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iHeartRadio launches on BlackBerry 10
You may have moved to a brand-new BlackBerry, but you won't have to give up the traditional sounds of iHeartRadio -- Clear Channel has released a port of the streaming app for BlackBerry 10 devices. It largely keeps pace with versions for other platforms, including Perfect For mood matching as well as the usual choices of live and customized stations. Provided you live in a US territory, you can download the BB10 edition at the source link.
WSJ outs Apple's iTunes Radio terms, says many are 'more generous' than Pandora's
According to a document obtained by the Wall Street Journal, Apple will pay 0.13 cents and 15 percent of advertising revenue to major labels for every song played on iTunes Radio in its first year, climbing to .14 cents and 19 percent in year two. In comparison, Pandora currently pays 0.12 cents per song, and WSJ added that Apple is offering publishers more than double Pandora's rate for royalties. There are some exclusions to Apple's offering, however: it won't need to pay for songs streamed for 20 seconds or less, those that are already in your iTunes library or certain promoted tracks. For its part, Pandora said that comparing the two is unfair, since varying features between the services could trigger royalty payments differently. It also addressed recent controversy about those royalties in a detailed blog post (see the More Coverage link after the break). In addition, insiders say that Apple's primary aim is to encourage listeners to buy more tracks on iTunes, in turn boosting hardware sales. Still, the new service will no doubt reap the benefits of Apples new iAd mobile advertising platform, so it's likely that Cupertino will have its cake and eat it, too.
Rdio family plans now allow for five people
Popular music-streaming service Rdio has announced that its family plans now allow for five people. Previously, family plans were limited to three individual users, something that could cause a bit of tension in larger families. In a blog posting announcing the move, Rdio describes how the new family plans will work: Here's how it works: Designate someone in your family to have a main account, and he or she will add sub-accounts to their subscription. From there, each family member has their own Rdio Unlimited account, from which they build and control their own Collection, playlists, network of followers, and other great features. Users still have the option of paying for membership plans that allow fewer than five participants. A two-account plan will cost US$17.99 per month, with a three-account plan costing $22.99, a four-account plan at $27.99 per month and a five-account plan at $32.99 per month. The move is no doubt aimed at increasing Rdio's offerings as Apple is set to unveil iTunes Radio to the public with iOS 7 later this fall. The Rdio app for iOS is a free download.
In preparation for iTunes Radio, Rdio update gains radio stations
It's interesting to see how the streaming radio giants are preparing to counteract the rollout of iTunes Radio in iOS 7. Spotify finally released a web player in early June. Competitor Rdio unveiled radio stations for its iOS app today, allowing it to go toe to toe against Pandora, Spotify and iTunes Radio on iOS. Like the other services, Rdio allows you to curate the radio stations via artist. Users can see four upcoming tracks in their radio stations and have unlimited skips, which makes sense given that the iOS app is only usable if you pay the US$9.99-a-month subscription fee. The service also has added an autoplay feature that allows you to hear similar music to artists you've recently listened to. Radio stations have been a part of the Rdio desktop and web apps for awhile, and it hit Spotify's iOS app in June 2012.
Ex-BioWare writer reveals alternate endings to Mass Effect trilogy
Potential Spoiler Warning Mass Effect fans! Toronto's AM640 did a radio interview recently with former BioWare scribe Drew Karpyshyn, in which he chatted about some of the alternate story theories and endings that BioWare tossed around for the Mass Effect series. Eurogamer has the highlights, including the theory that the Reapers were trying to stop organic life because they were somehow making use of "Dark Energy" (an element only mentioned briefly throughout the series) to bring about the end of the universe. "It's very vague and not fleshed out," says Karpyshyn, adding that "it was something we considered but we ended up going in a different direction." BioWare also played with the idea that Shepard might be an alien at one point, though eventually deemed that too close to the story of Revan in Knights of the Old Republic. Karpyshyn also says BioWare thought about turning Shepard into some combination of organic and cybernetic, a theme that did eventually get generally included in the ending of Mass Effect 3. But in the end, says Karpyshyn, these ideas were just ideas, and should be judged as such. "It's like vaporware," he says. "Vaporware is always perfect, anytime someone talks about the new greatest game. It's perfect until it comes out." Karpyshyn says that even if fans are disappointed with the story as it is, a story that included these other considered ideas, "whatever we came up with, it probably wouldn't be what people want it to be."
Editorial: What internet radio needs to disrupt actual radio
"Internet radio" is usually a misnomer, as well as an indicator of its ambition. The term "radio" is misapplied to internet services like AOL Radio, Rhapsody Radio, the upcoming iTunes Radio and their ilk. All these mediums are unrelated to radio technology. But for most people, "radio" simply means something you turn on and listen to. As a marketing term, "radio" seeks to accustom users to new technology by connecting it with familiar technology. Pandora describes itself as "free, personalized radio." The business intent in all cases is more ambitious -- to wean people from the terrestrial radio habit and migrate them to online services. Will it work?
