rdio
Latest
Rdio continues its plans for world domination, focusing on Europe
Rdio already has a number of stamps in its passport, Canada, Australia, Brazil and New Zealand amongst them. But, the current focus for the streaming music service is Europe, where it's already launched in Germany, Denmark, Portugal and Spain. While we still don't have any solid dates, Scott Bagby, the company's VP of partnerships and internationalization, told paidContent:UK that a pile of new nations are on deck for the coming months, with hopes of covering the entire continent. With licensing deals already struck in the UK, we're pretty confident England will be part of this next batch of rollouts, but Rdio has no intentions of confining itself to the western world. Bagby said in the interview, "we already have a guy on the ground in Asia," so look for the service to go live in a few more locales across the pacific. No time frame was given for the Asian launches but, if the company is serious about establishing a foothold there, it should do so sooner rather than later. As Bagby points out, Rdio is "a couple of years behind others in terms of expansion."
Rdio to launch in "all countries" in Europe within a few months
Rdio has begun spreading across Europe and other parts of the world, as the streaming music service now available in Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, and Denmark. After that, it's expected to head to Asia. Rdio's Scott Bagby told paidContent that the service will have an uphill battle against established juggernauts like Spotify and Deezer in Europe. However, if anyone could handle the expansion, it's Bagby, who was behind the international expansion of Skype. [via MacStories]
Rdio inks deal to license UK music, but doesn't offer up a visit date
One of those other music subscription services has inched towards British shores, announcing a licensing deal with PRS for Music, a not-for-profit organization representing around 85,000 songwriters and music publishers. The San Francisco-made music service has already launched across Europe, the US and Brazil, but still remains out of reach for Brits. While it's far from a confirmation of intent, the service might have plans to jump across to the land of royalty, Rich Tea biscuits and RPattz pretty soon.
Rdio redesign hands-on
With Spotify getting all the love from the tech press since its US launch last year, fellow music streaming sites have no doubt been scrambling a bit to get back on the radar, a fact likely only compounded by its embrace of Facebook and a number of third-party apps. Late last year, Pandora, a site synonymous with internet radio, offered up an HTML5-packing redesign, dropping its 40 hour listening cap in the process.Now Rdio's getting in on the act. The tricky-to-pronounce service was all the rage when it launched a couple of years ago, thanks to a social networking focus and some prestigious founders (with properties like Skype and Kazaa on their resumes). The company used this year's South by Southwest as a platform to launch a redesign of its desktop and web-based players -- we'll walk you through the latter, after the break.
Rdio rolls out redesigned website and desktop apps, promises to make things more social
If you've checked into Rdio's website this afternoon (and are a web or unlimited subscriber) you've probably noticed a message prompting you to try out the "new Rdio." Clicking on it will take you to the redesigned website that the music streaming service has rolled out today -- something the company claims is "faster, simpler, and more social." That includes a completely overhauled layout that puts it slightly more in line with the likes of Spotify and iTunes, and social networking features that are brought to the fore, including a new "People Sidebar" where you can see who's online and what they're listening to (along with suggestions of people to follow). You can also now simply drag tracks to the People Sidebar to share them with friends, or drag entire albums to add them to a playlist. What's more, that overhaul also carriers over to Rdio's desktop apps, which now mirror the web interface quite closely. Hit the links below to take a closer look or try it for yourself.
Music Smasher searches Spotify, Rdio, MOG and more in one shot
When it comes to streaming music services are you something of an agnostic? That's not necessarily a bad thing -- Spotify, Rdio, MOG, Grooveshark, etc... all have their strengths and weaknesses (Spotify, for example, is a great source for Norwegian black metal). The trouble is, it's neither fun nor easy to jump from app to app, web site to web site just to find what you're looking for. Music Smasher simplifies things by letting you search most of the big sources in online streaming tunes simultaneously. It trolls the four services mentioned earlier, as well as SoundCloud and Bandcamp. Well, it searches Grooveshark in theory, but every query we tried simply returned undefined results. Hit up the source to try it out for yourself.
