Not iPad – iPod. Apple's mythological music player, which first launched 24 years ago and whose sale was officially discontinued in 2022. Ultimately, these are still relatively small numbers, but behind them stands an entire industry: add-ons and upgrades that expand storage capacity, enable USB-C connections, and transform the iPod's appearance into something aesthetic and modern. Instructional videos on the subject have reached millions of views on YouTube.

But in a world where a subscription to a streaming service places all music within reach, in a universe where YouTube exists, and in an era when every person carries a technological marvel in their pocket that plays music at the highest quality available why would anyone want to walk around with an ancient, limited MP3 player in their pocket? The convenient explanation is that this is a vintage fashion trend. Gen Z, born into a world where nothing is needed except credit to listen to whatever music they want, enjoys playing in a reality where a dedicated device and computer files are required to reach their favorite song.

Except there's an alternative, more complex explanation. The major streaming services, led by Spotify, don't actually allow us to listen to all the music we might want. Periodically, albums or songs disappear due to conflicts or disputes with studios or artists, for political or geographical considerations. Just recently, we "earned" a reminder of this, with the artist boycott that removed entire catalogs from playability in Israel. Additionally, the algorithms of streaming services aren't really programmed to present us with new music that fits our taste, but rather to direct us toward what increases their bottom line.

The inconsistency in song availability and suspicion toward the algorithm add to the periodic tendency of streaming services to raise subscription prices. The last element is perhaps the most interesting: the only advantage of a player who can do just one thing is disconnection from the world. No notifications, no pushes, no feed, no social anxiety, no FOMO. It's just us and the music we chose for ourselves, cataloged and uploaded to the device. In other words, the iPod's technological disadvantage turned it into a kind of therapy.

This exact phenomenon occurred a quarter-century earlier, for the previous generation. Napster, the mother of all pirate file-sharing software, solved a particularly frustrating market failure: in the 1990s, greedy music studios reached record profits at the expense of artists and consumers, who were required to pay an average of $17 for a disc where not all the songs were worth the investment. Music collecting has become an expensive business for teenagers, unlike for their parents' generation.

Napster offered a revolution: all the music in the world in one pirate place, in friendly and convenient search - but with a big question mark regarding its legality and morality. At its peak, about 80 million users were registered, sharing about 1.5 billion music files among themselves. The pirates changed the face of the industry and led to the birth of iTunes, and after it, Spotify and its like. And what the music companies understood first came to the television industry very quickly as well.

The fate of "Gozelan" and "Sdarot"

"The word 'piracy' doesn't exist in copyright laws, even though creators use it," says Dr. Carmel Weissman, a digital culture researcher from Tel Aviv University. "It's a word created by corporations to establish the criminalization of copyright infringement in popular culture. The thing is, the metaphor is murky. Piracy isn't good or bad in an absolute sense, it's a matter of perspective. And therefore the image the corporations chose itself became a debate."

Until just over a decade ago, the battle between the pirates and the establishment was waged with intensity across platforms like Kazaa, eMule, and others. At the center stood a market failure: the television industry's business model relied on cable companies, which offered giant packages of countless channels, too little quality content, and prices that never stopped rising. Those who wanted to watch other high-quality content, assuming it was even available in their area, were required to pay premium prices for HBO, Showtime, and other premium networks responsible for the golden age of television in the early millennium.

The inflated content budgets and rise of multiplex cinema complexes turned going to a movie into an experience whose price can reach hundreds of shekels for a family. This is how it happened that viewers chose the freedom and convenience of pirate viewing at home, despite the legal and moral problematic nature.

In Israel, the struggle focused on sites for pirate viewing. The largest and most famous of them was the "Sdarot" site, established in 2011, which offered a wide variety of movies and series for direct viewing (streaming) with built-in Hebrew translation. About 975,000 users were registered on the site, and of them about 10,000 paid a subscription fee of about 50 shekels ($14) per month for access to fast servers that enabled continuous viewing. It was considered at the time one of the most popular sites in Israel, with millions of visits per average month. ZIRA (the umbrella organization representing major media bodies in Israel on copyright issues), led the lawsuit that brought about its final closure in January 2024 (and subsequently required its founder to pay compensation of 5 million shekels, or $1.4 million).