MySpace redesigns its iOS app, offers social radio and animated GIFs
When the going gets tough, the tough reinvent themselves in a desperate attempt to regain relevance. Speaking of which, MySpace has redesigned its iOS app to offer users the chance to upload animated GIFs and stream "social radio," designed to help you discover new artists. It's available for free on the App Store, and at least you'll get to hear full songs, unlike another social network's music app we could mention. [Thanks, Richard]
Pandora buys FM radio station to lower royalty rates for streaming music
Pandora has complained for years that royalties for internet-only radio stations are too steep. It may have found an end run around the problem, however: it just bought an FM radio station in South Dakota. The company's Chris Harrison argues that the deal will make ASCAP and music labels offer Pandora the same songwriting licenses that they do to rivals like iHeartRadio, which allegedly gets better terms through its traditional broadcasting roots. Opponents argue that Pandora is simply trying to dodge fair compensation through the buyout, although the streaming service claims to have been forced into more than one unfair rate hike with current licensing. Whatever the truth, Pandora is racing against the clock -- competition won't get any easier when built-in services like iTunes Radio are on the way.
The Daily Roundup for 06.11.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Left of the dial: Independent radio in the digital age
"This room is, to a certain extent, a trophy room," Jason Bentley admits, his morning DJ voice rendered even smoother than usual following an in-studio set by local downtempo electro-soul group Rhye. The host of Morning Becomes Eclectic is seated slightly uncomfortably on a stepladder in KCRW's cramped music library, as staff members clear out electric candles from the performance space (the band and station arrived at the alternative lighting in order to maintain Rhye's relative anonymity, while still giving viewers of the video stream something to look at). The space is exactly what you'd want in a radio station library: high, cramped shelving units that are somehow impossibly messy and immaculately organized all at once. Between the CDs and vinyl stacked on shelves and tucked into hidden drawers, there's a vast catalog of music in this room, but it's clear in the five seconds it takes to walk from door to door that this space couldn't possibly house all the songs required to maintain a 24-hour schedule as diverse as KCRW's. "We have moved to digital, mostly," the DJ / music director continues. "But this is really the spiritual center and the heart of the radio station." The setting is in stark contrast to Jersey City's WFMU, where the concept of a music library is still very much a living, breathing thing. In spite of the station's ties to the claustrophobia of the greater New York City metropolitan area, WFMU's set is far more spacious, housing more music than could ever be enjoyed in a single lifetime. At the beloved freeform station, physical media is still a primary tool of the DJ's arsenal, albeit one augmented by a 250,000-song digital music library. But for all the care devoted to its library, WFMU's charm lies within a structure seemingly held together by duct tape and love -- and walls decorated with glittered LP covers created by listeners at its annual record fair.
Streaming iTunes Radio service will be part of iOS 7
Apple has introduced a music-streaming service called iTunes Radio that'll be found natively in the upcoming iOS 7. For now, the service will be right in the Music app on iOS, and will offer up a series of featured stations (including, for the demo, a station playing the music heard at WWDC). Just tap on a station, and you'll get music from it. You also can choose to star songs to hear them again, play more songs like this or choose to never play a certain song again. The service is completely free, and supported by ads (presumably driven, as expected, by iAds). If you're an iTunes Match subscriber, however, the service will be completely ad-free, so that's a nice bonus. For the moment, there appears to be no offline play available, but we'll check and see if that's the case. iTunes Radio will be a feature in iOS 7, which is coming to the iPhone and iPad sometime later on this year.
Apple reportedly lands radio service deal with Sony ahead of WWDC
Apple was supposedly waiting for a deal with Sony before it could launch its rumored internet radio service. That roadblock may have just been cleared: AllThingsD claims that Apple has reached an agreement at the last minute, which gives it the all clear to announce the streaming feature at WWDC. Other details aren't immediately available, but previous rumors have suggested that Apple won't deploy the ad-backed service right away; we may end up waiting a few months before we can tune in. If the rumors are true, though, Monday's keynote will be more interesting than we first thought.
Slacker debuts weekly top 40 chart based on 'Engagement Quotient' of songs
Slacker will start offering a weekly top 40 chart today, joining the likes of Spotify, Stitcher and Twitter Music. Unlike those services however, the list isn't necessarily filled with the most popular tracks. Instead, it's comprised of what's deemed as the 40 "most engaging tracks" in that particular week. Compiled using an algorithm the company calls the "Engagement Quotient," each song is dealt an "EQ" score of one to 100 based on a number of data points. We list what those criteria are after the break, along with quotes from a brief talk with Jack Isquith, Slacker's senior VP of content programming and strategic development.
