Apple Delays Release of HomePod Smart Speaker: 'We Need a Little More Time'
Saying it needs "a little more time" before it's ready, Apple has delayed the release of the tech giant's much-anticipated HomePod smart speaker until after the holidays. The speaker was announced in June at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference and is priced at $349.
The HomePod had been scheduled to ship in December, in time to compete with the Amazon Echo, Google Home and Sonos during the holiday speaker shopping rush. That will have to wait until "early" next year, though the company did not give a specific date for the eventual release.
"We can’t wait for people to experience HomePod, Apple’s breakthrough wireless speaker for the home, but we need a little more time before it’s ready for our customers," the company said in a statement on Friday. "We'll start shipping in the US, UK and Australia in early 2018."
Information about the speaker has been dripping out since its unveiling in June. On an earnings call on Aug. 1, the HomePod was said to have “incredible sound unlike any on the market" and is designed to work especially well with an Apple Music subscription -- an emphasis that has led to speculation that it won't support third party apps. The company notably didn't mention the HomePod during its big product special event in September, instead focusing on new iPhones and a music-friendly Apple Watch.
Yandex.Music Streaming Service Becomes Russia's Top Non-Game App
The mobile app of a leading Russian music streaming service, Yandex.Music, has landed the country's biggest non-game mobile app in revenue, based on sales in App Store and Google Play, according to a recent report by App Annie.
App Annie would not reveal the actual revenue figure, and similarly, Yandex, "the Russian Google," which runs Yandex.Music, doesn't do separate accounting for the streaming service.
However, Yandex.Music app has been installed between 10 million and 50 million times from Google Play so far, compared with between 1 million and 5 million installations of the app of Zvooq, the closest homegrown competitor to Yandex.Music.
The Yandex.Music app has been gaining momentum since the previous study by App Annie, released in January 2017. Back then, Yandex.Music was in fourth place.
In total, Yandex.Music had 250,000 subscribers in Russia as of early 2017, the most recent available figure. According to local media reports, Apple Music has over 600,000 and Google Play Music around 100,000, but neither Apple nor Google have confirmed those numbers.
The Yandex.Music app can be downloaded for free, and users of the streaming service are charged 1,690 rubles ($29) a year or 169 rubles ($2.9) a month after a 30-day trial period.
However, Yandex.Music is likely to face more severe competition in the future as Yandex' major competitor, Mail.Ru Group, which runs social networking websites VKontakte and Odnoklassniki, also recently launched a streaming music service, Boom. It also runs apps available from the App Store and Google Play.
Currently, Yandex.Music has over 35 million tracks in its catalog and attracts a monthly audience of over 20 million users.
Earlier this year, it became Russia's first music streaming service to enter an integration deal with Facebook, under which users will be able to share 30-second excerpts from music tracks they stream with their friends on the social network.
YouTube Kicks Off 'Best.Cover.Ever' Series With Demi Lovato, Katy Perry and Jason Derulo
YouTube Launches
YouTube has long been the place where aspiring singer/songwriters have uploaded videos of themselves performing in their bedrooms with the hopes of following in the footsteps of Justin Bieber and being discovered. A new series hosted by the platform itself is helping to give these wishful artists the recognition that they hope for. On Nov. 20th, YouTube will premiere Best.Cover.Ever., a global singing competition that allows musicians to submit cover performances to their favorite artists in the hopes of being selected to perform alongside their idols.
The show, which is executive produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions and Endemol Shine North America, put out a call to artists around the world, challenging them to cover a song by one of the Best.Cover.Ever. season one superstars: Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, Jason Derulo, Charlie Puth, Keith Urban, Backstreet Boys, Flo Rida, Nicky Jam, Bebe Rexha and DNCE.
The established stars then sat down and helped to choose two finalists whose cover videos they were most impressed by. The finalists were flown to the YouTube Space in Los Angeles where they are given the chance to perform for their idol. The stakes are high, as the winner from each episode is given the opportunity to duet on the show with their favorite superstar.
According to Ludacris, the show's official host, the premise is unlike anything we've seen from popular talent search competitions such as American Idol, The Voice, or America's Got Talent.
"It's an interesting way of bringing new talent, not only to meet their idols but also to put the spotlight on them so they can help further their career," he tells Billboard. "You have the competition aspect, the music aspect, the finding a star aspect, and the people meeting their idol aspect."
