Joan E. Solsman

Apple’s relaunch of Beats Music said to cost $10 a month

Apple bought headphone maker Beats last year for $3 billion and acquired the company’s subscription streaming music service in the deal. Apple The new Beats Music may look different from the old Beats Music, but it will feel just the same to your wallet. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Monday that Apple’s …

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Sports are no savior to big cable bundles, survey says

About half of sports fans said they’d pay to stream their favorite games. Getty Images Sports TV is some of the most expensive around, but a new survey says it isn’t how cable companies can sack cord cutting. Of cable subscribers, 67 percent said sports weren’t the reason they kept their service, according to a survey by Clearleap, a company …

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Google makes Android TV feel more like the boob tube

Android TV is Google’s operating system that powers televisions that connect with the Internet. CNET Android TV will start to feel a little more like a screen you can channel surf. The search giant Thursday introduced a feature called “Channels” for its Internet-connected-television operating system. The feature lets anyone developing apps or producing content for Android TV deliver video in …

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HBO Now coming to Chromecast, Android devices

HBO Now lets members watch the network’s movies, documentaries and original series like “Silicon Valley” as soon as they air for a $14.99 monthly subscription. HBO HBO Now gives you the premium cable network’s shows without a pay-TV subscription. Soon, you can get it without an iPhone. HBO Now, the network’s purely online TV service, will be available on Google …

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‘Game of Thrones’ drives traffic spike for HBO

Though Netflix is always the top hog of Internet traffic in North America, HBO’s streaming-video properties made a leap in traffic share the night of the latest “Game of Thrones” premiere. HBO HBO’s fledging online-only streaming service HBO Now made a dent — a small one — in Internet traffic when it launched, and it has “Game of Thrones” to …

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CBS would join Apple’s TV service, if price is right

CBS CEO Les Moonves said he’s having an ongoing conversation with Apple about an Internet-delivered TV service from the computer maker. Asa Mathat for Re/code CBS Chief Executive Les Moonves teased the possibility of a deal with Apple to use its programming for an online-based service — provided the world’s most valuable company pays up. “Apple TV is trying to …

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The new Spotify: Part tunes, part TV, part fortune

CEO Daniel Ek introduced “the new Spotify” Wednesday, with more kinds of media and an effort to serve up more content based on a specific context. Sarah Tew/CNET Spotify always aimed to become the soundtrack to your entire life — it just realized it needs more than music to get there. Wednesday, the world’s biggest subscription music service unveiled the …

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Well, look at that: Spotify launches video

Now playing: Watch this: Spotify launches video streaming 1:52 NEW YORK — Spotify is changing its tune — from “listen up” to “look here.” In a move to appeal more broadly to consumers, the Sweden-based music service showed off new features Wednesday including video, podcasts and specialized experiences for people like runners. During the event, Rochelle King, Spotify’s vice president …

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Pandora buys music data cruncher Next Big Sound

Pandora purchased music analytics company Next Big Sound, which figures out things like the relationship between social media and revenue for music and the real effect of promotional events and marketing for artists. Joan E. Solsman/CNET Pandora, the world’s biggest streaming music service by users, Tuesday said it bought music analytics company Next Big Sound, another pitch to artists and …

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Rdio launches cheap streaming

Rdio is adding a midpriced level of service, joining its free Pandora-like option and the standard $9.99-a-month subscription. Rdio Haven’t we heard this tune before? Streaming music service Rdio unveiled a $3.99 level Thursday as a cheaper but also more limited alternative to the $9.99 all-you-can-eat subscriptions standard in the industry. (In Australia, those prices are AU$5.99 and AU$11.99.) If …

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