Music

Whether it's an acknowledgement of mortality or a desire to relive a misspent youth, many of us have acquired a greater appreciation of classic cars, or at least parts of them. And a few are even lucky enough to celebrate their midlife crises by purchasing one. But that's where a problem often arises: What do you do about those ancient radios?

On one hand, it seems disrespectful to replace the original equipment with a new stereo that looks completely inappropriate; on the other, an AM radio just doesn't do justice to a long drive in the countryside. … Read more

The man notorious for cracking the DVD code, and Apple's FairPlay DRM, is looking to make a legitimate business out of his expertise.

Beginning Tuesday, the first product from his company, DoubleTwist Ventures, will enter open beta. Called DoubleTwist, it's a free desktop client that essentially allows any kind of music, photo, or video file to be shared between a long list of portable media players, and through Web-based social networks.

Instead of iTunes songs or videos taken with a Nokia N95 remaining locked on the phone, DoubleTwist software allows for dragging, dropping, and syncing of different media … Read more

Beware, SpiralFrog and Imeem. A powerful new player is eyeing your ad-supported music turf.

MySpace.com is in talks with the four major record labels about starting a free-to-consumer music service, a source with knowledge of the talks told CNET News.com on Monday night. So far MySpace and the labels are just talking, the source said, but PaidContent, the blog that broke the news, reported that the music companies are being offered an equity stake in the News Corp.-backed start-up.

A MySpace spokeswoman declined to comment Monday evening.

There are conflicting reports about whether the new music service … Read more

I just got back from a winter-camping weekend with some buddies, where the greatest shock was not how many of them snore like chainsaws, but how few of them knew about AmazonMP3. Clearly I've been remiss in my Cheapskate duties!

For others unfamiliar with it, AmazonMP3 sells DRM-free MP3s for 89-99 cents apiece; most albums sell for $9.99 or less. The key phrase here is DRM-free: Songs purchased from the service (which currently boasts about 3 million tracks) have no copy protection whatsoever, meaning they'll work with any gadget that plays MP3s: iPods, Zunes, smartphones, Creative Zens, … Read more

New headphones are my No. 1 recommendation to anyone who wants to get the most out of their new MP3 player. (Except, of course, for those who decided to go with the Sony NWZ-A810 series or the Zune 80.) Straight up: Those janky, plastic buds that came with your player aren't doing you any favors. First off, they're not terribly comfortable, and they don't fit most users securely--for me, there are few things more annoying than having to constantly shove a hard piece of plastic into my ear. Then of course there's the sound-quality issue...hollow, … Read more

Are you new to Download.com Music and don't yet know what to do or where to start? Or maybe you're tired of iTunes and are looking for alternative ways to get new music. Or perhaps you're simply a Download Music regular who just wants to chat.

Whatever the case, join me today Thursday Feb. 14 at 11 a.m. Pacific time (2 p.m. Eastern) for a live online Q-and-A session, where I'll do my best to answer any and all music- or site-related questions you might have. To participate, just visit the live chat page … Read more

When I was a kid I was always going to my friends' houses to check out the latest additions to their record collections. We'd sit around playing new records, getting high, eating crappy food, and generally having a great time. As we got older that happened less and less, but we started to trade mix cassettes, and more recently mix CDs. Mixes are hit or miss in terms of finding good new music, but now that everybody has an iPod, it may be the best ever way to tap into my friends' music collections. I figured that if I … Read more

Now that they're back among the living (for now), CrackBerry addicts can get their fix in a new way with a "Bluetooth Music Gateway" that will stream tunes wirelessly to portable speakers or another system, according to Boy Genius Report. And it may actually be more useful than originally billed, as Engadget speculates that the new matchbook-sized dongle from RIM can be used with devices other than the BlackBerry as well. Regardless of how it works, anything that keeps the thumbs off the keys is probably a good thing.

Just when you though it was safe to walk around the graveyard at night, Michael Jackson's Thriller is back to remind us that's not such a good idea. It's about time we reflect on MJ's music (not his personal life) and celebrate the 25th anniversary of the biggest selling album of all time. Legacy Recordings just reissued the CD with shiny new packaging, a bonus DVD, and previously unreleased tracks, such as remixes by and/or with Kanye West, Will.i.am, Fergie, and Akon.

And to add to the big event, Michaeljackson.com is presenting &… Read more