ScriptPal - Doug Adams

A few years back, I extolled the virtues of Doug Adams’s repository of AppleScripts for iTunes. The hundreds of iTunes scripts available from Doug’s site give iTunes features you’ve always wanted—or never realized you needed... read more at Macworld

Spotify - Spotify

Spotify provides a huge library of old and new music, streaming it to your Mac for free, as long as you don't mind the occasional advert. Alternatively, you can get rid of the ads by paying for either a day pass or monthly premium... read more at MacUserUK

Djay 2 - Algoriddim

When you need a quick music mix, the temptation to fire up iTunes can be tough to resist. But a dedicated DJ app will give you more advanced features that make playing music more fun—and fun is what DJing is all about, right... read more at Macworld

GarageBand ’09 - Apple

Unless you have an active interest in producing podcasts or creating a musical score, it’s likely you’ve opened GarageBand once and then never bothered with it again. Of all the programs that make up the iLife suite, none is more overlooked than this application... read more at Macworld

Pro Tools LE 8 - Digidesign

It's been three years since Pro Tools had a big number change and while the point updates to 7 brought some cool new features, a completely new version number indicates big changes. The LE version reviewed here needs Digidesign's Mbox hardware... read more at MacUserUK

RMV - Linplug

In an era awash with multi-gigabyte, ultrarealistic drum sample players, will LinPlug's successor to the RMIV - the RMV - be able to make itself heard? On paper, it certainly packs in a lot of content, with 1500 audio loops, 2600 midi grooves and 10,000 sounds... read more at MacUserUK

4 Tracks - 4 Tracks

4 Tracks was the first multitrack app and has a lo-fi visual charm, with its retro GUI. It also works in widescreen mode, which is pleasantly spacious, although the view shifts to portrait view for the Info screen... read more at MacUserUK

Quantum Leap Pianos - EastWest

Ministry of Rock's focus on guitars gave us initial cause for concern, as playing guitars on a Midi keyboard is often like mowing the lawn with a carving knife: it works, after a fashion, but it's not the ideal tool for the job. Conversely, Quantum Leap Pianos is a natural fit for operation via Midi keyboard, being an entirely piano-based library... read more at MacUserUK

Ministry of Rock - EastWest

We last looked at an EastWest/Quantum Leap instrument with the release of Fab Four, the beautifully designed Beatles-inspired sample collection that was part genius, part disappointment: the drums and keyboards were great, the guitars less so... read more at MacUserUK

MacFreelance - PX Software

MacFreelance is a simple time-tracking and invoicing application for creative professionals. Its project-based workflow will be instantly familiar to freelancers. Clients - whose details can be manually created or imported from Address Book... read more at MacUserUK

Cubase Essential 4 - Steinberg

As Cubase SX became simply 4 and SL became Studio, now it's the turn of the entry-level version of this venerable audio title to undergo the periodic nip/tuck of feature upgrade, image overhaul and name change... read more at MacUserUK

Textcast - Bit Maki

If you’ve got a daily commute or if you travel often, podcasts are a great way to keep up with the latest news and your favorite entertainment; you can listen while you drive, fly, or take the subway, train, or ferry. But wouldn’t it be great if you could also absorb other information... read more at Macworld

Peak Pro 6 - BIAS

BIAS’ Peak Pro is a longtime standby for audio production on the Mac, used by musicians, podcasters, sound designers, and other audio producers. As a dedicated waveform editor, it focuses on editing stereo audio and fine-tuning individual audio assets. It includes specialized tools for recording and prepping files and loops for use with other applications or hardware samplers... read more at Macworld

MixMeister Fusion - MixMeister

MixMeister Fusion is marketed as a live-performance and studio tool, but for DJs used to mixing with “two turntables and a microphone,” it feels most appropriate as the latter. A unique concept, Fusion incorporates many standard features from traditional DJ-booth-mimicking software, such as Native Instruments’ Traktor, into a timeline-based playback and editing environment... read more at MacLife

