January 2020

Amazon Music hits 55 million subscribers

24/01/2020

Amazon Music hits 55 million subscribers globally with subscriptions to Amazon Music Unlimited growing by more than 50% last year alone. Amazon Music grew nearly 50% year-on-year across the US, UK, Germany, and Japan and has more than doubled in recently added countries such as France, Italy, Spain, and Mexico. In the second half of 2019, Amazon Music also launched in Brazil and introduced Amazon Music HD, its high quality audio streaming option, as well […]

Sonos back peddles on ‘legacy’ product updates

Sonos to stop updates on ‘legacy’ products

23/01/2020

Sonos is to stop updates on ‘legacy’ products starting in May 2020 with some of its oldest products no longer receiving software updates or new features. Legacy products include their original Zone Players, Connect, and Connect:Amp (launched in 2006; includes versions sold until 2015), first-generation Play:5 (launched 2009), CR200 (launched 2009), and Bridge (launched 2007). Although a common occurrence for computers and smartphones, the withdrawal of support for audio equipment is a first and reflects […]

Spotify creates playlists for pets

22/01/2020

Spotify creates playlists for pets giving pets and their owners crafted playlists for the type of pet they own and their temperament. Spotify conducted a study on how pet owners use music with their pets. They found that 71% of pet owners surveyed play music for their pets and more often than not, they think about their pets’ emotional well-being, with 70% of animal parents considering the emotional wellness of their pets daily. Plus, 8 […]

Qobuz support for Naim Audio devices

21/01/2020

Qobuz support for Naim Audio devices is now available for owners of Uniti Atom, Star and Nova systems, plus ND5 XS2, NDX 2 and ND 555 network players. The update is enabled via a free over-the-air firmware upgrade which will allow users to enjoy seamless access to Qobuz streaming services – including true high-resolution streaming up to 24-bit/192kHz quality from within the Naim control app. Updates for Naim Mu-so 2nd Generation and Naim Mu-so Qb 2nd Generation wireless speakers will follow in Spring 2020 (in […]

Local music dominates Italian charts in 2019

13/01/2020

Local music dominates Italian charts in 2019 with 9 out of the top ten albums being Italian according to FIMI the Italian recorded music industry association. Colpa della Favole by Ultimo was the top album followed by Playlist Live by Salmo and in third place Machete Mixtape 4 by Machete. The only international name in the Top Ten is Queen, in tenth place with Bohemian Rhapsody, while the first female artist is positioned at number 15 […]

US Music streaming tops 1 Trillion in 2019

12/01/2020

US Music streaming tops 1 Trillion in 2019 according to BuzzAngle Music’s 2019 report on US music consumption. For the third year in a row, total consumption growth was up double-digits. The 13.5% growth in 2019 in total consumption was fuelled by the continued growth of on-demand streams. In 2018, there was a 16.2% growth in total consumption and an increase of 12.8% in 2017 over 2016. As a result of consumers continuing to move […]

France mainly buys French music

11/01/2020

France mainly buys French music with 19 out of the 20 best selling albums in 2019 being by local artists and in French according to SNEP the French recorded music industry association. Local talent makes up 80% of the Top 200 albums produced in 2019 with 46 ‘young talents’ having a first album in the Top 200 making up almost a quarter of all sales in the year. Urban music (rap, hip hop, R&B) proved […]