What Else? Spotify, iTunes 11, Apple Trashes Ping, Clive Davis, Google, Virgin...

Wednesday, September 12, 2012
by  niko

Spotify is getting closer to its massive, Goldman Sachs-powered round. The latest rumble comes from the New York Post, which is pointing to a $400 million airdrop that would value Spotify at an 'eye-popping' $4 billion.  "Spotify wants to grow geography, building out in other countries, and they need money for rights negotiations," one source said.     

And, the iPhone 5 debut may have overshadowed another big announcement from Apple on Wednesday.

An updated, iTunes 11 will feature a much slicker, simpler user interface and tighter integration with iCloud, along with other social integration tie-ins to Facebook and Twitter.  The updates will get rolled into iTunes installations across iOS, OS X and Windows devices, with a planned rollout in October.

Unfortunately, there was nothing about the rumored, Pandora-like radio competitor during Wednesday presentations.  That said, the updated features list is extensive.  Apple executive Eddie Cue noted that users will be able to hear 90-second previews while browsing the rest of the store, and users will also enjoy perks like better search and improved playlist functionality.  Cue also shared some accumulated iTunes accomplishments...

iTunes now has about 26 million songs.

More than 20 billion songs have been purchased over the last 9 years.

The iTunes Store is now available in 63 countries.

iTunes in the cloud is now being used by 200 million people.

In other Apple news, the tech giant is giving the ax to Ping.  Apple discreetly slipped the news into an update of iTunes 10.7 that was released today to add support for iOS 6. "We tried Ping, and I think the customer voted and said this isn't something that I want to put a lot of energy into," said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

And, perhaps deepest in the shadow of the iPhone 5, Apple is also unveiling updated iPod touches and nanos.  The nano is now in its seventh generation, and receives a nice cosmetic refresh and lots of color choices in the latest round.  The touch is being treated to the much faster, A5 processor.

Elsewhere, legendary music mogul Clive Davis will release an autobiography this February.  It will tell the story of 'the excitements, the disappointments and the triumphs' of Davis' career.  Davis, now 80, has helped develop the careers of superstars like Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, and countless others.  The new autobiography, which will be written with music journalist Anthony DeCurtis.

Davis, founder of Arista and J Records, is currently 'Chief Creative Officer' of Sony Music and working on Franklin's new album and a Houston compilation release.   An earlier book, Clive: Inside The Record Business, was published in 1975.  The upcoming autobiography is not yet titled.

As iTunes and Amazon run away with their scan-n-match music plays, Google is still negotiating the rights with majors.  C|Net points to ongoing snags between Google Play and at least two different labels, though questions linger over whether licenses are needed at all.

And Virgin America will soon have lots of music videos for your onboard viewing pleasure, thanks to a just-inked content deal involving VEVO.

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Google launches music service (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Google Inc has turned on the music at its new online store, aiming to wrest the lead from Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc in audio entertainment distribution despite the absence of a major record label.

Google Music, with more 13 million songs, will be integrated with Android Market, the company's online store for smartphone apps and videos as it plays catch-up with its rivals. Apple, Amazon and Facebook have to varying degrees integrated music into their core online and mobile products.

Google Music will allow the Web search leader to do the same by letting consumers access music from various Internet-connected devices and easily share tracks with friends.

But analysts said the lack of soundtracks from Warner Music - a major label whose artists include Led Zeppelin and Prince, among others - will limit the appeal of Google Music.

"They've got to get that catalog filled pretty quickly," said Mike McGuire, an analyst at industry research firm Gartner. "It's a launch, but it's kind of like a work-in-progress."

Google Music was unveiled at a splashy event at the Mr. Brainwash Studios in Hollywood, California on Wednesday.

Google has negotiated U.S. deals with three of the four major music companies: Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group; Sony Corp's Sony Music Entertainment; and EMI. It has also signed deals with the increasingly influential independent label group Merlin and London-based Beggar's Banquet label group, home to the year's biggest selling artist, Adele.

Analysts say selling online music is unlikely to provide much of a lift to Google's revenue. But they say Google needs to be in the market to ensure that its Android-based mobile efforts can match offerings from competitors.

Android is the world's No. 1 smartphone operating system, powering about 200 million devices worldwide. But without a music service, Android-based smartphones and tablets may not be as attractive to consumers seeking a product that offers a seamless media experience.

