Deezer announced changes to its subscription options on Friday. The Paris-based streaming service said it will discontinue the desktop-only Premium plan for new users. Existing members with that plan will be able to continue using the Premium plan if they wish. Continue Reading
Microsoft sent the tech world into a tizzy yesterday with the announcement that it will cut 18,000 jobs. A large portion of those jobs will be removed from Nokia, which it acquired in April. That cut includes plans to spin off Nokia’s MixRadio service into a standalone company. MixRadio will need to offer something distinct and valuable for listeners to encourage them to test it out, much less stay around. Continue Reading
Record sales are a troubling metric for many artists in this increasingly digital world. One approach that’s gaining some traction among musicians is to release albums not just in physical formats or on music-purchasing sites, but as apps for mobile devices. Sir Paul McCartney is the latest to try his hand at the app approach. Continue Reading
Sony/ATV/EMI announced that its complete catalog of songs is now visible on its website. “As the world’s leading music publisher we want to ensure that existing users, prospective licensees and those with a need to access our extensive song list are provided with that capability,” said Martin Bandier, the company’s chairman. Continue Reading
Pandora announced that it now has 2 million registered listeners in Australia and New Zealand. The streaming radio service launched there in December 2012, its first non-U.S. rollout. To celebrate the milestone, Pandora created an infographic with some facts and figures about its presence in the region. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: In a recent news post, Spotify asked Jacob Jolij, a cognitive psychology and neuroscience professor at the University of Groningen, to explain how music triggers particular emotional responses in listeners. Continue Reading
Pandora is projected to gain overall digital ad share, but it’s still going to hold less than 1 percent of the market. For the digital space, Pandora is expected to increase from 0.34 share in 2012 to hit 0.52 percent this year. While small growth is expected overall, Pandora is likely to lose ground in mobile ad share. Continue Reading
Google announced that its Google Play Music All Access service is rolling out to six more countries. The company’s major push is in the South and Latin American markets, with the streaming and cloud storage service entering Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Peru. Continue Reading
TechCrunch reported last week that Playlists.net may be in talks for an acquisition. Unnamed industry sources said that tech companies and record companies have expressed interest in the site, although there have been no further leads on a frontrunner. Who might those potential buyers be? Continue Reading
LH Labs, part of Light Harmonics, completed a crowdfunding campaign to fund creation of the Geek Wave. Although Geek Wave doesn’t have the star power of Pono Music behind it, the LH Labs team still received huge financial support from audiophiles: this “high-performance portable music player” exceeded its initial Indiegogo goal of $38,000 and closed out with $1,323,073 in pledges. Continue Reading
The existing partnership between Rdio and Shazam took a big leap forward today. Going forward, the music-identification tool will allow Rdio members to stream whole songs from within the Shazam app. The updated Shazam app hit iOS on Monday, with a rollout expected for Android in the next few days. Continue Reading
On Friday, the team behind new high-rez music ecosystem Pono Music announced that rock legend Neil Young will take on the role of CEO, replacing John Hamm at the helm, with Rick Cohen taking on the role of COO. The new music service is reportedly scheduled to launch by the end of this calendar year, a timeline bump from the original April goal. Continue Reading