Author

Jordan Kahn

Dir. Partnerships

9to5Mac / 9to5Google / 9to5Toys / Electrek.co / DroneDJ / SpaceExplored

Jordan manages the internal Partner Program for sponsorships and partnerships across the 9to5 network’s media brands including 9to5Mac, 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, Electrek.co, SpaceExplored and DroneDJ.com.

Jordan also writes about all things Apple as a Senior Editor of 9to5Mac. He covers Google for 9to5Google.com, the best gadgets and deals on 9to5Toys.com, and EV and solar news on Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series and makes music sometimes.

Contact Jordan with partnership inquiries and long-winded complaints:

Connect with Jordan Kahn

jordankahn

AAPL Company

Apple files conflict minerals disclosure for 2013 with SEC

Jordan Kahn May 29 2014 - 2:25 pm PT

0 Comments

Apple-supplierresponsibility- report-2013

Apple filed its conflict minerals disclosure today with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and in it detailed its process of ethical sourcing of minerals used in Apple products between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013.

Apple noted that it has identified 205 smelters and refiners of the “subject materials” that it works to ensure are conflict-free, but also admits it “does not have sufficient information to conclusively determine the country of origin of the Subject Minerals in its products or whether the Subject Minerals are from recycled or scrap sources.”
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google: Digital Creative Agency Fred & Farid replaces Macs w/ Chromebooks

Jordan Kahn May 29 2014 - 11:10 am PT

6 Comments

samsung-chromebook-deal-refurb Google loves to highlight its work getting Chromebooks into the hands of business customers and a lot of the time that also means a switch from Windows and Microsoft Office products to Chrome OS and Google Apps. It’s not as often, however, that we hear about companies that decide to replace their Macs with Chromebooks. Today Google published a guest blog post from CIO of digital creative group Fred & Farid Group about the company’s decision to do exactly that, replace Macs with Chromebooks for around 60 percent of its employees:

Macs are a popular choice among the creative team. But I soon realized not everyone needs a Mac, especially the 60 percent of our employees who work in office roles like marketing, sales, IT, and administration. We recently rolled out 10 Samsung Chromebooks in a small pilot and plan to have 200 employees on Chromebooks by the end of the year. Our decision to adopt Chromebooks wasn’t based solely on price — though we expect to save a significant amount compared to deploying Macs — but also a desire to have faster collaboration. When you have a Chromebook, you think less about downloading stuff to your hard drive and more about sharing information in the cloud. With Google Drive, we’re able to store, sync and share all our important files easily, whether it’s when we’re on our Chromebooks or on our phones and tablets on the go.

Like with those switching from Windows, relying on mostly Google Apps is one of the reasons the company decided Macs weren’t necessary for many of its employees: We use Google Hangouts for all our voice communications — we don’t even have phone lines in our offices anymore. In the Paris office alone, we conduct more than 50 Hangouts each day. Of course, we also use Drive for document sharing and Calendar for scheduling.

More on the Google Enterprise Blog here.

IDC lowers tablet shipment forecast, expects a 5.5-inch iPhone could cannibalize iPad sales

Jordan Kahn May 29 2014 - 9:50 am PT

4 Comments

Tablet-Market-Forecast Yet another lowered forecast for tablet shipments this year comes today from IDC following a similar move from Morgan Stanley earlier this month. IDC announced today that it’s lowering its tablet shipment 245.4 million units down from a total 260.9 million units, which is around 12.1% year-over-year growth for the category vs the 51.8% growth last year. We’ve seen how much growth potential there is for tablets vs PCs and smartphones, but IDC’s report notes that tablets might see increased competition from the phablet category this year. The report classifies phablets as smartphones with 5.5-inch to 7-inches and IDC thinks Apple’s new larger iPhone could eat into some of its iPad sales:

“Two major issues are causing the tablet market to slow down. First, consumers are keeping their tablets, especially higher-cost models from major vendors, far longer than originally anticipated. And when they do buy a new one they are often passing their existing tablet off to another member of the family,” said Tom Mainelli, Program Vice President, Devices & Displays at IDC. “Second, the rise of phablets – smartphones with 5.5-inch and larger screens – are causing many people to second-guess tablet purchases as the larger screens on these phones are often adequate for tasks once reserved for tablets.”

