Both Android and iOS devices working with Amazon Cloud Player are ready for action with Ford SYNC AppLink-equipped vehicles. The iOS version has been outlined this week with dashboard controls as well as voice recognition abilities. Users will also be hearing their tunes with high-quality 256kbps audio straight from their vehicle’s speaker system.

With Amazon’s system, users will have the ability to play music wirelessly from their iOS device or through their Cloud Player. With Cloud Player, music is accessed through Amazon’s online archive, this allowing the user’s vehicle and iOS device to free up local storage space for alternate media.

This push is affecting the 2013 Ford Fiesta, Mustang, Focus, C-MAX Hybrid, E-Series, F-150, Expedition, Fusion, and Super Duty models, and will quite likely be appearing on future vehicles with Ford SYNC AppLink embedded as well. This connectivity should be appearing on and with your vehicle and iOS device starting today. Android users should, by all means, have had this connectivity working nicely since February – if you’re still waiting, make a move!

Currently, Spotify has over 25 million users, where free users can stream up to 40 hours of music per week, while unlimited subscribers obviously don’t have a limit, nor do they have to deal with ads. Currently, Spotify has over 6 million paid subscribers, and we’re sure that number will grow now that more markets have access to the streaming music service.

Spotify says that they aim to be available anywhere, but expanding to that point will take time. The company ultimately wants to be available in Asia completely, with today’s expansion in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore a good start. The continent is a hotbed for internet users, where many online services report having the most users.

Of course, today’s expansions are merely just stepping stones for Spotify in their quest to become available all around the world, but it seems they’re confident in getting to that point in the foreseeable future. The same features are available to international users, including both free and premium subscription options.

[via The Next Web]

Songza has no audio ads that will interrupt your listening experience. It’s available for a variety of platforms, including your desktop, iOS devices, Android devices, and even specifically to Amazon’s lineup of Kindle Fire tablets. The service is great for discovering brand new music, and it is very easy to configure. While on Songza’s website, you start off by choosing a day and time of day, and then choosing the activity you’ll be needing music for. You are then given a selection of music genres to choose from. After choosing your genre, you are given a variety of playlists to choose from.

Songza one-ups other music streaming services by offering an ad-free listening experience. Also, Songza’s music playlists aren’t created by just any music listener. It says that its playlists are created by an “expert team of music critics, DJs, musicians, and musicologists”. However, even though it offers an ad-free listening experience, like other music streaming services, you are limited to only a small amount of song skips.

Being able to select playlists based on your mood, along with the ad-free listening experience, is what sets Songza apart from its competitors and makes it a dangerous rival to Pandora and Spotify. However, even Songza will have a tough time competing in the music streaming business once Apple’s iRadio service launches. Apple is rumored to be securing licensing agreements with Universal Music Group and Warner Music really soon, and is speculated to be launching iRadio sometime during the summer.

THe FS1 Air has a very compact design, meaning its designed to fit into any area in your home or in your office. It has Class HD Technology, an amplifier that delivers high power density and high efficiency, combined with a Digital Signal Processor, which controls the equalization and crossover of your music, to create the best performance possible and best tone quality for your music.

Of course, if you don’t want to wirelessly stream your music to the Scuderia FS1, you can always plug your music device in via the 3.5mm jack available on the device, or dock your iOS devices on the 30-pin connector. The Scuderia FS1 Air Speaker Dock was inspired by the Scuderia Ferrari racing team, as well as the Ferrari itself. You can tell by the speaker’s beautiful curves, black and red color scheme, and the quality of music the device can produce.

Ashvin Patel, CEO of Logic3, says, “We designed the FS1 Air to offer a sophisticated solution that provides a crisp and powerful audio experience.” We first heard about the Scuderia FS1 Air Speaker Dock way back at CES this year. Previously, we expected the device to cost about $549.00, however, the price has been confirmed to be $649.00. It’s quite expensive for an audio dock, but it’s something audiophiles will want to have in their collection.

Sources have told Business Insider that Spotify is currently looking for partners to fund its video on-demand content. Right now, Spotify, even with its large list of subscribers, is suffering from extremely thin profit margins. It has been negotiating with music labels to lower their royalty fees so that it can both increase its profits and perhaps add a free music streaming service to mobile devices in the future.

While exclusive video on-demand content would help Spotify generate income (and one it doesn’t have to pay royalty fees for), it does seem out of Spotify’s niche. The VOD content would most likely be live concert footage and video interviews with various artists. Nothing is set it stone however. It would make more sense if Spotify finally brought music videos to its music streaming service.

On another note, Spotify is also looking to expand its subscriber base by finally entering into the world of television marketing. Its set to launch its first commercial today during the season 4 premiere of The Voice. This may be the first time that Spotify has ever aired a television ad in the United States. The company had previously shunned the idea of marketing, but now that it’s so successful, it’s decided to change its tune.

