The release of iOS 7 brought new colors, 3D effects, and enough change to make us think we had a brand new iPhone. While the  iOS 7 time stamps are cool– yes, now you can see time stamps for every text, and many love the compass app that shows you, complete with bubbles, how level a surface is, iTunes Radio is by far the greatest part of the update. 

iTunes Radio is basically a replacement for every other music app you currently have sitting on your phone. It’s also possible that you can now ditch Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and all of those other streaming music apps you tried out and only used once.  Here are 5 reasons iTunes Radios is the best part of iOS 7.

1.  More ’90s Hits

With iOS 7, iTunes Radio allows you to select from over 25 genres ranging from the “Best Mix of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and Today!” under Adult Contemporary (which also includes 340 other streams) to College/University, Eclectic, Hip Hop, Talk Radio, and 84 streams of ’90s hits. With this new iTunes, there is essentially no reason to use other music providers, especially those that charge fees to stream music.

2.  10 Million More Songs Than Pandora

If you are familiar with other music streaming options, you have likely run into the frustration of finding the perfect channel, only to end up, ten songs later, listening to songs that either don’t fit the category. “Um, so why is Skrillex playing on my Beyonce station?” With iTunes Radio, this is less likely to happen – like ten million times less likely, because while services such as Pandora can spin a million songs, iTunes Radio can spin tens of millions.

3.  Guest DJ Katy Perry

iTunes Radio has also set up various special events and DJs for their Featured Stations with celebrities like Katy Perry, Jared Leto. On Katy Perry’s station for example, you get occasional commentary such as an introduction to her new single, Dark Horse (feat. Juicy J), and TMI about how she and her boyfriend make out to Drake. You can then decide to “Play More Like This” “Never Play This Song” or “Add to iTunes Wish List.” iTunes with iOS 7 has also made it extremely convenient to immediately purchase the songs you are listening to. Perhaps even too convenient.

4.  History of Songs

Okay, so maybe it’s just Apple’s way of getting me to purchase every song that plays on the Lisa Lisa Cult Jam station, but I love that the new iTunes radio records your history, and every song you’ve listened to is available for purchase. This is handy when you’re running like mad on the treadmill and have no clue what the name of that song was that you listened to 20 songs ago.

In the old days, if you missed the name of the song playing on the radio, you were basically SOL unless you could somehow get through to the radio station to ask them. And no one normal did that. To find the list of songs you’ve listened to in iTunes Radio, press the History button next to iTunes Radio. This is also where you will find your Wish List.

5.  Share Stations With Friends

There is currently no way to share specific songs through Facebook or Twitter, but who needs to tweet that they’re listening to “She Don’t Use Jelly,” anyway? However, if you do want to share a specific station, such as ’90s Alternative Radio, you can text, email, tweet, or share the link to the station on Facebook. This is done by selecting the circled “i” at the top of the song screen. This is also where you will find the options to create a station by artist.

You will likely find more reasons to love iTunes Radio once you get in there and start discovering new songs and setting up your Songs to Make Out To stations. While the iOS 7 update was long and scary for some of us who wondered if our iPhone might be stuck forever in update mode, the new iTunes Radio totally made it worth freaking out about. In a good way.

Related on EcoSalon:

Are Smart Appliances Worth the Investment?

5 Mobile Apps for a Non-Toxic Lifestyle

Music on the Go: Explore the New Indie Shuffle iPhone App

Photo Credits: mizzicatto and Cmajaski

The post iOS 7 Is Here: 5 Reasons We Love The New iTunes Radio appeared first on EcoSalon.

When you walk into your neighborhood boutique do you ever pay attention to the music that’s being played?

I do and I also take cues from their playlists for my own personal creations. Fashion and music pretty much go hand in hand and shopgirls? Well, they’re some of the hippest chicks going.

So get your ipods ready to be loaded. We’ll dedicate this potential playlist to all the  Shopgirls who’ve ever sold an organic cotton tunic or recycled handbag.

I asked them what they were playing and if they thought music was important to their shop’s ambiance. Here’s what a few of them had to say.

Kate Morison of Arboretum

“It is very important to us to have the proper vibe at Arboretum – one that makes people feel relaxed, happy, and willing to spend time and money in our space. We have experimented a lot and tracked people’s reactions to various bands, genres, etc. Our most successful shopping smash hits get compiled into iTunes playlists. My favorite is called “Store Sanctioned” and it’s got songs by the New Pornographers, Beruit, Andrew Bird, Electrelane, Dntel, The Knife, The Shins, The Brunettes, and more. We also rely a lot on Pandora, we created a station based on our love of Stereolab and Bacelorette which always fills the fitting rooms. Retail without music is just awkward, especially when the sound is out, the customer can sense some intangible absence. Besides, we need the music to motivate us to stay sunny and smiling at customers all day. Music is our Prozac.”