And the submissions, according to the rapper, were definitely unique. "Covers have long been popular but these artists are really stepping it up -- playing with the arrangement of the song, melodies and everything," he says. Ludacris cites a group that performed on the show as an example. "They took a Keith Urban country song and made it fit to their R&B style." He adds that fans of the stars that the episodes center around will also enjoy watching the emerging talent challenge their idols to step out of the box and tackle new renditions of their songs during the winners' collaborations.
The show is something that YouTube's global head of original content, Susanne Daniels, has been wanting to make for some time. "Ryan Seacrest brought this pitch to me when I was at MTV, two and a half years ago," she says. "We couldn't work out the deal there but when I went to YouTube, Ryan was my first call and we realized the show works perfectly on YouTube for a myriad of reasons -- fans love music on YouTube, fans love covers on YouTube, and the platform allowed for the submission process to be interactive -- we could have them upload their covers on the site and enlist the artists to do call outs on their channels to inspire the fans to enter."
Those call outs were well received. "We got submissions from tens of thousands of artists from all over the world," Daniels discloses, noting that finalists traveled to the Los Angeles set from as far away as Australia, Latvia, and the Philippines to participate in the series.
Twenty-one year old Katy Perry fan, Riley Biederer was one of them. "I'm a YouTube cover artist. I'm fairly active on YouTube. I saw the video asking for submissions and decided to go for it," she explains.
The Atlanta-based singer/songwriter's acoustic cover of "Firework" was hand selected by Perry and she was then flown to California as one of two finalists competing to impress the star. While she's hoping that the show will boost her exposure as an artist, for Biederer, the best part of the process was the chance to talk shop with her idol. "She gave me some cool advice -- to stay true to the writing roots of where I cam from," the contestant says, of meeting Perry. "It was really cool to have someone that you've looked up to and listened to for so many years tell you that they are inspired by your craft and are pushing you to continue to do what you love. I'm more inspired to push forward with my music now than ever before," she proclaims.
Southern California's Undecided Future, who call themselves a "future, funk, R&B band," had an equally positive experience as finalists on the Jason Derulo episode. The band put their own unique spin on "Trumpets," and were given the chance to perform in front of the song's performer himself.
While he was unable to divulge how far they made it in the competition at this time, drummer Matisse Pasillas did reveal that meeting Derulo armed the band with a behind the scenes look at the business side of the industry as well as tips on how to perfect its stage moves. "He taught us how to be confident while performing and to have fun," he says.
Undecided Future's experience with Derulo will air on November 20th in the first batch of released episodes and the group is already preparing for the aftermath. "We're releasing a song in December called 'Intoxicated.' We're looking at the future now. We really want to continue to build on this exposure that this show has brought us and run with it," says keyboardist/vocalist Nick Stone. "And it was all because of a cover song."
Ludacris tells Billboard that aspiring artists should never underestimate the power of a cover tune. "I got my start doing covers of LL Cool J's 'I'm Bad' in a talent show when I was 9 or 10-year-old," he says, nothing that if Best.Cover.Ever. was around in his early career days, he would have jumped at the chance to partake. "I'd absolutely be submitting an LL or Outkast cover!" he exclaims.
"YouTube is one of the best places to discover new music and new artists from all over the world," says Daniels. "Best.Cover.Ever. is designed to discover the next big artists only on YouTube. We hope that this is an opportunity for these emerging artists to take their careers to the next level, not only by giving them a worldwide audience through the show, but also by providing them with invaluable advice from the superstar artists."
Best.Cover.Ever premieres with its first three episodes, featuring Jason Derulo, Demi Lovato, and Katy Perry, on November 20th on the show's official YouTube page.
Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee broke all sorts of records this year with their global hit “Despacito.” Their song remained No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for 16 consecutive weeks, led charts around the world and its music video became the first in YouTube history to reach 4 billion views, achieving that milestone in just 272 days.
But the Puerto Rican singers are not the only Latino artists that are making their mark in what could be described as the year of Latin music. Beyond other trailblazers such as Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Enrique Iglesias, a new generation of performers have helped fuel the popularity and growth of Latin music genres.
Camila Cabello, Cardi B and J Balvin, for example, are currently in the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 and right now, one out of every five tunes on the Spotify Global 100 chart are by Latino artists. When it comes to YouTube, in addition to the record-setting 4.3 billion views “Despacito” has scored so far, 20 other Latin music videos have entered the “1 billion views club” on the platform - a 300% increase from last year. And they're doing it faster than ever. J Balvin and Willy William’s video for “Mi Gente” reached 1 billion views in only 102 days, becoming the fourth fastest in history to reach the milestone.
