If you didn’t know or haven’t heard about Spotify, that should explain what the service is all about.

Spotify is the revolutionary music service that lets you stream any song in the world for free for a limited time and for unlimited time if you pay a monthly fee. Forget about buying a song ever again.

Spotify so far has been available only in Europe and it has finally landed in the US.

You can request an invite for the Spotify free account or sign up for one of their premium $5/mo or $10/mo plans and get access to it right now.

Spotify also has an iPhone app approved in the App Store. The app itself is free but you are going to need the $10/month plan for mobile access. $5/mo plan just removes ads in the desktop.

Spotify is finally here in the US. What are you waiting for?

There isn’t an iPad app yet but we can hope to see one following soon. I am looking for ways to score a free spotify invite right now. Let me know if you have one.

If you are looking for alternativas spotify – spotify alternative, it’s time for you to checkout Grooveshark.

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later

Availability:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Price: Free (with $10/month plan)

Reviewed at version: 0.4.14

Developed by: Spotify

Spotify iPhone App is in App Store Following US Launch - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2011/07/14 (RSS)

© shriya for Top iPhone Resource, 2011. | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

You can ID a music playing somewhere or hum a tune to find a song with SoundHound.

SoundHound was available in 2 flavors Free and a premium $4.99 version. The free version was limited to 5 free IDs per month and you had to get the premium version if you wanted more. This was on par with apps like Shazam which still do the same.

But, SoundHound developers have upped the ante by giving unlimited music recognition in the free version. Of course, the free version if ad-supported. The premium version users can enjoy an ad-free e experience plus will get more features in updates.

I have always liked SoundHound  because it also doubles as an excellent app to see lyrics for songs playing and also find videos related to the song. I even tend to play my iPod music through SoundHound just for the discovery ability.

If you haven’t tried it yet, check out our SoundHound iPhone app review here and may be try the free app for yourself.

SoundHound Free Gets Unlimited Music Recognition - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2010/12/28 (RSS)

© karthik for Top iPhone Resource, 2010. | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

iHeart Radio has recently been updated with the following features in version 2.3.2

• Media controls are enabled
• Start stop audio within lockscreen and via multitasking bar
• Start/stop audio via headphone remote
• Forward and rewind buttons scrolls through Favorite stations

This is a very useful update to an app I use everyday and really like the developers adding new features to it.

iHeart Radio Adds Lockscreen, Multitasking & Headphone Remote Support - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2010/09/24 (RSS)

© karthik for Top iPhone Resource, 2010. | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

Although I have been a long time fan of Pandora and probably will be for a very long time, I have found a new love for Grooveshark.

You are probably familiar with how Pandora works. They do all the work for you in discovering music based on your likes and dislikes.

What if you wanted to manage your own playlists, songs, albums, songs, etc. From millions of songs out there in the world without having to buy them or download them from questionable sources.  Basically what if you could carry all the music you want in your pocket without worrying about storage space?

Grooveshark is a music service that does just that. You can search for songs, album, artist or just browse genre and create your own playlists. You can also select songs and it to your play queue and you can save that current list as a playlist too.

If you wanted Grooveshark to play in Pandora-like Radio mode, you could do that too. They will find songs based on the current songs you just played. You can view the next song that is to be played in Radio mode and choose to play or delete it from the queue.

You can click on smiley face or frowny face or mark a song as favorite.

Grooveshark was so far only available on the jailbreak App store Cydia. Apple has approved the Grooveshark iPhone app and it is now available in the App Store.

You can sign up for a free 30-day trial VIP account right from the app. Once signed in, you can search for songs, favorite them, add to queue, add to playlists etc.

You can access all your playlists, search for songs from the iPhone app. You can even edit your queue and create a custom playing order. The reason I love this service is because it has a good dose of some Indian language albums (Hindi & Tamil) as well.

The VIP accounts cost $3/month or $30/year as an introductory offer.

