Spotify rolled out a pretty extensive update to it's streaming service this morning. Adding robust social networking features, Spotify now links in with your Facebook account for lightning fast music sharing between your friends, as well as syncing up your locally stored MP3 files between your PC and mobile Spotify applications.

It's a forward-thinking update that looks poised to make Spotify the musical heart of the social networking phenomenon, and potentially knock iTunes from its lofty pedestal as the Number #1 music library app.

However, there's always room for a tweak here and an improvement there, so here are Tech Digest's 5 things we greedily still want Spotify to add.

Listening parties

So we're connected to all our friends with Spotify now through Facebook, and we're busily swapping tunes and playlists. But that's really just a spruced up version of the link sharing we'd already had. I want listening parties, where my pals can all log on together, connect into a little group and take turns choosing tracks for each other in real time, a bit like with a pub jukebox, streaming the same songs simultaneously to my connected friends. It's also a must for musically bullish types like myself; I cant bear to think that my carefully picked recommendations are going ignored, so listening parties would let me keep a close tab on pals as they check out my suggestions.

Instant Messaging

Instant Messaging ties in nicely to the listening parties idea above. You've settled down together for the first hallowed play-through of the (currently non-existant) new Pixies album, their first in X number of years, and you're all buzzing to share "lols" and thumbs-up emoticons as a squealing riff comes in. It'd make this new "social" focus a lot more interactive, and add to those "I Remember The First Time I Heard..." moments.

Artist and Track comments

Being able to add little notes to songs and artists across the site would be great, and would be an excellent way of opening up discussions with like minded music fans. There's nothing better than debating whether or not Nirvana sold-out or if The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson was made a better or worse song-writer for his hermit-period, and sparking off of interesting comments with strangers would be a great way of doing this. Of course, the system could be abused if not carefully policed, so adding filters perhaps to limit visible comments to just those in your friends list would mean you're only ever getting opinions that you want to hear.

Embeddable Player

An embeddable Spotify player would be great for bloggers and social network lovers. Imagine writing an article on 10 reasons why Malcolm McLaren was a genius, and being able to have 10 tracks to go along with each of your points. There'd be no need to have to open up the Spotify app, just fire up all the songs straight from your browser. It'd be even better if they could make it work with mobile browsers too.

Spotify-exclusive content

Every once in a while Spotify gets an exclusive first look at an album a few days or weeks before it goes on general release, which is obviously great. But when it comes to actually purchasing tracks from Spotify to store on any device you choose, you get pretty much bog-standard MP3 files and not a lot else. Wouldn't it be great if there was more to tempt you into going for the paid-for downloads? How about exclusive interviews with artists, or playlists of their favourite songs? Or track-by-track making-of audio accompaniments to classic albums? It'd be a great boon for Spotify if they truly plan on taking on Apple's iTunes, and it would also be great news for artists looking to generate more incentives for their fans to invest in their music legally.

Spotify have today rolled out a major update to their music streaming service, which sees it thoroughly integrate with Facebook, allowing you to easily share tracks and playlists with your pals.

A quick set-up wizard connects your Facebook profile to the program, which makes all your Spotify-using Facebook friends visible in a new friends list on the right hand side of the program. You can then drag and drop tracks and playlists to share them with your friends, which will appear in a new inbox feature.

Publish your best playlists and the whole Spotify userbase can grab them, with a handy counter to see how many people are into your selection. Playlists get artwork too now - a little mosaic of a selection of the track's artwork making up the image.

You can now also import local files into the service too, which can now be played directly from Spotify. If your MP3 collection is a bit of a mess, Gracenotes now tidies it all up for you to boot. These local files can also be sent wirelessly to your Spotify mobile app, and will seamlessly integrate with any cloud-based tracks.

Finally you can "star" or favourite tracks to more easily keep a note of new music you love. Your new profile tracks the artists and songs you've listened to the most recently too if you wanted to keep a track of your changing tastes.

All good, and, as you'd expect from Spotify, all incredibly intuitive. Apple better roll out their rumoured iTunes update soon, because if ever there was time for a mass migration to Spotify, it's now.

The update will roll out to all Spotify users automatically in the next few days, but if you cant wait that long, click here.

