Spotify iPhone and Android Applications are Now Live
The Spotify iPhone and Android applications are now live. Here is a quick look again at both demo’s.
Archive for: spotify
Voddler: Free Movies and TV Streaming Service
Voddler is a new video startup that launch back in private beta back in July 2009. Currently it is rumoured that only 1,500 people have access to the site, so we wanted to run through the service for everyone else.
Voddler won’t be launched officially until sometime this fall, and then only in the Nordic countries for starters. The agenda is to go global, though.
Voddler aims to do for movies and TV series what Spotify is doing for music. Although in private beta Voddler already seems to be getting a lot of buzz in Scandinavia, so we hope to let everyone else know about it.
Voddler is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, Voddler will also be providing a Linux-based box with a pre-installed client that you can easily connect to your TV to get that home cinema feel.
Here below is a screenshot of the latest design of the landing page, designed to work best on widescreen televisions.
Movies are of course a lot more bandwidth-intensive than music. How well Voddler works for you will depend on your Internet connection. To get 1080p HD quality you should have an 8 Mbit/s connection, for 720p HD quality you should have a 5 Mbit/s connection, and for DVD quality you should have a 2.5 Mbit/s connection. Contrast this with Spotify which only has to deal with music streaming and therefore works just fine with a mere 256 kbit/s connection.
Spotify iPhone App Gets Accepted into iTunes Store, but did iTunes Make a Deal to Be a Music Download Provider?
There has been a lot of talk this morning about Spotify getting their new iPhone application accepted into the iTunes store. I know we have talked a lot about Spotify recently including them entering into the Chinese market, USA market, and how to use Spotify if your based in the USA or any other country. However, today’s news is probably bigger than all of these.
The company’s iPhone application has been approved for the App Store ahead of competitors Rhapsody and Grooveshark. PaidContent UK reports that Apple has notified Spotify that its app will appear in the store shortly. In late July there was fear that the Swedish site’s iPhone service would be denied due to the fact that it was seen as a threat to iTunes.
Unlike many other iPhone music apps, Spotify’s iPhone service offers users the ability to select tracks and listen to them in an offline playlist. The ability to cache files is a huge asset to those who commute to work without a wireless connection.
With today’s announcement, Spotify’s audiences in the UK, Sweden, Norway, Spain, France and Finland will be more likely to pay for the company’s premium service.
This is a very interesting decision by Apple who recently blocked Google Voice from entering the app store because it basically provided free phone calls via the iPhone. I dont think Spotify is a future competitor to iTunes because they are offering completely different products. iTunes provides a platform to purchase digital products, while Spotify is strict music streaming service. However, im very surprised that Apple didnt make an agreement with Spotify and accept them into their iTunes store but only if iTunes because a default download provider for the music on the service (like 7digital currently).
Rhapsody To Release Their Music Streaming iPhone and iPod Touch Application
We have previously report on the new Spotify iPhone application and also the Grooveshark iPhone application, but very soon Rhapsody are also bringing out their own music streaming iPhone application.
If approved by Apple, the Rhapsody app for the iPhone/iPod Touch will include these features:
- The app is a free download from the iTunes App Store, but will require a Rhapsody-To-Go subscription ($14.99/month)
- Users will have unlimited access to Rhapsody’s library of 8+ million songs from all four major record labels and indie labels
- Perhaps in a bid to get approval, users can purchase MP3s directly from the app through iTunes rather than Rhapsody’s own download store
I Can’t Believe it’s not Spotify!
Spotify is undoubtedly one of the fastest growing music and entertainment services on the internet today. And as with all good services they have decided that it’s time for more Apps. They recently announced that they would be releasing an App for android devices similar to those for the iPhones.
This would allow users to access their Spotify accounts easily from their android devices. However, they have a competitor.
“I can’t believe it’s not Spotify” has just launched and is taking on a lot of users as they wait for the official app to be released. It packs much of the same features as what we expect in the official version but lacks in one – offline playback. However, the developers say that this may come later if it continues to grow in popularity.
While I can’t see this app lasting as people tend to veer towards products with an official stamp on them, I can definitely see its use at the present. The developers deserve their time in the limelight because they plugged a gap in the market. But soon the official app will push them out with no really effort.
How To Use Spotify if your based in USA or Other Countries
Spotify has of course been in the news a lot lately. However, the Spotify service is still only available to users in certain countries, such as UK, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Spain and France. Thus if your based in the USA the Spotify service is currently not available for you to use, until now.
A few people have been reporting that they have used the following steps to get a Spotify account when they are based in the USA.
1) go to http://www.daveproxy.co.uk/
2) enter the following URL: https://www.spotify.com/en/get-started/
3) Create your account, for UK postcode – check http://www.postcodesearch.org.uk/
Let us know if this still works in your country!
