Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web:
Insights into Spotify In Residence: Music Ally spoke with Rob Fitzpatrick, part of Spotify’s original content team, about the platform’s new radio-style curated playlist feature. The interview revealed that each presenter will make six shows, airing one a month. “This isn’t radio,” Fitzpatrick said. “If anything, they’re podcasts. You can’t have talking over the music for example, and all the tracks have to be on Spotify.” As both podcasts and other talk content become a growing point of interest for streaming services, this experiment is one worth following.
Merlin CEO pens op-ed against two-tier publishing rates: Billboard ran an op-ed from Charles Caldas, CEO of Merlin. Caldas expressed optimism about the current value of indie music to both companies and listeners. But he also cautioned against allowing majors to have a different licensing rate. “It is our firm view, that in order for a functional statutory regime to operate, there can be no division of rates dependent upon any class system of rights,” he said.
A new addition to NextRadio’s platform: NextRadio is continuing its march toward radio-enabled smartphones with a new partnership. The company has signed on Univision onto its platform. “Univision signing on is a very important group for the platform,” NextRadio President Paul Brenner said. “They represent a key target demographic with 93% of Hispanics listening to radio each week.”