In the music streaming space, Amazon finds itself in heated competition with the likes of Google, Spotify, and Apple. With that in mind, it needs every edge it can get, and todayuit's rolling out a new one. Amazon has announced a new tier of its music subscription service called Amazon Music HD, which promises higher-quality streaming for many of the songs it offers.
This week the folks at G-SHOCK revealed a set of new watches with Gorillaz designs. These two watches are the DW-5600 and the GA-2000 rolling with Gorillaz (original self-titled album) and the more recent release NOW NOW designs. These pieces of hardware will be the second wave of G-SHOCK x Gorillaz watches - the first featured the 5600 alone - in four different limited edition designs.
Spotify is targeting users who are sharing family plans in ways that violate its terms of service. This isn't the first time the company has targeted this unapproved sharing, but it is the first time it will take more drastic steps to stop users from providing account access to individuals living outside of their home. To do this, Spotify will start periodically requesting access to each family plan user's location.
Back in the middle of August, 2019, Spotify removed access to its Android-based music widget in its standard music streaming app. This move was met with some significant backlash from the Android community, resulting in coverage by the tech press, and ultimately a response from Spotify itself. Now, it would seem, Spotify is on track to bring the feature back to the Android app, very soon.
There's a tiny rechargeable battery in the Special Edition CD release of the latest album from TOOL: Fear Inoculum. This is the first new album from TOOL in 13 years. They've been known to deliver next-level game-changing packages with their Special Edition album releases. This newest album does not end that legacy.
Most streaming services offer a variety of curated playlists to their users. For Spotify, that might be the Discover Weekly playlist, while Apple Music has offered a Best of the Week playlist for years. Today, that Best of the Week playlist is going away, and it's being replaced by something different: New Music Daily.
For quite some time now, Spotify and Apple have been locked in a rivalry that can be very bitter at times. Not only is Apple Music gunning for Spotify's spot as king of the music streaming hill, but there's also an ongoing dispute between the two companies when it comes to Apple's management of the App Store and iOS functionality in general. In short: Neither company seems too fond of the other at the moment.
College students in the US are about to head back to school, and unsurprisingly, many companies have rolled out their student subscription plans once more. SiriusXM threw its hat in the student plan ring today, announcing one that heavily discounts the cost of its standard Premier plan. That's all well and good, but is it enough to go up against giants like Spotify and Apple Music?
If you're an Amazon Prime subscriber and you happen to have a Garmin smartwatch on your wrist, then here's some good news: Amazon Music is landing on Garmin's smartwatch lineup today. In its announcement today, Garmin boasts that it's the "first wearable company to offer Amazon Music," so if you've been looking for a way to access your library on a smartwatch, then it sounds like Garmin is the pick.
Waze is getting YouTube Music integration, bringing more streamlined access to streaming music to the navigation app without having to jump between the two. The update pulls everything from albums and playlists, through personalized mixes, into Waze's new app.
The idea of accessing streaming music from a car's dashboard is nothing new but Apple Music, now Spotify's biggest rival, still isn't a common sight there. Sure, there are cars with Apple CarPlay already inside, but a dedicated and standalone Apple Music app? Not so much. That is the prestigious position that Porsche may be giving Apple's growing music streaming service when it rolls out Apple Music integration to its fleet, starting with the upcoming Taycan.
It's a sad day for widget lovers around the world. Though homescreen widgets are one of the unique features Android offers, Spotify has decided that it no longer wants to support its own widget. An update today removes the widget entirely, in a move that some users undoubtedly find annoying.