Another prominent case was the "Gozelan" site, which offered pirate content for direct viewing and was closed in 2016 after half a year of activity, during which it climbed into the list of 100 most popular sites in Israel. The court ordered internet service providers to block access to the site, after it accepted ZIRA's claim about copyright infringement that took place on it. Both the "Gozelan" people and the "Sdarot" people, for their part, claimed that their activity was "a necessity of reality against media companies, which exploit the public and the creators."

Israel's copyright law is based on similar laws from other countries, which are anchored in international conventions. According to Attorney Yaakov Lashchinsky, a copyright expert, the law grants only the rights holders the authority to authorize copying and/or make them available to the public for the public's benefit, and any action that takes this authority away from them constitutes a violation of their rights. The initial maximum compensation for copyright infringement, even before proving damages, stands at 100,000 shekels ($28,000) and can grow significantly if it reaches trial.

Although much of the preoccupation with piracy in recent years focuses on the television worlds, the situation in the cinema field was no different. The inflated content budgets and rise of large multiplex cinema complexes turned going to a movie into an experience whose price can reach hundreds of shekels for a family. This is how it happened that viewers chose the freedom and convenience of pirate viewing at home, despite the legal and moral problematic nature, while the corporations conducted a battle to close one pirate platform – only to discover that a host of alternatives arose the day after.

And then Netflix arrived. "In its first years, Netflix was the place to find everything," explains Ido Yeshayahu, a television critic and founder of the "Coffee+Television" blog. "It purchased everything from everyone, and offered this selection in one place for a few dollars. In parallel, it released its series not in weekly broadcast, but all at once, and that was significant. Within a few years, a whole generation grew up for whom this was their way of consuming television, devouring entire seasons within a few days. Suddenly, piracy became irrelevant."

Attorney Yaakov Lashchinsky: "There will always be those who choose to consume pirate content and clean their conscience by tying crowns of 'freedom fighters' and 'heroes.' At the end of the day, the technological revolution happening around us does good for everyone: content prices are laughable compared to the past."

This model was good for Netflix and consumers – but the large entertainment corporations, the third side of the triangle, didn't benefit. Suddenly, Netflix became the place where their series gained popularity. The decision to fight the new queen by building competing services will lead us to the chaos we're immersed in today.

Not ready even for free

The annual report of MUSO, the company specializing in monitoring and measuring pirate downloads, reveals the ongoing tension between consumers and large entertainment corporations. At the beginning of the current decade, a moment before the inflation in streaming services, piracy data reached a low. From a situation where almost a quarter of world internet traffic was used for file sharing, with the rise of Spotify and Netflix there was a decline to single-digit percentages. While piracy didn't become extinct, the trend was consistent: in North America, Western Europe, and the Nordic countries there was a significant decline in pirate content consumption.

Data collection regarding the phenomenon in Israel is very sparse, but the trend is clear: many consume illegal content to one degree or another, even though it's a questionable activity. "The shaming campaign for downloaders is an American cultural thing, which succeeded in creating the symmetry between downloading and theft - and even there it didn't catch on for long," explains Dr. Weissman. "In the rest of the world, piracy is a non-issue, also because very many contents aren't available in them, and in the East it's almost a state enterprise. The story with Netflix and Spotify was a precise, specific answer to changing consumption patterns. If everything is convenient, in one place, and at a sane price – then the problem stops being a problem. People were willing to pay the 'Sdarot' site despite it offering pirate content, because it simply offered a solution."

