August 2018

Qobuz to preview HiRes at CEDIA Expo San Diego

31/08/2018

Qobuz have announced that they will preview their HiRes Audio music streaming and download service at CEDIA Expo in the San Diego Convention Center. Qobuz offers an extensive catalogue of HiRes audio (24-bit, up to 192kbps) including hard-to-find jazz and classical albums and tracks. Qobuz works on Mac, iOS, Android, and Windows on both mobile and desktop and is integrated with a large range of high end HiFi equipment. ‘We are excited to give industry […]

YouTube Music comes to Benelux and Denmark

31/08/2018

YouTube Music and YouTube Music Premium have come to the Benelux countries (the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg) and Denmark adding to the 17 countries launched in June 2018. YouTube Music and YouTube Premium launch in 17 countries The prices are similar to those of its competitors in the European Union – €9.99/month for a YouTube Music Premium subscription and €11.99/month for a YouTube Premium subscription. In Denmark, those prices are 99 and 119 kroner. YouTube […]

News

Craft Brewed Music to launch 1st October

30/08/2018

Craft Brewed Music, a curated streaming service for adventurous listeners who want to discover music which is outside the mainstream is set to launch on the 1st October. According to artist manager Brian Horner, Craft Brewed Music is designed to pay artists. Through direct deals with artists and small labels the company will pay out 50% of its income in royalties – the highest percentage possible while still paying app retailer fees and remaining viable […]

Bose launches new Smart Speaker and Soundbars

29/08/2018

Bose launches a new wireless Smart Speaker and two new smart soundbars – the Bose Home Speaker 500 for music, and the Bose Soundbar 700 and Soundbar 500 for music and home cinema. The new speaker and soundbars come enabled with Amazon Alexa with other voice assistants to follow and Apple’s AirPlay 2 coming in early 2019. The devices use the same proprietary microphone technology found in Bose headsets and headphones to hear commands better […]

Who is winning the Spotify v Apple Music wars?

28/08/2018

When Apple launched Apple Music in June 2015, many people confidently predicted that the David and Goliath struggle between Apple and Spotify would favour Apple with its colossal financial and marketing power combined with an installed base of hundreds of millions of iOS devices. Against all expectations Spotify has not only managed to keep ahead of Apple Music but the gap between the two streaming services has gradually widened from 20 million when Apple Music […]

Apple Music releases Android Auto beta

28/08/2018

Apple has released Apple Music for Android version 2.6 beta which adds Android Auto integration. Apple Music for Android has been available for some while but this new version will add Android Auto and a number of features that have been available on the iOS version for some time. You can now search songs by lyrics, access a new Friends Mix option that creates a playlist based on your friends’ listening habits, plus new Artist […]

News

Safaricom’s Songa streaming service now data free

26/08/2018

Safaricom’s has relaunched its Songa streaming service with data free packages and a reduced tariff of 5 Kenya Shillings per day. Safaricom is Kenya’s largest mobile operator with 29.5 million users (2018) but Songa has not attracted the numbers of subscribers its owners expected since its launch in February 2018. As part of its relaunch Songa is reducing its basic service to 5 Kenya Shillings per day and making it data free for Safaricom subscribers. […]