Digital Music

Samsung may buy stake in Deezer

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/01/12/uk-deezer-dailymotion-france-idUKBREA0B09420140112 Samsung is in negotiations to strike a commercial agreement with and possibly acquire  a stake in the Paris-based music subscription service…

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For those about to rock, AC/DC is now on iTunes

AC/DC had famously resisted Apple’s siren call for a long time, but is now selling all of its albums on iTunes. The band joins a list of other acts who only recently started selling digital tracks on iTunes, including Metallica, Kid Rock and the Beatles.

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Move over Amazon MP3 store, Spotify hits Kindle Fire

The Kindle Fire gains a free new mobile music app in Spotify, but it’s only mobile if you have a Wi-Fi connection; offline support requires a Spotify Premium subscription. However, the app supports high-quality music streaming and full access to Spotify’s millions of digital tracks.

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With 15M active users, Spotify adds free radio on Android

Spotify’s conversion rate isn’t bad: Out of 15 million active users, more than 4 million are paying subscribers. That number may soon increase thanks to Android support for Spotify radio, which is ad-supported and offers unlimited playback of Spotify’s entire digital music catalog.

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Boom! New chip adds more punch to mobile device speakers

Your next smartphone or tablet may have richer, deeper sound even with the small speakers usually found in such devices. On Tuesday, NXP Semiconductors introduced a new integrated circuit and algorithm that boasts 5x more output power for sound while also protecting the speaker.

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Samsung boosts its mobile ecosystem with mSpot purchase

Samsung announced on Wednesday that it has acquired mSpot, a cloud-based content company formed in 2004. Until now, mSpot offered music storage with streaming playback and also movie rentals for various mobile platforms. The purchase is likely to bolster Samsung’s Media Hub for content and storage.

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Windows PCs get an AirPlay-like wireless speaker: Aperion Aris

Apple devices have enjoyed wireless music playback through AirPlay speakers, but Windows users generally have been left out in the cold, until now. Aperion’s Aris wireless speaker lets Windows 7 and Windows 8 Consumer Preview computers pipe tunes wirelessly using Microsoft’s “Play To” feature.

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Who wants DoubleTwist unlock codes? Here’s 25.

Earlier today, I shared information on the latest update to DoubleTwist, the media management software for Android. Rather than just read my experiences with the app, the DoubleTwist folks kindly offered 25 unlock codes for GigaOm readers, so if you hurry, you can get them here.

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Spotify puts Pandora in its sights with new Spotify Radio

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.

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Spotify’s app platform: That’s it?

Many people had the hopes up for something truly revolutionary coming out of Spotify’s mystery event this Wednesday. Instead, we got an app platform that’s restricted to a desktop client, doesn’t offer partners any revenue and suspiciously smells like another platform bully power play.

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Spotify turns up the volume with new app platform

Spotify is opening up its service to developers to create free applications inside its desktop app. The company is now enabling much more robust integration of apps inside its desktop client, allowing developers to tap into Spotify’s 15 million songs and fast growing user base.

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Music startups test their mettle in Europe

Brightcove VP Rags Gupta explains why music start-ups should test the waters across the pond before coming to the U.S.: “According to conventional wisdom, consumer start-ups should move to San Francisco for access to capital, talent, and ideas. But if you’re launching an online music company, consider London or Berlin.”

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The 6 ways digital music is being disrupted

As media and entertainment went digital, many looked to the music sector as the canary in the coal mine. Digital comprises over 40 percent of consumer sales, but the whole market was worth only $5.9 billion in 2010. Even digital felt stagnant. But that’s changing.

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MOG sees 246% user growth, thanks to Facebook tie-in

Music streaming service MOG just released new growth figures, and it turns out that the music platform launched by Facebook in late September has given it a big boost. MOG now has 160,000 monthly active users, representing 264 percent growth for the month of October.

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Off the mark with Spotify revenues

Last year, I did a back of the envelope estimate of revenues for Spotify for 2010 at $134 million, of which $80 million came from subscriptions and rest from advertising. It’s time for a mea culpa: I blew it. Here are the updated numbers.

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Sorry digital music, mobile apps are the new star

The mobile app economy is growing faster than earlier predictions, now expected to account for 98 billion downloads by 2015. Consumers want their smartphones to have numerous functions and apps, which drive downloads. Meanwhile, music services could be slowing digital music sales. Developers should take note.

