This year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show had everything: elaborate sets, spectacular costumes, and singing sharks. Thanks to Spotify, it also has some fun data about the performers. Continue Reading
Germany’s music sector generated revenue of €1.48 billion in 2014, according to the Federal Association of the Music Industry’s year-in-review. That total marked a roughly 1.8% increase from 2013. Continue Reading
In browsing Radionomy sites for some new listening, we couldn’t help pausing at the name “Barock Music.” Is this a pun from someone who considers Bach and his contemporaries rock stars? Or is it simply the unintentional consequence of Google Translate for the French station? Whatever the source of the name, the music selections are worth a listen in their own right. Continue Reading
Spotify has reportedly canceled its plans to expand into Russia. The streaming service had hired former Google exec Alexander Kubaneishvili to lead its push into the region, but he told Russian outlet RBC that the company is no longer pursuing that market. Continue Reading
Pandora released a data-filled infographic in honor of receiving 50 billion thumbs. “Thumbs give each listener the power to make Pandora personal to them,” the accompanying blog post said. “Every thumb up and thumb down has not only made your stations better, but helped us make better song choices for every listener.” Continue Reading
According to a press release from Aspiro, the owners of WiMP and Tidal, the company has been approached with a bid for a public takeover. The roughly $56 million offer came from Project Panther Bidco, which is indirectly owned by S. Carter Enterprises. That sounds like a fairly routine acquisition, aside from the pertinent detail that S. Carter stands for Shawn Carter, better known as rap icon Jay-Z. Continue Reading
A recent IFPI survey revealed insights into the music industry in Norway. The survey found that streaming secured a larger portion of the country’s annual market sales value at 75%. Downloads were just 11% and physical formats were 14%. In 2013, streaming accounted for just 66% of the market, and physical sales had a 22% share. Continue Reading
Apple released some mind-boggling financial figures from the first quarter in its latest SEC filing. The company’s net income for Q1 was $18.02 billion on net sales of nearly $74.6 billion. Underneath the huge revenue, though, the news was not so good for iTunes. Continue Reading
Several streaming services were recently approached with a potential class-action lawsuit focused on pre-1972 song copyright protection. Rdio was initially one of the defendants, but the company has reportedly been dropped from the legal action. Continue Reading
In a development that could impact streaming audience share of the competitive music-service market, Sony announced that it will launch PlayStation Music with Spotify as an exclusive partner. This means an integrated music service is coming to the PlayStation Network’s 64 million active users. Continue Reading
SoundExchange announced that it paid recording artists and labels $773 million in 2014. The record figure is 31% greater than the $590 million it paid out the previous year. The final quarter of 2014 boosted the full-year performance with more than 38,800 payments totaling approximately $183 million, improving on the already strong payments from Q3. Continue Reading
The Italian Music Industry Federation released its 2014 year-in-review. The data, compiled by Deloitte, revealed overall growth of 4% for revenue of €122 million in 2014, up from €117.6 million the previous year. Digital listening accounted for a greater proportion of that overall performance in 2014: up to 38% of the market, compared with 32% in 2013. Continue Reading