The great streaming war that broke out at the beginning of the decade led to enormous inflation of competing services: Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Peacock, and more. All produce original content available exclusively to the platform, all charge monthly subscription fees that keep growing – and in the middle are the consumers. A subscription to three-four streaming services reaches the peak prices paid in the past to cable companies. All this, at a time when works disappear and appear on another service on a regular basis, some aren't available in some regions, and in other cases they're perceived as not justifying the money charged for them - exactly like at the beginning of the 2000s with the music industry, and at the beginning of the previous decade with the television and cinema industry.

The "solution" came in the form of a new and improved wave of pirate services. No longer complicated software requiring basic technological understanding and dealing with downloading subtitles and matching them. Services like Stremio look and feel like Netflix's feed: organized lists of series and movies by category, with official posters, a quick and convenient search, and, especially, the availability of all content in one place.

"It's clear there's weight also to the insane cost of living in Israel," explains Yeshayahu, "but I get the impression that many people choose piracy because they don't want to search for where what they want to watch is broadcast. We're also a piracy-loving nation from always, so when a convenient app arrives – it conquers the Israeli audience."

ZIRA, which represents major media bodies in Israel on copyright issues: "We see a sharp transition to decentralized piracy, the kind that isn't through public internet sites, but rather through illegal converters and additional services 'under the radar' of the public internet."

MUSO data reinforces the feeling that the piracy rate worldwide has jumped to an all-time high in recent years. 230 billion visits were recorded on pirate sites in 2023 - almost double the number recorded just three years earlier. In the US, Europe (especially in the East), Asia, Latin America, and even in the Middle East, the piracy rate jumped significantly. In 2024 a slight moderation was recorded, but not because of a return to good behavior: the researchers claim the reason is a decline in content that justifies pirate consumption. In other words, viewers aren't interested in the new content, even when it comes free.

The striking difference is that the current wave of piracy is led by a new generation of young people, Gen Z, which champions values and worldviews different from those of the previous generation. So how is it that they, too, chose the same method?

A process of "enshittification"

One of the recurring concepts in recent years when it comes to services of large technology companies is "enshittification" – from "shit" – which author and blogger Cory Doctorow coined. The concept describes the pattern of operation of platforms competing for our attention: initially they place user experience at the center, to attract more and more subscribers; then they exploit the huge user base to adapt the platform to attracting advertisers and business clients, with the goal of increasing their profit balance; and finally, they trap users and subscribers in a situation where they're dependent on the platform, which serves only them, without motivation to preserve the quality standard. This, in a nutshell, is one of the main reasons for the growing buds of the new rebellion.

"In the days of the British Empire, in many cases the empire would hire pirates to attack the Spanish enemy for it and disrupt its trade – without having to bear responsibility," explains Dr. Weissman. "In this analogy we're the Spanish. Not infrequently, the large companies use piracy to expose products to the public and create buzz around them, and in parallel they try to make the action criminal. But if we're sailing in a sea of enshittification, then the pirates are floating too. So we've made a full circle and returned to the nineties."

Attorney Lashchinsky opposes this determination: "What we're seeing here is Israeli greed. There will always be those who choose to consume pirate content and clean their conscience by tying crowns of 'freedom fighters' and 'heroes.' At the end of the day, the technological revolution happening around us does good for everyone: content prices are laughable compared to what was customary in the past." However, Lashchinsky clarifies that the key lesson from past battles against piracy is to fight the platforms and bodies that enable it, not consumers themselves.

If, in the past, piracy was practical despite its inherent problems, now it's already wearing an ideological cloak. In Sweden, for example, piracy has become "Kopimism" – an official religion protected by law, based on belief in freedom of information and file sharing as a way of life. This is one of the reasons why Pirate Bay, the world's largest torrent site (a method where files are broken into many "puzzle pieces," and thus it's possible to download them from a large number of users), remained active against repeated attempts to close it - because it operates from within the country. The struggle against media companies has become activism in which piracy is not only not shameful but also a utopian fight against corporations and a defense of fairness.

