Spotify - page 8

Spotify is finally going public

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Spotify
The Spotify IPO is finally here.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple Music’s biggest competition is about to get an influx of Wall Street cash.

Spotify finally filed documents for an initial public offering, after rumors of going public had been floating around for years. According to reports, the company could be worth as much as much as $23 billion, but it’s still not profitable.

Spotify could be working on its own HomePod rival

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hey siri homepod
Spotify wants to move into the hardware space.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Spotify may be getting ready to create its own hardware to rival Apple’s HomePod, new job listings suggest.

One ad on Spotify’s recruitment website for “Operations Manager – Hardware Product” claims that, “Spotify is on [its] way creating [its] first physical products and set-up an operational organisation for manufacturing, supply chain, sales & marketing.” Could a smart speaker be on the way?

Apple Music could overtake Spotify this summer

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apple-music
Grab the latest update from the Play Store now.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music is on track to overtake Spotify as the biggest music streaming service in the United States. Apple’s service has been growing twice as fast, according to industry sources. If it maintains its current pace it will topple Spotify this summer.

Spotify’s new app is a Pandora copycat

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Spotify Stations
Stations are coming to Spotify.
Photo: Spotify

Spotify is testing a new tool to up the competition with Apple Music by stealing a key feature from one of the oldest companies in the streaming game: Pandora.

Stations, a new stand-alone app from Spotify, launched on the Google Play Store in Australia this week allowing users to listen to curated stations without any type of manual controls.

Shazam could give Apple Music a big subscribers boost

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Apple Music gift card
Apple Music is still way behind Spotify.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s recent acquisition of Shazam might be a great way for the company to drive subscriber growth, according to one early Shazam investor.

DN Capitol chief executive, Nenad Marovac, gained a deep understanding of Shazam’s business model after his firm invested in it back in 2004. Marovac says Shazam will be a great way for Apple to try to catch up with Spotify in terms of subscribers, if it can convert enough Shazam users.

Why Apple’s HomePod is poised to bomb

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Will Apple's HomePod smart speaker be DOA?

Image: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

HomePod, the first new Apple product of 2018, is about to arrive. And as a huge Apple fanboy, I couldn’t care less.

Apple’s been hyping its smart speaker ever since unveiling the device last June at the Worldwide Developers Conference. And yet HomePod has failed to really excite fans (except through leaks that gave us early details about the iPhone X). Apple bills HomePod as a powerful speaker that packs Siri to take your listening experience to an all-new level. But with its Feb. 9 release just weeks away, HomePod is looking more like Apple’s next big bomb.

Spotify is finally making moves to go public

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Spotify
Want some Spotify stock with your subscription?
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple Music’s biggest competitor is about to become a publicly traded company.

In an effort to finally become profitable, Spotify has reportedly filed IPO documents confidentially with the SEC and the stock could be available to the public soon.

Lack of cash could kill Jay-Z’s Tidal music service next year

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Jay Z
Jay Z's got 99 problems, and Apple Music is one.
Photo: Flickr/NRK P3

One of Apple’s biggest competitors in the music streaming business is about to bite the dust.

Tidal, the music streaming service owned by Jay-Z, is allegedly facing some serious money problems. According to a new report, user growth has stalled too making the company’s cash problems even worse.

Apple is allegedly in talks to buy Shazam

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Shazam
Shazam, an essential iPhone app for years, just got better.
Photo: Shazam

Apple is adding another key weapon to its war chest in the battle against Spotify, based on a new report that claims the company plans to acquire the app Shazam.

The popular app helps users identify any song, TV show or movie in seconds just by listening to it via a smartphone’s microphone. iOS integrated Siri with Shazam a few years ago, but it appears that Apple’s looking to bring the entire operation in-house.

Music streaming is a horrible business, says Apple Music boss

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Iovine
Jimmy Iovine’s days at Apple are numbered.
Photo: Apple

Spotify is in for a rough future, according to Apple’s Jimmy Iovine, who is warning the music industry not to place too much faith in the tech industry.

Iovine sat down for a new interview where he discussed the future of the music industry. According to the Apple Music boss, record labels are “100 percent” overly optimistic about where things are headed with technology.

