TechRadar reports that Samsung is closing its Samsung Music Hub service on 1st July, with the company advising users to download all purchased content and use any vouchers before that date. Music Hub was based on a cloud-based system the company acquired when it purchased the Californian company mSpot.
The service was part of Samsung’s attempt to get into content sales, with the company having similar hubs for books, videos and apps. It’s not known whether those will also close. Samsung issued a somewhat confusing statement reading … Expand Expanding Close
Google is currently sending out emails for a Play Music promo that offers up to five bestselling albums for $1.99 a pop. Invitations appear to be hitting random Gmail users, as some of our staff has received the offer and others have not. The offer’s disclosure says it’s only available to new Google Play Music users, however it appears to be rolling out to casual customers as well.
As for the music being offered, there are fairly new full albums from artists like Drake, Blake Shelton, Childish Gambino, Arcade Fire, Rihanna and dozens more. If you’re lucky enough to score an invite to the deal, you’ll have until 11:59pm PST to take advantage of this offer.
Google’s Play Music All Access subscription streaming service is today arriving for Canadian users almost a year after first launching in the U.S. and Europe. A report from the CBC notes that Google is expected to make an official announcement today ahead of the Canadian Music Week event kicking off May 6.
MagicPlay—another app from the doubleTwist developers—brings support for Apple’s AirPlay to any Android device running Android 4.1, allowing content to be streamed to an Apple TV connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the phone. If you aren’t rooted, a separate app will enable you to stream your music and videos to an Apple TV or compatible set of speakers from doubleTwist, but you won’t be able to use these features within the Play Music app itself.
If your device is rooted, however, MagicPlay now adds an option to stream your content via AirPlay from the Play Music app. This feature, added in the 1.1 update that was released today, was announced by doubleTwist in a blog post today. MagicPlay now takes advantage of an API normally reserved for the Chromecast: Expand Expanding Close
If listening to tunes on your Chromebook is a daily activity, you’ll be happy to know that the process just became more refined. Thanks to a recent Chrome OS dev update, owners of Google’s internet-fueled notebooks can now control the volume of their music by using the device’s arrow keys. It’s a modest addition for sure, but it’ll most likely make life a little easier for people who struggle with their Chromebook’s trackpad.
Here’s an overview of the keyboard shortcuts for this new feature :
Press <Up> to increase the volume of 1
Press <Down> to decrease the volume of 1
Press <Alt> + <Up> to increase the volume of 10
Press <Alt> + <Down> to decrease the volume of 10
Since you’ll probably be queueing up new playlists this weekend, allow us to make a suggestion. Nas’ “The World is Yours” is currently free from the Play Store. You’re welcome.
After listening to user feedback, Beats Electronics has released an update for its Beats Music app for Android. The 6.9MB download brings a new widget, refined social media tools, improved offline play and a standard group of undocumented fixes. While these enhancements may not be enough to lure some folks away from other music streaming services, they’re definitely a step in the right direction.
Here’s a look at version 1.0.8’s complete changelog:
A brand spanking new widget
Find your friends feature lets you find your friends and follow your Facebook friends on Beats Music
Ability to link and unlink your Twitter and Facebook accounts
New Tracks available in The Sentence
Offline mode and downloading improvements
Player fixes
If you’re a Beats Music subscriber ready to get your groove on, dance on over to the Play Store and pull down this update.
When Android first hit smartphones, it shipped with the Android Market, a storefront for downloading apps. Two years ago, however, Google decided to replace the Market with the new, revamped Google Play Store. The new store would house all of Google’s offerings, from music and videos to books and Android apps. You can even buy a new phone through the store these days.
Now, to celebrate the two-year anniversary of the launch, Google is giving users discounts and sales on movies, music, apps, and more store-wide. A special page has been setup that will list the various discounts you’ll be able to take advantage of during the sale.
Today, Google has released a new application for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch to allow Google Play users to stream purchased movies and TV shows. You cannot rent or purchase content via this application: you must download it from Google Play on Android or the web and then the purchased titles will be available to stream via this app. The application is only supported in the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom. WiFi is currently required for streaming. The app also allows streaming to the ChromeCast.