"It’s meteoric. It’s just spectacular to witness and see this happen first hand," says Lyor Cohen, Global Head of Music at YouTube. "It helps to have their music and their videos seen all over the world."
Over one third of the tracks featured on YouTube’s weekly music track chart feature Latin artists and over the last two years, daily views of the top 100 Latin acts on YouTube have grown over 75%. The popularity of diverse Latin genres has skyrocketed around the world. Daily view counts for top Latin acts compared to this time last year have grown 316% in India, 268% in Indonesia, 257% in Philippines, 206% in Egypt, 150% in Israel, 120% in the United Kingdom, 116% in Australia and nearly 50% in the United States.
YouTube
The popularity of Latin music has spread worldwide.
Collaborations with English-language pop stars have helped raise awareness and increase the popularity of some of the songs - as in the case of the “Despacito” remix featuring Justin Bieber or Beyonce lending vocals on “Mi Gente.” But accessibility, shareability and engagement of Latin music on digital and social platforms have allowed for its massive growth and popularity on a global scale.
“The recent successes of Latin artists such as Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and J Balvin have shown us that music today knows no geographic boundary or language,” says Rocío Guerrero, Head of Global Cultures at Spotify. “Latin music has truly become a universal language.”
Streaming music services have helped amplify that reach. Spotify, for example, offers the "Viva Latino" playlist - the third most streamed in the World. But it’s powerhouse YouTube that’s really broadening the reach of Latin music genres, allowing artists to build a global and engaged fanbase.
YouTube
Six of the top 10 videos on YouTube are by Latino artists.
“There are no borders and the opportunity to connect directly with your fans,” says Sandra Jimenez, YouTube’s Head of Music Partnerships Latin America, explaining the success of Latin music genres on the platform. “This is the second year in a row that we see tremendous growth. We see the trend of Latin music expanding globally, but also on our platform, which has incredible reach.”
YouTube is now even building relationships with artists - whether they're established performers or rising stars - to promote their work within the video platform and on social media.
“Ozuna is a true example of what we’re doing,” says Jimenez.
YouTube produced an 8-minute documentary on the Puerto Rican singer, who has over 8.6 million subscribers on the video platform, which racked 1.5 million views in the first five days since its release on November 8.
“We partner with artists to develop projects, like Ozuna’s documentary. And then, we work together to support the releases or promote them around the world,” explains Jimenez. She says they identified him as a talented artist with a knack for engaging with his audience on the platform. The team is now looking at rapper Bad Bunny, who picked up 4.2 million YouTube subscribers in less than a year. “He’s been doing an amazing job. He really keeps in touch with his fanbase.”
But that’s just part of the formula for success on the video platform.
“How we help artists grow is by virtue of recommendations,” says Cohen. “What many people don’t know is that 80% of all of watch time on YouTube is done through internal recommendations. That’s one of the biggest ways we surface up the artists.”
YouTube data
The popularity of Latin Artists has also grown in the United States. These are some of the artists with the most video views so far this year.
If you’re an avid YouTube consumer, you have probably seen suggestions of other videos to watch. It’s those recommendations that can expose you to other artists you may have never even heard of.
“You’re seeing the effect on multiple levels: the community growing, more countries are coming online and people are loving the music. Latino artists are making great videos and producing wonderful content. They’re competing on the world stage and they’re doing a hell of a job.”
Led Zeppelin's 'Immigrant Song' Gains by Nearly 1,000% in Sales Thanks to 'Thor' Synch
The classic, featured in the newly-released movie "Thor: Ragnarok," achieves its best digital sales week.
Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" returns to No. 1 on a Billboard chart thanks, once again, to Thor: Ragnarok.
After originally appearing in the film's trailer this spring (spurring a 7,000-download sales week on April 29-dated charts, according to Nielsen Music, good for No. 1 that frame on Hard Rock Digital Song Sales), the 1970 classic off Led Zeppelin IIIjumps back to No. 1 (from No. 14) on Hard Rock Digital Song Sales after being included in the Thor film itself, which opened in North American theaters Nov. 3.
"Immigrant" increases by a whopping 977 percent to 18,000 sold in the week ending Nov. 9, up from 2,000 in the previous week. That's the best tally for the song since it was first released digitally; it moved 14,000 its first week out as a download, nearly a decade prior (reflected on the chart dated Dec. 1, 2007).
