Surface Buds? Microsoft might make AirPods competitors, joining Amazon and others
Microsoft is reportedly hard at work developing its own true wireless headphone model to compete with top offerings from Apple, Samsung, and others. It's aiming to take on the AirPods and Galaxy buds with its own pair of hyper-portable in-ears. The headphones may hit stores by the end of 2019.
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.
The best vinyl setups for any budget
From simple and affordable to sleek and swanky, these three incredible vinyl setups will allow you to listen to your favorite records with outstanding fidelity. Take the joy of listening to your growing analog audio collection to the next level, whether you're new to the hobby or a longtime listener.
Even a true rock god can’t smash this unbreakable 3D-printed metal guitar
Rock stars love to smash guitars. Geeky engineers love to build things using the latest high-tech materials and tools. What happens when both parties meet? Probably something like the unbreakable 3D-printed metal guitar recently developed by global engineering firm Sandvik.
The most valuable vinyl records on Earth, from The Beatles to The Sex Pistols
From rare LPs to one-off test pressings, these are some of the most expensive vinyl records on Earth — the kind of albums that make plaid-clad record collectors and average listeners alike green with envy. They range in price from what you'd pay for a nice used car to the price of a high-end home.
How to clean your records to keep them looking good and sounding sweet
Vinyl records are coming back in a big way, but the sound quality can suffer if you don't keep them clean. Check out our tips for keeping your vinyl and stylus immaculate, so you can hear every single sound of your favorite tunes. After all, why bother listening to analog if all you're hearing is dirt?
Amazon’s Echo Link and Echo Link Amp bring hi-fi sound to Alexa’s living room
Amazon's Echo Link and Echo Link Amp are designed to bring high-fidelity sound to your Alexa ecosystem. Are they worth the significant expense over a smaller Echo speaker, and how well do they integrate into a typical hi-fi system? We've spent time with both, and have answers to those questions and more.
Is Amazon making headphones to compete with the Apple’s AirPods?
Amazon is reportedly working on Alexa-enabled wireless headphones to compete with Apple's AirPods, the new Powerbeats Pro, and the Samsung Galaxy Buds. The new true wireless model will let you bring Alexa anywhere and may come out in the fall.
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.
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.
Need true wireless earbuds? Apple’s last-gen AirPods are discounted on Amazon
Just as anticipated, Apple's last generation AirPods, which feature much of the same technology as the recently announced model, are getting discounted on Amazon. If you've been looking for a pair of Apple's popular true wireless earbuds, now is the perfect time to get your hands on them.
Apple AirPods 2: Everything we know so far
Apple may release new AirPods in the first half of 2019. A wireless charging case, health sensors, water resistance, and better Siri integration are just some of the improvements rumored to be part of the new package. We've rounded up all the AirPods 2 news in one place.
Apple’s new AirPods bring only minor updates to the much-loved originals
Apple has announced its new AirPods, the company's much anticipated follow-up to the wildly popular AirPods. The new fully wireless earbuds preserve all of the features of the originals, and adds hands-free Siri, a new H1 chip, and wireless charging. Here's what you need to know about these new earbuds.
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.
There’s more space on MySpace after ‘accidental’ wipe of 50 million songs
The '00s social network darling, MySpace, may have lost every song your old band made. During a server migration last year, it lost upwards of 50 million songs and untold images and videos that were uploaded to the site between 2003 and 2015. The site blamed a corruption issue occured during the move.
This streaming music service pays artists in Bitcoin, plants trees if you listen
Feedbands is an environmentally friendly subscription streaming music service that pays artists in Bitcoin, and plants trees in exchange for authenticated listens from customers. Here's what you need to know about this planet-saving quintessentially millennial sales pitch.
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?
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 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.
Hi-res streaming audio service Qobuz arrives in U.S., threatens Tidal’s monopoly
For several years, Tidal has enjoyed a monopoly on hi-res music streaming in the U.S. with its available Masters MQA tracks. Now, French company Qobuz has debuted in the U.S. to offer some competition with a variety of monthly plans starting at $10 a month and a very big catalog of content.
After Twitch ban for using homophobic language, musician Deadmau5 apologizes
Electronic musician Deadmau5 has been suspended from Twitch after using homophobic language during a PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds match. He later said he wouldn't be returning, and offered an apology for his language. He is far from the only celebrity who has drawn controversy for language during gaming streams.
Rock out in the carpool lane with Singing Machine’s Carpool Karaoke microphone
Carpool Karaoke fans can count down the days till summer to buy Singing Machine's Carpool Karaoke, the Mic, which debuted at the New York Toy Fair 2019. Connect the Carpool Karaoke Mic to your car radio to make your next road trip a mobile karaoke party. The Carpool Karaoke Mic is for passenger use, not drivers.
Donald Glover is (somehow) first rapper to win a Grammy for Song Of The Year
Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) has become the first hip-hop artist to win Song Of The Year, winning the honor alongside two songwriting partners for his hit single 'This Is America'. It's an award that had eluded countless other popular rap artists for decades.
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.
You can now dance with Childish Gambino in Playground on Pixel
Ever wanted to dance with Childish Gambino? Now you can, and Google is challenging you to a dance off with him. Google has added an AR version of Childish Gambino to Playground for Pixel, so Pixel users can dance with him to a number of his hits, or simply pose for a selfie with the man himself.
Huawei’s A.I. has finished Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, and we’ve heard it
We all know computers can be used to make music, but can artificial intelligence be used to not only generate music, but complete one of the most famous unfinished symphonies of all time? Huawei has found out, using its own AI to create the final two movements of Schubert's "Unfinished," No. 8 Symphony.
All U.S. 2020 Toyotas will have a trial subscription to SiriusXM satellite radio
This fall, with the introduction of the 2020 model year vehicles, all Toyotas sold in the continental U.S. will include SiriusXM satellite radio installed, SiriusXM and Toyota announced in a press release. A free three-month trial subscription to SiriusXM All Access will be standard.
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.