Top Five Reasons Why Spotify is Better Than Pandora - http://clapway.com/2016/01/14/top-5-reasons-why-spotify-is-better-than-pandora/

Spotify and Pandora are online music streaming software that are both extremely fun to use. They do have quite a few differences, though.

Those differences are certainly better in Spotify than in Pandora.

REASON 1: CHOOSING YOUR MUSIC

In Pandora, users get to listen to any specific type of music that they want to. Pandora features their radio station, but there is one major problem with it. Users can not pick the specific song they want in Pandora, but they can in Spotify. Using this service, users can pick any songs that they want to listen to.

REASON 2: MUSIC COLLECTION

Not only does Spotify allow users to pick their own songs, they also allow users to store them in their own personal library of music. Not only this but if you are a subscriber, you can listen to this music without being connected to the internet.

REASON 3: USER INTERFACE

The interface for Pandora is not necessarily bad, but the interface for Spotify is better. Last year, the company actually added a new darker them that made their service look more engaging. It is also very easy to discover music with their service.

REASON 4: PLATFORMS

Spotify can be accessed by a lot of services including the iPad, the Mac, Windows, Google Chromecast, Android, and many other platforms. If you have a device that connects to the internet, then it can most likely use this service.

REASON 5: THE STARTING TRIAL COST

You can use Spotify for free, but the Premium version of it is worth it for the offline mode alone. The best part about this, though, is the company offers you the first three months of the premium version for only $1. So, if you ended up hating the service, then you would only lose out on $1.

Top Five Reasons Why Spotify is Better Than Pandora

Apple Kills Beats Music, Apple Music is Better - http://clapway.com/2015/11/14/apple-kills-beats-music-apple-music-is-better123/

Apple has just made a post announcing that they will shut down Beats Music on November 30. After that date, the company clarified that all subscriptions will be cancelled, but that users will have a chance to transfer their music onto Apple Music, which is clearly the better streaming service.

Beats Music Lost All Wonder After 18 Months

The funny thing is, it’s only been eighteen months since Apple acquired Beats Music. Clearly, Apple Music had a much better development and outreach, having just become available for Android. All Beats Music have the option to use Apple Music’s migration tool to transfer all music before it is shut own.

This notice comes as no surprise. The moment Apple Music went live this past June, Beats Music stopped getting new subscribers; Apple has given a much greater amount of support to the newer music streaming option.

Apple advertised Apple Music even on the notice of Beats Music shutting down, reminding users that Apple Music gives users recommendations, global radio around the clock courtesy of Beats 1, and the latest out of their favorite artists.

$3 Billion Wasted?

Apple bought Beats in May of 2014 for $3 billion, which included Beats Music, the Beats headphone and speaker line as well as the company’s executives. Though Beats Music is shutting down, the headphones and speaker line is still available for purchase.

Apple Kills Beats Music, Apple Music is Better

Has the #Spotify privacy policy gone too far? Will you #QuitSpotify? - http://clapway.com/2015/08/23/%e2%80%8bthe-spotify-privacy-policy-has-changed-the-internet-is-going-crazy-342/

Spotify’s new privacy policy has led its users to object to the streaming service that counts more than 20 million paid and 55 million free subscribers. With members threatening to leave the service over changes in terms and conditions, the Spotify chief executive, Daniel Ek, apologised publicly in a written blog post.

THE NEW SPOTIFY PRIVACY POLICY

The new terms and conditions of the music service include access to sensitive and sensor data, found on the users’ smartphones. Phone numbers, photographs, locations and other information stored in your phone have been sent to the Spotify servers if you’ve hit “yes” when the new Ts&Cs popped up.

Yep, that’s what you signed up for.

QUIT SPOTIFY

The hashtag #QuitSpotify has become trending after the announcement, and users all over the world express their complaints to the service with Markus Persson (also known as Notch), creator of Minecraft, tweeting to his 2.4 million followers that he was cancelling his own account.

Spotify has said in response that those changes are meant to improve the user experience. For example, new Spotify terms and conditions request access to how fast users move in order to help the Spotify Running app which matches beats per minute of songs it chooses to play, to the pace you run.

