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Recommended Reading: Taylor Swift and Spotify are... best friends?
Taylor Swift is getting friendly with Spotify ahead of her new album, 'Lover.' Times have changed. Tim Ingham, Music Business Worldwide Not too long ago, Taylor Swift shook off Spotify, pulling her entire catalog from the service and slamming music streaming as "a grand experiment." Nearly five years later, amid a huge blow up with her former label, she's mighty cozy with the Sweden-based company that went public in 2018. It looks like the two sides have put aside their bad blood -- for now.
Eminem’s publisher sues Spotify for unlicensed streaming
Eminem's publisher Eight Mile Style filed a suit in federal court Wednesday alleging that Spotify has streamed the artist's songs without having properly licensed them. "Spotify has not accounted to Eight Mile or paid Eight Mile for these streams but instead remitted random payments of some sort, which only purport to account for a fraction of those streams," states the complaint obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
SiriusXM's student plan only costs $4 per month
SiriusXM thinks it has a simple way to get the back-to-school crowd listening to radio: offer it at an extremely steep discount. The satellite radio pioneer has introduced a Student Premier subscription that offers all the 200-plus music channels (plus talk) of the usual Premiere Streaming package for $4 per month, or less than a third of the $13 you'd normally pay. You could wind down with Kevin Hart's comedy channel or psych yourself up with BPM for about the price of nice coffee.
Waze adds easy access to YouTube Music while you drive
You'd think Google would have raced to make YouTube Music controls available inside Waze, but not so -- numerous third-party services got there first. At last, though, there's some harmony. Waze has added YouTube Music integration that brings playback controls to your navigation screen on both Android and iOS. As with other apps, you can quickly skip a track or give it a thumbs-up without having to switch apps -- important when you're eager to put on a favorite tune before the traffic light turns green.
Tidal shares songs as Stories in Facebook and Instagram
iHeartRadio isn't the only streaming music service helping you share music as Stories in recent days. Tidal has introduced an option to share tunes directly as Stories in Facebook and Instagram, helping you convey your musical mood to your followers. You can share videos, too -- viewers will see 15-second snippets of concerts and other footage if you post clips on Instagram, and still images on Facebook.
Spotify is getting its own TV mini-series
The music business has been through a turbulent decade, with dwindling sales, record labels pushing "360 deals" on artists and concert venues beginning to take cuts of merchandise sales. The debates around the ethics of streaming apps are a high-profile example of the industry trying to regain traction, with the rise of Spotify itself soon to be detailed in a scripted TV miniseries, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Apple Music adds a Shazam-powered playlist to highlight new artists
Until now, Apple hasn't visibly integrated Shazam much into its other services since buying the music discovery service last year. As of today, though, a Shazam-powered chart highlighting new artists will be available to stream on Apple Music.
Korg Volca Modular synth review: As weird as it is affordable
This review is a little different. Normally when Engadget reviews something, we're bringing years of experience and expertise to the table. But not here. The Volca Modular is a semimodular, West Coast-style synthesizer. And until I received this review unit, I had zero experience with either modular or West Coast-style synths. I am coming at this device from the perspective of a novice. And that's exactly the target audience. The Volca Modular is an affordable entry point to two worlds typically priced out of the range of the casual hobbyist. So the real question isn't "what do modular experts and West Coast veterans think about it?" It's "what can a beginner like myself learn from it?"
iHeartRadio shares tunes as Stories in Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat
Do you really, really want to be sure everyone knows what you're listening to? iHeartRadio thinks it can help spread your musical message. The company has introduced sharing to Stories in Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat through its mobile app -- iHeartRadio claimed to Engadget that it's the first streaming service to tie into all three. Whether or not that's true, it's certainly a time-saver if you want to share to more than one medium.
Amazon Music Unlimited isn't actually growing faster than Spotify
Critics are taking issue with the claim that Amazon Music Unlimited is growing faster than Spotify. Music Business Worldwide has determined that Amazon grew more percentage-wise (70 percent year-over-year versus Spotify's 32 percent), but it was well behind in terms of raw subscriber numbers. Spotify hit the 100 million subscriber mark by adding 25 million Premium members between its March 2018 and March 2019 quarters -- that's just about double the 13 million Amazon added over a similar period. That rate held up in the second quarter, where Spotify's 108 million total subs represented another jump of 25 million.
The new Soundboks Bluetooth speaker is still massive and louder than ever
Portable Bluetooth speakers usually come in pint-sized pocketable versions or larger tabletop varieties that can push out decent sound to a group of people. The extra-large versions are rarely talked about or seen in the wild, but like exotic animals, they have a visceral impact by their very nature. The Soundboks speakers fall into the latter category for me. The second edition arrived two years ago, and while it costs a pretty penny, the product was a party-inducing powerhouse. Today, the company has announced its most recent upgrade with the new Soundboks. It's still a premium product, both in materials and price ($999). But as you'd expect, there are a few new features, including wireless daisy chaining for up to five units using the TeamUP function.