Ido Yeshayahu, television critic: "It's clear there's weight also to the insane cost of living in Israel, but many people choose piracy because of the convenience issue. We're also a piracy-loving nation, so when a convenient app arrives - it conquers the Israeli audience"

"The story of buying iPods by itself is currently a marginal phenomenon, but there's a broad message in it," claims Weissman. "The message is that streaming companies exploit the artists, and also the users. So we, as users, will take it upon ourselves to balance. It's a fairness problem, not a price problem, and this connects very much to the ethos of this generation. There's recognition that piracy can sometimes be perceived as a moral action, a 'Robin Hood' ethos."

The current status quo is problematic for both sides. The intriguing question arising from it is: is there a chance to return to the balance that Netflix and Spotify brought with them at their beginning? "In recent years there's been talk about bundles (combining several services into one subscription, which allows lowering costs; I.K.), but something that will concentrate everything in one place isn't exactly on the horizon," explains Yeshayahu. "A lot of ego of the various companies is involved in this, and it's likely the regulator won't rush to approve such moves either. What is certain is that we'll see acquisitions and mergers. It's not implausible to assume that by the end of the decade we'll see much fewer streaming services, which also means much fewer opportunities for niche works, like in the good days of Netflix."

Dr. Weissman actually believes the coming storm will lead to better results in the future. "Piracy is a tool that challenges power structures that don't serve consumer expectations. The enshittification brought this feeling to a new peak." According to her, the niche phenomena at this stage, of young people completely disconnecting from social networks or choosing to purchase a "dumb phone," may reach the level of a real counter-movement to the current technological reality.

"It's interesting to look at the hypocrisy of defining piracy from the AI direction. After all, what is that if not piracy? An attempt to use copyrights to train technology that serves the corporation. AI is not our liberator - it's the pirate serving the Queen of England. It could be that we'll need to reach some extremism, for example, a significant decline in consumer demand, to lead to change. At the end of the day, these phenomena occur in waves, and those who survive will be those who adapt the products to our need."

Piracy on steroids

ZIRA responded: "Piracy hasn't disappeared, it simply changed form. After years when pirate viewing was conducted on large streaming sites, like 'Sdarot,' today we see a sharp transition to decentralized piracy, the kind that isn't through public internet sites, but rather through illegal converters and additional services 'under the radar' of the public internet. All of these are aggressively marketed on social networks and other communication channels. This formula creates 'digital piracy on steroids': piracy that's faster, more accessible, and at the same time less visible to the eye. The additional disturbing change is the involvement of content giants in providing a stage for enabling and marketing the new digital piracy.

"Piracy constitutes a direct threat to the existence of a diverse and competitive communications market in Israel, and the damage that pirate viewing causes to the content industry in Israel reaches enormous dimensions, estimated at hundreds of millions of shekels per year. This damage cascades through the entire 'food chain' of the industry. Rights holders, broadcast and content bodies, workers in the industry, directors, screenwriters, actors, lighting technicians, editors, musicians, production people, designers, makeup artists, casting directors, graphic designers, and holders of additional roles in this valuable and important industry.

"ZIRA continues in a constant war to eradicate the pirate viewing phenomenon against the entire distribution chain, from the sites and platforms that enable publication or that make the content itself accessible."

The post Digital piracy surges as streaming costs spiral out of control appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The 2025 edition introduces several fresh tools, including Listening Age – which uses music preferences to estimate the user's age (a friendly suggestion: enjoying Springsteen may result in a 10-year addition) – and Clubs, which sorts listeners into categories based on their genre tastes, according to USA TODAY.

Spotify Wrapped 2025 top artists, songs and albums revealed

During a media presentation on December 2, the team responsible for creating Spotify Wrapped expressed optimism that subscribers would be pleased with the 2025 version, especially after receiving feedback in 2024 regarding the application of AI in developing the experience. Dustee Jenkins, Spotify's chief public affairs officer, responded positively to the critique, affirming that the comments "reminded us just how much this experience means to listeners." She stated that the current year's aesthetic is centered on traditional music sharing, embracing "the world of mixtape culture." Spotify executives, while demonstrating the new additions, emphasized that only one element is powered by AI, with the remainder of the report being meticulously developed for months by teams situated globally, USA TODAY detailed.

