Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Pandora to Buy Rdio Assets for $75M, Rdio Files Ch.11, Will Shutter Service

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 266 posts

Re: Pandora to Buy Rdio Assets for $75M, Rdio Files Ch.11, Will Shutter Service

#51

Post by collias »

disposition2 wrote: post #31

As someone who switched to Rdio from Spotify because the former has not terrible music discovery, this is unfortunate. Looks like I'll be switching again...it would be nice to find a streaming service that was about music discovery rather than forcing the latest garbage down your throat. Although who knows, maybe Spotify's radio now plays more than 10 songs...

If you're in US/Canada, give Slacker Radio a shot. They do radio "stations" better than anyone. Plus on-demand if you feel like just listening to an album or something.

Re: Pandora to Buy Rdio Assets for $75M, Rdio Files Ch.11, Will Shutter Service

#52

Post by sjs382 »

matart wrote: post #41
bsimpson wrote: post #8

I've been told by people in the position to know that the 2010-era streaming services (Rdio, Spotify, Mog) were all effectively the same company: owned mostly by the music studios (in exchange for licenses) with a minority stake for each's particular founders/investors. As Dalton Caldwell cautioned in 2011, licensing costs make music startups are nigh impossible [1]. For people who are willing to pay for a music serv…

I really like spotify because I can use it on my phone, PS3, laptop, etc. My phone can be the remote to my sound system in another room. I also have a small data plan on my phone so I do not stream music. Spotify allows me to download their songs for playing offline. Does Google Music provide these or similar?

I use Google music, mostly because I got in on it early and get it at small discount for $7.99/mo.

I use it on my phone, in my car (via bluetooth from my phone home stereo (via bluetooth from my phone), television (via chromecast from my phone), and laptop (via the web).

It also allows me to upload my offline library, which was unique when it came out (I think?) but isn't so much now (right?).

My wife has Spotify, and she uses it the exact same way. Eventually we'll decide on one based on something trivial (like me being willing to switch, and she being not willing) and do a family account. And once we do, that will be that until the service closes or changes drastically. The services aren't that much different.

Re: Pandora to Buy Rdio Assets for $75M, Rdio Files Ch.11, Will Shutter Service

#54

Post by free2rhyme214 »

threeseed wrote: post #46
matwood wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you about Google Music. For those lucky enough to sign up early and get the $7.99 price, it is easily the best pay for streaming service out there.

Best is subjective. Google Music is definitely a great music store. For those wanting a social music experience Spotify is the "best". For those wanting curated music and a digital radio experience Apple Music is the "best". For those wanting a hands off service Pandora is the "best".

This.

Re: Pandora to Buy Rdio Assets for $75M, Rdio Files Ch.11, Will Shutter Service

#55

Post by threeseed »

sjs382 wrote: post #52
matart wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really like spotify because I can use it on my phone, PS3, laptop, etc. My phone can be the remote to my sound system in another room. I also have a small data plan on my phone so I do not stream music. Spotify allows me to download their songs for playing offline. Does Google Music provide these or similar?

I use Google music, mostly because I got in on it early and get it at small discount for $7.99/mo. I use it on my phone, in my car (via bluetooth from my phone home stereo (via bluetooth from my phone), television (via chromecast from my phone), and laptop (via the web). It also allows me to upload my offline library, which was unique when it came out (I think?) but isn't so much now (right?). My wife has Spotify, an…

No uploading your offline library was not unique when it came out nor unique now. Initially Apple's implementation was much better since it fingerprinted the song and linked it to their library so you only had to upload songs not in their library.

And actually the services are quite different if you spend a lot of time with them. I switched from Spotify to Apple Music and now considering buying both.

Re: Pandora to Buy Rdio Assets for $75M, Rdio Files Ch.11, Will Shutter Service

#56

Post by rraval »

blackaspen wrote: post #14

Bummer. I really like(liked?) Rdio. I've been a subscriber for several years -- the UI I find to be pretty good, but their mobile apps are garbage. So, who wants to write up an Rdio -> Spotify migration tool?

