Technology
These two friends created a simple tool to transfer playlists between Apple Music and Spotify, and it works great
Last yr, I had the misfortune of losing all my playlists after I moved from Apple Music to Spotify. For me, playlists are necessary. They’re snapshots of a certain period in your life; possibly your summer of 2016 had a soundtrack. But traditionally, streaming music services don’t make it easy to take your playlists with you to other platforms.
You can imagine how joyful I used to be to see that Apple Music has created latest playlist uploader through the Data Transfer Initiative (DTI), a group founded by Apple, Google, and Meta to create data transfer tools. The Digital Markets in Europe Act requires these designated “gatekeepers” to fund data transfer tools as a part of a broader solution to Big Tech’s strategy of blocking users from their platforms.
Finally! There was only one big problem. The tools don’t work with the world’s hottest music service, Spotify, which apparently didn’t catch the wave of knowledge transfer (or possibly the regulator doesn’t tell them to). The DTI tool only transfers data between Apple Music and YouTube Music, making it much less useful for most individuals.
DTI Executive Director Chris Riley can be fed up with Big Tech’s blocking policies. He’s trying to get more firms to join the negotiations and make their services more portable.
“Over the last decade, we’ve kind of blended into this world, just feeling trapped,” Riley told TechCrunch. “I don’t think enough people know that this is something they need to know.”
With DTI limitations in mind, Riley suggested I move my playlists from Apple Music to Spotify using Soundfree third-party tool. Instead of working directly with streaming services, Soundiiz builds portability tools through existing APIs and acts as a translator between services. Within minutes, I used to be able to connect my accounts, transfer my playlists, and start listening to my old Apple Music playlists on Spotify. It was amazing and easy.
Soundiiz allows you to transfer playlists between Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, SoundCloud, and 20 other streaming services I’ve never heard of. There’s a simple user interface for connecting streaming services and choosing the playlists you would like to transfer, including ones another person has created.
The story behind Soundiiz may explain why it works so well and cheaply. It was created in 2013 by two friends from France, Thomas Magnano and Benoit Herbreteau, who loved listening to music while coding together. In the evenings, they decided to create a music search interface with input from everywhere in the web. In the method, they created a useful tool.
They never created a music search interface, however the playlist uploader became Soundiiz.
“I had to manipulate the API and test the fit between services. And while I was doing that, I was creating playlists and moving them between services, just for me internally,” Magnano told TechCrunch. “I presented this feature to a colleague of mine and we thought, ‘Oh, this is useful to me; maybe it’s useful to someone else.’”
In 2015, Soundiiz got its big break when it partnered with Tidal, the music service founded by Jay-Z. The music platform was trying to make it easier for people to leave Spotify and join Tidal with all the identical playlists, and Soundiiz helped with that. But Magnano says they made sure Tidal also let people export playlists, not only import them — something they require from every music service API they work with.
Then a lot more people began using the service, and the founders made Soundiiz their full-time job, but they kept their values. The two founders make a living from Soundiiz, but they tell TechCrunch they’re “not looking to get rich.” Magnano says Soundiiz has never sought outside investment to keep prices low, and the founders retain control over their project.
There are limitations to the free Soundiiz though – a number of the longer playlists might be shortened (limited to 200 songs). You even have to transfer playlists one after the other, and every one takes about a minute, so transferring a dozen or so playlists can take a while. Soundiiz offers a premium plan ($4.50 monthly, which you’ll cancel after transferring) to get around these limitations.
The two founders are still the one employees of Soundiiz, regardless that the corporate has grown: Soundiiz has helped hundreds of thousands of individuals move over 220 million playlists over the past 10 years. According to Magnano, they’ve never spent a dime on marketing, but he says they’ve never had to.
“If you were to Google ‘how to transfer Deezer to Spotify’ in 2012, there was no answer,” Magnano said. “So Soundiiz became the first result in Google search when we launched, and we’ve been doing great in SEO ever since.”
Magnano says Spotify likely has more to lose than to gain by creating a playlist uploader like Apple and Google, and he doesn’t expect that to change anytime soon. However, he says that every one of those streaming services are aware of what Soundiiz is doing and are okay with it — some even promote it of their FAQs. That said, it’s unlikely that any of them would promote playlist uploaders like Soundiiz greater than this.
