To celebrate its fifth birthday this week, Spotify posted an infographic of intriguing usage statistics. A million years of streaming in five years of operation — 200,000 years per year, 17,000 years per month — is fun to ponder. One… Continue Reading
Every few days rumors are published about the impending launch of Beats Music. We know it will be soon. We’ve heard that there will be a subscription component — possibly all-subscription, like Rhapsody and Google All Access. We don’t know… Continue Reading
The marketing is impressive, the collateral design is dazzling, and the product itself is … slightly baffling, at first. BBC Playlister is a new feature woven throughout the BBC online music experience. The top layer is a tagging function, whereby… Continue Reading
Rhapsody, one of the oldest listening platforms, a subscription-only pureplay, and lately a beleaguered business wracked with internal changes, has brought new features to its Radio product. “Radio” in this context means playlists. Until now, Rhapsody has offered a suite… Continue Reading
Spotify has long recognized that social, in its many dimensions, is a key differentiator for the music service. Spotify’s extensive (some say intrusive) sharing features set it apart not only from competing listening platforms, but represent a “killer app” that… Continue Reading
Some noise is happening around Spotify’s recently-announced and felicitously-named Spotlight feature, which aspires to highlight new and exclusive music. Today’s view of Spotlight features Drake and Arcade Fire, so it’s not exactly bleeding-edge alt. Two up-and-comers, Haim and Lorde, are… Continue Reading
Recording artist and producer Dave Stewart (best known for Eurythmics) has reversed his previous anti-Spotify stance, criticizing Radiohead’s Thom Yorke for “not getting it.” (Yorke famously conducted an angry public withdrawal from Spotify.) A year ago, surmising from Stewart’s public… Continue Reading
Edison Research has released a new study of streaming audio adoption, indicating that over half of the American online population listens to Internet radio. The research package, titled “The New MainStream” (get it?) details survey results of 3,014 connected Americans… Continue Reading
As jubilantly announced on its public blog (“Hello Argentina, Taiwan, Greece and Turkey — Spotify here!”), the interactive streamer has expanded its reach. With the addition of those four, Spotify now distributes its desktop and mobile app experiences in 32… Continue Reading
Industry observers who spoke with Ad Week say don’t look for iTunes Radio to decimate current leaders like Pandora and Spotify. “Remember, even on (Apple’s) own devices, Amazon Kindle books are the most read eBooks despite Apple’s attempt to come… Continue Reading
Swedish audio component makers Pause Ljud & Bild, reports Digital Trends, have created product called the CataCombo Sound System — that pumps your favorite Spotify playlist into your casket! The system is powered by a two-way speaker system and 2.5… Continue Reading
Microsoft waded boldly into new waters today by extending its Xbox Music service to non-Windows mobile devices, and eliminating subscription fees from the desktop web version. The maneuver comes one day before Apple’s iPhone/iOS 7 event on Tuesday. The timing… Continue Reading