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Spotify continues to expand its lineup of podcast exclusives
Spotify has been on a tear as of late to build out the podcast side of its business, and it's adding another exclusive show to its lineup. The third season of sports-focused show Riggle's Picks, starring comedians Rob Riggle and Sarah Tiana, will only be available through Spotify.
Google kills its Chromecast Audio dongle
If you've been thinking about whether to pick up a Chromecast Audio to make your audio setup a little smarter, you should probably make your mind up quickly. Google has confirmed it's discontinuing the device.
Tesla is reportedly trying to build its own music streaming service
Tesla has continued to one-up its achievements as a successful proprietor of safe, green and increasingly autonomous electric vehicles. But it might venture out from the niche its carved for a much more saturated market: Streaming audio. Music industry sources told Recode that Tesla has been in talks with major labels to create a proprietary service that it would bundle with its cars.
TuneIn strikes deal with NBA to stream live audio from games
As part of the ongoing efforts to expand its premium radio services, TuneIn has announced a partnership with the National Basketball Association. This new multi-year deal will let TuneIn stream live audio from NBA games to subscribers, including those from the preseason, regular season, playoffs, the finals and All-Star weekend. Last October, TuneIn also struck similar agreements with MLB, NHL and the NFL, so the addition of the NBA only makes the paid app more appealing to sports fans.
Chromecast Audio review: Give your old speakers a new brain
It's been a little over two years since Google introduced the first Chromecast, a cheap and easy way to turn any TV in your house into a smart TV. The tiny little dongle has taken the market by storm, racking up sales of over 20 million since launch. Now, the company has replaced it with not one but two streaming devices: a direct successor to the original video-focused Chromecast and a new, audio-only device appropriately called the Chromecast Audio. Just as the original Chromecast made our dumb TVs smart, the Chromecast Audio promises to take your old pair of speakers and bless them with the convenience of streaming music. The value proposition is easy to understand: The Chromecast Audio is only $35, barely takes up any space and is easy to set up, and works with Spotify, the most popular streaming-music service on the planet. As Google tells it, it's a foolproof way to get streaming music onto your speakers. I've been testing the device since its introduction last week to find out if it delivers on that promise.
Deezer needs more cash to fight Apple and Spotify
According to various sources, music streaming service Deezer is preparing to float itself on the Paris stock market in the hope of raising some much-needed cash. The company has found itself struggling in comparison with richer rivals like Apple or Spotify, while Tidal can count on Jay-Z's cash and industry connections. As such, the firm is going to try and sell off chunks of its business, currently valued at $1 billion, in order to build a bigger war chest to take on its three nearest rivals.
Sonos for Android now streams on-device music
To date, Sonos owners have had to use iOS to stream music directly from a mobile device. They'll have a little more choice as of today: Sonos has updated its Android app to support direct streaming. If a device has a local audio library, the controller software can send tracks, albums, playlists and podcasts to any Sonos-equipped speaker in the home. Listeners with the most recent Sonos firmware just need to grab the updated Android app from the source link to start playing.
Pure Jongo multi-room speaker system now available in North America
If you've been thinking of adding speakers around the house but are loath to run wires, Pure's Jongo system is now available in North America, joining the likes of Sonos' Play:3 in the wireless multi-room sound game. For now, it consists of the $129 Jongo A2, a WiFi- and Bluetooth-equipped bridge (at bottom) that spreads "perfectly synchronized" sound to different rooms, and the $199 Jongo S3 portable speaker (top left). The products will work on their own by receiving Bluetooth sound from your handheld device, together with other Pure devices like the Sensia 200D or with your existing sound system, thanks to digital and analog audio outputs on the A2. The Pure Connect iOS app coordinates the hardware and also lets you stream your local playlists, along with 15 million tracks from the Pure Music subscription service. You can deck out either product with the room-coordinating grilles (above) at $30 for the S3 and $20 for the A2, while a Jongo T6 100W flagship speaker will join the party later in the year at an undisclosed price. To see where to grab them, check the PR after the break.
