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Apple Music student discounts come to 82 new regions
Apple has increased the number of markets where students can grab a discount on their Apple Music subscription. As iMore's Rene Ritchie notes, the deal is being offered in 82 new regions — 79 now and a further three on February 26th — including Israel, Poland, Portugal and the Philippines. Pricing varies by country, but as a general rule students get half-off (in the US, for instance, it's $4.99 instead of $9.99 per month.) Apple uses UniDAYS to verify the listener has enrolled at a college or university, and will periodically check their status while the four-year discount applies.
Spotify teams with Discord to soundtrack your gaming chats
Spotify and gaming chat app Discord are joining forces so your entire channel can bump to the same music during a raid. Starting today, you can link your Spotify Premium account to your Discord account and keep the beats rocking for your entire community. "All users are now able to instantly highlight and share their favorite tunes with their friends across Discord," Spotify writes.
Pioneer's new iOS app can power your next DJ livestream
Pioneer's DJ mix recording app is now available for your iPhone and iPad. Cleverly named DJM-REC, the free-to-download app connects to any mixer with a USB send/return channel to record, archive and even livestream your mixes. The app gives you a 30-day trial, after which you'll need to purchase the full app for $10.
Def Leppard albums you might actually listen to are now streaming
The list of streaming holdouts just got shorter. British rock outfit Def Leppard has made its catalog of older albums available on streaming services for the first time. Until now, only the band's more recent releases were on the likes of Spotify and others. In other words, the material from the band's glory days -- like Pyromania and Hysteria -- weren't included in music services' catalogs. Of course, it's also a nice bit of promotion ahead of the group's summer tour with Journey.
Spotify tries using video loops as song artwork
Usually when you tap the now-playing bar while listening to Spotify on your phone, it brings up a static image related to the song you're playing. But today, Music Ally noticed that one song on the New Music Friday playlist, Superorganism's "Everybody Wants To Be Famous," instead featured a looped video in the background rather than the typical artwork. The video, which multiple Engadget reporters have also now spotted on their Spotify accounts, lasts through the entirety of the song and is credited to Superorganism.
Tidal’s free 12-day trial comes with new content each day
Starting on Christmas, Tidal will begin a 12-day free trial period that's a little different than a typical trial. Tidal already has a 30-day free trial for its regular and HiFi tier, but this one doesn't require you to put in a credit card first or, therefore, make sure you cancel before it ends if you decide you don't want to continue. Additionally, each day of the trial, Tidal will be releasing new, exclusive content.
Tidal launches app for Apple and Android TVs
Today, Tidal launches its Tidal TV app, allowing subscribers to use the streaming service on their Apple TVs and Android TVs. The app's "Home" section displays recommendations and popular concerts, livestreams, music videos, albums and podcasts. And users can curate their own "My Collection" section, which can house all of their favorite content.
Pandora's on-demand music service works over your Xfinity cable box
Xfinity X1 users have been able to access the free version of Pandora, but now they're also getting support for both Pandora Premium and Pandora Plus. In an update available now, users will be able to get Pandora music going on X1 just by saying "Pandora" into the X1 voice remote and Premium subscribers can search and play any song, album, station or playlist they wish. To get to a specific song, they'll just have to say something like, "Play 'Santa's Coming for Us' by Sia on Pandora." X1 also now supports Pandora Plus, which lets subscribers listen to stations ad-free with additional skips and replays. The update also includes a simpler sign-in experience and a new display design.
Spotify and Deezer urge EU to lean on Apple
Streaming is single-handedly boosting music sales and Spotify doesn't want any one behemoth (see Apple) gaining a stranglehold over the booming market. It got its wish when the EU promised "legislative instruments" to help out the little guy, specifically smaller firms that fear bigger corporations could stifle them by imposing strict rules on their apps. Seven months later, there's no new laws in sight, so Spotify (along with its original ally Deezer) is knocking on the EU's door once more, reports the Financial Times.
Tidal may only have enough cash left to last six months
Music streaming service Tidal is facing both money and user growth woes, according to Norway's Dagens Næringsliv. After reportedly losing roughly NOK$368 million ($44 million dollars) before taxes in 2016, Tidal is now left with just enough cash to last six months. This despite Sprint buying a 33 percent stake in Jay-Z's streaming service in January. The $200 million deal, which included a reported $75 million fund for exclusive content, should've given Tidal "sufficient working capital for the next 12-18 months," said Jay Z's business partner and Roc Nation Sports president Juan Perez (via DN).
Recommended Reading: Making a shed a top-rated destination on TripAdvisor
I Made My Shed the Top Rated Restaurant On TripAdvisor Oobah Butler, Vice If you've ever wondered just how many reviews on sites like TripAdvisor are fake, you're not alone. One writer took maters into their own hands to prove the extent of the issue by creating a fake restaurant in a backyard. Once it became popular on the site though, things escalated quickly.