Now the things the free Grooveshark iPhone doesn’t do well. First glaring mistake by the service, no iOS 4 multitasking support!! How can a music streaming app be actually useful without being able to be run in the background.

Another thing is that the app doesn’t seem to support playing an entire album on the iPhone like the website.

I am going to give it a 3.5 rating just for the iOS 4 support or lack of. If you have been waiting for Spotify to hit the US (which costs $9.99/month), Grooveshark is here today and they are doing a kickass job!

Screenshots (click to view full images)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Availability: App Store

Price: FREE

Reviewed at version: 0.8

Grooveshark Free iPhone App Hits the App Store - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2010/08/13 (RSS)

© karthik for Top iPhone Resource, 2010. | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

Let’s say you hear a song somewhere and you want to know where it is, or you have heard it before and you want to buy it. Just open the Shazam app and hit the “Tag Now” button. The app will listen to the audio (does not work with live performances) and after approximately 10 seconds of listening and 5-10 seconds of analyzing, will tell you what song you are hearing. Now I know why the name sounds like a magic phrase, it works like magic!

Now that you have a tagged song you can do a variety of tasks with it. You can share it on Twitter or Facebook thru the app itself. You can email a postcard of the track to someone. You can open iTunes to purchase the track or album (if available via iTunes). You can find tour information, view where you were when you tagged the track, look at the discography of the album, and look up the tag on YouTube. Not to mention you can access band biographies and reviews (if available). You can also attach a photo to your tag.

The free version limits you to five tags a month.

The other two versions of this app have the same features, so before we go over those features I will explain the difference between Shazam Encore and (Shazam)Red. The (Shazam)Red version comes with a red icon instead of blue, and 20% of the purchase price is contributed to HIV and AIDS programs in Africa. Note that both (Shazam)Red and Shazam Encore are priced at $4.99. So, if you decide to buy this app, consider getting (Shazam)Red, as it’s the same price, supports a good cause, and the icon is red, which is enough for my vote.

Features of (Shazam)Red and Shazam Encore include all of the features of Shazam, plus “Improved speed performance” (via www.shazam .com I cannot confirm this). There are also tabs for searching for music, and checking the charts for checking popular music. The interface looks and functions better than in the free version In the settings you can turn on Bluetooth on/off, to use an external Bluetooth mic for music tagging and you can turn locations on/off. You can get music recommendations from a track you have tagged. It also enters a car mode when placed in an in-car dock.

This app has never let me down when I wanted to know what song was playing. Although I don’t listen to the radio often, it comes in handy when I hear something I want to buy. The only part of the app that I have not had good results with is the tour information. I think this is because the artists I have looked up are not on tour, or not stopping ‘within 25 miles’. However, it usually displays tour dates from the past, which I doubt would be useful to anyone.
This app is availble for iPhone and iPod Touch with external mics. There are also versions available for BlackBerry*, Windows Mobile*, Android*, and Nokia*.
*Prices and support vary by platform, see www.shazam.com for more information about these platforms.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Availability: App Store

Price: Free and $4.99 for Shazam Encore and (Shazam)RED

Phorz

Shazam App Review: Magically Recognize Audio - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2010/08/09 (RSS)

© Phorz for Top iPhone Resource, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

One of those apps is Midomi. (which was free at launch).

Apps such as Midomi can help you find a song that you hear on radio, or playing in a bar or if you know the tune and can hum it out.

SoundHound is the newest entry in this ‘What’s that song iPhone app’. SoundHound is available as free version as well as a premium version.

SoundHound’s music recognition is blazing fast! It can recoginize a song in just 4 seconds. It doesn’t matter if it is playing on the radio, or if you sing or hum it.

The free version gives you 5 free IDs per month. Your history and bookmarks stay with you. You can get additional IDs as in-app upgrades or get unlimited ID’s with the premium version.

