Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Sales and subscriptions up for Google Music; SoundCloud cofounder on money and mixes; what the world is listening to. Continue Reading
The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers And Authors weighed in on Taylor Swift’s decision to remove all of her music from Spotify over concerns that the singer was not being fairly compensated for her music. BASCA voiced support for Swift’s decision, but used the situation to call attention to the disparity in royalties paid to performers compared with those given to songwriters. Continue Reading
Warner Music Group has entered into a distribution agreement with Tencent, a Chinese Internet conglomerate. Tencent will be responsible for distributing Warner’s catalog and new releases to local music services in China. One of the main platforms where Tencent will be providing Warner’s library is its proprietary streaming music platform, QQ Music. The free listening service is one of the longest-running in China. Continue Reading
Gracenote announced the launch of a new platform that will enter the increasingly crowded space of connected car dashboards. The product is called Entourage Radio, and this very interesting platform will connect music sources including AM/FM radio and streaming platforms in a single interface, then initiate new listening experiences based on song-ID. Continue Reading
eMarketer released estimates about ad revenue from YouTube — especially interesting as the video platform releases Music Key ad-free listening. eMarketer projects that U.S. video ad revenue alone would increase 39.2% to $1.13 billion. The company expected that the figure would continue to expand in double digit percentages to a possible $1.75 billion in 2016. Continue Reading
Radio Disney has started its migration into the digital realm thanks to three new stations arriving on Slacker. The new additions are Radio Disney, Radio Disney Junior, and Radio Disney’s Top 30 Countdown. Disney shuttered 23 of its 24 terrestrial stations back in August as preparation for a push into online platforms. Continue Reading
The launch of YouTube Music Key is an exciting development for the streaming music sector, but it the new service already has a very vocal and powerful detractor. Irving Azoff, a music industry veteran and leader of the recent Global Music Rights venture, told The Hollywood Reporter that he is prepared to remove the works by 42 of his clients from YouTube. The threatened move could see about 20,000 copyrighted works taken away from the fledgling service, as well as from the original YouTube video platform. Continue Reading
Ad-tech company AdsWizz announced the hire of Paul Brown as VP, European Solutions. Brown leaves Bauer Media, one of the U.K.’s largest radio groups, where he was Digital Development Director. He joined Bauer as part of the acquisition of Absolute Radio in 2013. Continue Reading
Thought leader and guest contributor Mark Mulligan looks at just-launched YouTube Music Key, and digs into a series of questions about artist response, the fate of music video service Vevo, the potentially changing price point of music subscription, and a YouTube identity crisis. Continue Reading
Nielsen Audio has reportedly set a target timeframe for introducing streaming audio measurement, according to Inside Radio. The launch target is mid-2015. That timeline was put forth at Nielsen’s Audio Advisory Council meeting in Tampa. Continue Reading
After over a year of rumors, hints, announcements, delays, and public wrangles with labels, Google’s YouTube platform has unveiled Music Key, the new music service. The launch is partial, and Music Key is more complicated than expected. Continue Reading
When a global consumer service loses the most popular product in its catalog, it’s pretty bad news on the face of it. The seriousness of Taylor Swift’s much-publicized withdrawal from Spotify is perhaps reflected in the gravity and scope of founder Daniel Ek’s blog response yesterday. But crowd opinion, and thousands of news articles, might add up to good publicity. Spotify itself is uniquely asking Taylor Swift to return, with a “Come back, Taylor!” playlist. Continue Reading