Showing posts with label SPOTIFY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SPOTIFY. Show all posts

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Spotify now lets you save unlimited songs, albums, podcasts in user library


The Swedish music streaming service has removed the 10000 songs limit on the user library.


You can now build a library of more than 10,000 songs on Spotify as the Swedish music streaming service has removed the limit on the number of songs one can save in the library. However, the relaxation applies only to the ability to save songs on Spotify library and not on individual playlists and downloads, which are still capped at 10,000 songs on a paid account.

Spotify has more than 50 million songs available to customers to stream at any time. Until now, there was a limit of 10,000 songs that users could save to "Your Music" collections on Spotify for easy access. After reaching the limit, if a user like a song or an album, a notification appears with a message: "Epic collection my friend. There is no more room in Your Library. To save more, you will need to remove some songs or albums". With the limit revoked, the message would no longer appear. However, this update is rolling out in batches and some users may still run into the "library full" notification.


Earlier in May, Spotify slashed the subscription amount by up to 51 per cent on yearly package. Besides, the company also introduced three months free access to premium account on all subscriptions. However, the three months free offer is valid only for new users, and not to existing premium subscribers or to users who have user premium subscription before.

The Spotify Premium comes in prepaid and subscription plans. While the subscription plan is priced at Rs 119 per month, the prepaid plan is available at Rs 699 for a year. The offer is valid until June 30.


Monday, April 27, 2020

Samsung brings Galaxy Buds+ features to Galaxy Buds through software update


The update has a size of around 1.39MB and it is available for download though Samsung Wearable app. Here are the new features that the update brings


Samsung is now seeding a software update for its first-generation Galaxy Buds true-wireless earphones that brings new connectivity features, which the company introduced in the upgraded Galaxy Buds+ earphones. The update has a size of around 1.39MB and it is available for download though Samsung Wearable app. Here are the new features that the update brings:

Adds Microsoft Swift Pair support
The Galaxy Buds now support Microsoft Swift Pair feature, which allows easy and instant pairing of Bluetooth-based earbuds with Windows 10-based computers.

Enhanced Ambient Sound
The update brings Ambient Sound automatic to Galaxy Buds. With this feature enabled, you can now hear your surroundings and remain aware of the world around you, even when you are watching movies or listening to your favourite tunes with the volume up. In addition, you can now experience Ambient Sound even with only one earbud in, giving you options for how you tune in, or tune out, of your surrounding environment.

A caveat: Ambient Sound can be pre-set and enabled through the Galaxy Wearable app, which can be downloaded via the Galaxy Store or Google Play Store.

Spotify support
The update integrates Spotify music service with Galaxy Buds. This feature allows the user to listen to personalised music on their Galaxy Buds with a simple ‘Tap & Hold’ gesture. This feature requires pre-setup. Go to settings and ‘Touch Pad’ menu to select your preference under the Galaxy Wearable app. This feature is available to users who have installed the latest version of the Spotify app on their smartphone.

Monday, April 29, 2019

Spotify tops estimates with 100 million paid subscribers worldwide


Spotify Technology SA took on 4 million customers in the quarter, compared with the 3.3 million forecast by analysts.


Business Standard : Spotify has reached 100 million paid subscribers, a first for any online music service, adding more customers in the latest quarter than analysts expected and boosting confidence the company has lots of room to grow.

Spotify Technology SA took on 4 million customers in the quarter, compared with the 3.3 million forecast by analysts. But its first-quarter loss was 79 cents a share, wider than the 41-cent loss analysts expected. After a brief rise, the stock fell as much as 2 percent to $135.50 in New York trading.

Competition from Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and YouTube has done little to slow Spotify’s growth around the world, and the company has relied on its independence from some of the world’s largest companies to its advantage. It has boosted its customer base through promotional deals with Hulu, Samsung and even Alphabet Inc.’s Google (YouTube’s parent company).

“The music industry market is way bigger than most people realized,” Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek said on a call with analysts.

The company forecast it would add a further 7 million to 10 million subscribers in the current quarter. While Spotify has amassed its current user base thanks to music, the company has acquired three podcasting companies in the past few months to drive subscriber growth through other mediums.

Spotify spent about $400 million to buy Gimlet Media Inc., Anchor and Parcast, hoping that podcasting will turn the company into the world’s top audio platform and reduce its reliance on music. Record labels collect the majority of its annual sales.

Label Payments
Payments to labels are a big reason the Swedish company is still losing a lot of money. Spotify attributed the first-quarter loss largely to higher costs for stock options and restricted stock units, thanks to its share-price gains. Gross margin was 24.7 percent, above the high end of the company’s guidance range.

Spotify is in the midst of negotiations with the world’s three largest music companies -- Universal, Sony and Warner. Executives have cautioned investors not to expect those deals to reduce its costs, but still sounded enthusiastic about concluding talks. “We’re feeling good about the progress we’re making,” Chief Financial Officer Barry McCarthy said in an interview.

