10 music-tech trends that will shape the next decade
Songs instead of albums Musicians will always find ways to record their music--it's a fundamental drive, like painting for a painter or writing for a writer. But I agree with Guttenberg that fewer musicians will release suites of songs organized around a common theme or sound. As much as I love my long-playing records, they arose out of economics rather than art--they were a convenient way for companies to bundle multiple songs (particularly songs that might not have sold as singles) in an affordable package. With digital files already taking the place of physical recordings, there's almost no economic reason for the album to persist. By 2020, the concept of the album will be an anachronism with a few vocal adherents--like vinyl records are today--but most music will be released and consumed as songs.Streams instead of downloads Where did we get the idea that digital music has to be downloaded? It started with the CD and file-trading networks--content owners wouldn't sell us music in a form that could be consumed on our computers, so we ripped our own and swapped the files through Napster and its brethren. But now, every time a new song or album comes out, or we rediscover an old act, we have to rip or download the recordings, then transfer them to whichever device(s) we want to play them on. There's got to be an easier way!If you had access to every song ever recorded, on any device, from any location with an Internet connection, wouldn't you rather pay for that service than buy a new CD or two every month? People say they want to own music, but when it's just a digital file, what do they want to own--a collection of ones and zeroes sitting on a segment of their hard drive? Why bother?I think the real problem is that today's streaming services don't give you every song ever recorded and don't work on every device, and broadband data access--particularly wireless--is not ubiquitous. Those flaws stem from business problems (licensing, DRM, format incompatibility, and insufficient broadband infrastructure) rather than technology problems. And the business problems are gradually being resolved--look at the introduction of Rhapsody and Spotify for iPhone, and Apple's acquisition of streaming music service (and music locker) Lala. By 2020, most professionally recorded music will be consumed as on-demand streams and people won't pay by the track.In the cloud rather than on hard drives Some songs will never be available on demand--think of tracks from friends or obscure independent acts, or live covers (where licensing can be incredibly complicated, involving multiple performers and songwriters). But as users become accustomed to listening to more professionally recorded music on demand, they'll expect their personal collections to be available in the cloud as well. After all, who wants to spend time backing up a 120GB music collection on an external drive, or choosing particular recordings to eliminate in order to clear space on a cell phone? This is where Apple's Lala acquisition really makes sense--imagine if iTunes served not only as an on-demand music service but also as a locker for songs you'd previously downloaded, ripped, or obtained elsewhere. Suddenly, the 16GB of storage on an entry-level iPhone would seem generous instead of paltry.Fidelity rather than file size Once our music lives in the cloud, we'll no longer have to worry about running out of space on our local drives or devices. Microsoft's SkyDrive already offers 25GB of online storage for free, and I could easily see that increasing one-hundred-fold by 2020. That's right: free terabytes of storage. It'll take a little bit longer, but eventually bandwidth--even wireless bandwidth--will increase to the point where streaming lossless digital files makes sense. Listeners will rediscover what they've been missing--detail in the midrange, and tons of information at the low and high ends of the spectrum--and the era of the MP3 will be looked back (and down) upon as the dark ages of audio quality.Extras become standard Again, with concerns over storage gradually disappearing, what's to prevent artists from packaging their music with artwork, lyric sheets, video outtakes, and even interactive applications? Today's artist-specific iPhone apps will become standard. Casual fans will stream a couple songs for free. Hardcore fans will pay to download the entire app and pore over it obsessively.Production rather than consumption Digital technology has already democratized the recording process--what used to take tens of thousands of dollars and a professional studio can now be accomplished with a laptop and a free program like Garage Band or Audacity. The results usually don't sound as good, but the experimentation process is fun, and sometimes a gem emerges. Digital technology and the Internet have also made promotion and distribution far easier than they were a decade ago. By 2020, music fans will spend almost as much time creating and sharing recordings with their friends as they do listening to professionally recorded music. Don't believe me? Think of this: 10 years ago, writers were a comparatively rare breed. Now, everybody's got a blog, or at least a Facebook page. In another 10 years, everybody will be a musician--or at least a recording artist.Suggestions rather than searches In a world of on-demand music in the cloud, search will become vitally important. Users will want to be able to find songs not only by title, album, or artist, but also by a few snippets of lyrics, or even by humming or playing part of a