likes

iLike launches ad platform, pushes play on Rhapsody deal

iLike, the social music service that rose to popularity with the launch of Facebook's developer platform last year, is getting bigger. The company announced that membership has surpassed 30 million users, and that it'll soon be getting the buzz out even more by letting developers put music on their sites through an iLike application programming interface.

But more importantly (i.e. on the money front), iLike has launched an ad platform specifically geared toward bands and concert promoters. Audiences can be targeted by music preferences and location, rather than keywords, which iLike says will give advertisers a huge … Read more

For music sites, album release partnerships are a newish PR strategy

The likes of iTunes, iLike, and Imeem might be making troubled record labels' lives a bit more complicated. But on a brighter note for the music industry, they've also created digital music's ultimate publicity stunt.

A press release came out Wednesday from our sister company Last.fm, touting the fact that Radiohead's landmark album In Rainbows is now available for free streaming on the site.

In Rainbows has been out since October, and it was famously distributed across the Web with a name-your-own-price policy. So it's not exactly the freshest story, though In Rainbows is no … Read more

I'm In Like With You raises $1.5 million, looks to game development

I'm In Like With You, a social-network-turned-gaming-site that caught a brief flurry of press for its eye-popping design when it launched, has just closed a $1.5 million round of venture funding led by Spark Capital. It's the first funding the site has received since its angel round last year.

In addition to Spark, the round includes current investors Baseline Ventures, Betaworks, and veteran investor Ron Conway, as well as an investment from Netscape and Ning founder Marc Andreessen.

The funding round was widely rumored as the site--having failed to live up to the hype it first generated … Read more

OurStage lets bands compete to win prizes

I tend to be skeptical of "battle of the bands" contests in the physical world. There's often an entry fee to participate, which basically means bands are paying to play in some sort of showdown showcase. Often there's no quality gate--if you can afford the entry fee, you're in, and that means that the only people in the audience are other participating bands. The prizes tend to be loaded with catches, like a "recording contract" that forces you to sign over your publishing rights to the organization sponsoring the contest.

But it appears … Read more

The 404 122: Where Wicker Hollow is always on time

Today, we fill the studio to capacity with the guys from the band Wicker Hollow. They tell us about their humble beginnings and promote their newest CD, "Live Like You Know What You're Leaving." They also join us in some healthy Kanye hate, the new McDonalds outsourcing plan, Fox News B.S., and the upcoming Gears of War movie. EPISODE 122 Download today's podcast

The Filter's recommendations hew to the mainstream

The Filter is an entertainment recommendation service that asks questions about your taste, then tries to refer you to CDs and DVDs you might be interested in buying. (The site will eventually add other forms of entertainment, such as TV shows.) It's been in a closed beta since earlier this year, and has gotten some press thanks to the involvement of art-rocker Peter Gabriel. On Tuesday, it opened to the masses.

The idea's not new--Amazon.com has had a recommendation engine for years, and many online music services like Pandora, iLike, and Jango employ variations on that theme. … Read more

Rumors of Facebook music service bubbling again

This post was updated at 6:49 a.m. Pacific time to add comment from Facebook.

Facebook may be getting closer to launching a music service that competes with Apple's iTunes, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

Sources told the publication that Facebook has been approaching major record labels about licensing deals so that it can sell music through its Web site.

It's a long-standing rumor that has once again floated to the surface of social-media chatter.

Music sales would provide Facebook with an alternative revenue stream--the site currently relies on advertising, which many have said is precarious for … Read more

SpeakLike translates chatting as you go

SpeakLike uses quick automatic translation and human translators to break down language barriers over instant messaging.

It appears like an ordinary chat application as you type. Choose which languages you want to speak in. You can see what you're typing in your own language and what the other person is seeing translated. If a word or phrase is more complex, SpeakLike will go to a human translator and make sure it's accurate. The company says the more you use it the smarter it becomes and the faster it will return results in the future.

You can also add … Read more

Will iLike users like Thumbplay's ringtones too?

Thumbplay announced on Thursday a deal it just wrapped up with iLike, a music recommendation service big on Facebook, to exclusively stock iLike's virtual shelves with ringtones.

Thumbplay's ringtones are disguised on iLike.com by the generic command to "get ringtones," and placed alongside iTunes links. They'll also be sprinkled throughout the iLike Challenge game on iLike's site and will be available for purchase through the iLike Facebook app.

This is a definite win for Thumbplay. The mobile content distributor's limp Facebook app, a Photo Portal that pushes pictures uploaded from a Thumbplay … Read more