Spotify has 100 million subscribers, 30 million are paid listeners

Streaming music service Spotify revealed it has 100 million subscribers, 30 million of which pay for the service to enjoy ad-free music and the ability to save songs and playlists on a mobile device.

Despite its market dominance, Spotify reflects the delicate nature of running a streaming music service. According to Reuters, "Spotify, founded in 2006, pays more than 80 percent of its revenue to record labels and artists and has not yet shown a profit as it spends to grow internationally. Last year, it made an operating loss of 184.5 million euros ($209 million), widening from 165.1 million in 2014."

Apple Music, which competest directly with Spotify, announced last week that it had 15 million subscribers. Apple offers no free tier past a three month trial period.

Source: Reuters via Appleinsider

LinkedIn says Salesforce, Amazon and Uber are most attractive companies to work for

LinkedIn's Top Attractors is a new list ranking of the most attractive places to work and these are currently led by Salesforce, Amazon and Uber which are perceived as the most desireable places for people to work.

The Top Attractors list uses exclusive LinkedIn data and examining the billions of actions of LinkedIn’s 433+ million members, to rank the top companies where people want to work now. Hit jump for the top 10 places and what makes them so attractive.

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Alicia Keys enforces no cell phone use at her concerts

There are a growing number of performers who don’t want people whipping out their phones while at concerts/performances. Joining that list is Alicia Keys. But instead of leaving phones at lockers before entering, fans are given a special pouch made by Yondr that’ll house their gadgets. This will let them keep the device with them but you won’t be able to open it and use the phone unless you head back to the door and have a worker pass on a disc the size of a bagel to unlock the bag and use the phone outside.

Of course, not all fans will be happy with this policy as some like recording performances but this is also a good way to just enjoy the show without distractions and help artists who want to try out new stuff without it getting leaked.

Source: SlashGear

Twitter looks to improve your videos with latest acquisition

Facebook isn’t the only one investing in livestreaming and artificial intelligence. Twitter has just acquired Magic Pony, a small London-based company that specializes in using machine learning to process visuals, for an unofficial worth of about US$150 million. The acquisition was for improving the social network’s strengths when it comes live and pre-recorded videos. According to Twitter chief Jack Dorsey, Magic Pony can help with things like sharpening blurry video elements without using up more of your bandwidth. You’ll probably see more of Magic Pony’s efforts when you watch a Periscope stream, trailer, or other videos on both Periscope and the Twitter app.

Source: Engadget