As the battle between Apple Music and Spotify continues to intensify, Apple Music is currently in the lead in the United States. Spotify is still enormously popular though, and now the company is trying a tactic to entice users into signing up for a family plan: Free hardware. On Wednesday, October 31, the company announced that it would be giving free Google Home Mini devices to Spotify Premium subscribers.
On its own, the Google Home Mini retails for $50, while a Spotify Premium plan is $15 per month. Getting a $50 gift while also possibly saving money for yourself and your family sounds like a pretty good deal, especially if you’re already a subscriber or were planning to look into a Family plan already. It also adds a new way to interact with Spotify if you aren’t already a Google Home user.
“We’re excited to be partnering with Google Home to bring the magic of voice to our Spotify Premium Family subscribers. After all, what’s more fun than sharing the music you love with the people you love,” Spotify Chief Premium Business Officer Alex Norström said in the announcement. “For Family Plan subscribers, enjoying those moments will only get better. Now anytime their favorite artists come up, they can simply say ‘Hey Google, turn it up!’”
Once you have your Google Home Mini, you will be able to use phrases like “Hey Google, play Spotify” to get started and “Hey Google, pause” to put the music on hold. When you’re ready to get back to it, all you need to do is say “Hey Google, resume Spotify.” You can also use the functionality to find out more about what you’re currently listening to with phrases like “Hey Google, what’s this album?” or “Hey Google, when did this song come out?”
If you’re interested in this deal, you might not want to hold off. While it hasn’t said exactly how long the offer will be available, Spotify says that the Google Home Mini will only be available to subscribers of its Family plan for a limited time beginning Thursday, November 1. To sign up and get started, head to the Spotify website.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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