streaming music

Having started life as a music streaming platform, Spotify gradually branched out in podcasts and audio books. The latest development sees the online giant launching music videos for users in the US and Canada.

As is pretty standard for Spotify, the roll-out of music video support comes with various caveats. Not only is this limited to people living in the US and Canada, it is also a beta feature, so it is subject to change and possible starting wobbles. But there is another key consideration.

The yearly roundup you have (probably) been waiting for is here. Spotify Wrapped 2025 has landed, and this time around it is different to previous years.

This year Spotify has chosen to deliver more than just raw stats – although there are definitely still here.  In addition to learning which artist you’ve listened to the most, and how long you have spent listening to music throughout the year, you can also learn your “listening age” and compete in fan leaderboard. But there is more.

Spotify has announced that it has acquired WhoSampled, a service which reveals information about the origins of musical components.

The company will use data from the WhoSampled community to power a new SongDNA feature. Available to paying subscribers, the feature provides a wealth of information about tracks including the source of samples used within songs.

Thanks to what will seem like a somewhat unlikely pairing to many, it is now possible to access Spotify in ChatGPT. With the two services having partnered, you can now use tracks and podcasts to achieve things with the AI chat bot.

There are various possibilities here – from asking ChatGPT to create new playlists based on the tracks you like to receive recommendations about podcasts you may enjoy. While the ability to use Spotify in conjunction with ChatGPT is free, there are more options available to Spotify Premium subscribers.

It is not very often that companies give users more for free, but this is exactly what Spotify is doing. Having just recently announced that Premium subscribers are gaining access to lossless audio, Spotify is giving users on its free tier something extra as well.

As part of a major change to its treatment of users who do not pay for a subscription, Spotify now lets free users search for and play any song they want. There is no longer a need to wait for an album or playlist to reach the song you want, or use those valuable skips. Here is what you need to know.

There are many reasons to love Spotify, and just as many to dislike it. One of its many failings has been the fact that audio quality has been – to be diplomatic – less than perfect.

Now, thanks to the long-awaited arrival of lossless audio, this is finally changing. The ability to hear tracks at the best possible quality is something that will be celebrated by Spotify users... but not everyone.

Microsoft has been slowly showing more and more love towards Android and its interoperability with Windows 11. This is something that is abundantly clear in the latest builds of Windows 11 released to Insiders on the Dev and Beta channels.

The latest feature to start rolling out is the ability to seamlessly resume apps from Android phones on PC. This is not something that works with all apps – indeed, it is not something you would want or need to work with all apps – but it is an interesting feature which has a lot of potential. For now, however, it is starting small.

Spotify has announced an increase in subscription prices for users around the world. For now, the US does not get a mention, but with fees being raised in pretty much every region, it is hard to imagine that the same will not happen stateside as well.

The new pricing is due to kick in for existing subscribers in September, but sooner for new subscribers.

Spotify and Android Auto is a perfect pairing, and with the latest update to the app things just got even better. There is something of a UX-enhancing face-lift to the app, but the update also sees the arrival of new collaborative playlist options.

Jams are not usually a good thing on car journeys, but in the case of Spotify Jam it’s a little different. The feature lets everyone in the vehicle add their own music to a queue and create a playlist that will include something for everyone’s taste.

Spotify remains one of the most popular music streaming services currently available, but popularity does not mean perfection. There are many things that Spotify users complain about, such as the oddities of the discovery algorithms. The company is getting better at listening to feedback and is taking steps to improve things.

Spotify has just announced new tools and controls to help with music discovery, playlist curation and recommendations. There’s something for everyone to benefit from, so let’s take a look at what’s new.

Moving incredibly quickly after a court ruled that Apple was in “willful violation” of an injunction that ordered it to allow out-of-app purchases, Spotify has updated its app with new payment options. Developers have long been frustrated by Apple’s requirement for purchases and subscriptions to be paid for via the App Store, and Spotify is the first to take advantage of the latest ruling.

The music streaming service submitted an app update to Apple which allows users to start a Spotify subscription or change plans within the app, change plans easily, and avoid Apple’s payment system. Apple has accepted the update, so users in the US now have more flexibility.

For the second time in a year, Spotify has announced a hike in prices for US customers. The increase in subscription fees are significant in their own right (rising by up to 17 percent), but the fact that the company has already increased prices in the last year makes this latest announcement sting.

The new pricing structure also comes on the back of Spotify's recent announcement of record profits, increased revenue and a jump in subscriber numbers. The higher pricing applies to new subscribers with immediate effect, and will be implemented for existing users in July.

Spotify's venture into the world of hardware with Car Thing has proved an unmitigated failure. Having ended production of the device just a few short months after launch, the product is set to be completely discontinued before the end of the year.

But the discontinuation of Car Thing means more than just the end of support and updates -- much more. Spotify says that the devices will be rendered non-functional, and the advice to users is to reset and recycle them.

It has been an extraordinarily long time coming, but Spotify has finally launched the miniplayer that users have been requesting for years.

The arrival of Spotify Miniplayer sees the music streaming service catching up with the likes of Apple Music. The new discreet player floats over other running apps, and gives users a choice of UI designs to switch between.

The hitherto cheapest means of accessing Apple Music is no more. Apple has announced that it is killing off the $4.99 per month Apple Music Voice Plan.

Introduced back in 2021, this tier allowed for access to the entire Apple Music catalog, but only via Siri, and the discontinuation of this plan means that the cheapest generally available Apple Music subscription is now $10.99 (although students have a $5.99 option). So, what does this means for anyone currently on the Apple Music Voice Plan?