spotify

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

Gain easy control of your music with Mac app Skip Tunes

Skip Tunes is a 99-cent app that puts a convenient control in your Mac's menu bar for controlling music in iTunes, Spotify, and Rdio.

When I'm working, I'm often listening to music. And when I'm working, I can get very lazy focused, to the point where opening iTunes or Spotify to find out the name of a song I don't recognize feels like an arduous chore. (In my defense, iTunes can be slow to appear from its hidden state.) Because of this, I found the 99 cents I spent on Skip Tunes in the Mac App Store to be money well spent.… Read more

Paul McCartney pulls tracks from streaming services

Paul McCartney has become the latest artist to just say no to streaming.

McCartney pulled his music from services such as Rhapsody, a broader move than some of the high-profile acts who have declined to license their latest releases to streaming sites recently, including Coldplay, Tom Waits, and Adele.

Not only has he blocked streaming services from licensing his songs, he's decided to yank his entire music collection from streaming outlets, according to Digital Music News. (Spotify has contacted CNET to say that McCartney first removed his music from that site in 2010.)

A spokeswoman for Rhapsody confirmed that … Read more

How to add an equalizer to Spotify

Spotify is many things to many people, but one thing it lacks is an equalization feature for letting you adjust bands of bass, midrange, and treble.

Enter Equalify.me, a Spotify plug-in that nestles a 10-band equalizer neatly into the Spotify interface on Windows computers. It's free (donations accepted), and it works, as we know from putting it through its paces on bretberg101's public kraut/spacerock playlist (which, shockingly, lacks both Neu and Faust). In addition to the 10 EQ bands, you get a gain adjuster, which offers another way to control volume, and a toggle control that … Read more

Netflix DVDs at death's door?

Hawaii might monitor all Web browsing, a Spotify app takes aim at Pandora, and Netflix's CEO expects DVD subscriber numbers to dwindle every quarter.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Netflix CEO expects decline in DVDs Hawaii bill to monitor all browsing Open WebOS coming this Fall AT&T faces whopping loss Spotify app mimics Pandora Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3)iTunes (320x180)iTunes (HD)RSS (MP3)RSS (320x180)RSS HD

Watch out Pandora: New app brings Spotify to iOS

Ever since Spotify launched its API for mobile developers last August, engineers have been hard at work designing apps that integrate the music service into iOS.

Now there's one that could spell trouble for Pandora--SpotON Radio.

This app by Swedish Application Development was released January 8 and is free (for now); SpotON Radio allows iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad users stream music directly on their devices--much like Pandora Radio. Features include access to more than 15 million tracks from Spotify and the ability to create personal radio stations, like and dislike songs, and share music with friends.

However, … Read more

Music retailers cheer first sales increase in 7 years

Music retailers sound ready to uncork the champagne on the news that overall sales for the music industry rose for the first time in seven years.

Overall sales were up just a modest 3 percent in 2011, Nielsen Soundscan reported yesterday, but from the music industry's point of view, any increase is manna from heaven. It was common during the 7-year slump to see double-digit declines.

Jim Donio, president of the National Association of Recording Merchandisers, the trade group representing music retailers, called the yearly sales figures "significantly positive."

According to Nielsen, digital album sales came in … Read more