The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Music to our ears: Spotify available here now! Posted: 15 Apr 2013 08:48 PM PDT
So how does it work exactly? "Everyone knows what a mixtape is right? Back in the day, we used to huddle around the radio, put a tape in, start, stop and record your favourite songs. So that concept remains right? You're still able to create a mixtape on Spotify," explained Sriram Krishnan, Spotify's head of new markets (APAC).  Users are able to create playlists and compile any songs they like according to their moods or occasions from Spotify's catalogue of more than 20 million songs with 20,000 songs being added daily. But how does one start with such a huge collection to choose from? If you already know what you want to listen to, Spotify's search feature allows you to look for the song that you want by just typing in the artiste's name or the name of the song. Then there are times when you don't know what you want to listen to. Here's where Spotify's discovery feature comes in handy. Using Facebook Connect, you can see your Facebook friends who have a Spotify profile. You can choose to follow them, listen to their playlists or see what they're listening to. Spotify will also suggest music based on songs you have listened to. Alternatively, you can use the follow option where you can follow the music tastes of influencers, artistes and celebrities such as Barack Obama or Maroon 5. When you follow someone, you will be notified when they update a song on their playlist or if they release a new single on their playlist. The other feature is radio where you are able to come up your own radio based on an artiste you like. For example, if you like a song, you can create a radio based on the song or if you like your friend's playlist, you can create a radio on it. Spotify launched the Free and Premium versions in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong simultaneously, offering the current selection of international songs as well as local and regional music that is relevant to this market. Users of the Free version get to enjoy the same amount of songs with no restrictions on the time consumption as the Premium version. The difference is that the sound quality is between 120kbps to 180kbps for the Free version while Premium users get to enjoy better sound quality at 320kbps. Another key difference between the two versions is that the service is limited to desktop only for the Free version while Premium users are able to enjoy their music on the go across their mobile devices. The free version of Spotify has three to four minutes of ads every hour while the Premium version is ad-free.
"At the end of the day, we want to make life simple for consumers. We want them to have a choice, and we want it to be as easy and simple as possible. Albert Einstein said, 'Everything should be as simple as possible if not simpler'. "Basically we want to do that as a service. In Asia, mobile is very important — more so than laptops and desktops so we felt that in order to provide a simpler service, it's important to have the Free and Premium versions," said Sriram Krishnan. Local rights owners want to be part of Spotify as well because it means global access for them. The music service is not just for the users but for artistes and bands who want to have a global audience. Spotify's user base goes beyond Asia to US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, so it is a good platform for local artistes, lyricists, songwriters and composers to be on. The founder of Spotify, Daniel Ek, is a technologist and musician who lives in Sweden. According to Sriram Krishnan, Sweden is home to Piratebay, an illegal torrent site. "He wanted to create a service that would have the world's music that would be completely legal so that we can get people away from piracy," said Sriram Krishnan. By the end of 2013, Spotify would have given back US$1 billion (RM3 billion) to music rights owners worldwide even though Spotify has only been operating since 2008. "At the end of the day, we're all consumers. I'm a Spotify fan first, employee second. For me, if a service is able to provide me free, legal music, that's great. In an easy way, with lots of choice, it's a no-brainer for me as a consumer," he said. "If you ask me what our objectives are, we want to stamp out piracy because we have done it in every other market we've launched in and we're confident we can do it in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong." |
| US rocker Meat Loaf pulls out of UK gig due to illness Posted: 15 Apr 2013 05:16 PM PDT
Meat Loaf, whose 1977 "Bat Out Of Hell" remains one of the biggest-selling albums, is travelling around Europe on his farewell "Last At Bat" tour that he claims will be his last after struggling with health problems in recent years. On Sunday he cancelled the fifth of eight concerts lined up for Britain, issuing an apology on his Facebook page saying "several members of the band" were ill and the concert in Nottingham would be rescheduled on May 20. A spokesman for the singer could not give more details of the illness or Meat Loaf's health but said he expected the singer would be back on stage in Manchester tomorrow. Last month, ahead of his tour through Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, the portly Meat Loaf told Reuters that he did not want to travel anymore. "I outweigh (Mick) Jagger by about 100 pounds (45 kg) and that counts for something. He hasn't seen the wear and tear," he said. Meat Loaf, whose real name is Marvin Lee Aday, cancelled a European Tour in 2007 after being diagnosed with a cyst on his vocal chords and sparked further fears for his health in 2011 when he collapsed on stage. He later blamed the blackouts on past concussion injuries and his health issues on asthma. Last year he underwent a knee replacement operation and is due to have an operation on his other knee shortly. — Reuters |
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