Spotify Ltd.

UPDATED Free Press Summer Fest: This Year's Toughest Schedule Conflicts

This weekend's Free Press Summer Fest at Eleanor Tinsley Park is officially (way) sold out, so our readers who don't have passes at this point are sadly now forced to test their skills at the "secondary market." For those of you who are already in, this week Rocks Off will be bringing you our staff ... More >>

Nas' Biggest Fan Lives In Houston, With the Tattoos to Prove It

Think about your favorite musician for a minute. Do you remember the first time you heard his or her voice? Can you relate each album or song to a different stage or major occurrence in your life? How many times have you seen him or her (or them) in concert, let alone met and engaged them in conver ... More >>

Spotify Launches Traditional Television Ad Campaign This Week

Spotify is launching its first-ever advertising campaign this week, with an ad debuting tonight during NBC's premiere of its new season of The Voice, hoping to capitalize on music fans who haven't yet made the leap to streaming music services. The three initial ads are heavy on emotion and slow-mo ... More >>

Houston's Recent Onslaught of Sold-Out Shows: What's Up With That?

Regular concertgoers in Houston have probably noticed more sold-out shows in the area over the past year. Just a few years ago, sellouts were generally reserved for the biggest marquee acts at Toyota Center, Bayou Music Center, and Reliant Stadium's RodeoHouston shows. These days, though, it seems ... More >>

SXSW's 2013 Panels: EDM, Nashville, and Tony Bennett's Headphones

Since 2010 or so, while I am at SXSW in Austin I have started to make the panels during the day a priority for my time at the conference. The trick is waking up by 10 a.m. most days. They are usually filled with industry celebs I can geek out on (like singer-songwriter Paul Williams) and almost al ... More >>

Last Night: Sprint All-Star Jam Session Concert With Ludacris And Ke$ha

Sprint Pre-Game Concert feat. B.O.b, Ludacris, and Ke$ha All-Star Jam Session at George R. Brown Convention Center February 17th, 2013 Sunday afternoon, as I was counting down the minutes until I had to leave an amazing All-Star day party, where I was making friends with a beautiful girl, drinking ... More >>

How Beyoncé Microwaved The News This Week

Here's how a major announcement would roll in the life of Brando: short, quick, brief moments of celebration, smug congratulations and thank-yous from people before the realization that only douches do that sort of thing and I'd be captain of their army. And nobody wants to hitch a ride on that tr ... More >>

2013: First Year of the Post-CD Era?

Things haven't been looking good for CDs for years now. Ever since the introduction of Napster and the first portable MP3 players, the format has pretty much felt doomed. Since the turn of the century, the CD has hung on valiantly, but its disappearance has remained a question of when, not if. 20 ... More >>

Saturday Night: Los Lonely Boys at House of Blues

Los Lonely Boys House of Blues December 22, 2012 In the very Texan tradition of "rocking the fuck out!", Los Lonely Boys spent their last show of 2012 at House of Blues this past Saturday. The trio of brothers brought with them the perfect mix of sweet love songs, intense rock jams, and Christmas c ... More >>

The Texas 30: Texas' 6 Best Latin Albums of the Past 30 Years

As I was reviewing the list of The Texas 30, in the back of my mind I kept thinking one thing... "Where my brown people at?!" Rewind: The Texas 30 (cover story) Slideshow: The Texas 30 album covers Listen To Our Texas 30 Picks On Rdio and Spotify Right Now Sure, Queen Selena rightfully made t ... More >>

Listen To Our Texas 30 Picks On Rdio and Spotify Right Now

Today we reveal the top 30 Texas albums released over the past 30 years. It was rough work, but we did it. Rewind: The Texas 30: The Third Runners-Up, Albums 60-51 The Texas 30: The Second Runners-Up, Albums 50-41 Behold the Texas 30, Plus Albums 40-31 From Selena to Steve Earle to Pantera, th ... More >>

Rocks Off's 10 Best Musical Discoveries of 2012

The thrill of discovering freshly minted treasure or a previously unheralded favorite is one of the main reasons music writers get into this racket in the first place; every so often it can make wading through the ocean of crap mediocrity that is pop music worthwhile. Rocks Off asked our contributor ... More >>

