Spotify

590 'Spotify' stories December 2010 - March 2015

Spotify is a music streaming service that debuted in late 2008. It’s the most popular music streaming service in the world with over 200 million users (as of January 2019).

The free version allows users to stream songs for free with ads (mobile version only allows for shuffling). Paid users can have full access to the entire library for listening. Pricing is $9.99 per month for individual users and $14.99 per month for families (up to six people). There are additional plans for students that include bundled with Hulu. Apps are available for iPhone, iPad, macOS, and the web.

In early 2019, it purchased Gimlet Media and Anchor as a transition to becoming an “audio company” vs a music-only company.

Popular Articles

Apple/Beats streaming music service has competition for exclusive releases as Jay Z relaunches Tidal

Ben Lovejoy Mar 30 2015 - 6:00 am PT

12 Comments

If Apple plans to offer artist exclusives as a way to encourage sign-ups to its rebranded Beats Music streaming service, it will be facing new competition. TechCrunch reports that Tidal, the high-definition music service being relaunched later today by new owner Jay Z, is set to announce some exclusive deals with big-name artists.

Tidal is […] reportedly making a move to snag new releases by some of the biggest musicians of the moment including Kanye West, Madonna and Daft Punk […]

Tidal’s plan of attack will be to ink first-window deals with the artists, where Tidal would get first releases of tracks from big-name artists ahead of any other digital streaming services.

The artists named in the report have all been using the #tidalforall hashtag in recent tweets and Instagram posts …
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Apple unlikely to hit $7.99/month for streaming music service as labels stand firm on pricing

Ben Lovejoy Mar 10 2015 - 4:11 am PT

7 Comments

Apple appears set to abandon its plans to offer the rebranded Beats streaming music service for less than the $9.99/month charged by Spotify, Rdio and Google Play Music. Billboard reports that Apple’s attempts to use its clout to negotiate better deals with record labels have been unsuccessful.

Negotiations for Apple’s upcoming subscription service are evidence labels are standing firm on pricing. Industry sources say Apple has backed down from its effort to lower monthly pricing for its subscription service to $7.99 from $9.99.

The report says that the deals offered by the labels would have left Apple losing money if it had gone ahead with its plan to offer the service for the rumored $7.99/month …
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Apple plans relaunched Beats streaming music service for WWDC, skipping March event; Apple TV still coming

Mark Gurman Mar 5 2015 - 10:26 am PT

38 Comments

Apple won’t take the wraps off of its upcoming Beats-based music streaming service at its March 9 “Spring Forward” event, according to music industry sources briefed on the launch timeline. Instead, Apple currently plans to introduce the service, at least in beta form, at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in early June. The WWDC keynote likely takes place on Monday, June 8th, and that’s the event where the debut will occur. The new iTunes music streaming service is based on technology acquired from Beats Music, including curated playlists, cloud-based libraries, and offerings customized to the musical tastes of individual users. The service will be priced as high as $7.99 per month, which is less expensive than current $9.99 pricing for Beats Music, Spotify, and Rdio…

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Spotify’s Mac app getting integrated Musixmatch lyrics in the coming weeks

Ben Lovejoy Feb 26 2015 - 4:53 am PT

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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI7KH14PAwQ]

If you’re a fan of impromptu karaoke sessions, Spotify is about to make life easier by integrating Musixmatch lyrics into its desktop apps.

Simply fire up any song on our desktop app and hit the new Lyrics button. You can also search and browse popular lyrics from Spotify’s top songs using the Explore feature.

The music streaming service is also improving the Friend Feed, to make it easier to see what your friends are listening to, and introducing daily viral charts, showing you the most-shared tracks both globally and in your own region.

Spotify says the rollout of the updated app will take place “gradually” across all its desktop apps over the coming weeks. The company updated its iOS app last month with a touch preview function and new swipe gestures.

Opinion: Could Apple’s integrated streaming music service decimate the competition?

