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AI features are becoming increasingly integrated with music streaming platforms – just take a look at Spotify and it's wildly popular AI DJ. Now, Amazon Music is about to dip its toes into the pool of robot-generated playlists, recently announcing the addition of a feature called Maestro, its new AI playlist generator. Joining the likes of the best music streaming services, Maestro marks the beginning of Amazon Music’s venture into AI features. Maestro is currently rolling out in beta to a selected number of subscribers in the US, and will be available across all tiers of the service in the Amazon Music app for iOS and Android. Amazon Music describes Maestro as “an AI playlist generator that helps you create any playlist you can think of – plus all the ones you can’t”. From its first look, Maestro adopts a similar process to Spotify’s AI playlist feature, taking the chatbot approach where you can type or speak prompts which will curate a unique playlist – and you can even use emojis to be more specific with your prompts. In addition to emojis, Amazon Music says that you can also use emotions, activities, and sounds to create more specific playlists. And by the looks of it, you can be as unhinged with your prompts as you’d like – just try ‘music my grandparents made out to’ or ‘I want to recycle my boyfriend’. If you’re stuck with a prompt idea or have exhausted your creativity, you have the option to choose from a selection of suggested prompts such as ‘soundtrack for a lazy day’, ‘afrobeats energy boost’, or ‘make my baby a genius’. (Image credit: Amazon / Amazon Music) Though it’s an exciting step for Amazon Music, Maestro is still in its early stages of development and Amazon has warned that the feature “won’t always get it right the first time”. Despite this, Amazon has already implemented a system that blocks offensive language and inappropriate prompts from being used, and plans to use this testing period to gather user feedback and apply it to Maestro’s development. It’s evident that Amazon is doubling down on its AI integrations, following the roll out of its AI Skills apps for Alexa and its most recent Rufus chatbot that makes impulsive buying even more tempting. With Maestro, there’s no doubt that Amazon is playing catch up to its music streaming competitors, but is the new addition of its AI playlist generator a direct punch to Spotify’s gut? (Image credit: Amazon / Amazon Music ) You might also like Streaming music is broken – here's why it's made me fall in love with vinyl all over againMy verdict on the new Spotify? It's time to switch to Apple MusicSpotify's rumored remix feature could completely change how we listen to music View the full article

Spotify's elusive lossless music experience is being teased again, this time based on code uncovered by The Verge in recent builds of the Spotify app for Android. More than three years have elapsed since Spotify announced its intention to offer a "HiFi" premium option that would give users access to a catalog of CD-quality music tracks. Originally the company said the tier would go live by the end of 2021, but a shift in the wider streaming market upended that idea. Apple Music has since rolled lossless listening into its standard subscription price, while Amazon stopped charging extra for its lossless music library. The moves effectively kiboshed Spotify's original strategy of marketing an exclusively lossless HiFi tier. That said, it doesn't sound as if lossless is coming as a free perk. The latest rumors suggest that Spotify now aims to offer lossless audio playback in an optional "Music Pro" add-on that will also include new DJ remix features, which let subscribers "speed up, mash-up, and otherwise edit" tracks from their favorite artists, according to The Wall Street Journal. Spotify will likely make some basic remixing tools available as part of its Premium subscription (currently $10.99 a month, or $5.99 for students), but more powerful tools will be part of its "Music Pro" add-on. Where recent rumors of a new top "Supremium" tier fit in is unclear. Apple Music vs. Spotify Buyer's Guide The intended price of the premium add-on has not been revealed, but given that major rivals include lossless in their standard plans, expecting subscribers to pay anything more than a nominal fee may be a big ask.Tag: Spotify This article, "Elusive Spotify Lossless Option May Arrive as Paid 'Music Pro' Add-on" first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums View the full article

We've been dreaming of listening to lossless audio through Spotify ever since the music streaming service announced plans for Spotify HiFi all the way back in February 2021. More than three years on, the upgrade might finally be arriving, with a new name. Thanks to some diligent digging into the Spotify for Android code by the user Hypixely on Reddit (via The Verge), we now have evidence for an as-yet-unannounced Spotify feature called Music Pro, which Spotify is describing as an add-on. With mentions of "16-bit and 24-bit high-fidelity sound" and "Lossless listening" in the code though, this sure sounds like Spotify HiFi. Apparently, advanced mixing tools and playlist filtering features are going to be included too. There are no hints on price or when we might see this, but all the indications are that there'll be a new Music Pro add-on available for Spotify soon, including goodies such as lossless audio and the advanced remixing tools we reported on yesterday. Spotify takes its time So it won't be called Spotify HiFi any more... (Image credit: Spotify) In the words of the Beatles, it's been a long and winding road to get to this point. Since Spotify HiFi was originally announced in 2021 (and promised for later that year), we've had so little official news about it that we were prepared to declare the project dead. However, leaks from insiders and hidden code spotted in the Spotify apps have previously rekindled our hopes. In the past there's been mention of a new 'Supremium' plan, which now seems to have morphed into Music Pro. Code discovered in September 2023 pointed to a fee of $20 (about £16 / AU$31) per month, with extras such as AI playlist generation (since launched in beta for Premium subscribers), new ways to sort through your playlists, and more personalized music recaps. Spotify is clearly keen to get more money out of its users, and audiophiles may well be tempted into splashing out on Music Pro, if it has enough appeal. This should all be made official sooner rather than later... we hope. You might also like Spotify continues to venture into artificial intelligenceA new ChatGPT-like AI prompt makes it easy to create Spotify playlistsSpotify Supremium leaks reveal features and logo View the full article

