Spotify

Last week, we learned that digital music sales dropped for the first time since iTunes in 2013. Thanks to Billboard and Nielsen’s fresh year-end music report, we now know that there was significant 32 percent uptick in music streams in 2013. This doesn’t prove that Spotify and the like are killing music sales, but it…

Spotify’s promised free shuffled streaming has now arrived on iOS, so you can listen on mobile without paying a cent.

I Admit It: I Alphabetize My Spotify Playlists

It’s Sunday night, I haven’t eaten yet, I’ve got to get up for work in a few hours time. Heck, I haven’t even showered. Why? Because The Clash’s “London Calling” playlist is currently sitting after My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless” in my Spotify collection, among other crimes to alphabetization. And that just wont do. I spent…

Digital Music Sales Just Dropped for the First Time Since iTunes

In 2013, digital music sales declined for the first time since Apple launched the iTunes Store 10 years ago. Are streaming music services like Rdio and Spotify to blame? Nielsen SoundScan just released its annual music sales numbers and while none of the news is good, the digital music sales numbers are particularly troubling to…

Report: Spotify’s Desktop App Just Got Way More Sleek

Spotify’s rolling out a sleek new look for its desktop clients: darker, cleaner, and less cluttered, according to the Verge and some users. There are rounded images, larger text—and a little less information. So, artist pages, show fewer tracks on a single page, and feature pleasant, circular avatars. The Discover tab seems to do away…

You Can Listen to Spotify (And LED ZEPPELIN) On Your Phone For Free

Spotify is getting an ad-supported mobile version—previously, you had to be a paying subscriber to get mobile access to the service from your iOS or Android phone. Oh, and you’re going to get Led Zeppelin! Yes! Finally! Both the new product, and Zeppelin will be available today. OK, so first the important content news: Spotify…

Rumor: Led Zeppelin Will Be on Spotify Later Today

Having previously refused to appear on streaming services, rock legends Led Zeppelin are rumoured to be making their catalog exclusively available for streaming through Spotify later today. The New York Times reports: Spotify will announce at a news conference in Manhattan on Wednesday morning that Led Zeppelin — which has so far refused to license…

WSJ: Spotify Is Planning to Introduce Free Mobile Music

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Spotify is planning to launch a free, ad-supported version of its streaming music service for mobile devices Citing “people familiar with the matter”, the rumor suggests that Spotify is planning to end its policy of insisting that all its mobile users pay a monthly fee. The sources explained…

Show Us Your Personal Spotify Year In Review and We’ll Show You Ours

Yesterday we posted a playlist of the most streamed songs on Spotify from 2013, but you’re better than the rabble, right? You have better taste than the pathetic mindless horde. If you log in to your Spotify account from the service’s Year In Review page, it’ll spit out stats about your year in Spotify jams.…

Listen to This Year’s 100 Top-Streamed Spotify Tracks Right Here

If all your favorite playlist is missing is everyone else’s playlist favorites, fear not! Spotify has released its 100 most-streamed songs of the 2013, both in the US and globally. The results? The most agreeable mix you’ll hear all year—and a whole lot of Rihanna. The US and Global lists seem to be in some…

The 10 Most Popular Spotify Songs in Each NYC Borough

As thousands of runners prep their NYC Marathon playlists in advance of Sunday’s race, Spotify had the bright idea to quantify the most-played tracks by borough. What do they reveal, besides the fact that everyone loves Haim? Let’s take a look! For Manhattanites, it’s all about Top 40 radio and indie-pop tacks—no surprises there. Meanwhile,…

More Than 4 Million Spotify Songs Have Never Been Played

Last week, Spotify turned five years old, and to celebrate, the company released a batch of impressive data. But buried within the fun facts is a tidbit that’s just as depressing as it is surprising: 20-percent of Spotify tracks have never been streamed. Of course, Spotify cast a positive light on the information: 80-percent of…

Thom Yorke: Spotify Is “the Last Desperate Fart of a Dying Corpse”

Thom Yorke has already made his feelings on music streaming services known: he doesn’t like them. But now he’s spoken at length about Spotify and the current state of music distribution and he’s… well, angry. Speaking to the Mexican website Sopitas, Yorke has expanded on some of his criticisms of Spotify and its ilk. Here…

Rdio’s New Free Mobile Radio Service Is Available From Today

Rdio’s rumored free radio service is now real: from today, it’s offering free, personalized radio to non-paying users on iOS and Android. Time to get listenin’. The new service, called Stations, will be available in the United States, Canada, and Australia. In the past, users who had reached the end of Rdio’s 14-day free trial…

Listen to an Oral History of Nirvana’s In Utero Here, From Spotify

Just over twenty years ago, Nirvana released In Utero. To celebrate the anniversary of the band’s final record, Spotify produced a majestically curated package of the history behind it. This is the goods. The audio documentary is the first installment of Spotify Landmark, a new series about important moments in music history. “The Real Story…

NYT: Rdio Will Have a Free Streaming Radio Service This Year

The New York Times is reporting that Rdio is partnering with Cumulus Media—a company that owns, like, real radio station—to provide a free version of its audio streaming service. According to the Times, Rdio will trade a stake in its parent company, Pulser Media, for the ability to use chunks of Cumulus programming and promos…

Thanks to a New Spotify App, Twitter Music Is Finally Useful

Remember when Twitter bought We Are Hunted, whose creators then built Twitter’s #music app, which was initially super popular in part due to its cool design and the fact that everybody uses Twitter, but then it ran into a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem? Near the beginning of that process, We Are Hunted put its…

Spotify Is Being Sued Over Playlists That Mirror Compilation Albums

Spotify is being sued by the electronic and dance music brand Ministry of Sound—because the streaming music company refuses to delete playlists which mirror its compilation albums. Pursuing Spotify through the UK High Court, the Ministry of Sound wants an injunction which would see the playlists—which feature the same songs in the same order as…

Spotify Connect: Sonos-Like Powers That Bend to Your Budget

Spotify is getting into the hardware game. The company is teaming up with a slew of great audio companies to bake Spotify right into Wi-Fi connected speakers. And it’s not just speakers—the new system makes juggling your tunes between your phone, tablet, and computer a piece of cake, too. Here’s the facile music experience you’ve…

All the Best Music to Type To

A few weeks ago, I asked you all what the best song to type to was. And you, dear Gizmodo readers, churned out an awesome list. Between the folks who jumped in on Spotify and the ones who jumped in the discussion, we got a pretty good collection, and here it is in one big…