Spotify's Joe Rogan Experience — Media+

Adrian Weckler joins Charlotte Henry to discuss the controversy engulfing Joe Rogan and Spotify, as Neil Young and other artists look to move away from the platform. Will the issue make Apple look at original content differently? Note: This episode was recorded on February 4th, 2022, before issues of Joe Rogan using the N-word and other racial slurs resurfaced and over 100 episodes of his podcast were removed on Spotify.

PSA: Neil Young Still on Apple Music, Amidst Joe Rogan Spotify Row [Updated]

Neil Young is headed off of Spotify, having decided he won’t be on the same platform as podcaster Joe Rogan, but he remains on Apple Music. You can get classic albums like 1972’s Harvest and 1989 hit “Rockin’ in The Free World” with a subscription. The service costs $9.99 per month, or $14.99 for family sharing, and is included in all Apple One bundles.

[Update: January 28] Apple Music appears to be trolling Spotify over its Neil Young/Joe Rogan decision. It is posting tweets from its official Twitter accounts as well as push notifications reminding people that the artists is still available there, The Verge reported.

Streaming Music Today, Using iPads, NFT Comic Books, with Jeff Gamet - ACM 565

Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Gamet talk about the practical realities of listening to music int he age of streaming music services. They also talk about how they use their iPads, and the ways in which that has changed. They cap the show with a practical use case look at NFT graphic novels, which Bryan says is one way of bringing collectibility back to the comic book world.

Does Spotify Wrapped Prove The Streaming Servince is Better Than Apple Music?

Over on iMore, Joe Wituschek argues that Spotify is better than Apple Music for a lot of reasons, and the recently released Wrapped feature is one of them. He makes some compelling arguments as to why he has given up on Cupertino’s offering. However, I stick with Apple Music because I do think the curation and radio shows (which you can listen to on-demand as a subscriber,) make it worth the money. This is particularly true if you get an Apple One bundle.

Don’t get me wrong, Spotify isn’t without its problems either. Support for the HomePod is still nonexistant and, even though they were able to build an Apple Watch app and cellular streaming to it for a while, it took them YEARS to implement the feature. Apple Music even arguably has some design wins over Spotify with its Now Playing screen and more advanced audio features with Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio. No music streaming service is going to be perfect but, if there ever was one that got as close as possible, it has to be Spotify. The user interface and navigation are clean and easy to understand, the personalized playlists are spot on, and the performance of the app (across mobile and desktop) are really responsive.

Spotify Makes 'Blend' Personalised Shared Playlist Feature Available

Spotify announced Tuesday that Blend, which allows two users to create a shared playlist that combines both their musical tastes, is now available. It was released in beta in June and is now accessible by both free and premium users.

The experience includes new cover art to easily identify each of your Blend playlists, taste match scores to see your listening preferences compared to your friends’, and shareable data stories that are unique to every listening pair and can be shared across social channels. Blend, which will be updated daily and adapts based on what listeners stream, combines the best of Spotify’s personalization capabilities and collaborative playlist functionality into a single shared playlist, making it easy for users to get into a social listening session that is made just for them. But creating this experience was no simple feat. There’s a massive team behind the experience, blending their own different skills and expertise to bring it to life.

Spotify’s Top Lawyer Leads the Monopoly Campaign Against Apple

Spotify’s top lawyer, Horacio Gutierrez, is a key player in the monopoly accusations against Apple.

The landscape looks a lot different than it did when Gutierrez first began talking about Apple. His actions “have spawned a lot of the other Apple-related activity across the globe,” says Thomas Vinje, who’s worked with Gutierrez on antitrust issues in Europe. “It’s a snowball Spotify got rolling.”

Image credit: Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg

Tidal and Spotify Now Support Music Downloads on Apple Watch

Apple Watch music fans who use Spotify and/or Tidal can now download tracks and listen to them via the wearable. (The feature is already available with Apple Music.) iMore summed up the recent developments.

Tidal says the app will bring music streaming and playback control to Apple Watch independent of your iPhone, and you can even listen offline, downloading your favorite songs for playback anywhere. Spotify added the same feature to its app earlier this week. Spotify is today rolling out downloads to Apple Watch so that users can listen to content without their phone.

Spotify Rolling Out New Features for Music and Podcast Library

It’s not just Apple Music and Podcasts that are getting an upgrade. Spotify too announced some upgrades for both its iOS and Android apps, with the rollout starting Thursday.

Starting today, we are rolling out a new version of Your Library to all Spotify mobile users. Now, you’ll have a more streamlined way to easily explore your collection and find your saved music and podcasts faster. Your Library’s updated design and added features will enable you to spend less time looking for content and organizing your collection, and more time rediscovering the music and podcasts you’ve loved over the years. And as always, keep adding even more content for a library that grows alongside you into the future. The new Your Library is packed with a new layout and features that make browsing your music and podcast collection easier than ever.

Spotify’s Podcast Subscriptions Leave 100% Fees for Creators

Next week, Spotify is launching a podcast subscription service for its creators and it will let them keep 100% of the revenue.

Spotify has said it was going to test paid subscriptions for podcasters to allow them to offer exclusive content to subscribers, officially announcing that during its February “Stream On” event. But it has not yet provided details on how that will work.

I’m sure Spotify will keep drumming the “no tax” part in contrast to Apple’s 30% fee from Apple Podcast Subscriptions. But in the end it doesn’t matter because the most important people win: The content creators.