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Tidal is the first music streaming service to accept Venmo
High-fidelity music streaming service Tidal now lets subscribers pay using their Venmo balance. It's the latest in a slew of partnerships for the PayPal-owned payments app, following support for Uber, Shopify and Hulu, as it looks to monetize transactions. New Tidal users will be able to select Venmo as a payment option at sign-up on the app, while existing users can make the switch by visiting the My.TIDAL.com mobile website. Once you choose Venmo as your payment option, Tidal will grab your monthly subscription cost from your account or linked payment method.
Sonos now works with YouTube Music
If you've been looking for an easier way to play weird covers of "7 Rings" through your Sonos speakers, today's your lucky day -- YouTube Music subscribers can now stream tunes directly through the Sonos app. You'll find your saved music in your library, and you can browse playlists, albums, songs and artist radio stations. There are also sections for recommendations, new releases and YouTube charts.
SoundCloud is losing its second and final co-founder
SoundCloud co-founder and CPO Eric Wahlforss is stepping aside from his duties at the music sharing platform. In a statement shared on Twitter, Wahlforss said he would transition into an advisory role beginning March 1st. "After more than 11 years of building up our wonderful platform...I have come to the realisation (sic) that now is the right time for me to take a break, reflect and think about what to create next," said Wahlforss.
Spotify's Car View helps cut the distractions for drivers
Following Spotify's integration with Google Maps and Waze, the music streaming service is rolling out some in-car controls within its own app. 9to5Google has spotted a "Car View" mode inside Spotify for Android, which automatically enables a driver-friendly interface when it detects a Bluetooth connection. Users have been tweeting about the update as far back as December, with Spotify claiming that it "wasn't available yet," indicating that this could just be an ongoing test. The company posted in its forums that the feature is indeed available for all Android users and pointed to the rollout process for the reason why it wasn't showing up for everyone just yet.
Spotify is giving brands more control over ads in Discover Weekly
It's no secret that Discover Weekly is a popular personalized playlist for Spotify users. The custom playlist the streaming service builds based on your listening habits each week quickly amassed tens of millions of users after its introduction in 2015. Ads have been included on the playlist for a while if you have a free account, but now Spotify is giving brands the ability to completely customize the sponsored messages that appear in its most popular playlist.
Tidal adds Spotify-like personalized 'My Mix' playlists
Tidal is getting into the personalized playlist game. The music streaming service is now offering its users personalized "My Mix" playlists that take into account their listening history as well as input from Tidal's human-curated playlists. Subscribers can have up to six 50-song My Mix playlists, which will be separated by artists and genres and updated frequently. Tidal says some of the most active listeners will receive updates daily and the service will improve the more users listen.
iHeartRadio now offers an on-demand family plan for $15 per month
Last year, iHeartRadio rolled out its on-demand streaming plan to everyone, and now it's adding a family tier. With the All Access Family Plan, six family members can get their own on-demand profiles and have access to personalized playlists, unlimited skips on customized stations, live radio, podcasts, offline listening, custom playlists and, of course, on-demand listening.
You can now post your Shazam finds to Instagram Stories
Instagram's obsession with music is expanding to Shazam: The song-identifying app now works with Instagram Stories. Starting today, you'll be able to pull up Shazam, ID a song, and immediately post it to your Instagram Story.
SoundCloud’s Premier program is a bad deal for artists
Earlier this month, SoundCloud made its direct monetization program public, allowing hundreds of thousands of creators to make money from the platform. However, The Verge has gotten its hands on the contract artists have to sign to become a part of SoundCloud Premier, and it's rife with stipulations that aren't in artists' interests. From mandatory arbitration clauses to weak payment terms, SoundCloud's contract stands to limit creators' positions and restrict the steps they can take if they feel that they've been wronged.
Spotify tests feature that highlights new releases
Spotify appears to be testing a new feature called What's New that surfaces newly released music from artists you listen to, The Verge reports. A handful of Spotify users have reported seeing the new section on Twitter over the past couple of weeks. "We are always testing new ways to create better listening experiences for more users, while continuing to find ways to connect artists to their fans," the music streaming company told The Verge.
