Spotify’s announced discontinuation of its Car Thing interface, a dedicated device for streaming Spotify in-car, has been met by owners with disappointment, bafflement, requests, and anger. We sample the disappointment and outrage. Continue Reading
Spotify has placed a limit on free song lyrics which appear to the ad-supported, no-pay version of the app. Meant as an inducement to upgrade membership, and possibly succeeding to some extent, the shift is generating predictable upset. We review the outrage. Continue Reading
Whether or not because of recent staff layoffs, Spotify is leaning less on human-powered playlist creation, and more on AI. The latest innovation is “AI Playlist,” a playlist creative algorithm which takes descriptive prompts from the listener to build unique and personalized playlists. UK and Australia only for now. Continue Reading
The Recording Industry Association of America released 2023 revenue metrics. The at-a-glance story shows rocketing upward revenue, but that glance does not adjust for inflation. We do. Also, how streaming dominates. Continue Reading
A high-profile boycott of Spotify will end soon. Neil Young, who made a noisy exit from the streaming service a little over two years ago. will go back. It’s all because of Joe Rogan and the distribution changes to Rogan’s podcast. Click for our original coverage, and today’s update. Continue Reading
Called the Catch Point Catalog Acquisition Program, the goal is to allow mid- and lower-level songwriters monetize their compositions. The company hopes to realize long-tail value which can be accumulated through many purchases of small catalogs. Click for details. Continue Reading
In an internal memo also posted publicly, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced the company’s third layoff sweep of 2023. Seventeen percent of the company — about 1,500 employees — will receive severance packages. Click through for detailed coverage, quotes, severence package details, and SPOT stock activity. Continue Reading
In this year of cost-cutting staff reductions, Amazon Music has joined the trend. Bloomberg is reporting that the company is cutting some number of jobs from Amazon Music. This action will follow other staff tightening in the behemoth company this… Continue Reading
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
Paris-based streaming music platform Deezer continues making news with a relaunched user experience, following a change in its royalty calculations. The rebrand includes a new logo (bold and simple) and what the company calls an “experience services platform.” Continue Reading
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
The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers has released its Global Collections Report 2023. The densely informative document documents worldwide revenue earned by creators across five media types: Music, Audiovisual, Visual Arts, Drama, and Literature. The focus here is music, where the creative side represents composers and songwriters. Click for key metrics, graphs, and a link to more. Continue Reading