Spotify

Following news of incoming changes to Apple’s App Store that will benefit developers with a new subscription revenue split and paid search result ads, Spotify today outlined to The Verge why the improvements don’t address their issues with Apple’s policies.

Specifically, a Spotify representative noted the company’s inability to offer special deals to customers and lack of access to data into “why customers churn — or who even qualifies as a long-term subscriber.”

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Spotify is clearly feeling the competition from Apple Music, and is now matching the Cupertino company’s family deal of $14.99 per month for up to six family members. This literally halves the cost of Spotify’s previous family membership, as well as extending it from five to six people …

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Apple Music competitor Spotify today announced that it is greatly expanding its video offerings this year. As noted by Bloomberg, Spotify will launch 12 original video series with actors like Tim Robbins and Def Jam Records co-founder Russell Simmons. The series are said to each feature episodes ranging from a few minutes long to 15 minutes and will be available to free and paid users.

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SoundShare has released a major update to their iOS app today that looks to bridge the divide between multiple music streaming services. By combining multiple music streaming services (Spotify, Deezer, and Apple Music), SoundShare creates a social network that takes out any hassles in sharing and discovering music. Even users who may not be using any premium streaming services can take advantage of the app. Thanks to iOS 9.3’s Apple Music API, apps like SoundShare can exist to create a better overall music discovery experience.

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SongShift is a just-released app that lets Spotify users import playlists directly into Apple Music. In the past, there have been some roundabout ways to accomplish that task, but SongShift is one of the first apps that takes advantage of a new iOS 9.3 provision that makes it possible for third-party apps to access Apple Music.

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As much as I think the Apple Music user interface is still a total jumbled mess, I do think there are also a few features that Apple should add as it simultaneously cleans up what’s already there. A big one for me is the potential for private, collaborative playlists and streaming radio stations.

What Apple Music currently has, as far as users sharing music goes, is the ability to share a playlist, station, album or song from within the app via email, third-party apps or copying the link to share elsewhere. But once sent to someone, the person only receives a link to open the shared selection in Apple Music. It works, but it’s not exactly taking full advantage of the potential for user collaboration and a truly interactive experience that ties together the various social aspects of the service.

The new sharing features could be twofold. First, the ability to have collaborative playlists that one or more other people could contribute to. That’s a feature that some competitive services, notably Spotify, already have, but I’d like to see Apple take it a step further with the ability to create not just collaborative playlists, but private, custom radio stations that stream in real-time…

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DJs will be well familiar with the name Serato. It’s one of the — if not the — leading software products around for DJs that make the hop from vinyl to digital sets (and that’s most of them these days). But the company hasn’t had a huge presence on iOS devices outside of that world — save for its Remote companion app for users of a Serato desktop setup. That’s where Serato’s new Pyro app comes in, but it’s not exactly the scaled back version of the company’s desktop offering you might have been hoping for.

Instead, rather than act as a suite for mostly professional DJs and their mixing and controller hardware like on the desktop, Pyro is aimed at all users and meant to act like the DJ for you, using Serato’s technology to automatically mix songs from one to the next by changing the tempo and doing a real mix like a professional DJ would:

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Following the most recent Apple Music launch for users in Turkey last week, the subscription music streaming service and accompanying Beats 1 radio station have now officially launched in Taiwan.

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According to a report this morning from The Wall Street Journal, Spotify is getting ready to finally launch its video content offerings. The rollout is set to start with the Android app getting video by the end of this week, but the iOS app is following suit by the end of next…
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For me, coffee at Starbucks is secondary to the great music you discover courtesy of your twenty-something barista’s Spotify DJ skills. The good news is you can now easily save those Spotify playlists for listening later through an update to the Starbucks iPhone app today.
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According to the Financial Times, Apple has passed 10 million paying subscribers for Apple Music. Apple Music launched in June 2015 with a three month free trial. Since the launch, Apple announced it has 6.5 million paying subscribers in October. In November, Apple launched Apple Music on Android which no doubt attracted a significant chunk of additional new users.

Crossing ten million is a significant symbolic milestone, as it now means Apple Music is half as large as Spotify’s paid userbase.

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When Apple Music launched back in June, it was noted that the music subscription service didn’t offer up the entire iTunes catalog with a few big name artists missing including The Beatles. That could be about to change, according to a new report out of Billboard, which cites sources that claim The Beatles music will be available for streaming for the first time next week. While the report believes The Beatles music will start streaming on Christmas Eve, what isn’t clear is which streaming service will have access first …

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A well-known music industry analyst is estimating that Apple Music will hit 8M paid subscribers by the end of the year, and will reach 20M by the end of 2016, reports Music Business Worldwide. The prediction was made by Mark Mulligan, co-founder of digital content specialists Midia Consulting, who previously held senior research positions with Forrester and Jupiter.

In raw numbers terms, that would put it just behind market leader Spotify by the end of next year, but that may not quite present the true picture …

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A year ago Algoriddim introduced djay Pro to Mac, the professional version of the company’s highly popular DJ software that ever beginners can love, and today djay Pro is coming to iPad. It’s a whole new app for the tablet with a super clean look, loads of new features, and a highly responsive design. That means features like Split View and Slide Over totally work, letting you mix in djay Pro and actually use a second app alongside it. And while djay Pro is one of the first pro class apps to hit the iPad Pro where it really shines, it’s fully available on newer iPads as well. Check it out:

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T-Mobile is extending its popular Music Freedom service, which allows unlimited use of Apple Music and other streaming music services without eating into your data allowance, to MetroPCS prepaid customers – albeit under a slightly different name. T-Mobile said that its Music Unlimited service would be available on a range of plans, starting from just $40/month.

Music Unlimited includes more than 30 music streaming services, including Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, Slacker, iHeart Radio, and Google Play Music. Music Unlimited is available to new and existing MetroPCS customers on Metro’s new $40, $50, and $60 unlimited plans.

The company is also offering a Binge On equivalent, known as Data Maximizer. This compresses streaming video streams down to DVD quality to allow customers to stream three times as much video content for the same data usage … 
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Facebook is rolling out a new post format on the latest version of its iPhone app called Music Stories. The new format lets you share songs and albums from popular streaming music services, starting with Apple Music and Spotify, while friends can enjoy 30-second previews of what you share. The Music Stories format also looks rich within the app. Tapping play turns the artwork in a record-like spinning animation, and a button to listen to the whole track or album on the streaming service is presented on the right. 
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Bowers & Wilkins, maker of the iconic Zeppelin speaker and its AirPlay sequel Zeppelin Air, today announced an upgraded model with even more horsepower and features: Zeppelin Wireless ($700). The original $600 Zeppelin redefined “high-end iPod speakers” at a time when Bose and Klipsch had established a $300 to $400 price ceiling, successfully upping the ante in both sound quality and industrial design.

Zeppelin Wireless retains B&W’s classic elongated football shape and five-speaker concept, but now relies entirely on wireless streaming for audio, boasting Bluetooth aptX, AirPlay, and Spotify Connect support. Backed by 150 Watts of amplifier power, a new twice-as-powerful digital signal processor upsamples all inputs to 24-bit/192kHz resolution, promising to deliver greater accuracy, lower noise, and enhanced dynamic range through an audiophile-quality DAC. The speakers and enclosure have been upgraded, as well…

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