NPR has released an update for the NPR Music app which lets you stream audio to an Apple TV if you’re using an iPhone oriPod touch running iOS 4.3 with AirPlay support. But the bigger news this week is that NPR Music 2.7 supports live event coverage, with live video streams of concerts from the SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas starting today.

You’ll need a newer iPhone or iPod touch running iOS 4.2 or newer to use the live streaming feature.

NPR Music 2.7 also lets you view artist and song info for some of the streaming music stations included in the app. You’ll need iOS 4.2 and up to use this feature as well.

The NPR Music app is available as a free download from the App Store.

The NPR Music app for iOS is a great way to find new music, live performance, and information about upcoming and established musicians, as well as links to music streams from public radio stations and programs. NPR recently launched an updated version of the app for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad with additional concerts and access to music blogs.

NPR also says that it’s working on a version of the NPR Music app for Android. It’s taking a little longer to build than planned, but the Android app is due out sometime “in the next few months.”

There’s currently an NPR News app for Android, which also provides links to some music-related news stories and streaming content from public radio programs and stations.

via reddit

NPR has pushed out version 1.2 of its NPR Music app for iOS. The update adds support for the iPhone 4 retina display and some stability improvements and bug fixes. But the biggest change is support for video.

When you click on the Tiny Desk Concerts from the Programs menu, you can now watch videos of performances recorded at NPR. The current crop of concerts range from about 4 minutes to close to a half hour and include performances from artists including Jimmy Cliff, Bela Fleck, and Gogol Bordello. Videos aren’t available for every performance, but there many of the Tiny Desk concerts do have accompanying videos.

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NPR has released its second iPhone app. And while the first was understandably focused on NPR’s news programs and streaming audio from member stations, the new app is focused on music.

In a nutshell, the NPR Music app for iPhone makes it easy to access all of the content available on the NPR Music web site on an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. And that’s an awful lot of content. As the New York Times notes, the NPR Music web site has grown substantially over the past few years, and while many of the exclusive concerts and other content available on the site never actually go out over the radio, you can find an awful lot of excellent live performances on the web — or on an iPhone.

The NPR Music app also provides you with easy access to NPR member stations that do stream music. Believe it or not, public radio isn’t just filled with news and information programming. There are still a number of stations that stream jazz and classical music, and a growing number that also provide rock, folk, alternative, and other music.

There are also links to music-related news stories from NPR. For instance, on the home screen of the app today I found a link to listen to an NPR story about the 1 year anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death.

What the NPR Music web site has become best known for is providing listeners with a chance to discover new music from artists they might not otherwise have heard about. And while there are recordings of live performances from mainstream acts like the Dave Mathews Band, odds are you’ll find an awful lot of music that you’re unfamiliar with if you spend some time browsing through the archive. And for the most part that’s a good thing, because while it might not be familiar, most of the songs and concerts available through the NPR Music app are definitely worth listening to.

The app supports multitasking in iOS 4 (if you have supported hardware), which means you can stream music in the background while doing other things with your phone. You can also create custom playlists out of stories, and programs.

The NPR Music app is available as a free download from iTunes.

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