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Tech NewsWhy Does Music Make Us Feel Things?
Once a day, at least, I’ll tear up listening to music. Just a drop or two, or not even a drop, just a pre-cry convulsion, a sudden seizure of feeling. More often than not, I have no specific memories tied to the song in question—sometimes I’m hearing it for the first or second time. If … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsDon’t Do It, Samsung
Rumors that Samsung may potentially ditch Tizen, its proprietary OS for wearables, for Google’s Wear OS, have been flying lately. It’s a baffling idea, considering that Samsung smartwatches are the best Android-friendly smartwatches right now, and Wear OS is a stinking hot mess. Case in point: 9to5Google reports that the “OK Google” or “Hey Google” phrases … Continued
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Tech NewsInternetNow You Can Filter Your Liked Spotify Jams by Mood
Finally, you can sort the music in your Liked Songs playlist on Spotify. Hitting play on the Liked Songs playlist in Spotify has always been a bit of a crapshoot for me—I never know whether I’ll get Steely Dan or Phoebe Bridgers or Ginuwine’s “Pony.” If this sounds like you (maybe sans “Pony” but that’s … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsInternetSpotify Will Launch a HiFi Streaming Tier Later This Year
Audiophiles, rejoice. Spotify announced today during a media event that starting later this year, Premium subscribers will get the option of streaming CD-quality, lossless audio via a new paid tier dubbed Spotify HiFi. According to Spotify, high-fidelity audio is “consistently one of the most requested new features” by users. Once it’s live, Spotify HiFi users will … Continued
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Tech NewsSpotify’s Employees Can Now Work Wherever They’d Like—No Office Required
As the global pandemic rages on, we’ve been seeing a slew of tech companies consider making remote work an option for their employees even after covid. Now Spotify is on board: On Friday, the company announced the rollout of its Work From Anywhere program, which will give the thousands of Spotify employees around the globe … Continued
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Tech NewsInternetIt Looks Like Apple Will Let You Change Your Default Music App in iOS 14.5
Apple’s giving users another good reason to take its latest public beta for a test drive. Hawk-eyed Redditors using the iOS 14.5 public beta noticed that when asking Siri to play music, the assistant will prompt the user to select which music app they’d like it to use to play the song or artist. Normally, … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsInternetSpotify Could One Day Recommend Songs Based on How Your Voice Sounds
Spotify’s powerful algorithm makes finding music you like a breeze. But what if it could recommend music based on how you sound? That’s the idea proposed in a patent Spotify was recently granted (reported by Pitchfork), which outlines potential uses for this kind of technology. The patent details a concept for using audio signals—your voice, background … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsGadgetsSomeone Hacked a 17-Year-Old iPod to Stream Spotify
There hasn’t been much attention paid to the iPod since the iPhone arrived, and that’s a crime, because it was a brilliantly simple device with a wonderful user interface. To help make it relevant again, Guy Dupont gave a 17-year-old iPod a much-needed upgrade with the ability to wirelessly stream Spotify so that it plays … Continued
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Tech NewsI Defeated the AI That Roasts Your Spotify Taste
Disappointments are a natural part of life. Sometimes you buy a new game that doesn’t live up to the hype, or you end up with a new gadget that, while cool in concept, is actually kind of useless. In my case, that meant (possibly) breaking a playlist-roasting bot that my coworkers and colleagues were raving … Continued
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Tech NewsPlease, Stop Adding Stories to Every Single App
Et tu, Spotify? The moment Thanksgiving was over, Spotify updated its annual Christmas Hits playlist. But as spotted by Engadget, the big addition this year wasn’t Christmas Without You by Ava Max, a test run of an Instagram Stories-like feature. In both the iOS and Android apps, right under the cover photo of a beaming … Continued
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Tech NewsThere Are Now Stories Everywhere, Even on Spotify
It’s almost as if the little glowing story circles are following us everywhere. They’re on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Twitter and now, even on Spotify. This week, some users noticed the circles on popular Spotify playlists, including the “Christmas Hits” playlist, which I myself listened a lot while trying not to burn my mashed potatoes. … Continued
By Jody Serrano -
Tech NewsPrivacy & SecuritySpotify’s Latest Acquisition Is All About Your Data
Another day, another Spotify acquisition. This time, it’s podcast advertising platform Megaphone, which the music streaming giant announced it was buying earlier today, in an attempt to beef up its advertising chops as it expands its roster of podcast programming. The acquisition accomplishes a few things for both the buyer and buy-ee. On Spotify’s end, … Continued
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Tech NewsLooks Like Spotify Is Considering a Subscription Service for Its Podcasts
Spotify appears to be toying with the idea of launching a subscription package for its podcast content where users would pay a monthly fee to listen to original shows or exclusive episodes. Not to be confused with its existing ad-less paid tier, Spotify Premium—nope, this would be a separate subscription fee solely for podcasts. Given … Continued
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Tech NewsPoliticsSteve Bannon Might Regret Calling for Acting Government Officials to Be Murdered [Updated]
Washed-up former White House chief strategist and felony fraud defendant Steve Bannon isn’t taking Donald Trump’s increasingly certain ouster from the presidency well. In an episode of his interminable WAR ROOM: Pandemic podcast on Thursday, he called for the nation’s top infectious disease official and the director of the FBI to be murdered and for … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech NewsLooks Like Spotify Is Expanding Its Streaming Beta on the Apple Watch
Spotify on the Apple Watch is a bit of a sore spot. The first Apple Watch launched back in in 2015, but it wasn’t until November 2018 that a Spotify app made its way to the popular smartwatch. And even then, it sucked. It was a glorified remote. But now, it appears that Spotify is … Continued
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Tech NewsThe HomePod Finally Has a Third-Party Music App but No, It’s Not Spotify
Earlier this year, Apple very subtly teased that third-party music services would be coming to the HomePod. Well folks, that time has come. The HomePod (and the new HomePod Mini) will now let you use another music service other than Apple Music. No, it’s not Spotify—it’s Pandora. In an app update pushed out yesterday, Pandora … Continued
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Tech NewsSpotify Finds a Pay-for-Play Workaround
As far as big tech media companies go, Spotify’s algorithms have largely avoided scrutiny. But we’re entering a new era for the music streaming giant’s relationship with the algos. People are slowly gaining awareness of Spotify’s potential for emotional surveillance—a model for personality profiling that does for music what Facebook did for friends. And on … Continued
By Rhett Jones
