Apple Music lands in South Korea
Apple is having a busy week, adding South Korea to its roster of countries where its streaming service is available. The reaction from the domestic music scene has been lukewarm thus far. Continue Reading
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Crowdmix sold off to top investor, capping a cautionary tale about social music
Social music company Crowdmix has been auctioned off to one of its main investors. The saga of this startup and its intended product demonstrate just how challenging it is to elbow into the mobile space with social media and music. Continue Reading
Digital posts steady growth in Q2 RAJAR results
The latest RAJAR data shows continued growth for UK digital radio in the second quarter. Fifty-nine percent of the population tunes in to digital radio each week, up from 57% in the first quarter of this year. The share of all radio on digital platforms rose for yet another quarter to reach 45.3%. Continue Reading
Rakuten Music is Japan’s latest streaming platform
Japan is getting another streaming platform. Rakuten Music is the newest release from ecommerce business Rakuten, and it aims to be a “one-stop music service.” The mobile service offers a library of 3 million items and includes product placement for CDs and music DVDs/Blu-Rays sold through Rakuten Books. Continue Reading
Department of Justice confirms its consent decree ruling: No changes
It’s official. The Department of Justice has released the final ruling for its review of performing rights organization consent decrees, which includes “full-works licensing” and prohibits withdrawal of digital rights from bundled licenses. Both ASCAP and BMI are already mounting their responses. Continue Reading
Saavn announces new original audio shows
Indian streaming service Saavn announced the original programming roster that it will debut this month and next. The shows include Film Companion with Anupama Chopra and #NoFilter Neha hosted by Neha Dhupia. Both are long-form audio/talk shows. Continue Reading
Warner posts 45% streaming revenue growth for Q3
The latest quarterly earnings release is from Warner Music Group, and streaming revenue continues to be a standout for the label. “Streaming revenue for the quarter was about double the size of download revenue, and was meaningfully larger than physical revenue,” CEO Steve Cooper said. Continue Reading
Streaming music pillow makes waves on Kickstarter
Lots of people like to listen to music while drifting off to sleep, but headphones in bed aren’t the most comfortable choice. This situation was the inspiration for a streaming music pillow. Yes, you read that correctly. Continue Reading
Podcast host ART19 officially launches with new audience measurement technology
ART19, a San Francisco-based podcast host, distributor, and monetization platform, officially launches today after eight months of technology development and partnership formation. Launch partners include Midroll Media), DGital Media, and Wondery. The platform offers technology designed to advance the podcast advertising business. We spoke with co-founder Sean Carr. Continue Reading
Apple Music launches in Israel
Apple Music has rolled out in Israel, adding to the already noteworthy global spread of the newest streaming music service. Apple Music is now available in 114 countries, giving it a larger geographic footprint than Spotify. Continue Reading
Germany’s streaming trend led by the under-30 listeners
The latest statistics for Germany showed that streaming held a quarter of the country’s music market, and a new survey from Bitkom further enforces those findings. And as with U.S. data, streaming is more popular among younger German listeners. Continue Reading
Is music vulnerable to streaming piracy?
Piracy experts MUSO released a study that found illegal activities are also shifting from ownership to access models, at least in film and television. These data points are worth noting as a counterpoint to music piracy, which has also been the focus of MUSO research. Should the music industry also be alert to illegal streaming? Continue Reading