Music

Rdio finally brings back Recommendations, revamps Stations player

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

Rdio, the popular Internet radio service, has just pushed a long-expected update that has finally enabled a music recommendation engine in its iPhone and iPad app. Fans will remember that the inaugural 1.0 build had that useful feature front and center.

Unfortunately, it was inexplicably pulled as the company started experimenting with stuff like Pandora-style personalized Stations and got busy implementing social features and other enhancements.

It was a little over a month ago that Rdio confirmed plans to bring back the popular music-recommendation capability and today they've made good on that promise...

Spotify iOS refreshed with instant search, artist tour details, new languages and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 5, 2013

Spotify, the popular Swedish streaming music startup, today gave its iPhone and iPad app a little love. In addition to support for new languages like Japanese, the new Spotify 0.9 for iOS now includes artist tour information, including such details as concert dates.

Several search-related improvements and the usual bug fixes are also part of this Spotify release.

The free update is available immediately on the App Store and I've included additional details below the fold...

Pandora says listening has increased 9% since iTunes Radio debut

Cody Lee ∙ Updated July 14, 2017

Since Apple launched iTunes Radio back in September, industry watchers have kept a close eye on competing streaming music services. After all, the Cupertino company has the resources and user base to put a huge dent in the business.

But apparently the opposite has happened for Pandora. The company's CFO Michael Herring spoke yesterday at a Morgan Stanley conference in San Francisco, and he says listening has increased 9% since iTunes Radio made its debut...

Amazon releases Cloud Player app for Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

After releasing its native Cloud Player app on the iPhone back in June 2012 and adding the iPad edition eight months later, the king of online retailing, Amazon, today announced that the software is finally available to Mac owners as a free download.

Amazon Cloud Player lets you access your Amazon cloud storage for music and manage your music library, whether it's saved locally or in the cloud.

You can use the app to play your Amazon and iTunes music all from one place, even when offline, and even buy new tracks from the integrated Amazon MP3 Store with a catalog of more than 25 million songs...

Shazam launches artist updates, friends’ tags and newsfeed-style interface

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

The music discovery and fingerprinting engine Shazam is among a bunch of apps that were updated with iOS 7-inspired interface shortly after Apple released the new iPhone, iPad and iPod software for public consumption on September 18.

It's been quite a wait since Shazam's last feature-packed update and today's release has seen to that.

Not only does Shazam now let you see what your friends are tagging in real-time and check out updates from the artists you follow, it also sports a brand new interface to interact with the Shazam community. More on that in just a second...

Owl City founder Adam Young revealed as creator of iOS 7 sounds

Cody Lee ∙ October 22, 2013

You know those cool new alert sounds in iOS 7? Well as it turns out, a number of them were likely created by Owl City founder Adam Young. Owl City, as you may know, is an American electronica project responsible for several hit records.

Young confirmed last night that he was behind at least some of the new sounds in this year's iOS update, adding 'Sounds for iOS 7' to his discography on his website. He's since removed the entry, but we've posted a snapshot of it after the fold...

Shapes Music review: play along to your favorite pop songs

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

Music is a major part of our lives. We may not even realize it, but music affects nearly everything we do. Whether we are watching movies, riding in an elevator, or dancing to the beat, music is everywhere. Whether you know it or not, you know a little bit about music already.

Shapes Music unlocks that basic knowledge you already have stored in your brain by explaining what you know and showing you how to use it with visual aids. Before you realize what you are doing, you’ll be playing melodic keyboard solos to the hits…

Pandora: we do streaming radio better than anyone – including Apple

Ed Sutherland ∙ October 17, 2013

When iTunes Radio was only a rumor, the idea of Apple offering streaming music was instantly dubbed a Pandora-killer. Now that iTunes Radio has launched alongside iOS 7 last month, Pandora's finance chief is speaking out, saying their service outperforms even a giant-killer, no matter how fat the bank account.

In an interview, Pandora CFO Mike Herring describes Apple's service as a "credible" threat, but the Internet radio startup continues to feel it still is "better than anybody else"...

Bloomberg: iTunes Radio heading to UK, Canada and more in early 2014

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Bloomberg is reporting this evening that it has learned Apple is working to rollout iTunes Radio to the UK, Canada and other countries by early 2014. The music service, which launched last month, is currently only available in the US.

Citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, the outlet says that Apple has acquired the necessary licenses from labels to take its service international next year—likely beating Pandora and other competitors to several countries...

Beats Music launching on iOS in a few months

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

You can put Beats Music on your ever-expanding list of streaming music service as its CEO Luke Wood confirms to The Next Web that the company will enter the highly-competitive space in the United States "within the next few months".

Based on its July 2012 $14 million acquisition of another music streaming service, MOG, Beats Music will focus on human-curated playlists compiled around a particular artist, activity or the general mood of the listener.

You may have heard this tune before so we have more tidbits right after the break...

Official Google Music app expected to launch on iOS later this month

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 6, 2020

It's been more than two years since Google unveiled its Music service, and the company has yet to launch an official iOS client. Sure, there's been plenty of third-party apps, and a web app, but nothing native directly from Google.

But according to a new report from Engadget, that could change very soon. Citing sources familiar with the company's plans, the outlet claims that Google is testing a Music app internally, and plans to launch it later this month...

Rdio takes on Spotify and others with free mobile radio

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 15, 2018

Last summer, Spotify updated its mobile apps with a free Pandora-like radio service, and it has since seen its subscriber base grow by more than a third. Today, Rdio is betting on the same horse with its own mobile radio feature.

Rdio’s radio service—which it calls 'Stations'—will be available via its mobile apps. Like Pandora or iTunes Radio, users won't be able to choose a specific song or artist. But they will be able to listen to music based on their tastes...