IDC notes that the share of smartphone shipments captured by so called phablets doubled from 4.3% in Q1 of 2013 to 10.5% in Q1 of this year. representing 30.1 million units shipped. “As large phones clearly impact near-term tablet growth, IDC expects the market to rebound by shifting its focus back toward larger-screened devices.”

GE integrates iBeacons in new LED lighting fixtures rolling out in Walmart & other retailers

Jordan Kahn May 29 2014 - 7:59 am PT

16 Comments

GE-iBeacon-LED-Lighting-Fixture

Up until now most retailers have been deploying Apple’s iBeacon technology by purchasing small standalone Bluetooth beacons or using iPad terminals that act as beacons. Now, GE is introducing its next-generation LED light fixture that packs in a combo Bluetooth LE/Visual Light Communication chip for iBeacon functionality allowing retailers to cut costs and avoid purchasing standalone beacons from a company like Estimote. It’s already got one massive customer about to roll out the iBeacon lighting fixtures: Walmart announced back in April (before iBeacon support was announced) that it plans to roll out these same new GE lighting fixtures to stores worldwide as part of its switch to LED.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Eddy Cue: Apple has the best product pipeline in 25 years coming later this year [Video]

Jordan Kahn May 28 2014 - 9:11 pm PT

8 Comments

Eddy Cue, Jimmy Iovine, Apple, Beats Music, Code Conference

(Image via Re/code)

In case you were wondering if Apple does indeed plan to release some new products this year, perhaps in time for WWDC early next month, Eddy Cue made an extremely confident statement about what Apple has planned. During his interview at the Code Conference, the same one where he shared some of the latest stats on iTunes, Cue just said that Apple has the best product pipeline he’s seen in over 25 years with new products coming later this year:

I have been working with Tim since 1997. We started the online store together. Cook is extremely thorough, he has tremendous vision. He cares tremendously about building great products. Looking at the executive team, the reason we are successful is because of our focus. We are not smart enough to do 100 great things. We want to do a few incredible things, and that hasn’t changed. We’re going to keep going down that path… Later this year, we’ve got the best product pipeline that I’ve seen in my 25 years at Apple”

Video of the conversation is below:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Eddy Cue: Apple passed 35 billions songs sold on iTunes last week, 40 million iTunes Radio listeners

Jordan Kahn May 28 2014 - 8:35 pm PT

3 Comments

Live from the Eddy Cue and Jimmy Iovine interview at the Code Conference, Cue is sharing some of the latest stats for iTunes and other services and noted that Apple just crossed 35 billion songs sold this past week. That’s up from the 25 billion songs purchased and downloaded that Apple announced in February of last year. Cue said sold, but we’re assuming that 35 billion number includes both purchases and downloads like Apple’s stat did in its press release last year.

Cue also noted that iTunes has around 800 million customers total and around 40 million iTunes Radio listeners in the U.S. and Australia with a lot of growth coming internationally. Iovine also shared some stats confirming previous reports that Beats Music is now at around 250,000 subscribers from a total of 5 million downloads. Iovine claimed conversions from downloads to paid customers would have been a lot higher if Beats Music was using Apple’s in-app purchase mechanism.

Tune into our live blog of the interview happening now for the latest.

HockeyApp app testing platform gets big 3.0 update w/ Team Management & more

Jordan Kahn May 28 2014 - 7:49 pm PT

0 Comments

HockeyApp, one of the last big independent, cross-platform app testing platforms after Apple acquired TestFlight (and pulled Android support) earlier this year, gets a big update today with version 3.0. The full change log includes a long list of new features, enhancements, and fixes, but the company ran through a few of the most notable new features in a blog post. One of the most requested new features is Team Management:

You asked for it, you (finally!) got it. You can now create and manage users in teams with HockeyApp. Once a user has accepted your team invite, you can add this team to apps without sending further invites. Our new User Control Center shows you which teams and users have been added to the app, which device are not provisioned, and which users have applied to become a tester.