10 Songs Still Missing From Spotify & What You Can Listen to Instead

As recently mentioned, I'm a pretty big fan of Spotify. Speaking as someone who never got over getting burned by my purchase of Stroke 9's Nasty Little Thoughts I'm a big fan of having the chance to listen to a record all the way through before making a purchase. In their advertising the company i ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday In Review: Turbonegro, De La Soul, Araab Muzik & More

The last day of Fun Fun Fun Fest 2012 was another dusty affair. I can feel about a pound of crud in my lungs, and my ears are ringing like a mother-fluffer, which means I had a great Sabbath at Auditorium Shores. SLIDESHOWS: The Girls of Fun Fun Fun Fest Turbonegro, De La Soul and Edward Sharpe: F ... More >>

Sign o' the Apocalypse: "Gangnam Style" Hits No. 1 on the Rap Chart

Unless you decided to paint the town in Austin with Iggy Pop and the Chilli Peppers then you know Psy's "Gangnam Style" has pretty much swept the country up by storm much like the "Macarena" in terms of catchiness (and infuriation). Over the weekend, the popular EDM-fueled single did something even ... More >>

Macy's, Houston Celebrate Carlos Santana's Style

Twenty years ago, while digging through my father's music collection, I found an album that I still regard as one of my all-time favorites. The crying guitar notes and inspired Latin rhythms I heard that afternoon were a vast departure from the corridos and cumbias I was almost exclusively listening ... More >>

Friday Night: Morgan Page at Stereo Live

Morgan Page Stereo Live August 31, 2012 Rewind: Morgan Page: On The Road, In The Air, and Going Green Morgan Page may not be the world's most famous DJ, but that doesn't mean he isn't a name within the community. The loudest cheer all Friday night happened when he stepped on the stage to start set ... More >>

You Won't Get Into Heaven Listening to Christian Dubstep

Driving home the other night, I thought I had come up with the perfect get-rich-quick scheme: Christian dubstep. Roll your eyes if you'd like, but one thing I've noticed is that going to an EDM show is a lot like going to church: They both feature music, alcohol, and standing on your feet for long ... More >>

Prydz & Prejudice: Top 5 Remixes for Saturday's IDentity Festival

Saturday the IDentify Fest returns to town to once again take EDM out of the dark of the club and into the light of day. Your humble blog writer missed last year's show, so I'm curious to see how well glowsticks work during the daylight. While this year may not feature big names like Pretty Lights ... More >>

The Soundtrack of Our Youth: 5 Lackluster Rap Songs From Children's Flicks

What's worse: A movie geared towards kids and teens or the soundtrack to a movie geared towards kids and teens? It's a tough call because both can be pretty awful and uninspired. Sure, Ferris Bueller's Day Off is great and had an excellent soundtrack but let's not fool ourselves: We all sat through ... More >>

The Rest of the Best: Houston's Top 5 Restaurant Playlists

The only times I notice the music in a restaurant is when it's really bad (Christmas music playing year round at Sichuan Cuisine), really out of place (Nine Inch Nails blaring out of the speakers at now-closed Tony Vallone joint Ciao Bello or Cannibal Corpse washing over the line of patrons at Amy's ... More >>

I Need More Spotify! App to Offer Streaming Radio Service

We've already talked about how Houston absolutely loves One Direction, Carly Rae Jepsen and Gotye, that somewhat fun, catchy pop music that the regular radio stations play ad nauseum according to Spotify. Now the service is adding one more feature to it's already growing stature -- and it might kick ... More >>

Spotify's Houston Top 10 Singles Is, Uh, Yeah...

