streaming music

Apple envisions an iTunes Radio with more advanced features

A future version of Apple's iTunes Radio could let you reveal why you liked or disliked a certain song in your playlist.

Published Thursday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, an Apple patent application called "Playlist Configuration and Preview," describes some handy ways to customize and manage your playlist of streaming songs.

Most streaming music services let you vote thumb's up or thumb's down on a certain song to gauge your musical tastes. But they don't give you the ability to explain why you voted the way you did.

The service described … Read more

Sony Music Unlimited to expand offline listening to iOS

Sony's online music service soon will make its iPhone app look much more like its competitors' apps -- and its own Android offering.

The subscription service's app for the iPhone and iPod Touch will join its Android counterpart in allowing downloads for offline listening plus offering high-quality streaming sound in an upcoming update that coincides with a discounted membership rate.

The field of players in online streaming music is crowded, and offline-listening features are already available from the likes of Spotify, Slacker, and Rdio with paid subscriptions.

Sony's updated app is awaiting Apple approval before going live. … Read more

Get a one-year Sony Music Unlimited subscription for $59.99

Much as I love services like Pandora and Songza for streaming music, sometimes you want to hear exactly the songs you want to hear -- hence on-demand services like Rdio and Spotify.

Of course, most of those services cost around $10 per month. If you like the idea but not the price, Sony has a deal worth considering: a one-year Music Unlimited subscription for $59.99. That's 50 percent of the regular price and the equivalent of $5 monthly.

Even better, if you're a PlayStation Plus subscriber, you can get the Music Unlimited plan for $41.99.

Sony'… Read more

Pandora now lets you listen to albums before they're released

Dying to listen to the new Kanye West album before it's for sale? You just might be in luck.

Pandora, the music streaming site and app, on Tuesday launched Pandora Premieres, a station that allows listeners to preview upcoming albums up to a week before their release. The company said it will feature previews from a wide variety of artists, both established and emerging and across multiple genres.

Pandora Premieres will be updated weekly with new releases. Users can choose to hear any track on a featured album, in any order, and as many times as they'd like, … Read more

Streaming radio with flexibility

Watch out, Pandora. Google's new Google Music "all access" subscription service just painted a target on your back.

Launched at Google's annual I/O developer conference in San Francisco, the $9.99-per-month Google Music All Access adds new streaming options in the form of radio algorithms and curated playlists, on top of the existing (free) Google Music app.

This puts Google in direct competition with other popular streaming services such as Pandora, Spotify, Slacker Radio, and -- if the rumors are correct -- Apple, if the company's talks with music labels lead to its own … Read more

Fit Radio streams up-tempo tunes to motivate your workout

The more I run, the more I realize my regular playlist isn't cutting it. Even with some 150 hand-picked songs, I get bored hearing the same ones over and over. And although they're among my favorite power-pop tunes, they're quite diverse when it comes to tempo. I need songs of at least 128 beats per minute (bpm) to keep me running strong.

Enter Fit Radio, a free app (Android|iOS|Web) that streams up-tempo playlists designed to amp up your workout. It's like Songza for sprinters, or maybe Pandora for bike peddlers.

The app is divided … Read more

Apple's iTunes dominates the music downloading world

In this new era of music streaming, many people seem to wonder whether song and album downloading is becoming irrelevant. Apparently, not quite yet.

Music downloading is as strong as ever, according to a new NPD study based on data from 5,400 consumer surveys. In fact, streaming only seems to bolster downloads.

Though streaming services, like Spotify, Pandora, and Rdio, have grown at an extraordinary rate, music fans still want to own albums. According to NPD, 44 million U.S. residents paid for the download of at least one song track or album last year. And this number has … Read more

Spotify lands in Asia and Latin America

Spotify continues to turn up its music service around the world.

As of today, Spotify is now officially available in eight new countries, including Mexico, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Iceland. The latest launches extend Spotify's global reach to 28 different countries.

CNET actually uncovered the news yesterday based on information from "a person familiar with the situation." CNET News reporter Paul Sloan reported the rollouts in the new markets with the launch date pegged for today.

Spotify kicked off in the U.S. a year and a half ago and now has 24 million active users, … Read more

Amazon could be next Spotify challenger

CNET Update can't be grumpy for GIFs:

The streaming music scene is about to get more interesting. The latest report indicates Amazon is targeting Spotify with its own on-demand music streaming service. We've also heard that Google and Apple are working on similar products.

Other stories featured in Wednesday's tech roundup:

- Google Image search has added filters for finding animated GIFs and other specific file types.

- The Jawbone Up fitness bracelet now has an Android app.

- Websites can now put a "Send to Kindle" button on blog posts and news stories, next … Read more

Rdio adds seven new countries to its free-music option

Continuing its recent push into international markets, Rdio announced today that it has expanded its free streaming music service in seven new countries, bringing its total global presence up to 24.

The free music option, which launched to its first international customers in January, is now available in Austria, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, and Mexico. The expansion comes on the same day that Bloomberg reported that music streaming rival Spotify was close to deals with record labels to expand its ad-supported mobile radio service outside the U.S.

Much like Pandora, Spotify's music service has advertisements seeded among … Read more