Anna Washenko - RAIN News

IFPI CEO explores the financial breakdown of streaming revenue

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Anna Washenko

The IFPI has thrown its hat into the ring to discuss streaming royalties paid to artists. The group’s CEO Frances Moore penned a blog post about this delicate subject based on IFPI’s own research into the music industry’s financial situation. “The issue is not that artists are getting lower royalty payments from digital services – they are not – but that the overall recorded music market has shrunk, which means smaller revenues for all involved,” she wrote. Continue Reading →

TuneCore reports more than $35 million in Q2 artist payments

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Anna Washenko

TuneCore released data on its Q2 payments. Artists received more than $35 million through the distribution and publishing administration service during the period. The total marks a 6% increase from payments in the second quarter of 2014, but a slight decline from the $36 million paid out in the first quarter of this year. Continue Reading →

Test Drive: Cymbal struggles to stand out in social music apps

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Anna Washenko

Even a cursory glance at the music industry headlines and market research will show that mobile is the wave of the future. We communicate, we entertain ourselves, everything happens on smartphones. In response, we’ve been seeing a surge of startups and programmers exploring just what the mobile music space might look like. This morning I explored an entry into the field of mobile apps for social music. This one is called Cymbal. Continue Reading →

UK listeners stream more than 500 million tracks a week

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Anna Washenko

BPI and the Official Charts Company reported that weekly audio streams in the UK have exceeded the 500 million milestone. It’s the first time to reach that metric. The country is now forecast to reach 25 billion audio streams by the end of the year. Continue Reading →

Samsung offers Google Play Music bundle, drops Deezer

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Anna Washenko

Samsung has entered into a partnership with Google Play Music, offering the owners of Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge devices a free subscription to the service for six months. This new arrangement means the end of Samsung’s bundle with Deezer, which gave six months access to the Premium+ plan. Continue Reading →

Apple Music reportedly secured 10 million listeners in its first month

Posted on July 28, 2015 by Anna Washenko

Apple Music has reportedly signed up more than 10 million people in its first month. The data point comes from Hits, which credited unnamed sources from major labels. Apple Music is still in its free trial stage for any listeners, so these alleged millions haven’t yet paid for the service. Continue Reading →

Judge rules against the Turtles’ involvement in Sirius/RIAA settlement

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Anna Washenko

Another chapter in the saga between Sirius XM and Flo & Eddie has unfolded and potentially concluded. Following the satellite radio company’s settlement with the RIAA for $210 million in royalties for playing songs recorded before federal copyright law took effect, the former Turtles members tried to argue that the settlement would impede its class action efforts against Sirius. The duo made an effort to change the settlement payout, but yesterday received a ruling that the deal with the RIAA did not impact Flo & Eddie’s class action efforts. Continue Reading →

SESAC reaches antitrust settlement with Radio Music Licensing Committee

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Anna Washenko

The Radio Music Licensing Committee and performing rights organization SESAC have reached a settlement in the antitrust lawsuit filed by RMLC in 2012. The suit alleged that SESAC, which is privately owned and not subject to government oversight like ASCAP or BMI, had essentially monopolized the music it licenses. Continue Reading →

Rumor Fact(ory): Music Key changes and trouble possibly brewing at YouTube

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Anna Washenko

We learned recently that the official YouTube Music Key launch has been postponed, and two new rumors circulating about the popular video platform could provide some insight as to why. First, there has been speculation that YouTube is aiming to make Music Key part of a bigger subscription video service, positioning it as a rival to Netflix and Hulu as well as to music-centric streaming platforms. The second rumor is that music labels may be questioning the current status quo of YouTube’s ad-supported model. Continue Reading →

Finland’s H1 2015 sees ad-supported streaming decline while subscriptions rise

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Anna Washenko

The IFPI has another half-year report, this one from its Finnish branch. Total recorded music revenue increased 0.5% for the first half in Finland for a total of €15.12 million. Subscription streaming posted the most growth, up 39.9% to €8.95 million. Continue Reading →

Apple earnings call shares enthusiasm but few numbers about Apple Music

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Anna Washenko

Apple hosted a conference call to discuss its quarterly earnings this week, and the talk briefly touched on Apple Music. The tech company’s top brass didn’t reveal many hard numbers about the streaming platform’s first weeks. CEO Tim Cook said that “millions and millions” of consumers are enrolled in free trials and added that Apple is “thrilled about the response” to the service. Continue Reading →

Norway posts H1 2015 results, with growth in streaming and vinyl

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Anna Washenko

IFPI Norway has released its data on the domestic music industry for the first half of 2015. Music sales for the country increased 6.5% during the period. Streaming showed healthy growth, and revenue from those platforms accounted for as much… Continue Reading →