Apps for Valentine's Day
Image: Shutterstock Today's smartphones are, by their nature, quite versatile. It's impossible to guide every lover on Valentine's Day to the app for their particular needs, because despite the requisite "flowers, chocolate, *something*" expectations, we all do it differently. I tried to round up a few apps that might appeal to just about anyone who participates in tomorrow's festivities. Happy Valentine's Day, if that's your thing! Going out to eat If you're trying to get a reservation, one of the fastest ways to check and make a reservation is with OpenTable (hopefully your area's restaurants are on-board with their system). If you're out and looking for somewhere to eat, I still use one of the first big breakout apps from the App Store, UrbanSpoon. Of course, you can always ask Siri, but if you don't have a 4S, try Yelp. Going out to find someone to love Personally I've had a great experience with OKCupid, probably the least skeevy of the online dating sites and its app is quite excellent. There's also Skout, which I haven't tried, but it has good reviews and features a location-based singles finder in the app. There are also most specific love-finding apps like Grindr for the gay community and Cupidtino for fans of Apple stuff. Buying a gift Don't know what to buy your sweetheart? Apps like El Gifto, and Thoughtful (not yet available in app form) will help you answer that question by asking a few background questions first. You can use Red Laser to comparison shop (you hopeless romantic, you) or Giftiki to pool your money with friends -- the gift that says "I love you enough to beg our friends for money." Setting the mood Yeah we've all heard of Pandora by now, but lately I'm digging the DJ-powered Slacker Radio for less repetition and a wider set of music. Slacker also has several romance-themed stations set up, like this one called Love Songs. If you subscribe to Rdio or Spotify, you can build your own playlist for all-night romance without commercial interruption. My personal preference is Rdio, but it'll be fun to see all the romantic songs being played in Spotify on the night of V-Day thanks to Spotify's in-your-face social mechanisms. Having fun Spending a night at home? Try Scene It? Romance Movies for some lighthearted fun -- although it could be embarrassing if you never watch romance movies. If you want to reminisce about the times you had together and snapped with Instagram, check out Lovestagram, which will bring up all the pics of you and your loved one taken using the social photo service. iKamasutra is the App Store-approved Kama Sutra for the iPhone. You could just as easily buy the real deal in ebook form, but the app provides easy navigation to all your favorite, um, love pretzels. Got any other apps you recommend for Valentine's Day? If you need to call a florist, I'd suggest Google or Siri -- and that you do it fast.
Rdio Android app gets a refresh, adds ICS support and new design
Tune streaming service Rdio has just given its Android application a major makeover. Not only will the app experience the Ice Cream Sandwich treatment for the first time (happy, GNex owners?), but it's also gotten a new look that's easier on the eyes. Furthermore, Rdio added the ability to view user profiles, and also enhanced the app's search capabilities. Amongst the rest of the improvements -- some of which are being ported from the desktop client -- are traits like top charts, recommendations and new releases. You can grab the free update now if you're a current subscriber, otherwise you'll have to jump on board before you can take the app for a spin.
Facebook launches 'listen with friends' feature, lets others shame you for poor taste
While Facebook's Open Graph might have exposed you as a Belieber way back in September, you couldn't chat and stream that questionable musical taste to your friends, Turntable.fm style, until now. Listening to tunes on music services that integrate with Facebook's API -- like Spotify and presumably Rdio, amongst others -- populates the ticker adjacent to the news feed and the chat overlay with clickable "Listen with" buttons (as seen above). Upon clicking those, you're slung into a group chat window whereupon you can listen and discuss those beats with your friends. Don't fret if you can't see it just yet, as it'll roll out in the following weeks, but while you wait a link explaining all awaits at the source.
Spotify to challenge Pandora with Spotify Radio
Spotify already has proven itself a formidable competitor for Rdio, and the all-you-can-stream music service even matches up against iTunes with a subscription model versus iTunes' track-at-a-time sales approach. Now it's aiming the crosshairs at suggestion engine Pandora with a revamp of its Spotify Radio feature. Spotify's current radio activates when you select "start artist radio" at the top of an artist page or generates suggestions via tags, but doesn't allow you to save stations. The revamped radio works largely the same way Pandora does. Users can drag any track to "radio" option in the sidebar of the desktop app, and Spotify will create a new radio station, which you can save. You have unlimited skipping and stations. Pandora only allows users to create up to 100 stations. Even those with a paid subscription do not have unlimited skips. As this feature appears to be available for all levels of Spotify, it makes the service an enticing option for Pandora users. The revamped Spotify radio is being rolled out in the next few days, and there's no word yet about updating the iOS app to update the feature. Those who want to try the feature now can download a preview version.