SoundCloud will let DJs instantly mix millions of its tracks
DJ sets and electronic music were integral to SoundCloud's initial success. In the past, the streaming also-ran has tapped into its community of mixers by letting them upload via Pioneer's DJ app. Now it's going one further by allowing creators to stream and incorporate its entire music catalogue in real-time using software from Native Instruments, Serato, Virtual DJ, DEX3, Mixvibes and DJuced/Hercules. That means access to 200 million tracks, in case you were wondering.
Mighty returns with a redesigned offline Spotify player
When Mighty debuted last year, it delivered iPod Shuffle-like offline playback for Spotify users. In other words, it brought a tiny music player to the streaming generation. The original model mostly delivered on its promises, carrying more than 1000 songs so users could leave their phones behind on a run or during a workout. Mighty wasn't without its flaws though, and the company says it addressed many of the major hiccups with version 2.0, which is called the Mighty Vibe.
Teenage Engineering reluctantly adds Bluetooth audio to OD-11 speaker
For years, Teenage Engineering has chosen not to allow its users to stream music via Bluetooth to its flagship OD-11 speakers. And that's despite it actually having a Bluetooth radio inside. The Swedish engineers have finally, reluctantly, given in and users can simply download a software update for their speaker to enable it.
Spotify reveals its most-played music for its 10th anniversary
Spotify's 10th anniversary is upon us, and the music streaming service is celebrating by letting all of us in on some of its statistics. Over at the company's Decade of Discovery page, users can take a virtual stroll through Spotify's most-played artists and albums over the last decade.
Tidal will now stream to your Samsung TV
Just weeks after it announced a partnership with Spotify, Samsung is now bringing Tidal to its TVs. Music Business Worldwide reports that the Samsung TV Tidal app is "just the beginning of the partnership," according to Tidal, and that the app will prioritize the streaming service's visual content. Last year, Tidal announced apps for Apple TV and Android TV, following that up with Amazon Fire TV support in March.
Streaming accounts for 75 percent of music industry revenue in the US
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has released music industry revenue statistics for the first half of 2018 in the US, and on average, revenue growth has slowed. While overall revenue was up 10 percent compared to the same time last year, clocking in at $4.6 billion, that rate is only around half of the increase observed between the first halves of 2016 and 2017. Streaming revenue growth slowed as well, though it was still up 28 percent compared to last year. Notably, streaming accounted for the vast majority of revenue so far this year, with 75 percent of overall revenue coming from streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal.
Spotify taps DJ Semtex for hip-hop culture podcast
Following in the footsteps of Zane Lowe and Ryan Newman, hip-hop aficionado DJ Semtex is the latest BBC Radio veteran to jump ship to a music streaming service. He'll be handling co-presenting duties alongside RCA's Parris O'Loughlin-Hoste on season two of Spotify's original podcast Who We Be TALKS_; a weekly show that explores the "music and lifestyle that surrounds [hip-hop and grime] culture".
SoundCloud adds weekly personalized playlists
SoundCloud announced today that it's releasing a weekly personalized playlist for its users. Updated every Monday, SoundCloud Weekly pulls music from the platform's millions of creators, which the company notes is "multiple times more than are featured in playlists on other streaming services." Like those from other services, such as Spotify's Discover Weekly, SoundCloud Weekly's tracks are determined by the creators and tracks users like, share and listen to the most. It follows the release of the daily mixes of new uploads the company launched last year.
Apple Music adds global and regional top 100 charts
Apple is adding a new feature to its music streaming service today -- charts of Apple Music's top-streamed songs. Rolling Stone reports that the company now has 116 "top 100" charts, which include one global chart and one for every country in which the service is currently available. They're rolling out to users through a software update today.
Europe is reportedly ready to clear Apple’s purchase of Shazam
In April, the European Commission (EC) announced that it was launching an in-depth investigation into Apple's proposed purchase of Shazam -- a deal that was announced last December. Now, according to Reuters, two people familiar with the matter say European antitrust regulators will approve the acquisition without requiring any concessions. The investigation explored whether the purchase of Shazam would give Apple access to data that could let it target and draw in customers of other streaming services, like Spotify. It also looked into whether other services would be harmed if Shazam stopped referring users to them once Apple took the reins.