Soundbooth CS4 - Adobe Systems

Like its predecessor, Adobe’s audio editing application, Soundbooth CS4, is a compromise. Although it includes more advanced features than the original Soundbooth —multitrack editing, speech transcription, non-destructive editing, automatic volume matching between tracks, and MP3 compression... read more at Macworld

Sequel 2 - Arbiter Group

Sequel 2 is Steinberg's first major update to what the company calls a cross-platform 'fully-loaded music studio'. While the application is patently modelled on GarageBand, which is free on every new Mac... read more at MacUserUK

Reason 4 Premium Edition - Propellerheads

The Reason 4 Premium Edition is the ultimate version of Propellerheads' renowned virtual studio in a box. Taking Reason 4 and bundling it with all four Hypersampled ReFill sound libraries - Abbey Road Keyboards, Reason Drum Kits 2, Reason Electric Bass and Reason Pianos... read more at MacUserUK

Cubase Essential 4 - Steinberg

As Cubase SX became simply 4 and SL became Studio, now it's the turn of the entry-level version of this venerable audio title to undergo the periodic nip/tuck of feature upgrade, image overhaul and name change... read more at MacUserUK

Rhapsody in Blah - RealNetworks

Digital music stores used to ignore the iPod, but that has changed. Today, vendors like Amazon offer à la carte downloads of high-quality MP3 files that lack digital rights management and play on almost anything, iPods included. Now RealNetworks has added the browser-based Rhapsody MP3 Store to its Rhapsody music subscription service, offering another way to buy your tunes DRM-free. Unfortunately, the store just isn’t ready for the big time... read more at MacLife

iTunes 8 - Apple

The last few major updates to iTunes have added everything from new looks to the ability to watch movies and TV shows, download podcasts, and get recommendations for iTunes Store purchases. It would seem that all that could be done to Apple's media manager and player had already been done... read more at Macworld

Hear 1.0 - JoeSoft

JoeSoft’s Hear mission is to take the pure audio flowing through a Mac—movie soundtracks, music tracks, and game audio—and alter it in a variety of ways with the end result being something that’s more pleasing to the listener’s ears... read more at Macworld

WireTap Studio 1.0.4 - Ambrosia Software

If your Internet radio programmes are often interrupted by family obligations, or you want to record an incoming Skype phone call - with the other party's permission, of course - then WireTap Studio ought to be welcome relief in the face of distraction... read more at MacUserUK

Sibelius 5 - Sibelius

When most people think of the intersection of Macs and music, they think of synthesizers, MIDI, and apps like Logic Pro. But some musicians like to score their music the old-fashioned way—on paper, with musical notes written on a staff. And to do that on a Mac, there’s Sibelius... read more at MacLife

Ableton Live 7 - Ableton

Ableton is promoting the release of Live 7, its audio performance and recording application, as a root-and-branch overhaul of the inner workings of the program: 'renewing the core of Live... read more at MacUserUK

EastWest Fab Four - EastWest

When sample gurus EastWest first announced Fab Four, the promise of a Beatles-inspired sample library recorded on vintage instruments, played by ex-Wings personnel, routed through authentic period EMI valve mixing desks and outboard gear, engineered by a veteran of five Beatles albums, Ken Scott, and carefully assembled at the historic Cello Studios in Los Angeles, we were very excited... read more at MacUserUK

Logic Express 8 - Apple

With the launch of Logic Studio last month, and the attendant hoo-ha about all the dazzling new features therein, Logic Express 8 was always destined to lurk in its shadow, the ugly sister at Studio's coming-out ball... read more at MacUserUK

Radioshift - Rogue Amoeba

While a variety of media players provide access to radio streams, Radioshift democratises the way users find and listen to them. From its sleek home page, you can use a built-in search engine to find radio by the name of the station or the programme you're interested in. Radioshift also lets you browse by genre... read more at MacUserUK

