Ditching cable? Try #Verizon"s new #Go90 #streaming service that will let you stream your favorite shows straight to your smartphone for free. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/09/verizon-on-demand-tv-streaming123/

Free and Verizon are two words that rarely even pass each other on the street, much less coexist in the same sentence. But on Tuesday, Mashable reported that Verizon would be launching a new on-demand TV service that would allow users to stream shows on their smartphones for free.

GO90: On-Demand Streaming Service

The free streaming service that Verizon plans to launch later this month is called Go90. It’s an app-based streaming service that will allow both Verizon subscribers and non-subscribers equivalent access to its services. The app itself will be supported by ads and will feature live sporting events and original content, as well as content from television networks.

Verizon has tried on-demand streaming services before, but Go90 will be the first time that it offers a service like this that non-subscribers will be able to access. According to Mashable, users will be able to stream content like The Daily Show, HBO’s The Leftovers, basketball, NCAA football and more.

SOCIAL ACCESS

Verizon wants to stress that Go90 isn’t just about streaming content for everyone to enjoy. The app actually has a large social component that the company hopes will entice users to bring family and friends over to share with each other. Many of the social features include normal things like sharing and chatting, but users will also be able to form fan groups called “crews” that will allow like-minded fans to join together in discussion about their favorite TV shows. One of these features is called “cut and share,” which will allow users to exchange messages in clips based on the television shows they’re watching.

VERIZON IS GOING AFTER MILLENNIALS

Many younger audiences are beginning to “cut the cord,” which means that they’re simply cancelling their cable subscriptions altogether. Verizon’s new Go90 app is an effort to become one of the first social hubs that will hopefully grab some of the cable ditchers. Unfortunately, they’ll be competing with the likes of Hulu, Netflix, HBO Go, and Amazon Prime Video.

As of right now, Verizon only has plans to release the Go90 app on Android and iOS, but it’s not clear if other platforms will see this app somewhere down the road.

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Verizon to Launch Free On-Demand TV Streaming

“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?