This past weekend I was at Academy near my house filling out paperwork to buy a shotgun and the One Direction single "What Makes You Beautiful" was playing over the store speaker system. Before that moment I had thought that One Direction only existed in emails from PR agents, my music listings, and ... More >>

Texas Johnny Brown

Join Us for Cocktails & Covers at House Of Blues Fridays This Summer

The other day, Rocks Off was researching another blog, and we stumbled across Duran Duran's 1995 all-covers LP Thank You on Spotify. Then we listened to it all the way through, on purpose. Recorded when the Birmingham-born band was at a post-"Ordinary World" fork in the road, Thank You wasn't the D ... More >>

Yello Echo: Complicated Instigators Keep Disco Torch Lit

Each week, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? E-mail their particulars to sheaserrano@gmail.com. Here's what you're about to walk in ... More >>

Vintage Nerdcore: Pac-Man Fever at 30

Much like pro wrestling, video games are another part of pop culture easily referenced by the modern artist, whether it's Styles P checking Red Dead Redemption in "B.M.F. (Blowing Money Fast)," Del The Funky Homosapian's love letter to video games "Proto Culture" or Childish Gambino sampling the mus ... More >>

Happy Birthday Zuckerberg: Our 5 Least Favorite Facebook Annoyances

Facebook is great for a lot of things. It helps us keep in touch with family and friends without having to actually call them, allows us to play games in our browsers when we should be working, and helps us remember birthdays we'd forget. It allows me to be a hermit while giving the illusion that I ... More >>

Skits: This Week In Music-Biz WTFery -- Katy Perry, B.o.B., Etc.

The music business fuckery continues. A game so destructive it only benefits the top dogs (and even so, temporarily), while the actual players continue to eat sand out of peanuts. Who's winning? Who's losing? Dig in for this week's music-bidness shenanigans.

5 Easy Ways To Stream Music From A Smartphone

Radio has always been one of the best ways to discover new music. A song would play on the radio and you would wait for the song title. But the advent of Internet radio aided the discovery of new music a lot more, with song titles and background information immediately at your disposal, and all kin ... More >>

Are Streaming Sites Ensuring The Music Industry's Long-Term Survival?

The look on my face when I couldn't hear "Temporary Secretary" on Rdio.​This past week, Paul McCartney's team pulled most of his catalog - including his works with Wings - off streaming music sites such as Rdio, Rhapsody, Spotify and MOG. Listeners are now deprived of Band On the Run, Back To ... More >>

8 Things We Learned from the IFPI's 2012 Report

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) released its 2012 report this week, confirming that the music industry may finally have a reason to be cautiously optimistic about its future. The industry saw its first year-over-year growth since 2004, piracy notwithstanding. The IF ... More >>

App of the Week: Pandora vs. iHeartRadio

If you haven't been paying attention, a very tiny little war has been brewing over access to the ears of people who like to listen to radio online or on their smart phones. I say it's a tiny war because, at the moment, it is. While many of us who love music and like to listen to it a lot will do wha ... More >>

Beats By Dre, Monster Headphones To Split

​Well time to pass the tissue to those of you who love walking through IAH or Hobby with $200 headphones around your head like a fashion statement. In news more likely to occur than Dr. Dre's Detox album, Monster has announced that it will no longer be making Beats By Dre headphones. Chalk up an ... More >>

Van Halen, the New Walter's and Radiohead: Things We're Looking Forward to in 2012

Photo by Mark C. AustinRadiohead returns and we're stoked. Do people say "stoked" anymore?​There was a lot to be thankful for in 2011 in the world of music, but, in some ways, it was also a pretty tough year. We lost some great people and almost lost one of our own. It's a crazy, topsy turvy w ... More >>

Five Factors That Will Influence the Growth of Streaming Music in 2012

We all know that in December of 2012, the Mayan calendar ends as will the world, but before that fateful day, I've got a lot of music to listen to and, like many, I seem to be doing that increasingly on my computer and via streaming music services. Whether it is Pandora or Grooveshark or Last.FM or ... More >>

Fa La La La La: Favorite Records Rocks Off Got for Christmas

​No matter what year it is or how old you are, if you love music, there is nothing like finding some new music tucked under the tree or crammed into your stocking. iTunes gift cards are easy. So are gift cards to Tiffany's, but we bet your girl would be a lot more receptive to the blue box. Th ... More >>

12 Music Business Predictions for 2012

Photo by Robert Bejil​Where were we? Oh yeah, crystal ball and prophesies. You ready for this? OK. What follows is a list of events we expect to befall the music industry in 2012. Yes, these are etched in stone and should be regarded as gospel. Full prophetic titillation ahead.

