Spotify will announce free mobile access to its listening platform, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources. If true (we think it is), the announcement will probably be part of a Spotify media event in New York on Wednesday of next week. Continue Reading
The “Spotify Debate” has been raised to a new level. It features the same debate points, but now presented as dueling websites. Until now, the war of words and philosophies was waged in sniping blog posts and interview quotes among… Continue Reading
Spotify might not have a big-data operation like Wal-Mart or Target. But 24-million users listened to 4.5-billion hours of music in 2013, and have created one-billion playlists on the platform. So there’s a good flow of metrics. Spotify, which has… Continue Reading
Frances Moore, CEO of the International Federation of Phonographic Industries, made some waves and splashed some cool water of long-term thinking on the hot debate over artist payouts from streaming music services. Moore spoke at the ARIA Masterclass in Sydney,… Continue Reading
Worthy of note: Doc Searls, author and one of the first cognescenti bloggers (since 1999), has published a prescription for radio in the Internet era called “How to rescue radio.” In it, Searls seems taken aback by the changing definition… Continue Reading
The “Spotify debate” swirls around one core hypothesis: Musicians don’t get enough value from the service. As such, Spotify is a surrogate for music streaming sites, which promote access instead of ownership, and attention instead of purchases. The debate flared… Continue Reading
Group-listening app Soundrop announced an extension of its platform to Deezer, as a built-in app in the Paris-based music service. Soundrop has been associated with Spotify since 2011, operating within Spotify’s app ecosystem. It also works independently as a mobile… Continue Reading
Jumbo jets need longer runways to take off than smaller planes. With reported new funding that nearly doubles its previous capital investment, jukebox service Spotify buys time to continue building momentum. The question is: Whither the destination? Spotify’s new funding… Continue Reading
Rdio, competing for audience in a crowded online-music market, made significant workforce reductions to lower costs. Layoffs are reported to have carved out about a third of the company. In the wake of the layoffs, Rdio made confident noises about its future destiny, but it looks like a rocky road from here.
Continue Reading
Spotify has partnered with Vodafone Ireland, one of many country-specific branches of the international telecom giant. The deal is another instance of a music service joining a telecom carrier in a synergy that benefits both companies. Continue Reading
Last week’s drop of Google’s All Access music subscription app into Apple’s app store was a milestone moment in both the music-service wars and the larger tech-ecosystem land grab. We had fun with our “Google invades Apple” headline, and every media site covering the convergence of music and Internet hit the same note.
The invasion metaphor is apt, more than just for its imagery of two tech/media giants engaged in business warfare. Google’s Play Music All Access, awkwardly-named thought it might be, offers a more complete music platform than Apple does — and likewise for Spotify, Rhapsody, Pandora, and Rdio. Continue Reading
Not to trivialize business issues for musicians, but the “Spotify debate” rages on which increasing repetition. Some of the publicized outbursts against Spotify result from musicians being asked about it by journalists. The latest high-profile musician to take a club… Continue Reading