Qobuz, a high-resolution music streaming and download service, announced that it plans to launch in the United States in 2019. The company has not set a target date, but it has been slowly edging towards the move for many months. Continue Reading
Pandora has released a slew of holiday 2018 playlists, representing an imaginative, sometimes amusing sweep of holiday joy and stress. There is also a special Pandora Premium promotion set for Dec. 1 in the Google Android store. Continue Reading
Leon Neyfakh is departing Slate. He announced his exit in a Twitter thread that was first picked up by Hot Pod. Neyfakh is a reporter as well as the host and narrator of the Slow Burn narrative podcast. He’s leaving to start a new show called Fiasco in partnership with “an innovative platform you’ll be hearing more about soon,” according to the tweets. Continue Reading
YouTube is joining the ranks of music services offering special deals for students. The new student subscriptions are $4.99 a month for access to YouTube Music Premium and $6.99 a month for YouTube Premium. Those services usually cost $9.99 or $11.99 per month, respectively. Continue Reading
Belgium hosted its annual symposium about DAB+ earlier this month. During the event, Flemish Media Minister Sven Gatz said that the country would pick its date for a switch from FM radio to DAB+ once 50% of the audience was listening to digital radio. Continue Reading
Apple will appear before the Supreme Court over the commissions it takes on purchases in its App Store. The court will hear arguments today in an antitrust lawsuit about Apple’s 30% commission charged to software developers. Continue Reading
Spotify is continuing its global expansion efforts, with India the streaming service’s likely next move. Variety reported that the company is aiming to enter the Indian market within the next six months. Continue Reading
Nielsen has selected David Kenny as its new CEO. He was previously the senior vice president of cognitive solutions at IBM. Kenny joined the tech company in 2015 when it acquired the Weather Company. He will assume the role when Mitch Barns steps down from the helm on December 3 after more than two decades. Continue Reading
Tencent Music Entertainment had been working towards an IPO in the United States, but the Chinese company is reaching crunch time to do so before the year’s end. It has been laying the groundwork for an offering of up to $2 billion for several months. Continue Reading
Spotify has some noteworthy news for the denizens of Mexico City. The capital city has the most Spotify listeners in the world. Mexico City was Spotify’s first launch in a Latin American market in 2013. Continue Reading
Echo Nest was once a top name in music recommendations. The startup was acquired by Spotify in 2014, and since then its technology has been leveraged into some wildly popular personalized playlists for that streaming service. Now, a former Echo Nest exec has flown the Spotify coop and is striking out with a new approach to personalized discovery. Continue Reading
Sonos posted positive results for its fiscal fourth quarter, and Wall Street celebrated the news. The audio company makes wireless speakers and is quickly asserting expertise in mid-tier and high-end smart speakers. The newly launched Sonos Beam in particular boosted the company’s performance, and investors boosted stock prices 20% in after-hours trading. Continue Reading