Forge acquires IRA Services to expand offering for private company shares

Forge, the marketplace for trading private company shares formerly known as Equidate, announced that it will be acquiring custodial trust company IRA Services for a purchase price of $55 million. IRA Services is a trust company that provides custodial services for retirement accounts managed by individuals and mid-to-large sized Institutions. Stripped of financial jargon, the […]

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Brandwatch turns its war-chest on acquiring market research startup Qriously

In the past few years it’s become increasingly evident that while social media was a fantastic new way to get into the minds of people and understand what they thought in order to sell them things, you couldn’t just rely on the blathering of millions of people. You also had to literally ask them questions. […]

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Spotify is testing Premium Duo for €12.49 per month

Spotify just started selling a new subscription in Ireland called Premium Duo, as The Verge spotted. You guessed it, this subscription tier is designed for couples, roommates and all combinations of two persons who live under the same roof. It is a bit more expensive than a Premium account and a bit less expensive than […]

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Spotify expands personalization to its programmed playlists

Spotify this morning announced a major change to how its playlists will operate, with the news that some of its previously human-curated playlists will now be personalized based on listeners’ tastes. Before, Spotify offered personalized playlists like Discover Weekly, Release Radar, and Daily Mixes, among others, to offer users a way to enjoy the music […]

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Cross-border fintech startup Airwallex raises $100M at a valuation of over $1B

Australia-based Airwallex is the tech startup to enter the billion-dollar ‘unicorn club.’ The company announced today that it has closed a $100 million Series C round that values its business above $1 billion. Started in Melbourne in 2015 by four Chinese founders, Airwallex provides a service that lets companies manage cross-border revenue and financing in […]

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Extremely specific mood playlists will have you feeling emotions you didn’t know existed

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Let me tell you a story. Imagine, for a moment, you’re lying on mossy forest floors, slowly transforming into a nymph. Your fingers are turning into flower vines. Your limbs are bleeding honey and growing thick skins of sepia bark, wings sprout in between your shoulder blades. Your breath sounds like the wind. Fireflies litter the air above you.

But that’s not a story. It’s the full name of an extraordinarily specific Spotify playlist. And if you’re wondering what exactly becoming a nymph sounds like, according to the playlist, it’s a lot like the music of Hozier, Daughter, and Twenty One Pilots.  Read more…

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Ahead of third antitrust ruling, Google announces fresh tweaks to Android in Europe

Google is widely expected to be handed a third antitrust fine in Europe this week, with reports suggesting the European Commission’s decision in its long-running investigation of AdSense could land later today. Right on cue the search giant has PRed another Android product tweak — which it bills as “supporting choice and competition in Europe”. […]

View More Ahead of third antitrust ruling, Google announces fresh tweaks to Android in Europe

Ahead of third antitrust ruling, Google announces fresh tweaks to Android in Europe

Google is widely expected to be handed a third antitrust fine in Europe this week, with reports suggesting the European Commission’s decision in its long-running investigation of AdSense could land later today. Right on cue the search giant has PRed another Android product tweak — which it bills as “supporting choice and competition in Europe”. […]

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Spotify rival Tencent Music posts maiden quarter loss of $130M on one-off costs

Tencent Music Entertainment Group, the Chinese answer to Spotify that Tencent spun out and floated on the New York Stock Exchange in December, reported a net loss of 876 million yuan ($127 million) in its first set of quarterly results since going public. The loss, which TME forecasted in its prospectus filed ahead of the IPO, […]

View More Spotify rival Tencent Music posts maiden quarter loss of $130M on one-off costs

Spotify rival Tencent Music posts maiden quarter loss of $130M on one-off costs

Tencent Music Entertainment Group, the Chinese answer to Spotify that Tencent spun out and floated on the New York Stock Exchange in December, reported a net loss of 876 million yuan ($127 million) in its first set of quarterly results since going public. The loss, which TME forecasted in its prospectus filed ahead of the IPO, […]

View More Spotify rival Tencent Music posts maiden quarter loss of $130M on one-off costs

Apple has a very blunt response to Spotify’s complaint

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Well, it’s on now. 

Yesterday, Spotify publicly filed a complaint against Apple to the European Commission over “unfair” App Store rules, which allegedly make it hard for Spotify to compete with Apple Music on equal ground. 

Today, Apple responded by saying that Spotify wants “all the benefits of a free app without being free,” and throwing a couple more jabs for good measure. 

In a lengthy post on the company’s website, Apple said that Spotify has used the App Store “for years to dramatically grow their business,” but now it wants to keep the benefits of that ecosystem “without making any contributions to that marketplace.” Read more…

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Apple addresses Spotify’s claims, but not its demands

Two days after Spotify announced that it had filed a suit against Apple with the European Commission over anticompetitive practices, Apple today issued its own response of sorts. In a lengthy statement on its site called “Addressing Spotify’s Claims”, Apple walks through and dismantles some of the key parts of Spotify’s accusations about how the App Store […]

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