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Neil Young’s music is back on “low res Spotify” two years after Rogan protest.

The artist pulled his catalog in early 2022 over its then-exclusive Joe Rogan deal, which Young said had resulted in Spotify spreading vaccine misinformation. Now, with the exclusivity deal over, Rogan’s podcast is also available on Apple and Amazon, and Young can’t keep his music off all of them.

He’s still not happy about Spotify’s lack of high-res audio quality, though.


My Return to Low Res Spotify

[Neil Young Archives]

Happy 311 day to all who celebrate!

NPR posted a Tiny Desk concert with the Omaha band.

Nick Hexium, the band’s lead singer, reviewed the NPR venue: “This kind of reminds me of being in my dad’s basement, being back next to the pool table, but it smells better here.”

They did not play “Come Original,” a song I have been making jokes about for at least the last 20 years.


Siri can learn your favorite music service on your HomePod... as long as it's not Spotify.

The new HomePod‌ software update 17.4 lets Siri learn your preferred music service, so you don’t need to manually set it up or always say “on YouTube Music” after every request. It only works with services that support the HomePod, so if you’re a YouTube Music, Deezer, Pandora, TuneIn, or iHeartRadio user, you’re in luck!

It doesn’t work with Spotify, but you can use this workaround to get Siri to play Spotify on the speaker


Apple’s update notes for HomePod software 17.4, “This update enables Siri to learn your preferred media service, so you no longer need to include the name of the media app in your request. This update also includes performance and stability improvements.”
Siri on HomePod just got a little smarter.
Screenshot by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
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This startup will let you buy shares in your favorite songs.

JKBX (pronounced “jukebox”) is a new platform that lets music rights holders sell securities based on their royalties.

If you buy shares in a song like Beyoncé’s “Halo,” for example, you’ll get a cut of the distribution fees the rights holder collects. The only problem is that it’s already hard enough for artists themselves to make money from streaming, so even if you invest in a trending song, it could take a while to see a meaningful return.


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The Eras Tour’s big Disney Plus debut is almost here.

We’re just a few days out from the Disney Plus debut of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert film, but in case the March 14th premiere somehow slipped your mind, there’s a new trailer to get you hyped back up.


Spotify’s built-in “psychic” will help you answer life’s toughest questions —

like whether your outfit matches. You can try out the new Song Psychic feature by heading to spotify.com/songpsychic on your phone and picking from a range of premade questions. The app will then attempt to answer your question with a song.

When I asked what I should have for lunch, I got “Slime” by Shygirl. Thanks, Spotify.


Image: Spotify
Apple Music’s Heavy Rotation playlist features your new favorites instead of your all-time favorites.

It compiles 25 of your frequently listened-to songs but will update daily, reports MacRumors. This way, the playlist reflects a shorter timeframe than Apple Music’s other personalized playlists (such as Favorites), which get updated weekly.

Because it’s February, and no one else knows you’ve listened to Mitski’s latest album about 840 times over the past week.


A screenshot of the Apple Music app on an iPhone, showing Alex Cranz’s Heavy Rotation playlist with a couple of classical music songs.
A screenshot of a Heavy Rotation playlist on Apple Music.
Image: Alex Cranz

Physical media week

Exploring the importance of discs and cartridges in an increasingly digital age.

Offline downloads are appearing for YouTube Music’s web player.

Travelers and those with finicky Wi-Fi can rejoice as offline downloading is starting to show up in YouTube Music’s web app, according to Android Police and 9to5Google. One user on Reddit posted screenshots of a “Save to Library” button, as well as a new “Downloads” tab.

Offline downloads of songs have been limited to YouTube Music’s mobile apps and only for Premium members. It seems likely the desktop feature will also remain a Premium perk.


Flop rock: inside the underground floppy disk music scene

Floppy disks are facing extinction, but musicians are still pumping out DIY music projects.

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Apple is going to be stunned when it finds out how the Mac works.

The company put out a new statement today criticizing Spotify’s complaint to the EU about restrictions on its iOS app:

Fundamentally, their complaint is about trying to get limitless access to all of Apple’s tools without paying anything for the value Apple provides.

What kind of computing platform could possibly offer developers that kind of flexibility? Who would make such a thing?


Stop what you’re doing and turn on this Twitch stream right now.

Daft Punk (y’know the French electronica duo with the really cool helmets) is streaming their anime movie Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem on their official Twitch channel right now.

If you’ve never seen it, it’s great. If you’ve seen it a million times, watch it again. Or if you really like Daft Punk’s Discovery album and wonder what it would look like as feature length animated movie, then oh boy have I got a treat for you.


