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A six-minute blast of news you need to know in streaming music and online audio. This week: YouTube Music Key subscription service; Irving Azoff prepares to sue; Beats Music in iOS; Uber & Spotify invent the connected taxi; Pandora is king of mobile; Billboard chart is modernized for streaming; NPR streaming metrics; listening to sports on TuneIn. Continue Reading
U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez has denied Sirius XM’s motion to start an immediate appeal for his summary judgment in favor of members of The Turtles, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He refused the immediate appeal on claims that it would delay instead of advance the end of the lawsuit. Continue Reading
Streaming services may be doing more than people realize to help music sales. According to a survey of music consumers by the Country Music Association, the respondents were more likely to buy music after hearing it on a streaming platform than if they heard the same song on terrestrial radio. Continue Reading
David Oxenford explains potential impacts and consequences of the latest pre-1972 copyright court action. “All music users that play oldies, whether the businesses be digital music services, radio stations, bars and restaurants or retail outlets, need to be carefully following the action in this case.” Continue Reading
TuneIn has built a powerful differentiation in sports streaming this year, and today announced another notch in its belt. The streaming platform has partnered with IMG and Learfield Sports to carry broadcasts of 85 men’s college basketball teams, including top-ranked programs. Continue Reading
“I have good news and I have bad news,” states Steve Mulder, Director of User Experience and Analytics at NPR Digital Services. He analyzed third-quarter metrics of stream performance across 173 NPR stations (data sourced from Triton Digital). Continue Reading
TuneCore released the results from a survey of its music distribution account holders asking their opinions about the music industry and the role of online platforms. The responses were overwhelmingly positive toward streaming services. Continue Reading
Installing Beats Music as a built-in iOS app creates headlines, and is an obvious maneuver, but it barely lessens the challenge faced by Apple in the brutal music subscription space. It will not, by itself, move the needle for Beats or Apple. A crucial new effort is needed, and Apple has not demonstrated creativity in the music space for years. Continue Reading
Apple’s integration of Beats Music took a step forward today with the announcement that the app will become a standard part of its mobile operating system in early 2015. The tech company has added Beats’ merchandise at its physical and digital stores, but the inclusion of the app will give the subscription streaming service visibility on millions of iPhones and iPads. Continue Reading
The Billboard 200 albums chart will begin reflecting the numbers from on-demand streaming services and digital track sales. Starting on Dec. 4, the charts will incorporate the numbers outside the typical sales-only rankings. It is the biggest overhaul of Billboard’s algorithm since May 1991. Continue Reading
Spotify has reportedly posted a profit in France for the first time, Billboard reported. The streaming service allegedly had 66% growth in revenue during 2013 for a total of 18.75 million euros. Profit was more than 311,000 euros. Continue Reading
With the “freemium” model of ad-supported, semi-interactive listening under attack in some quarters, YouTube has formalized whole-album listening in its new YouTube Music section. The impact might be to raise consumer expectation of a highly interactive feature in a free, ad-supported service. Continue Reading