Amazon will reportedly launch a hi-fi version of Amazon Music Unlimited
A new report suggests that Amazon is in the final months of preparation for the launch of a new hi-res tier for its music subscription service. If true, it might launch later this year, for around $15 per month, making it the first of the big streaming giants to take this step.
YouTube Music lands on Google Home speakers
Hot on the heels of Amazon's announcement that it's adding a free version of its Amazon Music service to Alexa-powered speakers, Google is making a similar move, adding a free, ad-supported version of its YouTube Music service to all Google Assistant-powered smart speakers.
Amazon’s free Spotify competitor is here. Just ask Alexa
Just ask Alexa to play your favorite song. Amazon has launched a free, ad-based music streaming service to compete with Spotify's free tier on its popular Echo devices, aiming to keep listeners into the Amazon ecosystem, and to bolster subscriptions to its paid Amazon Music Unlimited service.
Amazon rumored to be launching free music-streaming service
Rumors are swirling that Amazon is planning to take on Spotify by launching its own free music streaming service. Amazon plans to expand its dominance of e-commerce and its inroads into TV and movie streaming, available through its Amazon Prime Video service. The service is rumored to be ad-supported.
Digital Trends Live: Apple music wins, 5G, In the Valley Below, and more
On episode 105 of Digital Trends Live, Greg Nibler discussed trending tech topics like Apple Music passing Spotify in terms of paid subscribers, and welcomed special guests like the Mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler to discuss how major cities are approaching the implementation of 5G.
YouTube Music is replacing Google Play Music: Here’s where, when, and why
Google has announced a major revamp of YouTube Music, with an ad-free paid version called YouTube Music Premium, and it seems to be positioning the new service as its premier music streaming app. So what happens to Google Play Music? It's confusing, but this guide will help clear things up.
Pandora to start testing A.I.-powered interactive voice ads
If you spot someone in the street talking to ads on Pandora in the coming months, then no, you’re not going mad. It's part of a trial by the music streaming service that will use interactive voice ads to encourage responses from listeners so brands can learn what elements of a product they’re most interested in.
Newly discovered code hints at future Apple Music Chromecast support
A few new lines of code found in the latest release of Apple Music for Android has some speculating that Chromecast (and Google Home) compatibility may be in the not-so-distant future for Apple's streaming music service. It's a move that would be consistent with many of its other recent announcements.
Borderlands 3 trailer comes out blazing, offers 1 billion gun combos
Gearbox Software has finally revealed Borderlands 3, the much-anticipated sequel to Borderlands and Borderlands 2. The game will feature more than 1 billion guns and more diverse environments. More information on the game will be available on the Borderlands official website April 3.
Spotify now personalizing its curated playlists to help improve music discovery
In an attempt to improve the selection of songs that listeners hear when tuning into Spotify's mood-based playlists, the streaming music company has started to use personalization to alter which tracks are part of the mix. The move could have a material effect on artists, who depend on their tracks being heard.
Spotify adds mystery and crime to its podcast arsenal with Parcast acquisition
Spotify continues to add to its growing collection of podcasting assets, this time with the acquisition of Parcast, an L.A.-based podcast studio known for its lurid, true-crime and mystery titles, that have garnered a significant audience since the company began in 2017.
Pandora now lets you mess with the secret sauce for its music playlists
Pandora introduced a new feature called Modes, allowing subscribers to pick between six different algorithms that determine what the popular music streaming service will decide to play. From modes based on popularity to finding deeper cuts, users now have massive control over music discovery.
What year is this? Apple might drop a new iPod tomorrow
After two days of surprise hardware releases that have brought us new iPads and iMacs, rumor has it that we may see an update of Apple's iPod as soon as tomorrow, sparking a mixture of nostalgia and curiosity, and causing many in the tech world to guess what will be new about the music player for 2019.
Apple Music completes its Amazon migration, is now available on Fire TV
Amazon's popular Fire TV devices are now compatible with the most popular on-demand music streaming service in the United States, thanks to a new integration with Apple Music that has finally hit Fire TV devices. The video streaming devices join Amazon's Echo smart speakers, which already had Apple Music.
If you’re a Spotify Premium subscriber, you now get Hulu for free
Spotify Premium subscribers have yet another reason to love the Swedish streaming service, with the company now offering ad-free Hulu accounts to all premium users at no additional cost, poising it to compete with the upcoming Apple video streaming service, which will likely offer Apple Music bundles.
iPhone owners can finally hear the highest-quality streaming music on Tidal
If you're an iPhone owner who is after the highest possible audio quality from your streaming library, you now have the best option out there: Tidal's Masters Quality Audio (MQA) is now available on iOS, allowing listeners to get as close to studio-level quality as possible from the streaming service.
SoundCloud hopes to add listeners with 50 percent discount for students
Somewhat late to the party, SoundCloud launched a student discount for it's top-tier SoundCloud Go+ membership, dropping the price to just $5 a month. It's a good deal for those attending college or university, but will it be enough to keep the struggling music platform from going under?
