Although Spotify remains ahead of rival Apple Music, it disappoints expectations a bit with only 108 million subscribers. Here are the details of the quarterly report

“We got lost on subscribers”. This was stated yesterday by the managing director of the Swedish music streaming platform Daniel Ek, communicating the results of the second quarter . Despite having reached 108 million new users, Spotify lacks analysts’ expectations on subscribers. At the same time, the app grew by 31% in revenues and reduced losses but was not enough to enthuse investors: Spotify shares slipped by more than 4% in pre-market exchanges. Here are the details.

THE SUBSCRIBERS GROW BUT THEY DO NOT EXCEED THE EXPECTATIONS
The world’s most popular paid music streaming service has stated that premium subscribers have increased by 30% from a year earlier to 108 million by June 30, 2019. The analyst’s expectation of 108.5 million subscribers is very little paying. However, there is still a significant increase compared to 100 million paid subscribers that the company reported in April . In total, Spotify has 232 million active monthly users, including those registered to the free version of the platform. This is an increase of 29% year on year.

STILL ON THE PODIUM BUT ATTENTION TO APPLE MUSIC
Spotify therefore reconfirms itself as the global leader in paid music streaming with a large margin. The number one Ek noted that quarterly subscribers grew 31% year-on-year, “which we believe is about twice the growth rate of our next closest competitor”. Without naming it, he was referring to Apple. The Cupertino giant said it had reached 60 million paying subscribers in June for its Apple Music music streaming service. A nice gap compared to the Swedish platform. However, in early 2019 Apple Music exceeded the total number of paid Spotify subscribers in the United States, the largest market in the world for recorded music. At the time, Apple Music had about 28 million US subscribers, compared to 26 million in Spotify. Not only,Financial Times reported that Amazon’s premium music streaming service, Amazon Music Unlimited, was growing faster than its rivals, Spotify and Apple Music . Spotify expects it could reach 125 million paid subscribers by the end of the fourth quarter, but the competition remains fierce.

REDUCE LOSS
Returning to the accounts, the rest of the results were largely better than forecasts. Spotify recorded an operating loss of 3 million euros on revenues of 1.67 billion euros (up 31%), better than analysts’ estimates for a loss of 56 million euros on sales of 1.64 billion euros . In the last quarter the Swedish company managed to reduce the loss: 76 million euros compared to 394 million euros a year earlier.

UNDER THE PLAY OF DISCOGRAPHIC LABELS
However, Spotify’s future profits and losses will depend on how its margins change during music label negotiations. In fact, most of the revenue generated by Spotify goes to record companies. In the spring, the company led by Ek began negotiations with the three main labels – Universal, Sony and Warner – plus Merlin, a group that represents independent record labels. However, yesterday did not reveal with which of these he reached agreements .

TO BEAT APPLE AND AMAZON PUNTA ON PODCAST
To differentiate itself from the competition, Apple and Amazon in particular, in addition to the music pieces Spotify is focusing a lot on podcasts. In April, the company revealed that it had acquired the Parcast (Cutler Media) podcast studio for about $ 56 million. Also in the first quarter, Spotify spent about $ 344 million to acquire two podcasting companies, Gimlet Media and Anchor FM. In addition to being cheap to produce, the podcast is an increasingly popular format, generating loyal fans and offering Spotify the opportunity to increase advertising revenue. Winning strategy so far: the company has declared that its podcast audience has increased by 50% since the last quarter.

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After having launched the Android application for podcasts last year , Google seems to be taking the first steps towards a browser version available from any PC . It was recently discovered by user Omar Tosca, who on Twitter wanted to share the news by reporting an example of a reproducible podcast, discovered almost randomly.

At the moment the service seems to be in its infancy, not all the features of the Android application are offered, we can only proceed to listen to a specific podcast and use the basic reproduction controls. However, the synchronization between the devices is active, therefore a content started from the web and paused will be taken up again in the same point also by the app version on Android and Google Home.

As discovered by the user, there is currently no dedicated homepage for the service, which is probably still under development. In order to view Google Podcasts on the Web it is therefore necessary to have a direct link to the podcast in question , at which point we will be able to enjoy the same interface we are used to in the mobile environment.

It is very likely that the web version will make its appearance in the coming months, but we will take up the issue again as more elements emerge.

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People love to credit Apple for giving birth to new technologies: the iPhone, the iPad, the MacBook, the iPod. But Apple did not invent any of these revolutionary products.

The iPhone was not the first smartphone on the market. Not even close. IBM launched a smartphone in 1992 – fifteen years (!) Before the iPhone was put up for sale. Even Blackberry beat Apple on the market for five years. Where are these products now?