Ben Lovejoy Feb 9 2015 - 7:39 am PT

40 Comments

Image: Forbes

When Apple enters a new business, you know it’s not going to do so in a half-hearted, small way. When it launches its Apple-branded Beats Music service later this year, it’s a no-brainer to predict that it’s going to be a big deal for the music industry. With Apple’s deep integration of Beats into its existing iOS/iTunes ecosystem exclusively revealed by Mark Gurman added into the mix, I wonder whether the unique selling points being notched up by Apple could be enough to leave existing big-name players like Spotify, Google Play and Rdio dead in the water?

That’s rather a grand idea, of course. As of last month, Spotify reached 15 million paid subscribers–up 50% in the last six months alone. Beats Music had only a little over 100,000 subscribers at the time Apple bought the company, and is rumored to have only 2-3 times as many now. But an Apple-ified Beats Music service has four things going for it …
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Misfit Flash fitness tracker adding remote controls for Spotify, Nest, IFTTT + other home automation gear

Jeremy Horwitz Jan 27 2015 - 11:35 am PT

3 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGL02_jRFBA&w=704&h=396]

Misfit, maker of the Flash and Shine wearable fitness trackers, today announced a collection of partnerships that will extend Flash’s functionality to include limited remote control of certain apps and home automation accessories. According to Misfit, Flash — a coin-shaped accessory with an integrated accelerometer, button and small lights — will be able to work as a wireless on/off switch in the following situations:

Start and stop a Spotify playlist.
Wake up to an ideal temperature using Flash’s sleep tracker and smart alarm with the Nest Learning Thermostat.
Connect to over 160 products and services via IFTTT, using a double press and other triggers to turn devices on and off, send stored messages, and send fitness information to an archive.
Use certain Logitech Harmony systems to activate commands such as “Watch a Movie,” “Play Games,” and “Listen to Music.”
Double press to send a message via the Yo messaging system.
Unlock August Smart Lock and Latch doors.
Change colors or turn on/off the Leeo Smart Alert Nightlight.
Check the air quality of your room using Bitfinder.

Misfit says that the features are coming to Flash in March, which should be shortly after the release of Misfit Bolt, a $50 light bulb capable of being wirelessly controlled by Flash. Additional partners will be announced in the future.

Spotify updating iOS app with neat touch preview and new swipe gestures

Ben Lovejoy Jan 22 2015 - 4:30 am PT

15 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BriF9qxInAk]

Spotify has announced an update to its iOS app to add some very handy new features. You’ll be able to preview any song just by touching the track and holding your finger down. Tapping it then plays the full track.

The app is also getting two new swipe gestures designed to make it even easier to queue music and save tracks to My Music …
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Touching the dial: How iTunes Radio could be tuned for a better user experience

Michael Steeber Jan 15 2015 - 8:35 am PT

10 Comments

iTunes Radio, Apple’s first real foray into streaming music, made its public debut back in June 2013, where it was announced alongside iOS 7. Over a year since its release, the service hasn’t exactly taken over the world, quite literally. It’s still only available in the United States and Australia. If you compared iTunes Radio today with iTunes Radio as it existed the day it was first available to use, you’ll notice that not much has really changed.

Of course, just last May, Apple announced its acquisition of Beats Electronics, which brought along with it Beats Music, a robust and almost entirely different approach to streaming music. While Apple may seek to integrate Beats Music more tightly with iTunes in the future, at this time it hasn’t.

So in the meantime, what could Apple do to make iTunes Radio more appealing to customers? Some might say the music selection is limited, or that streaming doesn’t always work correctly. However, focusing on the service strictly from a feature standpoint, there are many small changes and additions Apple could implement that would have a huge impact on the usefulness and utility of iTunes Radio. Let’s take a look.

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Spotify now reports 15 million paid subscribers

Zac Hall Jan 12 2015 - 6:56 am PT

15 Comments

Streaming music subscription service Spotify shared its latest user numbers today, announcing that it now has 15 million paid subscribers to its premium service and 60 million active users. Spotify’s paid user count of 15 million accounts is up from the 10 million paid subscribers it previously reported just over six months ago.