Apple Music streams will get more weight on Billboard charts in 2018

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Music Browse iPhone 7
Apple Music is about to have a bigger impact on music charts.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Billboard is making big changes to the way it measures the hottest songs in the country — and that’s great news for Apple Music.

Streams from paid subscription services like Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited will gain influence on the charts starting in 2018, according to Billboard, which revealed its changes today.

Apple tax forces Facebook to launch new tool only on Android

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Instant Articles
Facebook's subscriptions are coming to Android but not iOS.
Photo: Facebook

Apple’s 30% tax on in-app purchases could cause iPhone and iPad users to miss out on the next big news feature from Facebook.

In an effort to help make publishers more money, Facebook plans to launch a tool that helps websites sell subscriptions. All of the sales transactions will be done on the publishers’ websites, but Apple won’t approve the app unless it gets a cut.

Spotify meets iPod shuffle in this clip-on music player [Deals]

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Play all your favorite Spotify playlists with this water-resistant personal music player.
Play all your favorite Spotify playlists with this water-resistant personal music player.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Things happen in cycles, and portable music is no exception. After records, tapes and CDs came the iPod. The iPod shuffle took the form of a small, screenless clicker. With the dawn of streaming services, portable music storage became less relevant — or so we thought.

Microsoft throws in the towel on its Apple Music rival

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Microsoft Spotify
Alas, poor Groove Music -- we barely knew you!
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft is throwing in the towel when it comes to music streaming and downloads by announcing the closure of Groove Music.

The service will continue running through 31 December, after which customers will no longer be able to download or stream music. In the meantime, Microsoft is encouraging subscribers to migrate their music collection over to Spotify, while Groove Music Pass subscribers will receive a 60-day free trial of Spotify’s premium tier in order to entice them.

How Jimmy Iovine plans to save Apple Music’s ‘soul’

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Iovine
Apple Music boss Jimmy Iovine at WWDC 2015.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music has already racked up more than 30 million paid subscribers, but according to boss Jimmy Iovine, the company still has a long way to go before its satisfied with its streaming service.

The former Beats CEO turned Apple exec sat down for a new interview along with Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe to talk about the future of the service. During the wide-ranging discussion, the Apple Music team revealed how it thinks music streaming has to change in order to dominate free rivals like YouTube.

Iron Marines, Faviconographer, and other awesome apps of the week

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Awesome Apps
'Appy weekend, everyone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The closest thing you’re likely to get to a fully-realized StarCraft experience on iOS is just one of the apps we’ve highlighted for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup.

We’ve also got a nifty tool for adding icons to your Safari browser tabs, a way of sending Spotify songs using iMessage, and a fun one-button puzzle game that puts you in charge of a friendly planet in search of his friends. Check out our picks below.

Gen Z and Millennials choose Apple Music over Spotify

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music streaming
As young folks say, "Apple Music is the bees' knees, daddy-o."
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

It may be more than 40 years old, but Apple is an incredibly hot brand with young folk. A new piece of research confirming that comes from consulting firm Fluent, claiming that Apple Music is the most popular audio subscription service among both Generation Z and Millennials.

They’re also a whole lot more likely to pay for music subscriptions than older folks, which certainly bodes well for Apple Music’s future.

Days after Apple axed its U.K. music festival, Spotify is launching its own

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Spotify's new festival
Spotify's first "Who We Be" will soon rock the United Kingdom.
Photo: Spotify

Just days after Apple pulled the plug on its annual U.K.-based Apple Music Festival after a ten year run, Spotify has announced that it will by heading to the United Kingdom to stage a music festival of its own.

The so-called “Who We Be” festival will debut November 30 at London’s Alexandra Palace. Its lineup will include the likes of British grime and hip hop artists Dizzee Rascal, Bugzy Malone, Cardi B, Giggs, J Hus, and Stefflon Don.

Spotify and Hulu partner to offer $4.99 monthly subscriptions for students

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teamup
A great deal if you're a student!
Photo: Spotify/Hulu

Hulu and Spotify have teamed up to offer U.S. college students one heck of a deal. For $4.99 per month, the same cost as Spotify’s existing student plan, users now get access to Spotify Premium and Hulu’s “Limited Commercials” plan.

The offer is a great way of the companies staying competitive with the likes of Amazon and Apple, both of who offer their own $5 a month low-cost student plans.