Nuendo 4.1 - Arbiter Group

When Steinberg first introduced Nuendo in 2001, it was pitched as a superior audio-production rival to the established Pro Tools. Since then, Steinberg has been sold to first Pinnacle, then Yamaha, and Nuendo's focus has shifted towards post-production work... read more at MacUserUK

Groove Agent 3 - Arbiter Group

The world is now full of realistic, multisampled virtual drum software plug-ins. So what can Steinberg's Groove Agent 3 offer to lift it above the pack?... read more at MacUserUK

Altiverb 6 - Audio Ease

Altiverb 6 is a plug-in for music production that creates reverb based on real samples of real spaces. Put simply, you can record your mumblings and guitar noodling, then apply an effect that makes it sound like you recorded them in the Sydney Opera House. For anyone mastering music for specific settings - studio or nightclub engineers, for example - Altiverb 6 is a formidable tool to have on your Mac... read more at MacLife

WireTap Studio 1.0.1 - Ambrosia Software

After making modest efforts in the audio capture and editing arena with its WireTap Pro, Ambrosia Software has released the fuller-featured WireTap Studio, a $69 application that focuses on easily capturing audio, performing common editing tasks, and—its stand-out feature—allowing you to non-destructively edit audio and preview it in a variety of formats... read more at Macworld

Synk Audio Musicbed DV 1.6 - Synk Audio

Creating compelling, captivating musical scores for your video projects can be a daunting challenge. But with Musicbed DV, you have a truly useful tool to make royalty-free soundtracks. Perfect for commercial projects, it delivers smooth music with minimum effort... read more at MacLife

Abbey Road Keyboards - M-Audio

Released in conjunction with Abbey Road Studios, Propellerheads' latest ReFill, Abbey Road Keyboards, offers seven of the studio's most famous keyboards. It consists of Steinway and Challen upright pianos, a Hammond RT-3 organ, a Mannborg Harmonium, a Schiedmayer Celeste, a Mellotron M400 and a set of tubular bells... read more at MacUserUK

Reason 4 - M-Audio

Two-and-a-half years on from version 3, Reason 4 is finally here. Appropriately, the new version gives us four major reasons to be cheerful: an overhauled sequencer, the ReGroove 'unquantizer' mixer, the RPG-8 arpeggiator and Thor, Reason's new synth... read more at MacUserUK

Logic Studio - Apple

Finally, after three years of gossip, rumour and wild speculation, Logic Pro 8 is here. It has a new umbrella name, Logic Studio, and a couple of interesting new friends in its smart box; the debutante Mainstage and the more familiar Soundtrack Pro 2. The XSKey dongle is no longer required. And the total price has dropped by over half... read more at MacUserUK

VirSyn Reflect - VirSyn

Reverb: recordings simply don't soundfinished without it. Whether it's the natural reverberations of the space in which the recording was captured (the ambience of Abbey Road's Studio 2 is one of the reasons Beatles records sound so good) or artificial reverb overlaid from digital studio gear, it's an effect musicians can't live without... read more at MacUserUK

GarageBand '08 - Apple

With the release of GarageBand 3 (4. mice, the version included in iLife ’06), iLife’s music sketchpad application concentrated most of its efforts at incorporating podcasting capabilities. With the release of GarageBand ’08, Apple shifts its focus back to musicians... read more at MacLife

GarageBand Jam Pack Voices - Apple

After issuing add-on GarageBand loop packs based on instrument, percussion, orchestral, electronic, and world sounds, Apple believes it’s time to visit humankind’s first instrument—the human voice... read more at Macworld

Jax - AM Micro

iTunes is one of Apple's most important applications. It started life as a humble music jukebox but now it's the control centre for the iPod, Apple TV and the iPhone. It's so influential that the new operating system, Leopard, has integrated the Cover Flow technology to use in the Finder. It's no surprise then to see developers trying to extend and improve the capabilities of iTunes... read more at MacUserUK