Related post: Amazon Launches Prime Music to Combat Apple Music and Spotify

THE PUBLIC APOLOGY

Mr. Ek apologised in a blog post and he promised an update to the new policy, which will clarify it, but he did not suggest that the terms themselves would be changed.

What he wrote was that the team should have communicated the meaning of these policies better and make clear how the information users share with Spotify will -and will not- be used. Also, he noted that Spotify will not access photos, contacts, GPS or sensor without the user’s permission.

THERE IS A SOLUTION

If you don’t wish to give access to any personal data but you still love using Spotify, the only thing you have to do is accept the new terms of service, and then deny access every time a Spotify prompt hits your screen.

However, Spotify does not want to collect your personal data just for fun or because of a spy-type “New World Order” game. Contacts are most likely to assist you in connecting with friends on the app, and photos and location data are collected to provide advertising agencies with useful, marketing information.

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In case you missed it, we’ve got it for you — find out what you missed this week on Clapway:

 

​The Spotify Privacy Policy Has Changed. The Internet is Going Crazy.

%A new study says that #bluebirds alter their songs making a statement against the background, modern-day"s noises produced mainly by #humans.% - http://clapway.com/2015/08/22/bluebirds-shout-heard-099/

Noise pollution is a huge problem nowadays and keeps leading us to raise our voices in order to make ourselves heard. A new study says that bluebirds alter their songs making a statement against the background, modern-day’s noises produced mainly by humans.

THE STUDY ON BLUEBIRDS

A team of researchers led by Dr. Caitlin Kight from the University of Exeter studied male bluebirds which altered their pitch, volume and melody of their songs responding to increased background noises. The researchers discovered that the birds try to cut through the noise, producing songs that were louder and lower pitched. The study suggests that even animals can perceive noise pollution and try to fight it back, enabling experts to know more about how they respond to man-made noise pollution.

Dr. Kight is a behavioral ecologist at the University of Exeter and, for her research, she recorded 64 songs produced by 32 male bluebirds. After analyzing two songs from each male -one produced during quietest and one during loudest period of ambient noise- she found that as background noise increased the bluebirds changed their songs to melodies that were more likely to be heard by potential mates or rivals.

CITY AND FORESTS MAY SOUND SIMILAR

However, Dr. Kight says that sounds caused by traffic or in an urban environment, in general, are not that different from those produced in nature since there can be similarities in features like volume or timing. For example, as Knight says, traffic sounds sometimes may seem similar to sounds produced by waterfalls, and animals that have spent their lives in habitats with natural features may already have the flexibility to respond to noise pollution.

Even though, in the past, studies have shown that birds always sang differently in noisier areas, it was not immediately clear that they changed their vocal behaviors in real time.

CAN NOISE POLLUTION DESTROY US ALL?

Dr John Swaddle, co-author of the study, from the College of William and Mary in the United States, warns that the findings of the research is not evidence that the noise pollution is unharmful for wild animals, just because urban and natural sounds are sometimes similar.

After saying that the world has become a noisy place to live in, he stated that even the most flexible of species, like humans, will some day reach a threshold beyond which they will have difficulty communicating, creating an impact on their ability to breed successfully.

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DOCUMENT YOUR BIRDS YOU WATCH WITH MOLESKIN

Study: Bluebirds Shout to Make Themselves Heard

What makes a #language? #Whistling does in #Turkey, apparently! - http://clapway.com/2015/08/18/ancient-turkish-whistling-changes-our-perception-of-language-325/

We whistle to catch a person’s attention. We whistle to express excitement and joy. But, did you know that whistling could be used as a language? It has been for many years in Turkey.

Is Turkish Whistling a language?

Whistling is a common mode of communication in the Kuskoy region of Turkey. Aptly called the “bird village”, this community uses whistling to have long-distance chats; it sounds like birds chirping in a shrill tone, but is actually conveying meaningful information. Though it lacks the syntax and phonetic components of common language, it has a sound associated with each syllable of modern Turkish. This feature makes the whistling language dynamic; one could add more words to its dictionary. It is said that this centuries-old language probably came about to facilitate conversations among inhabitants who often lived miles apart from each other along rocky terrains.

