Groove Music has formally been out of commission since 2017, and Microsoft is eliminating some of the few remaining routes for accessing the music platform. Groove Music began as a rebrand of Microsoft’s Xbox Music app. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Voice assistants struggle with discovery. The new journey for indies. What if Google buys UMG? Continue Reading
Warner Music Group has signed a direct licensing deal with Boomplay Music, a leading music streaming service in Africa. Under the terms of their agreement, Boomplay will be able to distribute WMG’s catalog of more than 1 million songs to its listeners Continue Reading
Facebook has made music licensing a high priority in the past few years, and the company’s most recent moves are taking those aspirations international. The social media network now has partnerships with music rightsholders in 40 countries, with the latest moves focused on India and Thailand. Continue Reading
Napster and Univision have entered a new digital audio partnership centered on the Latin culture specialist’s Uforia app for on-demand audio and music. Under the terms of the deal, Univision’s Uforia app is now part of the “Powered by Napster” platform thanks to a new design and enhancements. Continue Reading
Deezer announced that it has appointed Laurence Miall – d’Août as its new chief commercial officer. In this executive post, she will head up the company’s B2B activities internationally, including partnerships, business development, and advertising sales. Continue Reading
Spotify has filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission, arguing that the rules and fee cuts with the App Store post a threat to business competition and limit customer choice. The complaint centers around Apple’s operation of the App Store, the sole way to find and download software for iOS mobile devices. Continue Reading
YouTube Music has embarked on a push of international expansion, bringing the paid music-video subscription tier to 14 new markets. The rollout in India is of particular notice. Continue Reading
Andy Ng has stepped down from his role as a group vice president of Tencent Music Entertainment. He is leaving the post for “personal reasons,” but will continue to provide advice to the company in a new role as group senior consultant. Continue Reading
Pod Drop highlights noteworthy new and upcoming podcasts from across the vast and fast-growing category. LinkedIn launches its first big original show. Cadence13 has news alongside Deepak Chopra and theSkimm. iHeartMedia plans for a musical narrative anthology. Continue Reading
Pete Downton has exited his role as deputy CEO at B2B digital audio services platform 7digital. He joined the company as chief commercial officer in 2014, and has past experience at Warner Music Group. Continue Reading
Jonathan Prince has departed Spotify. Prince has been in the dual posts vice president, head of marketplace and content policy and vice president, global head of communications and public policy for the streaming service since 2014. Continue Reading