Radio

Pandora upping monthly ‘One’ fee, dropping annual subscriptions

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

Pandora announced this week that it is going to making some significant changes to its Pandora One subscription service over the next couple of months. Most notably, it's going to be raising the monthly subscription cost and eliminating the annual option.

Citing rising licensing costs, Pandora says that it's raising its 'One' fee from $3.99 per month to $4.99 per month, and taking away the discounted annual plan altogether. The company says that royalty rates it pays to artists have increased 53% since it began...

Rdio revamps profile views and adds Sleep Timer

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

After countering Spotify's recent service expansion and its brand new (and somewhat limited) free streaming feature by expanding into twenty new countries, the popular music subscription service Rdio today refreshed its free iPhone and iPad application with a handy sleep timer function to stop playback after a period of time.

The new Rdio 2.5.4 also includes redesigned profile views with your photo right at the center, various subtle interface improvements and minor bug fixes...

You can now control iTunes Radio via Remote app

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 12, 2013

After refreshing its free Remote app for the iPhone and iPad with some radical redesign to match the overall iOS 7 aesthetics, Apple has just put out a minor update adding a nicely done ability to control iTunes Radio from your iOS device.

But rather than stream iTunes Radio songs directly (and what would the point be in doing so knowing iTunes Radio is available within the stock iOS 7 Music app), the application simply controls the feature running in iTunes for Mac or Windows.

Previously, you could only control playback of music and other media kept locally in your iTunes library. If anything, this update will go down in history as a handy little enhancement that makes it ridiculously easy to control your iTunes Radio stations, skip songs and more, right across the room...

Rdio expands into 20 new countries

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Rdio, the popular music-streaming services, announced today that it has expanded its service into twenty new countries globally. After today's expansion, the service is available in 51 countries across six continents.

The company conveniently timed its announcement just as Spotify is scheduled to hold a press conference later today, likely to announce plans to make mobile access to its music service free.

With today's expansion, Rdio is now the second largest music subscription service in the world in terms of countries serviced. By comparison, rival Spotify is currently available in 32 global markets and Apple's iTunes Radio is a U.S.-only affair, though new countries will be added some time in 2014.

However, Rdio still pales in comparison to Deezer, which is available in a whopping 182 countries around the world. The full list of new Rdio countries is right past the fold...

Apple poaches top radio exec to lead iTunes Radio ad sales

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

In another move meant to capitalize on the success of its free iTunes Radio streaming-music service, Apple's hired a top radio exec as the company preps to offer iTunes Radio to advertisers in 2014 and take the service international, AdAge claims.

Former Cumulus Media Executive Vice President of Sales, Michael Pallad, has now joined Tim Cook & Co. and is now overseeing ad sales for iTunes Radio internationally, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to AdAge. He will report into the iAd unit, which is led by Apple Vice President and former Yahoo exec Todd Teresi...

You can now wake up to your fav Pandora station

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 9, 2013

Pandora, the popular streaming-music service and one of the rare few Internet radio apps that saw a surge in listening following September's iTunes Radio debut, has been updated this morning with a pretty useful alarm clock feature which lets you start your day to your favorite music with your own choice of Pandora stations. Pandora 5.1 for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad includes refreshed iOS 7 design and other improvements "to make your listening experience even better".

Jump past the fold to learn more about the alarm clock feature...

Rdio promises to bring back Recommendations

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

As of recently, Rdio has been making a number of moves in a bid to fight off the Apple iTunes Radio threat. Just a few days ahead of Apple's September 10 iTunes Radio launch, Rdio unveiled a new ad-supported music service in partnership with radio operator Cumulus.

And back in August, the popular service gained such abilities as station tuning, improved search, Pandora-style personalized Stations and more.

Rdio's latest effort to re-introduce some of the original magic involves bringing back Recommendations, a feature popularized by the inaugural 1.0 version of Rdio...

Radium review: a beautiful internet radio player

Lory Gil ∙ Updated December 4, 2013

I’ve always wondered why Apple doesn’t include a radio feature with its iOS devices. You can download millions of songs, listen to hundreds of thousands of podcasts, and even fill your iTunes library with as many audio books as your device will fit. But if you want to listen to the radio, you’ll have to download a third-party app.

Radium is an Internet radio app that features more than 8,000 stations across the globe. Additionally, you can save your favorite stations and sync them through iCloud to your Mac Radium app...

Rdio update brings Pandora-style personalized radio stations

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

Adaptive Internet radio is all the rage these days for streaming music service subscribers. At least, that's what you'd think looking at the top players. The feature, which was popularized by Pandora, can be found in Apple's iTunes Radio, Spotify, and now Rdio.

Rdio updated its apps today with a number of improvements, including enhanced Stations, tweaked UI, and more importantly, a new feature called 'You FM' that allows you to listen to personalized radio stations based on your favorite and pertinent tracks...

iRadio tidbits: audio ads, iTunes Match syncing, no search/song skipping

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 5, 2013

As you may have heard, Apple is now rushing to close music licensing deals for iRadio. And with Warner Music apparently finally on board, the company should formally take the wraps off its Pandora-killer at the WWDC keynote next Monday.

Bloomberg yesterday explained Apple's ad team is prepping to sell in-app iAds to major brands, which apparently can’t wait to advertise on iRadio. And now a new report by a major advertising trade publication claims Apple is also keen on monetizing the free service by injecting traditional audio ads...

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

Cody Lee ∙ February 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...

Slacker iPhone app gets major makeover in brand relaunch

Cody Lee ∙ February 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...