Here are a few more features in the SoundHound app

• In-app lyrics
• Fantastic music discovery
• Artist top songs with visual popularity
• Instant sharing over email, Facebook or Twitter.
• Pandora station links
• One tap purchase with iTunes
• Playback of your iPod tracks & playlists – with SoundHound lyrics
• Music browsing with bios, in-app YouTube videos, discography and tour dates
• Instant voice search to take you straight into any song or arttist

SoundHound stands out from other ‘what’s the song’ apps in working as a iPod app replacement. SoundHound can play your iPod tracks and playlists while giving you the lyrics. This is absolutely great!

With the iPhone OS 4.0 giving more access to iPod app, I am looking forward to making SoundHound my default music player.

A must have in any music-lover’s iPhone.

SoundHound for iPad is also available.

Screenshots

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 stars

Availability: App Store

Price: Free and $4.99

What’s That Song iPhone App – SoundHound Review - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2010/05/13 (RSS)

© shriya for Top iPhone Resource, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

AirBand is an iPhone app from the Music service provider – MP3Tunes.com.

Mp3Tunes provides everyone a free 2GB locker account (or an ad-free paid premium account) where you can store your music and video files and access them anywhere you have an Internet connection.

On the iPhone, you can access your Mp3Tunes Locker files with the free AirBand iPhone app.

You can upload files to your MP3Tunes locker account in one of many ways

• Use the web interface to upload files
• Use LockerSync software to mass upload files from your desktop (like Dropbox again). You can also schedule syncs to run on certain intervals. It works on Windows, Mac and Linux.
• If you install the browser plugins, you can easily add music to your locker right from the pages you are browsing.
• Mp3tunes comes with an open API which means other apps can di into your locker to play your files. For ex. Amarok, PS3MusicPlayer, WiiTunes can access your locker and play your files.

AirBand iPhone App

The app is pretty simple and functional to use. You login with your MP3Tunes.com account and you will be presented with a few tabs.

• Artists
• Albums
• Playlists
• Settings

It is pretty straightforward and the player screen looks pretty neat to. I am not sure I like the volume dial even though it looks cool.

You can also set the audio streaming quality depending on your connection.

I just briefly tried this app with one song and it performed well on 3G as well as EDGE connection.

With Apple purchasing Lala and the popular opinion that we will have our iTunes in the cloud, Airband could give that ability right now to take your music in the Cloud with you.

With the free 2GB Mp3Tunes account, you can free up your Dropbox account from music. I know I did!

Screenshots

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Availability: App Store [iTunes link]

Price: Free

Take Your Music Anywhere with AirBand iPhone App - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2010/05/05 (RSS)

© karthik for Top iPhone Resource, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

Their latest release of iTrip FM Transmitter is really special for iPhone and iPod Touch users.

First let’s see what iTrip FM Transmitter offers

• One-touch setup and tuning with SmartScan – finds the best available frequency for you
• SmartSound technology auto-adjusts signal strength for each frequency
• Bright back-lit display for easy viewing in all conditions
• Micro-USB connector to charge while you are playing
• Track Controls from iTrip display
• RDS support to display artist and track information on RDS-enabled radios

iTrip is retailing at $49.99 at the moment in Griffin’s website.

iTrip Controller App

iTrip has released a free iTrip Controller app in App Store. It lets you take full advantage of your iPhone or iPod Touch’s multi-touch display.

You can tune, scan or access up to 3 preset stations for your iTrip.

iTrip Controller App should work for any iTrip models released after Sep 2009 so it would just this one at the moment.

At $49.99, iTrip is a little expensive among other FM Transmitters like this one. But, it does bring some of original Griffin technology like SmartScan and SmartSound that promises to make this a more fun experience for the customer.

Once this hits the online retailers like Amazon, the price is bound to be more appealing and I will update this post.

iTrip FM Transmitter with iPhone App - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2009/09/23 (RSS)

© karthik for Top iPhone Resource, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.