Since then, Apple has officially closed on its $3 billion deal to acquire Beats Electronics and Beats Music, which gave it access to its own on-demand music streaming subscription service. Before Apple’s Beats acquisition last year, the Spotify competitor was believed to have just over 110,000 paid subscribers of its own.
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Algoriddim releases djay Pro for Mac w/ Spotify integration, 4 deck support, iCloud syncing, more

Zac Hall Dec 18 2014 - 6:05 am PT

6 Comments

Algoriddim is ending the year with a bang with the launch of djay Pro for Mac — its most powerful version of the popular music mixing app. Spotify integration added access to over 20 million songs for djay users in May, and Algoriddim released djay for Android for the first time this part October. With the release of the professional version of djay for the desktop, Algoriddim is adding access to your Spotify library for mixing right in the DJ app and highlighting ‘pro’ features and capabilities with this brand new version.
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Spotify and SoundCloud updated w/ playlist features, iPhone 6/6 Plus optimization

Ben Lovejoy Dec 11 2014 - 6:13 am PT

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If you want to stay in tune with your friends, Spotify is rolling out a new feature that automatically generates a playlist of your friends’ favorite tracks. The feature is appearing on all platforms, including version 2.2 of the Spotify Music iPhone app, out today.

The SoundCloud iPhone app also gets playlists for the first time, and both apps have been optimized for the iPhone 6/Plus.

Spotify Music is a free download from the App Store on iTunes, with in-app purchases, while SoundCloud is completely free.

Holiday gift guide: apps and products for students and teens

Chance Miller Dec 4 2014 - 10:00 am PT

6 Comments

Technology has totally changed the lives of teenagers and students in this generation, both for the good and the bad. There are apps and products that dramatically make our lives easier and more efficient, but also things that kill our productivity. I’m generally more favorable to the latter of those two, but I’ll breakdown the best of both worlds and exactly what gift the teens and students in your life today might be interested in this holiday season.

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Spotify offers three months of Premium for just $0.99 – but you probably won’t qualify

Ben Lovejoy Dec 4 2014 - 6:09 am PT

19 Comments

Spotify Premium gives you no ads, offline listening, on-demand listening even on mobile and better sound quality, and normally costs $9.99. So to get three months for just $0.99 sounds like a deal that’s too good to be true.

Unfortunately, it pretty much is. While the deal is there for new users, anyone who has ever subscribed to Premium or Unlimited isn’t eligible, and nor is anyone who has ever taken a one-month free trial of Premium. So, er, just about anyone who likes Spotify, then.

Still, if you do have friends who’ve never taken up the trial, this would be the perfect time for them to try it out. They will have to provide card details and remember to cancel before the three months is up, otherwise they will start paying the usual $9.99 a month.

Spotify also recently announced a family deal of $4.99 a month for each additional Premium user. Spotify Music for iPhone and iPad is a free download from the App Store.

Via 9to5Toys

Billboard 200 chart will include streaming listens from Beats, Spotify, Google Play, & others in album sales

Jordan Kahn Nov 20 2014 - 7:45 am PT

5 Comments

Billboard is about to add data from music streaming services to its weekly Billboard 200 charts for the first time as services like Spotify and Apple’s Beats Music become increasingly popular. The New York Times reports that Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan plan to start incorporating both streams and downloads from music streaming services, in addition to the music sales the chart already covered, in order to more accurately reflect popular albums based on what users are listening to. The first chart including streaming services will include data for next week and arrive online Dec. 4:
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Rdio matches Spotify’s family deal of $5/month for each extra person

Ben Lovejoy Nov 13 2014 - 3:57 am PT

3 Comments

Streaming music service Rdio has reduced the price of its family membership plans to match the deal Spotify announced last month of half-price subscriptions for additional family members. This means the first member pays the standard $10/month fee while up to four extra family members get their own account for $5/month.

Rdio has offered family memberships for several years now, but this price reduction brings the service into line with Spotify. As with Spotify, each family member gets their own playlists, keeping things tidy – especially now that you can listen to Rdio in your car thanks to CarPlay support.