[via Business Insider]

Magic Radio utilizes a user’s existing music library, as well as the user’s various musical tastes to deliver a personalized music experience. The new service takes the user’s existing library and mixes it with with new songs of similar style from doubleTwist’s music catalog that consists of over 13 million songs.

doubleTwist says that, unlike Pandora, Magic Radio doesn’t base a station on a single song or artist, but rather a user’s existing playlists, favorite genres, and can even cater to a user’s mood. Plus, Magic Radio is launching with a 7-day free trial, and only costs $3.99 per month afterward, which is cheaper than most other music-streaming services out there.

The subscription will also get you ad-free listening and access to more than 13 million songs that doubleTwist says will be all about discovery rather than repetition. The service will even cater music towards specific keywords you mention (like “Woodstock” or “Coachella”) and you can even base a station off a specific tempo that you want. Magic Radio is a part of the doubleTwist Player for Android, which is available for free in the Google Play store.

The investment at hand will allow the organization known as code-name “Daisy” to spin off on its own as an independent group. Early in 2013 the Daisy project was announced to be headed by Ian Rogers (formerly of Topspin) as CEO and Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails) taking command as Chief Creative Officer. Back in 2012, Beats acquired the digital music app and environment MOG for use by Daisy.

Using MOG as a foundation platform, Daisy will be taking off in late 2013. According to the official manifesto for the project:

“Daisy” is the internal code name for a new music service powered by Beats Electronics LLC. (Beats) that aims to solve the current digital music problem. Developed on the back of MOG, the premium subscription music service acquired by Beats in early 2012, “Daisy” will bring the emotion and cultural context back to music discovery for music lovers and provide a platform for artists to build a sustainable business.

We’re looking forward to seeing what musical forces such as those busting out in this project are capable of doing with already-established services like MOG and funding to that massive tune. If the Beats brand is any indicator, the project known as Daisy will be one to keep your eyes on – or ears, as it were.

This YouTube music streaming rumor comes only a couple of weeks after it was rumored that Google is planning its own music streaming service. We’re unsure whether or not the Google rumors and the YouTube rumors are the same thing, but according to CNN, Google and YouTube may be setting up their own separate, music streaming services that offer the same features. YouTube is said to have its own negotiating team and own operating unit for its upcoming music streaming service.

Even without the music streaming service, the company is the most widely used medium for listening to music. Most of the top videos viewed on YouTube are music videos, and over 64% of teenagers preferred using YouTube to listen to music compared to any other music platform. Companies are also realizing that music streaming is the new future for gaining revenue. Warner Music Group received 25% of its digital revenue from music streaming services alone.

If Google and YouTube do launch their own subscription-based music streaming services, they have a lot of competition. They’re entering a saturated market. Spotify, Rdio, Pandora and many others already dominate the music streaming space, so Google may have a hard time getting its foot in the door. But considering it’s Google, the name itself may be enough to steal away users from the other services.

A YouTube spokesperson commented on this rumor saying, “While we don’t comment on rumor or speculation, there are some content creators that think they would benefit from a subscription revenue stream in addition to ads, so we’re looking at that.” Considering its YouTube and the amount of influence it has, its most likely going to follow through with a subscription music service.

[via CNN Money]

Google already offers its own music download store in the United States and various locations across Europe, and so the launch of its own streaming service would give it a leg up on its competitors, including Apple and Amazon, neither of which offer a streaming service. No information about what the subscription rates could be was provided.

According to the Times, Google is currently in talks with “big” music labels about the service. Such an endeavor will allow it to diversify its income, which presently comes primarily from advertising. The service will give users access to millions of tracks, and will follow in line with its plans to add a for-pay subscription to YouTube.

The launch of this music service is said to be impending, but no timeline or estimate as given. Google has not said anything official about the service, declining to comment when asked. There’s also no word on whether the streaming service will only be available in the United States, or whether it will be available elsewhere as well.

[via Financial Times]

The app was designed to emphasize the iPad display allowing users to visually navigate a large Rhapsody catalog of music. The iPad app supports downloads so subscribers can take music with them to listen to when they don’t have an Internet connection available. The player for the iPad and iPad mini is ad free for subscribers.

Using the app, subscribers can listen to any of the 16 million tracks that Rhapsody has in its database. The app has a special featured section for new releases as well as the most popular tracks and artists across 600 different musical genres. Users can also access member created playlists and libraries as well as edit, create, and sync music and playlists across any device where Rhapsody is available.

Rhapsody also launched an app for Android users recently called SongMatch. This app is designed for anyone to use whether or not they have a subscription to the Rhapsody service. The app is able to listen to a song playing in identifying the album, artist, and song name allowing users to purchase the song.

