Bandcamp made its name as a straightforward direct-to-fan platform, but it has expanded its offerings to give artists more power over the business side of their operations. The latest change opens the door to record labels as well. Bandcamp for Labels is a paid service that provides unified accounting and statistics for all acts under a particular brand. Continue Reading
Will Page, Director of Economics at Spotify, published a revealing analysis of how Meghan Trainor’s hit song “All About That Bass” became a charted hit, pushed more by streaming than by radio — and even before the track was available to purchase in the U.K. The cross-continental story raises questions about music distribution strategies in an era when online engagement can create hit without traditional levers. Continue Reading
Line, the Japanese messaging app, isn’t wasting any time moving forward with its plans for a new music service. Shortly after announcing its plans to launch Line Music, the company has agreed to acquire MixRadio from Microsoft. According to the announcement from Line, MixRadio will continue working with Microsoft on a third-party music platform for Lumia smartphones. Continue Reading
Most of today’s online music services include some feature that encourages listeners to discover new artists and songs. According to a new study from MusicWatch, though, the biggest driver of discovery is actually online video. Numbers from the consumer research company showed that 34% of respondents said video services were the most influential source of new music discovery. Continue Reading
Pandora has launched a new native app that brings the online radio service to Microsoft’s Xbox One. The app comes with voice and gesture controls through the Kinect system. According to GigaOm, listeners can use the Kinect to search, skip songs, and give ratings. Continue Reading
Global streaming music service Deezer has announced the appointment of Dr. Hans-Holger Albrecht as the company CEO. The hire culminates an eight-month leadership search that started when previous chief executive Axel Dauchez resigned in April to take the head spot at Publicis France. Continue Reading
TuneCore, the online music distribution and publishing administration platform, announced the acquisition of DropKloud, a location-based app for content delivery. Musicians could use that capability to provide exclusive access to songs, share invitations to special events, or release other material for a specific concert. Continue Reading
Former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar and CTO Richard Tom are back to the video business with an intriguing property called Vessel. This service aims to offer early access to popular web video stars through windowing, showing their content to subscribers several days before the clips hit YouTube and other rival platforms. Continue Reading
Following up our coverage of the integrative partnership of audio ad network Targetspot and data company Quantcast, we wanted to understand the depth of integration, and what Big Data means for the online audio advertising industry. We chatted with TargetSpot co-CEO Leigh Newsome, and started by asking how this partnership is distinguished from previous work the two companies have done together. Continue Reading
France’s Bouygues Telecom has partnered with Spotify to include its streaming music in higher-end mobile plans, according to Telecompaper. The network has 10 million subscribers. Neither party has commented on the deal thus far. Continue Reading
William E. Kennard will join the board of directors at Ford Motor Co. effective Jan. 1. He is a former chairman of the FCC, as well as a former U.S. Ambassador to the EU. Before entering the government, Kennard’s career covered the areas of law, telecommunications, and private equity. Continue Reading
Midia Research founder Mark Mulligan analyzes the “freemium” space by comparing YouTube (and its new Music Key subscription service) to Spotify and Pandora. YouTube has changed from a marketing tool to a full-fledged listening destination, the author asserts, and should be modeled more like Pandora than Spotify. Continue Reading