melody. (Imagine a combination of the voice search function available on Google Mobile with an advanced version of technology like Shazam, which can identify recorded music from a few snippets.) But search is only part of the question--once everything's available, how will users decide what to listen to? By 2020, personalized recommendation services, like those provided by Pandora, Slacker, and MOG, will become even more important than search, and will have to be integrated into any on-demand music service that hopes to survive.Festivals rather than big concerts Live music is already a long-tail world--with the exception of old, established acts and the very occasional pop sensation, very few bands can fill large arenas or football stadiums. This trend will accelerate as the last bands from the golden age of radio retire, labels take even fewer big promotional risks, and the market continues to fragment under the explosion in recording releases. In 2020, no single act will be able to sell 50,000 tickets at Qwest Field like U2 hopes to do this summer. Instead, the only shows that will pack large arenas will be festivals, where listeners can pick and choose among dozens of acts and classes of entertainment--just like they'll be doing online.Spectacle rather than personality With recording revenue plunging, bands must draw fans to their live shows in order to make a living. The common wisdom today dictates that musicians need a personal connection with their fans. They must blog, tweet, maintain their MySpace and Facebook profiles, and generally act like your next door neighbor who's always pestering you to see his band. There's a word for receiving "personal" messages from your favorite 100 bands--it's called "spam." Eventually, this cloud of self-promotional noise will dissipate, and will be replaced by old-fashioned word of mouth. Only acts that put on a great show--not just singing and playing songs, but entertaining in the old-fashioned sense of the word, with video and stagecraft and humor and spectacle--will cut through the noise. Bonus points for the first act that somehow integrates an audience-accessible game console into their act.Retro takes on a new meaning In 2020, the original iPod will be almost 20 years old. As the music world is overtaken by a nearly infinite selection of high-fidelity music, streamed over super-fast wireless connections to increasingly inexpensive portable devices, hardcore nostalgists will drag out their first-generation iPods and fill them with treble-heavy 120kbps MP3s. Meanwhile, grandpa will still be down in the basement with his collection of LP records and his lava lamp.
How to enable Emoji icons on iOS for free
How to enable Emoji icons on iOS for free
Have you ever received a message on your iPhone that looked like the one above? Emoji icons have grown in popularity for iOS devices over the last couple of years. With this simple guide we are going to show you how to get an Emoji keyboard on your iPhone, iPad or iPad Touch for free; allowing you to join in on the fun. We had originally shown you how to get an Emoji keyboard on your iPhone back in 2009. At the time there was only one Emoji app available in the App Store, and it was a paid app at that. Today there are literally hundreds of apps available in the App Store that bring Emoji to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch--most of them are free. Step 1. Search the App Store for Emoji.Screenshot by Jason CiprianiYou will need to search the App Store for Emoji (iTunes link) on your iOS device or in iTunes on your computer. Most of the apps you will see are free, while some are free with ads, or $0.99. You can pick any of the free apps; they all end up doing the same thing in the end. After you have selected an Emoji app that works for you, download and install it on your iOS device. Step 2. Enable the Emoji KeyboardAfter you install the Emoji app of your choice, you will see an icon for the app on your device. This makes for an easy way to browse all of the Emoji icons, but it does not automatically enable the Emoji keyboard. In fact, if you have a folder or a screen where you put apps that you will never open, this would be one app to add to that collection. In order to enable the Emoji keyboard, open the Settings app on your device. Scroll down and tap on General. Screenshot by Jason CiprianiOn the General screen, scroll down and tap on Keyboard.Screenshot by Jason CiprianiTap on Add New Keyboard..Screenshot by Jason CiprianiYou will now be presented with a long list of available keyboards on your device. Scroll down and locate Emoji. Tap on Emoji. If Emoji doesn't show up in this list, exit back to your home screen and open the Emoji app icon. Let it fully load, then go back into Settings > General > Keyboard and try to add Emoji again. If it is still not present in the list, restart your device and try again. Step 3. Activate your Emoji keyboard while typingScreenshot by Jason CiprianiNow that you have enabled your Emoji keyboard, you can access it whenever you're typing on your device. When your keyboard pops up, you will see a button with a globe on it just to the left of the Space key. Tap on this button to change to your Emoji keyboard.Emoji keyboard on the iPhoneScreenshot by Jason CiprianiEmoji keyboard on the iPadScreenshot by Jason CiprianiTo change back to your normal keyboard, just tap on the globe again.Now that you are able to send Emoji to friends and family, keep in mind that they will need to be using an iOS device as well. However, some Android apps will recognize the Emoji you send from your iPhone.