This week Metallica’s own Lars Ulrich stepped on stage with no less than former Napster head Sean Parker, former enemies in both the public and in the courtroom. The big announcement this week was that not only was the former Napster head fully aboard with the Spotify universe, but that Metallica was aboard as well – and that they were no longer at war, as it were.

Speaking about the Napster situation back in 2000, Lars made it clear: “it was never about money, it was about control… you have to control all those elements around you in your bubble… and the control option was taken away.” Meanwhile Napster’s Sean Parker let it be known that they never wanted the situation to be about giving away music, but “free as in freedom, not free as in theft.”

In other words, the two heads here did indeed need the moderator that sat on stage with them at the Spotify press conference. That said, Metallica is indeed on Spotify now.

“Metallica has always tried to be in control of the way we present our music to our fans, which is why we’ve waited to see the way these online retailers and streaming services operate and gauge the overall fan experience before deciding to include our music. We now feel that Spotify not only has a proven track record, but is by far the best music streaming service. We are beyond psyched to unleash our music through their platform.” – Lars Ulrich

Have a peek at the timeline below to get more information on Spotify and the rest of the updates that are coming down today.

Microsoft had previously said that it would be adding a cloud storage system to Xbox Music, mimicking the Amazon Cloud Player and Google Play Music functionality. However, it was unclear what relationship that might have to SkyDrive it would have, or whether Microsoft would keep the services separate.

“Available in the coming year, a scan-and-match feature will take you beyond the 30 million tracks globally offered through Xbox Music. It will add all the music you own to your Xbox Music cloud catalog, including music acquired through other services. This means you can add almost any content you have to your personal Xbox Music collection, even if it’s not available in the Xbox Music catalog” Microsoft

The music player reference discovered in the SkyDrive site code, however, and the resource images for the player hint that Microsoft plans to pull the two closer together. That would allow subscribers to Xbox Music to augment the standard catalog with their own tracks, including niche music that might be missing from the service.

When, exactly, Microsoft will roll out the cloud-based system is unclear, with the only schedule attached to a cloud player being “in the coming year” from the statement back in October. It’s also uncertain which platforms the streaming will be supported on, though Microsoft currently has file-access apps for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.

[via Engadget]

iOS and Android apps will be supported in the App Center, and there’s a Javascript SDK as well for web use. Deezer has six basic plugins to choose between, which developers can customize to change the look and the content. That includes a Widget Player for playlists, a “My top tracks” player for either the user or the service’s favorite playlist, an artist discography, related artists, Deezer’s own top charts, and a basic “Now Playing” box.

A number of developers have already jumped on board. PIAS has an independent artist/label tool, while Twusic has a social radio that uses Twitter sharing to build playlists. Shuffler is a curated music blog aggregator, while What’s That Track? builds Deezer’s music into a social quiz. Lalilala is described as “Draw Something for music” while Wallzr makes custom desktop wallpapers based on playlists. Finally, there’s eDJing, which is a basic two-track mixer tool, and Spotizr, which rebuilds Spotify playlists in Deezer.

There’s also improved Facebook integration, which now allows Deezer to post music updates directly into the Facebook Notification Center, and share tracks with friends even if they’re not using the service. The iOS and Android Deezer apps have a new injection of social too, with a “Friends” feature to show you what your friends are listening to.

Finally, there’s easier mobile navigation, with quicker playlist creation and speedier access to artist and album pages. It’s also easier to share music with others.

[via Music Ally]

While 20 million listeners registered on iHeartRadio seems like a lot, Clear Channel says that users don’t need an account to use the service, meaning that millions more people are using the service. iHeartRadio was launched 13 months ago at the inaugural iHeartRadio Music Festival back in September 2011.

Brian Lakamp, President of Digital for Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, says that “iHeartRadio has experienced unprecedented growth,” and the service “truly creates unmatched promotional power that is unique to Clear Channel and allows [them] to be wherever [their] listeners are with the products and services they expect.”

iHeartRadio provides instant access to over 1,500 live broadcast and digital-only radio stations across the US from 150 cities, and by signing up for an account, you can get access to user-created Custom Stations inspired by a variety of favorite artists and songs. The iHeartRadio App is available across multiple platforms including on the web, and on iOS and Android devices.

With Xbox Music you’ll be working with a massive library of music with labels that’ve agreed with Microsoft to let their audio be streamed. This service works as both a free model and a pay model, with the free model working in an unlimited manner across all your devices with advertisements to pay your way for 6 months. Once your 6 months are up, you’ll be limited to 10 hours a month. These limits are removed entirely if you choose to pay Microsoft $9.99 a month.