A Roundup of the 2011 Music Industry Based Strictly on Band Names

XL/Columbia​Theologians love saying things like "Man is created superior to animals" and "Animals can't be equal with humans." And then we go scouring philosophy books to see if animals have immortal spirits and if this means we'll someday meet our pets in heaven. That's a bunch of horse dung. ... More >>

Black Keys Not Licensing New Record to Streaming Services

​There's been a furor brewing among people who love streaming music services like Spotify and Rdio over bands like Coldplay denying licensing to those services for new releases. Older albums are available, but bands have essentially delayed the release to streaming services. That was all well ... More >>

Rap Round Table: What Music-Related Thing Are You Most Thankful For?

Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Each week Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray​This Week's Panel: Rob Gullatte, Herney the Great, Pyrexx, Mac, Snoopy, Medicine Girl, Chane, Young Se ... More >>

HPMA Preview: Nobody Leaves Without Singing The Blues Edition

Photo by Brittanie SheyLittle Joe Washington​In the movie Adventures in Babysitting, Houston native bluesman Albert Collins inadvertently assists the getaway of young Elizabeth Shue (meow) and her charges from a gang of thugs, but only after she sings. Collins blocks the attackers with the sam ... More >>

Is Spotify Ripping off Artists?

​Spotify made one hell of an entrance in July. Swedish-founded and U.K.-headquartered, Spotify arrived the States three months ago to adoring fans. Like a new bride, glowing in the light, flashing that pizza smile logo at us. Everyone wanted a piece of the sexy digital jukebox. Now that the ve ... More >>

Mosquitoes: A Tiny, Highly Annoying Musical History

​The Texans are in first place (for now), the Texas Rangers may become the Lone Star State's first-ever World Series champions tomorrow (ouch), and early voting for the November 8 mayoral/City Council election started Monday. The Houston Press Music Awards showcase is less than three weeks awa ... More >>

Last Night: Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull at Toyota Center

Photos by Marco Torres​What do you get when a Latino playboy from Spain joins forces with a Cuban party animal from Miami? The biggest fucking dance party that Houston has ever seen, that's what. The Euphoria Tour rolled into the Toyota Center last night and filled it with party anthems, lase ... More >>

My Five Most Indispensable Music Technologies

Previously the pinnacle of music technology...and pure awesomeness.​I started listening to music on vinyl way back in biblical times and things seemed just fine. CDs came along and made hauling around music somewhat easier and, once you got past the crispy clarity, the music sounded pretty dam ... More >>

10 Awesome, Awful & Odd "Hey Jude" Covers

​This week in 1968, The Beatles inaugurated their Apple Records label in a most auspicious fashion, releasing "Hey Jude" as a 45. The B-side was "Revolution." Written by Paul McCartney and employing a 36-piece orchestra, "Jude" did nothing to dispel the perception that Paul was the "soft" Beat ... More >>

Facebook Music Coming To A Computer Near You

Jason611 via Flickr​No one's willing to confirm anything, but all indications point to the same scoop: Facebook is planning to launch a new music service this fall. Here's what we know so far. CNBC's John Fortt broke the news Kanye West-style - in ALL CAPS: "YES INDEED NEXT MONTH IS GOING TO ... More >>

What Google & Motorola's Marriage Means To The Music Industry

The Daily Beast​Google stunned the tech world last week when it tied the knot with Motorola for $12.5 billion. But it's the music business that should be raising its brows at the union. Like any typical suitor, Google weighed Motorola's considerably large assets in its decision to get in bed ... More >>

App of the Week: Five Things Google Will Need to Best Facebook

​Google began allowing invites into its allegedly cool social network (simply named Google ) last week to fairly glowing reviews. The site aims to capitalize on the wildly popular Gmail e-mail platform and other integrated services already offered by Google including its cloud music service an ... More >>