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Drake has the first album with a billion Apple Music streams
Apple's strategy of cherry-picking exclusives for Apple Music seems to be paying off. Drake's Views, which debuted on April 29th, has already attracted 1 billion plays -- a first for the company's plays streaming service. The album was technically a timed exclusive -- Spotify and others snapped it up five days later -- but still, that tiny window could have been important. Apple is trying to build a reputation, much like Tidal was, of being the best place to listen to new music. Any special deals it can negotiate will further that cause, and potentially bring in new subscribers.
Deezer's family streaming plan is now available across Europe
Like most streaming services, music or otherwise, Deezer has a family plan that offers enough individual accounts to cover your whole household for a significantly discounted price. This particular subscription option, however, was previously exclusive to users in France and T-Mobile customers in the Netherlands, but as of today, it's now available throughout Europe -- apart from in Sweden, for whatever reason. For €15 or £15 per month, the family plan gets you six separate Premium+ accounts (€10/£10 on their own), each of which can be used across two devices, or three for the primary login.
Paid streaming services provide a big boost to the music industry
Streaming continues to play a bigger role in music industry revenue and now it's starting to provide some real help offsetting declining album sales in the US. In its mid-year report, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reports that the industry saw its biggest growth in the first half of 2016 since the 1990s, up 8.1 percent year-over-year to $3.4 billion. In terms of music streaming as a whole, revenue from those services was up 57 percent during the first half of the year and it now makes up 47 percent of the music industry's total revenue. That's up from 32 percent of the total revenue this time last year.
Deezer tracks now play in your Twitter timeline
As Deezer pushes hard for a subscriber base in America, it's teaming up with Twitter to ensure its music can be easily shared online. Similar to Spotify and SoundCloud, you can now tweet a track with an embedded player from inside the Deezer mobile app. Anyone that sees your tweet has the option to listen to a short snippet -- about 30 seconds -- or press the shortcut underneath to listen to the rest on Deezer's platform. The audio card integration is available in all countries where Deezer operates, including Canada and various parts of Europe, Asia and Latin America.
EE's latest perk is six months of free Apple Music
Hot on the heels of EE giving subscribers free access to BT Sport's app for six months -- big spenders get it for the length of their contract, too -- the carrier is adding yet another tantalising perk. Starting September 1st, any new or upgrading pay-monthly customer on a handset or SIM-only plan can also enjoy a free, six-month Apple Music subscription. It's the standard win-win scenario for both companies. EE hopes it'll tempt users to stick with or move to the network, with Apple hoping you'll cough up £10 each month to keep your subscription active after the trial period ends.
Now that Deezer is widely available in the US, should you switch?
People outside of the U.S. are already familiar with Deezer. The streaming service has been available in other parts of the world for a long time now, but until recently the company only made its subscription available to a select few in the States. Until a few weeks ago, you needed to own either Bose or Sonos speakers (or have a Cricket phone plan) to have the option of using Deezer. After dipping its toe in the U.S. market, the streaming catalog is now available to everyone. Does it offer enough to woo subscribers away from other big-name services? Probably not.
Pretend Rdio never died with this Spotify theme
Remember Rdio? I do. A beautiful music streaming service that was eventually outmuscled by Spotify, Google Play Music and the like. If you miss its light, well-considered design like I do, you might be interested in "Spotio," a new Spotify theme by designer and writer Devin Halladay. The legality of his work is a tad questionable, but until it's pulled by Spotify's overlords you can grab it right here. You'll need to set your Mac's security preferences to accept apps from "anywhere," and close the regular version from Spotify HQ. Then it's just a matter of deleting the original app from your Mac, should you prefer Halladay's Rdio-inspired alternative.
Pandora's new streaming service could launch as soon as September
We've know about Pandora's plan to turn the remaining pieces of Rdio into its own subscription service for some time now, but thanks to The Wall Street Journal, we know that the launch could be imminent. WSJ reports that the company is close to securing the necessary licensing deals for the new paid service in both the US and abroad. The media outlet's sources indicate that in addition to a free tier, there will also be two paid options -- a detail we've heard the company's CEO discuss in the past. We surmise that listening for free means that you'll have to suffer through some ads, but that's something Pandora will likely confirm at launch.
Spotify revamps its kids category to help with early learning
Spotify already had a variety of content for young listeners, but with the help of educational initiatives Too Small to Fail and Vroom, the streaming service has revised that lineup. The newly revamped "Kids and Family" category features playlists that focus on daytime routines, activities and more. There are options for playtime, bedtime and traveling, just to name a few. Between songs, a collection of celebrities provide tips for other activities to further help build vocabulary. Voice prompts will feature Fantasia, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Wiz Khalifa, Tyler Perry, Juanes, Diego Torres, Busy Philipps and more.
Spotify Gaming puts your favorite soundtracks in one place
Video game soundtracks hold a pretty special place in the Engadget Gaming crew's heart. Whether it's a collection of painstakingly curated licensed tracks a la Hotline Miami or wholly original compositions from Austin Wintory or Jesper Kyd, the right music can make a good game great and an excellent one even better. Spotify recognizes this too and is launching a new subsection dedicated to gaming music. The new collection brings everything under one category now (finding gaming stuff was a bit messy before), works across pretty much every platform and even includes chiptune stuff from the '80s.
