Tag: Cognitive Ads

It is rumoured in the Financial Times that Spotify is in advanced talks to take over rival Soundcloud for $700m. While Spotify brought in $2.2bn in revenues in the past year, the company is still failing to make a profit. During a time when competition in the music streaming industry is fierce, Sweden’s Spotify remains to be the market leader. Well-known rivals include Amazon Prime and Apple Music. However, there are also other contenders on the market such as Tidal, Rhapsody and Deezer with ever increasing presence fueled by on-going PR and celebrity endorsements.

Each competitor has their own distinctive characteristic. German-based SoundCloud places a main focus on artists by allowing them to upload music and share it with fans through social media and blogging. In the beginning, the company established itself within the dance music genre and is now influential across the music industry as a whole. While Apple launched its own music service in 2015, Spotify still leads the way with 40 million paying users compared to Apple Music’s 17 million.

HEADLINES

• Facebook, Amazon, Google, IBM, and Microsoft come together to create a Partnership on AI.
• Spotify is rumoured to be in talks to buy Soundcloud.
• HTC’s VR app store opens today, making it easier for users to find non-gaming content.

INSIGHTS

• A small survey but significant shift: more than 50% of US shoppers turn to Amazon (not Google) first to find products.
• A (free, one-click download) infographic showing how Echo users are using the device so far.
• Deloitte’s Mobile Consumer Report 2016 (UK)

COOL

• Fove – VR with eye tracking.
• IBM Watson and The Weather Company are ready to launch the first Cognitive Ads.
• Slightly beyond digital media but pretty big future facing news: Elon Musk is going to take us to Mars.

DEEP READS

• ‘Snapchat Spectacles and the future of wearables’
• ‘What the next few years look like for VR’
• ‘In one experiment 98% of users failed to notice a clause requiring them to give up their first-born as payment’ – how the digital age has destroyed the concept of ownership.

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