The release also includes a new feature for adding Organizations that are owned by multiple people, a new notification system, feedback attachments, and a much improved user interface and overall user experience. In addition, you’ll find updated pricing plans and more details on the company’s website here.

Beats Music iOS app drops yearly pricing to $99, extends free trial as Apple confirms deal

Jordan Kahn May 28 2014 - 1:37 pm PT

9 Comments

Beats-iOS-app

Right as news is breaking that the Apple and Beats deal is finally official for $3B, the Beats iOS app has just been updated with new pricing and an extended free trial for all users.

Up from the previous free 7-day trial offered by the service, Beats Music now offers a “no strings attached trial” for 14 days to all users. Most notable in the update, however, is the fact that the service is slashing pricing from $119.88 a year to $99.99/year:

We’ve dropped price of our yearly subscription to $99.99, down from $119.88.

The service will continue to charge $9.99/month for users not purchasing a yearly subscription. The Beats Music website FAQ has been updated to reflect the new pricing and also continues to list $15/month family plans and extended free trials offered to AT&T customers.

Apple also confirmed today that it will continue to operate Beats Music as a separate service including Android and Windows phone apps.

Version 2.1.0 also includes “tons of bug fixes so the whole experience runs smooth as silk.”

What’s New in Version 2.1.0

● We’re stoked to announce that our no strings attached trial has been extended to 14 days to ensure everyone gets ample time to explore the full Beats Music experience.

● We’ve dropped price of our yearly subscription to $99.99, down from $119.88.

● To top it off, we pushed tons of bug fixes so the whole experience runs smooth as silk.

Apple tweaks Top Charts in App Store on iOS

Jordan Kahn May 28 2014 - 11:23 am PT

0 Comments

TechCrunch notes that Apple has quietly made some changes to the App Store Top Charts by reducing the top 300 apps previously listed across Paid, Free and Top Grossing categories to just 150. It’s what I expect will be a welcomed change that shows Apple is attempting to clean up the App Store ranking system, but it’s not one that most users are likely to notice. As noted by app tracking company Appsfire in the report, “most users don’t even get to that part of the ranking – except industry watchers. If there’s any good reason to remove this part, it’s because it’s not used.”

It is, however, still up for debate if this will have any impact on the mostly smaller developers that will get booted from the top charts as a result. The change so far is only on the App Store on iOS.

It’s a sign at least that Apple is attempting to improve the App Store charts and app discovery in general, something it’s been doing behind the scenes on a regular basis. The change won’t do much to combat the shady tactics used by some developers to game the charts, but hopefully Apple has some bigger changes in store for iOS 8 that we’ll see at WWDC early next month.

In other App Store news, mobile analytics firm App Annie, which is often the best source around for tracking App Store related data that Apple doesn’t provide, announced today that it is acquiring competitor Distimo. With the acquisition, the company is now tracking more than 600,000 apps and has 270,000 registered business users. That includes “90 percent of the top 100 app publishers by revenue.”

Community

Is this the first mockup of a product from an acquisition that hasn’t even happened yet? (Update: It happened)

Jordan Kahn May 28 2014 - 10:40 am PT

6 Comments

Update: It happened. Another Apple concept from the people at Curved.de, this time imagining a product that probably won’t be the result…

Chrome iOS app gets improved Omnibox, revamped search results page

Jordan Kahn May 28 2014 - 10:05 am PT

1 Comment

Chrome-iOS-app-01 Google updated its Chrome app for iPhone and iPad today with a few minor features to make the browsing experience more comfortable. First up is right-to-left Omnibox support for Arabic and Hebrew after adding initial autocomplete support for right-to-left languages in the previous update. The company said the update also brings the ability to “Easily refine your search queries and view more results” thanks to a slightly revamped search results page.

In addition, Google will now let you “see your search term in the omnibox, instead of the long search query URL.” That means when you enter a search query and land on a Google search results page, you’ll no longer see a long, confusing URL in the omnibox but rather just your search term much like in Apple’s Safari iOS app.