Though Spotify’s premium subscribers topped expectations, monthly active users fell just short at 217 million. Spotify was projected to report about 218.3 million total users and 99.3 million premium subscribers, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg News.

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Why Spotify is removing all the tracks by India's oldest record label


According to a court document, Saregama India Ltd filed a petition with the Delhi High Court seeking an injunction against Spotify to stop it from using its songs.


Music streaming service Spotify Technology SA said it will remove all songs belonging to one of India's oldest record labels from its app after they failed to agree on licensing terms, months after the Swedish company's launch in the country.

According to a court document, Saregama India Ltd filed a petition with the Delhi High Court seeking an injunction against Spotify to stop it from using its songs.


The move comes two months after Spotify launched in India, a price sensitive market already crowded by well-funded players like JioSaavn and Apple Music.

According to the court document dated April 23, Spotify's senior counsel said the streaming service would remove all Saregama songs from its app within 10 days.
Spotify said last month it had more than 1 million unique users in India across its free and premium categories within a week of its launch.

The company offers a free version supported by ads and a premium ad-free variant that charges users 119 rupees ($1.68) per month.

Spotify declined to comment, while Saregama did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.


Monday, March 18, 2019

Spotify vs YouTube Music: Know the plans and features before you choose one


Spotify and YouTube Music recently debuted in India, bringing their huge pools of songs and playlists, along with customised local content for users in the country. Here is how the two compare.


If you are a music buff and stream your music over the internet, you would be familiar with Spotify and YouTube Music. Both these music streaming platforms debuted in India recently, bringing their huge pools of songs and playlists, along with their customised collections especially curated to suit the users in the country. Both over-the-top (OTT) audio platforms have a lot in store for everyone. Let’s take a look at what these music streaming services are offering and how they compare with each other:
Pricing
Spotify and YouTube Music, in their basic versions, offer free music streaming supported by advertisement. If you want to remove the ads, you will need to upgrade to their respective subscription-based premium editions. While Spotify provides an option to choose between monthly and yearly subscriptions, YouTube Music offers only a monthly subscription plan.
A Spotify premium subscription costs you Rs 119 for a month, or Rs 1,189 a year. Interestingly, Spotify also offers a one-time payment service, which is like a prepaid top-up plan, for those who do not wish to tie themselves to monthly or yearly subscriptions. These plans are available for Rs 13 a day, Rs 39 a week, Rs 129 a month, Rs 389 for three months, and Rs 719 for six months. A YouTube Music monthly subscription can be purchased for Rs 99.
As part of their introductory offers, Spotify and YouTube Music are, respectively, offering a month and three months of free subscription to the premium edition.
Cross-platform support
Not all users listen to music on their smartphones. They also stream music on laptops, tablets, gaming consoles, and even wearables. Therefore, it becomes imperative for new-age music streaming services to support a cross-platform functionality.
YouTube Music is available as an app on Google Android and Apple iOS devices, so it is compatible with most smartphones and tablets running on these two operating systems. However, there is no dedicated application for desktop, so if you wish to stream music on a laptop or desktop running on Microsoft Windows or Linux Ubuntu, you have to use a web-based client.
Spotify, on the other hand, supports all major platforms. Besides being available as an app on iOS and Android devices, Spotify also has a dedicated application for Windows-based machines, and supports multiple other clients – including PlayStation and Xbox.
Business Standard

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

After Spotify, YouTube Music debuts in India: Know plan, features, and more 


Along with YouTube Music, the company also introduced YouTube premium, which includes ad-free, background and offline content playback across all of YouTube.


YouTube, a video-sharing platform owned by search engine giant Google, on March 12 introduced its Music platform in India. Named YouTube Music, the platform is free to use; albeit with ad-support. The company also introduced an advertisement free version which is available at a monthly subscription of Rs 99. Named YouTube Music Premium, the ad-free version supports background playback, making it easy to switch between apps while playing music in the background.

Available as a dedicated app, the music streaming service supports official songs, albums, playlists and artist radio, along with YouTube’s catalogue of remixes, live performances, covers and music videos. All this content is available both on the free and premium version. The premium version supports downloads so that you can listen to music without internet.


For subscribers using Google Play Music, an app-based music streaming service from Google, the YouTube Music premium membership is offered as a package without any extra cost, meaning you pay only for Google Play Music and get access to both music services without any extra cost.

Along with music streaming service, YouTube also introduced YouTube premium. The premium edition of YouTube includes ad-free, background and offline play across all of YouTube, as well as access to YouTube Originals including Cobra Kai, BTS: Burn The Stage. Monthly subscription of the YouTube Premium is set at Rs 129, which also includes access to premium edition of YouTube Music service.

Last month, Swedish audio streaming service platform Spotify also debuted in India. The app is available for free download on App Store, Google Play and Windows Store. Like YouTube Music, Spotify is also offered both as a free app supported by advertisements, and premium with a monthly subscription starting at Rs 119.