Apple Music Reply will recap listening habits monthly.

Sharing music statistics online became a yearly tradition thanks to Spotify Wrapped. Now, Apple Music’s Replay feature is turning up the frequency with monthly breakdowns (after YouTube Music added seasonal updates in 2022) and will also note “milestones” for users, like the total number of minutes they spent listening to that one album. Users, of course, can share their music recaps online every month.

TechCrunch reports monthly Replay recaps will only be available to users “who listen to enough music.”


Three simulated screenshots showing the monthly Apple Music Replay recap screens on iPhones with total minutes listened, top songs, and milestone achievements.
Image: Apple via TechCrunch
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A quartet of Beatles biopics may form Sony’s next cinematic universe.

While Sony’s plan to kick off a new cinematic universe with Madame Web doesn’t seem like it will work out, the studio migt end up having much better luck with four new biopics about Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, and George Harrison from director Sam Mendes.


Jay-Z, Instagram Dad.

Some things are universal.


The TikTok music situation, explained.

The longer the TikTok / UMG battle drags on, the more I think UMG’s leverage increases. Talked about it on Today, Explained with my pal Sean Rameswaram — and Cory Doctorow also joined this episode, so it’s a fun one.


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Beyoncé’s new music is coming to break Verizon’s network.

Beyoncé has new music out, and Verizon’s Super Bowl ad about the drop maybe crashing its cell network doesn’t feel like all that much of a stretch.


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Don’t worry, Swifties, Taylor made it.

The NFL posted that Taylor Swift arrived at the Super Bowl to watch Travis Kelce play. Does that guarantee a third pillar of Swift-obsessed viewers will join those who want to know what happens in the game and those who just want to watch the commercials?

The New York Times looked at this season’s Chiefs games ratings and... maybe?


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Look at DJ Diplo’s sick plant coat.

Just kidding, I’m obviously posting this because of the Vision Pro and Tim Cook content, spotted by 9to5Mac’s Chance Miller. But why is Cook hugging one of the members of EDM trio Major Lazer? Listen, these guys go way back.

It does look like a comfy coat, though.


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Nintendo’s Splatoon 3 gets the band treatment, and it slaps.

Nintendo released an orchestral performance of music from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom yesterday in lieu of its canceled Tokyo Live 2024 event.

This one’s a little different, featuring several bands doing Splatoon 3 up in a way that would feel right at home on stage at video game art festival MAGFest.


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Music podcasters are furious that Spotify is killing Music + Talk.

Spotify for Podcasters is changing, and according to some creators, not for the better.

An expanded partnership with Riverside will replace some of the platform’s native mobile and web creation tools, and it’s sunsetting Music + Talk, a feature introduced in 2020 that allows podcasters to plug licensed full-length tracks into episodes. Podcasters who focus on music, in particular, have a particular need for that capability and say their shows will be gutted by the change.


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Finally, some Zelda music Nintendo won’t take down.

After Nintendo cancelled it’s Nintendo Live 2024 Tokyo event, the two concerts set to take place during the event — Zelda and Splatoon — were scheduled to be released later on YouTube. The first of those two concerts, Tears of the Kingdom, is now available and it starts strong.

Zelda music rarely, if ever, misses, and just the first notes of TOTK’s “Main Theme” hits like a rolling Goron. Splatoon fans can listen to their concert tomorrow February 10th.


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Warner Music Group to lay off 600 employees and close the Interval Presents podcast division.

WMG CEO Robert Kyncl -- who thinks you could pay more for Spotify-- revealed the record label will lay off 10 percent of its workforce, or 600 employees. It’s winding down the podcast division behind Rap Radar and Drink Champs, and IMGN Media. It's also in an "exclusive process" to sell Uproxx and HipHopDX.

Earlier on Wednesday, WMG reported Q1 revenue of $1.75 billion — its highest quarterly revenue since it went public, and net income of $193 million.


It is Bandcamp Friday.

Late last year, Epic Games sold the company to Songtradr, and half the employees were laid off, but Bandcamp is still continuing its artist-supporting pandemic tradition.

Music from Open Mike Eagle (who also has a podcast), EVA808, Nicolaas, and NOT_MDK (below), as well as countless others, is available to purchase through 12AM PT without Bandcamp taking a revenue share.


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Universal Music Group is set to pull its music from TikTok.

The corporate home to Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Drake is preparing to stop licensing its music to TikTok, due to disagreements over issues like artist compensation and AI, Variety reports.

In an open letter to the artist community, UMG claims “TikTok attempted to bully us into accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal, far less than fair market value and not reflective of their exponential growth.” Its current licensing agreement with TikTok expires on January 31.