When Apple launched Apple Music in 2015, we saw the same alarming thoughts. The Verge said that “Apple has waited too long to stream music.” But it took only three years to get past Apple Spotify in the United States.

Apple Music passed Spotify subscription numbers in the United States just three years after launch. Source: Statesman

Startups like Spotify and Netflix could have a first mover advantage, but Apple is the largest company on the planet. This comes with immense power (and money) to override the early leaders.

Apple needs only 10% of these devices to subscribe to Apple’s new streaming service and will be the same as Netflix instantly. Apple doesn’t need a huge marketing campaign, it just needs a push notification.

Apple has a whopping $ 257 billion in cash reserves (enough to buy Netflix outright). To put things in perspective, Netflix’s free cash flow is negative by $ 1.3 billion.

Apple is currently spending a meager $ 2 billion of original content on its streaming service, which is dwarfed by Netflix’s $ 15 billion. Apple just needs to open the tap and it could eclipse Netflix’s spending power.

Apple has enough money to buy some of the largest companies on the planet. Source: Statesman

As reported by CCN, Apple’s services business is expected to increase by over $ 50 billion by 2020. With iPhone sales slowing, Apple is shifting focus to services (App Store, Apple Music and the new streaming service) .

With the packaging of many services, Apple could also devalue the growing subscription fees of Netflix.

It’s easy to criticize Apple for coming late to the party, but obviously they’re taking their time to do it right. Steve Jobs said he “cracked” the TV before he died. And Tim Cook said: “This is an area of ​​intense interest,” in 2012. “We will continue to pull the rope and see where this takes us.”

Now it’s ready and Tim Cook is about to put the weight of a billion-dollar company behind the streaming. Netflix executives should not be complacent. They should be terrified.

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Microsoft has decided to remove the possibility of being able to stream the music on OneDrive from its Groove Music application.

Microsoft takes another step towards the complete disposal of its old Groove Music music streaming service and all its advanced features. In an official document, the Redmond company reported that starting March 31, 2019, Windows 10 users will no longer be able to play streaming music from OneDrive via the Groove Music app. Of course, this applies to PCs, phones and Xbox One consoles.

This also applies to the Forza Horizon 3 game , which included the ability to play music through Groove Music during the game. The music can continue to be heard through the OneDrive web player. Alternatively, users can download it offline on their PCs to listen to it. This is certainly not pleasant news but it was widely expected. Last May, Microsoft announced its intention to withdraw the Grove Music apps for iOS and Android. Which happened last December without too many traumas.

Deleting the streaming features for Windows 10 was only the most logical step forward in a program to discontinue this service.

Remember that Groove Music no longer offers the possibility of being able to buy music to listen to in streaming. Precisely for this reason, Microsoft has transformed its application into a simple music player natively present within Windows 10.
This new news is just yet another initiative by Microsoft in eliminating the remaining functionality of the old music streaming service still present in the application.

Finally, it is reiterated that even after this feature has been discontinued, the music on OneDrive will not be affected in any way. Only, we will have to find another way to listen to them.

The podcasts are a type of highly regarded content and is gradually winning more and more listeners. Their strength, compared to common YouTube videos, is that they consist exclusively of audio transmissions and can be easily heard even by those who are working or are, for example, in the gym. In many ways, this is a sort of evolution of traditional radio transmissions.

Due to their “portable” nature, there are several Android apps to listen to podcasts. In this article we will analyze 5 of the most functional and those most used by users. We will take the opportunity to deepen their functionality and try to understand which of them is best suited to the specific types of users.

Android app to listen to podcasts? Here are the best currently available!
Podcasts and smartphones are a very solid pair. Precisely for this reason there are many third-party software in this sector, some focusing on essentiality, others with advanced features that make them suitable for the most demanding users. Here is the selection of the five software considered most interesting.

Castbox
Let’s start with the Android app to listen to perhaps the most popular podcasts, or Castbox . It is a software with simple, clean and easy to use interface. Once registered, you can listen to podcasts and save customized playlists. Despite the presence of small micro transactions, Castbox is a free app and does not present annoying ads or banners.

Active on over a million podcast channels, for an innumerable amount of audio content, this app allows you to either listen directly to streaming or download the various episodes as audio files on your device. Furthermore, Castbox can help you discover new podcasts by offering suggestions based on subscriptions and listening habits already shown. Not just Android smartphones: the app in question can also be integrated with other platforms such as Chromecast and Amazon Echo .