Pick up the Sony Ericsson Vivaz from the 3 network and you'll get built-in access to the Symbian version of Spotify, it has been revealed today. The app allows you to stream over 6 million songs direct to your mobile, as well as storing playlists for offline listening.

Sylvia Chind Head of Branded Devices, 3UK said "The Sony Ericsson Vivaz is all about sharing experiences. Whether you are using the integrated social networking applications like Facebook and Twitter, uploading to YouTube or sharing playlists with our exclusive Spotify deal. Because our network is designed and built for the mobile internet customers are really able to get the best experience from smartphones like the Sony Ericsson Vivaz."

However, keep in mind that you'll need a premium subscription with Spotify to use the music streaming app on the phone, which costs £9.99 a month.

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz is available in silver from £35 a month with unlimited internet, texts and 750 anytime any network minutes on a 24 month contract, and costs £329.99 on Pay As You Go where every top up comes with a free allowance of texts and data which lasts for 90 days.

Music lovers are being well taken care of with 3 at the moment. As well as the Symbian version of Spotify hitting the Vivaz, 3 also recently nabbed Nokia's flagship Comes With Music phone, the X6.

A new survey conducted by Consumer Focus has revealed that four in ten people are unable to name a single legal online music service. Despite their being over 20 on the market, of the few music fans aware of such services, 85% could only name Amazon and iTunes.

The survey makes for even grimmer reading if you're a Spotify executive. Of the 1,995 people questioned, only 2% had heard of the streaming service, which is still struggling to convince record companies to support its free streaming model.

It's that time of year again, where we all rush off to Clinton's for a naff card, a syrupy teddy and a box of Quality Streets for our loved ones. Yep, Valentine's Day rears its sickly head once again, and, like it or lump it, it's here to stay.

But how best to show the extent of your love for that special, nerdy man-child in your life?

If your boyfriend is partial to a bit of tech or some geeky toys, you've come to the right place. Check out Tech Digest's Top Ten Geeky Valentine Presents: For Him. Wedding bells will be ringing in a matter of months with these nifty little gifts, we assure you.

Click the image below to get started

Spotify's Related Artists tab was one of the music streaming app's only shortcomings. Recommendations were either a bit obvious or not very much like what you'd hope to find based on the artist you were currently listening to.

Today that's all set to change however as the service gets re-worked to help you better find new music you'll love. By cross-referencing the millions of tracks listened to every day and figuring out who like what, Spotify is now better equipped to serve you an appropriate new artist to sink your teeth (or should that be ears?) into.

Erik Bernhardsson, Spotify developer and project leader, spoke of the new feature: "Artist recommendations have been fine-tuned meaning music fans can now dig down much deeper into the Spotify catalogue.

"Improving the way in which Spotify users can discover exciting new artists and music in general, such as by sharing playlists, will play a vital part in Spotify's continuing evolution. This is only the beginning."

The service has already gone live, so why not give it a try?

Remember last year's attractive Spotify/HTC Hero bundles from 3? Well if all goes to plan, that's only the start of the network's music streaming tariffs.

According to 3's UK CEO Kevin Russell, 3 will be offering Spotify subscription bundles on a whole load of handsets in the near future.

"We've got to expand," he said, according to Electric Pig. "You'll see a bigger push as the [Spotify] handset range broadens over the next two to three months."

Russell revealed little concrete details on the nature of these new tariffs, but as 3 carry both Android and Symbian phones, with the app available on both platforms, its highly possible we could see Spotify deals paired up with a fairly wide range of handsets.

Universal Music Group's Rob Wells has said that Spotify is finally beginning to present itself as a very sustainable financial model for the record labels that have agreed licensing deals with the streaming app.

Wells went on to reveal for the first time the details of some of Spotify's licensing deals. In the UK and Spain, every track streamed represents a royalty payment to the labels. For the French, Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian territories, Spotify instead pays out a cut from subscriptions and advertising revenue.

While Spanish and UK subscription numbers remain low thanks in part to the comprehensive free service, Spotify requires only a 10-12% conversion of free-to-paid users to provide a healthy return to the labels. "That to me equates to a sustainable business model" Wells said.

