Exciting updates coming this week!

It's monday again ... and we've spent most of our weekend to fix bugs reported by our users (special thanks to our Google Group members for their support!).
This week will start with some new features and bugfixes (more to come soon here in this blog). We're sending out new invitations as well so that more and more people can enjoy tunesBag.
Have a nice week!

Support for WMA (Windows Media Audio) Files added

Today we have released a new version of tunesBag with support for Windows Media Audio (WMA) files. You can simply add WMA and MP3 files using our WebUpload and our incoming email system (Just click on "Add media" in the Library).
This makes tunesBag even more compatible with existing solutions and we are excited to hear the feedback of the Windows Media Player users out there!

New volume controller available

A pending issue was the volumne controller that has been removed for the version because it did not fit into the interface. When you login now, you can see the new controller on the upper right corner - by clicking you can set the level.

This way it's possible to let tunesBag play music very gently in the background. The mini player has a similar feature, just set the desired level in the controller in the player bar.

Maximal file size of uploads: 20MB

We've received several questions about how big a single file can be - here is the answer: You can upload files with a size of up to 20 MegaBytes.
This might change as we know that some people have larger files as well, e.g. DJ Mixes or such stuff.

Our brand new Connector/Uploader Application for Windows

Adding media to tunesBag is fairly easy and you've got several ways to do it:

• User our web uploader: A flash based uploader with a progress bar
• Send your files by e-mail to username@incoming.tunesBag.com
• Point to a file on the web (e.g. your web server)
• Use our Uploader/Connector application

The latest option is of course the most comfortable one, you just need to download the setup file (currently for Windows only, more to come), select your library and start the upload.

Save traffic with our smart Uploader
The uploader will only upload the necessary files - music which you've already uploaded will not be transmitted again.

Here are some screenshots:
The welcome screen
Enter your username/password, get the latest news from our blog.


Native iTunes support
You can select your iTunes library manually or automatically (recommended). The tool displays the playlists stored in your library and lets you perform a selection of what to upload.

Native Winamp support
We offer a native Winamp support as well. You can select Winamp playlists to upload.
Upload manually selected files
You can add files by Drag & Drop from the explorer and copy them to the server.

The upload itself
The upload window will show you the estimated time needed for the whole process, the current speed and the name of the artist / track.

Recommended browsers for tunesBag

Our goal is it of course to make tunesBag compatible with any major browser and we've definitly achieved this. You can use tunesBag with the latest major version of Firefox (2), Internet Explorer (7) or Safari (3).
If you want really to get out the most of tunesBag we recommend you to use Safari on Mac OS X and Firefox on Windows. The simple reason: tunesBag is using AJAX/JavaScript stuff a lot, so the performance of the JavaScript/AJAX engine is crucial for the user experience.
Of course we're already testing tunesBag with IE8 and Firefox 3 - both platforms will be compatible with tunesBag (as we generelly use strict, clean code/structure). Performancewise, FF3 seems to be faster than FF2, but we need the final version to make a proper statement.
In case you're interested in a comparison of the various browser engines, click here, Coach Wei has done some research.

Join our new Google Group for discussions about tunesBag

I just created the new official discussion group for tunesBag! If you are interested, join now!

Interview with Hansjoerg Posch about tunesBag.com

ORF Futurezone has an article about tunesBag: Click here to read (German).
internetszene.at has talked to Hansjoerg Posch, founder of tunesBag about the project, his plans and views - click here to read (German).

Feature of the day: The mini player

A really nice and handy feature is the "mini player" provided by tunesBag - with this tool you can listen to your playlists using a very small browser window. In order to use this feature, just create a playlist (or user one of the given ones) and click on "mini player" in the left navigation.
This way working with Word just makes more fun (see screenshot)! ;-)

Please report any bugs / make recommendations using our feedback form

We're sending out the first beta invitations these days for the closed beta. In case you find any bugs or want to make improvement requests, don't hesitate and fill out our feedback form: http://www.tunesBag.com/rd/feedback/
We hope to hear from you soon!

