Music

Pandora CEO Joseph Kennedy announced today that he is leaving the music-streaming company after nearly 10 years at the helm.

He didn't say why he was stepping down, only that "the time is right."

"As part of our board discussions of the road that lies ahead, I reached the conclusion and advised the board that the time is right to begin a process to identify my successor," he said in a press release. "There is a tremendous market opportunity ahead and I look forward to continuing to work with all the great people at … Read more

Google's YouTube, the entertainment industry's longtime "frenemy," is emerging as an important component of record label plans to adapt to consumers who are taking their music mobile.

A part of the streaming-music service that Google is aiming to launch this summer is a new YouTube product that would be designed for the desktop and mobile devices, according to a person familiar with the negotiations between Google and the major labels. Such a mobile offering, coupled with the powerful YouTube brand, could ignite the nascent streaming-music business, now led by Spotify for on-demand music and Pandora for … Read more

HANOVER, Germany--For those who want to take their music with them, a more convenient option than lugging loudspeakers is now available: fist-sized, battery-powered devices called vibration speakers.

These chunky widgets transform a table, floor, car roof, or even window into a large speaker. One one end is a tweeter for playing higher-frequency pitches, and on the other a driver that moves the surface to which it's attached, converting it into a giant woofer.

The devices were thumping loudly on the CeBIT tech show floor here as manufacturers tried to drum up customers, distributors, retailers, and business partners. … Read more

Beats Electronics, the company founded by hip-hop producer Dr Dre and music mogul Jimmy Iovine, confirmed this evening it had raised $60 million in funding to spin off its forthcoming streaming music service into a separate entity later this year.

Codenamed "Daisy," the service was revealed in January by Iovine at the AllThingsD Dive Into Media conference. Iovine said he had 100 people working on a "curated" music subscription service he expected to launch this summer.

The funding round was led by Access Industries, an investment group founded by billionaire Len Blavatnik), Marc Rowan, James Packer … Read more

Google, which is trying to get into the music streaming business this summer, today struck a deal with Warner Music Group, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. The deal, first reported by Billboard, gives Google rights for two services it's working on -- one that's part of Google's Android music platform, Google Play, and the other that's part of YouTube.

A Warner Music spokesperson declined to comment. YouTube didn't immediately respond to requests for comment, but earlier in the day, in response to an article in Fortune, confirmed that it was looking at … Read more

I don't know how much crossover there is between fans of old-school Mario games and fans of East Coast hard-core rap duo Mobb Deep, but there's at least one guy who qualifies. Teddy Faley has so much love for each, he created an entire mashup album of the two.

"Mario Deep" (fair warning: adult language in the lyrics) consists of vocals from Mobb Deep playing over a soundtrack culled entirely of samples from the first few Mario games. At first, you might think the combination would be pretty jarring, but after a few seconds, you can really get into the groove of it.… Read more

When Apple gives a new phone to a child, that child gets drunk and leaves it in a bar.

Samsung, on the other hand, is far more trusting.

A new teaser ad which is surely for its Galaxy S4 phone (clue: Tagline is "Be Ready 4 The Next Galaxy") offers a blond-haired boy who, for some unexplained reason, is being given the first of the new phones.

Jeremy Maxwell, aged, oh, perhaps 11, is being given the role of "Secret Messenger" for the new phone.

Why is he secret? And to whom must he deliver the … Read more

Music, or should I say most recorded music, is already free; you can get it whenever and wherever you want it and pay nothing.

I've bought thousands of CDs, SACDs, LPs, and a few hundred downloads. Of course, when I started buying music I didn't have too many "free" options, other than radio or taping friends' albums. Radio was a great way to discover new music, but once I heard something I really liked, I bought it. My $3.98 "Led Zeppelin II" LP was a great investment; I've played it hundreds of … Read more

In my kitchen I have this great Fluance speaker dock -- well, great except that it doesn't have Bluetooth. If I want to listen to music, I have to plop my iPhone onto its 30-pin connector.

Or not, if I plop an Auris onto it instead. This Kickstarter-spawned gizmo can turn that dock into a Bluetooth speaker, able to play wireless audio from my iPhone, iPad, Android device, Windows phone, or anything else capable of Bluetooth streaming.

Neat, huh? No wonder this Kickstarter campaign earned more than three times its funding goal. I received a sample Auris from BiteMyApple.co (… Read more