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Spotify gets serious about its country music curation
Country music fans are flocking to streaming services and Spotify's latest hire shows the company is taking that segment of its audience seriously. The streaming service nabbed SiriusXM's John Marks to head its curated playlists for the genre. If you'll recall, Spotify, and other services, have made a big push with playlists built by both the artists themselves as well as notable personalities in the biz. While you may not recognize the name, Marks has a knack for discovering new talent and budding acts before they make it big time. For example, he was spinning tunes from artists like Florida Georgia Line, Brandy Clark, Chase Rice and others before they became popular. Spotify already has deals in place for exclusive country releases and to promote emerging acts, as it's already posted content from artists like Hunter Hayes that can't be streamed on-demand anywhere else. If you look to curated playlists to find new music, just know that Spotify's country collections are now in capable hands. [Image credit: ABC via Getty Images]
Shazam update adds songs to Spotify and Rdio playlists
Shazam is great for discovering new music and settling a friendly bet. While you could already listen to full-length songs from Rdio or Spotify inside the app, now you can add identified tunes to your playlists parked at those two streaming services, too. Without leaving Shazam, simply hit the plus in the top right corner of the screen after the app gives you the track details. Shazam will then display a list of saved playlists for you to choose from. Once you make a selection, you're directed back to the song page in the music discovery app. I gave it a shot this afternoon and it works well, especially if you want to put a song somewhere other than the playlist that Shazam automatically creates, and continually populates, for songs after you link your streaming subscription.
Spotify map compiles playlists from musical tastes around the world
If you're curious what kind of music folks in other parts of the world are listening to, Spotify now offers a handy tool that compiles just that. The streaming service gathers info from popular tracks around the globe and compiles them into playlists. Rather than list them in a boring in-app search, it plots them out on an interactive map for quick visual reference. This means that when you click on Durham, North Carolina, for example, you'll be greeted with a collection of tracks the folks there are listening to on the regular. Mandolin Orange and Future are quite popular in that part of NC, in case you were wondering. As you might expect, once you queue up a playlist in the app, you can add any notable findings to your personal collection for future use. Spotify says it updates the lists about twice a month, and each time it does, it sorts through 20 billion listener and song relationships.
Tidal offers easy playlist transfers to lure new users
It's no secret that Tidal has an uphill climb ahead of it before catching up with the likes of Spotify. That's not stopping Jay Z & Co. from doing their best to get you to switch, with the promise of exclusive content and more. Today, Tidal announced yet another attempt to lure you from your current service: easy playlist transfers. Thanks to a partnership with Soundiiz, you can bring over saved playlists from Deezer, Rdio, Spotify, Xbox Music and more. It'll even handle those collections you've built with files you own. It sounds pretty simple, too. Select the services where you've saved the curated lists, and then a drag and drop interface allows you to place them with the new choice. Of course, you'll still have to hand over $10/month for the Premium option or $20/month for the HiFi tier. [Image credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images For Roc Nation]
Google brings mood-matching smart playlists to Play Music in the UK
Having millions of tracks available to play can be a blessing when streaming music, but with so much choice, it can often be difficult to find something that matches your mood. Google recognised that some Play Music subscribers could use a hand, so it launched Songza-powered smart playlist recommendations back in October, but limited the feature to US-only listeners. However, that geographic restriction has been lifted today, after Google announced that it's brought its "Concierge" playlists to the UK. If you're a paying Play Music member, you'll now see a number of curated playlists at the top of the "Listen Now" section, which included Christmas, Brand New Music and The School Run selections when I signed in. Playlists will change depending on the time of day and season (hence the inclusion of Christmas tracks) and will update as the service gradually gets to know what you like -- helpful if you're embarking on your daily commute and fancy switching to autopilot.
Bake your turkey to the tune of Spotify's Thanksgiving playlists
Most people in the US are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving next Thursday, November 27th. Typically, this holiday is mostly about eating a ton of food, watching American football, spending quality time with the family and, most importantly, being thankful for all the good things that happened during the year. But music is very valuable too. As such, Spotify has launched its "Time for Turkey" playlist creator, hoping to help during the cooking process and make the time go by slightly faster.
Spotify lets you take all of your tracks offline with just one button
While Spotify's allowed you to save music for offline playback for some time, downloading playlists can be a laborious process. Today, it's making things a whole lot easier. As part of its latest iOS app update, the company enabled a new "Available Offline" toggle inside the Songs tab, allowing you to instantly download and then listen to your entire catalog of curated beats (tracks that you've saved) without the need for a connection. Android users should already see the option as part of a forced security upgrade. Once updated, you can host as many as 3,333 songs per device and keep them offline for up to 30 days -- definitely enough to get you through a tedious long-distance flight.
YouTube makes finding and following others' playlists easier, debuts new card design for the web
We figured changes would be afoot after Susan Wojcicki (former chief ad guru at Google) became the head of YouTube, and it turns out, the first ones made since she got the job are all about playlists. Henceforth (or at least until the next round of UI tweaks arrive), the left rail on Youtube.com will have a dedicated "Playlists" pane that shows your personal playlists along with those from other channels that you've liked. Additionally, users will find a new "Playlists" tab on channel landing pages and get a new dedicated playlist editing page. The new features are rolling out worldwide over the next few days, and with them comes a new responsive, card-style design that fits "neatly on any screen size," per the company, and should feel familiar to folks who use YouTube's mobile apps. One YouTube for all, yo.
