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Filed under: Audio, Internet, Windows, Web services, Freeware, Windows x64

Music recommendation site Mufin releases desktop player

Back in October of 2008, our own Christina Warren snagged some beta invites for Mufin's web-based service for our readers. Now their crew has now released a public beta version of their desktop player for Windows.

Once you install the player and show it the way to your stash of audio files, and it begins the (lengthy) process of examining each track's "sound fingerprint." It can take quite a while for Mufin to complete its analysis, so you might want to relax and check out some Time Wasters while it does its thing.

Suggestions can be made either from your own library or from Mufin.com. Now, they might not always right on target, but I'm not going to hold a grudge against a piece of software that can't find decent, non-Primus matches for a song like "Here Come the Bastards." Even if Mufin misses the mark now and then, it's still a great way to familiarize yourself with new artists.

Apart from recommendations, the player can also analyze a file for artist and track information using AuidioID. You can also let it auto-generate playlists based on a single track, and essential functions like ripping, burning, and copying tracks to an MP3 player are also included.

You'll need to register for an account in order to take full advantage of the player, so head over to Mufin, sign up, and download the player. More details about the desktop player are available at Mufin.com.

If you've tried it out, tell us what you think in the comments!

Filed under: Audio, Web services, Mobile

Mufin launches public beta with Facebook and iTunes support; licenses patented audio ID technology

Last month I wrote about mufin.com's music discovery engine. Unlike traditional music discovery services like last.fm or the Genius Mode in iTunes 8, mufin analyzes the actual musical structure of a song. This is great for music lovers because it can really open up more opportunities to discover new bands.

Co-developed at the Fraunhofer Institute (the creators of the MP3 format), mufin uses audio recognition technology to analyze the actual musical characteristics of a song. Mufin creates a unique "fingerprint" for each song, using 40 characteristics like tempo, instruments, rhythm structure and sound density. Then, when you search for a song in mufin's database, an alogrithm compares the fingerprint of that song against the database and presents you with results of songs that are similar in structure.

Today, mufin is officially entering public beta. If you missed out on the private beta, you can now sign up for the service and give it a whirl. Even better, mufin's public beta now supports both Facebook and iTunes.

Mufin for Facebook is pretty similar to the existing mufin widget for MySpace. You have access to the mufin discovery engine and song catalog from within Facebook and you can add your discoveries to your profile or share them with friends.

Read more →

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Features, Web services, web 2.0

Mufin launches new music discovery engine beta, Download Squad readers are invited



As a music lover, one of my favorite innovations of the last five years or so has come in the form of music discovery services. Services like Last.fm, Pandora, Rhapsody and iTunes 8 have made it easy to find artists or songs that are similar to your musical tastes and preferences. The only problem with these services, is that they are based on limited databases (like the iTunes Music Store, for iTunes's Genius Mode), reviews or ratings by other users and overall popularity. That means that the music discovered might indeed be similar, but it really limits results to mainsream songs and generic genre distinctions. This is great for an automatic playlist, but not so great for really finding new bands or artists.

This is why Mufin's new music discovery engine is so unique; it analyzes the actual structure of the song, not just the genre meta-data. Mufin's discovery engine just entered private beta, but Download Squad readers can get in on the action by using this invite link: http://beta.mufin.com/start?ic=e75eecf85a4a547ca9379d6f8b6c23bb.

Co-developed at the Fraunhofer Institute (the creators of the MP3 format), Mufin uses audio recognition technology to analyze the actual musical characteristics of a song. Mufin creates a unique "fingerprint" for each song, using 40 characteristics like tempo, instruments, rhythm structure and sound density. Then, when you search for a song in Mufin's database, an alogrithm compares the fingerprint of that song against the database and presents you with results of songs that are similar in structure.

Read more →

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