“It’s clear that streaming is taking over,” a Nielsen spokesperson notes when sending us the Q1 Music Report. The quarterly update of music consumption across all platforms shows a 35% gain in number of streams, compared to the first quarter… Continue Reading
The chief officer of the BMG label issued downward sentiment when he talked about the prospects of a music industry revival powered by streaming. “I am very cynical about the view that the good days have returned,” said Hartwig Masuch as quoted in Financial Times. Streaming drives the music industry now, and artists are set to demand a bigger cut from their labels. Continue Reading
BuzzAngle unceremoniously released its first-quarter 2017 music industry consumption numbers today — and only the numbers, without comment or executive summary. No problem there, as the numbers tell a clear story. Continue Reading
Yesterday the Wall Street Journal broke anonymously sourced news (e.g. rumor) that Spotify is planning an “open listing” method of becoming a publicly traded company. In the ensuing media swirl, that method has been termed an IPO-less IPO. Media reactions range from “weird” to “logical.” Continue Reading
The latest PodcastOne content partnership is with the renowned Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, and results in the launch of Geffen Playhouse Unscripted podcast. The new show dropped its first episode this week. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Beta tests in India for YouTube Go. Music services become memes. Continue Reading
Canada’s Bell Media has entered an exclusive music publishing and administration deal with ole, an independent rights management company. The arrangement covers the in-house music library of the telecom. Continue Reading
Kanye West’s album The Life of Pablo has achieved platinum certification just based on streaming performance. The album, which was released in February 2016, has reached 1.5 billion streams in the U.S., enough to attain platinum certification from the RIAA. Continue Reading
Streaming is on the rise among Canadians. According to Solutions Research Group in Toronto, 62% of all online Canadians use a streaming service. The total audience of paying subscribers in Canada was estimated at 1.9 million as of October 2016. Continue Reading
After two years of negotiations, Spotify has broken through with a major label deal. The two companies had been operating on a month-to-month basis while working out a longer-term arrangement. They have been in on-again-off-again negotiations, but now they reportedly just need the sign-off from both CEOs to become official. Continue Reading
Cary Sherman will step down from his role as CEO and chairman of the RIAA at the end of 2018. Sherman has been with the industry group for more than four decades, beginning as an outside counsel and then climbing the ladder to the top post. Continue Reading
Warner Music Group has sold off digital distributor Zebralution back to its original founders. The major has owned the company for a decade, but has sold it off as part of a divestiture agreed to by WMG with indie music specialists IMPALA and Merlin. Continue Reading