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955 Dreams tackles music discovery with Band of the Day

955 Dreams, which started out building digital album iPad apps, is now getting into the music discovery and content creation business with a new iPhone app called Band of the Day that introduces an artist each day and comes with a lot of original exclusive content.

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Turntable.fm grabs $7 million, releases iPhone app

Turntable.fm, the hot New York start-up, is clearing up questions about funding and a mobile app by announcing a $7 million round led by Union Square Ventures and introducing an iPhone app. The news, while not a surprise, keeps up the momentum for Turntable.

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Sonos wants to become the hub of digital music

Bolstered by the success of its partnerships with services such as Pandora, Rhapsody, Rdio and Spotify,consumer electronics maker Sonos now wants to launch an API that would allow any music service to integrate with the Sonos platform. To me that seems like a great idea.

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How to stream Spotify to Apple TV and iOS devices

One thing that iTunes has over Spotify’s online music service is its wireless connectivity to the Apple TV. But it is actually possible to get the same kind of connectivity with Spotify, and use it from any room in your house. Here’s how.

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Hands on with Spotify for mobile devices

Spotify, one of the most popular music streaming services in Europe and other regions, today launched in the U.S., as expected. But mobile users will have to pay for the Premium plan, a $9.99 monthly subscription. What features do you get and is it worth it?

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Hands on with Amazon Cloud Player for iPad

Amazon’s online music storage and streaming service sounds great on Android devices or a desktop browser. Apple devices have been left in the cold until now however: here’s a first look at Amazon’s Cloud Player for the iPad’s browser, which despite a few shortcomings, shows promise.

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Music will be a tough payoff for Facebook

Last week Om broke a big story on Facebook’s plans for music. But is music Facebook’s next billion-dollar business? It will be hard for the company to cash in big on music. Here are three reasons why.

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How Pandora could raise its revenues

Pandora finally went public last week, and with its focus on radio, the company has a better chance for mass adoption than most other digital music services. While it may be losing money now, here are a few steps it could take to raise revenues.

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Share your music with portable speakers for your iDevice

While you’re outdoors this summer, you may want to share your music with those around you. There are lots of portable boom boxes, but here are a few unusual ways to turn your iPod or iPod touch into a music machine to share with friends.

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Rdio Taps Developers to Compete in Digital Music Arena

Rdio, the social music subscription service built by Skype founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, is one of the later entrants to the digital music space. But it’s working hard to catch up by tapping developers to make its service widely available.

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What Next for Last.fm, the Great Survivor?

In the four years since CBS bought online radio service Last.fm, the site hasn’t changed radically. Now, however, the London-based music service is looking for its second act — and product chief Matthew Hawn tells GigaOM what that might mean.

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Report: HP Creating Own Media Store for WebOS Devices

Hewlett-Packard will reportedly offer both a music service and movie store for its upcoming TouchPad tablet, due out within the next few month. The music solution will reportedly manage media smartly, by ensuring tracks most likely to be listened to will be stored locally.

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Ripping Vinyl to 24bit 96kHz Apple Lossless

Those of you out there with a vinyl collection may at some point want to preserve your collection digitally. I set out to capture the highest quality music my Mac Pro could provide. Here’s how I create 24bit 96kHz Apple Lossless files from my albums.

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65% of Web Users Buy Digital Content: More Music, Fewer E-Books

Nearly two-thirds of web users are purchasing digital goods, subscriptions and access to premium content. The real surprise is on how few of those purchases are for e-book titles and mobile software applications given record sales of e-reader devices and the growing demand for smartphones.

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Mobile Roadie: Celebs Like Android, Too

New and most existing customers of Mobile Roadie’s app maker platform are deploying on Android equally with iPhone, though most are having difficulty making any thing close to the money they make from iPhone apps, said Michael Schneider, CEO of Mobile Roadie.

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How Apple's New Music Strategy Reflects a Paradigm Shift

Apple’s updated digital music strategy will reverse commitments to desktop software and ownership of music files. Here are five ways its acquisition and integration of Lala reflect a paradigm shift in the way mainstream consumers will listen to music in the coming decade.

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After Weak Exits In Digital Music, VCs Start Smaller

Exits for digital music investments are far from strong these days and as such, while VCs aren’t giving up on them, they are starting much smaller. At least that was the sentiment expressed during an afternoon panel concerning venture funding at yesterday’s SF MusicTech Summit.

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