Bloomberg details Apple's rumored radio service, associated iAd revamp
If you believe the rumor mill, Apple is planning to announce its long-rumored streaming music service as a feature alongside the iOS 7 update during WWDC next week, and now Bloomberg has more details on how it might work. According to the report, the entire thing will be free and ad-supported, Pandora-style. It's expected to include similar features for tracking user's tastes and serving up similar songs, with tight integration to iTunes so they can buy a track if they'd like to keep it. Where a bigger change may be however is on the backend, in how Apple deals with its advertising business. A shift in iAd directed by Eddy Cue and recent hire Todd Teresi is cutting some fees out, giving advertises more flexibility in how they buy placements, and will share radio ad revenue with music labels.
Apple reportedly has two labels signed for radio service, may reveal it at WWDC
Apple's long-rumored internet radio service didn't materialize as quickly as some thought, but we're getting a sudden rush of hints that it may be close at hand. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal both claim that Apple has just signed a music licensing deal with Warner, giving it two out of the big three labels it needs to start streaming -- Universal being the first, Sony being the holdout. Despite lacking one of the necessary deals, Apple is reportedly optimistic that it could unveil the radio feature as soon as WWDC. We're not counting on any music news from Apple execs when they take the stage next week, but it's good to be prepared... you know, just in case.
BBC iPlayer should support radio show downloads sometime next year
It turns out there's a reason why iPlayer hasn't supported downloads for radio shows in the UK: the executive wing of the BBC couldn't implement this feature without explicit permission from the BBC Trust, which in turn had to seek advice from the national regulator, Ofcom. Fortunately, these hoops have been hurdled and the Corporation now says it expects to enable downloads for iPlayer users "in 2014," giving them seven days to download a show after broadcast, up to 30 days to store it, and then seven days to listen to it once it's opened. This'll no doubt prove to be a popular feature, but since regular TV downloads still don't work on the iPlayer app for Android, we're kinda hoping the devs get that fixed first.
BBC's experimental Perceptive Radio intelligently adjusts what's playing
At today's Thinking Digital conference, the BBC exhibited the first gadget designed through its Perceptive Media Project: the Perceptive Radio, created by Ian Forrester of the corporation's Future Media division. When the BBC announced the project last summer, the response included some head scratching, mostly due to a lack of clarity about what perceptive media entails. The BBC's R&D department defines perceptive media as distinct from personalized or pervasive media in that it intelligently adapts to specific audiences and surroundings. The Perceptive Radio accomplishes this through the use of light, sound and proximity sensors that adjust what the radio plays according to environmental factors like time, location and the listener's distance from the device. At the moment, the list of tricks ready to demo on the Perceptive Radio is short, but the BBC plans to open-source the design soon, allowing tinkerers to fiddle with it to their hearts' content.
Pandora app revamps interface, adds Facebook publishing
Pandora Radio is the granddaddy of streaming music apps, and for years now, the company's iPhone app has been one of the most popular ways to use and interact with the service. Just today, the app has nabbed a big update, bringing it to version 4.3. The new update adds a redesigned interface, which lets you tap an album to see lyrics, artist info or other notes. You can also publish information directly to Facebook and share recommendations with your friends. The update has been able to share tracks to Twitter and email for a while now, so the Facebook integration just adds to the functionality. The Pandora app itself is free, and you can subscribe to a premium service, called Pandora One, from directly inside the app.
Slacker lures 6 million new listeners, makes profit on both free and paid users
When Slacker launched its big software overhaul in February, many were skeptical that a refresh could bring it back to prominence. Apparently, all that doubt was misguided: Slacker says it's racked up 6 million new listeners in the past three months, 3.5 million of which are on mobile. They're more involved, too -- there are 100,000 new paying customers, iOS installs have tripled and members of all kinds tune in for an average of 25 percent longer. And did we mention that Slacker may even benefit from the rush? Where some peers face a constant fight to stay above water without enough premium customers, Slacker says both its ad-supported free radio and paid on-demand service are profitable. While there's no guarantee the company will hold on to those bedazzled new users, it's good to see renewed competition in a field with fewer and fewer participants.
New Sirius XM CEO considering infotainment, in-car safety offerings
Satellite-based streaming is a successful enough enterprise for the time being, but even the most naive of executives must know that the momentum isn't sure to last. In-car LTE and cheap web-based solutions provide access to millions of tracks on demand, making other options less relevant. Doom and gloom aside, there's still an opportunity to remain afloat, and Sirius XM's new CEO, Jim Meyer, has a plan to diversify his company's portfolio of products. The music would continue to flow, but OnStar-like options would become available as well, according to a Reuters interview with Meyer. Other services, such as weather, realtime gas prices, roadside assistance and stolen car tracking could be implemented with the company's existing satellite infrastructure, and might be offered on a subscription basis down the line. "This is going to take a while," according to the new chief executive, who said that the new products might be implemented in certain 2017 and 2018 vehicles, but likely not sooner. Sadly, he's not talking details just yet, but there may be more to share before the end of next year.