Spotify is reportedly set to raise the prices again. This news from a recent Bloomberg report that cites anonymous sources who told the publication of the streaming giant’s future plans. According to the insiders, Spotify intends to “increase prices by about $1 to $2 a month” across five markets by April 30. These include the UK, Australia, and Pakistan. The other two regions were not mentioned. Users in the United States are slated to see the same changes, but they won’t happen until later in the year. The reason why the company is bumping subscriptions up again is to “help cover the cost of audiobooks,” a new type of content that was introduced back in November. Bloomberg explains Spotify has to pay publishers for the books, however the platform only has so much money. They apparently need to charge more to keep them. New tiers Although audiobooks have proven themselves to be popular on Spotify, not everyone listens to them. For those who don’t, the company is going to add another subscription plan “that will offer music and podcasts” only, removing audiobooks as an option. This will keep the current price for individual premium plans. People who buy the new tier will have to pay for audiobooks separately. No updates were given about the long-awaited Supremium plan. It’s presumably still in the works, and the launch of the tier may just be around the corner. A user on the truespotify subreddit shared a screenshot of what appears to be the Dolby Atmos logo appearing on the official player, indicating that spatial audio may be an upcoming feature. Hearing the news about yet another price yet hike will probably elicit audible groans, especially if Spotify is charging more for content you may not enjoy. If you’re not happy with the direction Spotify is taking and want an alternative, below are the best three recommendations. Tidal - Best overall alternative (Image credit: Tidal) $10.99 / £10.99 / AU$12.99 for HiFi tier $19.99 / £19.99 / AU$23.99 for HiFi Plus Tidal is the best alternative to Spotify for music fans. It offers great audio quality thanks to high resolution streaming, offer an easy-to-navigate UI, millions of songs, and thousands of music videos; all for the same cost as a standard Spotify subscription. You can get CD-quality audio coming through your headphones by opting for HiFi Plus, although it is rather expensive at $20 a month. It’s important to mention that Tidal doesn’t have a lot of podcasts available. There are a few, but the selection pales in comparison to what Spotify has. This isn't a big deal you’re someone who doesn’t care about podcasts and prefers music. The service, again, is meant for music aficionados who want to hear their favorite artists in an impeccable quality. Qobuz - Best alternative for audiophiles (Image credit: Qobuz) $12.99 / £12.99 / AU$24.99 for the Studio tier$17.99 / £17.99 / AU$29.99 for Sublime plan If you want a service that has the best audio quality out there, check out Qobuz. You can stream music in the 24-bit FLAC format up to 192KHz. In plain English, that means songs coming from Qobuz are better than the CD-quality tracks. It blows what Spotify has out of the water. What’s great about the service is you don’t need to pay extra for Hi-Res audio. The 24-bit FLAC format is part of the basic tier. And if you don’t want to commit to a subscription, that’s okay because you can purchase individual albums. It is the most expensive alternative. However, at the time of writing, the platform is offering a discount for people who buy the yearly plan. The cost comes out to $10.83 a month for a single person. Similar to Tidal, Quboz lacks podcasts. Again, it’s aimed at music fans. YouTube Music - Best content alternative (Image credit: YouTube) $10.99 / £10.99 for YouTube Music Premium.In Australia, it’s a part of YouTube Premium which is $16.99 YouTube Music is an underrated service. Not enough people give it the credit it deserves as a music streaming platform. It does lack hi-res audio. The stream quality on YouTube Music is the same as on Spotify, however, it excels in other areas. The content library on YouTube Music eclipses what you find on its rival. You get millions of songs, tons of podcasts, and a wide assortment of audiobooks, all for free. Plus, you can control what you listen to at any given time. You won’t be forced to listen to a radio playlist. Speaking of which, the platform has tons of playlists covering a variety of topics from favorite artists to Adult Swim bumps. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We didn’t even mention other notable features like the ability to upload your own files, the download function, and the opportunity to find rare releases like early demos. You can't listen to music without a good pair of headphones. For recommendations, check out TechRadar's list of the best headphones for 2024. You might also like Finding new artists on Spotify just got harder after layoffs put an end to useful music encyclopedia, and I’m tired of itTidal's incoming HiFi price cut makes it an even better Spotify alternativeTidal's game-changing feature lets your friends open shared songs in Spotify View the full article