streaming-music

Grooveshark.com, a free music streaming service, could soon feel even more legal heat from the music industry.

Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group are readying a lawsuit which could be filed today, according to The New York Times.

The action follows a Universal Music lawsuit filed last month against Grooveshark, claiming its employees posted more than 100,000 pirated songs. Grooveshark called the suit a "gross mischaracterization of information."

Sony and Warner are expected to make similar complaints in their suit.

Grooveshark has yet to see the Sony and Warner lawsuit, but vowed to defend itself. … Read more

Spotify said today that it was opening its server up to developers who can create apps that link into the streaming music service's vast library of songs.

Essentially, the company plans to turn its service into a platform for developers, who can build HTML 5-based apps that CEO Daniel Ek says are "seamlessly integrated, both visually and functionally."

"We're opening up the platform in way that really makes Spotify yours," Ek said during a press conference today.

The Swedish company is hoping to emulate the success seen by Apple and Facebook, which have created … Read more

Spotify today sent out invitations for a global press conference at the end of the month teasing "what's next" for the music streaming service.

The invitation was light on details, only saying that founder and CEO Daniel Ek and "a special guest or two" would be around to make an announcement. The conference is scheduled for November 30 at 9 a.m. PT.

Already a popular service in Europe, Spotify launched in the U.S. in July. It's unclear how successful its model has been so far and what the company plans to add … Read more

Google Music appears to be well on its way to adding a download service.

Just yesterday, Android phone users who tried to access Google Music from their device's browser were shown a splash page that noted the service's users could not only upload their "personal music collection," but would also be able to "shop millions of songs in Android Market." A description of the offering under that tagline said that users can "get songs from your favorite artists in Android Market, including hundreds of free tracks."

Talk of a Google Music MP3 … Read more

Thanks to streaming services and file sharing, there's little incentive to purchase music anymore. Everybody knows CD sales have been falling for years, but as soon as the record labels stop making CDs, their value will skyrocket.

Sure, there's still a sizable market for CDs, but if sales continue to decline I think the labels should offer a very limited run of each CD title on its original release, say a few thousand discs, with beautifully printed booklets and packaging, and auction them on eBay. When they're gone, they're gone. Prices would go through the roof, … Read more

By now you've probably heard about on-demand music service Spotify, which has finally arrived in the U.S. (As CNET's Donald Bell noted in his hands-on coverage of Spotify, "music fans have reason to cheer.") For now, however, it's invitation-only--and invitations have been very slow in coming.

Until now. Good old Coca-Cola is offering free Spotify invitations to anyone willing to supply an e-mail address. And I like the company's little privacy disclaimer:

"As much as Coke loves to share, we will NOT be giving your information to any third parties. Only Spotify … Read more

Spotify has its first groupie in Motorola Mobility.

On the heels of Spotify's official U.S. launch, Motorola said today it was the exclusive mobile device and tablet launch partner for the much-anticipated--and delayed--music streaming service. Motorola said it plans to offer its customers "coveted early access" to the service, and will launch a number of marketing campaigns in the coming weeks to promote the alliance.

Spotify will launch with an invite-only beta stage before opening the service to the public. Motorola customers who participate in specific marketing campaigns found on social media sites and at retail … Read more

Facebook and Spotify are creating a new music service that will be offered to the social network's users in countries other than the United States, according to Forbes.

Spotify is still without the necessary licenses to operate in this country after trying to make the move for nearly two years, music industry sources told CNET.

Forbes reported that in perhaps as soon as two weeks, Facebook users could see a Spotify icon on their news feed. Upon clicking the icon, the new service's software will be installed on a user's desktop.

The software will then run in … Read more

Apple has deals with three of the big music labels to license a new cloud music service. And it is in talks to close a deal with holdout Universal Music Group, the world's biggest music company.

But when Apple gets its Universal deal done, it still won't be ready to launch.

That's because Apple has yet to nail down terms with the big music publishers, who own a separate set of rights. And Steve Jobs will need their sign-off, too.

While Apple came to terms with Warner Music and EMI Music weeks ago, and has now struck … Read more