Google Play is the latest digital music platform to hop on the bandwagon of original podcasts. The show is called City Soundtracks. Each of the short episodes features an interview with a musician about the impact of their hometown on their work. Continue Reading
As 2016 crawls to a close and 2017 emerges on the horizon, it’s time for that most time-honored of traditions: the year in review. Music companies of all stripes have released their assessments of top performers from the past twelve months. Here’s a collection of the high points from 2016. Continue Reading
Google Play is rolling out a new feature for expanded sharing across multiple people. The Family Library supports up to six individuals sharing a single account. All members will have access to every app, game, movie, TV show, and book added to the joint collection. Continue Reading
Google Play Music has officially launched a section for podcasts. The service first teased the new feature back in October, but then went silent until an email leaked late last week. But the company has been busy in that time, signing on some of the big players from the podcast world. Continue Reading
AudioBoom will be one of the content providers for the Google Play store. The company is one of 11 podcast and audio partners that will appear on the redesigned store. Earlier this week, some Android users saw glimpses of the active podcast hub. Continue Reading
Google acquired online radio platform Songza nearly a year and a half ago, July 1 2014, and today the announcement comes that the Songza brand, and stand-alone app, will be discontinued at the end of the year. Songza features and playlists will continue within Google Play, where they have resided since last October. Continue Reading
On the Move tracks hires, promotions, and other notable personnel changes within the online audio industry. Today’s changes include a new appointment at Universal, a departure from BPI, and a changing role at Google. Continue Reading
Apple Music has arrived on the Google Play store in beta form. That means Apple’s big foray into streaming music is now available for Android device owners. Apple Music’s performance and audience retention has been the subject of much digital ink, and this debut is likely to prolong interest in the topic. Continue Reading
On the Move tracks hires, promotions, and other notable personnel changes within the online audio industry. The latest changes are a departure at Shazam, a promotion at Saga Communications, a new hire at Rhode Island Public Radio, and a switch from Rdio to Google Play. Continue Reading
Are lyrics the new hip feature for music services? Hot on the heels of Deezer announcing the addition of Lyrics to its streaming service, Google is now displaying the words to certain songs in its search results. For the tracks getting the lyric treatment, a large number of the lines will appear at the top of the hits with a link to the full lyrics on Google Play. Continue Reading
Shazam’s Android app now has integrations with Google Play and Google Play Music All Access. The Android marketplace is now the featured resource for buying a track tagged in Shazam. Google’s on-demand music service joins Rdio, Spotify, and Deezer as ways to stream a song you’ve identified. The streaming networks are all visible by tapping the drop-down menu with the play button icon. Continue Reading
Google has started testing a new form of advertising that gives listeners a direct link to a streaming service. The Wall Street Journal reported that the music services are paying for the pots by the click, similar to Google’s other paid text link ads. “We’re happy to help users quickly find legitimate sources for their favorite movies, music and more via Google search,” an unnamed Google rep told WSJ. Continue Reading