Pandora introduces 40-hour monthly limit on mobile listening due to rising royalty costs

By Cody Lee on Feb 27, 2013

Popular internet radio service Pandora announced today that it is implementing a new 40-hour-per-month limit on mobile listening. The announcement was made this afternoon via the company’s blog, by founder Tim Westergren.

For most folks, this won’t mean anything. Westergren says that Pandora’s average users spend approximately 20 hours per month listening to Pandora across all devices. But for the 4% or so that go over, you’ll have to start paying up… Read More

 

Slacker iPhone app gets major makeover in brand relaunch

By Cody Lee on Feb 14, 2013

If someone asks you what a good streaming music service is, who do you recommend? Pandora? Rdio? Spotify? What about Slacker Radio? Yeah, despite the fact that the company has been around for 6 years, Slacker rarely gets mentioned in the same breath as the others.

But it’s looking to change that. Yesterday, Slacker Radio essentially relaunched itself as a brand—touting complete redesigns of its web and mobile clients. The new iPhone app looks particularly sharp, with a revamped visual interface and new Slacker “Music Guide” feature… Read More

 

No major labels onboard yet for Apple’s radio service

By Cody Lee on Dec 5, 2012

Rumors have been floating around since September that Apple is working on a new Pandora-like streaming radio service. In fact, the word is that it’s almost finished, and it should be ready for launch by early 2013.

But according to a new report, that expectation may fall flat, as Apple continues to struggle with securing the proper licenses for such a service. Apparently the record labels aren’t too happy with its licensing terms… Read More

 

Rdio for iOS gets a major facelift, new features

By Christian Zibreg on Nov 27, 2012

If you stream your music these days rather than spend your hard-earned cash on individual tracks on iTunes, you’re likely using Spotify, Pandora or Rdio. The latter music subscription service is available in the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Brazil, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and New Zealand. The team just pushed a major update to their iOS and Android clients.

The software finally brings a unified interface across mobile platforms and the web, ditching the old grid-based navigation and replacing it with a consistently available sidebar that we’re increasingly seeing in other apps like Path and Facebook. Rdio 2.0 also brings new features such as remote control, flawless queue syncing across platforms and more… Read More

 

Report: Apple launching a radio service in early-2013

By Christian Zibreg on Oct 25, 2012

Just as we’re counting down until markets close and Apple reports its quarterly earnings, Bloomberg conveniently publishes a report about work on Apple’s own Internet radio service apparently slated for early next year. The iPhone maker reportedly has “intensified negotiations” with major record labels about launching an iAd-supported online radio service.

These talks currently focus on various advertising revenue sharing schemes, with the final deal possibly on the horizon by mid-November. In addition to an upfront fee, music companies reportedly demand a percentage of iAd sales and the ability to insert their own commercials for artists… Read More