SoundCloud Go now streams to Sonos connected speakers
The number of options for Sonos owners to stream music to their connected speakers continues to expand. SoundCloud announced today that its subscription service is now available on the popular multi-room audio setup. Launched in March, SoundCloud Go is the long-rumored monthly subscription option from the music library that's been a go-to spot for creators and listeners alike. The service still has some issues to work out, but if SoundCloud wants it to catch on, it needs to offer the option to users in as many places as possible. And that includes working with some of the best speakers on the market.
Spotify's Release Radar is Discover Weekly for new music
Discover Weekly is one of Spotify's best and most unique features, serving up a personalized playlist full of artists you probably haven't listened to before. But what happens toward the end of the week, once you've cycled through its recommendations a few times? Enter Release Radar, a new playlist that drops every Friday. The personalised mixtape, which sits in the Discover section, will offer a collection of brand-new releases from artists you follow or listen to regularly. Spotify says it'll also throw in some "new discoveries" which, similar to Discover Weekly, are based on your listening habits inside the app. It could be a handy new feature, provided your favorite artists aren't those signing exclusives with Apple Music.
Deezer's $10 music streaming service is open to all in the US (updated)
Before now, if you wanted to subscribe to Deezer in the US, you needed to own Bose or Sonos audio gear or be a Cricket customer in order to do so. Just over a month after the streaming service shed podcast app Stitcher, it's opening up the $10 monthly streaming plan to all users in the States. While Deezer offers both free and paid tiers in other countries, the monthly subscription will be the only way for US users to listen when the 30-day trial runs out. Paying up will also get you access to podcasts (still driven by Stitcher) and features like Flow, a personalized station of tunes based on what you've been listening to recently.
Recommended Reading: When Facebook Live replaces 911
How Facebook Live is becoming the social 911 for people who can't trust the police Salvador Rodriguez, Inc. A Facebook Live stream captured the moments after Philando Castile was shot by police in Falcon Heights, Minnesota this week. During the video, Castile's girlfriend Diamond Reynolds explains that they were pulled over for a broken taillight. She says that he told officers that he was carrying a gun and had the required concealed carry permit. When Castile reached for his wallet, the police shot him. The incident made Facebook's livestreaming tool a social 911 at a time when tensions between law enforcement and the public are high.
Spotify will make a playlist for your out-of-office message
Spotify has been churning out a number of new features for finding fresh tunes as of late, but its most recent tool aims to make your out-of-office email more musical. The streaming service has a feature that builds a playlist based on your destination that will appear inside the aforementioned message. Appropriately called OOO, the web-based interface takes into account the city you're traveling to, whether its for business or pleasure and the overall mood of the trip before compiling a collection of songs. The playlist is actually pulled from tracks that are trending in that location, so when I selected New York City, I got a good amount of show tunes and The Last Five Years soundtrack.
Deezer revamps discovery features to compete with Spotify and Apple
After getting on the Apple Watch in March and selling off its podcast app Stitcher last month, music streaming service Deezer is cleaning up its user experience. To compete with Spotify and Apple Music, they've freshened up their homepage in hopes that winning hearts and minds today requires discovery to be front-and-center.
Adele's '25' heads to streaming services now that you bought it
Chances are you've already purchased Adele's 25 if you really wanted to hear it or obtained it through other means. Now that the artist has enjoyed seven months of albums sales, the collection of songs will debut on streaming services tonight at midnight ET. According to Billboard, Apple Music, Amazon Prime, Spotify and Tidal confirmed that the album will be available in their respective libraries this evening. Mashable reports that Google Play is a landing spot for the singer's latest work as well.
SoundCloud serves up new music based on your listening habits
Nearly every music streaming service has a feature that gives you new music to listen to based on audio habit. Spotify has Discover Weekly, Pandora compiles a custom station and Apple Music is making recommendations a big part of its redesign for iOS 10. SoundCloud is looking to offer a similar tool with its new Suggested Tracks section. The company says the picks come from its "state-of-the-art machine learning algorithm" that keeps tabs on your likes and plays on the web and through the mobile apps. While SoundCloud doesn't specify how often the list is updated ("frequently"), it did explain that there's a good chance the some of the new music won't be found on any other service.
The Grammys finally embrace the streaming age
Chance the Rapper's Coloring Book was the first streaming-only album to hit the Billboard 200 chart, and now the album will be eligible for the Grammys. The Recording Academy announced today that streaming-only recordings will now be included in the voting for the awards starting next year. This means that one of the year's most popular hip-hop albums may get even more recognition. As Chance noted in a tweet about the news, it also means that the masses of aspiring artists now have a better shot at winning an award.
Rhapsody now goes by Napster
Ah, Napster: the brand that just won't go away. In fact, you're likely about to hear the name a lot more often. Rhapsody revealed today that it would use the Napster moniker going forward in a brief blog entry. The company did say that nothing about its music streaming service would change, other than the name and logo inside its apps. If this sounds a bit odd, you might've missed the news that Rhapsody bought Napster back in 2011. The latter had transitioned from a peer-to-peer file-sharing hub to a full-on (legal) subscription service following its shutdown in 2001, changing ownership on more than one occasion.
