SPOTIFY: News – The music streaming giant is the latest tech company to sort to staff lay-offs

The reports this morning were correct: Spotify has announced a round of layoffs as part of what CEO Daniel Ek called an effort “to bring our costs more in line”. In an email sent to staff and subsequently published on Spotify’s ‘For The Record’ site, Ek also announced a reorganisation within Spotify’s senior management. Chief […]

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PODCAST OF THE DAY: Schubert

Ian Skelly introduces a selection of great concert performances from around Europe with a focus on Romania, including a performance of Schubert’s last symphony from the 2022 George Enescu Festival, and the BBC Concert Orchestra playing Enescu’s first Romanian Rhapsody. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001h5ch Including: Bela Bartok: Romanian Folk Dances Sz56Pétri Kumela (guitar)Cecilia Zilliacus (violin) Joseph Haydn: Piano […]

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SPOTIFY: The 101 strangest records there. Per Henderak Haetta – Pieras Mikkal

An extraordinary recording of nomadic herders, which uses just a single voice and drum to redefine our concept of melody. Taken from Folkways’ proudly chart-shunning Lappish Joik Songs from northern Norway, Pieras Mikkal is an extraordinary recording made by the folksong collector (and now professor emeritus of ethnomusicology at Columbia University) Dieter Christensen in the […]

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SPOTIFY: Former streaming service subscribers on why they have ditched mod cons for MP3s, CDs and other DIY music formats

Meg Lethem was working at her bakery job one morning in Boston when she had an epiphany. Tasked with choosing the day’s soundtrack, she opened Spotify, then flicked and flicked, endlessly searching for something to play. Nothing was perfect for the moment. She looked some more, through playlist after playlist. An uncomfortably familiar loop, it […]

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MAHLER: Podcast

Edward Seckerson discusses the greatest performers and recordings of the composer’s works This week’s Gramophone Podcast is a special longer edition focusing on the music of Mahler. It coincides with the publication of the latest in our series of our souvenir publications drawing together our century-long coverage of major composers, ‘Gramophone Presents Mahler’. For this […]

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PODCAST: Our pick of the day – Bach and Stravinsky

Ryan Wigglesworth conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Singers in a carefully curated concert of music by Stravinsky and Bach. Live from City Halls Glasgow. Presented by Kate Molleson Bach/Stravinsky: Chorale Variations ‘Vom Himmel hoch da komm’ ich her’Bach: Komm, Jesu, kommStravinsky: Symphony of Psalms 8.30 Interval, Kate introduces recent recordings which […]

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SPOTIFY: How does it calculate loudness?

” We currently use ReplayGain, which was the most recognized standard for calculating loudness when Spotify first started. In the future, we plan to use a new standard for calculating loudness, called ITU 1770 (from the International Telecommunication Union). This defines the integrated LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale) measure, and it’s what we recommend you […]

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STREAMING: Is It Really Paying Off? By Paul Wilson |

When Napster, arguably one of the earliest streaming services and ultimately illegal one, first started, I wondered if anyone ever thought streaming would become the dominant way to listen to music? Non-audiophiles have been streaming for quite a long while. In the audiophile world, streamed music at a minimum of CD quality, as well as […]

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PODCAST: One of our picks of the day

GRAMOPHONE: Adam Walker on French music for flute This week’s podcast sees acclaimed flautist Adam Walker join Gramophone Editor Martin Cullingford to talk about his two new albums of French music, both released on Chandos Records. The first, ‘French Works for Flute’, sees him joined by pianist James Baillieu in music by Franck, Widor, Saint‑Saëns […]

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SCHUBERT: Our podcast of the day

GRAMOPHONE In 2019, Joyce DiDonato and Yannick Nézet-Séguin performed Schubert’s great song-cycle in concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall, and Erato were on hand to record it. James Jolly caught up with the multi-Gramophone Award-winning mezzo to talk about her unique approach to the work. As one of a handful of women singers who have […]

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SCHUBERT: Our podcast of the day

GRAMOPHONE: Joined by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the American mezzo takes a different approach to this song masterwork In 2019, Joyce DiDonato and Yannick Nézet-Séguin performed Schubert’s great song-cycle in concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall, and Erato were on hand to record it. James Jolly caught up with the multi-Gramophone Award-winning mezzo to talk about her […]

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LISZT: Our podcast of the day

GRAMOPHONE Liszt’s piano music, with Alexander Ullman Alexander Ullman’s new album featuring Liszt’s Piano Concertos Nos 1 and 2 and the Sonata in B Minor, is released today on Rubicon Classics. For this week’s episode of the Gramophone Podcast, the Award-winning pianist joined Editor Martin Cullingford to explore this extraordinary music, its beauty and its […]

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ANDREW SCHEPS: Lost in Translation – Audio Quality in Streaming Media

Lost In Translation with Andrew Scheps provides an engaging, revelatory and humorous presentation of current audio format comparisons. The demonstration showcases the auditory differences of master recordings played back in different formats such as vinyl, CD, MP3, AAC and online streaming models. Scheps (http://www.uaudio.com/blog/artist-int…) has engineered and mixed for some of the biggest acts in […]

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UNDERSTANDING: Streaming

PS AUDIO / Paul McGowan There are tons of misconceptions and even a few audio myths growing around the subject, so I think he’s right. Today we will start with a simple overview, then dig in a bit deeper in the days to follow. Creating a seamless streaming music experience requires a well-designed system comprising […]

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