Spotify

At its “Stream On” event today, Spotify showed off a major overhaul that’s rolling out for its iOS and Android apps. Two of the biggest components include video and audio previews for music, podcasts, and audiobooks in the Home feed and new video feeds for discovery in Search.

As European Union officials work on the implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that formally went into effect last fall, a stakeholder workshop was held today by the European Commission to get input on “app store related provisions.” Spotify was one of the panelists and it shared three changes it feels Apple must be forced to make in the EU.

Update: Apple comment added at end

Some four years after the Apple/Spotify battle began back in 2019, we may have the first indication of how the European Union will resolve the antitrust dispute.

Reading between the lines of a brief report today, it appears that the European Commission may be heading toward a compromise ruling, which would mirror that made in the Apple vs. Epic Games case in the US …

Spotify is making a small but notable change to its UI today – it’s doing away with the heart button in favor of a dual-function plus icon. The move is designed to make it easier to save songs, albums, and podcasts and also add content to playlists. Here’s what to expect as the feature rolls out on iOS and Android.

Spotify has announced a new “AI DJ” feature, which it says is a “brand-new way to listen on Spotify and connect even more deeply with the artists you love.” The feature will deliver a “curated lineup of music alongside commentary around the tracks and artists we think you’ll like in a stunningly realistic voice.”

BeReal quickly became one of the most popular apps of 2022, and it was even named iPhone App of the Year by Apple. Now BeReal wants to make its platform even more attractive to users – the app is about to get official integration with Spotify to let users share songs there.

Spotify announced on Wednesday a long-awaited feature for its users. Starting today, Spotify app will have a new option to exclude playlists from impacting users’ recommendations. As a result, the songs in that playlist will no longer be considered to show the user suggestions for other songs and playlists.

Update: Spotify has said: “Something’s not quite right, and we’re looking into it. Thanks for your reports!”

It’s not just you: Spotify is facing an ongoing outage that is affecting many of its users around the world. According to posts on social media, the outage began shortly after 10 a.m. PT and is still ongoing. Spotify has not yet acknowledged the outage or given any indication of when the service will come back online.

Heat was added to the Spotify vs. Apple battle today, when seven other companies and organizations co-signed a letter calling for “swift and decisive” regulatory action to be taken against the Cupertino company.

Spotify told the European Commission that it has been almost four years since the company filed an antitrust complaint against Apple, and accused the commission’s executive VP and former competition regulator of “failing to act decisively” …

Spotify currently offers a variety of curated playlists for its users, but it seems that the company wants to take this experience even further. The company has reportedly been working on a new feature that will integrate its iOS app with HealthKit, so that users will have workout playlists based on their health data.

It’s not just Elon Musk using Twitter to complain about Apple (even if Tim Cook is now his new bestie): Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has tweeted a lengthy thread about his views on the Cupertino company.

He claims that Apple doesn’t care about consumers, courts, or the law – only its own interests …

Spotify’s popular Wrapped experience is now available that pulls together all of your most listened-to tracks, artists, genres, and more. This year there’s also a “Listening Personality” test to reveal what your music taste says about you.

Alongside the launch of Apple Music Replay today, there’s a new third-party website that aims to give Spotify users insight into their listening habits. Dubbed “Instafest,” this service connects to your Spotify account and uses your listening data to curate a custom music festival based on your favorite artists.

Spotify has pushed more and more into podcasting in recent years, including its acquisition of the podcast creation platform Anchor in 2019. Now, Spotify is rolling out an update to the dedicated Anchor app on iPhone with a new feature it says can drastically improve the audio of your podcast with just one click…

Spotify has announced a handful of updates today, but most notable for Apple users is an all-new version of the Spotify for Apple Watch application. Spotify says this app features a “new and improved listening experience” with updates to the library interface, browsing, podcasts, and more.

Over the years, it’s become clear that Apple is far better at “playing fair” than Spotify when it comes to Apple Music royalties for artists. A new video posted to YouTube this week by independent music producer L.Dre further underscores the discrepancy between Apple Music and Spotify, with details on royalties, payouts, and much more.

Earlier this week, Spotify ran to the press to complain that Apple had rejected the latest version of its iOS app for skirting in-app purchase rules as it worked on adding audiobooks as a new feature. As we all expected, Spotify has now given in to Apple’s demands, but it couldn’t resist taking one more jab along the way…

We’re getting close to two years since Spotify announced it would be launching a HiFi offering. After the extended delay, the company could be close to debuting a new “Platinum plan” with high-res music, a headphone tuner, “Studio Sound,” “Library Pro,” “Playlist Pro,” and limited ads for podcasts.