And with music storage increasingly moving to remote Internet servers in "the cloud" rather than on the device itself, companies like Google and Apple have a way to keep users locked in to their respective mobile services, said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

"Everyone is using music and media as a jail. Ultimately, this stuff is going to be stored in the cloud and it becomes harder and harder to switch systems," he said.

To help jump-start the new music store, Google said it will offer one free song for consumers to download every day.

Google will also allow consumers to share purchased songs with friends on the Google+ social network. The feature will give users of Google+ a "free, full-play" of songs purchased by their friends.

"Recommendations from friends are the single most important way that people discover music and we think that this feature has the potential to really transform purchasing behavior," said Zahavah Levine, Google's director of content partnerships for Android, at Wednesday's event.

Music executives said that even though sales have struggled in recent years, music usage has never been more popular on different types of formats like social networks and mobile devices.

Facebook, the world's largest social network, unveiled a tab in September through which music services like Spotify, Rdio and MOG enable Facebook users to share music. Amazon has also long been a major music retailer and has a music locker service

Earlier this year, Google unveiled the Google Music beta, which allowed users to upload their music to Google servers, and access the music from multiple devices.

Shares of Google, which finished Wednesday's regular session at $611.47, were up 72 cents in after-hours trading.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles, Yinka Adegoke in New York and Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Bernard Orr and Richard Chang)

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Google launches music service

1 of 10. Jamie Rosenberg, director of Digital Content (Android) at Google, speaks at the launch of Google Music in Los Angeles November 16, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

By Lisa Richwine and Alexei Oreskovic

LOS ANGELES | Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:09pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Google Inc has turned on the music at its new online store, aiming to wrest the lead from Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc in audio entertainment distribution despite the absence of a major record label.

Google Music, with more 13 million songs, will be integrated with Android Market, the company's online store for smartphone apps and videos as it plays catch-up with its rivals. Apple, Amazon and Facebook have to varying degrees integrated music into their core online and mobile products.

Google Music will allow the Web search leader to do the same by letting consumers access music from various Internet-connected devices and easily share tracks with friends.

But analysts said the lack of soundtracks from Warner Music - a major label whose artists include Led Zeppelin and Prince, among others - will limit the appeal of Google Music.

"They've got to get that catalog filled pretty quickly," said Mike McGuire, an analyst at industry research firm Gartner. "It's a launch, but it's kind of like a work-in-progress."

Google Music was unveiled at a splashy event at the Mr. Brainwash Studios in Hollywood, California on Wednesday.

Google has negotiated U.S. deals with three of the four major music companies: Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group; Sony Corp's Sony Music Entertainment; and EMI. It has also signed deals with the increasingly influential independent label group Merlin and London-based Beggar's Banquet label group, home to the year's biggest selling artist, Adele.

Analysts say selling online music is unlikely to provide much of a lift to Google's revenue. But they say Google needs to be in the market to ensure that its Android-based mobile efforts can match offerings from competitors.

Android is the world's No. 1 smartphone operating system, powering about 200 million devices worldwide. But without a music service, Android-based smartphones and tablets may not be as attractive to consumers seeking a product that offers a seamless media experience.

And with music storage increasingly moving to remote Internet servers in "the cloud" rather than on the device itself, companies like Google and Apple have a way to keep users locked in to their respective mobile services, said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

"Everyone is using music and media as a jail. Ultimately, this stuff is going to be stored in the cloud and it becomes harder and harder to switch systems," he said.

To help jump-start the new music store, Google said it will offer one free song for consumers to download every day.

Google will also allow consumers to share purchased songs with friends on the Google+ social network. The feature will give users of Google+ a "free, full-play" of songs purchased by their friends.

"Recommendations from friends are the single most important way that people discover music and we think that this feature has the potential to really transform purchasing behavior," said Zahavah Levine, Google's director of content partnerships for Android, at Wednesday's event.

Music executives said that even though sales have struggled in recent years, music usage has never been more popular on different types of formats like social networks and mobile devices.

Facebook, the world's largest social network, unveiled a tab in September through which music services like Spotify, Rdio and MOG enable Facebook users to share music. Amazon has also long been a major music retailer and has a music locker service

Earlier this year, Google unveiled the Google Music beta, which allowed users to upload their music to Google servers, and access the music from multiple devices.

Shares of Google, which finished Wednesday's regular session at $611.47, were up 72 cents in after-hours trading.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles, Yinka Adegoke in New York and Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Bernard Orr and Richard Chang)

View the original article here