spotify

The 404 1,115: Where the streets have no name (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Pitchfork's People's List polls readers for the best albums of the last 15 years.

- The new rise of a summer hit: Tweet It Maybe.

- How Murder by Death became the No. 3 most successful Kickstarter music campaign ever.

- The Internet has finally met its match: Avril Lavigne engaged to Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger.

- Lights turning off at Nintendo Power?

- Custom BioShock pinball machine is Rapturous.… Read more

Spotify is on its way to Canada, report says

Popular music-streaming service Spotify is expanding to Canada, a new report claims.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that it has obtained a filing made by Spotify Technologies, the music service's holding company, claiming that it will launch its service to Canada. In addition, the company says that it will expand into "countries in Asia and South America."

According to the Journal, Spotify filed its plans in a management note in April. That note became public this month.

Spotify made its name in Europe, offering a streaming-music service that customers in the U.S. were dying … Read more

The 404 1,110: Where we're more than meats the eye (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Google may start a same-day delivery service that uses automated vehicles.

- YouTube is the No. 1 source of music for teenagers.

- People also spend more time watching their phones than television.

- 3D printed meat: It's what's for dinner.

- 'The Price is Right' seeking first male model.

Bathroom break video: Why should I be on the Internet?… Read more

Spotify updates mobile app to support iOS 6

Apple's iOS 6 likely won't be out until next month, but Spotify's app is already supporting it.

Out today, version 0.5.4 touts its iOS 6 support. Developers running the latest beta of iOS 6 can test Spotify to see if the claim holds true. The rest of us will have to wait until Apple actually launches its latest mobile OS.

iPad users who download the update can see more stations. Otherwise, the new version is focused on bug fixes, taking care of login issues for Facebook users and offering the usual "improved stability."… Read more

Stay motivated with free, fast-paced GetWorkDoneMusic

Background music can serve as a great tool for motivation and inspiration. For those times when you need a higher level of productivity and concentration, chances are you're looking for some faster music. This is where GetWorkDoneMusic.com comes to your rescue.

Ryan Ghods, creator of GetWorkDoneMusic, offered this explanation behind building the Web site:

Music is one of my ultimate, super-productivity life hacks. A great, seamless blend of tracks keeps me going on a single task without getting distracted. Somewhat of a drummer to the work I'm doing, so I don't go and open … Read more

Microsoft saying good-bye to Hotmail

No spam in Tuesday's top tech stories:

It's not often we get a shakeup in the email world, but say hello to Microsoft's new free email account, Outlook.com. It'll eventually be replacing Hotmail, but you might want to grab your name now. There's a new, clean look and it ties in your social media contacts. It's not too far off from what you may be used to already in Gmail, as you'll be able to tell from CNET's full overview of the features.

The Mars Science Laboratory rover, called Curiosity, will … Read more

Spotify brings Pandora-like free streaming to Android

Spotify is bringing Android users into its Pandora-like free streaming service.

The company announced this morning that Android-based Spotify users can now create stations through its application and listen to "millions of songs" from the program. After creating stations and listening to tracks, users can customize what plays by giving a track a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down. In addition, users can save songs they like.

If this sounds familiar, it's because Pandora offers about the same functionality through its own service. And like Pandora, Spotify will play ads to nonpaying subscribers. Those who are Spotify Premium users … Read more

Slacker overachieves

In Slacker Radio, curated stations that are organized by musical genre meet algorithmically generated playlists based on artists you pick (a la Pandora). As with Slacker Radio on other mobile platforms, the Android app lets you stream music from preprogrammed genres and stations, or from stations you set up yourself. As you listen, you can view album art and bios, block a song or vote it a favorite, and skip ahead (limited for free users). If you like what you hear, you can share a link to that station on SlackerRadio.com via e-mail, text message, or Twitter.

Over the … Read more

Control music at home with Android

Here's the dream. You want to walk into your home, cue up some music on your phone, and have it start playing on a nearby speaker. No cables, no docks -- just instant, effortless, wireless music.

For iPhone owners, there's a very clear, prescribed solution: AirPlay. But my phone is Android. It's supposed to have more "does" but what exactly am I supposed to do?

Well, there are a bunch of options out there for Android users looking for an Airplay alternative, and in this How To, I'm going to walk you through my … Read more