What’s New in Version 35.0.1916.38

• Added right-to-left support to the omnibox for Arabic and Hebrew
• See your search term in the omnibox, instead of the long search query URL
• Easily refine your search queries and view more results on the search results page
• Stability improvements and bug fixes

AAPL Company

Analyst Mary Meeker: Charts show growth potential for tablets, Apple’s fight with declining smartphone prices, more

Jordan Kahn May 28 2014 - 9:39 am PT

3 Comments

The slide above is an interesting look at the rapid growth of tablets and how the category is growing much faster than desktop or notebook PCs ever accomplished. That and the fact there is still much room for growth is one of the key trends in a presentation from Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers at this week’s Code Conference.

The slide on the right above shows the potential for growth if tablets are to reach the population penetration of PCs (21%), smartphones (22%), or TVs (78%). The data in the slides comes from Morgan Stanley, which just so happen to lower its 2014 tablet growth forecast earlier this month suggesting that weaker than expected iPad sales could stick around for the rest of the year…
Expand
Expanding
Close

How will iPhone 6 display compare to the competition? LG says Apple’s 300ppi Retina definition is industry misconception

Jordan Kahn May 27 2014 - 11:13 am PT

71 Comments

LG-G3-Event-01

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone 4, he also introduced us to Apple’s definition of a Retina display. “There’s a magic number right around 300 pixels per inch, that when you hold something around 10 or 12 inches away from your eyes, is the limit of the human retina to differentiate the pixels… text looks like you’ve seen it in a fine printed book.” That Retina branding has become an industry misconception according to LG, and the company made a point of it during its G3 smartphone unveiling earlier today.

LG-G3-Event-03 Jobs also said that the Retina display was a first for a display on a phone, but that might not be the case for Apple’s new iPhone 6. Since the iPhone 4, Android manufacturers have one-upped Apple with higher resolution and larger displays. LG’s comments aren’t just relevant when comparing current iPhone models, but also when thinking about what’s planned for iPhone 6. It didn’t mention Apple by name, but it was clear LG was referring to the iPhone and Apple’s 300ppi Retina definition:
Expand
Expanding
Close

iOS
Apple TV

Netflix says fix for Dolby Digital 5.1 on its Apple TV channel coming soon

Jordan Kahn May 27 2014 - 9:54 am PT

8 Comments

Netflix-Apple-TV-01

Following the release of Apple TV update version 6.1 alongside the release of iOS 7.1 in early March, we’ve received several reports of an issue with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound in the Apple TV’s Netflix app. Following the update, users with 5.1 systems are only able to get stereo output from Netflix on the Apple TV. There have been an increasing number of complaints online in several Apple support forums as recent as this morning, but up until now Netflix and Apple have been quiet on the issue.

We’ve reached out to Netflix several times since the release of the Apple TV update and this morning the company acknowledged it’s aware of the problem and working to roll out a fix: “We are aware of the issue and are working to deploy a fix.”

We hope to have the fix out soon, but I can’t commit to a date. We have put a workaround in place that will playback titles in stereo instead of Dolby Digital 5.1.

It’s not providing any additional info or an ETA on when you can expect the fix, but at least you now have confirmation a fix is finally on the way three months after initial reports.

Report: Apple planning iOS-controlled smart home automation platform for WWDC unveiling

Jordan Kahn May 26 2014 - 8:04 am PT

24 Comments

According to a report from The Financial Times, Apple is working on a new software platform that would “turn the iPhone into a remote control for lights, security systems and other household appliances.” Apple’s iOS ecosystem is of course already home to an increasing number of connected products for the home like the Philips Hue WiFi connected light bulbs, the Nest thermostat and a number of iPhone controlled appliances, but the report claims that Apple will soon unveil a new central platform that will make for a more seamless experience:
Expand
Expanding
Close

AAPL Company

Apple’s first reseller approved in Iran following lifting of U.S. sales ban

Jordan Kahn May 26 2014 - 7:29 am PT

10 Comments

Apple-Store-Iran

Update: Several readers have noted that Vaghaye Gostar Fars claims to be the first to receive approval from the government in Iran to import Apple products following the sales ban, but is not necessarily officially associated with Apple. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment.

