“I have good news and I have bad news,” states Steve Mulder, Director of User Experience and Analytics at NPR Digital Services. He analyzed third-quarter metrics of stream performance across 173 NPR stations (data sourced from Triton Digital). Continue Reading
TuneCore released the results from a survey of its music distribution account holders asking their opinions about the music industry and the role of online platforms. The responses were overwhelmingly positive toward streaming services. Continue Reading
Installing Beats Music as a built-in iOS app creates headlines, and is an obvious maneuver, but it barely lessens the challenge faced by Apple in the brutal music subscription space. It will not, by itself, move the needle for Beats or Apple. A crucial new effort is needed, and Apple has not demonstrated creativity in the music space for years. Continue Reading
Apple’s integration of Beats Music took a step forward today with the announcement that the app will become a standard part of its mobile operating system in early 2015. The tech company has added Beats’ merchandise at its physical and digital stores, but the inclusion of the app will give the subscription streaming service visibility on millions of iPhones and iPads. Continue Reading
The Billboard 200 albums chart will begin reflecting the numbers from on-demand streaming services and digital track sales. Starting on Dec. 4, the charts will incorporate the numbers outside the typical sales-only rankings. It is the biggest overhaul of Billboard’s algorithm since May 1991. Continue Reading
Spotify has reportedly posted a profit in France for the first time, Billboard reported. The streaming service allegedly had 66% growth in revenue during 2013 for a total of 18.75 million euros. Profit was more than 311,000 euros. Continue Reading
With the “freemium” model of ad-supported, semi-interactive listening under attack in some quarters, YouTube has formalized whole-album listening in its new YouTube Music section. The impact might be to raise consumer expectation of a highly interactive feature in a free, ad-supported service. Continue Reading
Radical.FM, an innovative online radio service that has been available only in mobile, extended its presence by launching a desktop version for computer listening. We took a tour through the multi-genre mixer that defines Radical.FM’s interface, and spoke with Tom McAlevey, founder, CEO, and serial online radio entrepreneur. Continue Reading
Pop music has long been the refuge of both the deliriously smitten and the devastatedly heartbroken. Billing itself as “the #1 love song station on the net,” Slow Radio is the place to find musical voice for whatever state your romantic life is in. Continue Reading
In a brisk 51-minute conference call with investors yesterday, Pandora described its strategy in the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) proceeding, explained why it thinks music licensing costs (to labels) should be lower, and fielded questions about the company’s key partnership with Merlin labels. Although Pandora executives often speak at investor conferences, and conduct quarterly earnings calls, the single-topic focus of yesterday’s call was unusual. Continue Reading
Irving Azoff and his Global Music Rights PRO have intensified their scrutiny of the new YouTube Music Key streaming service. According to a written exchange between lawyers for both sides, Azoff has questioned whether YouTube has the appropriate licenses to be streaming the songs represented by GMR. The group asked for the roughtly 20,000 songs GMR represents to be removed, but YouTube has not complied. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Steve Albini on music and the Internet; Samsung launches Milk Video in U.S.; Shazam as hit-tracker. Continue Reading