As the hours tick away to the end of 2013, Google Play Music is still offering a few freebies to help ring in the new year. Under the “Best Tracks of 2013,” Google is giving away some of the following songs:
YouTube is planning to launch a subscription-based video-focused music streaming service, according to Billboard. Like many other streaming music services, YouTube’s program will have both free and paid accounts. Unlike other services, however, YouTube plans to integrate video into their platform by allowing users to stream music videos along with regular audio tracks.
Paid subscribers will reportedly an ad-free listening experience, on-demand access to any song or video in the service’s catalog, and unlimited streaming. Offline listening is also being considered, allowing subscribers to download songs to their mobile devices for playback even without an Internet connection.
YouTube announced today on its YouTube Partners & Creators Blog that is launching a new Audio Library that will provide YouTubers with access royalty-free instrumental audio tracks to use in their YouTube videos and elsewhere. The new Audio Library tool is available via a link in the YouTube video manager and currently provides access to over 150 tracks grouped by genre, instrument, and mood that can be downloaded as 320 Kbps MP3s.
Google also noted that it teamed up with a number of musicians to record the original tracks:
As you can see, this project was a whole lot of fun. We searched far and wide for musicians to create tracks for us and ended up finding co-conspirators in multiple places: an acquaintance down in LA, music houses across the country and a well-known music producer in Brooklyn. And it turns out the latter produced albums for Phish and Sean Lennon. So, we’re basically rock stars now (or we felt like them for awhile).
You can check out the new Audio Library for yourself here. Musicians that are interested in submitting music to be considered for the audio library can do so here. Unfortunately, in exchange for offering up your tunes royalty-free forever, Google does not seem to be crediting artists for their contributions in the Audio Library. Expand Expanding Close
Google announced today on Google+ that a new partnership with Starbucks will provide free WiFi and the ability for customers at Starbucks locations to stream unlimited songs, radio and more from Google’s recently launched AllAccess music service. Apple has of course offered similar promotions and continues to offer free iTunes content and more through Starbucks locations. Back in 2007 it announced a partnership with Starbucks in the US to offer a free iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, and it continues to offer its free app and song of the week picks through physical cards in store and through mobile apps.
Google’s new streaming music service is still limited to the US, so we’re assuming the new promotion is also limited to Starbucks locations within the country. Last we heard an iOS app for the service would be arriving sometime this month. Expand Expanding Close
When Google unveiled its brand new $9.99/month “All Access” Google Play music streaming service earlier this month at its I/O keynote, we quickly learned that the service would not be coming to iOS initially. Google didn’t get into why, but today developers of the popular gMusic iOS app has unofficially brought support for the service to iPhone and iPad.
The app previously acted as client for songs stored in your Google Music library, but with an update to version 6.0 today the All Access subscription service is now officially available to iOS users. The changelog on iTunes also lists the ability to “Create/play Radio Stations” and “Search, listen, and add music to your library from inside the app.”
As for why Google didn’t make it’s own All Access app for iOS, we’ve heard from sources close to the situation that Google wants to submit an app but is currently in a holding pattern with Apple regarding what they will accept.
Google just announced its much rumored new music service that it is calling Google Play Music “All Access” live on stage at its Google I/O event keynote presentation.
Google execs focused on showing off curated playlists but also made a note of pointing out a “radio” feature that will automatically create an endless radio station based on the song you’re currently listening to. The service will also allow users to search for a particular song or view the “playlist” of a radio station to remove unwanted songs.
The service also includes a feature called “Listen Now” that will provide quick access to recently listened to songs, customized radio stations based on your preferences, and recommendations for new releases from artists you like.
The service will be available on the web, tablets, and phones and cost users $9.99 per month with a 30 day free trial in the US. Those that sign up before the end of June will be able to get the subscription for just $7.99/month and Google said the service will land in other countries soon.
Google gave an update regarding improvements to the Google Play store coming to Android devices and elsewhere yesterday during Day 1 of its Google I/O keynote. However, information on what was in the works for Google TV was notably left out from its presentations (despite two identical Google Glass skydiver demos from yesterday and today). Today, Google made a blog post confirming features that were announced for Android devices yesterday. A new UI, subscription billing, and movie, music and TV shows will also come to the Google Play store on Google TV this summer:
You already have access to a variety of apps on Google Play, and soon you’ll be able to find movies, TV shows, and music from Google Play to stream on Google TV. Google Play works across devices, so you can rent and start watching a movie on your Google TV, keep watching on your tablet on the move, and finish watching on Google TV. The TV & Movies app will also show Google Play content, adding to the more than 100,000 TV episodes and movies available in the app. The full power of Google Play will be available later this summer on all Google TV devices.
