As it stands now, Ping is explicitly about selling music on the iTunes store. And while the new service is making us wonder whether Apple could build a viable social network, perhaps the real question is, “Does Apple want to build a real social network?” Read More »
music
Whether by design or accident, Ping’s lack of integration with other social networks, or even with the web itself, is now its most compelling feature — at least from a strategic perspective. It’s essentially an e-commerce platform for music disguised as a social network. Read More »
After two months in invite-only beta, streaming music service Rdio will enter general availability Tuesday morning, offering unlimited access to a library of seven million songs for a flat fee of $5 for desktop service and $10 to add a mobile component. Read More »
Mobile music has long failed to gain traction despite a tremendous amount of hype, but recent announcements about cloud-based services have reinvigorated the space. But as carriers and record labels should know, the only certainty in mobile music is that old business models don’t apply. Read More »
mSpot, a new music streaming service for your own audio collection, recently launched on Android 2.0 or better devices. Thanks to local caching, mSpot offers playback even when your phone has no data connection. But seamless on or offline playback is hurt by one main issue. Read More »
Perhaps the new limited smartphone plans from AT&T won’t hurt as much now that Slacker has introduced music caching in the latest version of it’s iPhone application. Subscribers can download and carry tunes instead of streaming them over mobile broadband, which cuts down on 3G usage. Read More »
The newest music subscription service to launch is Rdio, the creation of Skype and Kazaa founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. Like some of its newly launched peers, it’s a well-designed service that’s satisfying to curious listeners, but how many people will pay for it? Read More »
Pandora, the music streaming provider and Silicon Valley darling, has raised additional late-stage funding of an undisclosed amount. Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy said in an emailed statement the funding would be used “to invest in resources we need to continue to execute on our strategy.” Read More »
I’m tired of waiting for Apple to deliver a cloud-based iTunes streaming solution. In this weekend project, I’ll show you three cloud services that let me “carry” as much music as I want on my connected phone to enjoy when and where I want. Read More »
Sorry, “web song” buyers: Lala.com now says its service will be shut down on May 31. Whatever Apple is planning to do with Lala, the cloud-based streaming music service it acquired in December, it’s not going to keep the site functioning as it once did. Read More »
Midomi has rebranded itself as SoundHound and introduced a new freemium model aimed at challenging Shazam on both free and paid music app charts. Its ambitions could also make SoundHound a target for acquisition, since it does something Google and its rivals cannot. Read More »
Music subscription provider Rhapsody became an independent company, two months after RealNetworks revealed plans to cede majority control of the unit. Rhapsody, in which RealNetworks and Viacom now hold minority stakes, also slashed its monthly subscription price to compete with innovative rivals that have appeared recently. Read More »
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