The improved UI mainly comes in for the side navigation. Rdio says it’s a “new, cleaner look.” The app currently is already pretty clean and very well-designed, so maintaining the high standards is always good. The update also introduces “Find People” for finding friends on Rdio and to discover artists. Relevant to this is the new Labels search, which allows users to search now by record label when finding music to find albums and artists on a label.

Rdio is the lesser known competitor of Spotify, another music subscription service. For access to the mobile apps of either service, you have to be a Premium member which costs $9.99 per month. Many would agree, however, that Rdio’s mobile app is far superior to Spotify’s in both design and functionality. Rdio is also in indirect competition with the likes of Pandora, which just got a bit of an update of its own yesterday.

You can grab the app for free in the App Store, but don’t forget you’ll have to be a premium subscriber to use it.

[via 9to5Mac]

The way Pandora Premieres works is users get access to any track on a featured album, regardless of the order, without any limits to how many times the album is listened to. This can go on for the time period the album is available on the station. In addition some artists will offer exclusive content such as video interviews.

Now the “established” artist tag is a bit blurry as it doesn’t really give any specifics on the kind of artists Pandora is talking about. For instance, will we ever see superstar acts like Jay-Z, Kanye West, or Foo Fighters hit this Premiere section? That question is yet to be answered.

This is an interesting move by Pandora given how the music streaming business is heating up with plenty of valuable candidates in the market for consumers to choose from. Pandora is doing what it has to do to keep its lead in the music streaming business, however, there’s nothing stopping a Spotify or Rdio of doing the same.

[Pandora; via CNET]

SoundTracking is gaining popularity with the teenage demographic in the U.S., but forty percent of its traffic is coming from overseas, with Brazil and the U.K. topping the international user base. The app combines the functionality of many popular apps, such as Shazam and Instagram. Users can tag a song while it is playing, and add location and even a photo to their post.

SoundTracking was unveiled at the South By Southwest Interactive Festival in 2011, and was instantly a hit amongst smartphone owners. According to Schematic Labs, the creators of the app, Instagram integration was developed after SoundTracking users were spotted sharing screenshots of their posts on Instagram.

SoundTracking is an awesome music sharing app, and it just got even better. Give it a whirl! Download the iOS version here, and the Android version here.

[Via: The Next Web]

Get Lucky broke Spotify streaming records in both the US and the UK, being streamed more times than any other track managed by Spotify in a single day. The previous record holders for the US were Thrift Shop hipsters Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and Bastille in the UK. Exact number of plays are yet unknown, but Spotify assures us that they are bountiful.

With only a few weeks until the release of Random Access Memories, we’ll just have to play the new single on repeat until our heads explode. Or check out some of Daft Punk’s previous jams? Yeah, that sounds good. Check out the videos below for a live performance of Get Lucky, and a few other Daft Punk gems!

[Via: Ubergizmo]

Well, today is the day folks finally get to use Spotify’s Ford SYNC support. The music streaming company left this description for users on its iTunes page:

With Spotify now available on select vehicles equipped with available SYNC with SYNC AppLink, it’s easier than ever to find the right music for every road trip. Just log into your Spotify Premium account and connect your device to SYNC AppLink. With simple voice commands, you’ll have easy, hands-free access to all your music, playlists and Spotify Radio stations. Say “play starred” to access the songs you can’t get enough of and even launch playlists sent by friends just by saying “yes” to play.

Here’s the rest of the features that comes in Version 0.6.2

• New: Now you can listen in your car with the Ford SYNC AppLink platform. Log into your Premium account on your iOS device and connect it to SYNC AppLink. Enjoy voice-controlled access to all your favourite music, playlists and radio.

• Fixed: You can now view your friends’ top tracks.

If you have a Ford car with SYNC and Spotify, be sure to let us know in the comment section how good the new Ford SYNC feature is.

[iTunes; via 9to5Mac]

]]> http://www.intomobile.com/2013/04/02/spotify-ios-app-gets-updated-ford-sync-support/feed/ 1 http://www.intomobile.com/2013/03/21/windows-phone-8-lands-official-pandora-app/ http://www.intomobile.com/2013/03/21/windows-phone-8-lands-official-pandora-app/#comments Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:54:27 +0000 Charles West http://www.intomobile.com/?p=411609 ... Read more]]> The Windows Phone platform just landed another major app today. Pandora, the wildly popular internet radio app, is now available for all Windows Phone 8 users to download. This addition basically completes a list that has the top streaming services, which includes Spotify and Rdio. Albeit, Pandora finally hitting the Microsoft platform is five months in the making.

Windows Phone 8 users will get to enjoy the internet radio service free without ads and a 40 hour monthly cap restriction for the rest of the year. Other amenities include the ability for people to pin their preferred stations to the start screen for easy access to their music, while a Live Tile provides up-to-date artist and track information without having to inconveniently open up the app. Parents also get to have control over what their kids listen in Kid’s Corner. We have yet to test any of the features, but we’re sure users can expect similar functionality in the Pandora app that’s seen in many of the official apps from other developers.

