Computer Support Blog

Anyone who wants to use licensed music for a project such as a website or video game knows how much it can cost and how much of a hassle it can be to implement.  Licensing music for commercial use is a costly process and can involve many legal headaches.  While many may want to utilize such music to make their project more engaging to users, they often forgo doing so due to the effort and cost involved.  Feed.fm is a cool product in technology that is looking to streamline the process of licensing music for commercial projects.  Businesses that want to use licensed music can avoid much of the hassle by using Feed.fm’s large database of licensed albums and songs for whatever project they desire.  Feed.fm is a service that handles all the legal issues surrounding licensed music for you and presents companies with an easier option to utilize music on their website or in their games. Read more »

While there is a plethora of ringtones available for all types of smartphones via online music stores, there are times when you want something more personal as a ringtone but have no easy way to create it.  Fortunately, Audiko is a cool product in technology that gives you the ability to create a ringtone from any audio file that you own.  Audiko offers a simple set of tools that allow users to take a clip of up to thirty seconds from any audio file and convert it to ringtone format.  Users simply go on the website, upload the audio file they wish to use, and edit it directly in their browser before converting it into a ringtone.  Audiko lets you utilize any audio format you want to create your ringtone, including high definition audio formats like FLAC for those who want their ringtones’ sound quality on par with the rest of their music. PC support can always help you if you find yourself struggling to upload a file to Audiko’s website. Read more »

Bootlegging live recordings from concerts has been a tradition of many artists’ fan bases since long before the Internet came into existence.  However, due to a lack of professional recording equipment, most fan-recorded concerts have very poor sound quality.  Fan recordings also can be risky due to copyright issues if used outside of very specific settings and situations.  Lively is a cool product that lets people listen to live shows without any of the downsides of bootlegged recordings.  With Lively, you can listen to professionally recorded audio tracks of the concerts you attend as soon as the show is over.  If you want to relive an amazing performance you just attended, all you have to do is turn on your smartphone and download the concert right away.  Anyone who’s only experienced low-quality fan-recorded bootlegs will quickly realize the advantages of professional, high-quality recordings that they can conveniently access wherever they go.  For help downloading performances to your iPhone, find Apple support. Read more »

With the advent of MP3 players, music streaming sites and smartphones that contain entire music libraries in the palm of your hand, music has become an increasingly individual experience over the last decade.  Billy Chasen is a cool person in technology who wants to use his online service, Turntable.fm, to make music a social activity once more.  This may seem counterintuitive, as most online music services, such as personal Internet radio sites Pandora and Slacker Radio, focus on making music a personal experience.  Chasen wants to people to interact while listening to music.  That’s why Turntable.fm combines the concepts of chat rooms and Internet radio.  Users log into rooms designated by genre or mood and interact while through chat while music plays in the background.  Users, as oppose to algorithms, also choose the songs that play in each room.  People fill in specific “DJ spots” in each room that allow them to pick the upcoming songs for everyone to listen to and (hopefully) enjoy.  This allows groups of people to share their tastes and potentially discover new music through their friends.  If you have trouble connecting to the Turntable.fm service online, finding PC tech support is essential. Read more »

Online services have helped empower content creators in several major industries.  The music industry has arguably seen the largest shift of all since the Internet became ubiquitous.  Software exists that can turn a home desktop computer into an adequate recording studio.  Online music services like iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon Music allow musicians to make their music globally available.  However, there are still difficulties getting your work onto those online music services. Philip Kaplan, founder of Distrokid, is a cool person trying to fix that problem.  Kaplan, a musician himself, has been successful building Internet businesses in the past and is now turning his attention towards helping musicians with his new service Distrokid. Read more »

Both on-demand music streaming and Internet radio services seem to be taking the music industry by storm.  Many streaming service options have flooded the market, including Spotify, Rdio, and Rhapsody, among others.  However, these services don’t do much to distinguish themselves.  They all tend to offer mostly major-label music, and they split their services into a limited free option that includes many advertisements and a paid option that limits the devices on which you can stream your music.  Joey Flores, CEO of Earbits, believes in a different model for Internet music streaming.  Earbits.com offers both Internet radio and on-demand music streaming free of cost but focuses on new and independent artists as opposed to the usual major-label music you find elsewhere. Read more »

The rise of digital music on the Internet has made a mainstream conversation out of the conflict between business and art.  Musical artists have made a very public stand against music distribution methods that deprive them of their rightful royalties and income.  Many of the record labels have resisted endorsing digital music distribution channels that do not give the label a cut and the recording companies have been very litigious in protecting their interest.  Following the fall of Napster, iTunes and Amazon.com rose as primary channels of music distribution on the Internet.  But now, there is Spotify and given its success at generating interest, revenue, and industry support, it looks like Spotify may endure where other similar services have not.  Spotify is the vision of Daniel Ek. Read more »

Given how very many companies now make docking stations for Apple mobile computing devices, it is fascinating to see how they try to differentiate their products from one another.  There is some irony in the fact that some of the most prominent brands to not capitalize on the most impressive aspect of their docking station.  Take, for example, the JBL OnTime Micro.  JBL’s main advertising campaign for the docking station focuses on the fact that is has an alarm clock built into it!  The JBL OnTime Micro is so much more than a glorified alarm clock, though. Read more »

In recent years, there have been some amazing advances in headphone technology that justify the price tags on some of the most impressive sets of headphones.  With price tags in the hundreds of dollars, many of the best headphones are now engineered for comfort, sound clarity and their ability to interface with multiple electronic devices.  One of the most impressive and versatile premium headphone sets is the Sennheiser PXC 450 NoiseGard Active Noise-Canceling Headphones. Read more »

The digital music revolution has been criticized by many audiophiles; people who love sound and music.  The main complaint that most audiophiles share is that the quality of digital music files is severely lacking when compared to records, compact discs, and live musical performances.  Many of the companies that are devoted to creating hardware that presents audio recordings have worked hard to overcome the quality issues of most digital music files.  Much of their hardware is designed to help you get the most out of your digital music collection.  Bang & Olufsen is one of the companies audiophiles trust and the Beosound 5 Encore is part of the reason why. Read more »