Spotify works similarly with a $9.99 a month cost and a free model besides. The free model also works with advertisements to pay your way, but does not work on your mobile device, only your desktop machine. If you pay the $9.99 a month, you get streaming via mobile and no advertisements anywhere – Spotify also has a separate library of music from Microsoft, and Microsoft and Spotify have separate libraries from iTunes as well – lots of licensing going on here.

Apple’s iTunes Match works with your music and costs $24.99 a year. There is no free service with iTunes Match, and it combines the music you’ve purchased via iTunes with 25,000 songs of your choice uploaded by you from your CD collection. These tracks are added to your library at “256-Kbps AAC DRM-free quality” unless Apple does not have their own copy beforehand, at which point you’ll have the song at the highest quality you were able to upload it at. This music can be streamed from any of your web-connected Apple devices.

Of course there’s also Google Music which works on Android devices and through any web browser, this being an absolutely free service that allows you to upload your own music as well as purchase music from Google Play. There’s no limit to streaming on any device and no cost to you – advertisements appear on Google Play, of course, but only for Google Play products.

Which one are you going to go for this upcoming Windows 8-heavy season?

Apple’s negotiations with Sony/ATV were reportedly down to the per-song rights fees which Sony/ATV asked to be higher than the standard tenths of a penny per stream standard. The NYPost also noted this week that “executives close to the matter” have said Sony/ATV will be pulling out of the two main copyright associations Ascap and BMI by January of 2013. If they do indeed pull out of these groups, licensing songs by businesses across the map will be more difficult as they’ll have to go through Ascap/BMI as well as Sony/ATV instead of working with a one-stop-shop, as it were.

Apple’s service would act as a main competitor for Pandora as it would be able to lower costs between free streams and final song purchases as they’ve already got a music store that can facilitate purchases. With iTunes, Apple is already a massively beastly music-toting group, but with a free radio streaming service that could give a more “human” way to the music discovery process, they could move on to a new level.

When word that a Pandora competitor was in the works for the iPhone 5 earlier this year, Pandora company stocks dropped significantly. This new news source notes that “They didn’t put whatever they needed to put in the app,” and that “It seems they were rushed into it.” This same source notes that music streaming from Apple on devices like the iPhone 5 is still a possibility for a software update months in the future – stay alert!

The legislation is called the Internet Radio Fairness Act and is being backed by online radio service Pandora. The goal of the legislation is to lower the royalties paid by Internet radio stations so that they are on level with the rates paid by satellite and cable radio providers. The lawmakers argue that Internet radio stations unfairly pay higher royalty rates than cable and satellite stations.

The reason is that online radio stations are placed on a different royalty-setting rate than the other similar services. Internet radio providers argue that the royalty rules hamper innovation and discriminate against Internet-based radio stations. The bill proposes moving online radio services to the same 801(b) standard of the Copyright Act that is used to set royalty fees for cable and satellite radio providers.

The difference in royalty rates paid by Internet radio services compared to cable or satellite services is substantial. Internet radio services pay over 55% of their revenue in royalty fees while cable and satellite stations pay between 7% and 16%. The new bill has also received support from Clear Channel, Engine Advocacy, the Consumer Electronics Association, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association.

[via The Hill]

One music company that’s doing a good job of squeezing money from digital revenue streams is Warner Music Group. Warner is definitely seeing the Spotify Effect with the music company reporting that streaming music services contributed 25% of all of the digital revenue seen for its recorded music group last quarter.

That 25% would equate to $54 million or roughly 80% of Warner’s total money made during the quarter. Another really good thing having to do with streaming music for record companies is that streaming revenue continues to grow quickly. Streaming also doesn’t appear to be cutting into traditional digital music sales from places such as iTunes.

Perhaps the best the news from Warner is that digital sales grew more than physical sales shrank. Growing digital sales and revenue as sales of physical music declined is one of the top priorities for many music labels. Warner’s definition of “streaming revenue” is money made from subscription services such as Spotify and Rhapsody. It also includes any money made from Internet radio, but not from cloud services.

[via AllThingsD]

Just like the iOS version, users will be able to create personalized stations based on artist, album or playlists, and can enjoy unlimited listening as part of their premium subscription. Any songs that users stumble across while they’re listening can also be saved for later use, and songs can also receive the thumbs up and thumbs down treatment.

Any changes made on mobile devices sync across the platform as well, so you can pick up where you left off on the desktop later. Best of all, you don’t need a paid subscription to use the radio side of Spotify’s service, marking the first time that free users can get access to Spotify’s music catalogue on mobile devices. It might not be as flexible as total access, but it’s a step in the right direction.

