streaming-music

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

Apple's iRadio service said to be delayed into summer, or longer

Apple's long-rumored streaming music service won't be arriving until this summer, or later according to a new report.

Citing sources, The New York Times says that Apple's still wrangling with Sony over licensing rights, adding delay to the service that Apple had originally aimed to launch last month. Those people now believe that negotiations will be sorted out in time for a launch this summer, or later in the year.

The report goes on to say that the service was being designed to come preinstalled on Apple's devices instead of an additional app that needed downloading … Read more

How YouTube could ignite streaming music: Go mobile, go free

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

Google in talks with labels over streaming music service -- report

When your market cap is north of $263 billion and the company's stock price is hovering around the $800 level, the prevailing question du jour becomes "well, why not?"

So it is that we learn, courtesy of the Financial Times, that Google has been talking with the major music labels about a possible streaming music service. The Times report said that "it is expected that the streaming service will offer a subscription model as well as free unlimited access to songs, supported by advertising, mirroring models adopted by Spotify and Deezer."

What with everyone seemingly … Read more