7digital has published its 2016 financials, which showed continued revenue growth for the B2B music provider. The company’s revenue was up 15% from the previous year, reaching £11.9 million. Net losses declined from £7.9 million to £5.3 million. Continue Reading
Vevo has expanded its shared viewing feature with a live component. The video company rolled out Watch Party in March, allowing multiple people to watch the same clip across multiple computers. The new development is Watch Party Live, which adds a real-time broadcast component for artists to interact with their fans. Continue Reading
MTV is experimenting with a new approach to one of its popular television shows. Following the final season of its Teen Wolf show, the fictional universe could find new life as a podcast. The show is scheduled to end this summer, but the network is reportedly in early talks with show runner Jeff Davis to translate the concept into a podcast. Continue Reading
BVMI, Germany’s music industry group, has released the mid-year report for the country. The total market revenue for the first six months of the year grew by 2.9% to reach about €740 million ($853 million). Continue Reading
Most musicians dream of having a No. 1 hit, and today marks the arrival of one. “Despacito,” a track by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, is now the most-streamed song of all time. With 4.6 billion streams since its release in January, “Despacito” has surpassed the previous champ, “Sorry” by Justin Bieber. Continue Reading
Last week we began receiving notes from webcasting clients of two large hosting companies, Radionomy and StreamLicensing, noting that recent changes and communications had troubled their webcast stations. The two situations are coinciding in time, but are unrelated — except both are about music licensing. Continue Reading
StreamGuys, a specialist in Internet radio technology, is getting into the Amazon Echo game. The company announced that it can create custom Alexa skills for its broadcast clients. This would bring extra voice command functionalities for listeners tuning in on the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Tap smart home speaker devices. The new feature offering expands StreamGuys’ existing SaaS tools for producing, managing, delivering, and monetizing streaming media and podcasts. Continue Reading
SoundCloud has partnered with The Fader for a documentary miniseries called SoundCloud Next Wave. Episodes in this video series will highlight local music scenes, with the debut focusing on underground rap in Los Angeles. The Fader has also posted a curated SoundCloud playlist showcasing other music from the city’s rap scene. Continue Reading
Radiotopia announced that its Ear Hustle podcast has been downloaded 1.5 million times. The show came to life as the winner of the network’s Podquest contest last year. Ear Hustle is the work of Earlonne Woods and Antwan Williams, both incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison, and Nigel Poor, a Bay Area artist and professor. Continue Reading
Songwriter and publisher royalties have appeared once again as a sticking point for the Spotify streaming service. The New York Post’s Claire Atkinson is reporting that music publishers and songwriters are looking to receive a portion of Spotify’s equity when the company either goes public or finds an interested buyer. According to her sources, the National Music Publishers Association has been deeply interested in the question of equity since Spotify has been more seriously preparing for a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Continue Reading
Before the weekend, we recapped the activity surrounding SoundCloud and the outlook for its future. The company had issued an odd response to reporting by TechCrunch, and popular hip-hop performer Chance the Rapper said he “was working on” an effort to help the audio platform. Today, we have some further developments on both of those stories. Continue Reading
Sony is reportedly in the final stages of a deal to purchase Believe Digital. According to Nikkei, Sony plans to pay an estimated 40 billion to 50 billion yen ($355 million to $444 million) for the distributor and label services company. Update: Believe Digital CEO denies Nikkei reporting. Continue Reading