seeqpod posts

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Microsoft, Web

Microsoft to launch internet radio service?

by Brad Linder Jul 14th 2009

A few months ago web-based music search engine and streaming media service SeeqPod dropped a hint that the company was working with Microsoft on... something. Now UK paper Telegraph is reporting that Microsoft is planning to launch a streaming music service similar to Spotify, Pandora, or Last.fm.

Microsoft could launch the service by the end of July. Users would be able to either stream songs for free over the internet or download tracks. The service will reportedly be ad-supported, but users will also have the option of paying £9.99 (about $16.30) per month for an ad-free version.

There's also a chance (I'd say a pretty good one), that the music service will be available to Xbox 360 users as well, as Microsoft continues to position the console as a multimedia hub and not just a gaming system.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Tags: last.fm, music, pandora, seeqpod, spotify

Filed under: Audio, Microsoft, Search

Is Microsoft about to purchase SeeqPod's assets?

by Brad Linder May 12th 2009

There's a rumor going around that Microsoft could be preparing to purchase music search engine SeeqPod, or at least acquire some of the company's technology. Now where did this crazy rumor come from? SeeqPod. If you go to the site right now, which is for the most part shut down, and hover your mouse over the word "metamorphosis," you get a link to search.microsoft.com. Odd, no?

Now in an interview with Wired, SeeqPod's CEO has confirmed that the company has been talking to Microosft for the past year. No deal has been signed yet, and no cash has changed hands. But it looks pretty likely that something is going on here.

SeeqPod made a name for itself as a music search engine that would scour the web for MP3 files, letting you play them in a Flash based player. While the site never hosted any copyrighted files itself, it made it possible to find and play thousands, if not millions of illegally uploaded media files. Somehow I doubt Microsoft will purchase SeeqPod and relaunch the site using the same business model. But SeeqPod's search tools could be repurposed to help users discover and play legal audio, video, and other rich media content from around the web if Microsoft or another company with the right know how decides to put SeeqPod's algorithm to a different use.

Tags: media, music-search, seeqpod

Filed under: Audio, Business, Web

SeeqPod files for bankruptcy, prepares for lawsuits

by Jay Hathaway Apr 1st 2009

The popular online music player SeeqPod, a service whose API powers a cluster of other music sites, has apparently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to documents linked by TechCrunch. There hasn't been any announcement that SeeqPod's service will stop operating, but the company is facing lawsuits from record labels that object to its ability to efficiently crawl the web to find Mp3s files from blogs and other sources. TechCrunch speculates that the bankruptcy filing is a reaction to the legal actions that are piling up against SeeqPod.

Download Squad is not in the legal business, obviously, but I'd speculate that SeeqPod would be eligible for protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, because its mp3 crawling functions are entirely automated, but even if that's true, it's expensive for a startup to fight a protracted legal battle against big players like Warner Music and EMI. I love SeeqPod, and I'd love to see the service continue, especially as part of sites like Mixtape.me. Hopefully bankruptcy turns out to be the right move for SeeqPod's investor and its fans.

Tags: bankruptcy, chapter-11, lawsuit, seeqpod

Filed under: Audio, Fun, Utilities, web 2.0, Web

Mixtape.me is the latest, greatest mp3 playlist site

by Jay Hathaway Mar 25th 2009

I've lost count of the times new audio playlist sites have popped up and been compared to the heyday of Muxtape. Comparisons are inevitable, though, when we talk about the latest -- and possibly the greatest -- in a long chain of mixtape sites that never quite seem to catch on: Mixtape.me. It grabs music from around the web, notably from Seeqpod, and does a great job of letting you make and browse playlists in an environment reminiscent of desktop music players.

You don't need an account to create a Quick Playlist on mixtape.me. You can just start adding tracks from searches and other people's playlists. Registering an account lets you add (but not upload) mp3s and save your playlists. There are also a lot of extra touches, like grabbing song info, lyrics and album artwork automatically. You can also share your playlists easily, even with friends who aren't signed up with Mixtape.me.

Tags: mixtape, mixtape.me, mp3, music, muxtape, playlist, seeqpod

Filed under: Audio, Windows Mobile, Search, web 2.0, Mobile, Web

SeeqPod to release Windows Mobile music player

by Brad Linder Dec 18th 2008

SeeqPod offers a web-based music search engine and media player. The service lives in a gray area of the internet because it offers the ability to find and play songs and videos that have been illegally uploaded to the internet without the copyright holder's permission. But SeeqPod doesn't actually host any of the files.

Now SeeqPod is hoping to graduate from a web-only service by offering a Windows Mobile application.

SeeqPod Mobile will let users search the web for songs that can be streamed to your mobile phone using a built in media player. The program includes a choice of skins and will work with Windows Mobile 6.0 or newer devces with a variety of screen sizes. Unlike the web application, SeeqPod will cost you $15, although the company will be selling the app for $10 at launch.

