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Spotify’s challenge is to prove it’s a real business, not a fantasy
Three months after quietly filing to become a public company, Spotify finally made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday. It was a big day for the Swedish music-streaming giant, to say the least, and it ended up exceeding expectations from Wall Street analysts on its first day of trading. But for many investors, Spotify may not be the safest bet. In its IPO filing, it disclosed that it has incurred significant operating losses over the past few years, warning investors that it may be a while before it's able to generate profits on a sustained basis.
Tidal's next exclusive concert pairs Deadmau5 with a symphony
Electronic musician Joel "Deadmau5" Zimmerman is stripping down his sound and adding string instruments to his army of synths for a Tidal-sponsored "Where's the drop?" concert next month. Tidal subscribers can jump in on today's pre-sale, while the general public will be able to buy tickets starting tomorrow. The concert takes place April 1st (no foolin') at Los Angeles' historic Wiltern Theater. In case you forgot, Zimmerman is a one of the service's artist-owners, along with Jay Z, Jack White and Daft Punk.
The best smart speakers for music fans
If you're a music fan, the first wave of smart speakers was probably a disappointment. While Alexa and Google Assistant have definitively proven they have a place in the home, the first Echo and Google Home devices were unimpressive when it came to actually playing music. They did the job in a pinch, and being able to command Spotify with your voice is a killer feature, but many longed for better-quality audio. Fortunately, that call has been answered. In the past six months, Sonos, Google and Apple have all released music-first speakers with voice assistants built in. There's no doubt that the Google Home Max, Alexa-powered Sonos One and Apple HomePod all sound far better than just about any other voice-powered speakers out there. If you value audio quality above all else (and have about $400 to spend), what's the right smart speaker for you? Let's break it down.
Pandora lets free users sample its on-demand service
It's been just over a year since Pandora first gave an official glimpse of its on-demand music service, meant to go up against the likes of Spotify and Apple Music. And while there's a lot to like about Pandora Premium, it hasn't exactly shaken up the status quo -- most people use the free service to build stations based on songs, artists and genres they like. But the company has a somewhat intriguing strategy to give those free users a taste of premium. Today, Pandora is announcing that free users can get a sample of the on-demand service by watching a 15-second video ad. After watching that ad, free users will unlock the full premium experience for a limited amount of time, which means they'll be able to queue up any song they want, build playlists from Pandora's catalog, check out the company's new curated playlists and more.
Amazon Echo speakers and Music Unlimited head to 28 more countries
It took Amazon a while to get its streaming music strategy truly off the ground -- its Music Unlimited service, with competes with Spotify, Apple Music and the like, only launched last fall. But today, both Music Unlimited and the Echo smart speaker lineup are expanding in a big way: Amazon has announced that both are available in 28 new countries, most of which are found across Europe and South America.
Beoplay M3 is B&O’s cheapest multiroom speaker yet
Bang & Olufsen speakers generally sound pretty great, but they're also just as well-known for being very expensive. If you want to outfit a house with wireless speakers, like the Beoplay M5, it's going to get even pricier. Fortunately for those who like B&O's sound and style, there's a new, slightly less expensive option: the $299/£279 Beoplay M3. That's half the price of the Beoplay M5, which will make it a lot easier to get a handful of these and place them around your home.
Apple Music's Android app adds voice search and social features
Apple announced that it would bring your friends' listening habits to Apple Music at WWDC this past summer. iOS users who use the streaming music service will be able to start using the feature after updating to iOS 11. Now, Android-using Apple Music fans will be able to see their friends' listening habits, too, with a new update to the app in the Google Play store.
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.
Tesla's music streaming service pops up in software update (update: a joke?)
Tesla has continued its foray into safe, eco-friendly and autonomous electric vehicles of late, as well as moves into the solar roof, municipal energy station and home-based power markets. Last month, however, was rumored that the energy company was in talks with major music labels to create a proprietary streaming service it could bundle with its cars. It looks like the reports were true, as a reader of website Electrek has found a spot for a new app, TTunes, in Tesla's most recent auto software update.
Spotify's deal with Warner Music clears path to going public
Spotify just signed a deal with Warner Music to secure its artists for the streaming service's users worldwide. This is the last big label after Universal Music Group, Merlin and Sony to renew ties with Spotify, and now pretty much everyone's on board.
