Spotify

Spotify's Daniel Ek: I don't worry about Apple, Google

AUSTIN, Texas -- Google is aiming to roll out two subscription music services this summer, and Apple is reportedly trying again to tackle the streaming business. But Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek says he's not concerned, because his company is laser-focused on music and music only.

"We're obviously watching what everybody is doing," said Ek, who wore a Gibson guitar T-shirt and was interviewed by Forbes Associate Editor Steve Bertoni at the SXSW Interactive conference. "Music is something that is so inherently important to people that it makes sense for gigantic companies to have … Read more

Spotify: Growing like mad, yet so far to go

AUSTIN, Texas -- It's not a bluegrass jam on the legendary Austin City Limits stage, but for Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, it nonetheless will be a heady moment.

When Ek sits for a fireside chat at the South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival here later today, the Swedish-born, aspiring music industry mogul will be able to share some fresh bragging rights: Spotify has signed another 1 million subscribers since December, bringing the total to 6 million and cementing its position as the fastest-growing digital music company ever -- second in reach only to Internet radio company Pandora. A company … Read more

Get Skip Tunes' play controls back in the menu bar

This post is really just an excuse to tell you again about Skip Tunes, an app I covered last year and have used pretty much every day since. If you are a Mac user and a frequent user of iTunes, Spotify, or Rdio, you need this app. It places a small icon in your menu bar, providing quick and easy access track information and play controls.

I finally got around to updating Skip Tunes this week (unbeknownst to me, the update was released months ago) and discovered that the play/pause and fast forward buttons disappeared from the menu bar. … Read more

How YouTube could ignite streaming music: Go mobile, go free

Google's YouTube, the entertainment industry's longtime "frenemy," is emerging as an important component of record label plans to adapt to consumers who are taking their music mobile.

A part of the streaming-music service that Google is aiming to launch this summer is a new YouTube product that would be designed for the desktop and mobile devices, according to a person familiar with the negotiations between Google and the major labels. Such a mobile offering, coupled with the powerful YouTube brand, could ignite the nascent streaming-music business, now led by Spotify for on-demand music and Pandora for … Read more

Poll: Should music be free?

Music, or should I say most recorded music, is already free; you can get it whenever and wherever you want it and pay nothing.

I've bought thousands of CDs, SACDs, LPs, and a few hundred downloads. Of course, when I started buying music I didn't have too many "free" options, other than radio or taping friends' albums. Radio was a great way to discover new music, but once I heard something I really liked, I bought it. My $3.98 "Led Zeppelin II" LP was a great investment; I've played it hundreds of … Read more

Rock out with greater ease with Spotify's updated iPhone app

I have been a big fan of Spotify since it reached our shores, but the Spotify iPhone app has been buggy and more difficult to navigate than it need be. Making it all the more frustrating was the fact that the iPhone app was the chief reason why I upgraded to Spotify's premium plan. With this latest update, Spotify on my iPhone now feels worthy of the cost required to operate it.

With the updated Spotify app, you'll encounter the first of its two big new features by swiping to the right to reveal the new sidebar menu. … Read more

Pandora limits free mobile streaming

CNET Update teaches you how to say Ubuntu:

Thursday's tech news roundup has bad news for Pandora addicts. Free music streaming on Pandora apps is limited to 40 hours a month -- but there's no limit for desktop users. Pandora is bringing back limits just as Spotify evolves: it's making changes to be more social, just updated its iOS app, and is going to be available on Ford's Sync AppLink. Another streaming cousin, TuneIn, also updated its site and iPad app to offer live listening recommendations.

And as Mobile World Congress coverage wraps up, we're … Read more

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

Maybe there's hope for the music industry yet

The big digital music companies, from Internet radio company Pandora to fast-growing startups like Spotify and Deezer, face huge business challenges because of the simple fact that the majority of the money they bring in -- either from ads or subscriptions -- goes to the big music labels and publishers.

And that's starting to look pretty good for the long suffering music industry.

A pair of reports published today on the music industry -- one from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the other from research firm NPD -- highlighted the first glimmer of good news that the … Read more