Finding your Wrapped stats

Are you trying to find your personalized metrics? Ensure your application is updated initially. Next, launch Spotify, and a Wrapped banner should appear that you can select to view your data.

Wrapped tracking duration

The data for Spotify Wrapped is calculated from your listening history spanning January 1 to around the middle of November.

New additions: Listening age, clubs, and more in 2025

If a significant part of your Wrapped was overlooked, relax! This year, subscribers can reduce the speed of their report and conveniently go back to previous sections. Listening age, which is calculated based on the release dates of the songs you listened to, is one of the new elements introduced this year, USA TODAY noted. The second novelty is Clubs, which places you into one of six distinct groups: Soft Hearts, Serotonin, Cosmic Stereo, Full Charge, Grit Collective or Cloud State Society. Once your musical tastes determine your category, you will also be informed of your role within that club and the specific artist that was the reason for your placement.

In the portion of the report dedicated to artists, listeners will face a brief challenge to identify the performer or band they listened to most. Afterward, preceding the ultimate announcement, an "artist sprint" feature, which uses actual month-by-month listening information, illustrates a user's leading contenders racing to the finish line before the victor is determined, according to the report.

Additionally, as with the previous year, users will receive a brief video message from a top artist and will be able to see their placement on the fan leaderboard. The much-requested Top Albums feature has been added, and a listener archive feature will highlight key occurrences in a user's experience, such as when they most often discovered or shared music. The archive is the sole function relying on AI, Spotify indicated.

The shared experience: Spotify wrapped party

Possibly the most discussed new component in this year's Wrapped is a feature that transforms the event from "a solo experience," into "a multiplayer celebration," stated Payman Kassaie, the director of brand and creative for Spotify, as per USA TODAY. Party, an interactive live feature, is similar to the start of the pandemic, when a like-named function from Netflix allowed people to stream shows together and engage in real-time discussion. Spotify's iteration lets users invite up to nine friends to contrast their listening statistics. The procedure will reveal who in the collective streamed the most music, who had the rarest song play, or who earned the title of "dinner table explainer" (the individual who listened to the greatest quantity of political podcasts).

The post Spotify wrapped 2025 drops with new features appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the streaming service has engaged in discussions with Spotify regarding collaborative ventures on multiple entertainment projects, including a potential music awards ceremony or ongoing live concert programming. Industry sources familiar with these negotiations told The Wall Street Journal that the company has also explored producing high-profile celebrity interview content and rapid-production documentaries designed to capture current events and trending topics.

The entertainment giant is simultaneously reviving the legendary talent competition "Star Search" while maintaining a strong emphasis on musical content, The Wall Street Journal noted. The company plans to launch "Building the Band" next week, with another music-focused competition series currently in development that executives hope to release within the coming months, according to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal.

Households that eliminated cable subscriptions or never subscribed to traditional cable packages increasingly depend on the streaming service as their primary entertainment destination. The platform is strategically working to provide diverse content offerings spanning scripted programming and films to reality television, comedy content, and live broadcasting.

Identifying family-appropriate programming with global appeal remains crucial for the company's development of its advertising-supported subscription option, The Wall Street Journal reported. The service achieved significant success with "Love is Blind," which offered an innovative approach to dating shows, and "Million Dollar Secret," its interpretation of "Survivor," explained Brandon Riegg, vice president of nonfiction series and sports.

Jeff Gaspin, the executive who approved "The Voice" during his tenure at NBCUniversal, is leading the streaming platform's initiative to discover outstanding music competition programming and broaden unscripted content offerings. The self-described pop-culture enthusiast joined the organization in the previous year.