While Spotify operates a free music streaming service which is supported by ads, it has two subscriptions tiers for unaltered listening. Unlimited costs $5, but only the Premium $10 option allows for Spotify usage on mobile devices. If you want an alternative to Pandora and similar services, head on over to the Play Store and grab the latest Spotify update.

The biggest takeaway from the article is that Apple is planning to add a new sharing feature. Sources talking to Bloomberg indicate that Apple is negotiating with the record labels to allow users to send songs to each other and listen for free. The company has also been requesting additional photos and pictures of bands to expand on multimedia features in iTunes.

Interestingly, the record labels have been asking Apple to provide an unlimited music streaming subscription service similar to what Spotify offers, but one source believes Cupertino “isn’t likely to announce that type of service.” Bloomberg notes that Apple’s recent move to separate Podcasts from the main iTunes app on iDevices is part of the company’s shift to more organized content. Any changes that are made to iTunes will reportedly come towards the end of the year.

“Quincy Jones – The Stories Behind the Music” features tailored playlists, artwork, and exclusive audio that helps to paint a picture of the artist’s career. Quincy will detail via audio voiceovers who inspired him, how to create a hit record, and how music is effectively used in movies. “Tiesto’s Club Life” will pull together the best dance music from Spotify, with features including a single of the week, album of the month, and the festival of the month.

The Rancid app will see the band adding to a playlist of their favorite music selections as well as information regarding the picks. One of the band members, Tim Armstrong, will also showcase the music that inspired his own career. Disturbed will use their app in a similar way, looking at past and present rock and metal music with individual playlists as well as special guest playlists. The apps are available on the desktop Spotify clients right now.

SoundExchange is a group that processes payments for online streams and pays out royalties to the artists and record labels. The company says in the 12 years since its founding it has paid out $1 billion to artists and record companies. SoundExchange also notes that quarterly payments this year have exceeded $100 million.

SoundExchange collects money from Sirius XM radio, Pandora, and other Internet radio stations. It’s interesting that for the artists and record labels, this is the only place they get earnings for radio play. The New York Times reports that terrestrial radio stations only pay songwriters and music publishers. Things have significantly changed for SoundExchange since March of 2004 when it only collected $15.6 million in royalties. In 2011, the company paid out $292 million in royalties.

[via NYT]

While the numbers sound good, the company is still expecting a net loss per share of between $0.07and $0.11 for fiscal 2013. Pandora now boasts 51.9 million active users, and those users consume 3.09 billion listening hours of music. That is a lot of people listening to music.

The 51.9 million active user number is up 53% year-over-year. Pandora holds 71.7% of the US Internet radio services market. Pandora commands almost 6% of the entire US radio listening market. Pandora predicts between $420 million and $427 million in revenue for fiscal 2013.

[via TechCrunch]

Once you hit the 10 device limit, you can only deauthorize 4 devices per year. That’s a big change from the previous method, where there was no such restriction, and it’s bad news for those in the ROM community or testing lots of different Android devices. Users have reportedly been able to email Google to deauthorize devices manually, but that’s a bad solution however you look at it.

It’s a disappointing move for Google, usually embracing the open source community, although in this case it could possibly be a restriction requested from music companies. Tech companies have to play by the rules to be able to offer streaming and digital locker rights, so Google could simply be responded to pressure. There’s no official word from the company yet though, so we’ll see what happens going forward.

[via XDA-Developers]

Instant Search acts as you would imagine, with real time results being delivered to the search bar as you type for a song, artist, or album. The embed option means you can right click any song and select the “Copy embed code” which will save the HTML code to your clipboard. You can then paste that code to any form that accepts HTML input in order to embed a playable button for others to click.

Spotify now includes new sharing options, allowing users to post directly to Tumblr, and shortens the music link for Twitter automatically using the new spoti.fi URL Last but not least, you can start a new radio based on the current playlist or album that you’re browsing. The updated desktop clients for Windows and Mac OS X will start rolling out today, so keep an eye out for the new version alert.

[via The Verge]

Both apps integrate seamlessly, with Sten Garmark, Director of Spotify, explaning the rationale behind the apps: “Your taste in music is one of the most common topics of conversation when meeting someone, whether they are a date or just a new friend, and it’s hugely important to have compatible tastes. Harmony on Spotify might just be a great way to find new friends or start a new relationship!”

Tastebuds.fm has been around for a couple of years, with Spotify happy to roll the service onto its own platform thanks to the success. The company says that 43% of first messages are responded to, higher than the typical rate associated with non-music based dating websites. Fellody first launched with Spotify in Germany, then expanded internationally, with users from across 70 countries using the service.

Both apps are available to try right now from Spotify, but you’ll have to register new accounts with each service to be able to get in on the action and find that special someone.

