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Spotify to hike subscription rates in France in dispute with a targeted tax hike

In what seems like a protest action in addition to a logical finance decision, Spotify will raise its subscription rate in France to compensate for a new tax levied by the French government. A public blog post which is both aggressive and defensive makes a case for the streaming giant. “Se simply can’t absorb any additional taxes.” Spotify also disputes whether taxed revenue in France gets where it is supposed to go — assisting artists. Continue Reading

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Spotify’s new “AUX” connects advertisers with musicians for in-concert and on-platform holistic partnerships

Spotify’s new AUX program is interestingly conceived to connect advertisers to targeted successful musicians for partnerships that benefit both the artist, who receives brand-name sponsorship, and the advertiser which gains access to the artist’s targeted audience. Naturally, artists selected for this program have substantial popularity and reach. Coca-Cola is the launch partner for this innovative marketing experiment, and the first artist to be involved is Peggy Gou. Click for much more info. Continue Reading

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European Parliament wants revision of streaming royalty calculations to favor “less popular” music

The European Parliament, a 705-member body which works with the European Union to consider and create legislation, has issued a statement regarding artist payment by streaming music platforms. This week the EP called for new EU rules regulating a “fair and sustainable” streaming sector, and cultural diversity. In short, the European Parliament wants streaming royalty calculations to be revised to favor “less popular” music. Continue Reading

Warner Bros. Discovery chooses Spotify for podcast distro and sales

In a joint announcement this morning, Spotify and media giant Warner Bros. announced a distribution and sales agreement which will see podcasts in the Warner Bros Discovery unit hosted and monetized in Spotify’s technology and sales systems. The agreement includes shows in over two dozen media brands owned by Discovery, including CNN and HBO. Continue Reading

Spotify opens audiobooks to its biggest market. (U.S.) Also, more books. And research.

Five weeks after launching its audiobook category, Spotify has opened it to Premium U.S. subscribers. The original plan limited the audiobook experience to U.K. and Australian listeners. Now these three territories are granted 15 hours a month for book listening. Spotify did some audiobook listening research, too. Continue Reading

Spotify’s 2024 royalty scheme shifts payouts upward; significance is debated

Spotify has announced change to its royalty payout calculation, limiting royalty eligibility to tracks which exceed 1,000 streams per 12-month period. Whereas in the past, sub-1,000 tracks earned negligible royalties, now those tracks will be taken out of the calculation entirely. This change will create meaningful results. Continue Reading

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Spotify Q3 details & quotes: Users, Podcasts, Audiobooks

Spotify released Q3 earnings this week. We covered basic money metrics elsewhere. In this post, we scrutinize information gleaned from the earnings call. Below, three main topics: User growth, podcasting, and the audiobooks initiative. Audiobooks were of particular interest to investors, partly because it was difficult to coax financial predictions about them. Click for lots of detail and quotes. Continue Reading