By Dwight Brown
It’s spring. It’s a time for growth. Change is in the air at our digital stores.
- New Google Play Music app adds YouTube video search.
- CÜR streaming launches and targets the tech savvy crowd.
- Spotify finds a new way to highlight emerging artists.
- Rhapsody is growing faster than daisies on a spring lawn.
New update pairs YouTube videos. New desktop app saves time.
A new update to the Google Music app will allow users to search for YouTube videos from within the app, reports Radio & Internet News. The upgrade will only show music-related video hits, such as clips with official audio or a cover of a track. In version 6.4 of the app, video results will appear for all users, including paying listeners and non-subscribers. This comes as other streaming services (Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal) are also sticking their toes in the video content waters.
In other Google Music news, Huffington Post notes that an updated version of Google Play Music Desktop Player, a third-party app, has launched for Mac and Linux, making listening to the service a smoother desktop experience. Music fans no longer have to open a tab on a web browser to listen to their favorite music. They can use media keys to navigate tracks, utilize voice controls and custom hotkeys, and use less memory.
Well-connected, interactive music fans get a new playground.
CÜR Music launched after a successful round of funding that put 
$1.75m in their coffers. Radio & Internet News states that late in 2015, the streaming service was billing itself as “a social, mobile and web streaming music application.” In 2016, CÜR’s identity has been fine-tuned to “a mix of internet radio, expertly curated stations and your own playlists all-in-one.”
A CÜR rep lauded other compelling features: “A ‘CÜR8’ profile allows a select number of on-demand songs that the individual can change daily. Listeners will be able to personalize their experience with photos and videos, as well as sending songs to their friends.” For artists who create their own CÜR8 profile, there is a clear opportunity to showcase songs, interact with fans and send messages. Luckily for everyone, sharing works in both directions.
Spotify shines a new light on emerging, undiscovered artists.
Spotify’s new Fresh Finds playlist is a hybrid of human curation and data-driven algorithms designed to bring music fans the best from both types of playlist creators. Spotify’s programmers will follow blogs and music sites to scout out the latest new talent and use data from listeners that have been identified as tastemakers. Their searches are designed to break the next big act, says Radio & Internet News.
“By analyzing the listening behavior of our top tastemaker users, we’re able to predict new breakout artists and filter their hits-to-be into playlists with the most promising new music out there,” says Dr. Brian Whitman, Spotify’s principal scientist.
Music Business Worldwide lists the five Fresh Finds genre categories: Fire Emoji (hip-hop), Basement (electronic), Hiptronix (vocal pop), Six Strings (guitar driven) and Cyclone (experimental). A new door is opening for emerging TuneCore Artists who want to reach Spotify’s 100m users, 30m of which are now paid subscribers.
Rhapsody now in 34 countries. Subscriber base grows 45% in 12 months.
Rhapsody and TuneCore go way back. It was one of our first digital
music stores. Back in the day, it was the first streaming service to make it possible to share full-length, licensed songs on twitter using Audio Card. Now it’s stepped up its game big time: 3.5m global subscribers. A presence in 34 countries. A 45% growth in less than 12 months. Additionally, in 2015, it refreshed its core app experience.
2016 comes along, and now gamers can stream music from Rhapsody through their Wii U console, via a free app from the Nintendo eShop. Rhapsody subscribers with Wii U systems can begin listening immediately and Wii U owners who aren’t yet Rhapsody or Napster subscribers can sign up for a 30-day free trial. Game on.
Thanks to a new partnership with BandPage, music fans who are rocking out to a favorite artist on Rhapsody’s mobile app can receive push notifications on their phone that indicate when that artist is playing a gig nearby. There are even links to purchase tickets via third party services. The new feature is available on Android, with support for iOS coming soon.
SOUND BYTES
- DJ remixes go legit thanks to licensing biz Dubset/MixBank & Apple Music.
- Instagram users are twice as likely to pay for music streaming.
- Kanye may have single-handedly doubled Tidal’s subscribers.
- The 1975 LP debuts on Apple, held back from Spotify. Windowing?
- A tech startup entrepreneur uses music now and licenses later. Say what?
It’s springtime 2016, and digital stores are blooming with fresh ideas for our artists. Spring forward.
TuneCore Artists — Add your music to new stores today.
Not a TuneCore Artists yet? — Join TuneCore today.
Tags: cur featuing featuring google play music music business music industry music news music streaming news rhapsody spotify streaming tunecore YouTube