Items tagged with streaming music
For a few extra bucks per month, Spotify is offering a new Premium Duo streaming music tier aimed at couples who live under the same roof, and who may not necessarily share the same tastes in music. It is a welcome addition, particularly if you find yourself wondering why your carefully curated playlist keeps getting invaded by tracks you have no interest in listening to (like anything by Keith Urban). What the new Premium Duo tier basically amounts to is a bundling of two Premium subscriptions, though what you get is actually a bit more nuanced. Namely, a feature called Duo Mix. "Premium Duo subscribers can listen to their own playlists anytime, individually, uninterrupted, and get access to...
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Last month Spotify made a change aiming to catch people who are using a family plan outside of users who reside at the same address. The update to its Spotify Premium Family Terms and Conditions slipped out quietly on August 19 and has gone mainly under the radar, for anyone who hasn't logged into their Family Premium account since then. The new rules mean that everyone who is on your family plan must use the same physical address to be allowed on the service. Verifying the same address isn't exactly high security as cheating that setup is fairly straight-forward affair of sharing the same address on their account. What the move does do is make those who value being honest and doing the right...
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Porsche and Apple have announced a team-up that will bring integrated Apple Music streaming to the fast and cool Porsche Taycan EV sports car. The Taycan is the first fully electric Porsche and is set to launch in September, and it will have a touchscreen display in its dash as part of the Porsche Advanced Cockpit. From that touchscreen, Apple Music subscribers will be able to stream over 50 million songs with no ads and have access to thousands of curated playlists and the Beats 1 global livestream. The music will stream using the Taycan's integrated internet data connectivity that is complimentary for the first three years of ownership. While Apple Music is available on most new vehicles today...
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Spotify is a big name in the streaming audio market and hit 100 million paid subscribers in April. Spotify is also the reason that the EU is set to launch a probe against Apple. Spotify is working on a new social listing feature that will allow users to listen to their favorite music with friends. The feature is called Social Listening, and it allows multiple people to add songs to a queue that you can all listen to at the same time. For the friends to add songs to the queue, they do have to scan the QR-style Spotify Special Listening code. The music isn't synchronized meaning you won't be hearing the same part of the song at the exact same time; it's merely a shared playlist of songs. Spotify...
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Spotify is always testing new ways to make its streaming music service more appealing to users. It recently passed the 100 million subscriber mark for its paid premium service. About a year ago, we first heard that Spotify was working on streaming audio gear for the car and this January learned that the in-car streaming device was set to debut in late 2019. Spotify has now directly confirmed that it is testing a car streaming device that it is calling "Car Thing." The streaming audio company says that with Car Thing, it is examining how people listen in the car via voice-controlled music and podcast devices. However, the confirmation throws cold water on rumored Spotify plans for creating hardware...
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Spotify, the largest streaming music player in the world with 100 million premium paid subscribers, is beefing with Apple, which has aspirations of taking the throne. If Spotify is to be unseated, however, it will not be without a fight. Spotify is very much being proactive in its battle with Apple, and has lodged a complaint with the European Union over Apple's business practices. The EU has decided to investigate. The complaint has to do with Apple's App Store policies, with Spotify alleging that Apple is unfairly and illegally "tilting the playing field to disadvantage competitors." Spotify's main issue is that Apple charges digital content providers a 30 percent royalty for using its payment...
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Reports indicate that Amazon is currently hard at work getting ready to launch a new hi-def music streaming service aiming at audiophiles. Reports of the new hi-def streaming service come right on the heels of the online giant announcing last week that Amazon Echo owners could listen to streaming music for free. Word of the hi-def music streaming service comes from highly placed sources in the music industry reports Music Business Worldwide. The same sources claim that one major music label has already agreed to license its music to the platform. The sources also claim that the cost of the streaming service is to be in the area of $15 monthly and Amazon is targeting a launch before the end of...
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Somewhere in a landfill there sits a pile of broken records, busted cassette tapes, and scratched up CDs. To some extent, these are all relics of the past (vinyl is making a comeback, though), having given way first to MP3 files (hello, Napster) and now streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify. One would think that the transition to streaming media is better for the environment, but that might not actually be the case. The University of Glasgow and the University of Oslo collaborated on a study that found that even though the use of plastic for things like vinyl and cassette tapes has gone way down in the modern era, there has been a bump in greenhouse gas emissions, as a result of streaming...
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Streaming giant Spotify is delivering a strong message to Apple, which is both a partner of sorts and a rival, through a new antitrust suit and related marketing campaign. That message is to play fair, for the benefit of consumers and businesses alike. According to Spotify, Apple is not playing fair by charging a 30 percent "tax" on purchases made in the App Store "Apple requires that Spotify and other digital services pay a 30% tax on purchases made through Apple’s payment system, including upgrading from our Free to our Premium service. If we pay this tax, it would force us to artificially inflate the price of our Premium membership well above the price of Apple Music. And to keep our...
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In the realm of music, cassette tapes are largely dead and compact discs (CDs) are not far behind. Streaming music is both the present and future, and there are big bucks at stake. Hence why satellite music giant SiriusXM today announced that it is acquiring Pandora for around $3.5 billion. Once closed, the all-stock transaction will create the world's largest audio entertainment company, SiriusXM says. "We have long respected Pandora and their team for their popular consumer offering that has attracted a massive audience, and have been impressed by Pandora's strategic progress and stronger execution. We believe there are significant opportunities to create value for both companies' stockholders...