This upgrade will allow you to create your own Custom Stations which allow greater user control than ever before, better “music intelligence” as they call it, and an experience that’s completely commercial free. This ability is included in the app right up front, your tap of a tab activating whatever stations you yourself have created. You’ll have your own “discovery tuner” which allows Custom Stations to play songs you’re familiar with or “discovery mode” which shows a variety of artists picked intelligently for you based on your taste.

You’ve got thumbs up and down options to help iHeartRadio understand your interests, and Clear Channel’s will back up your whole experience with fabulous streams the whole way. When you find a song you like you can of course also share it to Facebook. Facebook integration now includes links on the webpage that bring you into your friend’s stations in an instant – simple stuff!

And of course the regular stuff is all here too, including 800 broadcast stations in 150 cities across the USA, and all of it ready to go for the iPad 3 with all the high-definition graphics you can handle. Download this app right now from the iTunes App Store for free.

Once you sign up for a free Rdio account, you’ll be given 7 days of unlimited listening for free. If you want to keep pumping the tunes after that, you’ll have to pay £4.99 a month for web-streaming, or £9.99 which will include access on mobile devices too. iOS, Android, WIndows Phone 7, and BlackBerry devices are all supported.

The prices are identical to Spotify, the interface is more intuitive and certainly nicer to look at, and the web-client is a nice touch. The problem, as always, is content: right now it’s severely lacking compared to Spotify. If Rdio can continue negotiating the necessary licenses with international distributors, that it could be a nice competitor, but until then, we’ll be sticking with Spotify.

[via The Next Web]

You’ve got a brand new user interface made perfect for the iPad’s screen size, there’s a new integration of AirPlay for you wireless fans, and the whole system comes together on the Now Playing screen where you’ve got no less than HD graphics and complete simple control over your premium content.

This version of Spotify allows you gapless playback and crossfade as well so you can go all DJ on your party real swift-like. Spotify for iPad allows you to search for playlists, users, and music tracks all from the same view, and allows you to check out hot tracks and trending music via your friends and colleague connections. Along those same lines is the organization of your inbox which is grouped by User name so you’ve got just about as easy a search experience as possible.

Have a peek at the Spotify presentation video above and note the first 40 seconds or so – a fabulous joke from the developers of the iPhone version of the app. Having literally just used the iPhone version of the app (all that’s been available thus far for iOS) on the iPad 3 this past weekend for ambiance at my daughter’s birthday, I can readily say this: it’s certainly time! We’re ready for the iPad good times!

Download the app by heading to the iTunes App Store developer known as Spotify (link will open to iTunes app) and seek out the truth! This download will be free, but again take not that you will need a premium subscription to Spotify to play any music.

What’s been going on behind the scenes, it would seem, is the Spotify developer crew not just upgrading the app so that it works better, but giving it a full face-lift to bring it up to the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich age. This look reflects fabulously the way this newest version of Android was meant to look – Holo in its appearance and its feel. Spotify users will be satisfied with this build, I’ll say that, by the time the real full Google Play app store release is dropped.

What we’ve got here is a preview version, again, a Beta in other words. This means there’s bound to be some hickups – and there are – that wont follow through to the final release. There’s a bit of pressure that must be applied to some of the sliding between albums in the new area, some time required for slower connections before album covers will load, but in all we’re seeing an application that’s about to be fantastic.

I should let you know that this app is something I use on the regular thanks to Spotify letting us in on the Premium experience early – and this newest build feels good in practice as well as at home. I use Spotify in the car because not only does it stream just a tiny bit better than Google Music, it has the swipe to advance tracks option which is absolutely invaluable when I’m not able to touch the screen.

This version has all the advancements we spoke about this morning in the release and download post plus more, a real set of plusses for an already decent app. And again, it looks a whole lot nicer. Get ready for the full release soon!

A Swedish technology consultant posted an image to Instagram of what he claims to the be Beta version of the Spotify iPad client. The photo, which has since been removed, shows a user interface not too removed from the Twitter iPad client, with slidable panes, and a friendly user interface which makes full use of the iPad’s screen real estate.

At the bottom of the client is a large bar showing you what’s currently playing, along with dedicated controls including Play and Forward/Back. The “expand” button next to the album art possibly means you’ll be able to fullscreen the controls and hide search results. If you take a closer look at the picture, you’ll see some additional buttons, like Search, Playlists, and others that you’d expect to find in a Spotify client.

Spotify has remained silent on when we can expect to see a proper app for the iPad, although if they’re testing a beta version, we should hopefully see it sooner rather than later.

[via Gizmodo UK]

Spotify has announced today that it has added gapless playback and crossfade features. The gapless playback feature allows your playlist of tracks to flow seamlessly from one to the next without any silence in between. Spotify reckons this feature is perfect for classical music fans and live recordings. In fact, gapless playback will be on by default from now on. If you don’t like it, you can turn it off in the preferences area.

