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  • The Gift of Music: How to Do It the Right Way

    The Gift of Music: How to Do It the Right Way

    Everyone has those people in life that are very hard to shop for. I mean what are you to get the person that has everything? Music. Music is always the best gift,  and for the people that have everything, it’s often the only gift. Music is universal and received by everyone. No one can have all of it or appreciate all of it,  which makes it such a great gift.

    The best part about giving music as a gift is there are so many different ways to do it. You can give equipment, earbuds, speakers, listening peripherals, or just new music that you think they would enjoy. The options are virtually endless. Let’s take a look at some of the best music gift ideas you can give your friends, family,  and loved ones.

    Streaming Subscriptions

    When gifting music the first place to start is the easiest place to start. That is a subscription to new music. Starting at $9.99 a month there is a plethora of streaming music subscription services. The subscriptions will allow you to stream, download, and listen to unlimited music, new, retro or classic. Whatever you wanna hear, whenever you wanna hear it.

    The first one I would mention is Apple Music. Apple Music has the largest subscription-based of users as well as the largest database of music. They’ve been compiling music in their iTunes software since the beginning of digital music. Almost all the music you could ever want to listen to is there is a very easy to use, intuitive,  user-friendly platform that syncs perfectly amongst all your iOS devices.

    The next option is Amazon’s Prime Music. Prime Music functions mostly like the Apple subscription services. Prime music will sync across all your Amazon prime devices,  you can even download the prime music app to your iOS or Android devices.

    This provides flexibility in your multiple and various OS mobile devices. There are also services like Iheartradio, Pandora, and Spotify. All the services will run you $9.99 a month and make an excellent gift for anyone who doesn’t have unlimited streaming music service.

    Harmonica?

    Maybe you want something tangible to give? Another great option to give somebody is the gift of a musical instrument. Regardless of talent level, Giving the gift of a musical instrument is always welcome. This will give you some options as well, the classic iconic instrument, a keyboard or guitar,  or you can get interesting like a banjo or harmonica. It’s fun, always remembered, and just may improve someone’s life.  If that’s not exactly what you been looking for, Here are some specific music listening devices that will make great gifts.

    Amazon Echo

    The Amazon Echo is one of Amazon’s premier speaker systems. It is an elegant and easy to use this quality speaker. It doubles as a speaker for most of your devices and comes with Amazon’s Alexa voice-enabled assistant fully built in. Full cloud sync-ability to prime music,  you can add in that subscription for a total music package. Synchronization across your devices lets the Amazon echo provide the ultimate in home music listening enjoyment. The Echo gives the gift of high-quality speaker along with the content to play through it.

    The Sonos Vinyl Set

    Are you looking for a gift for someone who likes that hands-on music experience? Do they like the sound they can feel and touch? At the same time want to have that digital proficiency and quality without suffering the nostalgic sound of crackles and pops. Look no further than Sonos’s new vinyl set. Picture this, the Play:5, the best-sounding, most powerful speaker, matched with the Pro-Ject vinyl record player, allowing you to stream your vinyl to every room. Masterful.

    Did I mention, the Pro-Ject includes built-in phono preamp. Outstanding. They will be able to just plug in any audio device, from a record player to a friend’s phone, and listen to their favorite music on the fantastic Play:5. Like all Sonos speakers, it is expandable.  The Sonos vinyl easily let you go from streaming your favorite music and high-quality sounds to spinning from your own record collection.

    Give the gift of streaming vinyl across the connected Sonos speakers to every room in a pure, balanced sound,  unmatched by anybody else in the industry. Give the gift of their own musical completion, The Sonos Vinyl set.

    Beats Studio3

    You could just try keeping it simple and just go with the old trusty Beats headsets. When you want to give the gift of quality music look no further than beats headphones. The best of the beats headphones are the Beats. Featuring intuitive balanced, pure noise canceling functionality in the most robust and authentic sounding headphones on the market.