Deezer launches on Windows 8, streams music with Charms and Snaps (video)
Deezer has had an obsession with new apps lately, redesigning its Android app and kicking off its mini-app platform on mobile devices. It's only fair that Windows 8 users get to join in with a new Deezer app of their own. The software offers the same mix of curated and on-demand streaming music as elsewhere, with a few accommodations for Microsoft's universe: listeners can use Charms to search or share their music, and multitaskers can rely on Snap to keep an eye on their tracks. Early Windows 8 adopters have free, ad-backed access to music for up to a full year, which is as good as incentive as any to give the app a whirl if they live in a Deezer-friendly territory.
Spotify lifts the five-play cap per track for free listening in the UK
There's been a Sword of Damocles looming for months over Spotify's free tier: after a reprieve, some listeners past the six-month trial phase have been capped at five plays per track. Spotify must not want to kill the joy of a favorite album, as it's lifting that cap for UK members. Like most of their friends on the platform, Brits now just have to cope with the usual ads and 10-hour monthly cap if they're not keen on paying for a subscription. With only the French apparently left facing the five-play limit -- qu'est-ce que c'est l'obstacle? -- it's clear that Spotify sees value in softening the hard sell for its paid service.
Deezer App Studio goes mobile, brings apps to Android and iOS listeners
As much as we like extending our music universe through apps within the likes of Deezer and Spotify, that wider experience hasn't usually carried over to mobile. Deezer, at least, thinks it can put those apps inside our pockets. App Studio now supports building add-ons for both Android and iOS devices, giving travelers music and social components beyond what Deezer can provide on its own. The company isn't relying just on phones and tablets to pad its customer base, though. It's also improving the behind-the-scenes framework to bolster gaming through its API, and an affiliate program will pay social app creators every time one of their users subscribes to Deezer. Us listeners will just have to wait for developers to implement App Studio and the API changes before we reap any potential rewards.
Rdio on iPhone now shows which friends are listening, web streaming hits seven countries
Listen enough to Rdio on the desktop and you'll know your friends' taste in music when they're fellow subscribers. As of a fresh update to the iOS app, you'll also appreciate any musical kinship while on the road. iPhone users receive an overhauled playback view that shows just which friends have listened to that favorite album or playlist. They'll also have a more pleasing view in mid-play that blows up the album art and downplays the interface. There's no word on similar treatments for the Android app, but the odds have increased that you'll at least have the web fallback for social listening: Rdio has quietly added web streaming for Austria, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Mexico, bringing desktop access to a total of 24 countries.
iHeartRadio slips local news into streams, hopefully without the used car ads
The advent of internet radio let many of us tune into music we never would have heard without packing our bags for a trip. However, it often keeps us isolated from events just outside our door -- a disconnect that Clear Channel wants to end through its newly launched Add-Ins for iHeartRadio streams. Check the right boxes and hourly local news, traffic and weather will appear between tracks, whether for the nearest city or a manually chosen favorite. Add-Ins don't have much mystery involved as a result, but they could keep us grounded in the real world... minus some of the all-too-real commercials.
SoundCloud streamlines Pro plans, intros a Pro Partner tier for top streamers
There's been concerns that SoundCloud is shifting its attention too quickly toward listeners at the expense of the creators that gave the site its roots. While we can't say that the audio hub is addressing every concern, it's is determined to keep creatives involved with a much simpler Pro strategy. Instead of offering four paid plans based on storage, SoundCloud is scaling back to two: a basic Pro account hosts four hours of sound for either €3 ($4) per month or €29 ($38) per year, while stepping up to €9 ($12) per month or €99 ($129) per year takes the caps off with unlimited hosting. Quite the bargain when unlimited access previously cost €59 ($77) monthly and €500 ($650) yearly, we'd say. If SoundCloud really, truly values your work, it can also invite you to a Pro Partner level that allows custom branding and a "Moving Sound" image slideshow that syncs up with tunes. Just 10 companies have access to this upper echelon, but everyone else can spring for the more down-to-Earth Pro tiers today -- and with the new discounts, that's not a far-fetched possibility.
Spotify for iOS gets a much-appreciated interface makeover
Spotify gave its Android app a very overdue interface overhaul last year. The iOS version wasn't in quite as dire straits, but we'd still call today's redesign a long-needed modernization that pulls out some of the clutter. Its 0.6 update mostly brings in useful concepts from the Android version, including the always-on Now Playing strip and the seemingly inescapable navigation sidebar. The update also solves a handful of stand-out flaws, such as reflecting the right track on the lock screen -- about time, really. Listeners will need a Premium subscription for more than just radio, but everyone in Spotify-supported countries can grab the update today.