The crossfade feature lets you play DJ all you want. With this feature, you can fade out one song can fade another song in, which could be nice if you’re hosting a party and feel like playing DJ. The new features started rolling out today. You will know when your account gets the update with the feature because Spotify will ask you to restart.

The President has chosen to use everyone’s current favorite service for hosting free to listen to and fee to stream Spotify, here sending out his musical love with links directly to the songs themselves. What better way to get in tune with the 2012 Obama Campaign than to listen to the same music the President is listening to? Of more than 500 million playlists on Spotify right this minute, we’re going to go ahead and guess that this one is about to become one of the most popular. Check out the full playlist on Barack Obama’s Tumblr page or head below to see each song with a link directly to your Spotify account – you’ll have to grab one of those, too, if you want to listen.

No Doubt Different People
Earth Wind & Fire Experience feat. Al McKay Allstars Got To Get You Into My Life – (Live)
Booker T. & The MG’s Green Onions – Single/LP Version
Wilco I Got You
The Impressions Keep On Pushing – Single Version
Performed by Jennifer Hudson; Dreamgirls (Motion Picture Soundtrack) Love You I Do
AgesandAges No Nostalgia
Ledisi Raise Up
Sugarland Stand Up
Darius Rucker This
Arcade Fire We Used to Wait
Florence + The Machine You’ve Got The Love
James Taylor Your Smiling Face
REO Speedwagon Roll With The Changes
Raphael Saadiq Keep Marchin’
Noah And The Whale Tonight’s The Kind Of Night
Zac Brown Band Keep Me In Mind
Aretha Franklin The Weight
U2 Even Better Than The Real Thing
Dierks Bentley Home
Sugarland Everyday America
Darius Rucker Learn To Live
Al Green Let’s Stay Together
Electric Light Orchestra Mr. Blue Sky
Montgomery Gentry My Town
Ricky Martin The Best Thing About Me Is You Feat. Joss Stone
Ray LaMontagne You Are The Best Thing
Bruce Springsteen We Take Care Of Our Own

As a reminder – we’ve got so much coverage of Spotify from the first few months it was released here in the United States that it’ll make your eyes bleed. Head to our timeline below to get a great dosage of all the fun as it went down throughout 2011 and up here to 2012.

EMI was seeking a preliminary injunction against ReDigi that would force the music reseller to shut down pending the outcome of the court case. However, US District Judge Richard Sullivan said that he was going to let the case go to trial is allowing ReDigi to remain open. Sullivan noted that the case had many “fascinating” technological and legal questions involved. On the surface, what ReDigi does seems like the sale of any other use music format, but the record label alleges that ReDigi is making an illegal copy of the music.

ReDigi admits that it has no way to ensure the consumer selling used digital tracks hasn’t copied those tracks elsewhere. I would say there’s no way for your local used music store to ensure you haven’t copied that CD to iTunes either. Every time, I see one of these cases I wonder when the double standard in the music industry will end. ReDigi claims digital music is protected under the same first sale doctrine that covers physical music formats such as records and CDs. EMI claims there are no first sale rights because the songs being sold are not legally obtained. What do you think about this?

[via CNET]

What we’ve got here is the first look for the public at everything Spotify and partners showed off last month in their presentation on what they call their Spotify Music Platform, in other words apps inside the Spotify environment. What’s been released today is a beta download that anyone can access but whose full set of features only premium users can use. This will be true of the whole apps bit of the future of Spotify as far as we’ve heard, and it does remain true here today. Have a peek at what this beta is packing here:

As you can see we are currently limited to the first set of apps as no other developers have been allowed in during this pre-release timeframe, but we can expect cool bits in the near future. In the video you’ll find everything working beyond slick, seeming to almost be pre-integrated before the download of each app occurs. We’ll see how this all plays out once we see developers releasing their own non-major-label apps into the Spotify wild soon.

UPDATE: this platform is officially going to be referred to as “Spotify Platform” – per Spotify.

You can download this beta version of Spotify for desktop by heading over to Spotify’s download page, clicking the links you need to make the business occur: [download/preview]. You can currently get this build for Mac or PC, the version we’ve demoed above working on a Mac. Other than that, here’s what Spotify has presented thus far:

The addition of Facebook integration with Spotify’s US launch most likely played quite a pivotal role in facilitating the traction and growth of the company’s subscriber count, and it’ll be interesting to see more userstatistics and data released by Spotify. Moreover, we’ll see how Spotify continues to do over the next couple months, especially since more media continues to become free. By offering a great user interface, a vast library of music, and no-strings subscription, they’re currently in a good place.

