Rhapsody parent company RealNetworks released its financial information for 2015, including the performance for the streaming service. Rhapsody CFO Ethan Rudin did not comment on the results, but said the company has “never been more excited or optimistic about a category that we helped define in early 2001.” Continue Reading
Spotify has embarked on many efforts to provide music discovery to its audience, and the latest move in that direction is a playlist collection called Fresh Finds. The programming choices for these playlists will stem from both sides of the playlist creation coin: human curation and data-driven algorithms. Continue Reading
SFX is making plans to auction off online EDM portal Beatport as it continues through bankruptcy proceedings. It has attracted interested parties for the property and will solicit initial bids in April with an auction slated for May 3. Continue Reading
Electronic music specialist Digitally Imported has released a status announcement of its audience growth. Double-digit increases in paid subscriptions to the listening platform have been accomplished, the result of product enhancements and new initiatives intended to drive user engagement. Continue Reading
Investment firm TPG Capital is reportedly considering an investment in Spotify. Sky News said that TPG is in talks to provide financing of as much as $500 million in loan notes, which could lead to Spotify increasing the size of its offering to up to $1 billion. These alleged fundraising plans come as Pandora continues to voice its intention to build a competing on-demand music service. Continue Reading
More details have emerged about the royalty lawsuit filed against Tidal. First the streaming platform issued a statement about the legal action, and noted that it has removed all music from the plaintiffs. Second, Tidal confirmed that it has fired two of its C-suite leaders. Continue Reading
Much of the podcasting boom has been at the national and global levels, but a new service is looking to carve out a niche for local listening to grow. Satchel is a podcast distribution platform that aims to make connections between show producers and local audiences easier. Continue Reading
The Google/Alphabet empire appears to be setting its sights on Australia next. According to a report from The Australian, joint video/music subscription YouTube Red is slated to roll out there later this year. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Pandora, Merlin, and the CRB; listening beyond genre labels; video and the modern musician. Continue Reading
Tidal’s rising and falling fortunes have been the subject of much attention in the music media. The latest adventure for the often-conflicted company could be new ownership. Sources have told The New York Post that Samsung has allegedly reopened talks to acquire Tidal. Continue Reading
In the wake of David Lowery’s lawsuit against Spotify, other streaming services are now allegedly moving to protect themselves against similar actions. Both Deezer and Rhapsody have reportedly made moves related to Lowery’s catalogs with the bands Camper van Beethoven and Cracker. Continue Reading
A new report from Nielsen, State of The Media: Audio Today, compiled listening figures from 2015 and confirmed the strength of radio’s reach. This report generally found a respectable performance for radio among younger generations, but time spent with the format was still markedly lower than for Generation X and Boomers. Continue Reading