Google expanded its streaming-music service into the Canadian market. The inelegantly-named Google Play Music All Access service is now available in 26 countries. Canada is a music-starved regional frontier, and Canadian music-lovers complain about poor choice of music services compared to their American neighbors. Continue Reading
Spotify’s European head of label relations, Kevin Brown, told a British music publication that Spotify has gained one-million listeners in the U.K. over the past four months. This data point is spawning headlines that Spotify is bigger than iTunes in Europe. It’s an apples-to-oranges comparison. Continue Reading
An awaited radio-listening app that pulls together most or all Canadian terrestrial station streams will be launched sometime this spring. Radioplayer Canada is a joint venture of SparkNet, a digital solutions provider for Canadian radio, and audience measurement firm BBM Analytics. Continue Reading
According to an executive at the British office of OMD, the global ad agency, Apple is prepping the agency on iAds in iTunes Radio, presumably for a soon-to-be U.K. launch of the Internet radio service. Hannah Allen of OMD tweeted a visit from Paul Wright, who runs Apple’s ad platform in Europe. Continue Reading
Last week we received a tip from a U.S.-based reader who reported accessing the Deezer music service on his computer. Deezer is not officially available in the American market. Eagerly envious, we tried it ourselves, but got the usual “unavailable in your country” message. We asked Deezer to comment. Continue Reading
Spotify is making a splash as it enters Asian countries with lower prices for its premium subscription service. Spotify has entered its 56th country, entering the Philippines with a $3 price (converted to U.S. dollars) for subscription. If that seems cheap, consider contrasting GDPs. Continue Reading
In an interesting and opportunistic maneuver, U.S.-based music service Rdio has acquired teetering Indian streaming platform Dhingana. Dhingana will power Rdio’s India launch sometime this year. The Indian music business is estimated at $170-million, mostly comprised of Bollywood (or “filmi”) songs. Around the edges, Indipop, regional music, devotional songs, and infiltrations of Western pop are additional categories. Continue Reading
Spotify isn’t the only service expanding internationally this week. Rdio is keeping pace, adding 22 countries for a total of 51 national markets. After recent layoffs, Rdio promised to scale its business. It just did. Continue Reading