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A new rumor is going around that focuses on the fate of Google Play Music. According to the source, Google Play Music will die once YouTube Remix launches. The rumor claims that all current users of Play Music will be forced to migrate to YouTube Remix by the end of the year. YouTube Remix was tipped to be something akin to Spotify, the leader in the streaming music market. One big difference between Spotify and Remix will be that Remix will allow users to play video along with the music and will reportedly have a better recommendation engine. Google has already worked out the details with music labels according to reports. YouTube's Lyor Cohen has confirmed in the past that Remix will offer...
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Spotify fans will be glad to hear that the streaming music giant is set to enter the hardware space with some sort of gadget for the car. Word is that the hardware device will launch on April 24, and the news comes after Spotify was seen posting job openings for "hardware production" workers. Initially many thought that Spotify would be jumping into the smart speaker realm along with seemingly every other tech company. It's now looking like Spotify has something different in store for its gadget. The image you see above is said to have been seen by multiple Spotify users via a pop-up from the Spotify app. It appears to be some sort of smallish puck-like music player that mounts on the dash. The...
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It's been a while since we heard much out of the RIAA after the organization was frequently in the news during its hunt to force anyone who even thought about illegally downloading music to pay damages. At times, the RIAA filed suits against deceased people essentially making it look like the bad guy to many music fans. The RIAA has now released information that looks at revenue statistics from 2017 and the music industry saw some growth last year. According to the statistics, revenue from recorded music in the U.S. increased 16.5% to an estimated retail value of $8.7 billion. Wholesale revenues grew 12.6% to $5.9 billion. RIAA attributes most of the growth in the industry to paid music subscription...
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Spotify might be the biggest music streaming service out there right now, but that doesn't mean that it is turning a profit. Spotify has filed with the SEC to allow it to begin selling shares publicly via an IPO. Spotify will be listed on the NYSE and will use the ticker name "SPOT." The filing has shed some insight into what the company might be worth. According to the company, it has been selling shares on private markets for as much as $132.50 per share. That would indicate a value of over $23 billion based on the ordinary shares outstanding as of February 22 reports CNBC. We do know some specifics about Spotify already, with one key metric being subscribers. Spotify boasts 71 million paying...
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Elon Musk is quite the ambitious fellow. In addition to spearheading things like recreational space travel and, here on Earth, self-driving vehicle technology, it is being reported that Musk is exploring the streaming music business through Tesla, the electric vehicle company he co-founded and is still very much a part of. On the surface it seems like an odd pairing, but perhaps this could turn into a brilliant play. More on that in a moment, but first let's talk about the report. Citing unnamed "music industry sources," Recode claims Tesla has been in discussions with every single major music label about licensing a proprietary streaming music service that the automaker would bundle with its...
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Taylor Swift once said of the streaming music scene, and Spotify in particular, that it feels like a "grand experiment," one in which she's not willing to contribute her life's work to because it doesn't fairly compensate the artists, song writers, and everyone else who contributes to the creation of music. She ended up pulling her library of songs from Spotify, though looking back on the situation. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says the high profile breakup actually benefited the company. To be clear, Ek isn't lashing out at Swift, who removed her songs from Spotify just prior to the launch of her "1989" album. However, letting Swift walk without meeting her and her PR team's demands amounted to a sorry-not-sorry...
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Today (March 14) is a day when nerds, geeks, mathematicians, and pie lovers alike all celebrate Pi Day. This year is particularly special, as the sequence extends to the year as well -- 3.14.15, the first five digits of Pi's infinite range. Pretty cool, right? Microsoft thought so, and to celebrate the occasion, it's offering up a 12-month Xbox Music Pas for $31.41. "This subscription gives you access to millions of songs to play on your Xbox, the Web, or your Windows Phone, PC and tablet. This offer is good for new subscriptions and renewals of existing subscriptions," Microsoft stated in a blog post.That's a pretty swank deal if you're into Xbox Music, as the annual pass usually runs $99. The...
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There's an interesting competitive dynamic forming between Bose and Apple, two companies that suddenly became rivals when the latter acquired Beats by Dr. Dre. It's been a bit of a contentious relationship so far, with Bose suing Apple for patent infringement and then re-upping its deal with the NFL as its official audio sponsor, effectively banning players from wearing Beats gear in most game-related situations. Now we hear that Bose is getting into the streaming music scene, setting up even more competition with Apple. It also makes things a bit awkward. According to Venture Beat, Apple still sells Bose products in its online and physical stores. There were reports back in October that...
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From a consumer's perspective, free radio is rad, provided you're willing to put up with ads and arbitrary restrictions. But on the other side of the equation, the real money is in subscriptions. To help encourage music lovers to open up their wallets, streaming music provider Spotify is now selling gift cards, though you can only purchase one at Target. "Cards are redeemable for new and current Spotify Premium subscribers to enjoy access to millions of tracks, off-line playback, no ads, full mobile access and much more," Spotify said in a blog post. Spotify gift cards are available in $10, $30, and $60 denominations. Premium accounts run $9.99 per month and include full mobile support, an offline...
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Spotify, a digital music service, recently launched in the U.S. This music on demand service has been widely popular in Europe. The service offers millions of tracks that are ready to play instantly from your computer or phone. Thanks to the Logitech, you'll also be able to enjoy Spotify music in your living room by means of the Logitech Squeezebox Touch Wi-Fi music player and Logitech Squeezebox Radio Wi-Fi music player. In order to use Spotify from the devices however, you'll need a Spotify Premium subscription. This Premium subscription will give you unlimited, ad-free access to the entire Spotify music library as well as access to exclusive content and special offers. With Spotify and Squeezebox...
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