With our Family Plan, say goodbye to having only one person being able to listen at a time — or having to share favorites and playlists that aren’t really your own. And say goodbye to friends wondering why “you” are listening to your kid’s music that’s overcrowding the Home feed.

Interestingly, $5/month is rumored to be Apple’s target price when it relaunches Beats Music under its own branding. The company has reportedly been asking record labels to reduce the fees they charge for music streaming to make the deal possible. It has been suggested that the relaunch may take place in February.

Apple has been under pressure to launch a true on-demand music streaming service in addition to iTunes Radio as the money continues to move from downloads to streaming.

Report: Spotify overtakes iTunes in European royalty earnings for musicians as shift to music streaming continues

Ben Lovejoy Nov 5 2014 - 4:03 am PT

8 Comments

The latest evidence of the continued trend away from music downloads toward streaming services was provided by Kobalt, a company that collects music royalties on behalf of thousands of artists, reports TechCrunch. Income from Spotify overtook that from iTunes for the first time in Q1 of this year, putting Spotify 13% ahead of iTunes.

While Kobalt operates only in Europe, there is no reason to believe that the trend would be different in the U.S. …
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Apps
Spotify

Spotify brings iPad app in line with iPhone & Mac apps, with dark theme and Your Music feature

Ben Lovejoy Oct 30 2014 - 6:26 am PT

4 Comments

Spotify has belatedly brought its iPad app in line with the dark-themed iPhone and Mac apps, also adding in the Your Music feature which made it easier to organise your favourite content.

The iPhone and Mac apps got the same update way back in April, and it’s unclear why it’s taken the iPad app so long to catch up.

Spotify is a free download from iTunes.

Algoriddim brings its popular Mac and iOS ‘djay’ app to Android w/ Spotify integration

Zac Hall Oct 28 2014 - 7:00 am PT

13 Comments

Algoriddim, the team behind the popular music mixing app djay, first shipped the commercial version of its flagship app in 2007 on the Mac followed by the iPad version in 2010 and the iPhone version in 2011. Adding to the history of djay, today Algoriddim is launching djay for Android through the Google Play Store and Amazon App Store making the app its first on Google’s platform.

While djay is rooted in digital music mixing on the Mac then iOS, the new Android version is just as desktop class with high quality music playback and real time analyzing and mixing. Better yet, djay for Android packs in deep Spotify integration from day one–the iOS version first added up Spotify integration earlier this year–which means you have access to over 20 million songs for mixing together and playback.

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Spotify Family to offer half-price Premium subscriptions for additional family members

Ben Lovejoy Oct 20 2014 - 4:45 am PT

2 Comments

Anyone who has ever shared a Spotify Premium account with a partner or – worse – their kids will know the problems: arguments over who gets to use it when, and your playlists and recommendations polluted by the likes of Jason Mraz or the soundtrack from The Lego Movie.

Spotify Family will soon allow you to purchase additional Premium subscriptions for up to four family members for half-price. The first family member will continue to pay $10/month, but additional family members pay just $5/month.

Your account. Your music. With Spotify Family, everyone gets their very own account. Enjoy separate playlists and recommendations and play your music whenever you like.

Premium for everyone. Everyone on the plan gets the full Spotify Premium experience. Listen offline. Play any song, anytime, on any device. No restrictions. No ads.

The more the merrier. Having a family can be expensive. But music doesn’t have to be. With Spotify Family, you can add up to four family members to your account, and each additional user gets 50% off Spotify Premium.

No tantrums. No more fighting over what to listen to, and no more interruptions when someone else logs in and starts playing.

Spotify said a family membership has been one of its most requested features, and that the package will roll-out globally in the coming weeks.

Spotify apps are available for both OS X and iOS, as well as Windows and Android. Spotify is currently available in over 60 countries, with Canada joining the list just last month.

