iTimes with Tony Bove

In preparation for my sojourn to the end of the current line forming at my local Apple Store (or for some of us, our local AT&T store), here’s a ditty that, if everyone sings along, may inspire others to join you.

The new iTunes Plus portion of the online iTunes Store is now available, offering higher-priced, higher-quality, DRM-free songs and albums you can play on any device and copy endlessly. And as of one day after it was announced, boomers rule.

With Paul McCartney and Wings, FCC approval, new designs for iPods, and more car integration kits, it is no wonder that as of this writing, Apple stock is surging. We’re going to get hi, hi, hi!

At the OnHollywood conference, Arianna Huffington and Carson Daly were the most visible representatives of the professional media that has taken the plunge into blogging and video channeling; but the true stars are the geeks and weirdos that have turned professional.

Yahoo is set to unveil the Web’s largest legally licensed database of accurate lyrics. While you can find lyrics on other Web sites, many of those sites are technically breaking copyright law and may also be inaccurate.

So you want to upgrade EMI-labeled music you purchased from iTunes to the higher-sonic-quality versions without copy protection (when they become available in iTunes next month)? If you’re a Mac user, you can use this tip. Otherwise, watch this space for future enhancements to iTunes.

Apple has taken a sad song — the copy restrictions on its music — and made it better by removing the Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection for its high-quality music format in a deal with record giant EMI.

Beatles music was a turning point in the history of pop music, and its power will once again prove to be a turning point in the history of online music. Baby boomers are excited by the Beatles coming out online, and that’s why record labels should also be excited — baby boomers are the folks more likely to buy music, compared to the younger generations that are used to downloading free music.

Steve Jobs has put the music industry labels on notice about Digital Rights Management (DRM). It may just be the right time for Steve to speak out — from a position of strength.

Apple, Inc. (formerly Apple Computer) and Apple Records (the label for the Beatles) have finally laid to rest all legal problems involving use of the name. This marks an end to the long-running copyright feud between the two companies and replaces an earlier agreement that limited Apple Inc.’s abilities to distribute music.