Tag Archives: Online Streaming

Spotify Introduces Spotify Premium Mini Subscriptions

August 3, 2021 Nur Jeevan Leave a comment

Spotify is giving its users more flexibility with the introduction of new Premium Mini subscription plans. The new plans will allow users to subscribe to Spotify Premium in bite sized pieces ranging from daily to weekly. Users will now be able to subscribe from MYR1 a day to gain access to ad-free streaming on the platform.

In addition to being ad-free, users on these Mini plans will also be able to access Spotify’s many other features. These will, however, be in a more limited manner. Users on the Premium Mini plans will be able to use Spotify to access the full library of songs and podcasts available on the platform and will be able to skip tracks freely. You will also be able able to share playlists and tune in to the same podcast with up to five friends using the Group Sessions feature. However, when it comes to downloading songs for offline playback, users on the Spotify Premium Mini plans will be limited to 30 tracks.

Subscribing to the new Spotify Premium Mini plans is pretty simple. All you have to do is click the “Get Mini” option in the subscriptions option. Spotify is also introducing more payment options for Malaysians. Users in Malaysia can now pay using multiple methods including through their mobile bill or even using one of the many eWallets available; absolutely no credit card is needed. Keep in mind that the Premium Mini plans are prepaid plans. This means that you will need to pay upfront for your daily and weekly subscriptions.

Spotify Premium Mini will be available in two options – daily and weekly. You will be able to subscribe to the Premium Mini Daily for MYR1 a day while the weekly option is priced at MYR3.90 a week. The same subscription plans are also available in Thailand, India and Indonesia. Prices start at THB7, INR7 and INR2,500 respectively.

Lifestyle, News

Netflix & CD Projekt Red’s WitcherCon Happens This Week – Here’s What to Expect!

July 7, 2021 Nur Jeevan Leave a comment

The time has come to head to Rivia! Fans of the popular series – The Witcher – are in for a treat come July 10, 2021 as the first ever WitcherCon is happening! The conference will bring together the cinematic and game universes of The Witcher in a never before seen, multi-format event.

The day-long event kicks off first in the wee hours of 10th July in Malaysia at 1 am – that’s 7 pm CEST on 9th July 2021 in Europe and 10 am PST in the U.S. – on Twitch and YouTube. There will be a second stream happening at 9 am on 10th July in Malaysia – 3 am CEST on 10 July in Europe and 6 pm on 10th July in the U.S. – on the same platforms. According to Netflix, there will be exclusive announcements on each stream!

The event will be hosted by popular Twitch and YouTube personality, Julia Hardy. Hardy is arguably most well known for her Game to Train fitness programme where you can get fit around routines from popular game characters. She’s also hosted Runefest and Minecon previously. It will be giving fans an exclusive look at never-before-seen footage and insights from the production of the Witcher Universe.

WitcherCon Teaser | The Witcher | Netflix

WitcherCon will be featuring a series of panels and features with the stars and creators from both the popular game series and the hit Netflix series – The Witcher. Everything from GWENT, the Witcher’s card game to the many formats the Witcher’s story will be told in will be covered in the event. Fans of the series will get their burning questions about Season 2 of The Witcher answered by showrunners and stars of the series. CD Projekt Red will also be taking fans behind the scenes and into the future of The Witcher.

There will also be a special sitdown with Henry Cavill where he will delve into the nitty-gritty of fantasy, destiny and the wider Witcher Universe. Netflix has teased that the White Wolf may have a few surprises during his sitdown.

WitcherCon 4x5 v5 July10 — Source: Netflix

You’ll be able to tune in to WitcherCon on both YouTube and Twitch come 10th July! Details on panels, announcements and more can also be gotten from the official WitcherCon website.

Lifestyle, Podcast

Tech & Tonic Podcast S02E11 – More Streaming, More Better

Video May 11, 2021 Nur Jeevan Leave a comment

This episode is brought to you by Acer. Pre-order your Acer Nitro 5 gaming notebook with AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 GPU from Acer from the 10th May 2021 onward!

In this episode of Tech & Tonic, we discuss the growing number of streaming services. Disney+ Hotstar is finally making its way into Malaysia after a long wait. Disney+ Hotstar joins Malaysia’s long list of streaming platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Go, Astro Go, iflix, and a few others.

Is having more streaming services a good thing though? Does it still make sense for you to pay for Cable TV services like Astro in Malaysia, especially with certain channels being removed with the introduction of Disney+ Hotstar? Do we need more streaming platforms at this time? Would Disney+ be better than the rest of the platforms?

We discuss this and more in the Tech & Tonic Podcast.

Android, iOS, Mobile, News, Social Media

Spotify Miniplayer Brings Audio Discovery to Facebook together with Price Hikes

April 27, 2021 Nur Jeevan Leave a comment

Looks like Spotify and Facebook are playing extra nice with the launch of a new feature which brings even more integration of the music platform to the Facebook app. Come across a song that’s caught your ear on Facebook? The new miniplayer feature will allow you to simply press play to get the beat going as you continue to browse your timeline. The new miniplayer feature will allow you to play music from videos with licensed music as well as other content on your Newsfeed.

The new Spotify feature on Facebook will require users to connect the apps. Upon connecting the apps, users will be able to play songs they come across on their Facebook Newsfeed as they browse. As always, the feature will be available to Spotify Premium users with full access in the miniplayer. Free users, however, will be able to access the feature with shuffle mode and ads from Spotify.