If you haven’t heard yet, Spotify will be holding a press event at the end of the month on November 30th to potentially talk about what’s next for the music-streaming service. How many SlashGear readers currently use Spotify? How many readers currently pay for a Spotify subscription, and what’re your takes on the service so far? Leave your thoughts below.

[via Spotify]

The system will presumably add Facebook Music links to the ticker bar, TechCrunch suggests, along with a link marked “Listen with your friend” which will allow users to tune into a stream of the same track, sync’d to the same point. Lee likely has a pre-public version of the service active on his account, hence the premature tweet.

Facebook apparently continues to tweak its new music service, even as f8′s launch approaches. The persistent music control bar, mentioned in initial leaks, has apparently been axed in favor of each app having its own controls. SlashGear will be at f8 today to cover all the juicy details; until then, check out our preview of the f8 Guidebook App.

[via TechCrunch]

Before we go on and decide how much we love or despise this little monster, you should know a few facts about it, starting with X-Fi. What Creative describes X-Fi as is two things: X-Fi Crystalizer technology “intelligently restores lost detail during file compression” while X-Fi Expand technology “expands a conventional left/right earphone stereo source away from your ears, giving you a more acoustically natural sound staging in headphone audio.” We cannot say a whole heck of a lot about the audio quality as of yet because we were in a very loud and crowded room when we got our first look at this device, but the next feature is quite enticing: wide audio support. Including such awesome lossless formats as FLAC, non-protected ACC (.M4A) files from iTunes Plus, and the regular set of formats in MP3, WMA (DRM9), Audible Format 4 and Audible AAX formats.

You can expand your built-in memory of 8 or 16 GB by an additional 32 GB with a microSD card slot (which does not include a card out of the box). You’ve got FM radio, video output to play movies (A/V cable sold separately), Bluetooth connectivity so you don’t have to connect with any cords at all if you don’t want to, and apt-X codec for superior Bluetooth-connected sound.

Inside the package you get the player, a quick-start guide, some Creative EP-630 earbuds, and a usb cable. The display you’re working with is a 2-inch TFT LCD, and the device does have built-in speakers if you just want to listen without connecting to anything, but they’re mono in scope. The device itself is sized at 46.5 x 63 x 14mm and weighs in at 43g.

As far as what we think of the device: it’s thick. It’s certainly not truly keeping up with trends as far as stylish looks at portable music players, and if it’s aiming to put up a fight against the big players in this particular industry, it will fail. The display is not a touchscreen, so we’ve got to rely on control buttons along the side which, at the moment at least, are rather unresponsive. Should the folks at Creative release this device as-is for €99 and €140 for their 8 and 16GB versions later this month in Germany, we can’t imagine it’ll do extremely well.

On the other hand, if they’re able to upgrade the software or the hardware to make the buttons actually work well, and aim to perhaps jazz up the casing somehow or another with skins perhaps (assuming they cannot make the casing any smaller than it is at the moment, that is,) they may have an oddball wild-card on their hands. The folks at Creative have a choice on their hands here, that’s for sure.

Just head on over to the special Google+ post Vincent has set up and give him a high-five, then bounce on over to our landing page and set yourself up with a free invite to Spotify! Our good pal Deanna from Spotify is the one to be thanking here, as she so diligently helped us get this awesome landing page for the freedom of Spotify all across the land! That said, know the following: US residents only!

Spotify is currently available in the U.S. by invitation only, but SlashGear asked us to set aside some of the very first invites for friends. All you need to do is enter your email address in the box to get an invite.

Head here for invites: http://www.spotify.com/us/slashgear/

You can get more knowledge on the subject here: SlashGear 101 : What is Spotify? then head forward in the swayback machine to see all you need to see on what Spotify is and what it means for you by hitting our Spotify tag portal. Then you’re set!

[via +Vincent Nguyen]

Apple and Warner Music declined to comment, while Universal, EMI and Sony were all unavailable to comment. However, the potential for delay was echoed by the Performing Right Society, which confirmed that their own talks with Apple were only in the very early stages.

“The licensing team at the PRS have started talks with Apple, but are a long way off from any deals being signed … It is very much the early stages of the negotiations and is similar to the launch of iTunes – which began in the US and took a while to roll out to other countries” Performing Right Society (PRS) spokesperson

According to Mark Mulligan, VP at Forrester Research, the hesitation is mostly down to caution on the labels’ part. “The UK arms of all the major record labels are biding their time and waiting to see how the service affects download sales in the US before they sign up to anything” he suggested, before saying that a Q1 2012 iCloud UK launch at the earliest is likely.

iCloud’s other functionality – including file and photo sync, along with email and shared calendar services – is less licensee-dependent, and is expected to be functional outside the US market more quickly. However, iTunes Match is also unlikely to make its international debut until the labels are certain it won’t further eat into their profits.