Spotify and Tom Group Partner for Chinese Music Streaming Service
Spotify has been in the press a lot lately with their move into the US market imminent, new funding, plus they have launched their iPhone application (but still yet to be accepted).
Today the news is that Spotify has partnered with with Tom Group a major Chinese media conglomerate to launch the company’s popular digital music streaming service in China. The tie-up will create a localized version of the software to introduce to provide music over computers and mobile phones, Tom said in a statement to Reuters. Spotify’s current services are only available over computers.
“Tom will work toward unveiling a localized version of Spotify in Greater China in the near future,” the statement said.
Microsoft’s Music Streaming – Where is it Bill?
Right next to downloading, music streaming is the next big thing in terms of entertainment on the net. It’s really starting to pick up with many people launching their own private radio stations. While the vast majority are in too small a niche to actually make money, the big companies will.
Spotify are the biggest at the moment. They are the ones to go to for video and music streaming. Recently however, Microsoft announced that it would launch its own music streaming service. This was originally intended for July but has become delayed.
Several other companies are now catching up quickly with streaming services already launched or in the works.
TechCrunch.com contacted Microsoft and this is what they had to say for themselves:
We don’t have much detail to disclose on this subject but what we can share is that, in the coming months, MSN is planning a new music service in Beta via its Music channel in the UK.
“At this stage we won’t be confirming the details behind this but more information will be available soon and will be communicated in due course.”
At any rate, Microsoft had better hop to it if they want to succeed in what it becoming a crowded market. If they let users get too comfortable with one source (as we have see happen in the past with iTunes) then they will not want to move onto any future service provided by Microsoft.
Spotify To Enter The USA Market Very Soon
Spotify has received a lot of press in the last few days cause they are planning to move their European only service into the US market. The story was broken over at Forbes and I think this could be a very big move for the music industry as a whole. Spotify is a free ad supported music streaming service which allows users to listen to anything in their catalogue as often as they want. Spotify offers a free service which is advertising supports, a day of free advertising and then also a full unlimited service. Users can also build and store playlists; so that if you turn on shuffle, after awhile it feels like a Pandora station with only your favorites or the iTunes collection you wish you could afford.
Ive used Spotify since private launch and it is so addictive and one of the best services I have ever used. Their currently library has over 5 million tracks with thousands more uploaded on a daily basis. Spotify has attracted more than 2 million users in the UK and another 4 million across Europe. The company also wants to let you take you playlists with you anywhere you want. An Android app is in beta and an iPhone app is being tested.
Key issues when entering the US market is:
- Can they afford the crippling royalty rates that all the majors will want in the US? These rates already killed Spiral Frog and other services.
- Microsoft UK executive already leaked that they are readying a launch of a competitive product that will be tied in with the Zune. However, it is Microsoft and they always seem to get new products wrong recently.
- The economy needs to turn around because Spotify is 95% ad-supported. “If you look at the market today, who knows where it’s going to be in the next two, three years?”. Spotify founder Daniel Ek told Forbes. “We are doubling our revenues month-on-month–that’s a very good sign.”
Spotify Seeking Funding and Revenues
Previously we have written about Spotify’s upcoming Android application as well as their iPhone app, but currently Spotify is fast approaching its “payment due” day.
Spotify has been able to attract a huge amount of users but their free section is being used a little too much and they are now finding difficult to generate enough income to pay their major label partners by the date due.
Currently Spotify seem to be trying to increase incomes in three key areas:
- A premium service is getting much more attention from Spotify as it adds additional features beyond just “ad free” to attaract paid users.
- Spotify is rolling out by far its largest advertising format to date. It will feature wall to wall billboard ads on its music player that appear after just 5 minutes of inactivity as part of a major 3 Mobile ad campaign. (However, if I’m inactive on Spotify I tend not have the application open on my screen its just in a tab at the bottom, thus the ads showing will obviously have no affect whatsoever.
- To buy more time, the startup is on the hunt for another $40-$50 million in venture capital funding. (paidContent)
I personally use Spotify and find it pointless to upgrade to their premium service because I receive unlimited listening time, tracks, search and playlists. I know they are finding it tough to gain additional revenues and maybe moving their product into iPhone and Android markets is a better bet to increase revenues fast enough.
Spotify iPhone Application in Action
A few days ago we wrote a quick article about the release of the video for the new Spotify Android App. Today we thought we would post about the other Spotify app that hasnt been talked about so much and that is the iPhone Spotify application.
Below is a quick video of the application in action. Enjoy!
Spotify Android Application in Action
Spotify is a music startup that has had a huge amount of press of late. Today Techcrunch and a few other sites have been talking about the Spotify application for Android and providing some screenshots of the service. However, we have now found a video that actually shows the application in action. So take a look and let us know what you think.
