iLike was once the most popular music application of Facebook, with close to 10 million active users generating 1.5 billion page views per month. On Tuesday, it finally shut down. Its demise proves once again that online music is a tough business to be in. Read More »
Tech
A new Pandora competitor called Raditaz combines customized online radio stations with location. Users can see what stations others are listening to in their neighborhood and even geotag stations specific to their gym or office. Raditaz built the service with a team of just seven. Read More »
Spotify is relaunching its Spotify Radio feature, enabling unlimited channels and skipping and more targeted channels in a bid to better take on Pandora. The improvements are limited to the desktop for now, but a mobile version is coming soon. Read More »
The web has been abuzz with speculations about a mystery Spotify event next week, with many arguing the service will launch a download store. But given its recent growth spurred by Facebook, I’d argue a web-based player would make more sense. Read More »
Google launched its music service Wednesday, giving end users access to a catalog of 13 million songs. The service also works in sync with Google’s music cloud locker and offers sharing features through Google+. Artists will be able to sell their music directly through the service. Read More »
It’s time to say good-bye to the cat: The announced acquisition of Napster by Rhapsody means that the Napster brand will cease to exist. Company’s staff will be laid off in December, its offices shuttered, and the future of its international operations is undecided. Read More »
Spotify had a fairy tale beginning as a startup. Like some of its peers, Spotify is changing how we consume media. And that change is putting the service at odds with indie labels and artists who believe that Spotify is going to leave them penniless. Read More »
Free, digital content has shattered long-established ways of making money in the newspaper publishing industry, and publishers must now find new ways to subsidize content-creation costs directly. That includes everything from more-flexible paywalls to borrowing the business models of industries like online gaming and music. Read More »
We all have our secret Lady Gaga songs tucked away in our playlist or the 80s’ Monster Ballads that are loved rather than laughed at, so now as Spotify comes to the U.S., here’s how to avoid sharing the skeletons in your musical closet. Read More »
EXCLUSIVE: Clio might not be the most familiar name in the world of music recommendation — but its system is one of the most intelligent. And now the Philadelphia service has strengthened its hand by signing a major deal to provide its services to Hollywood’s biggest… Read More »
As Turntable.fm has shown, a new era of social music may be upon us, one that is less about scaling wide, but more about going deep. The third era of social music is about immersion as sites add more immediacy and intimacy to the experience. Read More »
Nearly eleven years after Tim Westergen and his colleagues started Pandora, it began trading on the public markets. Westergen has been through hell and back and his story is no different from any entrepreneur who dares to try to capture lightning in a bottle. Read More »
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