Google Podcast
Could good old Google not get its hands on an expanding sector like podcasting? Here is Google Podcasts , one of the Android apps for listening to popular and popular podcasts. In addition to a deep integration with the Google Assistant , the app allows you to download episodes of your favorite podcasts for offline listening and more.

The contents are synchronized on all the devices, allowing users to suspend listening on one device and resume listening on another from the point where they had previously stopped. Furthermore, integration with Google Assistant allows users to control playback using their own voice, a necessity for those who want to listen to podcasts when their hands are busy.

Podcast Addict
We continue the list with Podcast Addict. It is an extremely flexible app, capable of managing countless channels, formats and contents such as audiobooks, online radio, YouTube , Twitch and SoundCloud (as well as traditional textual RSS feeds). Podcast Addict has over 8 million active downloads, confirming how an app is absolutely popular in this sector.

The software in question, among other things, allows users to set variable playback speeds and can count on complete support for the different episodes of a podcast. In addition, users can configure downloads and automatic deletion of content after a certain period. Podcast Addict is totally free to use even if there is no lack of advertisements.

Stitcher
If you are a real podcast addict who can’t get enough, then Stitcher could be the app for you. This app allows users to subscribe to podcasts and online radio stations: nothing original except that Stitcher “links” the user’s favorite podcasts, combining them to create a set of alternate transmissions. The result is a very intriguing “personalized radio” effect. Users can also add breaks between episodes to receive the latest news, sports updates and more.

Stitcher is completely free to use. However, it also features a premium version that offers users access to exclusive content produced by the app itself. These are transmissions (strictly in English) that deal with politics, sports and much more.

Podcast Go
If you are looking for a more essential experience and without too many frills, you may find Podcast Go very useful . This application offers a fairly basic experience and offers equally simple features such as the ability to subscribe to shows, download episodes for offline listening and set the playback speed to suit your tastes. In addition, it does not offer particular settings.

The app is presented to the public as free, despite the presence of advertising. If this is considered annoying, you can remove it by paying a one-time $ 2.99, making your account free of any type of banner or similar. If you’re looking for an easy-to-use podcast application, Podcast Go might be the best choice.

Spotify has a plan and doesn’t just go by the music. Instead, focus on the new podcast season . It is curious that today we are talking about a communication channel already so rooted: just think that “podcasting” was elected word of the year by the American dictionary New Oxford back in 2005. Almost 15 years ago. And there is no doubt that with this term we were referring to the same fever that we are experiencing in these months, that is to a “digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar, made available on the internet with the purpose of allowing the download on audio players personal. ” Today we do everything with the smartphone, at the time there were (also) mp3 players and PC software, but the substance does not change. What has changed is the ecosystem that revolves around it.

This is why Spotify, which currently has 96 million paid subscribers and 207 million active users per month, wants to develop a more effective strategy with the aim of making podcasts a new (serious) income. Last year an analysis by IAB and PwCestimated that the turnover around this liquid formula of ubiquitous radio would reach 659 million dollars by 2020 only in the United States. But order must be made: today podcast listening is fragmented on several fronts, from TuneIn Radio to Apple’s Podcast app, through Spotify, Audible and other applications like Stitcher, Spreaker, Podbean and Overcast. Not to mention the applications set up by the individual radio-TV networks, like our RaiPlayRadio.

In truth, the group of Daniel Ek has already taken the first steps by acquiring two companies, which will remain independent, but will have to bring water to the mother platform. It is Gimlet Media , specialized in the production of original content, and Anchor , a simple-to-use app to make a podcast in just a few taps. The bill is 300 million dollars and both companies tell their respective strategies for the coming months: original content with which to attract the Netflix-style audience , and at the same time open to content from below by enthusiasts and creators. In short, a pincer action to understand which approach will pull more in a mix between professionalism and amateurism.

The preparatory step, however, will be the development of more effective algorithms to allow users to easily discover the podcasts and authors that might interest them. This is exactly what happens with music with Discover Weekly- style playlists , tailored to the user’s previous tastes and ratings. The same will happen soon with podcasts: “The music that we offer through our discovery engine and which we select through machine learning is damn good, and you know what? The group is working on the same thing for podcasts, “explained Courtney Holt, Spotify studio and video manager, at a recent Festival in Brooklyn.

But if I do not know what to listen to and the hunt for the podcast becomes too complex or boring, I will tend to always hear only a few, limiting the attitude of discovery typical of streaming platforms. Ek has also returned to this point; the goal is to focus on the user experience to become the reference platform for anyone who wants to listen to their favorite creators. “We believe there is enormous potential for improving the user experience – explained the CEO – and if we do we will have the opportunity to increase our market share for podcasts”.

