Yahoo Music Relaunches with Ties to iTunes, YouTube, and Amazon

By Geoff Duncan Published April 7, 2009

Yahoo Music Relaunches with Ties to iTunes, YouTube, and Amazon

Over a year ago, Yahoo shut down its online music store, offering customers a chance to switch to Rhapsody and warning folks to burn their tracks to CDs before Yahoo stopped authorizing their music—Yahoo even compensated customers inconvenienced by the shutdown.

Six months ago Yahoo indicated it was planning to relaunch its music site by reaching outward to other services, and now the company has made good on that promise by launching Yahoo Artist Pages. Yahoo hopes its artist pages—which cover overs half a million music acts—will become shoppers’ and fans’ preferred point for learning more about their favorite performers and (of course) buying some music. Only Yahoo isn’t selling the music: instead, Yahoo is pointing to services like iTunes, Rhapsody, Last.fm, Pandora, and YouTube…and, when a sale is made, taking a cut on every referral made to these other services.

“Yahoo is focused on attracting and engaging the largest online audience and connecting each individual to the people and experiences that matter most to them,” said senior VP of Yahoo’s North America Audience Group Jeff Dossett, in a statement. “With Yahoo Music’s Artist Pages, we’re creating a truly open and indispensable music destination that will drive music fans to Yahoo first on their path to music discovery, experience, and purchase.”

The new Artist Pages aims to put music fans in charge of their own music discover and purchasing experience; users can customize their own Artist Pages and select modules that drop into those pages from their favorite online services—and, again, Yahoo is perfectly OK with folks pointing outside the Yahoo site network. Yahoo also says users will eventually be abe to create and self-publish their own Artist Pages, so individual musicians, artists, and record labels can set up their own pages for access by Yahoo’s audience.

Yahoo is positioning its Artist Pages as a game-changer for the online music industry. However, only time will tell if Artist Pages features appeal to music fans strongly enough to successfully insinuate Yahoo into online music purchasing as, essentially, a middle-man.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Smart Home

Eve MotionBlinds Upgrade Kit and Blinds Collection join the Matter lineup

The Eve MotionBlinds Upgrade Kit being installed.

Eve is a prominent name in the smart home world, with the company responsible for a variety of devices covering everything from smart plugs and security cameras to smart light switches and motion sensors. Its catalog is growing even more enticing today, with the Eve Blinds Collection and MotionBlinds Upgrade Kit gaining Matter support.

The MotionBlinds Upgrade Kit will likely appeal to more customers, as it costs just $200 and works with most existing setups. Installation is as simple as removing your shades, placing the MotionBlinds Upgrade Kit through the roller rod, then reinstalling the unit on your windows. Blinds with a roller between 1.5 inches and 2.0 inches are compatible with the upgrade kit.

Smart Home

Philips Hue lights have a rare discount, but there’s a catch

A TV with ambient backlighting from Philips Hue.

One of the cool things about Philips Hue lighting is how much freedom it gives you over creating the perfect ambiance in your home. One of the cool things about buying Philips Hue products over at Best Buy right now is how much freedom Best Buy is giving you over what you buy to save money. Right now, when you buy two or more select Philips Hue smart lighting product in Best Buy's offer builder, you can save 15%. Tap the button below to start building your own bundle and see all of the products available. While they don't include the best smart light bulbs that Philips produces, you'll be amazed by the versatility of the lightstrips. Or keep reading for an overview of some of the top picks from the bundle.

What you should purchase from the Philips Hue offer builder
The place to start with this deal is the and the if you don't already have them. These are the devices that take your movies, music, and games and syncs them to your lights.

Smart Home

Samsung’s futuristic Jet Bot AI+ robot vacuum is $400 off

The Samsung Jet Bot AI+ Robot Vacuum cleaning the floor.

For families who need a lot of help in keeping their floors spotless, the Samsung Jet Bot AI+ is an investment that you'll want to make. It's pretty expensive at its original price of $1,300, but a $400 discount from Samsung pulls it down to $900. It's still not cheap, but this futuristic robot vacuum could be the only device that you need to keep dirt, debris, and pet hair away from your sight. You're going to have to complete your purchase for it as soon as possible though, as there's no telling when the offer expires.

Why you should buy the Samsung Jet Bot AI+ robot vacuum
The Samsung Jet Bot AI+ checks all the boxes in the features that are recommended by our guide on how to choose a robot vacuum. It's equipped with powerful sensors and object recognition technology that allows it to avoid furniture when it's cleaning your floors, while LiDAR technology allows it to create accurate maps of the rooms in your home so that it can properly navigate and clean more efficiently. The robot vacuum also features a five-layer filtration system that allows it to release clean air, and when it's done, it goes back to its Clean Station where it empties its contents.