The news will help bolster attempts to see Spotify launched in the United States. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is to speak about the plans at the upcoming New Music Seminar in Los Angeles.

Via: The Telegraph

We7 are preparing to launch a monthly supscription model and iPhone app, set to go into direct competition with Spotify.CEO Steve Purdham today announced that : "From February, we'll be opening our subscription models which will get rid of the ads."

While no details on specific pricing for those plans have been released yet, We7 also confirmed that an iPhone app was also on it's way, allowing users to stream music and buffer it to be played offline, much like the Spotify app.

The company, which is co-founded by music mentalist Peter Gabriel, again would not offer a price or release date for the app, but could confirm that the app would eventually be available for multiple mobile platforms, including Google's Android.

Via: Electric Pig

Google and Spotify have been in talks to bring the music streaming service to the search giant's flagship handset, the Nexus One, according to Tech Crunch.

If the source is to be believed, the plan would be to package in an updated version of the Spotify Android app, optimised for the Nexus One's Android 2.1 operating system.

In what could be a massive development, the source also claims that Google have offered to pay the licensing fees that are so far preventing Spotify from getting the backing of major US record labels. It could lead to the free service that has proved so popular in Europe finally reaching the States.

It's unlikely that any deal will be officially agreed upon by the time of the Nexus One's grand unveiling later on today, but it's definitely a development that Tech Digest will be keeping a close eye on.

Click here for more CES 2010 coverage from Tech Digest

Via: Tech Crunch

Online music services such as Spotify and Last.fm are rapidly picking up new listeners, new research has revealed.

Rajar, the radio audience measurement body, has seen figures for "personal radio" services hit 4.5 million users in the UK through November. Just a month earlier during October, those figures were closer to 2.9 million.

The research also showed that one third of the British public has now listened to music online at some point, weighing in at a healthy 17.4 million people overall.

It's encouraging news for both the likes of Spotify and Last.fm, proving that more and more listeners are warming to the idea of digital, cloud-based music.

Last months Last.fm integration into Xbox Live saw one million new users sign up to the service.

It's already a massive hit on PCs and smartphones, with the service last week rolling onto Symbian devices. So where to now for Spotify? The Xbox 360 and PS3 games consoles, surely?

Wrong. Despite rumours to the contrary, a Spotify representative has released a statement calling any such plans merely "anonymous rumours".

"We've always said that we want to be on as many devices as possible so that we can bring music to wherever are users are, but there's no truth to these anonymous rumours about Spotify coming to game consoles any time soon," said the Spotify rep.

Still, here's hoping.

Via: Tech Watch

After developing clients for iPhone and Google Android phones, Spotify has today confirmed the arrival of a version of its service for Symbian phone owners.

Although Symbian doesn't grab as much attention as its rivals these days it remains the most used smartphone operating system in the world with a huge installed base. Most of those phones are Nokia handsets like its N series phones, though Samsung and Sony Ericsson both have Symbian handsets in their range.

The deal is similar to the Google/Apple ones in that Symbian phone owners can download the software and use it for free if they take out a premium subscription to the popular music streaming service.

Just like the iPhone and the Android phones the Symbian phones will cache playlists enabling users to hear their music when the phone is offline.

The announcement puts a further question mark over the future of Nokia's own music streaming service Comes With Music. The system has not caught the imagination of Nokia phone owners and several months after launch it was reported it had only attracted 23,000 subscribers.

Here are the handsets the service is compatible with

- Nokia 5230
- Nokia 5320 XpressMusic
- Nokia 5530 XpressMusic
- Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
- Nokia 6220 classic
- Nokia 6710 Navigator
- Nokia 6720 classic
- Nokia 6730 classic
- Nokia E51
- Nokia E52
- Nokia E63
- Nokia E66
- Nokia E71
- Nokia E75
- Nokia N78
- Nokia N85
- Nokia N86 8MP
- Nokia N95
- Nokia N95 8GB
- Nokia N96
- Nokia N97
- Samsung GT-I7110
- Samsung i8910 Omnia HD
- Sony Ericsson Satio

Spotify's US launch will be delayed until early 2010, co-founder Daniel Ek has revealed. The announcement has led some experts to believe that the free ad-based service that has made Spotify so popular so far may be coming to an end.

