Sam Oliver
Swedish streaming music provider Spotify on Wednesday announced the addition of multimedia hardware companies Bose, Panasonic, and Gramofon to its list of partners for Spotify Connect, a wireless media streaming platform similar to Apple's AirPlay.
Though it is unclear onto exactly which devices the three companies will integrate Spotify Connect, current partner Philips will add the feature to its lineup of Android-powered televisions. Spotify says that its other collaborators — which include companies like Sony, Denon, Pioneer, and Samsung — have already shipped more than 80 home audio devices with Spotify Connect.
"Our mission with Connect was to give people a better way to listen at home, and we have delivered exactly that for music fans all over the world in just one year," Spotify executive Sten Garmark said in a release. "We wanted to offer a broad range of devices, and our partners have delivered an incredible range of innovative Multi Room systems, receivers, radios and dongles for every budget. This is just the beginning. Our goal is to put Connect devices into the home of every music fan on the planet."
Introduced last year, Spotify Connect allows users to stream music from their smartphone or tablet to any compatible speaker. The feature is not unlike an app-specific version of Apple's AirPlay technology.
In addition to Apple, Spotify also faces competition for adoption from Google. The search giant introduced Chromecast, which requires a $35 television dongle, last July.
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3 Comments
I really hope Apple hurries up and offers a service to compete with Spotify. It seems it would be so easy to change to a paid on-demand streaming service. iTunes already had "previews" - just play the preview for 100% of the song if the user has paid the on-demand streaming fee.
I really hope Apple hurries up and offers a service to compete with Spotify.
It seems it would be so easy to change to a paid on-demand streaming service.
iTunes already had "previews" - just play the preview for 100% of the song if the user has paid the on-demand streaming fee.
Part of the Beats acquisition was just that. The labels are a bit hesitant to go full on streaming with iTunes but with Beats being at arms length, it should cover them for the time being. Apple has been heavily promoting Beats Music and I don't see that slowing down one bit. While downloaded music is less profitable than it was, it's still profitable. On the flip side of that, I haven't heard of any streaming service being highly profitable, if at all.
The music industry as a whole is a state of flux as far as what the future truly holds. Listening to music is just one component of where things are headed. If you ask any record executive, the real money isn't in and probably won't be for the foreseeable future, in music sales but in what used to be ancillary to them...touring, merchandise and licensing. 360 deals are the norm now.
Why? Appletv works fine.