Archives by Tag: iTunes
Top 25 Most Played Songs in 2009
Okay, it’s time for me to fess up and rattle off the list of the 25 songs I listened to the most in 2009 (according to Last.fm).
- “This Year” by The Mountain Goats
- “Bruises" by Chairlift
- “Hometown Glory” by Adele
- “Sometime Around Midnight” by The Airborne Toxic Event
- “Just Dance” by Lady GaGa
- “My Life Would Suck Without You” by Kelly Clarkson
- “Shake It” by Metro Station
- “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You” by Black Kids
- “Love Love Love” by The Mountain Goats
- “It’s A Shame About Ray” by The Lemonheads
- “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry
- “The Moneymaker” by Rilo Kiley
- “Shut Up And Let Me Go” by The Ting Tings
- “Mercy" by Duffy
- “Love is Dead” by The Lovemakers
- “Strange Kind of Love” by Trent Reznor, Jeordie White, Atticus Ross, and Peter Murphy
- “Foundations" by Kate Nash
- “One of the Three” by James
- “Just Like Honey” by The Jesus and Mary Chain
- “U Want Me 2” by Sarah McLachlan
- “Disorder" by Joy Division
- “Astronaut: A Short History of Nearly Nothing” by Amanda Palmer
- “Dark Halls” by Au Revoir Simone
- “Great DJ” by The Ting Tings
- “Handlebars" by Flobots
What strikes me most about this list is how much of it is comprised of songs I purchased with iTunes gift cards just after Christmas 2008 based on lists and suggestions made by my friends Andy Hicks and Jon Martin for that year.
If I had to guess, the 2010 list will be far more diverse (and, potentially, current), as the latter half of 2009 finally found me investigating new music on my own again. “Love is Dead” by The Lovemakers is a perfect example of this: a song I totally latched onto on my own (it’s become one of my favorite songs of all time). Were this a list of the top 25 of the last six months, it would be number one.
So, whaddayathink? Anything on here that’s cause for disowning me? And hey, while we’re talking best ofs and most popular lists and such, what would yours look like?
The Beatles USB Stick
The Beatles are set to release their music digitally for the first time, and they’re doing it in a most unexpected way. According to Electronista, the Fab Four is releasing their entire catalog via USB stick.
Speculation has run rampant on the Internet over the past year—including here, on Geek Force Five—that the music of John, Paul, George, and Ringo was finally going to come to iTunes, probably sometime shortly after the hype for The Beatles Rock Band died down, so the news that a limited edition USB stick is the way they’ve decided to go is quite odd.
Only 30,000 of the things will be made, and they’ll run you $280 a pop. Each stick will include the entire LP collection of The Beatles, plus extras. Songs will be un-DRMed mp3 and FLAC formats.
What do you think? Will you get one? Or have you already started ripping the CDs you got at part of your remastered box set in September?
Geek Force FiveCast 248: Apple TV 3.0
In which ECC geeks out about the Apple TV 3.0 software update.
Geek Force FiveCast 247: A Home Screen of Their Own
In which ECC geeks out about creating iPhone home screens for his wife and daughters.
Comics Coming to iTunes and More
Comic books might be coming to iTunes in time for the fabled Apple Tablet’s release, according to articles from TUAW and MacNN, and this is one development that would get me to pick up an Apple Tablet for sure. If this thing was a big iPod, an “essentials"-type portable computer, and an e-book/e-comics reader all rolled into one—man, that would be something. I understand Cali Lewis’s frustration with the recent offerings from Cupertino, but I think we may all be treated to something massive and awesome come next year. That’s just a hunch. This Apple Tablet is, I think, going to change the game as much as the iPhone did.
In other comics news, Joe Quesada is saying that the Captain America movie is “very unexpected, the kind of movie it is” and that it will set up a future Avengers flick in “a fantastic way.” So, that’s exciting. But, for me, even more exciting than that is watching Jim Lee draw while he shoots the shit with Stan Lee. I’ve embedded that video above, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I’m a sucker for fly-on-the-wall videos of creators doing what they do, and I wish more of my favorites would do stuff like this. There’s a section in Gary Vaynerchuk’s book Crush It where he talks about the different social media platforms available to us, and I think a lot of artists and writers could get huge mileage out of things like YouTube and Ustream (as Gary suggests).
Geek Force FiveCast 234: Connection
In which ECC talks about Home Sharing in iTunes 9 and the connection issues he’s facing while setting the service up.
Geek Force FiveCast 223: Apple Media Event
In which ECC geeks out about the Apple Media Event scheduled for this afternoon.
UPDATE (6:22 pm on Wednesday, September 9)
Rather than devote another of today’s five stories to Apple, I’m just updating this one with the links I feel are interesting. I missed all of this afternoon’s presentation, and am looking forward to seeing video of it as soon as Apple posts it. Until then, I’m content to read these headlines:
- Apple announces iTunes 9, and it brings with it easier navigating, iTunes LP, Genius mixing, and some sort of feature that allows you to share/copy music between computers on your home network. Here are takes from Mac NN and TUAW.
- iPhone OS 3.1 features Genius mode for the app store and a bunch of other features outlined by TUAW, all of which sound moderately exciting, but not earth-shattering.
- The iPod Nano got a video camera, but the iPod Touch apparently did not, which seems weird to me. But, whatever. In Jobs, We Trust.
iTunes 9 Rumors
As I mentioned in the comments section of yesterday’s post on the Apple Store Dancing Kid, Apple is now responsible for 25% of U.S. music sales, a ridiculous number if you ask me. And let’s be honest: you would have asked me, had I not come right out and told you. You’re welcome.
So, what’s Apple going to do to kick things up a notch on September 9, when they hold their annual iPod and iTunes media event? Rumors are floating once again that the music of the Beatles will be arriving on iTunes (Mac Rumors has a nice history of the rumors in their piece). Even crazier rumors include tales of Facebook integration and DVD ripping capabilities.
Are you an iTunes user? What do you hope is forthcoming in the next release?
Geek Force FiveCast 209: iTunes 9
In which ECC geeks out about a rumor that iTunes 9 will include integration with Last.fm.
Geek Force FiveCast 184: Mid-90s Genius
In which ECC geeks out about a Mid-90s Genius Playlist that iTunes whipped up for him on a dreary Monday afternoon.
