Adele has thrown a new curve into her promotion strategy for the album 25. “When We Were Young,” the second single from the record-breaking album, dropped today. And although the big buzz around 25 when it released was the sales-centric philosophy, the single has also arrived on streaming services. Continue Reading
Guest contributor Mark Mulligan reacts to the RIAA’s decision to add YouTube music streaming metrics into the organization’s sales calculations and bestowal of Gold and Platinum album awards. But is streaming the same as buying? Here, the key difference. Continue Reading
The Official German Album Charts will begin reflecting streaming counts starting Feb. 5. However, the update from BVMI/GfK comes with several caveats in what streams will be included and how they will be valued in rankings. Continue Reading
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the force behind the annual Grammy Awards, announced plans to create a lobbying group dubbed the Grammy Fund for Music Creators. “We won’t be the largest PAC in Washington, but we will be the loudest,” the academy’s Daryl P. Friedman said. Continue Reading
A new illegal clone of the illegal streaming site Grooveshark sprang to life in recent months. It has been appearing as the top hit in Google searches for “grooveshark,” and that has helped it to gain interest, particularly in Brazil and the U.S. Continue Reading
Never a dull moment in the streaming audio business! Here, a glance back at milestones. Continue Reading
Is streaming revenue-neutral to the music industry? Some think so, but guest columnist Pat Higbie, CEO of XAPPmedia, argues that streaming is music’s savior, and closes a revenue gap that started long before streaming became popular. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Dash Radio still growing and thriving; new logo emerges for hi-res music; major retailers lead the vinyl resurgence. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worth reads from around the web. Today: Where is the British breakout podcast? Also India roundup 2.0 and opposing sides get technical in a panel discussion on music licensing. Continue Reading
There’s a new streaming service on the horizon and it’s already attracted lots of buzz and lots of scrutiny. Aurous is a free and ad-free music platform that pulls its tunes from licensed third-party sources such as SoundCloud, YouTube, and Spotify. Within days of its official alpha launch, the service was hit with a lawsuit by the RIAA alleging massive copyright infringement. Continue Reading
Financial intelligence company SNL Kagan has given RAIN News an advance copy of Economics of Mobile Music, 2015 edition. The detailed report projects subscriber growth rates and revenue for the top nine music subscription services. Continue Reading
NPR confirmed that it has withdrawn from the MIC Coalition. A representative from the public radio team confirmed the departure, but did not provide a reason. MIC, which stands for “music.innovation.consumers,” was formed earlier in 2015 with the stated goal of creating “a predictable, balanced and transparent music marketplace.” Continue Reading