Spotify, the #1 music streaming service, today announced a new playlist updated daily with tracks that users mark as favorites as well as new music.
Now available in the updated mobile Spotify app for iOS and Android, Daily Mix differs from Spotify's existing Discover Weekly and Release Radar playlists which get refreshed each Monday and Friday, respectively, in that Daily Mix won't be a complete refresh of songs each time the playlist is updated.
Spotify users who add music to their playlists will understand the struggle a new free jailbreak tweak called Tweakify aims to fix.
Rather than adding new songs to the bottom of your song playlists, this tweak adds them to the top so they're easier to find while still preserving the ability to move and re-order your tracks on your own afterwards.
Spotify co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek said on Twitter this morning that the world's leading music-streaming service now has forty million paid subscriptions. “40 is the new 30. Million,” reads the tweet. The Swedish service has been ramping up its streaming business for quite some time as it prepares for an initial public offering (IPO) so this should be music to the ears of Spotify's investors.
Amazon already has a music store, but its catalog of songs is limited and streaming is only available to those subscribed to the company's $99 per year Prime service. As Re/code said, the online retail giant has also considered a bargain-priced music service that would only work on Echo hardware and be priced at $4 to $5 per month.
Monday, The Financial Times newspaper reported that Amazon has a third offering in the works, a $9.99 per month music-streaming service that would offer the full catalogue of songs that Spotify and Apple offer.
Spotify has been punishing musicians who introduce new material exclusively on other streaming services, reports Bloomberg. Artists who have given Apple premier access to new music have been told that their songs won't be placed on featured playlists.
The Swedish music company has been using such practices for about a year, say sources, and the efforts have escalated during the past few months. Artists who have given exclusives to Jay-Z's Tidal streaming service have seen similar forms of retaliation.
Spotify is out of contract with all three major music companies, and according to Music Business Worldwide, the renegotiations aren't going well. Citing sources familiar with the talks, the outlet says the sticking point is revenue share.
With Spotify preparing for an IPO, the labels see this as a great opportunity to get the streaming company to raise its revenue split from around 55% to 58%, which is what Apple Music pays. Spotify, however, wants to lower the amount.
In an effort to differentiate and further distance itself from Apple Music, Swedish music startup Spotify on Friday announced Release Radar, a new music discovery feature that provides personalized playlists of the newest releases, akin to Apple's “For You” section. The playlist is updated weekly, every Friday.
The convenient playlist brings all of your new favorite music, “without any of the effort that goes into searching for the latest gems.”
Spotify's letter sent earlier this week to Apple’s legal counsel Bruce Sewell and some Congressional staff in Washington, D.C. didn't sit well with Apple's legal team and its top lawyer.
Today, the Cupertino firm issued a response to address claims that it's been using the power of its ecosystem and the app review process as a “weapon” to stifle competition by rejecting the latest Spotify for iOS update, which “caused grave harm to Spotify and its customers”.
Firing back at Spotify in a three-page letter obtained by BuzzFeed News, Apple accused the Swedish streaming-music startup of “resorting to rumors and half-truths”, slammed it for asking for “preferential treatment” and set the record straight on the app rejection.
Apple is leveraging the power of its ecosystem to harm competition, as well as the fact that it writes the rules governing third-party development and screens apps submitted to App Store editors, said Spotify.
Re/code is reporting that Apple won’t approve a new version of Spotify's music-streaming iOS client because it doesn’t want competition for Apple Music, its own $9.99 per month subscription music service.
“We cannot stand by as Apple uses the App Store approval process as a weapon,” wrote the Swedish startup in a letter sent this week to Apple’s top lawyer Bruce Sewell.
Spotify on Monday told The Telegraph that it now has more than 100 million monthly active users worldwide. But of that 100 million, only roughly 30 million or so are paid subscribers—so the ones that dole out ~$10 a month.
For comparison, SVP Eddy Cue announced during last week's WWDC keynote that Apple Music now has 15 million paid subscribers. Now that's just half of Spotify's count, but still very impressive for a service less than 1 year old.
Amazon is preparing to launch a new standalone streaming music subscription service, reports Reuters. The tech giant is currently finalizing licenses with labels for the service, and it's aiming for a late summer or early fall launch.
Of course, Amazon already offers a limited music service for free to Prime subscribers. But this new service will cost $9.99 per month and offer a much more competitive catalog, putting it squarely up against Apple Music and Spotify.
Spotify may currently be running circles around Apple Music with the more than 30 million paid accounts versus about 13 million paying customers on Apple's music service, but that doesn't mean they're standing still.
In an attempt to make its service more competitive with Apple's, Spotify said today that families of six can now subscribe for just $14.99 per month, or appropriate local pricing, effectively price-matching Apple Music's family plan.