Scandinavian Newspaper giant Schibsted to acquire streaming service Aspiro Streaming service Aspiro (WiMP) is to be acquired by Scandinavian news publisher Schibsted, reports paidContent . The price tag is said to be around $50 million, and the purpose of the acquisition is, writes paidContent to “compete with Spotify on the global stage”. Schibsted, a newspaper […]
Stream Wars have flared up again and the world of digital music is in turmoil. The recent round of streaming-bashing originated in a study by NPD group and NARM. Words were harsh “Spotify is detrimental to music purchasing”, the study says. In the words of the researchers, the new digital music climate makes it easier for consumers […]
Major Label Licensing Will Kill Your Startup The free spoken Michael Robertson did not mince his words when he appeared at the SF MusicTech Summit this week. Robertson, who founded MP3tunes, made his feelings about music startups and the major labels clear. He basically told the assembled crowd to avoid major label licensing or die […]
Google Magnifier to boost music discovery This week Google not only acquired Motorola Mobility, they also launched a new music blog service named “Magnifier”. The service, which is described as “Google Music’s cousin”, makes music recommendations to users and offers daily free downloads. The downloads will be made available in the users cloud library . […]
The world of digtal music is not exactly moving at break neck speed right now. Thank god then for Spotify – a company that always manages to stir up feelings and get into all sorts of amusing trouble. First of all, the good news: True to their style, Spotify executed a flawless marketing campaign and quickly […]
Spotify closing in on the US It seems that a Spotify US release is imminent. For real this time. Multiple sources report that Spotify has signed a deal with Universal. Sony Music and EMI are both already onboard, and so only Warner remain and they too are rumoured to be close. Worth keeping in mind […]
Hello iCloud The big thing this week was of course the Apple WWDC and the official unveiling of the iCloud. Examined from a macro perspective it seems clear that Apple tries hard to stay true to the user centric approach that have made Apple what it is today. “It just works”, said Jobs repeatedly during […]
FaceSpot? Facebook and Spotify partner up – rumours say The story that caused the most buzz this week was the rumour that Spotify and Facebook are to launch a music service together. The origin of the rumour was a piece in Forbes written by Parmy Olsen. Olsen writes that the service “could be launched in […]
Apple closing in on the cloud Mashable reports that Apple has signed a licensing deal with EMI for their upcoming cloud music service. As Apple already has a deal in place with Warner, and rumours say that Sony and Universal are to be onboard soon, the music giant might just announce the launch of their […]
Google Music now in live beta The biggest news this week was the Google unveiling of their music cloud service. Just like Amazon’s Cloud Player, the Google service is launched without the backing of any label deals. The Amazon and Google Music services works in similar ways. What you get is a place in the cloud […]
Spotify opens download store and syncs with your iPod. Spotify has been all over the digital music news this week, and for good reason. The most recent update to the platform is huge. Here’s a break down: A new a la carte download store – Built in-house, covering the whole Spotify catalogue Wireless syncing with […]
Apple trumps Google in race to the cloud According to wide spread rumours, Apple has now secured licensing deals with two of the four major labels in support of their upcoming cloud service. Sources say that deals with the remaining two are not far behind. As you know, Amazon went ahead and launched their cloud […]
Spotify changes to free cause commotion This week Spotify announced changes to their free plan. Reactions have been split between two extremes that can be summed up as: 1. Pay up and shut up you spoiled brats. It’s hardly expensive, is it? 2. I hate you Spotify. I hate you, I hate you I hate […]
Grooveshark app removed from Google’s Android Market Google has removed the Grooveshark Android app from the Android Market store. “We remove apps from Android Market that violate our policies,” Google says. According to sources, Google received a complaint from RIAA. Apple pulled the same stunt last year. More here MSpot executive on how the majors […]
Photo by: Catherine Amazon cloud player now live Amazon left Apple and Google watching their tail lights as they released their Cloud Player this week (so far US only). The player, a straight up locker service, lets users upload their music library to the “cloud” and stream if from there to any device, be it […]