"Building the Band," featuring Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean as host, will showcase musicians competing for band positions. The innovative element involves contestants remaining unseen by each other until rehearsals commence, according to individuals with knowledge of the production. The concept combines elements of "Love Is Blind" with "The Voice."

The streaming service recently revealed plans for a trivia-focused game show featuring Neil Patrick Harris as host, titled "What's in the Box."

Although company executives have contemplated major celebrity interview programming, internal debates have focused on whether audiences would engage with full-length content when highlights would circulate on social media platforms almost immediately, according to people familiar with internal discussions cited by The Wall Street Journal.

The organization is developing a pilot program with Daily Beast, concentrating on rapid-turnaround coverage of trending non-political news stories. Semafor previously reported on the Daily Beast collaboration project.

Gaspin stated he doesn't anticipate the streaming service becoming a comprehensive news programming provider, which the company internally refers to as "information." "You can't cover news and be a news organization occasionally," he explained.

Leadership must also determine appropriate circumstances for producing unscripted programming as live broadcasts. The streaming platform has witnessed certain live events, including its Mike Tyson-Jake Paul boxing match last fall, generate massive viewership. However, that event experienced technical difficulties, as did a "Love is Blind" reunion special from previous years. The company successfully livestreamed two NFL games during Christmas without encountering problems.

Although "Building the Band" will be available on-demand, the streaming service might broadcast the finale live if a second season is produced, Riegg stated. The "Star Search" revival will enable audience members to participate in live voting.

"We don't want to do live for live's sake," Gaspin said. "If we are going to do live, we should have a reason."

The post Netflix could get a Spotify upgrade appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Spotify is rolling out a new feature that allows listeners to comment on podcasts.

Creators can choose to enable or disable comments for entire series or specific episodes, and comments will be private by default, requiring creator approval before appearing.

The updated Spotify for Podcasters app and website will allow creators to manage and respond to comments, control comment visibility, track analytics, receive notifications, and access audience insights.

The rollout of the new comments system will take a few weeks to reach all Spotify users and markets.

Spotify aims to transform podcasting by fostering a more dynamic community through interactive features like comments, Q&A, and polls.

Listeners engaging with these interactive features are more likely to return to a show and spend more time listening.

Interactive features like polls and Q&As on Spotify have seen significant engagement, with 9 million listeners participating in 2022, an 80% year-over-year increase.

The podcast comments feature puts Spotify in direct competition with YouTube for creator-listener interaction, especially after expanding into video podcasts, with over 250,000 video podcasts available on the platform now.

Spotify plans to introduce more interactive features for podcasts in the fall and improve the comments experience based on feedback from podcasters and listeners.

Spotify's podcasting strategy has shifted towards serving as a platform for all podcasters, becoming profitable.

The new commenting feature does not have immediate monetization plans but may identify super fans in the future, potentially introducing paid-for fan badges.

Comments could also draw users back to the app through push notifications.

Marketers are optimistic about the future of podcast advertising, with 62% of those who have invested in it before projecting increased ad spend in the coming years, and in Singapore, 37% expecting a significant increase, while only 11% expect a decrease.

While there are no significant changes to Apple Podcasts in the iOS 18 update, there's a possibility that Apple may enable podcast comments in future updates following competitor trends.

Sources: Mashable, The Verge, Engadget, TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, Marketing-Interactive, afaqs, Lowyat, Tech Times, WebProNews, The Shortcut, Android Headlines, PhoneArena, NerdsChalk, Digital Music News, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Trend Hunter, RouteNote, Android Police

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

The post Spotify introduces podcast comments appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Music platform Spotify has published a list of its biggest hits for 2021, and it doesn't include too many surprises.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

For the fourth year in a row, Omer Adam was the most popular singer on Spotify's Israeli streaming service. In second place was Eden Hason, followed by Eyal Golan, Ravid Plotnik, and Justin Bieber.

