All articles tagged with #music streaming
Meta has connected its new AI assistant, Muse, with Spotify, marking the first streaming service integration for the platform. This allows users to automate music playback, create destination-based playlists, and schedule audio based on calendar events. While Spotify already offers AI features, Muse adds a layer of cross-app coordination, linking listening habits to broader user schedules and plans.
A Harvard-led study in JAMA Network Open analyzed 2017–2022 US traffic deaths and found a 15% rise on the 10 biggest album-release days (e.g., Taylor Swift, Drake, Bad Bunny) compared with surrounding days, driven mainly by younger, male, and solo drivers, and correlated with a 43% surge in streaming. While this association suggests smartphone-driven distraction from streaming as a plausible cause, the study cannot prove individual crashes were caused by listening while driving. The authors urge further actions by manufacturers and policymakers to improve driver safety around streaming media.
A Jama Network Open study analyzing 10 major album launches (2017–2022) finds a 15.1% relative increase in US traffic fatalities on release dates compared with surrounding days, alongside a 43% rise in streaming activity on those days. While the data do not prove crashes involved smartphone use, researchers suggest that accessing and navigating new music can cause distraction, with higher effects among younger, male, solo drivers. The authors urge platform and policy considerations to reduce in-car distractions and emphasize limitations and the need for further research.
A Harvard University study analyzed the 10 most-streamed albums released between 2017 and 2022 and found that US traffic fatalities rose on album-release days versus surrounding days, averaging a roughly 18% increase and about 182 extra deaths across the releases. Drake’s records showed the largest rise, Taylor Swift’s releases a smaller effect, and Kanye West’s Donda showed no notable impact. The researchers suggest streaming on smartphones may distract drivers, especially solo and younger drivers, though they could not confirm whether crashes involved actual music streaming. The findings highlight broader distracted-driving risks as smartphones and connected cars become more common.
Five downsides are highlighted: no native crossfade (gapless playback exists for Premium but no seamless crossfading), the highest audio bitrate tops out at 256 kbps (no lossless like some competitors), shuffle can repeat after around 50 songs on large playlists, there is no dedicated desktop app (browser workarounds exist), and the mobile app can be buggy at times—paired with comparisons to Spotify, Apple Music, and Deezer and practical fixes.
Spotify has increased the maximum pins in Your Library from four to 20 for all users, with a global rollout starting today, giving fans more flexibility and noting that Apple Music previously offered broader pinning.
YouTube Music is rolling out basic alphabetical playlist sorting on Android, adding options to sort by track title, artist, and album. The feature appears in app version 9.20.52 and is being rolled out via a server-side flag, so not all users will see it yet. It bridges a long-standing gap versus Spotify and Apple Music, though bugs like an occasional inability to play the next track persist as Google pushes the wider rollout in coming weeks.
Spotify marks its 20th anniversary with 'Spotify 20: Your Party of the Year(s)', a fan-facing experience on the app letting users revisit their listening journey—from their first day and first streamed song to total unique tracks and their all-time top artist—plus a custom 120-track playlist and shareable data stories for both free and Premium users, while also revealing all-time leaders in artists, songs, albums, podcasts and audiobooks: Taylor Swift tops artists, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti is the top album, The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights is the top song, Joe Rogan Experience is the top podcast, and Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses is the top premium audiobook.
Spotify is rolling out a 'Verified by Spotify' badge with a green checkmark to show artists meet authenticity signals such as linked social accounts, consistent listener activity, merch, or tour dates; the company says the vast majority of artists fans search for will be verified and rollout will occur over the coming weeks. The move aims to reduce confusion around AI-generated personas, but critics warn verification may penalize real artists who lack certain markers and note that it doesn't prove a track was not AI-assisted.
Deezer reports that about 44% of new uploads are AI-generated (roughly 75,000 AI tracks daily), but AI streams account for only about 1–3% of listening because roughly 85% are demonetized as fraudulent; the company’s AI-detection tech has a false-positive rate under 0.01%, and AI tracks are excluded from recommendations. A survey found 97% of listeners can’t reliably tell AI from human-made songs, underscoring labeling challenges in the growing AI-music space.
Neil Young offers Greenland residents a year of free access to his music and archives via the Neil Young Archives, in a peace-and-love gesture amid tensions with the US, while also removing his music from Amazon Music to protest Jeff Bezos’s support for Donald Trump; he has a history of platform boycotts and urges fans to buy physical copies or use alternative streaming options, with a European summer tour announced.
Spotify has raised US prices for its Premium plans (Individual $12.99/mo, Student $6.99, Duo $18.99, Family $21.99), with changes applying immediately to new subscribers and at the next billing cycle for existing ones. The move follows the rollout of Lossless streaming and positions Spotify as more expensive than Apple Music, Tidal, and YouTube Music, prompting readers to consider switching to alternatives that offer higher-quality audio or different value propositions.
A decade after David Bowie's death, his musical legacy appears to be fading in visibility and influence, with limited streaming presence, a focus on high-priced box sets over accessible releases for younger audiences, and a cautious estate that prioritizes quality and long-term preservation over viral hits or commercial exploitation.
YouTube Music users are frustrated as the platform's recommendations are flooded with unwanted AI-generated tracks, which are difficult to filter out, leading some to consider switching services or creating offline libraries.
The article discusses three more affordable alternatives to Spotify Premium for music streaming, providing options for users seeking cheaper subscription plans.