For most of their lives, sound recognition apps SoundHound and Shazam have been playing tag with each other. But recently, we’re starting to see each company carve out a more unique niche. Today SoundHound introduced a new personal assistant. The program is called Hound, and it will be a direct competitor to Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, or Google Now. Continue Reading
WNYC announced that it will take over the distribution of its shows Radiolab and On the Media. The public radio outlet will begin the distribution on Oct. 1, and will also self-distribute its new collaboration with the New Yorker. The move ends WYC’s distribution arrangement with NPR for those programs. Continue Reading
NPR has launched a new series dubbed “Streaming at the Tipping Point.” This collection of articles will address both the business and cultural impact of the transition to streaming, reflecting on the changes in how we experience music. One piece collected interviews with a range of individuals, including industry members, about what they thought a perfect world would be for streaming. Continue Reading
Paul Resnikoff of Digital Music News has uploaded a copy of the agreement SoundCloud is allegedly negotiating with the National Music Publishers Association. The two-year deal offers advances of about $350,000 to the participating publishers. In exchange, SoundCloud would get a license allowing its creator partners to monetize and promote their uploads. Continue Reading
Apple has teamed with some impressive celebrity talent in the recent months, and according to the New York Post, Apple’s latest interest seems to be finding popular performers to work with its new music services. The top artist who has caught the tech company’s eye appears to be Drake. The rapper has allegedly been approached with a $19 million deal to work with Apple, including as a guest DJ for iTunes Radio, the Post reported Continue Reading
Spotify said that it adds nearly 60,000 new users per week in Australia and about 20,000 new users a week in New Zealand. It also said that a quarter of Australian’s population has at least tried out the platform. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, 30% of Spotify’s Aussie users pay for the premium subscription. The streaming service has been active in the Australian market for three years. Continue Reading
Spotify announced that it will launch a version for Android Wear. The smartwatch version will allow listeners to navigate through their playlists, select the tunes they want, and browse for other songs. The Android Wear app will roll out gradually over the month of June. Continue Reading
Billboard has launched an online radio hub and music resource in Asian dubbed Billboard Radio China. The site has several channels for different music types, ranging from Asia Hits to the 90s to Chill. Billboard partnered with Tork Limited to create the new property. Continue Reading
A new playlisting service, Kollekt.fm, is designed as a curation system. It gives users a platform to share their favorite music from across different online sources.
CEO Rich Riley said at the start of the year that Shazam would make pushes into more than audio, and to that end, the company has rolled out a new visual component for its mobile app. The software made its reputation for the ability to recognize and identify songs; now it can also scan for an image. What’s Shazam’s end goal in expanding beyond audio? Continue Reading
U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez has approved class action status for Flo & Eddie’s lawsuit against Sirius XM. The new class action certification means that other artists whose music was recorded before the advent of federal copyright law can join the lawsuit to seek damages. Sirius XM had argued that it would be difficult to calculate damages for the different artists joining the suit, but was unable to convince the judge. Continue Reading
App Annie released its April 2015 index of the top performing mobile apps in the U.S. Pandora held the top spot for top app by downloads and revenue, followed by Spotify. SoundCloud was fourth by downloads and iHeartRadio was fifth. In terms of revenue, Beats Music was the No. 3 app, while Rhapsody secured the No. 6 place. Continue Reading