Music

Most iOS 7 users are probably satisfied with accessing music controls in the Control Center. For those looking for more features, Musiex can be installed on jailbroken devices. The tweak works in conjunction with Activator to provide track info and controls from anywhere.

Once installed, an Activator action can be assigned to Musiex, which will bring up a panel at the top of any screen. The panel appears in the same place as incoming notifications, and provides current track information including album art.

Ever notice that interrupting the stock Music app in iOS resets playing tracks? After closing the app or respringing the device, Music restarts all tracks from the beginning. Now with the free jailbreak tweak BookSong, track positions can actually be bookmarked to resume later.

With no options or settings to configure, BookSong adds the ability to resume where you left off to the stock Music app. Once installed, when a track is interrupted, the exact position when play was stopped is saved.

Improving radio stations in popular streaming music apps means weighing in on a track by tapping the thumbs up or thumbs down button. The process can be cumbersome if the iOS device is locked or the display is asleep, and each app has its own layout to fumble with. OneThumb seeks to change all this for jailbroken music fans.

With support for three different apps, OneThumb makes it possible to assign Activator gestures to the thumbs up and thumbs down inputs. Pandora, Spotify and iTunes Radio users can join in the fun, once the tweak is installed and configured.

iOS users with an Amazon Prime subscription now have another free music streaming option. Amazon rolled out its new music streaming service called "Prime Music" for Amazon Prime members. The service gives users access to over a million songs, hundreds of Amazon curated playlists and the ability to download tracks for offline listening.

Early reports suggest that Amazon's music library is not as deep as Pandora or Spotify, but the service is ad-free if you already have an Amazon Prime account. Not to mention, a $99 yearly subscription also nabs you free shipping from Amazon.com, access to Amazon's movie streaming service and deals on select products. A yearly subscription to Pandora may be cheaper, but it only offers ad-free music, not all the perks of an Amazon Prime subscription.

Several sources, including the Finacial Times and Bloomberg, have reported that Apple Inc. (AAPL) is in talks to purchase Beats Electronics LLC for $3.2 billion. If true, this would be the most money Apple has ever paid to acquire another company. But why is Apple considering paying so much for Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine’s music accessory company? While Apple hasn't officially announced its decision to buy Beats Electronics there are a few theories floating around as to why the iPhone-maker is making such a big move.

iTunes

Apple changed the music industry with the release of the iPod and iTunes, but services like Pandora and Spotify are causing an industry-wide drop in music downloads. According to various sources, Apple is reportedly looking to bolster its music-offerings by incorporating Shazam's song ID feature in iOS 8. The company's iTunes Radio has also also gotten off to a slow start, but adding Beats Music could help change all that.