Audible 2.0 for iOS brings long-expected iPad support and a UI overhaul
When the iPad is seemingly tailor-made for books of all kinds, you'd think Audible would leap on the opportunity to produce an optimized audiobook app -- it wasn't quite so eager, as customers have since discovered. Apple tablet owners won't have to perpetually lean on the stock music app for their fix, though, as Audible 2.0 at last brings an iPad-friendly form. The better use of screen real estate is the most obvious improvement, although there's a fresher, simpler interface for every iOS device. A few helpful extras reside under the surface, if the new layout isn't enough. It's easier to both sign in and hide finished books, while listeners who didn't replenish their libraries at home can grab as much as 3 hours' worth of audiobook over a cellular connection. Existing Audible subscribers just need to snag the latest app for free at the download link.
Nokia Music+ now live for US Lumia owners
After launching the service across the pond just a few short days ago, Nokia's now ready to make Music+ available for the US -- confirming to us today its availability on Yankee soil. To recap, the paid subscription service ramps up the free app's offerings with higher quality audio, unlimited offline downloads and Mix Radio skips, multiple device use, as well as lyrics -- all for $4/mo. It's a significantly cheaper alternative to other freemium music streaming services currently available in the Windows Phone 8 ecosystem. So, if you've recently gone Lumia, you might want to check it out.
Sonos app gets universal favorites, Android widget and iPhone 5 tweaks
Ask a Sonos listener about flaws in the Controller app and you'll often hear about three sticking points: favorites buried in separate sections, the absence of an official Android widget and an iOS version that still isn't optimized for the iPhone 5. As of Tuesday, the company is cleaning house by curing all three hiccups at once. A new software update puts a source-independent Sonos Favorites section at the top of the menu system; Android users now have a playback widget to quickly skip tracks, and the iPhone app finally takes advantage of those 176 extra lines on the screen. All the official Controller releases should see their fixes appear at relevant app stores soon, if not by the time you read this.
Nokia intros Music+ subscription service with unlimited downloads, web listening
Most of the bigger streaming music services have both a free tier for casual listeners and a paid level for truly committed music fans. Nokia doesn't want to be the exception to the rule. It's launching Nokia Music+, a paid version of its existing platform. Paying €4 per month ($4 in the US) gives perks that you'd normally expect from a more expensive alternative like Spotify or Slacker's premium tier: the upgrade ratchets up the audio quality, adds lyrics, allows unlimited skips in Mix Radio and enables as many downloads for offline play as the phone can hold. Aren't you suddenly glad that you picked up a 32GB Lumia 920? Not that you'll always need it to tune in -- Music+ adds web streaming for anything with a suitably capable browser. Nokia hasn't said just which countries beyond the US will get the more advanced service, but it should make a formal debut within the next few weeks.
Eyes-on with LG's streaming Smart Sound Bar
Among the many, many things that LG is unveiling at CES this year is the curious addition of a sound bar with built-in video streaming. That still sounds like a contradiction of purpose to us, but the Smart Sound Bar, also known as the NB3730A, is more fascinating once you dive into the details. The large-sized bar pumps out 300W across its 2.1 channels, and its WiFi takes internet audio and video from CinemaNow, general internet radio, Netflix, Pandora and Vudu. Bluetooth audio is built-in as well. It's ultimately built for those who don't have an online-capable TV, Blu-ray player or media hub at their disposal -- a group whose ranks are thinning quickly, but certainly still exists. We got a quick glance at the Smart Sound Bar for ourselves. From a design perspective, it's simple to operate and thin, if not exactly short. This won't be a good fit for that small TV in the basement, then, although it's perfect for that big wall-mounted set. We'd like to tell you how well it works in real life, but expo conditions dictate otherwise: LG unfortunately lacks an internet connection for the sound bar on demo, and an extra-crowded booth isn't the ideal environment for gauging audio quality. If you're mostly wondering whether or not it will fit into the living room decor, however, we've got a gallery for you below.