Google Clock now also supports Pandora, YouTube Music as alarm options
Google Clock, through its version 6.1 update, finally added Pandora and YouTube Music as alarm options, following Spotify which has been supported since July. Users will now be able to choose tracks from these services to wake them up in the morning, instead of jarring sounds or annoying jingles.
Pandora Stories let artists take fans on a guided audio tour
As great as subscription music streaming services are, they can be impersonal from an artist's perspective. Pandora's new format, Pandora Stories, lets artists mix their music with narrated voice tracks, creating a personalized tour of their music, or any other topic they want to discuss.
Apple Music pops up in the Google Home app, hinting at launch
Despite not being active yet, there's now an entry for Apple Music inside the music services tab of the Google Home app, which surely means it won't be long before Apple's music service is on every major smart speaker platform. The question now is whether Apple reciprocates by adding other services to its HomePod.
Garmin’s Vivoactive 3 Music adds Spotify support for tunes while you tone
After releasing Spotify for the Fenix 5 Plus series and Forerunner 645 Music last year, Garmin made good on its promise to bring the music streaming service to its Vivoactive 3 Music fitness watch. Owners can download the app to their watch and connect to wireless earbuds for listening everywhere.
Apple Music encourages subscribers to give friends a free 1-month pass
It's no secret that Apple has its sights set squarely on Spotify's enviable subscriber count, but how will Apple Music grow its base? Apparently by using existing customers as a recruitment service. Subscribers are encouraged to send friends a one-month free pass to the streaming service.
Caltech sees supernovae, black holes ‘Ned Stark’ and ‘Jon Snow’ shredding stars
A new astronomical project, the Zwicky Transient Facility, is surveying the sky from Caltech's Palomar Observatory and has released its first set of results. It has observed more than one billion stars and has made a wealth of discoveries, from 50 small near-Earth asteroids to more than 1,100 supernovae.
Spotify could terminate accounts of listeners using ad blockers
Bad news for those who use an ad blocker to get rid of annoying ads on Spotify -- the company has updated its Terms of Service to explicitly ban ad blockers. There are potentially serious consequences in place for users found circumventing the rules, including suspending or terminating your account.
Using an ad blocker with Spotify? Prepare to be terminated
Ad blocking has been used by over two million of Spotify's customers, the company revealed last year. Now, it's going to try to eliminate these accounts permanently. Changes to its terms of service have made it officially unacceptable to use any technology that circumvents ads, under the threat of termination.
Spotify buys two podcast companies, and plans to spend even more
Spotify purchased Gimlet Media, the startup behind Reply All and the Homecoming podcast that Amazon turned into a show, for over $200 million. It has also picked up Anchor, making the streaming music company the second largest podcast platform behind Apple.
Sonos adds YouTube Music, rounding out its streaming service support
Sonos has added YouTube Music to its list of supported on-demand streaming services, providing millions of subscribers yet another reason to consider its acclaimed smart speaker lineup, and filling a major pothole in its road to supporting all of the top music streaming options out there.
Apple Music subscribers can listen and watch for free on American Airlines
An Apple Music subscription is a great way to listen to your tunes when on Wi-Fi or if you have a generous data plan. But on a plane? Forget about it. That is unless you fly domestically with American Airlines. Apple Music access will be free for subscribers starting February 1.
The best songs about money
There may not be as many songs about money as there are songs about love, but it's a close second. If you're looking for a cash-inspired playlist to jam to on the way to work (or for any other time, really), look no further than our picks for the best songs about money. Dollar, dollar bill, y'all.
Spotify subscribers may have been hacked to stream fake ‘mysterycore’ artists
In late 2018, a number of Spotify subscribers noticed that their accounts had played bands they'd never heard of, making their top streamed artists of the year into an odd list of mystery bands. Here's what may have happened, and how to prevent it from affecting your precious streaming account.
Digital Trends Live: Oscar nominations, the future of blockchain, and more
On this episode of Digital Trends Live, we discussed Oscar nominations for the Netflix film Roma and the latest Spotify features. We were also joined by journalist Rachel Wolfson to talk about the future of cryptocurrency and how the technology is poised to go mainstream.
Spotify adds artist-blocking feature, despite its denials
Though it continues to claim you can't do it, there's lots of evidence that Spotify has added an artist-blocking feature to its platform, making it easy for users to never hear a specific musician or band on any of the company's playlists, collections, or radio stations. But what does this mean for artists?
Jam out in hi-fi style with the 25 best playlists on Spotify
Music is the world's most potent drug, and the best playlists on Spotify will make you catch feelings. Whether you're looking for classic rock or modern hip-hop, we have you covered.
Dolby’s secret recording studio app may soon exit stealth mode
In secret testing since June, Dolby's stealth recording and social network app may soon be ready to make an appearance if reports are correct. Dolby 234, as it is known at the moment, blends unique noise-canceling tech with Instagram-like audio filters, and a social component.