Its latest sales sum is also good for No. 3 on Rock Digital Song Sales, the band's best rank on the chart, eclipsing the then-No. 9 peak of "Immigrant" earlier this year when the Thor trailer premiered. The track re-enters the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart at No. 27, marking the band's highest position and first appearance since Dec. 8, 2007.
Fueled by its sales surge and 133 percent boost to 2.1 million U.S. streams, "Immigrant" returns at a new No. 4 high on Hot Rock Songs, where older songs can re-enter if showing a meaningful increase and ranking in the top 25. The song previously hit No. 16 powered by the Thor trailer earlier this year.
That's not all. On the Billboard 200, Mothership, the Led Zeppelin greatest hits compilation released in 2007 concurrent with the band's digital debut, leaps 166-80 with a 70 percent gain to 8,000 equivalent album units. While track and streaming equivalent units make for a sizable chunk of that overall total, Mothership moved 2,000 in pure sales, a 71 percent increase. The set also bounds 11-2 on Hard Rock Albums.
Third Man Records Teams With Beats For Limited Edition Headphones
Apple and Third Man Records are revealing a limited edition Beats by Dr. Dre headphone ahead of Record Store Day Black Friday on Nov. 24.
The headphones are distinctively Third Man -- they boast the independent label’s signature black and yellow color scheme, small depictions of the label’s logo and, of course, come with a collector’s edition, translucent yellow flexi disc of The Raconteur’s debut single, “Level.” But what most clearly proves the headphones are a product of Third Man is the packaging that reads: “With the needle down and the volume up.” An all-too fitting statement from the vinyl-centric label that dares to defy how headphones are typically used to consume music -- on the go.
"We tried to refrain from just throwing the logo on something," Third Man co-founder Ben Blackwell tells Billboard of the headphone’s style. "You want to [create a product] with reverence, and you want to do it so that it's still identifiably in the Third Man realm. But also, we're not trying to eliminate or downplay the fact that Beats is involved too."
Blackwell recalls how initial conversations about teaming up with Apple for an exclusive headphone started last year following a Beats commercial campaign called Be Heard that used The White Stripes' “Seven Nation Army” (Jack White is a co-founder of the label, and Blackwell's uncle). He says while Third Man has always “had a foot in the world of hardware in terms of turntables or guitars or effects pedals or synthesizers,” high-quality headphones was a new endeavor.
Record Store Day Black Friday is a spinoff of sorts on the internationally celebrated Record Store Day that takes place annually in April; naturally, Blackwell says it’s likely the second busiest day for every record store, “so it makes sense to give people something to look forward to.”
Third Man sure has. In addition to the limited edition Beats, the label has also made headlines for the anticipated release of U2’s new single “The Blackout” on vinyl. Special colored vinyl versions will only be made available at two locations in the U.S. -- Third Man’s locations in Nashville and Detroit -- and two abroad in U.K and Ireland. “ I didn't really know how widespread and how hardcore the U2 fanbase was until we made this announcement,” Blackwell admits.
What he is more certain of, are his thoughts on the new headphones: "The headphones sound fucking great," he affirms. "You probably [can't] print "fucking," but the proof's in the pudding."
Beats Solo3 Wireless Third Man Records Limited Edition are available for presale today from Third Man Records and will be available at Third Man Records on Nov. 24th.
Varèse Sarabande presents: Stephen King Soundtrack Collection
Varèse Sarabande: We are proud to announce THE STEPHEN KING COLLECTION as our newest limited edition box set release. In this special set, we focus on a fearful foursome of Stephen King movies composed by four very capable composers: two feature films and two television miniseries, each featuring very different but very potent scores. To add to the uniqueness of this box set we expanded the scores to James Newton Howard’s DREAMCATCHER and W.G. ‘Snuffy’ Walden’s THE STAND into 2-disc Deluxe Editions. Nicholas Pike’s THE SHINING is making its official commercial debut here in full glory: A three-CD set with music separated by each night of the special event series. Tangerine Dream’s Firestarter is being reissued for the first time in almost 15 years.
All this great music is housed in a box designed to pay tribute to Stephen King paperbacks with a 24-page bound booklet and each disc secured in individual pockets. As an extra level of protection during shipping, we have added a piece of foam on top of each panel so that all discs remain in their respected pockets. The foam provides friction and capacity to keep discs in place during shipping. Featuring liner notes by writer Randall D. Larson and original art by Shawn Conn this is a must own collection for horror fans and film score collectors.
