Quick Hits: Exclusives, disruption, transparency, and crowdfunding

Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web:

Spotify not that into exclusives: The launch of exclusive albums from Rihanna and Kanye West on Tidal, plus Apple Music’s hold on music by Taylor Swift and Adele, naturally spark questions about how Spotify might counter with exclusives of its own. “We’re not really in the business of paying for exclusives, because we think they’re bad for artists and they’re bad for fans,” Jonathan Prince, head of communications at Spotify, told The Verge.

Pandora as disruptor: Jane Huxley, managing director for Pandora in Australia, spoke at PauseFest about the company’s approach to pushing into the radio space. “Like any disruptor we’re really just focused on providing a better products,” she said. “So we are increasing the audience broadly and it is up to anyone in the market to compete for audience with the best products.”

MMF seeks streaming equity stance from Universal: Billboard ran an interview with Annabella Coldrick, CEO of the Music Managers Forum, who discussed how labels should manage their equity in streaming platforms. She cited Sony Warner Music Group’s announcement that any cash proceeds from a sale of their equity would be shared with artists. The MMF is trying to a secure similar statement from Universal. Coldrick also covered her ideas about transparency and compensation in the digital music industry.

A look at musical crowdfunding success: Crowdfunding has been a hot topic for the music world thanks to its ability to give superfans a personal stake in projects they care about. Forbes profiled the crowdfunding approach taken by two music-centric services – Chew and 8tracks – and why they were successful.

Anna Washenko