This is why Spotify “will double its investments on original and exclusive content”, as the head of finance, Barry McCarthy, assured and confirmed Gimlet co-founder Alex Blumberg. According to Holt, among other things, Gimlet and other possible acquisitions will be at Spotify a bit like Pixar and Marvel are at Disney. Expectations, therefore, are not lacking. The contents, however, will not only come from professionals. The acquisition of Anchor, a very fun application to churn out their podcasts in just a few steps, paves the way for individual creation, an aspect to which Spotify has never looked carefully.

Difficult to understand which content will work the most: whether the shows produced from below or the Spotify Original. The decision, by McCarthy’s own admission, seems to be to focus on both fronts. It remains to understand the business model to apply to those who will sign these contents. That is how much and how they will gain.

Echo Show, Alexa makes the most sense with the screen
Amazon’s new smart speaker has a 10-inch display, so searches are more complete

It is already twenty days that we are testing Echo Show , Amazon’s 10-inch smart speaker with display, which combines the classic features of the voice assistant with images. We take for granted all the things that can be asked of Alexa (we will come back to them later on) and start with the product description.

The shape is apparently that of a tablet, even if the back is not flat but pyramidal, to house two 2-inch neodymium drivers and a passive radiator that return a powerful and defined sound, even if with a slight tendency to bass too pronounced. The equipment is completed by eight microphones to receive and interpret at best the voice commands and, included in the body, the antennas necessary to communicate with smart appliances that use the Zigbee protocol , such as light bulbs, interphones, cameras and thermostats.

But the added value gives it a touch display of good size even if not of excellent resolution (720p).

That is where the vocal requests made to the Echo Show “come to life”.

You can ask Alexa which movies and there are in the cinema and show you the trailers in Italian (you need to install the MyMovies skill). You can view a recipe step by step while you are cooking – and indeed the kitchen seems to be the most suitable environment for this type of product – or ask for the weather forecast for the next few days. You can browse the internet with one of the two pre-installed browsers (Firefox and Silk), see the Vevo music videos or the Amazon Prime Video movies and TV series.

You can track the shipment of a package (Amazon, of course), view an itinerary on the maps or make video calls to anyone who has Echo Spot, Echo Show or the Alexa App (Skype is coming).

In short, there is a whole series of functions more than the already popular classic smart speakers, which, given the price which is certainly not prohibitive for the gagdet ( € 229 ), make us advise the purchase. In short, Alexa has an edge over the screen . It could have even more, if Echo Show was a bit more customizable – being able to install apps, for example – or if the video sector could be used more (let’s think about the lack of Netflix, for example). And, again, if some somewhat cumbersome mechanisms, such as having to explicitly ask which skill to use to perform a certain action, were simplified.

Five batteries are coming from the British manufacturer i-box to make portable smart speakers like Echo, Echo Dot and Google Home Mini.

Maybe you never thought about it or you wanted to do it but you didn’t know how. In any case, several batteries have been available in Italy for some time now to make smart portable speakers like Amazon Echo Dot (third generation), Echo (second generation), Echo Spot and Google Home Mini . All speakers that need an electrical outlet to work and therefore, at least not to use awkward extensions, can hardly be taken to the garden, on the terrace or in a part of the house where there is no outlet at hand.

In our opinion the most interesting solutions are those of the British manufacturer i-box, which ensure respectable performances for those who want to make his (or his) smart portable speaker. It starts with the i-box Run, which provides about 12 hours of autonomy to the third-generation Echo Dot, while the Release version reaches up to eight hours , but also integrates a 12W stereo speaker, a passive radiator and an audio input for 3.5mm jack in order to improve the audio performance of the Dot (which are certainly not brilliant).

If, on the other hand, you want to make your second generation Echo portable, Want to make your fixed smart speakers portable? Here’s howthe Surge i-box allows you to use it without an electrical outlet for about 8 hours , Want to make your fixed smart speakers portable? Here’s howwhile the i-box Vault ensures the same autonomy for the Echo Spot and in addition adds one speaker and a passive radiator to improve the audio quality. Finally we find the i-box Move , a variant of the Run for the Google Home Mini available shortly which ensures 12 hours of autonomy.

All these batteries can also recharge a smartphone or tablet thanks to the USB input and this is therefore a doubly useful solution. It should be noted, however, that i-box is not the only manufacturer to offer batteries for smart speakers (we also mention brands like Majority, Smatree, Ninety7 and Accevo ), but in our opinion these are the most interesting of the British manufacturer also as a quality ratio -price.