The company will also attempt to make a few bucks by including links for purchasing songs in the search results.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Tags: music, seeqpod, seeqpod-mobile

Filed under: Audio, Windows, Web services, web 2.0

Find, play, and download web music with Songbeat

by Brad Linder Dec 2nd 2008

Songbeat is a desktop application for accessing web-based music search and discovery services including Seeqpod, Project Playlist, SpoolFM, and Last.fm without a web browser.

When you fire up the application you're greeted with a search box. Just type an artist or song title and Songbeat will attempt to find songs from the music search engines mentioned plus a few more. Or you can click on the Station tab and enter an artist or song title to launch a Last.fm audio stream.

Songbeat lets you listen to as many songs as you want for free. But you can also use the program to download music or record audio from Last.fm. Once you hit 25 downloads, you'll have to pony up some cash to keep downloading the free music. A full license costs 19,99 Euros or $29.99 US.

There are a few kinks to be worked out. While I found the search and playback features worked fairly well, once I tried recording an audio track Songbeat went hog wild and started downloading a bunch of songs I hadn't asked for. In a matter of minutes all of my 25 free downloads were used up.

[via TechCrunch]

Tags: last.fm, music, project-playlist, seeqpod, songbeat, spoolfm

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Yahoo!, Search

Search for music on Yahoo!, play songs on search results page

by Brad Linder Sep 18th 2008

Companies like SeeqPod and Skreemr have made a business model out of letting you search for a song or musician by name and then streaming the MP3s found on the web. The sites don't actually host any of the music - just the tools to locate and play it. But they do rely on the fact that millions of people have already illegally uploaded copyrighted songs to the internet. Now Yahoo! has entered the game with a 100% legal system.

Here's how it works. You go to Yahoo.com and enter the name of a band, musician, or song. If it's among the 10,000 or so songs supported by Yahoo! at the moment, you'll get a box at the top of your search results with some artist information and a few play links. Hit play and a Flash-based player will pop up and start playing the song by streaming music from Real Networks' Rhapsody music service.

There is a catch. You can only listen to 25 songs a month before the Rhapsody player stops working. You'll need to sign up for a paid account if you want to keep going. In other words, if you're looking to create a free streaming audio playlist, you're still better off using SeeqPod or Skreemr. But if you're already a Rhapsody subscriber or if you're willing to pay for a legal service, Yahoo! is offering an alternative. And more importantly, if you're not looking to create a playlist, but just want to figure out the name of that tune you heard on the radio, Yahoo! now has the tools to help.

Tags: music, rhapsody, seeqpod, skreemr, streaming, yahoo, yahoo-music

Filed under: Audio, Web services, web 2.0

Favtape: On-demand music playlist pulled from Last.fm, Pandora profiles

by Brad Linder Jul 22nd 2008

Online music sites Pandora and Last.fm do a great job of providing you with streaming music you might like based on your listening history. But what they don't do a great job of us letting you listen to any song you want at any time. That's because music labels actually want you to do things like you know, go out and buy the songs.

But in this new information age, practically any song you could ever want to hear has been uploaded to one web site or another. All you need to know is how to use search engines like Google to find them. And that's where music search engines/players like SeeqPod come in. The site doesn't actually host any audio, it just provides the means to play audio hosted on other sites. So while the music may kind of sort of be illegally hosted, SeeqPod isn't violating any laws.

Favtape combines some of the best features of Seedpod and Pandora and Last.fm, with a whole lot of muxtape thrown in for good measure. Here's how it works. You visit Favtape.com, enter your Pandora user profile or your Last.fm username and Favtape will find your favorites and/or bookmarks. It will then create a playlist out of those songs by tracking down the music from other sources online.

The upshot is that you should get a playlist with up to 10 songs that you've already said you like, and you can hit the play button to listen at any time without any of the limiations imposed by Pandora or Last.fm. The downside is that sometimes Favtape will think it found your song when in fact it found another song with a similar file name. See that BNL link above? Yeah, when we clicked play we got some song we'd never heard before and didn't particularly much care for.

[via TechCrunch]

Tags: favtape, last.fm, music, muxtape, pandora, seeqpod

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

SeeqPod: Find and play music found on the web

by Brad Linder Apr 29th 2008

SeeqPod is a search engine for finding music on the web. But it's much more than that. Enter an artist or song title in SeeqPod and it will look for MP3s, video files, or web sites related to you term and present them in a nice clean list -- with links to play the files on the site. You can use SeeqPod without registering for an account, but if you want to save playlists you'll want to sign up for a free account.

SeeqPod has been around since last year, but we're having one of those days where we keep thinking of cool things we've never shared with you before. This morning it was the K-Meleon web browser, and now we bring you SeeqPod.

There are a few other nifty things you can do with SeeqPod, like embed audio clips on your web page or find lyrics or tour dates from an artist. Or you can even embed an audio search and playback widget on your web site.

Bear in mind, many of the songs that SeeqPod finds on the web are not exactly being legally distributed. But since SeeqPod isn't actually hosting the files itself, the company is sort of gray market and may be able to stand up against any future legal challenges. Or it may not.

Tags: embed, music, seeqpod, streaming

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