Find free and legal music
It’s easy to forget sometimes that thriftmac is also about the music — just check out the freeware in our iPod section. But nothing harmonizes better with free apps than free music. Last 100 has a list of 10 sites for free and legal music, which is nicely topped off with several more suggestions in the comments that follow.
Posted Saturday, August 25, 2007 in Music
A solution for iTunes album art
First we told you how great it was that you can now get free album art for your songs in iTunes 7. Then we pointed you to an article that says this can cause problems, because iTunes might replace some of your current album art with something you don’t want.
The problem arises when you click on the Advanced menu and choose Get Album Art. iTunes goes into high gear and tries to find art for all the albums you’ve got. But there is a way around this. You control-click (or right-click) only on the album you’re interested in, and choose Get Album Art from the pop-up menu. That way, iTunes will seek art only for that particular album.
I tried it out and found some cool stuff. My favourite is the art for Moontan, which contains the Golden Earring hit Radar Love.
Posted Friday, September 15, 2006 in Music
Some warnings about album art
A couple of days ago we noted that the new version of iTunes allows you to get free album art for you songs. Be careful, though. You might not always get what you expected. MacDevCenter has more.
Posted Thursday, September 14, 2006 in Music
CoverFlow reborn in iTunes
For a long time I had it in the back of my mind that CoverFlow should be added to the thriftmac collection. Too late now, though. The program and the technology behind it have been sold to Apple for integration into iTunes. Nice to see that it lives on.
Are there any other nifty programs that should be snapped up by Apple? What do you think?
Posted Wednesday, September 13, 2006 in Music
Steve Jobs announces free stuff
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has just finished unveiling a ton of updates, upgrades and new toys. But at thriftmac we’re all about the free stuff. It’s true that the freeware iTunes is now up to version 7, but everyone knows about that. What you may have missed is that iTunes is now offering free cover art for your albums. If you have songs in iTunes that you’ve ripped from CDs, you can now find free album art to match. A nice touch. Of course, Apple likely wouldn’t mind if you bought a few songs (or TV shows or movies) while you were at it …
Posted Tuesday, September 12, 2006 in Music
Is there any such thing as a free iPod?
There are all kinds of promotions these days offering an iPod if you sign up for a service. Open a bank account? Get an iPod. Sign up for a cellphone package? Get an iPod.
But what if you don’t want any of those things? There’s no point in paying for something you don’t want. That’s why my advice is to get in on the Air Miles program, or something similar, connected to a grocery store chain. These programs allow to you gather points every time you buy something until eventually you have enough to buy one of the many rewards the program offers. In the case of Air Miles, one of those rewards is an iPod.
I emphasize grocery stores, because we all have to eat, and we all have to buy food on a regular basis. The points can add up surprisingly fast if you make big purchases, because they sometimes offer bonuses. It may not be instant gratification, but for those with patience, a free iPod can be had for simply doing one of the basic things we do to stay alive.
Posted Friday, May 26, 2006 in Music
Free music for iPod
Now that you’ve got your fill of iPod freeware, how about some free (and perfectly legal) music? There must be dozens of websites offering free music. Here are two to get you started:
Amazon.com — Search through through the free music section or browse through the Top 200, recent additions or top indie downloads.
Download.com — This C|NET website has more than 75,000 songs categorized by genre (rock to soundtracks) and region (around the globe).
Posted Monday, April 17, 2006 in Music
