Spotify

After rolling out a new update to the iOS app, Spotify is now revamping its desktop, Mac, and web apps starting today. In a blog post, Spotify says it’s rolling out a “new improved look and feel for the app for desktop and web – aligning the experience and making both easier to use than ever before.”

Apple Music is falling behind Spotify in the music streaming wars. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been using Apple Music since the day it was released in 2015, but after almost six years of its launch, I don’t think I can defend Apple for not correcting some flaws or adding features users really want.

Spotify recently launched a new original podcast about its own history, which provides details about not only how the platform was created, but also gives an overview of the music industry. Although the first two episodes talk about the challenges in fighting music piracy in the digital era, Apple’s iTunes was completely ignored by Spotify in the podcast.

A noted legal expert weighing in on the various European antitrust complaints against Apple says that if Spotify wins its case, the “App Store monopoly is finished” in Europe.

It was reported last week that the European Union is “finalizing a charge sheet against Apple” in regard to Spotify complaints. Although an interim step rather than a ruling, it would shift the burden to Apple to defend itself against the charges …

Apple’s bad day for antitrust concerns continues. European Union antitrust investigators are planning to announce the results of their investigation into Apple in the coming weeks, as reported by Reuters. This comes after the UK announced that it is opening its own investigation into the App Store earlier on Thursday.

Over the last few years, Spotify has been seriously ramping up its investment in podcasts with multiple acquisitions, building out a roster of exclusive shows, and more. Now it looks like those efforts are starting to pay off as Spotify is reportedly set to surpass Apple in monthly US podcast listenership according to a new analyst note.

Spotify announced on Monday a new HiFi subscription tier, podcasts featuring former President Barack Obama and rockstar Bruce Springsteen as co-hosts, and Streaming Ad Insertion to sell ads even on podcasts.

Following those announcements, The Verge interviewed Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, and he talked about what it’s like competing with Apple.

Billie Eilish and Apple have been collaborating for a few years now, and the company announced today the artist is going to perform live on Thursday, February 25, in the Apple Music app, the Apple TV app, and on YouTube. This comes before the premiere of her documentary on Apple TV+, The World’s a Little Blurry.

In a virtual event today, Spotify detailed a range of updates and new features coming to the audio platform. One of the most interesting announcements is the new lossless “Spotify HiFi” that will be an add-on option for premium subscribers as the platform looks to increase its lead over rivals like Apple Music.

Spotify is continuing to expand the beta test of its Apple Music-style live lyrics feature. The company confirmed in a statement to Engadget today that the live lyrics feature is now available to select users in the United States.

The first iOS 14.5 beta brings a number of new features, but there’s also a nice surprise hidden in the release for Spotify users. Follow along for how to make Spotify the iPhone default when using Siri. We’ll also cover how to install the free public iOS 14.5 beta.

Apple has finally offered the ability to set Spotify as your default music player for Siri commands. This was previously only available on HomePods, and was a feature we asked for back in 2019.

The new behavior appears in the beta of iOS 14.5. The first time you ask Siri to play something, it lists all the streaming services you have installed on your device and ask you which of them you want to use. Once you have done so, Siri then defaults to that service for subsequent requests …

Spotify‘s paid subscribers hit 155M at the end of the last quarter of last year, up 24% year-on-year. This compares to the last-declared figure of 60M from Apple Music.

Total monthly active Spotify users, which include people on the free ad-funded tier, reached 345M, a year-on-year increase of 27% …

In 2018, Spotify filed for a patent that would utilize recordings of users’ speech and background noise to determine specific patterns. From that information, Spotify could then recommend certain music, podcasts, and even advertisements to users.

Spotify audiobooks have so far seemed a forgotten offering, with just a handful of titles added last year, but there is now an indication that the company is gearing up for a more serious push into this market.

The audio streaming company has just added nine titles, all classics with new narrations …

Spotify Wrapped has become a really popular way to look back at all your most listened to artists, albums, songs, and more. Even though your Wrapped 2021 won’t become available until the end of the year (usually early December), Spotify is out today with tips on how to use features and tricks now to get the most out of it so the results are the best reflection of what you really listened to throughout the year. And the first two tips are how to hide songs from Spotify Wrapped.