Google is shutting down its Podcasts app in the U.S. in a matter of days.
In 2020, YouTube Music offered a similar transition strategy to move music listeners away from Google Play Music ahead of its shutdown that same year.
However, the Google Podcasts app continued to be maintained for years because YouTube Music wasn’t ready to support podcasts until more recently.
By the end of 2023, YouTube Music was able to support podcasts globally, and, by February, they had the ability to upload their RSS feeds, too.
From its earlier statements, though, the plan is to discontinue Google Podcasts in 2024.
The addition of music videos is included among these new features in the U.S.Spotify recently announced its plans to support music videos, saying in March it would test the option in beta in 11 select markets — which, at the time, didn’t include the U.S.
With the UMG deal, U.S. users will also have the option of watching music videos instead of just streaming audio.
To watch videos, Spotify users can access a new “Switch to Video” option from the app’s Now Playing Screen.
For instance, UMG artists will be able to share teasers of upcoming songs and users will be able to pre-save music before a new release.
By partnering with Spotify, UMG still has a way to promote its music to fans, even if its artists lose the ability to market themselves on TikTok.
That’s why Sheets decided to develop the $199 Blipbox, an affordable kid-friendly synthesizer designed for ages three and up.
With its chunky control knobs, levers and an easy-to-use randomize feature, MyTracks aims to encourage music exploration and simplify beatmaking for kids.
According to the company, all Blipbox devices underwent “rigorous” testing to ensure they are BPA-free and comply with toy safety standards.
Blipbox has even been used by music teachers, including helping special-needs kids express their creativity in a non-verbal way.
“We got a lot of weird looks from parents,” Kate Sheets says, describing how people reacted to the first Blipbox synthesizer in 2018.
Spotify has carved out a business for itself in music streaming, podcast entertainment and audiobooks.
Starting with a rollout in the U.K., Spotify is testing the waters for an online education offering of freemium video courses.
Mohit Jitani, the London-based product director for the education business, said in an interview that pricing choices were part of what it’s testing.
Around half of Spotify Premium subscribers have listened to education or self-help themed podcasts, Spotify says.
Offering educational content aimed at running a business, or improving your music production, fits with that.
Here’s the full list of countries where you’ll find music videos starting today: Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Netherlands, Poland, Philippines, Sweden and UK.
In addition to living in one of those countries, music videos also require an active premium subscription.
Instead of searching for music videos directly or browsing videos in a separate section of the app, music videos can be started from the “Now Playing” screen.
With music videos, Spotify is adding more video content to its app, beyond Clips (short videos of artists talking to fans) and Canvas (looping album artworks).
Apple Music also has music videos in a separate section on each artist page.
Code suggests that TikTok could be building an app for photosAfter rivaling music streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple music with TikTok Music, ByteDance might be looking at creating an Instagram competitor named TikTok Photos, code found in the TikTok app suggests.
As spotted by The SpAndroid blog, TikTok’s APK file — an installable file format for Android — contains references and icons to a new app named TikTok Photos.
“Whether you’re a world traveler, food blogger, or simply enjoy sharing what’s going on in your life, TikTok Photos is our all-new photo-sharing platform dedicated to helping creators like you reach other like-minded people,” the description reads.
“TikTok Photos is our all-new photo-sharing platform where we’ve made it easier to enjoy and discover photo posts.”The APK also has a representative icon of the potential TikTok Photos service in old TikTok colors.
Through this update, users could already add photo posts to the network, but the company could be working on a separate platform to make photos stand out.
Spotify has revealed plans to increase subscription fees in France, in response to a new tax directed at music-streaming services operating in the country.
While all the impacted companies are opposing the new law, Spotify has been the most vociferous, largely due to the fact it is the biggest player in the country.
The company wrote in a blog post today:“With the creation of this new tax, Spotify would be required to give approximately two-thirds of every euro it generates to music to rights holders and the French government.
What’s perhaps the most telling part of this whole episode is how important France is to Spotify in terms of market traction.
With regards to France, Spotify is conveying as much — if not more — grievance with the new tax as it did with Uruguay, yet it has given no indication that it will exit the country.
Spotify said today that it has submitted a new version App Store that shows pricing and feature information about the audio company’s different plans in the EU.
The update, which is pending approval from Apple, also includes a link for users to buy subscription plans from Spotify’s website.
Earlier this week, the European Commission fined Apple a massive €1.84 billion ($ 2 billion) for the company’s anti-competitive practices in the music streaming market.
Buoyed by this decision, Spotify has submitted this new version with information about subscriptions, offers, and a link to buy those, as per The Verge.
In response, Apple said it plans to appeal EC’s decision and said that Spotify has been “the biggest beneficiary” of the App Store.
The European Union has fined Apple €1.84 billion for breaching antitrust rules in the market for music streaming services on its mobile platform, iOS.
The penalty is focused on Apple’s application of anti-steering provisions, which put restrictions on music streaming apps’ abilities to tell consumers about cheaper offers outside Apple’s App Store.
The iPhone maker has its own music streaming service, Apple Music, and rivals — such as Spotify — have argued the restrictions put them at a disadvantage compared to the platform operator.
A formal EU statement of objections duly followed, in April 2021, when the Commission accused Apple of operating its App Store in a way that distorts competition in the market for music streaming services.
Last month, the FT reported Apple was facing a €500M antitrust penalty over music streaming.
Spotify is rolling out a new feature called Song Psychic that will allow its customers to ask Spotify questions and get answers in the form of music.
The addition builds on the success of Spotify’s personalized, year-end review called Wrapped, which offers clever ways of turning Spotify’s music data into insights designed for social sharing.
But in the case of Song Psychic, the goal is not to look back and your listening history, but to leverage Spotify’s understanding of music and song titles to answer a range of personal questions — like those you might ask a psychic or Magic 8-Ball just for fun.
Just as a Magic 8-Ball sometimes refuses to answer a question with its “Ask Again Later” response, Spotify’s Song Psychic may respond with an answer of its own, like “Why?” instead of directly responding.
Song Psychic is available to Spotify’s free and Premium subscribers in 64 markets and in 21 languages, the company says.
