Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web:
Spotify drops longstanding PR firm: Spotify has had a bit of a rough year in terms of public reputation, and the company seems ready to fix that. It has ended its relationship with M&C Saatchi PR, which has provided PR services for the streaming company since April 2012. Spotify is seeking a new agency, although its leadership has reportedly not begun talking to other firms yet. [PRWeek]
Continued piracy problems and potential solutions: Russ Krupnik of the MusicWatch blog posted a discussion of the current state of piracy. While the sheer number of services and new tech can make it hard to determine legal avenues to music and movies, he said that most people are open to help in finding those legit channels for their entertainment. Krupnik pointed to consumer interest in a “badge of approval” in search results and the potential of windowing to help combat continuing piracy issues.