Spotify's 'Follow' button lets you recruit listeners from any webpage
Looking to tempt others to check out your Spotify tracks? Before, any interaction with other users or artists had to be done within the various desktop and mobile apps, but there's now another option: you can embed a 'Follow' button into any website. The idea is to make it easier to promote your music (or musical taste) while expanding your follower base. Obviously, it'll also give Spotify itself a greater online presence and allow it to ensnare new subscribers who've yet to download the app. You can grab the code snippets at the source, but you may first want to weed out that playlist from your 'crunkcore' phase.
iTunes 101: Making playlists in iTunes 11
If you've messed around with iTunes 11 in default view, you'll notice that creating a playlist has changed. If you have the sidebar turned on to make iTunes 11 look like earlier versions, creating a playlist is much the same as it was. But, if you have the sidebar turned off, Apple's Inside iTunes blog points out that there's a new dedicated area of iTunes just for making playlists. To take advantage of playlist creation 2.0, turn off your sidebar if you have it on (Option+Command+S or View>Hide Sidebar). Along the top bar of iTunes, you'll see a new playlists button. Click this. You'll move into a dedicated playlist window with your playlists on the left. Create a new one by clicking the add button (the plus sign) on the bottom left. You can choose from a basic playlist, a smart playlist or playlist folders. If you want to edit an existing playlist, click on the gear icon next to it. Here, you have options to edit, duplicate, delete, export or burn a playist to a disc. If you want to create or edit a playlist, select that option and the playlist being worked on will slide to the right of the screen. Your library will now be on the left. Drag items onto the playlist, and name the playlist so you know what you're working on. You can toggle between songs, albums, artists and genre without being kicked out of the playlist view. Once you select videos, you'll go back to normal iTunes.
The Daily Grind: Which band fits with your favorite MMO?
I'm a big fan of MMO soundtracks -- heck, of game soundtracks in general, really. It's rare that I turn off the in-game tunes in favor of my own playlist, but I've been doing just that recently when it comes to The Secret World. No disrespect meant to composers Marc Canham and Simon Poole, of course; I bought the soundtrack, and I love that creepy main title riff. A modern setting goes well with modern music, though, or in my case, the sonic stylings of Pink Floyd. I can't put my finger on why David Gilmour's soulful guitar solos and Roger Waters shrieking vocals go so well with the TSW, but they do. What about you, early risers? Assuming you play your own music while playing your favorite MMO, which artist fits your game best? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
PS Vita firmware update adds button controls, iTunes playlists and more
If you're a Vita owner, then this week must feel like running through rain of joy, as new features and functionality keep coming. Well, why not splash in a puddle or two along the way, as we learn what treats the next firmware update for the handheld -- version 1.80 -- will bring. First up is the ability to use the console's buttons on the home screen and within some applications -- yeah really! In addition to that mind-bomb, you'll also be able to fast-forward and rewind video, import playlists from the PS3 and iTunes (10.6.3 or later) as well as use the rear touchpad for scrolling and zooming in the browser. There's a bunch of other minor tweaks, too, just skip down to the source for the breakdown or wait until "late August" for the download.
Spotify offers up playlist radio stations and more with latest upgrade
For an upgrade with a fairly underwhelming number like 0.8.3 attached, the latest version of the Spotify desktop client brings the goods. First up is much requested the ability to create radio stations based on playlists or albums, with the click of a button (that would be the Start Playlist Radio or Start Album Radio button, for the record), generating a queue of similar music. A new boost to search brings up music in the main view when you hover over it in search results, while embeddable HTML codes have been added to right click functionality. The service has also added Tumblr posting to the game. The update is rolling out today for Windows and Mac users. More info in the source link below.
Google Play adds shared song playlist to Music, helps you relive your friends' terrible taste in tunes
Remember that funky beat your buddy at work shared with you over Google+? Don't bother digging through their post history, Mountain View's music service has you covered with its new "Shared with me" auto-playlist. This self-maintaining list keeps track of all the songs friends and colleagues send your way, making it easy to hunt down a catchy tune your brother sent you, or to endlessly ridicule a coworker's awful sense of sound. The playlist not only shows the track, artist, duration and price, but also a preview of the Google+ post (and a thumbnail of its author) that you scored the shared song from in the first place. Looking for lost music? Just take a look at your auto-playlists.
Sony's Music Unlimited cloud service comes to limited non-cloud Walkmans
Sony's connected Music Unlimited offering is already available online, on gaming devices, on Android phones and tablets, so nice to see it's finally available on its, you know, Walkman music players. In what feels somewhat like an afterthought, "compatible Walkman devices" (currently just the NWZ-E465) can play your favorite channels and playlists on the move -- no connection required. Only those paying the $9.99 premium, however, get to add songs from the actual Unlimited music catalogue. Plug-in at home, sync the music, and listen at your leisure offline via the dedicated app, but with so many other competing ways of enjoying your music from the cloud, on a plethora of connected devices, it really is surprising this wasn't already possible. Still, if you own an NWZ-E465, and subscribe to the Music Unlimited, you can feel all gooey knowing Sony has your back. Hit the PR after the break for more info.
