Amazon has created a new Echo product that’s smaller, cheaper, and designed to amp up your music options. The Amazon Echo Dot has the same type of features as the company’s original voice assistant: control smart devices, check the weather, fetch information, and play music. But it’s intended to make the music component sound a little better than the first Echo. Continue Reading
Spotify has added a former top VH1 exec to its top leadership. Tom Calderone, whose past posts included president of VH1, is now the streaming platform’s global head of content partnerships. Continue Reading
Facebook has added a Spotify tie-in to its Messenger app. It’s the first music platform to work with the social network’s messaging program. The updated version began rolling out to both iOS and Android this week. Continue Reading
Last summer, SoundHound shared an early look at its plans for a new personal assistant app. Hound promised to have a fresh take on voice activation and control, offering a step up from the currently available crop of programs. This week, the free app emerged from beta. How does it stack up? Continue Reading
Rhapsody parent company RealNetworks released its financial information for 2015, including the performance for the streaming service. Rhapsody CFO Ethan Rudin did not comment on the results, but said the company has “never been more excited or optimistic about a category that we helped define in early 2001.” Continue Reading
Spotify has embarked on many efforts to provide music discovery to its audience, and the latest move in that direction is a playlist collection called Fresh Finds. The programming choices for these playlists will stem from both sides of the playlist creation coin: human curation and data-driven algorithms. Continue Reading
SFX is making plans to auction off online EDM portal Beatport as it continues through bankruptcy proceedings. It has attracted interested parties for the property and will solicit initial bids in April with an auction slated for May 3. Continue Reading
Electronic music specialist Digitally Imported has released a status announcement of its audience growth. Double-digit increases in paid subscriptions to the listening platform have been accomplished, the result of product enhancements and new initiatives intended to drive user engagement. Continue Reading
Investment firm TPG Capital is reportedly considering an investment in Spotify. Sky News said that TPG is in talks to provide financing of as much as $500 million in loan notes, which could lead to Spotify increasing the size of its offering to up to $1 billion. These alleged fundraising plans come as Pandora continues to voice its intention to build a competing on-demand music service. Continue Reading
More details have emerged about the royalty lawsuit filed against Tidal. First the streaming platform issued a statement about the legal action, and noted that it has removed all music from the plaintiffs. Second, Tidal confirmed that it has fired two of its C-suite leaders. Continue Reading
Much of the podcasting boom has been at the national and global levels, but a new service is looking to carve out a niche for local listening to grow. Satchel is a podcast distribution platform that aims to make connections between show producers and local audiences easier. Continue Reading
The Google/Alphabet empire appears to be setting its sights on Australia next. According to a report from The Australian, joint video/music subscription YouTube Red is slated to roll out there later this year. Continue Reading