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
Following on the heels of consumer insights platform GWI’s examination of Millennials (RAIN HERE), the consumer insights company sent us a study of preference in the young Gen Z cohort. U.S, Gen Z are nearly 70% more likely than the average American to use music streaming services every day. That translates to 46% of respondents. MORE. Continue Reading
In an unprecedented shift in how streaming music royalties are assessed, Universal Music Group (UMG) has reached agreement with Paris-based global streaming service Deezer. It is an artist-centric model which scales payouts upward in an attempt to reward musicians who are most favored by fans. Click for the details. Continue Reading
Spotify made news during its Q2 earnings report (See RAIN HERE and HERE) for raising its monthly Spotify Premium subscription rate from $9.99 to $10.99. Investor reaction, as a whole, could be characterized as “It’s about time.” Our survey of current music subscription pricing does support some investor impatience with Spotify, with six competing services having already boosted to that level.
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Spotify will launch a third subscription tier to its legacy two-tier access, introducing a “Supremium” plan above its current subscription and free-listening options. This according the Ashley Carman’s reporting at Bloomberg — and CEO Daniel Ek promised it during the Q1 earnings call. We look at the rumored benefits, and compare to competitors. Featuring RAIN’s Spotify user growth chart. Continue Reading
Immensely popular video sharing app TikTok has opened a connection with Apple Music whereby users of both services can leverage TikTok as a discovery mechanism for their personal music collections. More such connections are expected, which is good for the music business. Continue Reading
Spotify, in an SEC filing today, announced that it was cutting about 500 jobs, or about 6% of its 9,800 employees — and that one of its most high-profile executives, Chief Content and Advertising Officer Dawn Ostroff, will also be… Continue Reading
As noted in the UK newspaper Express today (here), “In the run-up to Black Friday, Amazon has launched two free bonuses for anyone interested in trying one of the alternatives to Spotify and Apple Music. For a limited time only… Continue Reading