The parade of self-gating artists marches on. Gwen Stefani is the latest to only allow streaming of her new release on paid streaming services. Spotify members curious to hear her album This Is What The Truth Feels Like see a message that the release will be available on April 1. That’s a two-week delay from the album’s official launch. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Mobile YouTubing skyrockets in India; Sainsbury bets big on vinyl; developing high-definition vinyl; Panoply exec talks shop. Continue Reading
Big news in a tiny package. Daniel Ek chose Twitter to announce that Spotify has reached a milestone: 30-million subscribers to Spotify Premium. The last time the company disclosed numbers, it was at 20 million paid subs in June 2015. That is dramatic growth for a nine-month period during which Apple Music was grabbing headlines. Continue Reading
Many mobile carriers have been trying to attract customers with the promise of data-free digital entertainment. T-Mobile’s Binge On feature launched with the idea of letting customers enjoy select streaming video platforms without dipping into their data plans. Last week, Binge On got a big boost with the addition of YouTube. Continue Reading
Spotify announced that its streaming music service will be available in Indonesia later this month. Over the weekend, the music company posted to both Facebook and Twitter that it would be launching into the new market on March 30. Continue Reading
Indie music fan service Drip announced it was closing its doors last month, but the platform is not disappearing quite yet. Instead, the day before it was scheduled to shut down, Drip has been acquired by Kickstarter. Continue Reading
Switzerland’s music market saw continued digital growth in 2015, even as the overall performance declined. Total revenue for the market last year was 81.8 million Swiss francs, down 3.5% from the previous year, according to the IFPI. Continue Reading
SoundCloud has rounded out the trifecta. The online audio platform signed a licensing deal with Sony Music Entertainment, bringing the third and final of the major labels on board with its service, according to Music Business Worldwide. Continue Reading
The National Music Publishers Association has signed an agreement with Spotify centered on songwriting royalties. The arrangement allows publishers to claim and receive royalties for certain compositions on the streaming platform where ownership details were not previously known. It also establishes a compensation fund and a path for finding rights holders who should receive royalties. Continue Reading
After years of development and months of teasers, Nielsen formally launched its streaming measurement service, branded Nielsen Digital Audio Ratings. Part of Nielsen’s broad Total Audience enterprise, which aspires to deliver comprehensive audience measurement of over-the-air and Internet television and radio, the new service offers analytics to Nielsen-subscribing radio stations that sell advertising across the digital divide. Continue Reading
Here’s another collection of interesting items coming out of SXSW for the music, audio, and digital realms. Today’s stories center on programmatic advertising and unusual happenings at the Spotify House. Continue Reading
Rights administration platform Music Reports has unveiled a new online system for publishers to claim and license recordings that embody their songs. The claiming system a place to keep accurate publishing data, register new works as they are published, and browse new commercial releases. Continue Reading