GoKawiil
Tech News
An economics writer recounts owning roughly 4,000 CDs, once worth about $40,000, that are now nearly worthless due to music streaming. Rather than framing himself as a victim of disruption, he argues that free access to vast catalogs of new and old music has given him far more value than he lost, turning an apparent loss into a net gain.
Android Auto users had been hit by a bug that showed a 'Spotify isn't responding' error message when trying to launch the app, with only exiting or waiting offered as options. Some drivers found workarounds like leaving the Android Auto beta or clearing the app's cache, but the issue kept recurring for others. Google confirmed to Android Authority that a fix started rolling out today.
A longtime Spotify subscriber says the company canceled his legacy Premium Duo plan in July, citing a payment issue despite no changes on his end, after already phasing out the Duo tier in India months earlier. He suspects Spotify was quietly pushing users onto pricier plans, and in response he tried YouTube Music's free trial bundled with YouTube Premium, finding its app and recommendations surprisingly solid.
Spotify suffered an outage that stopped many users from playing or downloading audiobooks across phones, desktops, and the web, with symptoms ranging from stalled loading to chapters skipping without playing. Spotify acknowledged the problem on its Community forum and has since marked the incident as fixed, though some users still report ongoing playback issues.
The Australian Recording Industry Association has updated its chart rules to require that eligible songs be substantially human made, meaning artists must write the lyrics and perform lead vocals and primary instruments themselves. The move follows backlash over DJ Josh Fawaz's AI-assisted cover of Madonna's 'Like A Prayer,' which reached number 2 on the national chart before he disclosed generative AI involvement. AI tools remain permitted for mastering, drum machines and auto-tune under the new code.
Multiple Android Auto users report that Spotify is displaying a 'Spotify isn't responding' error message, blocking access to music and podcasts through the car interface. The screen only offers options to exit or wait, with no clear explanation from Google or Spotify yet on what triggered the bug.
An Android Authority contributor reflects on a decade-plus of Android use, singling out six apps she's kept installed the entire time despite trying countless others. The list features lesser-known picks like the streaming aggregator Just Watch and the productivity tool Notion, alongside other apps not covered in the excerpt, deliberately excluding mainstream staples like Spotify or YouTube.