Have you ever received a message on your iPhone that looked like the one above? Emoji icons have grown in popularity for iOS devices over the last couple of years. With this simple guide we are going to show you how to get an Emoji keyboard on your iPhone, iPad or iPad Touch for free; allowing you to join in on the fun. We had originally shown you how to get an Emoji keyboard on your iPhone back in 2009. At the time there was only one Emoji app available in the App Store, and it was a paid app at that. Today there are literally hundreds of apps available in the App Store that bring Emoji to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch--most of them are free. Step 1. Search the App Store for Emoji.Screenshot by Jason CiprianiYou will need to search the App Store for Emoji (iTunes link) on your iOS device or in iTunes on your computer. Most of the apps you will see are free, while some are free with ads, or $0.99. You can pick any of the free apps; they all end up doing the same thing in the end. After you have selected an Emoji app that works for you, download and install it on your iOS device. Step 2. Enable the Emoji KeyboardAfter you install the Emoji app of your choice, you will see an icon for the app on your device. This makes for an easy way to browse all of the Emoji icons, but it does not automatically enable the Emoji keyboard. In fact, if you have a folder or a screen where you put apps that you will never open, this would be one app to add to that collection. In order to enable the Emoji keyboard, open the Settings app on your device. Scroll down and tap on General. Screenshot by Jason CiprianiOn the General screen, scroll down and tap on Keyboard.Screenshot by Jason CiprianiTap on Add New Keyboard..Screenshot by Jason CiprianiYou will now be presented with a long list of available keyboards on your device. Scroll down and locate Emoji. Tap on Emoji. If Emoji doesn't show up in this list, exit back to your home screen and open the Emoji app icon. Let it fully load, then go back into Settings > General > Keyboard and try to add Emoji again. If it is still not present in the list, restart your device and try again. Step 3. Activate your Emoji keyboard while typingScreenshot by Jason CiprianiNow that you have enabled your Emoji keyboard, you can access it whenever you're typing on your device. When your keyboard pops up, you will see a button with a globe on it just to the left of the Space key. Tap on this button to change to your Emoji keyboard.Emoji keyboard on the iPhoneScreenshot by Jason CiprianiEmoji keyboard on the iPadScreenshot by Jason CiprianiTo change back to your normal keyboard, just tap on the globe again.Now that you are able to send Emoji to friends and family, keep in mind that they will need to be using an iOS device as well. However, some Android apps will recognize the Emoji you send from your iPhone.