Luis Fonsi's 'Despacito' is the most-streamed song of all time
Justin Bieber's "Sorry" has been dethroned as the most-streamed song of all time -- and ironically, he played a hand in getting a new song to the top of the heap. "Despacito," performed by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, has hit more than 4.6 billion streams across all platforms since it was released in January, reports Billboard. However, there's a caveat worth pointing out here. This takes into account stream of both the original song as well as a remix that features -- you guessed it -- Justin Bieber.
Kanye's Tidal breakup is about ego, not money
The relationship between Tidal and Kanye West, one of the streaming service's original artist-owners, is seemingly coming to an end. According to various reports, which Engadget confirmed independently, 'Ye has decided to terminate his exclusive streaming deal with the company, claiming it owes him more than $3 million dollars. Most of that sum was allegedly supposed to be a bonus for him bringing in 1.5 million new subscribers with the release of his last album, The Life of Pablo, in 2016. Tidal is shutting down Kanye's claims and, per TMZ, doesn't seem to be too concerned with his threat to quit since he's still under contract. It's also been reported that, if he were to jump ship and join another streaming service, Tidal's prepared to take legal action.
Pandora is shutting down in New Zealand and Australia
While Pandora got a nice infusion of cash from SiriusXM a few weeks ago, there's bad news for the streaming services' users down-under. The company just announced that its co-founder and CEO Tim Westergren is stepping down and, according to Billboard, Pandora is ending its service in the only two non-US markets it currently operates in: Australia and New Zealand.
Sprint pushes Tidal again with six months of free HiFi streaming
We've been wondering why Sprint bought a third of music streaming service, Tidal. While the respective companies didn't discuss details at the time, the team-up is starting to make a bit more sense. Sprint is currently offering all of its customers six months of Tidal's HiFi top of the line streaming tier for no extra charge. Tidal usually charges $20 per month in the US for this service.
Pandora AutoPlay spins a custom mix when a playlist ends
Pandora Premium has been out for a few months now, and today the company is adding a notable feature from Rdio, the music-streaming service Pandora purchased in the fall of 2015. AutoPlay does just what it says -- when you finish listening to an album or playlist, Pandora will keep right on playing. But rather than looping the album or playlist, Pandora will generate a queue of songs based specifically on your listening habits. Those songs will also be tailored to the music you were just listening to so it hopefully matches up well with what you're in the mood to hear.
Apple Music trial is no longer free in some countries
Apple Music has adjusted its free trial in some countries, and we don't quite know why. In order to land your three-month trial in Australia, Spain and Switzerland, you'll be charged around 99 cents. We're looking into how widespread the new charges are, but for now, the trials remain free in most countries, including the UK, Canada and the US.
Spotify looks into building its own hardware
Spotify, the most popular music streaming service, might be getting ready to jump into the hardware game -- if a few job postings are to be believed. The company recently posted a handful of openings that make clear references to designing and selling hardware direct to Spotify users. A posting for a senior hardware product manager says that the eventual hire would work on an initiative to "deliver hardware directly from Spotify to existing and new customers." It also indicates that the hardware would be "a category defining product akin to Pebble Watch, Amazon Echo, and Snap Spectacles."
Spotify lets thousands of indie labels limit free streaming
With an IPO looming, streaming music leader Spotify has been inking a number of new deals with record labels to ensure it has the content it needs to keep growing. The latest deal comes with Merlin, an agency that represents a swath of various independent record label around the world. In a press release today, Spotify noted that this new multi-year deal would keep ensure that Merlin's music stayed available on Spotify, something it'll certainly need going forward. All told, Merlin is the fourth-biggest music provider that Spotify works with, behind the three massive major labels.
Pandora's on-demand streaming service is available to everyone
It's been just about a month since Pandora unveiled its attempt at building full-fledged, on-demand streaming music service. Aside from a handful of bugs, the big problem with Pandora Premium was that it was invite only. That's changing today: Pandora Premium is now available for anyone to try. Like just about every other streaming music service, it'll run you $9.99 per month and the app is available for Android and iOS (a web version of Pandora's on-demand service is coming soon).
Most of Jay Z's albums are already back on Apple Music
Hip hop legend Jay Z pulled most of his music off of Spotify and Apple Music last Friday. It wasn't a huge surprise given Jay Z's involvement and stake in competitor Tidal, but it looks like things aren't quite so cut and dry here. After confirming that the majority of his discography was indeed gone from Apple Music in the US and UK last Friday, we're now seeing that the majority of his albums have already returned to Apple's streaming service.
