Music, Radio & Podcasts

*Buying Music *Streaming Music *Radio Online *Podcasts

Buying Music (downloading): itunes Store, Amazon. Single tracks are mostly $1.29. Older music is less. Album prices vary.

Buying Music: itunes Store

Buying Music: Amazon Store

What is Streaming Music?

What is Streaming Music? Streaming music, or more accurately streaming audio, is a way of delivering sound including music without requiring you to download files from the internet. Music services like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music use this method to provide songs that can be enjoyed on all types of devices.

Streaming Music Apps Basics: Monthly Price allows unlimited streaming of music. Includes creating playlists, radio stations and determining what order to play music (on demand).

The Decline of Music Buying

Listening Stats: Downloading vs Streaming

Streaming Growth

Streaming Growth In the first half of 2018, overall on-demand streaming increased 41.7 percent to reach 403.5 billion U.S. streams, according to Nielsen Music. That growth defies mathematical trends, which dictate that, as a base enlarges, it becomes harder to achieve a bigger percentage growth than in preceding time periods. That increase is larger than the 36.3 percent bump in 2017 over the prior year s 208.9 billion streams at the six-month mark. Also at midyear 2018, total U.S. album consumption units (album sales + track-equivalent albums + total streamequivalent albums) reached 360.2 million, an 18.4 percent increase over 2017 that follows another: a 7.8 percent gain in album consumption units counted in the first half of 2016.

What happened to music downloads? After dropping 10.4 percent in 2015 and 21.6 percent in 2016, digital download revenue was cut in a quarter in 2017, dropping 24.7 percent and bringing in less revenue ($1.3 billion) than physical formats ($1.5 billion) for the first time since 2011. The average number of paid streaming subscribers (all services) rocketed 56 percent from 22.7 million in 2016 to 35.3 million in 2017, is there room for the simple mp3 to hang in there much longer?

On the Other Hand: 1. Albums are a good thing 2. You must be connected 3. The record store is dead 4. Convenience is overrated 5. Music has become Facebook (the bad Facebook) From the column: Streaming Music Is Clearly The Future. Here s Why That Sucks by Joshua Bateman, Digital Trends, May 26, 2018

Plenty of Players Apple Music Soundcloud

Plenty of Competition Worldwide Note: QQ Music is Chinese; Melon is South Korean.

Plenty of Competition As of March 2018

The Big 2 Streamers in U.S.: Both Spotify and Apple Music reportedly have north of 20 million paying subscribers each in the U.S., while Pandora, which is only available in the States, has over 6 million subscribers, according to its Q2 2018 earnings report. That leaves at most around 5 million paying subscribers -- or less than 10 percent of the total subscriber base in the country -- for Google/YouTube, Amazon Music Unlimited and iheartradio combined.

Most Streaming Music: Curated Playlists Curated playlists offers up recommendations tailored to your tastes, looking at artists you like and serving up other artists and playlists for you to listen to. But instead of being built by algorithms, the playlists are created by real people, according to Apple.

Apple Music

What Is Apple Music? Introduced in 2015 A service that combines your existing library with the Apple Music streaming catalogue. Mix and match their songs with your songs online or offline. Suggests songs, artists, mixes and playlists. Includes 24/7 radio stations plus ability to create your own stations.

Apple Music Features Unlimited listening to entire Apple Music catalog (45 million songs). Ability to add Apple Music to your library and listen offline. Your entire library is uploaded to icloud. Access to Apple Music s hand-curated recommendations and playlists.

Apple Music Features Library (from itunes) For You Browse Radio

Apple Music: For You

Apple Music: For You Based on curated playlists

Apple Music: Browse

Apple Music: Radio

Apple Music: Radio Example: All Genres > Country

Apple Music icloud Library When Apple Music adds these matched songs to your icloud Music Library, Apple Music doesn t change or alter your original music files that reside in itunes for Mac or PC or on your ios devices from which they were added. Apple makes these matched songs available to your other computers or devices in high quality 256 Kbps AAC. Conveniently, itunes will upload songs not in Apple s library to your icloud Music Library so they can be accessed on all of your other devices.

Apple Music icloud Library: But. Apple Music may substitute non-original versions of songs you already have on your existing playlists when played on devices. Especially true for oldies. And remember: You own all the music in your itunes library, but Apple Music songs are rentals, paid for by your monthly subscription fee.

Apple Music: What if I Cancel? All music accessed with Apple Music disappears. No more For You, New and curated playlists; radio stations are limited.

If you cancel: itunes vs Apple Music You have the free version of Apple Music, can only play music you've purchased from itunes and other sources, listen to Beats 1 play radio stations with ads.

Spotify

Main Competition: Comparison Chart All services have free versions.

Pandora (recently acquired by Sirius XM)

Pandora Premium

Radio

Radio Apps. NextRadio : Free Live Local FM Radio (Android only)

XM Sirius Satellite Radio The company's total subscriber base is over 30 million.

XM Sirius Satellite Radio

Music Choice App available on many cable & satellite services) replaced SonicTap on many services in early 2018. Played in Cimarron. Mood Media for Businesses; in Adobe.

Podcasts

Podcasts Podcasts let you listen (and re-listen) to your favorite radio (and some video) programs at your own pace from just about anywhere. Thanks to the increasing amount of podcasts (itunes has hundreds of thousands of them) there s a podcast on just about every topic imaginable.

Podcasts: ios & Android For MAC: download directly from itunes Store. For ipad/iphone (ios Devices), downloaded podcasts go directly to Podcast App. For PC (Windows): download directly from website. Or for Android devices, after downloading Podcast App., download podcast directly from Google Play.

Podcasts: itunes (audio or video)

Podcasts: itunes

Podcasts: Androids listeners don t need to install anything to listen to a podcast In spite of Apple devices being responsible for about 60% of podcast downloads, Apple has a less than 20% share of the global smartphone market. Android has well over 80%. And for the first time, Android devices have a proper in-built podcast experience. Even in the US, Android has 53.3% market share.

Podcasts: PodcastOne (app)

Multimedia Apps & Services PodcastOne Premium

Podcasts: Stitcher Over 65000+ radio shows and podcasts on your iphone, ipad, Android or PC.

Other Podcast Apps Podbean (free) Spreaker (free) Pocket Casts ($4 ios, $6 Android) Soundcloud and other streaming apps offer podcasts.

NPR One

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