A freaky Friday for our iPhone 3G
A freaky Friday for our iPhone 3G
That is, until today. Since I only got the iPhone back from the CNET Labs just this week--I'm convinced Eric Franklin was getting back at me for being cold-blooded--I had to wait until today to get the latest 2.0.1 software update.After connecting the phone to iTunes and accepting the update, all was proceeding normally until suddenly, disaster struck. iTunes informed me that it was unable to complete the update because of an "unknown error" and my iPhone froze with the "connect to iTunes" prompt on the screen. Ouch...that was unexpected, particularly since I had updated CNET's first-generation iPhone moments before. But thinking it could just be a one-time quirk I tried a factory restore, reconnected the phone to iTunes in recovery mode, and accepted the update again. But alas, disaster struck a second time.Though thoughts of doom began to flood my mind, I took the advice of my very knowledgeable colleague over at iPhone Atlas and tried the update a third time. And that's when Murphy's Law hit me over the head with a mallet. Not only did the "unknown error" flash across my computer screen again, but also my iPhone snowed over with the "white Apple logo screen of death."Any screen of death, be it blue or white, is not fun as now it looks like a trip to the Apple store is in order. I was able to clear the screen with another restore, but now my iPhone won't get past the pesky iTunes prompt. It may not be bricked, but it might as well be.It's more than clear, Cupertino, that we have a problem. I'm hardly the only one to experience this problem, as message boards across the Internet can attest. But so far, Apple has remained silent on this issue, not to mention the mounting reports of 3G reception problems and dropped calls. AT&T is denying responsibility, but the fact the user complaints are coming from outside the United Statesseems to support the theory that there is an issue with the phone.Analysts and researchers have pointed to probable causes, from the Infineon chipset to a lack of 3G sensitivity, but so far iPhone users have been left to fend for themselves. And that's just shameful. According to a Business Week story, a software update to fix the reception problems is on the way. But until I hear anything officially, I consider it hearsay. Apple, it goes without saying that you should fix these issues soon. But in the meantime, it would be nice if you could discuss them at all--even if it is a simple "we're working on it." I'm certain that even the very acknowledgment that something is afoot would put a lot of minds at ease. And AT&T, you should chime in as well. My iPhone is a free loaner so I deserve nothing. But there are plenty of people who paid a lot of money for your product. And they deserve better.Have you been struck with the iTunes "white screen of death"? Leave a comment to let us know.
That is, until today. Since I only got the iPhone back from the CNET Labs just this week--I'm convinced Eric Franklin was getting back at me for being cold-blooded--I had to wait until today to get the latest 2.0.1 software update.After connecting the phone to iTunes and accepting the update, all was proceeding normally until suddenly, disaster struck. iTunes informed me that it was unable to complete the update because of an "unknown error" and my iPhone froze with the "connect to iTunes" prompt on the screen. Ouch...that was unexpected, particularly since I had updated CNET's first-generation iPhone moments before. But thinking it could just be a one-time quirk I tried a factory restore, reconnected the phone to iTunes in recovery mode, and accepted the update again. But alas, disaster struck a second time.Though thoughts of doom began to flood my mind, I took the advice of my very knowledgeable colleague over at iPhone Atlas and tried the update a third time. And that's when Murphy's Law hit me over the head with a mallet. Not only did the "unknown error" flash across my computer screen again, but also my iPhone snowed over with the "white Apple logo screen of death."Any screen of death, be it blue or white, is not fun as now it looks like a trip to the Apple store is in order. I was able to clear the screen with another restore, but now my iPhone won't get past the pesky iTunes prompt. It may not be bricked, but it might as well be.It's more than clear, Cupertino, that we have a problem. I'm hardly the only one to experience this problem, as message boards across the Internet can attest. But so far, Apple has remained silent on this issue, not to mention the mounting reports of 3G reception problems and dropped calls. AT&T is denying responsibility, but the fact the user complaints are coming from outside the United Statesseems to support the theory that there is an issue with the phone.Analysts and researchers have pointed to probable causes, from the Infineon chipset to a lack of 3G sensitivity, but so far iPhone users have been left to fend for themselves. And that's just shameful. According to a Business Week story, a software update to fix the reception problems is on the way. But until I hear anything officially, I consider it hearsay. Apple, it goes without saying that you should fix these issues soon. But in the meantime, it would be nice if you could discuss them at all--even if it is a simple "we're working on it." I'm certain that even the very acknowledgment that something is afoot would put a lot of minds at ease. And AT&T, you should chime in as well. My iPhone is a free loaner so I deserve nothing. But there are plenty of people who paid a lot of money for your product. And they deserve better.Have you been struck with the iTunes "white screen of death"? Leave a comment to let us know.
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