Technology
Revolut will introduce mortgage loans, smart ATMs and business lending products
Revolutthe London-based fintech unicorn shared several elements of the corporate’s 2025 roadmap at a company event in London on Friday. One of the corporate’s important goals for next yr will be to introduce an AI-enabled assistant that will help its 50 million customers navigate financial apps, manage money and customize software.
Considering that artificial intelligence is at the middle of everyone’s attention, this move shouldn’t be surprising. But an AI assistant could actually help differentiate Revolut from traditional banking services, which have been slower to adapt to latest technologies.
When Revolut launched its app almost 10 years ago, many individuals discovered the concept of debit cards with real-time payment notifications. Users may lock the cardboard from the app.
Many banks now can help you control your card using your phone. However, they’re unlikely to supply AI features that might be useful yet.
In addition to the AI assistant, Revolut announced that it will introduce branded ATMs to the market. These will end in money being spent (obviously), but in addition cards – which could encourage latest sign-ups.
Revolut said it plans so as to add facial recognition features to its ATMs in the longer term, which could help with authentication without using the same old card and PIN protocol. It will be interesting to see the way it implements this technology in a way that complies with European Union data protection regulations, which require explicit consent to make use of biometric data for identification purposes.
According to the corporate, Revolut ATMs will start appearing in Spain in early 2025.
Revolut has had a banking license in Europe for a while, which implies it may offer lending products to its retail customers. It already offers bank cards and personal loans in some countries.
Now the corporate plans to expand into mortgage loans – some of the popular lending products in Europe – with an emphasis on speed. If it’s an easy request, customers should generally expect immediate approval and a final offer inside one business day. However, mortgages are rarely easy, so it will be interesting to see if Revolut overpromises.
It appears that the mortgage market rollout will be slow. Revolut said it was starting in Lithuania, with Ireland and France expected to follow suit. Although all these premieres are scheduled for 2025.
Finally, Revolut intends to expand its business offering in Europe with its first loan products and savings accounts. In the payments space, it will enable business customers to supply “buy now, pay later” payment options.
Revolut will introduce Revolut kiosks with biometric payments especially for restaurants and stores.
If all these features seem overwhelming, it’s because Revolut is consistently committed to product development, rolling out latest features quickly. And 2025 looks no different.
Technology
Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal is leaving PhonePe’s board
Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal has stepped down three-quarters from PhonePe’s board after making an identical move on the e-commerce giant.
Bengaluru-based PhonePe said it has appointed Manish Sabharwal, executive director at recruitment and human resources firm Teamlease, as an independent director and chairman of the audit committee.
Bansal played a key role in Flipkart’s acquisition of PhonePe in 2016 and has since served on the fintech’s board. The Walmart-backed startup, which operates India’s hottest mobile payment app, spun off from Flipkart in 2022 and was valued at $12 billion in funding rounds that raised about $850 million last 12 months.
Bansal still holds about 1% of PhonePe. Neither party explained why they were leaving the board.
“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Binny Bansal for being one of the first and staunchest supporters of PhonePe,” Sameer Nigam, co-founder and CEO of PhonePe, said in a press release. His lively involvement, strategic advice and private mentoring have profoundly enriched our discussions. We will miss Binny!”
Technology
The company is currently developing washing machines for humans
Forget about cold baths. Washing machines for people may soon be a brand new solution.
According to at least one Japanese the oldest newspapersOsaka-based shower head maker Science has developed a cockpit-shaped device that fills with water when a bather sits on a seat in the center and measures an individual’s heart rate and other biological data using sensors to make sure the temperature is good. “It also projects images onto the inside of the transparent cover to make the person feel refreshed,” the power says.
The device, dubbed “Mirai Ningen Sentakuki” (the human washing machine of the longer term), may never go on sale. Indeed, for now the company’s plans are limited to the Osaka trade fair in April, where as much as eight people will have the option to experience a 15-minute “wash and dry” every day after first booking.
Apparently a version for home use is within the works.
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