Music

Spotify branches out into its own social network

With its feed, user profiles, and people tab, Spotify is already well on its way to becoming its own social network. And now, the music-streaming service is about to beef up its social aspect even more.

Spotify is in the middle of rolling out a "Follow" tab to replace its "People" tab for desktop users, according to The Next Web. The idea of the "Follow" tab is for people to be able to connect with friends, music artists, and top influential users. The way it works is similar to "liking" an artist … Read more

Pandora caps free mobile listening at 40 hours a month

Streaming radio service Pandora announced today it will introduce a cap on mobile listening as it grapples with rising royalty rates.

Nonpaying users of the service will be limited to 40 hours of free music each month, after which time they will be invited to pay a one-time fee of 99 cents for the remainder of the month or subscribe to the premium service, which features unlimited music and is advertising free. Users will also have the option of listening to unlimited listening via desktop.

Pandora, which eliminated a similar listening limit for desktop users in September 2011, blamed increasing … Read more

Amazon launches Cloud Player app for iPad, iPad Mini

Amazon today launched its Cloud Player app for the Apple iPad and iPad Mini, expanding the online retail giant's footprint for its music streaming program.

The app allows customers to stream or download music stored in Amazon's cloud, play music already stored on the device, and manage or create playlists.

A quick check by CNET shows iPad users also can purchase songs from Amazon through the Safari Web browser like they can on iPhones and iPod Touches. In the past, iOS users were able to access Amazon's apps but weren't able to purchase items from Amazon. … Read more

Kanye West: I am Steve Jobs

When you're on a roll, it's hard not to bathe in your own confidence.

In Kanye West's case, he is not only one of the most revered musical minds in the world, but he's also secured the hand and mind of Kim Kardashian.

Can life get any better than this?

The lovely thing about Kanye is that he's very keen on self-expression. So performing in Paris on Monday night, he wanted his audience to clearly understand the context of his greatness.

(An aside: One reviewer found Monday night's performance overall to be "engaging … Read more

Illegal music downloads dropped in 2012, says report

Fewer people are illegally downloading and sharing music, NPD Group said in a report today.

Among those surveyed for NPD's "Annual Music Study 2012," 40 percent who illegally downloaded music via peer-to-peer services in 2011 said they had stopped or decreased their illegal downloads in 2012.

Overall, the number of illegally downloaded songs from P2P services dropped by 26 percent in 2012 from 2011.

Part of that was due to an overall decline in the use of P2P services. At the 2005 peek of P2P file sharing networks, 33 million people used them. For 2012, that number … Read more

Oscars winners, losers jump in Amazon sales rankings

The old adage goes that it doesn't matter who wins or loses but that it's an honor just to be nominated.

Some of last night's Oscar losers may disagree, but it does prove true when it comes to movie and song rankings on Amazon.

The online retail giant says today that winners and losers from the Academy Awards all saw bumps in their sales on Amazon.com.

Seth MacFarlane, the host of the awards show, saw volume 10 of his "Family Guy" TV show rise more than 3,000 percent in the ranks to No. … Read more

Google in talks with labels over streaming music service -- report

When your market cap is north of $263 billion and the company's stock price is hovering around the $800 level, the prevailing question du jour becomes "well, why not?"

So it is that we learn, courtesy of the Financial Times, that Google has been talking with the major music labels about a possible streaming music service. The Times report said that "it is expected that the streaming service will offer a subscription model as well as free unlimited access to songs, supported by advertising, mirroring models adopted by Spotify and Deezer."

What with everyone seemingly … Read more

How Google is getting human with Google Glass

I've always felt a little skeptical about Google.

To be honest, not just about Google.

But in the case of the men from Mountain View, there's always been something so touchingly gauche about the way they've gone about their business.

None of this was assuaged by the recent sight of Google's Sergey Brin sitting on New York's subway wearing his Google glasses and looking like, well, a nerd on the subway wearing silly glasses.

I feared, therefore, for the world's nerve ends when I heard that Google had launched a site to promote those … Read more

YouTube viewership takes its place in Billboard charts

Billboard's charts, the gold standard for assessing the most popular music, now have a new metric.

YouTube streaming data is now being incorporated into those charts, Billboard announced yesterday. YouTube viewership will now join digital and physical singles sales, terrestrial radio airplay, and streaming as the metrics that determine Billboard's chart order.

Since there are often thousands of clips of a single music video, Billboard's YouTube data is limited to "all official videos," Vevo clips, and user-generated videos that are using "authorized audio." In other words, only legitimately used songs can be included … Read more