Deezer invests in live music streaming startup DREAMSTAGE

Global audio streaming service Deezer is becoming a cornerstone investor in DREAMSTAGE, a U.S.-based live music streaming startup. (No financials are disclosed.) The new funding will enable the company to significantly speed up growth and expand its operations. In the announcement, Deezer cites a MIDiA Research projection that global live music streaming will grow to $6.4-billion by 2027. Continue Reading

A-list actors drawn into new Audible/Treefort Media content alliance

Audio giant Audible is sending around notice of a development and production deal with audio storytelling company Treefort Media, to produce original scripted audio series. Described as a “first-look development and production deal,” three shows are starting production now, each one featuring known film actors. To our eyes, they appear primed for video/TV crossover. Continue Reading

Mark Mulligan: Spotify pushes prices up, but do not expect dramatic effects

by Mark Mulligan

This guest column from Mark Mulligan notes that Spotify is raising the price of some Premium subscriptions … and argues it is past time. The basic single-person subscription of $9.99 remains in place, but Mulligan anticipates that level will move upward, and needs to. “The fact that streaming pricing has remained locked at $9.99 since the early 2000s is an open wound for streaming,” Mulligan asserts.

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