    These headsets function flawlessly regardless of the situation or noisy environment that you’re in,  always providing the perfect pure balance sound and they look pretty great.


  • Spotify Posts 100 Million User Numbers, Doubling Apple Music

    Spotify Posts 100 Million User Numbers, Doubling Apple Music

    There are two big names in the world of music streaming services. On the one hand, there’s Apple Music, which is baked into the infrastructure of Apple’s iPhone line. On the other hand, there’s Spotify, an algorithm-driven service that compiles personalized playlists for listeners.

    Spotify has now announced that their paid memberships have now exceeded 100 million users, doubling the 50 million Apple announced in January.

    Spotify Now Doubling Apple Music Subscribers

    Juggernauts of Streaming

    While there are tons of streaming services available, the biggest names in the mix are Spotify and Apple Music. Apple offers access to a wide range of songs from the iTunes store, allowing for downloads of songs and albums. The other big draw of Apple Music is that you get access to Beats One Radio, which is a live internet radio service featuring real DJs and radio shows.

    Spotify is much more math-driven: there are no DJs, no real people selecting the songs on the playlists. However, the system is able to cater much more directly to the tastes of the user, thanks to the automated song selection software.

    In Perspective

    While Spotify is posting huge numbers in terms of global subscribers, Apple seems nonplussed by the situation. Apple Music is growing at the fastest rate of any streaming service in the US. This is good news for Apple, as the US is the largest single market for music consumption in the world.

    Spotify, unlike Apple, also offers a free version that allows users to listen without paying but with ads. This, coupled with Apple’s more limited scope than Spotify, has made the Sweden-based service a popular global streaming option.

    Of the two services, neither has a particular edge in an even field. Apple Music isn’t available on quite as many platforms as Spotify, but it can be downloaded on Android devices. For music-savvy users, either service is excellent for daily use.

  • Apple Music Now Beating Spotify in the US

    Apple Music Now Beating Spotify in the US

    While Spotify might still have a few million more users than Apple Music worldwide, Apple has taken the lead in the US. This comes after Apple was a bit late to the streaming scene, as Spotify had a few years of head start. How did Apple manage to overtake the biggest music streaming service in the world?

    Big-Name Collaborations

    Names like Drake, Frank Ocean and Taylor Swift command a bit of attention. Apple wisely has signed deals with these artists to stream their albums on Apple Music first. In fact, hip-hop and R&B artists see much more success on Apple Music than on Spotify. Drake, for instance, topped the music-streaming charts when Scorpion launched this Summer. J. Cole’s album, K.O.D., saw nearly double the streams on Apple Music than on Spotify. That’s a big deal, as hip-hop and R&B make up nearly a third of all music streaming.

    Beyond just the exclusivity, a number of artists have their own radio shows on Apple’s Beats One radio station. That station, you could guess, is available only through an Apple Music subscription. Drake, Deadmau5, Billie Eilish and more artists have their own shows, and their legions of fans follow them to the service. When you’ve got a following as big as Drake, your name alone can carry a service.

    Beats One

    Speaking of Beats One, it’s the crown jewel of Apple Music and the key to its success. DJs like Zane Lower and Ebro Darden bring a human touch to the proceedings. That same human touch is notably missing from the algorithm-driven Spotify radio service. The interviews, exclusive content and world-first premiers on the service are all quite compelling for diehard music lovers. While more casual listeners may be content with Spotify, those who want more human content are attracted to Beats One.

    Apple Music Has the Install Base

    Another big plus for Apple’s service is the install base of Apple devices. Many people already have iPhones, Macs and the like, and as such they are more likely to try Apple Music. Siri commands can pull up Beats One and the service has iTunes integration. What’s more, Apple CarPlay is the perfect ecosystem for Beats One Radio to shine.

    While Spotify is still leading by a wide margin in the global market, Apple has secured the American listeners. Time will tell whether Apple manages to pull in the foreign demographics, or if they keep their focus here at home.