After many requests from paying subscribers, the folks over at Spotify introduced a completely overhauled Android app this morning. It features an all new user interface, speed boost, and support for Android 4.0. The app formerly lacked features that the iOS app has, but now it is updated to be on par with the app on the App Store. Spotify for Android allows users to listen to unlimited music and build playlists to their liking for only $10 a month. We are huge fans, especially since Android does not have an iTunes-like solution. Unlimited music anytime, on any device — what’s not to love.
The app adds full support for Ice Cream Sandwich, allowing the latest devices in the Android ecosystem to enjoy the platform. Without ICS support, users were not able to enjoy Spotify on the latest and greatest version of Android. Now that the app is working on the latest generation of Android devices, it is a huge bonus and frankly something that should have been already included.
As you can tell in the screenshots below, the big story here is that Spotify for Android has been given a huge overhaul compared to the old version of the app. Users can use the all-new slide-out navigation, view their friends’ Facebook profiles and playlists right on the app, and view album art in high-resolution. The app also features an overall speed enhancement that is very noticeable when you fire up the app.
Spotify plans to add folders and Last.fm scrobbling to the app before it goes live on the Play Store, but it was not included in the pre-release software that we tested.
Overall, Spotify has made some great changes that allow Android users to enjoy its service. Spotify has done a great job with this app, and it is now on-par, if not surpassing, the iPhone app. Spotify plans to launch the app very soon, and we will keep you updated when the app hits the Play Store. Now we just need to hear some more information on that rumored iPad app.
Android just announced on Google+ that new songs from artists Drake, Mary J. Blige and the band Maroon 5 are now free in Android Market for all United States users until Jan. 31. Android also reminded users that every track syncs from Android Market to their Google Music accounts, as well.
Detailed information regarding the select songs is available below.
Facebook held at least two meetings with Vevo —the most recent one occurring within the last couple of weeks— to discuss moving the music video service from YouTube to the social network’s platform.
However, sources told CNETthat the talks are “very preliminary,” and they mentioned there is one year remaining on Vevo’s contract with Google’s YouTube.
Vevo launched in 2009 and offers music videos from Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI Music. YouTube helped launch the startup, and subsequently Vevo’s videos appear on the partner’s service, with Google and Vevo sharing advertising revenue.
Vevo features the most extensive catalog of premium music content on the Internet, and it is available in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom through its website, mobile apps, or by way of connected televisions. The service currently powers music videos on artist profiles across Facebook, and its content is syndicates to numerous online websites, including AOL, BET, CBS Interactive Music Group, Fuse.tv and Univision. Moreover, through YouTube, Vevo is accessible in over 200 countries.
Facebook is allegedly interested in an arrangement similar to the one Vevo has in place with YouTube now, which would allow the social network to stream Vevo’s music videos with the two companies sharing profits from advertising revenue…
Google has just announced the new Google Music, so we’ve decided to show our lovely readers a quick tour. Above you’ll find a tour of both the Android and web app, including me purchasing a song. My Google+ friends were also able to use the one free play, as seen below.
Spotted by TechCrunch, music.google.com begins to confirm rumors of Google’s new Music store that will drop in a few weeks. The webpage loaded on an Android device drops a hint at purchasing music through the Android market. As you can see in the image above, the webpage says, “Get songs from your favorite artists in Android market, or hundreds of free tracks.”
Currently, Music Beta is only available on the Android Market to those in the beta. The beta currently only features uploading of songs and not actually purchasing them . Purchasing is a rumored feature that is rumored to come out in the next two weeks with Google Plus integration.
Spotify, a popular music streaming service from Sweden, arrived in the United States mid-July on an invite-only basis. Today, Spotify goes live for everyone nationwide, no invitation required. Users can now sign up for an account at Spotify.com and use a mobile app for Android or iPhone to stream music over wireless and cellular networks to their phones, tag songs for offline viewing, favorite tracks, share them with friends and more. What’s best, you needn’t sign up for a paid Spotify account. Thanks to a new partnership with Facebook that Mark Zuckerberg announced at the yesterday’s developer conference (more in the clip below), anyone signing up with their Facebook account gets six months of unlimited listening. What happens when the six-month free period expires?
When Google unveiled its brand new 