Spotify tests simplified speaker handoff feature
A Spotify feature currently in testing will make it easier for users to switch playback between their phone and home speakers. Once the user sets a favorite device, the app will keep an eye on your location and send a notification to your phone when you're within range of the device. If you're listening to music on your phone while walking home, for example, you'll get a notification prompting you to switch to your smart speaker once you walk through the door.
Confronting existential dread through DIY musical instruments
A Day That Will Never Happen Again. Here You Are, You Are Here. Everything You Love Will One Day Be Taken From You. Believe it or not, these are not the names of Cure songs, but of electronic musical instruments -- though obviously not particularly traditional ones. They're collectively known as The Book of Knowledge of Impractical Musical Devices and they were created by Yann Seznec, a sound artist based in Scotland. (Though he is in the process of moving back to the US.) It's a project that pulls inspiration from a number of places. But there are three big ones that unify the series. As the name suggests, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices by Al-Jazari is a major reference point. But Seznec's project also explores our relationship with sound and media, as well as the fleetingness of... well, everything. As he says in describing the third volume in the series Everything You Love Will One Day Be Taken From You: "Every time I play that sound I'm destroying it. And it's slowly slipping away from me. Just like everything is." Yikes.
Apple Music's Digital Masters catalog helps you find high-quality tunes
You'd be forgiven if you forgot about Apple's Mastered for iTunes program. It was supposed to offer near-master quality audio from compressed files thanks to clever processing, but it never became a major selling point and was eventually overshadowed by the rise of Apple Music. It's about to come roaring back, though -- Billboard noted the company has launched a Digital Masters initiative for Apple Music that puts all of its Mastered for iTunes songs in one worldwide streaming catalog. You won't have to wonder where to go to listen to tracks that theoretically rival the original recordings.
Some AT&T unlimited subscribers will get Spotify Premium for free
AT&T is adding a new streaming option to its Unlimited & More Premium wireless plan: Spotify Premium. AT&T customers with the Unlimited & More Premium plan are now eligible for Spotify Premium at no additional charge. Other select AT&T customers can sign up for a six-month free trial of the streaming service, after which they'll be able to purchase a Spotify Premium plan for $9.99 per month.
YouTube will stream Lollapalooza live starting August 1st
It's going to be particularly easy to watch Lollapalooza concerts online this year. YouTube is livestreaming the 2019 music festival between August 1st and August 4th, both through Lollapalooza's channel as well as through YouTube Music. You'll see "curated" performances from the likes of Janelle Monae and Twenty One Pilots, but there will also be three streams to follow the action from multiple stages. It won't be the same as being there, but that might not be a bad thing if you're less than fond of sweaty crowds or making a pilgrimage to Chicago.
Twitch's karaoke competition returns with a record deal prize
Twitch's $20,000 karaoke contest is returning for a second season. The online singing competition for karaoke-style title Twitch Sings is open from today until Monday 5th August. Contestants can submit their audition videos here, and an internal team at Twitch will select the top 15 entrants to compete live over the course of five weeks.
Tool, one of the last streaming holdouts, caves ahead of new album
If you're like me, you probably came to terms a long time ago with the fact we might not ever hear that "new Tool album." Welp, it looks like I was wrong. The band announced on Instagram today that its first album in 13 years, Fear Inoculum, will be out August 30th. And to celebrate, the group's existing catalog of brooding art metal will be available on streaming services for the first time this Friday (August 2nd).
Jammy’s digital guitar is a futuristic idea let down by today's tech
When I was younger I took my acoustic guitar with me wherever I traveled. It's ridden in the back of a van to the Poconos, taken rides down to the Jersey Shore and even flown to the Grand Canyon and Disney World. But it was always a hassle to bring places. It's bulky and fragile. Even if I trusted an airline to treat my guitar with care (which, to be clear, I 100 percent do not), it's prohibitively expensive these days to check something of that size every time you fly. Over the years a number of companies have tried to address this problem, most notably Martin with its Backpacker guitar. But if you prefer your electric guitar and a handful of pedals, then you've been SOL. This is where Jammy is supposed to come in. It's a portable digital guitar, with actual metal guitar strings, that comes apart and easily fits in a carry-on or even a backpack. You can plug a pair of headphones straight into it or connect to a regular guitar amp. It also has a companion app that allows you to change the sound from acoustic to electric or add effects. What's more, since it's digital, it can never go out of tune! It all sounds too good to be true. And for the most part it is.
Pandora's Voice Mode is your personal music assistant
Pandora is rolling out Voice Mode to all users today. While you may have used Pandora voice controls on smart products like Amazon Alexa or Google Home, the new feature takes voice commands to the next level. It's meant to be more like a personal assistant for music, and it promises to deliver music selections tailored to each individual user.

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