Wondery hires two new execs
Podcast network Wondery has hired two new executives. One is a senior vice president of brand partnerships and the other is director of audience acquisition. Continue Reading
News
Vevo gets hip with GIF creation tool
Vevo has added a new feature for making animated GIFs from its hosted music videos. Not all videos in the library are available for creation of the five-second looping clips at launch, but Vevo said it is working to have the rights to include as many as possible. Continue Reading
Drake, streams, and charts: Views’ success reinforces need for consistent metrics
Drake has been a huge force in the U.S. music scene this year with the release of new album, Views. Music Ally made some calculations and determined that the Canadian rapper’s latest album has hit some impressive milestones on both Spotify and YouTube. The numbers this album is putting up are yet another reminder of how critical it is for charts to consistently account for streaming data in assessing an album’s success. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio SVP Chris Peterson to lead its podcast strategy
Today brings an announcement from iHeartRadio that it has hired ex-TheBlaze, ex-TuneIn exec Chris Peterson as Senior Vice President of Podcasting. the announcement was made via an internal company memo. Peterson will oversee iHeartRadio’s overall podcast strategy and grow its profile in the podcast community. Continue Reading
Could Tidal get the rights to Prince’s catalog?
The death of legendary performer Prince earlier this year left a hole in the hearts of his scores of devoted fans. It has also created some legal turmoil about who will emerge with the rights to Prince’s vast music catalog. Universal Music Publishing Group bought the rights last week, but it now faces an unexpected hurdle before the deal can be closed. Continue Reading
Electric Jukebox re-emerges with new financing and new launch date
After months of silence, Electric Jukebox has reportedly raised £1.4 million. The company is a hybrid streaming service that seems to combine a Chromecast-style dongle with an online radio listening experience. Continue Reading
U.S. music industry calls for support of EU law to address “value gap”
The U.S. music industry is petitioning its European counterparts to make copyright reforms that would address royalty payments made by online music distribution services. Several music industry organizations signed an open letter about the value gap in services that do a great deal of user traffic but make comparatively small royalty payments. It asks U.S. government representatives in Europe to support Article 13 of the Copyright Directive proposed by the European Commission. Continue Reading
Neil Young is back on streaming services
Few critics of streaming music have been as vehement as Neil Young. The rock legend has levied many (often outrageous) critiques at streaming services over the years, going so far as to remove his entire catalog from Spotify and Apple Music in July 2015. But now he’s back, and things aren’t looking too hot over at Pono Music right now. Continue Reading
Spotify Artists website is back in business
Spotify has relaunched its website for performers. Spotify Artists first debuted three years ago, and although it’s still a hub for sharing resources about the streaming music business model, it has undergone some changes from the original. Continue Reading
Spotify offering first joint subscription with mindfulness service
Spotify has entered a partnership with Headspace for its first joint subscription. People can now subscribe to both Spotify and Headspace’s meditation and mindfulness service for $14.99 a month. Continue Reading
YouTube Red reportedly has 1.5 million subscribers
YouTube Red reportedly has 1.5 million subscribers as of late summer. That’s the figure shared by The Verge, citing multiple sources familiar with the video platform’s all-in-one subscription program. According to the sources, another 1 million people are signed up for free trials, but are not paying. Continue Reading
Open Music Initiative adds more members to rights collective
The Open Music Initiative announced the addition of 80 new members. OMI is the project of Berklee College of Music’s Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship. It aims to create an open protocol for industry-wide creative rights management and royalty distribution. Continue Reading