SoundCloud shows how its algorithms influence music streams
SoundCloud wants the world (and, more importantly, record labels) to know that it can break artists too. And, who can blame it. It must sting when Apple Music declares that it helped Post Malone (who went viral on SoundCloud before invading the Billboard Hot 100) become a streaming record-breaker. And, when Spotify's Rap Caviar playlist (stocked with SoundCloud upstarts, like Lil' Uzi Vert and Lil' Pump) is hailed as a hit-maker. Its solution? A new stat that reveals the power of its algorithm in helping creators nab more plays. The update follows the insights SoundCloud added to its SoundCloud Pulse app and the web, including playlist streams and top listeners, cities and countries.
Pandora adds curated playlists to its on-demand music service
For years, the main feature of Pandora's music streaming service has been stations generated from the company's vast Music Genome Project. A system that analyzes songs based on 450 different attributes, it helps Pandora build stations of songs that the company claims go together better than what other services offer. But, the company finally launched a full-fledged, on-demand service earlier this year, and now it's expanding the kinds of music it curates for users. Today, Pandora Premium is launching Featured Playlists, a set of 250 curated playlists across the categories you see on pretty much every other music service out there. Pandora says that in addition to genre-focused playlists, it's also building ones for moods, activities, specific artists and "cultural moments."
Three is adding 'free' Apple Music data to Go Binge plans
Zero-rated services, it seems, are here to stay. Almost every major UK network has revealed its own take on the concept, offering "free" data when you use specific apps on your phone. Three's version, Go Binge, launched in July with a handful of partners including Netflix, Deezer and SoundCloud. Today, to coincide with the launch of the iPhone X, the company has announced a new addition: Apple Music. The service joins the Go Binge family on November 27th and will be eligible for customers with an "advanced" contract or SIM-only plan with at least 4GB of data.
Recommended Reading: Streaming is changing the sound of music
Uncovering How Streaming Is Changing the Sound of Pop Marc Hogan, Pitchfork You don't have to look far to find evidence of how streaming services have dramatically changed the way we listen to music. But it's not just the consumption that's been affected, it's the creation too. Pitchfork takes a look at how services like Spotify have impacted music trends and why things like globalization, collaborations and slower tempos have taken over the pop sound.
Spotify's new playlist is personalized to your teenage years
Spotify has added another personalized playlist to its lineup, but rather than a compilation of what you've been listening to or what you might like to hear, this one takes you back to what you used to play, probably on a CD or something. "Your Time Capsule" features 30 songs that "take you back in time to your teenage years," and the playlist is around two hours long.
Post Malone sets Apple Music streaming record with song ‘Rockstar’
Post Malone's song "Rockstar" has just surpassed DJ Khaled's "I'm the One" as the record with the most Apple Music streams in one week. The Verge reports that the song snagged 25 million streams in a single week on the music service, which accounted for 56 percent of all first week streams of the song in the US. That's pretty impressive for a service that hosts around a sixth of the users that Spotify does.
Apple reportedly strikes new licensing deal with Warner Music
Apple Music users will be able to enjoy tunes from Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars for the foreseeable future. Fresh off its recent deal with Spotify, Warner Music has signed off on an agreement with the tech giant, according to sources that spoke to Bloomberg. The deal is Apple's first with a major label since the launch of its streaming service two years ago.
Deezer now streams high-quality audio to more than just Sonos
Deezer Elite brought high-quality music streaming to Sonos speakers back in 2014, but until now, the service wasn't available on audio gear from other companies. Starting today, you can access the renamed Deezer HiFi tier from Chromecast Audio or any speaker that has Chromecast built-in. That opens up the options to devices from the likes of Sony, Samsung, Bang & Olufsen, Onkyo and Pioneer -- just to name a few.
Amazon Music Unlimited is now cheaper for students
Sigh, it's that time of the year again. Despacito may still be atop the charts, but summer is dwindling, meaning it's time to head back to school. But, don't cut short your soundtrack just yet, because this is the ideal time to get ad-free music on a streaming service. All the students out there already get a nice discount on Apple Music and Spotify, and now you can add Amazon Music Unlimited to that list too. The online retail giant is offering up its relatively new music streaming service to all the young folk for just $4.99/£4.99 per month. That brings it in line with its bigger rivals, price-wise at least. It also means you fork out less than Amazon Prime subscribers ($7.99/£7.99 per month) and non-Prime customers ($9.99/£9.99). And, if you're eligible to be a Prime Student member, it will go down to just $6/£6 for six months -- that's just one dollar or pound a month for the period.