The female singer most-streamed on Spotify in Israel was Eden Ben Zaken, followed by Noa Kirel, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Taylor Swift.

The most popular album on Spotify in Israel was "Sour" by Olivia Rodrigo, followed by "Future Nostalgia," Dua Lipa's 80s-style disco-pop release. In third place was Justin Bieber's "Justice," Omer Adam's "The 8," and Ed Sheeran's "=."

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Who were Israel's 2021 favorites on Spotify? appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Singer Omer Adam is the most-streamed artist in Israel in 2020, audio streaming giant Spotify revealed Wednesday.

Singer Eyal Golan is the second most-streamed artist of the year, followed by Eden Hason, Ishay Ribo, and Idan Raichel. 

  Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The first five entries on the list of most-streamed artists in Israel are men. The list does not distinguish based on gender, but Spotify does give an option to filter the list based on gender. 

The most streamed female artist in Israel this year is 18-year old American Billie Eilish, followed by Israeli singer Noa Kirel. Ariana Grande, Eden Ben Zaken, and Dua Lipa made it to the top-five as well. 

The most-played song in Israel over the past year is Blinding Lights by American singer The Weeknd, followed by Dance Monkey by Tones and I. 

Israeli singer Hanan Ben Ari's Aluf Haolam is in third place, followed by Journey by singer Eliad and Nehake Lecha by Ishay Ribo and Nathan Goshen. 

The most-streamed album category is also led by Adam, and his album Omer, released at the beginning of 2020. 

Next on the list is Eden Hason's Shemishehu Yaatzor Oti, followed by Natan Goshen's Bati Lahlom.

The Weeknd's After Hours is in fourth place, followed by Billie Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

It turns out that Israelis are fond of podcasts too. The year's most-streamed podcast is Hayot Kiss, the economic podcast of Kan broadcasting corporation and presented by Shaul Amsterdamski, Tzlil Avraham, and Dana Frank. 

In second place is Kan's One Song, which explores the roots of iconic Israeli songs. 

Money Engine by the Calcalist is in fifth place. 

In third place is Choshvim Tov by Judith Katz, followed by A Brief History of Mankind by Hebrew University's Professor Yuval Noah Harari. 

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Spotify names Omer Adam Israel's most-streamed artist in 2020 appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

"The Arab hub provides a unique platform that brings the full spectrum of Arab culture and creativity, past and present," said Suhel Nafar, a musician from the Israeli city of Lod who serves as Spotify's senior Arab music and culture editor.

Spotify is the first major streaming company to launch a program specific to the Palestinian territories, allowing local artists to reach new global audiences despite local challenges.

"As Palestinian artists, we face a lot of restrictions. Some cannot travel to perform in another country," said Bashar Murad, a Palestinian singer based in east Jerusalem.

He said Spotify is helping him to get his music heard.

"After the launch, my monthly followers [on Spotify] increased from 30 to something like 6,500," Murad added.

However, the lack of high-speed cellular services in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will limit the app's on-the-go use.

"I will have to be at home or at a cafe or a place where there is good internet connection to be able to upload my songs to Spotify," said Mohammed Al-Susi, a rap artist from Gaza who registered for Spotify last week.

The Palestinian territories are the only Arab market included in Spotify's regional launch that lacks 4G broadband infrastructure, although some consumers use speedier networks in neighboring Israel. The West Bank launched a 3G service in late 2017, but Gaza only has a 2G service.

Once Gaza has 3G, "it will be something great. Better than posting my songs on Facebook and having to see people's comments. It is purely a venue for music," Susi said.

Spotify has been unofficially available in the West Bank and Gaza for several years via accounts registered in Israel or other markets and accessed through a virtual private network, or VPN.

Spotify launched in Israel in March.

Still, having a music and social service specific to the Palestinian territories is "something significant," said Murad.

"Despite the restrictions, we can unite on social media," he said.

The post Spotify's Palestinian launch puts local musicians on the map appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.