Do the Apple 2-step (verification process)

If you have an iTunes account, you would be well-served to set up the new, and way late, Apple 2 step verification process. More secure. Happier.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5570?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

iTunes 11: The Horror

Dear Mr. Cook,

I have dutifully submitted this email to the iTunes Feedback page, but I am so disturbed, upset, & embarrassed by this piece of software that I feel compelled to pass this along to your email address as well in hope that somebody in a position of power might step up and fix this problem. While not as dangerous as The Maps Debacle for which you had to apologize, the deformed piece of software that is the delayed iTunes 11 is, to me, more of an embarrassment because the problems are entirely of Apple's own doing and could have been easily avoided.

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Dear Apple,

I cannot believe you removed iTunes DJ. At its core, iTunes is an MP3 player and you have REMOVED critical functionality from an existing program. What we have left is a horrible mess and is unable to easily perform one of its core functions. We had our company Christmas party this evening, and I found out that you had inexplicably stripped this functionality without an adequate replacement 30 minutes before our guests showed up. I was actually SCREAMING at my beloved MacBook because I, a Mac user since 1984 (and before that an Apple II user), could not get your MP3 player to play music in a manner that worked for a party. Being able to control what comes next on a list is essential. Being able to randomize a playlist and see the results of that process is essential. Being able to manipulate those results is essential. Instead, we ended up with a living room full of music industry professionals either angry, confused, or mocking your software & thankful that we had a computer in the house with the old iTunes software.

Has anybody in a decision making capacity at Apple actually tried to use l ITunes 11 to DJ a party? I cannot believe so.

You've also made it nearly impossible to downgrade.

I am a Mac evangelist and I am embarrassed by this piece of simple software. You added useless eye candy and removed real functionality...the kind of crap I would expect from Microsoft at their worst.

Mortified,
Patrick Monaghan

Sony Pays $8 Million to Settle with Allman Brothers, Cheap Trick

Most indie labels already split all revenues (and release expenses) 50/50 with their artists. This moves the Sony's royalty payment regimen a small step closer to fair, at least for the biggest artists.

Sony has paid a $8 million settlement to a group of musicians including Cheap Trick, the Allman Brothers Band and the Youngbloods, ending a five-year dispute over digital music revenue. A filing by the attorney in the class action suit on Wednesday reveals that the company will pay its artists a total of $7.95 million to resolve claims in the case, and the musicians will see a 3 percent bump in their royalty rates with respect to digital income.
Most of the money  in the settlement will go to artists who have sold at least 28,500 total downloads in Apple's iTunes store, though a small fraction of the cash has been set aside for artists who have not sold well in the format. $2.5 million from the settlement will cover legal fees. 

Read more here and see a kickass photo of Robin Zander.

via @robertloerzel