitting the Home button. If you're a MobileMe user, iPhone OS 3.0 offers a Find My iPhone feature to locate the device should you lose it in the pit. No guarantees your iPhone won't end up in hock for a new set of speakers, though.

NEXT: Finding a network connection, your favorite band's app and the after party.

Spirit of Radiowaves

Before the show gets under way you'll want to test your data connection for posting tweets, statuses, posting snaps and otherwise boosting your indie cred on the internet. You can test your bandwidth and latency in Safari here, or with this Network Speed Test App. Be sure to test with both EDGE and 3G and set your connection accordingly. If 3G and EDGE prove too flaky you can leech some free Wi-Fi. WiFiFoFum displays a map with all the hotspots in range, while Spots provides a database of thousands of business Wifi hotspots across America.

Get This Party Started

Parking lots are good for two things: parking your car and tailgating. And tailgating requires tunes. If you've got a car kit (We prefer the Scosche Digital Tuneshift) you can either crank out music according to your favorite genius list, or you can invoke the Demons of Rock and Roll Past with Wolfgang's Vault, an App that streams thousands of classic concerts over a 3G or Wi-Fi connection completely for free.

It's a Social Thing, Baby

Concerts have always been social events, but Twitter, Facebook and MySpace have transformed them into hyper-social experiences. We've already showed you our picks for best iPhone Twitter App, and the standard MySpace and Facebook Apps still get the job done. Just be sure to configure your social networking accounts to accept updates over SMS in case the data network starts to chug. Better yet, Ping.fm will update all of your networks with a single text.

In addition to standard social sites, some bands distribute their own social networking Apps. NIN:access displays the NIN.com forums, location based chat for concert-goers, plus tour images and video. The Dave Matthews Band and Fall Out Boy All Access Apps also offer social networking and photo uploads, as well.

Some other bands with iPhone apps:

Sara Evans
Spinal Tap
Reba McEntire

Photo Shoot

In order to take those candid stage snaps you can use your new iPhone 3G S and Auto Focus features built into iPhone OS 3.0. If you want to more after effects like Cropping, Grayscale, Antique and Sepia, Photon is a great free App that fits the bill nicely. You can then upload your pics to your favorite image hosting service like Flickr. Klick is a great free App for uploading and browsing Flickr photos. Remember to geotag and #hashtag your photos so other people at the show can find them.

After Party

When the lights flood the stage for the last encore, and the final bars of a slow jam close out the night, you can raise your iPhone in the air with a virtual Zippo Lighter App to show your support. But the party's just starting after the last encore. Maybe, just maybe, you can snag a hot after-party tip off of Twitter, which many Rock Stars including Trent Reznor, Jane's Addiction Guitarist Dave Navarro, and John Mayer actively use. For a more complete list check here. You may not be invited to trash any hotel rooms, but you can listen in as Trent trash talks a dissatisfied fan.

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Apple Offers Concert Downloads via iTunes

How to Make Your iPhone the Ultimate Music Festival Companion