Following the U.S. government lifting a United States embargo for exports of products into Iran on May 30th of last year, reports from Fars News Agency and other local publications note the first company has now been granted permission by authorities in the country to start selling Apple products (via zoomit.ir). Iran’s Industry, Mines, and Trade ministry has approved a third-party reseller in the country reportedly called Vaghaye Gostar Fars that will be the first importer of Apple products following the sales ban.

Up until now, Iranians have been forced to purchase Apple products making their way to unofficial stores from the Middle East and surrounding regions via the black market. In 2012, Reuters ran a story detailing the approximately 100 stores in Iran’s capital of Tehran alone selling Apple products brought illegally into the country.

Last year Apple updated its website to reflect the U.S. government’s decision to lift the export ban, and at the time Apple commented that it is “no longer banned from selling Macs and iOS devices to customers who plan to bring or send those products to Iran.” Apple’s full original comment from the lifting of the sales ban is below:

“We’ve been told by the U.S. government that most Apple products are covered by regulatory changes announced by the Treasury Department,” she said, referring to a decision to ease restrictions on selling a broad array of communications equipment such as smartphones, laptops and computer software to Iran. “As a result, Apple is no longer banned from selling Macs and iOS devices to customers who plan to bring or send those products to Iran,” she said.

YouTube working on separate mobile app for creators, fan donation feature, more

Jordan Kahn May 23 2014 - 10:21 am PT

0 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR8XBZRkkao&feature=youtu.be]

YouTube announced today that it will be releasing regular “Creator Preview” videos letting YouTube creators know about upcoming features so they can provide feedback ahead of time. In the first Creator Preview, the company announced that it’s working on a separate mobile app just for creators in addition to a few other interesting new features:
Expand
Expanding
Close

AAPL Company

‘No man’s land’: How a bigger iPhone 6 will require developers to rethink their app designs

Jordan Kahn May 22 2014 - 2:43 pm PT

54 Comments

Model of 4.7-inch iPhone 6 (left). From Apple’s Developer Guidlines (Right)

When I first upgraded from my iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5s, I immediately noticed an incredible upgrade in the clarity and sharpness of the larger 4-inch Retina display, but also some usability issues that plagued my iPhone usage experience for the following months. That’s why I’m excited for the pixel tripling 3x mode at 1704 x 960 resolution Apple is currently testing for the iPhone 6, but simultaneously worried about the day to day use of iOS on a larger 4.7 or 5.5-inch device. Apple explained it best:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY4c2mh15Yk]

Apple currently recommends developers focus specifically on the upper left portion of the iPhone display for important navigation functions and considers the lower right portion of the screen “less important” (pictured above from Apple’s developer documentation). That’s not going to fly with a larger 4.7-inch+ display, and it’s got me wondering if app developers will have to fundamentally rethink the layout of apps in addition to any changes to support the next iPhone’s increased resolution.
Expand
Expanding
Close

T-Mobile launches VoLTE in its own backyard ahead of support planned for iPhone 6/iOS 8

Jordan Kahn May 22 2014 - 9:48 am PT

10 Comments

iphonevolte

Following announcements earlier this month from both AT&T and Verizon, T-Mobile announced today it’s introducing Voice over LTE support starting with the Seattle market:

So I’m thrilled to congratulate my team on the launch of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) in the Seattle area for our existing LG G Flex and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Light customers. Our friends at MetroPCS were the first to launch VoLTE in the U.S. back in 2012, and we’ve been working hard on a LTE Advanced version of VoLTE, which we plan to roll out to more T-Mobile customers throughout the coming year.

T-Mobile’s CTO Neville Ray noted that the new technology, which brings voice calls onto the same LTE radio layer previously reserved for data, will allow “faster call setup times (almost twice as fast as a non-VoLTE call setup) and the ability to enjoy lightening fast LTE data speeds while on a call.” It will also support the HD Voice or wide-band audio feature that Apple already supports. Ray explained how the technology works:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Bubble app lets you discover real world items linked to the web w/ iBeacons

Jordan Kahn May 21 2014 - 3:28 pm PT

7 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtQSJx2nI9I]