The new feature is available in select countries including Malaysia, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, South Africa, Thailand, Uruguay, and the U.S. The feature will continue to make its way to other markets soon.

New Features, Higher Prices

In addition to the new feature, it seems like Spotify is also revising its pricing. The music streaming platform seems to be rolling out pricing changes to a number of regions including the U.K. and Europe which have seen the price revisions officially announced through email notifications. The revised prices go into effect starting April 30, 2021. Existing users will have a month’s grace period to decide whether they will be continuing with the service.

Spotify users in Europe will be paying €5.99 (MYR29.62) for the student plan and €12.99 (MYR64.23) for the Duo plan; a €1 (MYR4.94) increase from the initial price. The family plan sees a €3 (MYR14.83) increase to €17.99 (MYR88.95). In the U.K., the price revisions are £5.99 (MYR34.07) for Student, £13.99 (MYR79.56) for Duo and £16.99 (MYR96.63) for family – an increase of £1 (MYR5.69) for the student and duo plans and a £2 (MYR11.38) increase for the family plan.

The price increase is expected to affect countries in Asia and South America as well. No indication of when though.

News

Netflix Clamping Down on Account Sharing

March 12, 2021 Nur Jeevan Leave a comment

A lot of us share accounts when it comes to streaming services. Sometimes it’s with close friends, other times its with family. However, it seems like Netflix isn’t very fond of sharing even though their platform allows up to five profiles in a single user. The company has long been trying to limit account sharing as more and more people seem to be doing it.

In its latest efforts, Netflix seems to be testing out a feature that may make sharing an account more of a hassle. Users who have been sharing accounts are reporting that they are seeing prompts for them to verify the account or sign up for a new account.

https://twitter.com/DOP3Sweet/status/1369395237253222414

In their new effort, it seems like Netflix is trying hard to weed out sharing. In fact, while the practice isn’t illegal, it technically goes against their terms of service – if you don’t reside in the same household. However, the company has acknowledged that the practice is inevitable and a valuable marketing channel. That said, a spokesperson has come on the record to clarify stating, “This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorized to do so,”.

It comes as no surprise that Netflix is testing ways to make life a little bit harder for people who are sharing accounts as account piracy has also become increasingly common among Netflix users. If you’ve had your Netflix account compromise, you will be painfully aware that aside from sharing, incidences, where accounts are being accessed by total strangers, are not unheard of.

While it seems like the company is clamping down on “unauthorised” access, the move comes at an interesting time. Disney+ recently reported that their subscriber numbers have surpassed their initial expectations. The new streaming service reported that they are well over 100 million subscribers – something Netflix co-CEO, Reed Hastings, claimed to be impossible in an interview with CNBC.

Lifestyle, News

HiFi, Clips & Better Podcast Discovery Coming to Spotify

February 23, 2021 Nur Jeevan Leave a comment

Spotify took center stage at their StreamOn event and, Boy!… did they have a lot to announce.

The streaming service is gaining even more momentum internationally with a rollout to an additional 80 countries. This comes on the tail of their recent launch in South Korea. The countries joining the Spotify fold include a large number of those in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America including countries such as Bangladesh, Cameroon, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mongolia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka; reaching over a billion potential users. With the new additions, Spotify is now available in over 170 countries putting it on par with competitors like Apple Music and YouTube Premium.

Spotify HiFi: CD Quality, Lossless Streaming

https://youtu.be/W07MvWbuWkI

In addition to this, Spotify also announced “Spotify HiFi”. The new HiFi offering brings CD quality, lossless audio to the music streaming platform. This will make Spotify more appealing to the audiophiles out there as they will be able to get better, more detailed sound via the app. The new service ups the bit rate available on Spotify from the current 320kbps to about 1,400kbps. This means that the more nuanced attributes of songs are able to better come through when streamed. The company did trial the service in the U.S. back in 2017 for a USD$7.50 (MYR30.32) premium on top of its subscription. However, aside from noting that the new Spotify HiFi will be coming to select markets, they have not revealed much.

Artist-Audience Interaction with Spotify Clips

If HiFi streaming wasn’t enough, Spotify also officially announced its Clips feature. The new feature functions in a similar fashion to Instagram Stories or Snaps on Snapchat. They allow artists to interact directly with their audience on Spotify by sharing clips akin to their social media. If this sounds familiar, it’s cause the company was testing the feature out over the past Christmas holidays in the U.S. However, with this announcement, the feature will see a more widespread release. Clips will appear on playlists to allow users to get a glimpse into personal moments from the artists.

Podcasts: Better Discovery, New Experiences

Spotify didn’t leave any stone unturned during its StreamOn event. The app has become one of the largest Podcast distribution platforms since it introduced the feature. Keeping that in mind, the company is looking at making Podcast discoverability easier for creators. In a nutshell, the company is looking to serve podcast episodes to listeners based on their preferences. It will also employ A.I. and machine learning to help users search for podcasts better.

In addition, the company is also working on creating new experiences when it comes to podcasts. Spotify is working with WordPress to create podcasts from written content. Creators will also be able to engage with audiences more directly with interactive Q&As, polls, and even video. The company is also making its Ad Studio available for podcast creators to help monetize their podcasts better.

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