Rafat Ali, paid content write for Tech Crunch has quoted Ek in a tweet as having said "[...]Publishers are a large grp to sign up. The penny per play model can't work."

Ek however has remained positive throughout. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he said that "The US is a very different beast...the US music labels want to get there and are very excited about Spotify but there are thousands of publishers we need to get signed up and fully informed about the service."

Ek's resolve is further steeled by positive moves to launch the service in China. Spotify's ability to tailor advertising based on masses of collected user information makes it perfect for the world's most densely populated nation.

The long-promised Spotify-ready HTC Hero from 3 UK is now available in shops and online.

After an initial £100 outlay on the handset, £35 a month over 24 months will bag you an unlimited Spotify Premium account for 2 years, 750 minutes to other mobiles, unlimited 3-to-3 calls, free Skype-to-Skype calls and unlimited email and internet browsing.

While it remains the best Spotify deal around, the upfront fee may seem a bit steep in an age when people have come to expect a free handset with their contracts. Still, 24 months of Spotify Premium costs £240 on its own, so music-lovers desperate for Spotify on their handsets have a tempting offer here.

If you are interested in 3's Spotify deal, click here.

He's had a kooky couple of years, chasing UFO's and growing a beard, but it looks like Robbie Williams is getting back to business with new album "Reality Killed the Video Star".

Available exclusively today to Spotify users before its November 9th release, it's been described as a career "turning point" for Stoke-on-Trent's favourite son.

Spotify users can click here to have a listen.

Could Spoitfy be heading to the US? It's been rumoured for a while, but more fuel for the fire came today with the announcement that Spotify founder Daniel Ek will headline the South By South West conference in the US this year.

South By South West is a key date in the US music festival calendar, and its timing seems to support the growing mood that the US is ready for a Spotify launch.

Daniel Ek has been vocal in the past of his plans to hit the US market. Speaking to TechRadar, he said that "a Spotify launch in the US is absolutely part of our plans, but we want to fully establish ourselves in Europe before that happens."

But will a US version of Spotify be able to support the free, ad-based model that made it so popular in Europe? With many of the major labels making most of their sales revenue in US territories, Ek will have to fight hard to get the record companies on side for any proposed American launch.

Well the Spotify rumour mill is once again in overdrive with mocoNews, which is owned by The Guardian, now saying that a BlackBerry Spotify app is now imminent. As you probably known the company has already launched iPhone and Android apps and has repeatedly said it will work with other phone platforms too.

mocoNews is suggesting that the app will debut in early 2010 quite possibly at the same e time as the service launches in the US.

It would certainly be a good fit for BlackBerry which is spending a lot of time and money at the moment in broadening its app portfolio. It recently began offering MP3 download service 7digital and song identification app Shazam.

In other Spotify news, the company recently cut the price of a subscription in the UK and also confirmed its deal with 3 to offer a Spotified version of the HTC Hero handset.

Music lovers that already subscribe to Spotify's premium music streaming service are in for a treat today. Thanks to a new sponsorship deal with car insurance company Swiftcover, subscribers can pick up 6 months of Spotify's premium tier service for just £6.49 a month.

Subscribers must take up the offer before it expires on November 2nd.

While some would see this move as a defensive measure to meet last week's launch of rival Sky Songs, Spotify insist otherwise. The price drop is "an advertiser promotion, pure and simple - there are no dots to connect" claim the Stockholm based company.

Earlier this month we reported that 3 and Spotify were set to team up and offer a Spotify-ready HTC Hero handset. 3 have today revealed the full details of what this deal will mean for their customers.

Initially only available on the HTC Hero, for £35 a month and an upfront fee of £99, Spotify Mobile will offer:

• Unlimited Spotify Premium for mobile and PC for 24 months


• 750 minutes to other mobiles


• Unlimited texts


• Unlimited 3-to-3 calls


• Unlimited email and internet browsing


• Free Skype-to-Skype calls

When you consider that 24 months of Spotify Premium alone will set you back £240, it's a very enticing deal indeed.