Aretha Franklin’s music rise on charts following her death

NEW YORK — Aretha Franklin’s music quickly climbed the iTunes’ charts following her death on Thursday.

Her “30 Greatest Hits” album hit the No. 1 spot, replacing Nicki Minaj’s new album, while “Respect” reached No. 2 on the songs’ charts.

More songs from Franklin, including “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” ”Think,” ”Chain of Fools” and “I Say A Little Prayer,” were in the Top 40.


The iTunes charts tracks digital sales and is updated multiple times each day.

Franklin died pancreatic cancer at age 76. She had battled undisclosed health issues in recent years and in 2017 announced her retirement from touring. /ee

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Travelers can now use spare foreign money on Viber Out

Travelers around the world can now use their leftover foreign money to get more credit on their Viber Out accounts as a result of the partnership between Viber and TravelersBox.

Viber Out allows users to call mobiles and landlines worldwide at low rates.

TravelersBox kiosks allow travelers to turn their spare foreign coins into digital money and can be stored on eWallets and online accounts such as Viber, PayPal, iTunes and Google Play.

TravelersBox CEO Tomer Zussman said that forging a partnership with Viber is “natural” for them.

“TravelersBox essence rooted in our partners’ values. With our technology, money that was worthless due to currency differences, become valuable again. One of our top missions is to find the right partners to give travelers the most out of their leftover currency. Viber, which allows people to call any phone number at low rates, is a natural partner for us,” Zussman said.

Meanwhile, Viber’s FinTech Lead Robi Kopel said that the company is very happy to be working with TravelersBox.

“Our goal at Viber is to connect users all over the world. We’re very happy to be working with TravelersBox to offer a way for travelers to convert their leftover currency to Viber Out credit to contact loved ones,” Kopel said.

There are 75 TravelersBox kiosks in eight countries, two of which can be found in the country: one at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 1 and another at Naia Terminal 3. AJH/RAM

source: technology.inquirer.net

Beatles end streaming boycott in time for Christmas

The Beatles, the top-selling band in musical history yet a persistent holdout on new technology, announced Wednesday they would end a boycott of streaming in time for Christmas.

The Fab Four's full catalog will be available on all major services including leader Spotify, removing the most glaring musical absence from the booming sector of streaming that allows unlimited on-demand music online.

The website of The Beatles -- who have sold some 600 million albums worldwide -- announced the move in a short video that featured a medley of the band's hits including "Let It Be," "Hey Jude" and "Help!"

"Happy Crimble, with love from us to you," said a statement, employing a slang term for Christmas used by The Beatles.

The Beatles catalog will start streaming at 12:01 am on Christmas Eve local time in each region of the world.

Ringo Starr, one of two surviving Beatles along with Paul McCartney, mentioned the streaming news on Twitter with a slew of  emojis, a means of expression more in line with a younger generation.

"We are coming to you from out of the blue," Starr wrote, adding, "Peace and love peace love."

- Also resisted iTunes -The Beatles were the top-selling and one of the most critically acclaimed groups of all time, releasing 13 studio albums including classics such as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Abbey Road" and "Revolver" before breaking up in 1970.

Despite The Beatles' phenomenal success, the band has repeatedly taken a slow approach to new technology.

The streaming announcement came just five years after the Liverpool-born group's back catalog was first made available for purchase on Apple's iTunes.

The announcement means that fans will be able to listen to the band's songs on nine services -- Spotify, Apple Music, Slacker, Tidal, Groove, Rhapsody, Deezer, Google Play and Amazon Prime.

The Beatles already appear on Internet radio provider Pandora and satellite radio service Sirius XM which have different regulations.

The band's recordings are controlled by its own management company, Apple Corps, and music conglomerate Universal which took over the catalog from defunct label EMI.

- Few other streaming holdouts -The move is a major win for streaming companies, which have faced criticism from a string of artists over the amount of money they make.

Taylor Swift removed her whole back catalog from Spotify last year but agreed to put her blockbuster album "1989" on Apple Music when it launched in June.

Adele, however, is not streaming on any service her new album "25" which nonetheless is the fastest-selling record in the United States and Britain since tracking services started keeping statistics.

The British singer, in a recent interview with Time magazine, said she did not use streaming herself and considered it "a bit disposable."

Several other classic artists who initially resisted streaming have recently relented including Led Zeppelin and AC/DC.

Big names who maintain full or partial boycotts of streaming sites include folk rockers Neil Young and Bob Seger, Radiohead's experimental frontman Thom Yorke and country star Garth Brooks.

Since reports first emerged on The Beatles' streaming decision, the industry has speculated whether the Fab Four would reach a deal with only one service or, as the band ultimately decided, all of them.