Bubble, a new app launching this week, is about to make it super easy for anyone to link real world items to websites using Apple’s new iBeacon Bluetooth LE technology. Up until now retailers, event planners, and more have been using iBeacons in order to send relevant notifications to users in proximity, but that required users to actually have that specific retailer’s app installed. Bubble, on the other hand, acts as an iBeacon browser of sorts allowing users to discover web content as they come in contact with real world items.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple extends exclusive rights to Liquidmetal in consumer products to Feb 2015

Jordan Kahn May 21 2014 - 2:50 pm PT

14 Comments

Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean watch with Liquidmetal

Apple has extended its rights to the metal alloy material that it originally licensed from Liquidmetal Technologies in 2010 for exclusive use in consumer electronics products. The proof comes from a recent filing with the SEC:

On May 19, 2014, Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”) and Apple Inc. (“Apple”) entered into an second amendment (the “Second Amendment”) to the Master Transaction Agreement that was originally entered into on August 5, 2010 (the “MTA”) and amended on June 15, 2012 (the “First Amendment”). Under the MTA and the First Amendment, the Company was obligated to contribute to Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC, a special purpose subsidiary of the Company, all intellectual property acquired or developed by the Company from August 5, 2010 through February 5, 2014, and all intellectual property held by Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC was exclusively licensed on a perpetual basis to Apple for the field of use of consumer electronic products under the MTA. Under the Second Amendment, the parties agreed to amend the MTA and the First Amendment to extend the February 5, 2014 date to February 5, 2015.

Up until now Apple has tested the material in its SIM card ejector tool that came with previous generation iPhones, but several rumors in recent years have claimed it could take advantage of Liquidmetal for batteries, screws or other components of its products. However, back in 2012, one of Liquidmetal’s inventors noted that Apple was likely still three to five years away from using the material on a large scale in products:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Apple VP Lisa Jackson talks environmental initiatives, plans to get renewable energy in retail to 100% (Video)

Jordan Kahn May 21 2014 - 2:28 pm PT

2 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZCfK1ZXyP4#t=641]

Apple’s Lisa Jackson, who joined Apple in June last year to oversee environmental issues from her previous position as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, sat down for an interview this week with Fortune. As you’d expect, the topic of conversation was all things environmental issues at Apple and Jackson talks about many of the accomplishments the company recently announced for Earth Day. In addition to just stats and Apple’s renewable energy initiatives— Apple’s supply chain is responsible for 60% of its footprint— she also gives some hints at what Apple plans to improve in the future.

Jackson noted that Apple has more work to do getting renewable energy to all of its retail stores, but said its working hard to overcome some of the challenges and reach 100% renewable energy:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Judge allows lawsuit by former Apple employee claiming Steve Jobs promised job security

Jordan Kahn May 21 2014 - 9:16 am PT

13 Comments

Image (1) Apple-HQ.jpg for post 58955

We’ve written about former Apple employee Wayne Goodrich before. Back in 2012 he launched a lawsuit against Apple claiming that co-founder Steve Jobs told him in 2005 he’d be guaranteed a job for life at the company. That was after being fired by Apple a year after Jobs’ death despite his guarantee of job security. Now, Goodrich, who was an executive producer of public presentations and with Apple for almost 20 years, has been given the go ahead for the lawsuit by a judge in Santa Clara (via BizJournals):
Expand
Expanding
Close

Spotify confirms it now has 10 million paying subscribers

Jordan Kahn May 21 2014 - 7:05 am PT

0 Comments

On the heels of the Beats acquisition that Apple is still yet to officially confirm, every music streaming service’s biggest competitor is today hoping to keep everyone interested: Spotify just announced it has increased its paid subscriber base to 10 million users from the 6 million users it reported earlier this year in March. Recode first posted the stats and also noted on top of paid customers Spotify now “has more than 40 million active users, in 56 markets around the world.”

Spotify of course has a big lead on Beats’ recently launched subscription music service, which as of latest reports has just around a couple hundred thousand paying subscribers. Also of note, there is some confusion over whether or not Beats subscriber numbers include those getting a free 90-day subscription through AT&T and subscribers getting access through a $14.99 group plan. However, it’s clear Beats early sub numbers aren’t that important to Apple’s long-term goals and its plan for the company and streaming service. Even Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek admitted to Recode “that the service has yet to break through to mainstream audiences in many markets, including the United States.”