Daily Mac App: Spotify
Now that Spotify is available on both sides of the pond, it's about time we took a quick look at it. Free streaming music apps don't get much better than Spotify. Right now you can stream any track in the Spotify library for free with a pretty decent desktop Mac app. It's not available in the Mac App Store, but that doesn't matter -- it's just a simple old-style app install, drag-and-drop like any other app (remember when Mac programs were called applications and they were all installed like that?). Once installed you can sign-up for a free ad-supported Spotify account. If you've never used Spotify before I suggest you start there, you can always upgrade to "Unlimited", which gives you unlimited streaming without adverts for US$4.99 a month; or "Premium", which gives you ad-free unlimited streaming plus offline caching and Spotify access on your smartphone for $9.99 a month. Log into the Spotify app on your Mac and you're presented with a fairly familiar interface. Search in the top left, find an artist you want to listen to and hit play. Where Spotify differs from most of the other free streaming music services is that it allows you to pick and choose tracks, not just artists or genres -- it's not just radio-style streaming, it's like playing music in iTunes. Spotify will also play local music files, so your entire iTunes library is also accessible from within the app -- you don't have to forgo your original music collection or juggle two programs. Spotify is relatively social too -- you can share playlists with anyone with a Spotify account. Recently there's been a bit of controversy over the company's use of Facebook integration. Spotify was essentially spitting out status updates about each track you played to your Facebook account. Thankfully you can switch that off -- and I suggest you do -- to avoid annoying the hell out of your friends. Spotify also provides radio-style streaming, if that's what you're after. Pick from a list of genres or styles of music and Spotify will chew through a curated selection of tracks. If you're interested in reading-up on a key artist, Spotify also includes biographies on some of the bigger artists. Each artist page also includes links to similar artists, but if you're after music discovery Spotify is relatively weak compared to some of the other streaming services available like Last.fm, Pandora, MOG or Rdio. The recent unveiling of Spotify's App Finder, which essentially allows you to use curated plug-in-style apps within the Spotify desktop client, should help the service improve in that regard. There's already an app for Last.fm available, so with a bit of luck Spotify could end up as one of the best one-stop-shops for both music discovery and playback. If you're a Spotify user who's interested in testing out the App Finder early, Spotify's made available a preview client, which you can test out right now. Spotify is a new comer to the States, but it's the dominant music streaming service in Europe and for good reason. It combines a decent sized library, the ability to play your own local tracks, and free, ad-supported, streaming. With the single track and artist selection that you're used to in iTunes, it could best some of the more popular streaming services in the US, if you're after a pick'n'play-type experience. Whether you're a die-hard iTunes user, or you're hooked into Rdio, Mog or Pandora, it's worth grabbing yourself a free Spotify account and giving it a whirl, if you haven't already. The free Spotify desktop Mac client is available directly from the Spotify website, where you'll also find sign-ups for Open (free), Unlimited ($4.99) and Premium ($9.99) services.
STHoldings withdraws more than 200 record labels from Spotify, does so with gusto
STHoldings stormed its way out of Spotify this week, leaving only a trail of choice words in its wake. On Wednesday, the distributor boldly withdrew more than 200 of its record labels from Spotify, Rdio, Simfy and Napster, following the release of a study that cast the music subscription industry in a rather unfavorable light. According to the research, carried out by NPD Group and NARM, cloud-based services like Spotify and Rdio deter consumers from purchasing music via other channels. Amid concerns that these companies may "cannibalise the revenues of more traditional digital services," STHoldings decided to withdraw its catalogue of more than 200 labels. In fact, of the 238 labels consulted on the decision, just four expressed a desire to remain with Spotify, et al. "As a distributor we have to do what is best for our labels," STHoldings explained, in a statement. "The majority of which do not want their music on such services because of the poor revenues and the detrimental affect on sales. Add to that the feeling that their music loses its specialness by its exploitation as a low value/free commodity." The distributor went on to quote one of its labels with a line that rhymes with "duck modify." In comparatively subdued response, Spotify said it respects STHoldings' decision, but still hopes that the labels "will change their minds." The Swedish company also contested STHoldings' study-backed arguments against it, claiming that it has "already convinced millions of consumers to pay for music again," and assuring that artists' revenue streams will "continue to grow." Read more about the study, the stats and the spat at the links below.
Kobo partners with Rdio to pre-load app on Vox tablet
Amazon and Barnes & Noble aren't the only companies touting some high-profile apps for their Android-based tablets. Kobo has now also announced a partnership with Rdio, which will see the latter company's app (and access to a catalog of more than 12 million tracks) come pre-loaded on the new Kobo Vox tablet. Of course, the Rdio app is already available for other Android devices, but this is certainly at least a small boon for Kobo, which doesn't offer Android Market access on the Vox tablet.
