Industry News

Spotify today announced it is launching gapless playback and crossfade features for its music streaming service which it will roll out this week as part of its latest desktop upgrade
 
The gapless playback feature, as one might guess, allows songs to play from one to the next without silent spaces in between

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The streaming service's other additional feature is the ability to crossfade, a DJ mixing function that allows one song to fade out as another is brought in. The crossfade function allows users to select the exact number of seconds -- from 1 to 12 - songs are crossfaded.

The company's release, for curious digital DJs, made no mention of beat-matching; it did however feature a quote from DJ Paul Oakenfold's who copped to using "Spotify daily."  He also said that, "many of my own releases are mixed so I'm delighted to hear Spotify will now offer gapless playback and crossfade so my fans can experience the mixes on Spotify in the way they normally do in the clubs."

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Oakenfold has a history of working with the streaming service. The release of his compilation album  Never Mind The Bollocks... Here's Paul Oakenfold last July was featured exclusively on Spotify a week before appearing on iTunes and two weeks before its general release.
 
Today's press release directed users to check out Spotify's new features on Oakenfold's latest release.

Other new features included in Spotify's latest update include the following: "faster artist browsing; better sorting of albums & top hits; new save and restore feature for 'Now Playing;' improved subscribe, buddy list and favourites options; drag & drop fixed on Windows; hide purchase buttons' option (Premium users only); offline Mode' via Spotify menu"

Spotify will notify users of the new update or those who can't wait can go here to download the new updates.