Is tunesBag a legal service? Long story short: Yes

To make a long story short: Yes, tunesBag is a legal service.
Everytime there's something new about a service in the field of online music I suppose the major labels are calling their law firm for immediate action. So one has to be prepared when starting a project in this area and here are the reasons why I think tunesBag is a totally legal service.

1. Clear Focus on private service
   Although, the community features will be expanded (we have already integrated some facebook services), no music is made available to the public. If you upload music to tunesBag, it will not be stored on a public FTP server where everyone has access.
   
   Moreover, most of the services are strictly private and can only be accessed with the right username / passwort. So clearly the user has to take the responsibility of what he is doing - image the example of someone writing a construction manual for a bomb in Word - would you blame Microsoft?
   
   
2. "Privatkopie" allows sharing of data
   Under the Austrian jurisdiction, there exists a right for the so called "Privatkopie" (§ 42 UrhG, see our FAQ). It's totally legal to share data with friends when it is not done for commercial reasons and without doing that in order to make it available to the public.
   
   § 42 UrhG. (1) Jedermann darf von einem Werk einzelne Vervielfältigungsstücke auf Papier oder einem ähnlichen Träger zum eigenen Gebrauch herstellen.
   (4) Jede natürliche Person darf von einem Werk einzelne Vervielfältigungsstücke auf anderen als den in Abs. 1 genannten Trägern zum privaten Gebrauch und weder für unmittelbare noch mittelbare kommerzielle Zwecke herstellen.
   (5) Eine Vervielfältigung zum eigenen oder privaten Gebrauch liegt vorbehaltlich der Abs. 6 und 7 nicht vor, wenn sie zu dem Zweck vorgenommen wird, das Werk mit Hilfe des Vervielfältigungsstückes der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich zu machen. Zum eigenen oder privaten Gebrauch hergestellte Vervielfältigungsstücke dürfen nicht dazu verwendet werden, das Werk damit der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich zu machen.
   
   
3. No unlimited sharing
   The number of persons who can access your library is not unlimited. This limitation is made in order to guarantee that the term "public" access does not apply to your activities on tunesBag.
   
   
4. No intention to violate laws
   tunesBag is not made with the intention to bypass or violate a law - the user is responsible for the data he uploads and all tunesBag is doing offering some technical basis. The very same principle applies to every website with user generated content. If we get notified of violations by the responsible government agencies we of course have to react according to the law (e.g. according to §17 (1) ECG, no general liabilty for links or content on other websites).
   
   
5. Streaming yes, Downloads no
   You can only listen to the music of your friends but not download it. This restriction is made despite of the fact that under the term of "Privatkopie" this could be totally legal according to my understanding.
   
   
6. Promotion of free music
   We already have started some features which aim directly to the promotion of free music - these data (mainly licenced under the Creative Commons licence) is much easier to handle as other types of music.

I hope these statements have made some things clearer to people interested in law.

Screenshots of the upcoming beta!

Here you can see the first official screenshots of the upcoming beta version of tunesBag:
As you can see we prefer a nice and clean interface ;-)
The library view
Select your music by certain criteria using tag / genre cloudes, artist, album etc. Of course you can create playlists as well in order to organize your music the way you want.
With one click, you can browse through the libraries of your friends as well!

How to add music to tunesBag?
We offer several ways to add your stuff to the music library - including a web uploader with a progressbar and a simple application that can upload your iTunes library or certain playlists. An uploader for Mac OS X will follow!What else should I listen to? What's related to the track I'm currently listening to?
Always take a look at the right column - here you can see recommendations and with one click we'll search YouTube and the internet for this track.
Sometimes a picture says more than a thousand words
Therefore, you can always watch the music video on YouTube with one click without leaving the service. In the screenshot the track 1979 performed by the Smashing Pumpinks can be seen.
What about user pages?
Here we go: Every user has it's own user page with his playlists, genre cloud and favourite artists. You can leave a message or ask to become friends.
By the way, you're able to integrate your facebook account so there's no need to invite thousands of people.
Do you like twitter?
We do - so you can post your comments about tracks or artists right to this service and keep your friends updated about your listening behaviour!


Great stuff, isn't it? So just enter your email address here and we will notify you about the launch of the public beta!