The wait for Apple to acquire a popular music-identification app is almost over. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac
Apple has been trying to buy Shazam since last December, but the deal has been held up for months by regulators in the EU. That’s reportedly just about to change.
It’s likely Apple wants this music-identification app as part of its ongoing battle with Spotify.
Apple Music was mysteriously absent from the WWDC 2018 keynote. Photo: Apple
Staying on top of your favorite bands’ new albums just got a little bit easier, thanks to an Apple Music update that adds a “Coming Soon” section to the iOS app.
Apple began rolling out the new feature, which showcases new music expected to be released in the coming weeks, to Apple Music users today. Here’s where to find it – and how to use it.
99 problems -- and paying artists may be one. Photo: Flickr/NRK P3
Jay-Z’s Tidal streaming music service was set up to make sure sure artists benefitted from the next big shift in music distribution. However, according to a new report it may have defaulted on that mission — since it’s now months behind on payments to labels.
Jimmy Iovine is no longer the boss of Apple Music. Photo: Apple
Jimmy Iovine’s tenure as leader of Apple Music appears to have come to an end.
Apple promoted Oliver Schusser to be the new head of Apple Music Worldwide. The move comes right after the streaming service hit the 40 million subscriber mark.
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.
Spotify is currently leading the streaming music battle. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Spotfiy has managed to negotiate a reduced royalty rate with Sony Music Entertainment, and is also in talks with Warner Music Group, claims a new report.
In return, Spotify will reportedly hold back albums to paying subscribers for two weeks before making them available to customers on Spotify’s free tier. A similar multi-year deal was agreed with Vivendi’s Universal Music Group earlier this year.
Elon Musk wants his cars to come with their own streaming music service. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Tesla is considering launching its own streaming music service, and it’s already in talks with players in the music industry about doing so.
According to a new report, Tesla has held conversations with all the major music labels about launching its service — which would come bundled with its cars, as opposed to being a standalone service like Apple Music.
Would an Amazon Prime-style service work for Apple? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Apple should take a note out of Jeff Bezos’ playbook and launch an Amazon Prime-style subscription service, claims an analyst for Goldman Sachs.
“We think Apple should launch a subscription bundle as a way to reinforce iPhone loyalty and leverage it into content,” Simona Jankowski writes in a new note to clients. In the brief, Jankowski and colleagues ponder the potential of a $50 monthly subscription that would get customers the latest iPhone plus other services like Apple TV, Apple Music and freemium access to the iTunes library.
Dubset Media brings legit remixes to listeners and ensures musicians get paid. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple Music and Spotify have started offering users access to unofficial, user-uploaded music remixes, courtesy of a deal with Dubset Media Holdings.
The company uses algorithms to sort out licensing and royalty payments for musical remixes. It’s an incredibly complicated problem to tackle, since a single remix might have upward of 600 different rights holders.
Apple Music is doing good in the eyes of record labels. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Apple Music is having a big impact on the profitability of the music industry, according to a new report from the Recording Industry Association of America.
How big? Apple Music is one of the key players driving what looks to be the recording industry’s first back-to-back yearly growth since 1998-1999.