Much credit should go to the Microsoft team for working hard to the bone in getting as many prominent developers on its Windows Phone 8 platform. Microsoft’s mobile operating system may be behind iOS and Android with apps, but its seemingly light years ahead of BlackBerry 10’s official app choices. More on that later.

Those of you interested in getting the new Pandora app can download it from the link below. Tell us how you like it?

Windows Phone Store | Download

]]> http://www.intomobile.com/2013/03/21/windows-phone-8-lands-official-pandora-app/feed/ 2 http://www.intomobile.com/2013/03/12/spotify-moves-6-million-paid-subscribers-worldwide/ http://www.intomobile.com/2013/03/12/spotify-moves-6-million-paid-subscribers-worldwide/#comments Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:05:15 +0000 Charles West http://www.intomobile.com/?p=409409 ... Read more]]> Spotify continues to grow at a rapid pace as the music streaming service now home to 6 million paid subscribers worldwide. This number makes Spotify by far the industry leader in the all you can eat music biz. What’s even more impressive, is that the company added 1 million paid subscribers since the month of December. Spotify is now the second fastest growing digital music provider ever, only trailing Pandora.

Here’s another amazing factoid, Spotify now sits at 24 million active users, which is more than double what it had a year ago. These kind of numbers should make any company exec gleam with excitement, however, the company remains humble with a focus of continued growth. Blanketing the entire globe is the goal.

Spotify is making plenty of moves to keep its edge in the music streaming business. For example, the company recently cut a deal with Ford Motors in streaming its service over Ford’s SYNC-equipped cars. Bundling its music streaming service with other internet companies is another way to spread the word.

The company keeps on trucking along despite being in such a brutal business that has constant negotiations in licensing deals with record companies, and unjustified scrutiny from musical artist. Labels are the ones jerking the artists, as they pay out only a fraction of a penny for a song streamed over Spotify.

Unfortunately, this screw job puts the burden solely on Spotify’s shoulders, but if it continues to grow like it has in the past year — more plays and dollars will come for artist. With paying subscriptions growing to a 44 percent clip, it’s safe to say that music streaming is here to stay.

[via cnet]

Since this app centers around music sharing, users must first identify a song with the app, either Shazam style via the microphone, or by playing a song on the device. After the song is identified, users can then add a picture and location data, as well as quotes and hashtags. All of these things are rolled into one sleek-looking post, with the Album art at the center. Users can then click on the album art to instantly play the song. Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare sharing are also integrated. Users can like and comment on each others activity, as well checking out what’s trending nearby and other users who have liked the song as well.

Some other features include the ability to listen to shared music via YouTube directly in the Soundtracking app, and a home and lock screen widget. The app has built-in support for Spotify and Rdio as well, and the ability to un-like tracks and posts.

Soundtracking is hands down one of the best social networking/streaming music apps I have ever used.The only problem right now, though, is that not many of my friends are using it yet. But with an expansive feature set and smooth interface, I doubt it will be long before we can dedicate songs to our friends with a finger press.

So if you’re a fan of sharing music and are tired of posting YouTube URL’s into Facebook, check out this app for an easier and fun way to share music.

Check it out at the Google Play Store or on iTunes.

Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren justified these changes by noting that royalty rates have skyrocketed 25% in the past three years and are slated to go up another 16% in the next two years. Westergren argues that this new limit is the company’s best option to “manage these escalating costs with minimal listener disruption.”

[Via WSJ]

People who live in North America already driving Sync AppLink-equipped cars, won’t be left out, as this new integration is expected to roll out within the next few weeks. Spotify’s app will support voice commands like repeat, play music, shuffle, and choose playlist.

In January, Ford announced that it was opening its Developer Program for its AppLink service. The program is open to the public for anyone who wants to develop iOS or Android apps for the system, however, gaining access must be cleared first by Ford. Since loosening up its program, Ford has been on a roll as the motor company started to announce a bunch of integrated services that run on its AppLink in-car infotainment system.

Of course, this is only the beginning as we’re sure to see many more major services become available by way of AppLink apps. Ford officially opening the floodgates for developers last month will speed up new apps coming to its SYNC cars. It’s smart. With Spotify on board, all we need now is something for us Rdio users.

[via The Verge]

What’s New in Version 2.1.0

• Long Press. Hold your finger on a piece of music to share, sync to device, add to playlist, or Play Later.
• Improved Design. Continued usability enhancements make it easier to browse and interact with content.
• Badges. Easily see what music you’ve added to your Collection or synced to your device.

I am partly bias toward this app because it is my favorite music streaming service on the market. My favorite addition provided by the update is the Badges feature because it makes it really easy to know which pieces of music you’ve added to your collection.

[via iTunes App Store]