Swift has released a film of her latest tour exclusively on Apple Music while Tidal, led by rap mogul Jay Z, has heavily promoted unique content including the full catalogue of Prince.

Tidal and Rhapsody both said that they planned interactive features to go along with The Beatles' music.

Streaming has opened up a new source of revenue to a long-stagnant music industry, but critics say it is not enough to offset declining CD sales.

Revenue from streaming has overtaken that from downloads in 37 countries around the world, according to the IFPI recording industry body, with subscription revenues worth 23 percent of the overall digital market. —Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Google Play Music app coming to iPad

After coming to the iPhone, Google's Play Music app has finally arrived on the slightly bigger iPad tablet.

The app contains a new Material Design interface as well as visual improvements and fixes that allow faster and reliable streaming, The Next Web reported.

However, it said iOS users may not be able to subscribe to the All Access plan through the mobile apps – and will have to use an Android device or a browser.

Still, the Google Play Music for iPad lets users listen to tracks stored on their devices along with up to 20,000 of their songs stored in the cloud and even iTunes.

An unlimited plan allows a user to stream any song from the Play Music library and create custom radio stations. — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Apple rushes iTunes update to plug security hole

 

Apple has rushed an update to its iTunes software to fix a security hole, a security firm said over the weekend.

 

Sophos said iTunes 11.2 contained a "permissions blunder" that could allow anyone to modify local user accounts on a machine running Apple's OS X.

 

Citing Apple's security bulletin, Sophos' Paul Ducklin said in a blog post that a local user who exploits the bug "can compromise other local user accounts."

 

"Upon each reboot, the permissions for the /Users and /Users/Shared directories would be set to world-writable, allowing modification of these directories," it added.

 

Ducklin said this is particularly dangerous for iTunes users on Mac machines, adding iTunes for Windows does not seem to be affected.

 

On the other hand, Ducklin said the patch applies all the way back to Snow Leopard, OS X 10.6. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News

 

source: gmanetwork.com

Batch of 59 rare Beatles songs to be released for sale

LONDON - Rare recordings of 59 songs by the Beatles will go on sale for the first time on Tuesday when Apple Records makes them available for download.

Apple, a label founded by the Beatles in 1968, said it would release a series of tracks from the early 1960s that were previously only available as bootleg recordings.

Among the songs to be released on iTunes are versions of "She Loves You", "A Taste of Honey" and "There's a Place", as well as outtakes, demos and live performances recorded for BBC radio.

A spokeswoman for Apple Records declined to explain the timing of the release or comment on speculation that it was aimed at extending copyright over the material.

In 2011, the European Union ruled that copyright over sound recordings should be extended from 50 to 70 years from next year, but only for recordings released before the 50-year term had expired.

The bulk of the Beatles tracks available for download from Tuesday were recorded for the BBC in 1963 but not released.

Others have already capitalized on the changes to EU legislation to maintain control over their back catalogues.

The legislation has been dubbed "Cliff's law" in Britain for the additional royalties it would provide for veteran rocker Cliff Richard, whose songs had been starting to fall out of copyright.

In late December last year, Sony Music released a compilation of Bob Dylan recordings from 1962 and 1963, giving away the reason for the move with a frank subtitle: "The Copyright Extension Collection, Vol. 1."

Sony only released 100 copies of the Bob Dylan recordings. It was not immediately clear whether Apple Records would limit downloads of the Beatles songs. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

David Bowie breaks long silence with new music release

LONDON - British singer David Bowie released his first new song in nearly a decade on Tuesday in a surprise launch coinciding with his 66th birthday.

"Where Are We Now?", produced by his long-term collaborator Tony Visconti, is a mournful look back to the time he spent in Berlin in the 1970s with an accompanying video featuring black-and-white footage of the city when it was still divided.

The song, available on iTunes and free to view on his re-launched website, was recorded in New York and will be followed by his first studio album since 2003, "The Next Day", due to hit shelves in March.

Bowie's label Columbia Records said the new song was a "treasure" that appeared "as if out of nowhere", underlining the element of surprise from a release that ends years of speculation among fans over whether he would record again.

"Throwing shadows and avoiding the industry treadmill is very David Bowie despite his extraordinary track record that includes album sales in excess of 130 million not to mention his massive contributions in the area of art, fashion, style, sexual exploration and social commentary," the label said.

The album will consist of 14 songs, and a deluxe edition will feature three bonus tracks.

The glam-rock star shot to fame with "Space Oddity" in 1969, and later with his alter ego Ziggy Stardust, before establishing himself as a chart-topping force in the early 1980s.

Known for his constant desire to re-invent and experiment with different musical genres, Bowie is considered one of the most influential, and unusual stars of the pop era. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com