How does the brain interpret Turkish Whistling? A study finds out.

Language perception is a fascinating field of study marked by years of research. The consensus in the field of linguistics is that we disproportionately use the left side of the brain for language perception. The word production and grammar functions of the languages we speak are thought to overwhelmingly involve regions in the left hemisphere of the brain. On the other hand, sound-related variables such as pitch, timbre, and melody are interpreted by the right hemisphere of the brain. In fact, it is thought that we use our right hemisphere to process music. The study published in Current Biology addresses how Turkish whistling involves components of both sound and syntax-⎯components that are associated with the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Could this whistling then involve the entire brain?

Turkish Whistling uses both sides of the brain

The researchers used a dichotic testing paradigm⎯a test that uses different sounds to simultaneously stimulate the right and left ears⎯to figure out whether Turkish whistling used both sides of the brain. When participants were asked to compare vocal listening tasks and whistling listening tasks, the vocal task showed left hemisphere dominance. On the other hand, in whistling tasks, there was no notable dominance of either hemisphere, suggesting a global involvement of hemispheres.

This newly discovered neural processing of the ancient whistling language reveals how little we know about language and the brain.

Want to delve into the human brain?

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Can MUSIO learn to whistle?

Ancient Turkish Whistling Changes our Perception of Language

It"s on the #Apple Rumor Mill -- but if it"s true, finally! - http://clapway.com/2015/07/12/apple-to-introduce-new-ipods-on-tuesday-345/

According to the French website iGen.fr, whose track record’s in good standing, Apple will be announcing a whole new iPod lineup on Tuesday, July 14th. Just when many of us believed that iPods would no longer be getting any updates, Apple brings in a whole new update for Apple Mp3 player fans.

More iphones, less ipods

It was observed that since the company announced their new Apple Music streaming service last month, the website lost its “iPod” section, therefore leading many to think the music player was not bound to be updated anymore.

With an ever increasing sale of iPhones, less and less people reply on music-only players such as the iPod, therefore it would be understandable why Apple would decide to kill one of the biggest products in its history.

However, according to the rumours, new iPods are on their way pretty soon and will include significant updates — especially for the iPod Touch.

New Colours

Earlier this month, iPods in new unseen colours were spotted on iTunes version 12.2, including a new gold or beige colour for the Nano, a brighter pink for the Shuffle and a darker blue for the Touch. Also, a few eagle-eyed users noticed that the pictures of the devices included the Calendar app dated on July 14, which adds to the information on when these new products are set to be announced.

A Super-fast iPod Touch

The most significant update will be featured on the Touch, Apple’s most selling iPod. It is believed that the company will release its “fastest ever iPod Touch”, which will include a 64-bit processor instead of the current 32-bit. Also, according to rumours the device’s camera will be updated and so will the 16, 32 and 64 gigabyte storage.

Also, now that the streaming service “Apple Music” has been launched, some believe it’s the perfect moment for the company to introduce music-related products.

However, no Apple official event has been planned for Tuesday yet, leaving people wondering whether the rumours are true or fake. Nevertheless, sooner or later these new products will be announced, especially considering that the current iPod Touch has not gone through significant changes since 2012.

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Protect your Apple gear’s screens with Halo Back:

Apple to Introduce New iPods on Tuesday

“I just played a gig inside a giant owl and my girl just changed the music scene. What a day!”. - http://clapway.com/2015/06/22/is-taylor-swift-more-powerful-than-apple/

 

Yesterday, pop artist Taylor Swift published a letter on her Tumblr page accusing Apple for not paying artists during the first three-month trial of their new streaming service. Today, however, the technology giant seems to have changed its mind.

Just a few weeks ago, the company announced their new product, Apple Music, hoping that users will leave Spotify behind in the coming months and switch to their service. On top of the typical streaming services one expects, the company also launched a 24-hour radio station called “Beats 1”, which aims to “bring you a fresh take on the genres you love” .

Apple announced that Apple Music will be available for free to its customers for the first three months, and will charge $9.99 each month after the trial.