Rdio gets rechristened 'Oi Rdio' while vacationing in Brazil, has plans to visit Germany and Australia
Are you a resident of Brazil and love streaming music? Have a seat, as Rdio's packed its bags and is headed for a little séjour on the South American continent. Launching later this week, the service will be functionally similar to its US and Canadian counterparts, except it'll lose gratis ad-free streaming and get a name change to "Oi Rdio." That joint word-mark is the result of a partnership with Brazil's largest telco, Oi, which should give the service headway with the former's 70+ million subscribers. But it's just an awareness ploy, as non-Oi subscribers can still partake in all the fun. Unlimited monthly access to the 12 million tunes on offer starts at R$8.99 (about $5) for web, or R$14.90 (about $8.50) for those seeking offline-capable admittance on their mobiles. It's all part of an international expansion, as the service plans to visit Australia and Germany in early 2012. Spotify's passport is plumper, but hey -- you gotta start somewhere.
Ask Engadget: best streaming music solution?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is coming to us from Katie, who is totally down with the stream. The radio stream. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "Rdio, Spotify, Pandora, Rhapsody -- there are way too many streaming music services out there begging for my money. Which is the one I should spring for? I live in the US, but would love for whatever I choose to work when I travel internationally, if that's possible. Trying to keep it up under $10 per month, and looking for a large library and nice mobile compatibility. Thanks!" So, streamers -- what's your go-to service? Tried a few of 'em? Let us know which you prefer, and why, down in comments below.
Skype / Rdio co-founder's Vdio service leaks out, pronunciation confirmed
Where does one go after Rdio? Why, Vdio, of course. GigaOm today got some answers about Skype / Rdio / KaZaA co-founder Janus Friis's upcoming service. First and most foremost, it's pronounced "Vee-dee-o." The service is in closed beta at the moment, and will be first made available in the UK. The service will let users watch TV shows and movies -- beyond that, we don't know much, though the company assures us all that it "think[s] people will love using Vdio." Fair enough. At present, the service's homepage is cycling through shots of films like A Clockwork Orange and Ghostbusters and TV shows like Justified and Breaking Bad. Not too shabby.
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.
Facebook partners up to bring music, news and videos to your profile through Open Graph (video)
Facebook's f8 developer conference is going on today, and Andy Samberg Mark Zuckerberg has just revealed another part of his master plan for the social network. Open Graph will now integrate many of your favorite news and music services, including Spotify, Rhapsody, Rdio and MOG onto your Facebook page with custom apps, and will also bring video from Vevo, Netflix, Hulu and many more. The media platform's already up and running, so you can see (and hear) the results of Mark's labor right now. Update: Unfortunately for Facebook users in the US, Netflix has confirmed that its Facebook integration will only be available in Canada and Latin America initially, due to a US law that "creates some confusion over our ability to allow U.S. members to share what they watch." That doesn't apply to the music services, however, and you can get an idea how Spotify will work in the video after the break. Even TiVo's gotten in on the action, announcing new sharing buttons for its iPhone and iPad mobile apps, although there's no direct DVR integration mentioned yet.
Rdio rolling out free, non-ad-supported version 'in the very near future'
Rdio knows you work hard for your money. That's why the social networky music service announced its intentions to offer users free access to its massive music library without dropping dollar one, turning over a credit card number or getting served up ads, Spotify-style. The company isn't revealing much in the way of details beyond that, only promising that the offer will be made available to all consumers "in the very near future." The deal certainly sounds like too good to be true territory, but Rdio adds that it's "confident" users of the free version will be enamored with the service enough to pony up and subscribe.
Rdio's iPad app gets approved by Apple, we go eyes-on
Were you excited to try Spotify, only to be dismayed by the lack of native iPad support? Enter Rdio's latest update to its iOS app, now with gratuitous support for Cupertino's sweetheart. Just like its iPhone and iPod touch forebearer, slate fans can now stream music, cache songs, futz with playlists, all while being "social" with friends on the service. Like the company's other mobile apps (on iOS, Android or Blackberry) -- and its cross-Atlantic Swedish rival -- one has to spring for the pricier $9 monthly sub to unshackle from web-only streaming and enjoy portable bliss. In our quick run-through, we found the app to be slick and fast, and searching for obscure music was painless. With most of our friends strewn across other streaming platforms, the community features fell on deaf ears -- so clearly your mileage will vary. Rdio's offering a week-long trial gratis, so go-on and give it a whirl yourself. %Gallery-129975%
