Apple | May 20, 2020
User-friendly apps that are updated frequently and have enough features without being overwhelming, Free version is impressively robust.
Streaming music is cheap or even free in the case of Pandora and Spotify and outpaces any physical format when it comes to ease and convenience.
Allows you to follow artists and to be alerted when they release new music or announce an upcoming show. It's easy to build your own playlists.
When you're stuck at home, music can provide a sense of order amid the coronavirus chaos. Streaming music is cheap or even free (in the case of Pandora and Spotify) and outpaces any physical format when it comes to ease and convenience. Sure, vinyl may be making a resurgence among audiophiles, but if you're concerned about sound quality, then streaming still has a lot to offer. In some cases, subscription services can sound indistinguishable from, or even better than, a CD. We've checked out the leading on-demand music streaming apps and options services such as Spotify, Pandora Premium, Apple Music and Tidal as well as Amazon Music Unlimited and YouTube Music to see how each platform stacks up for your subscription buck.
While most boast music catalogs of more than 50 million songs, each has its own unique pros and cons. We've also left out services that only play music in a radio format and don't offer a la carte listening. It's a close race between Spotify Premium and Apple Music but Spotify wins thanks to a fun, easy-to-use interface, an extensive catalog and the best device compatibility. Spotify also offers our favorite free tier. Without paying a dime you can still stream over Spotify Connect to numerous devices and you don't even need to provide a credit card. Apple Music is a close second and it's the only one of our top three with a digital locker to store your own library of songs (YouTube Music, below, is the other music locker option). If you own an Apple HomePod, you'll need this subscription service to summon music with your voice.
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“Apple Music has grown to become one of the most popular streaming services. It offers plenty of features and a wealth of discount options for families and students
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~ Apple
In third place is Tidal, which offers a wide selection of music beyond its most eye-catching urban names. Its higher-priced options are especially suited to people seeking the best audio quality. Currently it's a great deal too, offering four months of music for $4. So here's what we think of the the top six music-streaming services. It's worth noting that all of these services will work on the major platforms -- Android, iOS, PC and Mac. Actual device compatibility varies widely, particularly on smart speakers such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home.
“Spotify is the pioneer in the music-streaming space, and it's arguably the best known. It offers a number of curated music discovery services, including its Discover Weekly playlist, and is constantly implementing new ones, such as Stations.“
Spotify is the pioneer in the music-streaming space, and it's arguably the best known. It offers a number of curated music discovery services, including its Discover Weekly playlist, and is constantly implementing new ones, such as Stations. The service's (now optional) Facebook integration makes sharing music on Spotify easier than competitors. Spotify allows you to send a track or album, collaborate on playlists with friends or peek at what your Facebook friends are listening to. Also newly announced is Group Session, which enables more than one user to add to playlists on the fly -- great for parties; anyone remember those? Spotify Connect simplifies connecting to wireless speakers and AV receivers, and it works on both the Premium and the free tier.
Over time, Apple Music has grown to become one of the most popular streaming services. It offers plenty of features and a wealth of discount options for families and students. There's also ton of curated playlists, many hand-crafted by musicians and tastemakers, but it still lacks the robust sharing options built into Spotify. It combines your iTunes library with music you don't own, rounding out what you can play. A combination of human music experts and algorithms help find music you'll want to hear based on what you play. You can control what you hear or search for new music using Siri on iOS devices or Apple HomePod. Has a music locker via iTunes Match ($25, £22 or AU$35 a year). It's currently the only choice for Apple HomePod owners who want to request songs by voice. As you'd expect, the Android app and experience isn't as smooth as the iOS one.
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Amazon | May 13, 2020
Some of the prominent trends that the market is witnessing include the advancements in cross-platform gaming, a rise in popularity of cloud gaming.
The gaming platform services segment is further segregated into personal computer services and content services.
The report provides a detailed analysis on current and future market trends to identify the investment opportunities.
The Global Cloud Gaming Market is poised to experience strong growth during the forecast period 2018 to 2028. Some of the prominent trends that the market is witnessing include the advancements in cross-platform gaming, a rise in popularity of cloud gaming and greater utilization of cloud games. Based on the solution type, the market is bifurcated into file streaming and video streaming. By business model, the market is fragmented into business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). On the basis of the gamer type, the market is classified into avid gamers, hardcore gamers, and casual gamers.
With respect to the device type, the market is segmented into gaming consoles, smart televisions, smartphones, personal computers & laptops, head-mounted displays, and tablets. Depending upon the offering, the market is divided into gaming platform services and infrastructure. The gaming platform services segment is further segregated into personal computer services and content services. The infrastructure segment is further classified into memory, compute, and storage. By gaming system, the market is segmented into remote play, playstation, steam in-home streaming, streammygame, and G-cluster.
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“By gaming system, the market is segmented into remote play, playstation, steam in-home streaming, streammygame, and G-cluster.
~ Gaming System
This industry report analyzes the market estimates and forecasts for all the given segments on global as well as regional levels. The study provides historical market data for 2015, 2016 revenue estimations are presented for 2017 and forecasts from 2018 till 2028. The study focuses on market trends, leading players, supply chain trends, technological innovations, key developments, and future strategies. With comprehensive market assessment across the major geographies such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Latin America and Rest of the world the report is a valuable asset for the existing players, new entrants and the future investors.
“With respect to the device type, the market is segmented into gaming consoles, smart televisions, smartphones, personal computers & laptops, head-mounted displays, and tablets”.
The study presents detailed market analysis with inputs derived from industry professionals across the value chain. A special focus has been made on countries such as U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Germany, Spain, France, Italy, China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. The market data is gathered from extensive primary interviews and secondary research. The market size is calculated based on the revenue generated through sales from all the given segments and sub segments in the research scope. The market sizing analysis includes both top-down and bottom-up approaches for data validation and accuracy measures.
Game platform service held the largest share in cloud gaming market by offering owing to growing demand of both content and PC service. Cloud gaming allows playing PC games on nearly any device on the go, which earlier required expensive hardware. Sony’s PlayStation, Blade’s Shadow, GeForce NOW, Blacknut are some of the major companies providing gaming platform service. Launch of Google’s Stadia and Microsoft XCloud are expected to further drive the platform service market. ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.
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Variety | January 10, 2019
Amazon has extended its tentacles into the ad-supported VOD space — stocking IMDb with a back-catalog of dozens of movies and TV shows that are free to watch.The Amazon-owned movie database site has launched IMDb Freedive (imdb.com/freedive), a free streaming video channel available in the U.S. An IMDb rep declined to say how many titles are initially available, other than to say there are “hundreds.” The site currently lists a relatively slim lineup of over 130 featured movies and 29 TV shows to stream for free.TV shows on IMDb Freedive include past seasons of “Fringe,” “Heroes,” “The Bachelor” (seasons 20 and 21), “Gilligan’s Island,” “Duck Dynasty,” “Quantum Leap,” “Born This Way,” “Kitchen Nightmares” and “Without a Trace.” Movies on the service include “Awakenings,” “A Few Good Men,” “Adaptation,” “Drive,” “Foxcatcher,” “Gattaca,” “Memento,” “Run Lola Run,” “The Illusionist,” “The Last Samurai,” “True Romance,” Patty Jenkins’ “Monster,” and Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris.”Titles licensed for Freedive come from studios and networks including CBS, NBCUniversal Television, Sony Pictures Entertainment/Columbia Pictures, Newmarket Films, Warner Bros. Television, A+E Networks and Annapurna Pictures.
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