“Not the complaints of a spoiled, petulant child”

Taylor Swift hardly criticised the streaming service denying all her music to Apple. But this is not the first time she’s made such moves. In fact, the artist is known for her open battle against streaming services after pulling off all her music from Spotify last November, just days before releasing her new album 1989, which saw records sales.

The artist, though, described how “These are not the complaints of a spoiled, petulant child”, but “echoed sentiments” of all artists who still have not achieved her same success and would struggle to work for three months unpaid.

Swift underlined how these remarks are not about her personal situation, by emphasising in her letter that she is at her fifth album and able to support herself. Instead, she clarifies how this is about the artists who are trying to breakout in the music scene and are hindered by the popularity of streaming services which give them little to no compensation.

A very low pay

Spotify revealed that it pays artists as little as $0.07 per stream. So it is understandable why artists would stand up against the low pay offered by streaming services, which are steadily becoming everyone’s main source for music playback.

“We know that this incredible company [Apple] has the money to pay artists, writers and producers for the 3 month trial period… even if it is free for the fans trying it out” Swift wrote. “We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation”, she concluded.

Taylor Swift’s power

But as Spotify made no changes to its payment policies and just limited itself to quoting one of her songs begging the artist to change her mind, Apple decided to “accommodate” her request.

The company announced today that it will now pay all artists during the trial months, making it a victory for the singer’s fight against the injustices of music streaming compensation.

In a tweet today, Swift made it clear, once again, that this fight is not just about her. She wrote that “they listened to us”, implying that she is fighting for both her rights and those of all artists in the music industry. Calvin Harris, Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, sarcastically tweeted “I just played a gig inside a giant owl and my girl just changed the music scene. What a day!”.

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MUSIO is another way to get your musical fix in style. Check out our review:

Is Taylor Swift More Powerful Than Apple?

"In the morning, you wake up and wonder if it was all a dream. Your roommates tell you that no, it in fact was not. Then, your crappy Italian cell phone pings." - http://clapway.com/2015/06/15/fire-and-ice-an-italian-love-story/

Falling in love in Italy is every girl’s dream, right? It is the adventure of a lifetime. We willingly let our imaginations travel into the unknown experience of what falling in love with an Italian will be like. Well, unfortunately, if you’re not careful, it can go downhill fast.

At first, you’re having innocent fun. You go to a bar without any intention on falling in love. You have a few drinks with your best friends, travel companions and random hostel acquaintances. Pretty soon, the wine is going to your head and men worthy of falling in love with are everywhere.

Italian men are nothing if not passionate. They are just as set on falling in love as you probably are; except to them, love means more than a one night stand.

You see him; he sees you; your eyes meet; and, cue the fireworks. Amidst the music, the summer heat, and the atmosphere your bodies are drawn toward one another, like cheese is to wine; you know you were meant to be, even if it’s just for the night.

“Hello,” he says in his sexy, sultry, Italian accent. He also tells you his name, but you can’t remember how to pronounce it. He buys you another drink, one that you don’t need, and you start dancing. No one else matters because you are falling in love; that’s what you tell yourself at least.

The night progresses way too fast, and before you know it the bar is closing down. At this point, you both are glued to each other and have no intention on letting go. He walks you outside and before you know it, he is kissing you. He kisses your neck, your lips, and your collarbone. His hands wander everywhere, and he has no regard for the fact that you are in a public square, surrounded by cobblestone roads and various couples.

You manage to breathe while he tells you he wants to see you again tomorrow. Eagerly, you nod your head and reach for your cheap Italian cell phone. You put in his number, then call him to make sure he has yours. Your friends spot you and drag you away, leaving you to the comfort and safety of your warm sheets, dreaming of your Italian love.

In the morning, you wake up and wonder if it was all a dream. Your roommates tell you that no, it in fact was not. Then, your crappy Italian cell phone pings.

“I can’t wait to see you tonight,” the message reads. Even over text you can imagine his sexy Italian accent. And you spend all day waiting for the night to come so you can sneak back to your Italian love.

Fire and Ice: An Italian Love Story