Not what you asked for, but I wrote an Rdio to Google Music exporter a while back: https://github.com/rraval/rdio-gmusic

Re: Pandora to Buy Rdio Assets for $75M, Rdio Files Ch.11, Will Shutter Service

#57

Post by bsimpson »

fernandotakai wrote: post #47
matart wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really like spotify because I can use it on my phone, PS3, laptop, etc. My phone can be the remote to my sound system in another room. I also have a small data plan on my phone so I do not stream music. Spotify allows me to download their songs for playing offline. Does Google Music provide these or similar?

(i also prefer spotify) google music also allows you to remote stream music, as long as it has a chromecast plugged in (there's no support outside that afaik) it also allows you to download music you can use on your phone and laptop, but i don't think there's console support right now.

You can also cast to anything by Sonos, though it's a bit buggier.

Re: Pandora to Buy Rdio Assets for $75M, Rdio Files Ch.11, Will Shutter Service

#58

Post by autarch »

narrator wrote: post #50

Music is a dying industry because there's too much good free music floating around. Look at labels like http://www.ektoplazm.com/ . The music is 100% free. There's not even a buy button anywhere. Long distance phone calls and music are a glimpse of our future where things are too cheap to meter. The dying industries are trying to find ways to create artificial scarcity to go back to the old way of doing things.

It makes sense that there'd be free options for a genre like trance or other electronica that can be made by one person on a computer.

However, if you enjoy music that features live instruments I just don't see how it could be free. There's too many people involved who need to eat.

Re: Pandora to Buy Rdio Assets for $75M, Rdio Files Ch.11, Will Shutter Service

#59

Post by coldtea »

6stringmerc wrote: post #20
bsimpson wrote: post #8

I've been told by people in the position to know that the 2010-era streaming services (Rdio, Spotify, Mog) were all effectively the same company: owned mostly by the music studios (in exchange for licenses) with a minority stake for each's particular founders/investors. As Dalton Caldwell cautioned in 2011, licensing costs make music startups are nigh impossible [1]. For people who are willing to pay for a music serv…

As little as I actually count on the service, and have yet to update my files with tracks since about 2013, Radio Reddit is one of the few I know of that legitimately side-steps the licensing issue. It's more of a discovery service than streaming service, so to speak. Niche market. Heck, if ReverbNation or BandCamp wanted to get into the 'stand-alone, broadcast/streaming, exposure and small payment per play' market,…

>Heck, if ReverbNation or BandCamp wanted to get into the 'stand-alone, broadcast/streaming, exposure and small payment per play' market, they could have a distinct advantage in that their content sources are, predominately, unsigned and able to negotiate in good faith (in theory).

Yeah, but also the very big disadvantage that nobody cares for those artists [1], even for the better ones among them.

This kind of "long tail" [2] idea never panned out, because it turns out most people mostly go for the few acts at the top -- and, heck, even those today are not doing very well, sales and streaming licenses wise.

[1] Using "nobody" as an emphasized "very few".

[2] Referring to this Friedman/Gladwelian notion that the long tail is big enough to be profitable, as in: http://www.thelongtail.com/about.html

Re: Pandora to Buy Rdio Assets for $75M, Rdio Files Ch.11, Will Shutter Service

#60

Post by subliminalzen »

disposition2 wrote: post #31

As someone who switched to Rdio from Spotify because the former has not terrible music discovery, this is unfortunate. Looks like I'll be switching again...it would be nice to find a streaming service that was about music discovery rather than forcing the latest garbage down your throat. Although who knows, maybe Spotify's radio now plays more than 10 songs...

Definitely check out Deezer: http://deezer.com. I've been using it for years. Good selection, fast downloads, gift cards - it's probably got everything you need.
Post reply on HN