spotify

As expected, Turntable.fm licenses songs from major labels

Turntable.fm, the music-sharing service that took music fans by storm last summer, has signed licensing agreements with all four of the top recording companies.

Last week, CNET reported that the company was very near to becoming a licensed operation. Turntable.fm is a little bit Napster and a little bit online radio. Users can become DJs and share music within virtual "rooms."

Billy Chasen, the company's founder, made the announcement at the South by Southwest conference. According to a report in Billboard, Chasen gave some credit to the labels for making the deals.

"Our model … Read more

Spotify: Staggering music releases (like movies) won't work

The big film studios have made a pile of money by controlling where their movies are distributed and for how long.

A similar strategy has begun to attract supporters among big-name music acts. The idea is to debut music at Apple and Amazon and force subscription services such as Spotify and Rhapsody to the back of the line. According to the acts that have complained about subscription services, they are less profitable and also allegedly cannibalize iTunes sales.

Already, some acts, including Coldplay, have debuted tracks at iTunes and then later distributed them through subscription sites.

Critics say this will … Read more

Struggling music service Mog for sale

Mog, a subscription music service that competes against Spotify and Rhapsody, is for sale, CNET has learned.

Mog's representatives have contacted a varying range of companies about potential interest, according to numerous sources in the digital-music sector.

Marni Greenberg, a Mog spokeswoman, had little to say. "We're constantly speaking with companies and looking for the best opportunity for our business and our shareholders," Greenberg said. "We don't comment on the specifics of those conversations."

Founded in 2005, Mog is one of the smaller players in a market segment still trying to prove itself. … Read more

Stitcher first with Facebook Timeline news radio integration

Stitcher, an app that is essentially Pandora for news radio, says it is now the first service to tightly integrate such programming with Facebook's Timeline. The move could be the biggest mobile implementation of Timeline to date, the company says.

Stitcher, which gives iPhone and iPad users access to more than 6,000 on-demand news radio shows and podcasts, and which lets those users create custom stations around them, is launching its Timeline integration today, a step it says will help news junkies discover large numbers of new programs as they see, in real-tme, what their friends are listening … Read more

MySpace touts 1 million new users in last month

Are things looking up for MySpace? First Justin Timberlake invests, and then it announces a MySpace TV partnership with Panasonic. Now it's claiming 1 million new users in the last 30 days, which adds up to 40,000 new sign-ups daily.

The former social network giant come music streaming site announced yesterday that because of the launch of the MySpace Music Player, people are signing up at break-neck speed.

"The numbers tell an amazing story of strong momentum and dramatic change for MySpace," MySpace CEO Tim Vanderhook said in a statement, "and the 1 million-plus new … Read more

Does it still make sense to buy CDs?

Happy Valentine's Day, peeps! (Actually, shouldn't that be "cheeps"? Hey, I like that. From now on, you're all my cheeps.) I love you guys and gals--even when you accuse me of running scams, ha-ha.

I thought I'd switch things up today. Instead of my usual deal (see this early-morning Marketplace post if you still need your fix), let's talk about something a little more abstract.

Yesterday, I learned that music-on-demand service Spotify now streams at 320Kbps via its iOS app. That's CD-quality, which got me thinking: do we really need CDs anymore?… Read more

Spotify for iOS now streaming at 320Kbps

There was a time when streaming audio meant sacrificing fidelity. Many early Internet radio stations delivered an AM-quality 64Kbps stream, while the "good ones" topped out at 128Kbps.

Even Spotify for iOS, the app version of the popular music service (which CNET called "the best free music option since stealing"), could muster only 160Kbps--a bit better than FM radio, but a far cry from CD-quality.

My, how times have changed: Spotify for iOS can now stream music at 320Kbps.

That's a big deal for folks who typically listen through headphones, which is where you can … Read more

Apple launches labor inspections

Google Wallet puts hold on prepaid cards, Samsung unveils the Galaxy Tab 2 and Apple launched independent investigations into the working conditions at its overseas factories.

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Apple launches labor inspections Troubles with Google Wallet Google TV improves YouTube app Spotify app doubles stream quality Galaxy Tab 2 unveiled Grammys honor Steve Jobs Subscribe: iTunes (MP3) | iTunes (320x180) | iTunes (HD) | RSS (MP3) | RSS (320x180) | RSS HD

The 404 991: Where we're trapped in a cube (podcast)

Steve "The Spherical Audiophiliac" Guttenberg makes his first 2012 appearance on the show this morning and adds some more descriptors to his middle name.

He brings in a few noise-canceling earbuds and headphones into the studio for a head-to-head, and we'll confer about which modern artists have the talent to stick around another 30 years.

Finally, we'll end the show with a talk about Paul McCartney pulling his tracks from Spotify! These stories and more on today's 404 Podcast.… Read more

Spotify gets Obama's official 2012 campaign playlist

Spotify got a major endorsement from President Barack Obama today. Obama for America announced that the official 2012 campaign playlist is available on the popular music-streaming service.

The playlist has 28 tracks with an eclectic mix of artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Arcade Fire, and, of course, Al Green. … Read more