Designers mock up Apple Watch versions of popular iOS applications

Mike Beasley Oct 10 2014 - 4:23 pm PT

20 Comments

Facebook Messenger

Thinkapps’ Build Blog has published a few designer mockups showing what popular third-party applications might look like on Apple’s new smartwatch with some interesting results. The apps were created by several different designers, and you can see that each app maintains some of the branding and design you’d expect while conforming to the smaller wearable UI and its new input devices like the Digital Crown.

Above you’ll find the design for Facebook Messenger, which features a contact view made up of circular contact photos with online indicators that closely resembles the watch’s home screen. The message view sports a single reply button that presumably uses the device’s built-in dictation capability to compose a response.

Below you’ll find designs for apps like Beats Music, Skype, Uber, YouTube, and more. Keep in mind that these designs are hardly official, but represent the types of user interfaces you might see when the folks in Cupertino release the Apple Watch early next year.

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Pioneer finally brings CarPlay equipment to mass market, Spotify app update adds CarPlay support

Benjamin Mayo Oct 2 2014 - 2:23 am PT

12 Comments

The CarPlay situation has been murky. Since being announced in the spring, most manufacturers have been quiet on when CarPlay equipment will actually be available to purchase. Pioneer is the first company to deliver on its promise, adding CarPlay as an update to its aftermarket dashboard panels (unless you count Ferrari’s integration into its high-end Ferrari California T).

Existing Pioneer device owners may not need to purchase any extras, as the CarPlay update is free for supported devices. Aforementioned units include the AVIC-8000NEX, AVIC-7000NEX, AVIC-6000NEX, AVIC-5000NEX and the AVH-4000NEX with prices ranging from $700 to $1400.

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Spotify music streaming service finally launches in Canada

Jordan Kahn Sep 30 2014 - 7:21 am PT

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Spotify announced today that it’s finally expanding into Canada giving Canucks access to the music streaming service that was previously available in the UK, US and a long list of other European and South American countries.

The official announcement comes from Spotify’s blog following a beta period in the country in which the company invited select users to sign-up and try out the service.

Canadians that download the Spotify app will be able to access the service’s usual “fully licensed free tier.” That includes the ability to “shuffle play on mobile or play any song on tablet or desktop,” but users can also pay $10 CAD per month for the unlimited, on-demand experience with the highest quality audio and no ads.

A full list of countries that Spotify is currently available in is here.

Spotify app to offer 30 mins of ad-free listening if you watch a 15-30 second video ad first

Ben Lovejoy Sep 8 2014 - 5:10 am PT

2 Comments

Spotify currently offers you a choice: pay ten bucks a month to listen without ads, or listen for free but have your music interrupted by audio ads. Those using the iOS or Android app will be offered a third option later this year: watch a 15-30 second video ad in return for 30 minutes of ad-free listening.

Known as Sponsored Sessions, the idea is that advertisers get the ability to run video ads for the first time, while the experience is made relatively painless for consumers by guaranteeing 30 minutes of uninterrupted listening afterwards.

Spotify began pitching the option to advertisers back in June, and Ad Age reports that a number of major advertisers have now signed-up.

Spotify will start testing the video ads in the fourth quarter with a limited number of brands and plans to extend them to all advertisers in the first quarter of 2015.

Coca-Cola, Ford, McDonald’s and Universal Pictures have signed on as the ads’ first global buyers. Kraft Foods, Target and Wells Fargo will be the U.S.-only launch advertisers.

The Spotify app is a free download from the App Store.

Via Engadget

Rdio preps revamped music streaming app with a focus on free stations

Mike Beasley Sep 3 2014 - 10:16 pm PT

3 Comments

The Rdio music streaming service is preparing to release an updated version of its mobile app later today will place a new focus on its free “stations” feature as competitors like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple’s one-two punch of iTunes Radio and Beats Music crank up the pressure on the service.

Rdio claims its free music library is as much as fifteen times bigger than those of competing apps. Like other online radio services, the new Rdio will automatically create playlists and stations from that library based on a user’s music preferences. Curated stations from musicians and other celebrities will also be available, much like in iTunes Radio.

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