Personal Audio strikes again, has the Kindle Fire in its patent trolling sights
'Tis the season for reflecting upon our many gifts in life and giving thanks for them. If you're Personal Audio, however, once you've thanked your lucky stars that you own a patent on musical playlists, you then file an infringement suit against Amazon. That's right folks, Personal Audio is up to its old tricks again in the Eastern District of Texas, but instead of alleging iPods are infringing its IP, the Kindle Fire is squarely in the company's sites. The patents in question are number 6,199,076 that generally claims an audio player, and number 7,509,178 which claims the aforementioned downloadable playlists. Who knows if Amazon will settle out like Apple did, but as the web retail giant will move a ton tablets (among other things) this holiday season, it should have no shortage of cash do so.
Rdio launches free, non-ad-supported streaming for US users, meter to keep you in check
Ad-free, on-demand streaming is coming your way, folks -- and it won't cost you a dime. Rdio has announced the launch of its free service that will give you access to a library of over 12 million songs without being interrupted by pesky Spotify-esque advertisements. The no cost subscription won't require you to give up your credit card info either, but, you will get a "customized meter" that will let you know how much music you can access monthly. No word yet on how much time you'll have, but any amount of time with the Radiohead discography is sure to be of use. You'll be able to listen via the web or desktop app without grabbing a paid membership, but if you want Rdio's tunes on your phone, it'll cost you $9.99 per month. Also, from what we've heard, this is only available in the US -- for now. If you're looking for the full rundown then hit the PR below for all the details.
Apple coughing up $8 million to Personal Audio in iPod playlist settlement
Ah, the Eastern District of Texas. Home to tumbleweeds, free range cattle and boatloads of patent trolls. Personal Audio, a patent licensing company with a highfalutin' facility in Beaumont, Texas has become the latest outfit to claim victory over a major CE company, with Apple being asked to hand over $8 million to settle a tiff involving iPod playlists. Bloomberg reports that a federal jury in the Lonestar state found that Cupertino's iPod players infringed on patents for "downloadable playlists," right around two years after Personal Audio initially filed the claim for a staggering $84 million. We're told that the inventions cover "an audio player that can receive navigable playlists and can skip forward or backward through the downloaded list," and while Apple unsurprisingly stated that it wasn't actually using those very inventions, that hasn't stopped the courts from disagreeing just a wee bit. Now, the real question: are Sirius XM, Coby and Archos -- also named in the original suit -- going to be facing similar circumstances?
Google snags PushLife, will probably use it to push music to your Android phone
At last year's Google I/O we were tantalizingly teased with the idea of music streaming to our mobile devices. Since then, there have been hints and leaks, but nothing official from Google on when or how this new service would be rolled out. Well, now we can add a big piece to that puzzle with the news that Google has acquired mobile entertainment company PushLife, which has been developing a music app of its own for the Android and BlackBerry platforms. PushLife offers one-click purchases from an integrated music store, an overview of tunes you have both on your smartphone and on your computer (with the ability to access both sets on the phone), and automatic playlist syncing with iTunes or Windows Media Player libraries. There's even more fanciness, such as recommendations based on the song you're playing, artists bios and photo galleries, plus the inevitable Twitter and Facebook integration. The Canadian startup is believed to have cashed in to the tune of $25 million and will soon be shutting down its independent operations. Also soon: Google I/O 2011. Hint, hint, Google! Demo video after the break.
Macworld 2010: Moodagent has synced over one billion songs
In December we reviewed Moodagent [iTunes Link] a wonderful music app that puts you in control of creating Genius like playlists of your iTunes library. On release it didn't recognize about 20% of my library, but now, after analyzing over one billion songs, I find it to be about 95% accurate, and getting better all time. I spoke with Richard French, the CEO of Syntonetic Inc., the parent company of Moodagent, who gave me an update on what's in store for the app and if you like it now, you're going to love it in 3 - 6 months. On the front burner is an iTunes plug-in which has been the most requested feature. I can easily see this completely replacing Genius playlists by putting you in the drivers seat when using iTunes on your computer. I asked about the possibility of importing Moodagent playlists into iTunes and found that it's going to be difficult since the easy way would by necessity stomp all over some Apple proprietary code, but it's not impossible and it's going to happen this year. It will just take a lot of work and time. Another upcoming feature is integration of social networking so you can share your playlists on Facebook, Twitter and all the usual suspects. The limit of a 25 song playlist will eventually be raised, which would be my first request. This will is also on the drawing board and will be gotten to eventually. It was interesting to learn a bit of how Moodagent works. Recent musicology graduates in Copenhagen sample songs during syncing and process them through 50 expert filters adding to the songs that Moodagent recognizes. They constantly work on improving the filters to make Moodagent more accurate. There is no tagging going on behind the scenes. Moodagent is a great app now but after my discussion, I can see it being incredible about half a year from now. I can't wait.
