We’ve been charting the recent surge of innovation in headphones and personal music listening happening at major tech companies and on crowdfunding platforms. Another one has joined them. It removes headphones from the personal audio equation, which could potentially create more comfort and flexibility for listeners. Continue Reading
The annual South By Southwest conference brings some of the top thinkers in music, media, and digital business to Austin, Texas. This year has been no exception. It had sessions that touched on podcasting and advertising, and set the tone for tech trends to watch. Continue Reading
Broadcasting leaders at the Radiodays Europe conference have announced the creation of the European Digital Radio Alliance. This organization will promote DAB and digital radio across the bloc. It was established in partnership with the European Broadcasting Union, which recently released a study into the adoption of digital radio technology in the EU. Continue Reading
Apple Watch owners can now listen to Deezer with the flick of a wrist. The streaming service has launched an app for the wearable complete with the features of the full platform. The launch is global, meaning U.S. listeners will be able to access the service if they have both an Apple Watch and a Deezer Elite subscription. Continue Reading
Tidal owner Jay-Z is adding to the number of exclusives on his streaming property. The hip-hop master has taken several of his popular albums off of all rival services: Reasonable Doubt and his Blueprint trilogy have all been removed from just about everywhere except Tidal. Continue Reading
Uforia, the music app from Univision, has beefed up its offerings with several new features for Latin music fans. The free app now includes more than 25 playlists curated by mood, a car mode for safe music control while driving, and an alarm clock function. Continue Reading
Spotify has hired Horacio Gutierrez as its new general counsel. He most recently held the same title at Microsoft, departing after 17 years with that company. He is scheduled to start with the streaming service in April. Continue Reading
Sony is moving to assume sole ownership of its Sony/ATV publishing arm. It is buying the 50% stake in Sony/ATV from Michael Jackson’s estate for $750 million. The parties are slated to have a definitive agreement by March 31, and the deal will be subject to regulatory approvals before closing. Continue Reading
Apple Music has inked a deal with Dubset Media Holdings to add remixes and DJ mixes to the streaming service’s library. That type of music has usually been left out of legal streaming platforms because of the complexity of correctly identifying all the rights holders who should receive royalties from the final creation. However, digital distributor Dubset uses proprietary technology to analyze these music files, identify the recordings used in them, and break out the requisite royalty payments for them. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: One take on the licensing lawsuits…and a second opinion on them; Instagram, home of music superfans; Chris Price questions data deluge. Continue Reading
The big brands are getting into the act with futuristic headphones. At SXSW, Sony’s new Future Lab division unveiled a prototype of directional headphones, a new approach to personal listening that eliminates over-ear and in-ear sound. Continue Reading
The first smartphone equipped with built-in DAB+ radio was announced at Radiodays Europe 2016. LG Electronics introduced this feature for its new mobile device, the LG Stylus 2. The phone comes equipped with a DAB+ chipset and built-in app for listening to digital broadcasts. Continue Reading