Articles about Spotify

While much of the attention was focused on the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P at Google's event today, these were far from being the only announcements. Last year, the original Chromecast took the world of media streaming by storm, introducing a low-cost entry point into streaming, and now Google has two new Chromecast devices to show off.

The new-look Chromecast has something of a different appearance to the first generation. This time around, the device is circular and features a short, flexible HDMI cable rather than the rigid design from last year -- this should make the dongle easier to plug into TVs with restricted space. There's also a new product in the form of Chromecast Audio which can be used to stream music to just about any set of speakers.

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Listening to music on a smartphone speaker is passable, but to truly enjoy your tunes you should invest in good headphones and/or a Bluetooth speaker. While I enjoy bobbing my head while wearing my Beats Solo 2 headphones, sometimes I want to relax on my couch, lawn chair, or bed with nothing on my head. For this, I connect to one of my favorite portable Bluetooth speakers, the UE BOOM.

Today, Ultimate Ears announces a successor to that portable Bluetooth speaker -- the unimaginatively named UE BOOM 2. Yes, this popular speaker is getting an upgrade. The best part, however, is that the price stays exactly the same. Sweet!

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It's only a couple of weeks since Spotify last updated its privacy policy, but the wording was such that many users were upset at the access the company appeared to be asking for. The backlash was so bad that the company was forced to apologize and now it has gone a step further and published a new, reworded version of its policy.

Spotify again admits that the previous version of the privacy policy led to some "understandable confusion", before launching into plain English remodeling of the document. With a new policy that is now more intelligible, the company will no doubt be hoping to claw back those users who were driven away.

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We reported earlier today that streaming music service Spotify had upset a lot of users with changes to its privacy policy. In particular sections concerning what information the company is allowed to collect have sent some users into a spin.

Evidently stung by the reaction, Spotify has been quick to respond. In a blog post by CEO Daniel Ek it says sorry and explains more about what the changes actually mean.

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Spotify has updated its privacy policy, and a lot of users are now very unhappy. The change was prefaced a few days ago on the Spotify blog and the new policy started to roll out on 19 August. As it starts to hit accounts around the world, users are sitting up and paying attention; many are not happy with what they see.

What are people so upset about? Spotify might now access your Facebook likes and posts, photos and contacts you have stored on your phone, and even the speed at which you are traveling. The company says that the changes have been made as part of a move to "be as open and transparent as possible", but it has left large number of users questioning motives, and many have been pushed to quitting the music service completely.

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Do you want to hear music chosen by President Barrack Obama? If you use Spotify then you'll be in luck. The company is one of the leading music streaming services in the increasingly competitive market. Now it has scored a big win, landing one of the world's most well known leaders.

Spotify announces the arrival of POTUS and seems quite excited about the arrival. You can't really blame them, it's not everyday that the President adopts your service.

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Spotify is one of the top music services in business today. It's a tough market, with a growing field of competitors aiming to get your money. It can be good, and many people love it, but how could it become even better?

How about adding If This Then That (IFTTT) support? The service has added a new channel that allows you to utilize its capabilities for many functions associated with your music.

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Nowadays, most people don't buy physical media; they pay their little $10 a month for Spotify premium, or similar service, to support the music industry. Apple's exclusivity approach, however, won't just disrupt the streaming market, it will severely harm consumers and lead to piracy. Hell, it could kill streaming music altogether.

Piracy is a really heinous crime. It causes artists to lose money, and make no mistake, it is stealing. With that said, more people will be doing it because of Apple Music. Exclusives from Dr. Dre, Pharell and Taylor Swift may lead to increased torrent downloads. Sadly, the artists have no one to blame but themselves.

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The launch of Apple Music has been one of the most controversial for some time. After complaints about the free trial period not generating income for record labels -- a problem seemingly sorted out by the intervention of Taylor Swift -- attention turned to how little the music streaming service paid artists the rest of the time.

Now Apple has a new problem, bringing Apple Music into the limelight for the wrong reasons once again. The Federal Trade Commission is currently considering whether to probe the company for antitrust violations. Reuters reports that the FTC could be on the verge of launching an investigation into the legality of the 30 percent cut Apple takes from other streaming music services such as Spotify.

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As the music streaming space intensifies, participants are becoming increasingly aggressive to rope in users. In the latest episode, Spotify has started to notify its iPhone customers about a workaround to save money.

The company is emailing its customers who use an iPhone to let them know about the 30 percent cut Apple takes on all the payments made through the App Store. The result of which, as Spotify notes, is that users have to pay $12.99 per month instead of Spotify's official $9.99 per month charge.

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One of the most prominent skeptics of digital music, Prince has surprisingly been off the radar on the whole music streaming debate, until now.

The Minneapolis sound pioneer removed all of his songs from Deezer, Spotify, Rdio and Apple Music earlier this week, while keeping music on Google Play and Tidal.

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It has been hard to avoid talk of Apple Music over the past couple of weeks. After the initial excitement of the launch, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth at the revelation that there were no plans to pay artists during the initial three month free trial period.

Never fear, Taylor Swift is here! After complaining on behalf of musicians around the world in an open letter to Apple, Ms Swift managed to convince Apple to change its mind and dip its hand into its pocket. But did this mean that a great deal was offered? Clearly being paid 'something' is better than not being paid at all, but the New York Times reveals that Apple will be paying out just 0.2 cents every time a track is streamed.

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With less than two weeks to go until the launch of Apple Music, a report suggests that the company is having trouble enticing smaller and independent labels into signing up to take part. The problem is not necessarily that there is a lack of interest in joining Apple Music, but that the three month free trial period would generate no income for the labels.

Apple Music will make its money through monthly subscription fees, a percentage of which is then shared with record labels. During the three month free trial, Apple will make no money from the music streaming service, and will therefore have no revenue to share. While this is a cost that larger labels might be in a position to absorb, small companies say it could put them out of business.

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Seven days ago, CEO of the most valuable, publicly-traded technology company on the planet unveiled a potentially category-changing online streaming service. In 15 more, you will be able to subscribe -- three months for free. Pundits wave the Spotify flag and spit out diatribes of disgust, much as they did when Apple launched iPhone eight years ago or iPad in 2010. Wrong again is their destiny. Will they ever learn?

Many of the doomsayers forget, or maybe just ignore, the fruit-logo company's success disrupting category after category. They also start out from a misguided premise: That Apple is a latecomer who cannot catch up with competitors like Spotify. How ridiculous. iTunes debuted in January 2001, iPod nine months later, and iTunes Music Store in April 2003. By longevity and reach, which includes exclusives (like The Beatles) and large catalog, Apple is the status quo. On June 30, the giant awakes, and the smidgens shake as it walks.

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Apple’s recently announced streaming music service is being viewed by many as a potential Spotify killer. Spotify might have more than 20 million paying subscribers and over 75 million active users, but Apple is a force that cannot be ignored, and being late to the party means nothing.

So should Spotify be concerned about the forthcoming battle with Apple? Unquestionably. Although, if new research is to be believed, it’s Apple that should be worrying the most.

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