Kate McGregor of Kaight

“We play lots of different music at Kaight. Lately we’ve been playing a lot of Go Gos & George Michael, as well as Serge Gainsbourg (I’m a little obsessed). Typically, though, we keep it mellow with The XX, lots of Beatles, Superspirit, Radiohead, Lykke Li, Nouvelle Vague. Music that puts people in a calm, relaxed mood and makes them feel comfortable.”

Jennifer Miller of Mission Savvy

“I want Mission Savvy to be an experience into a world that is like no other (around these parts at least) so I pick Indie music that has a chill vibe. Like Ben Harper, Rusted Root, Discpatch, Eric Hutchinson, Barefoot Truth and a whole mix of singer songwriter girls. Very very happy stuff that makes you feel at peace. I want my customers to come back because they like being inside Mission Savvy – atmosphere and mood are keep to the end result – making sales!”

Donna Oakes of Cow Jones Industrials

“If I play CDs, it’s often Annie Lennox, Pretenders, Beatles, Sting, Herbie Hancock, David Bowie, Joni Mitchell. Mostly music that I like hearing but isn’t something that a potential customer might have a “Yuck” reaction to. I love listening to Tom Waits but get weird looks from some.”

Wendi Goad of Clary Sage

“The music we listen to at the store is an eclectic mix of classic rock, indie rock, folk, and female artists across all genres.
We love Adele, Alexi Murdoch, Beastie Boys, Citizen Cope, Estelle, The Fugees, Kings of Leon, Madonna, Lykke Li, Priscilla Ahn, The Supremes, and Wilco.”

“When we put together a playlist we are looking to create a welcoming feel for our clients. We want our music to be upbeat, but calm and collected. We also look to music to help us create energy in our store for our sales staff, and clients alike. As a yoga lifestyle brand we want to help our clients feel energized, but not overstimulated, and we rely on our music selection to help create that atmosphere.”

Image: Nati

The post Neighborhood Boutiques Set Their Stage with Song appeared first on EcoSalon.

I’ve just discovered this satellite radio channel called 1st Wave. It plays alternative ’80s rock that’s mined right out of my undergrad years. The Cure, REM, The Smiths, Pretenders, The Clash. I guess it’s kind of like my oldies station. (I can’t believe I even have an oldies station.) I drive around listening to this stuff and the memories pour in. Not just where or when I heard a song (read: what party, with whom and how wasted), but deeply visceral sensations, echoes of entire swaths of time and their accompanying gestalts – i.e., that summer of love or that winter of discontent. It’s about memories, yes, but it’s more than that. These songs actually reproduce a mood. It’s an odd sensation that I’ve chalked up to some kind of clinical nostalgia.

But maybe not. My editor just sent me this story from the BBC: “Study to develop ‘musical prescriptions’ for patients.”

Turns out these scientists at Glasgow Caledonian University are using a “mixture of psychology and audio engineering” to see how music can elicit specific responses. The plan is to analyze everything from tone, to pitch, to lyrics and even “associated thoughts” to accurately chart listeners responses and perhaps one day create music regimens that can take care of emotional needs. The potential here is to write music prescriptions to “help those suffering physical pain or conditions like depression.”

It isn’t any secret that our environment affects our moods. And if you pollute your ears, your mind will surly follow (sorry). So, in some ways there’s a No Sh*t Sherlock factor to this story. The BBC itself reported not too long ago stories such as “Music therapy ‘restores vision‘” and “‘Music helped me recover from stroke.'” Of course, too, there’s the Washington Post reporting  just last month that “single French women were more likely to accept the advances of an average-looking man after listening to a romantic song.” And not to put too fine a point on it, there was another nifty story just the other day called “Five ways to have better sex through music.” Indeed.

The goal of the study is to “develop a mathematical model that explains music’s ability to communicate different emotions.” In the future, computer programs might be able to identify very specific sound packages that will have very specific effects on our states of mind.

“Music expresses emotion as a result of many factors,” says Audio engineer Dr Don Knox, who is leading the study. “These include the tone, structure and other technical characteristics of a piece. Lyrics can have a big impact too.” Indeed, the BBC story points out, some online music stores and services use terms like “happy” and “sad” to describe a piece of music objectively, like musicovery. Of course, memories also play a role, and our subjective perceptions also factor into a response.

What form could an Rx take? Of course, there would be the free prescription that costs a couple hundred an hour. “Listen to this and call me in the morning.” But programming presentation descriptors – think iTunes happy section or Pandora mellow music – could soon have a real scientific basis to them. Mood Music. No, really.

Next time you’re jamming to some tune, your mood swaying to and fro along with the rest of you, know that somebody’s looking into it. And who knows, maybe one day Pfizer will wonder why sales are slumping and there’s dancing in the streets. Maybe The Cure were, in fact “¦

Image: flattop341

The post More than a Feeling: Prescribing Music to Alter Moods appeared first on EcoSalon.