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 MorePaul Bonanos
MOG Finally Goes Mobile With New iPhone, Android Apps
Expected soon after the launch of its music subscription service last fall, MOG's iPhone and Android mobile apps will allow access to a library of more than 8 million songs for a monthly fee of about $10. That represents an increasingly attractive standalone offering for handset makers.…
Read MoreRdio's Silence Ends As Skype Founders Launch Music Subscription Service
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 MoreLala to Go the Way of the Dodo
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 MoreSoundHound's Pet Project: A Music Search Engine
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 MoreRhapsody, Now Independent, Reboots With a Price Cut
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 MoreCan Guvera Make Me Care About Advertising in Exchange for Free Music?
Well-funded Australian music site Guvera launched quietly in the U.S. this week, offering a new twist on the free ad-supported download model some have left for dead. But if users don't engage with the ads they serve, will advertisers get their money's worth?…
Read MoreSpotify Now Targeting Q3 for U.S. Launch
A smash hit in Europe, streaming music service Spotify now reportedly aims to launch in the U.S. by the third quarter of 2010. Once expected in the second half of 2009, the rollout has been delayed as questions about Spotify's business model have arisen.…
Read More5 Reasons I’m Still Not Paying for a Music Subscription Service
Music is moving into the cloud. Access is replacing ownership of albums and song files, online streams are replacing desktop playback and mobile access is renewing interest in on-demand music subscriptions. So how come I’m still not ready to pay for any of it?…
Read More"All You Can Eat" Music Services Still Don't Have Everything You Want to Hear
Music subscription services promise unlimited access to enormous libraries of songs, typically on the order of 6-10 million tracks. But there are plenty of empty trays at the all-you-can-eat music buffet, some of which will leave you hungrier than others.…
Read MoreSXSW: As MOG Goes Mobile, the U.S. Waits (and Waits) for Spotify
Music service MOG unveiled its new mobile applications today, promising premium subscribers the ability to stream any song, anytime, anywhere. Its launch also represents an erosion of opportunity for Spotify, the European service that has promised (and delayed) its U.S. launch for several months.…
Read MoreApple’s iTunes LP 6 Months Later: LP What?
If Apple's iTunes LP format was supposed to give music fans a new reason to buy albums instead of individual songs, its impact on record sales has been a major disappointment. Six months after its introduction, the format is more a curiosity than a game-changer.…
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