Rdio has added a new subscription tier focused on mobile listening to its available offerings. Rdio Select offers elements of both lean-back and on-demand listening on mobile devices for $3.99 a month. It is an innovative, carefully considered competitive gambit. Continue Reading
The IFPI released its annual Digital Music Report, complete with an assessment of industry trends and case studies. According to the group’s data, 2014 was the first year that digital channels and physical channels accounted for the same proportion of revenue, 46% each. The digital revenue totaled $6.85 billion for the year out of the industry’s total revenue of $14.97 billion. About 41 million people now pay for music subscriptions, which accounted for 23% of global digital music revenue. Continue Reading
Bandcamp has rolled out an artist subscription for all musicians on its platform. CEO Ethan Diamond spoke with The Guardian about the new feature prior to the official announcement at the SF MusicTech Summit. “The whole motivation here is that when you get to a point that you love an artist – when you go from liking them to being a real true fan of theirs – at some point you just want everything they make,” he said. Continue Reading
Mark Mulligan of MIDiA Research wrote a blog post with his insights about the current price issues for streaming music. He highlighted the apparent either/or choice facing listeners – pick a totally free platform or pay $9.99 a month for a subscription – as a problem for the music industry to solve. Continue Reading
Spotify has announced the addition of a new subscription designed for family sharing. Under the Spotify Family plan, up to four family members can be added to a single billing account while keeping their listening histories and playlists separate. All people in the family will have access to the full set of Premium features. Continue Reading
Bandcamp introduced a new approach to music ownership this week with the trial of an artist-based subscription. An independent band called Candy Says is using the direct-to-fan platform’s beta feature to offer an annual subscription to its music. For £20 (about $32) a year, listeners can have seven of the group’s back catalog and Bandcamp-only albums in addition to all new releases. The songs will be made available as downloads and as streams. Continue Reading
Brief items and worthy reads from around the web: ‘Think like a fan’; take a sneak peek at SoundCloud’s office; indie streaming outlook. Continue Reading
Brief news and worthy reads from around the web: play counts Spotify’s top 50; Bop.fm adds follow feature; billions of bucks expected in subscriptions. Continue Reading
Debates over the digital music industry have been raging fast and furious of late. This week, INgrooves Music Group CEO and Founder Robb McDaniels wrote a guest post for Hypebot with his opinions on the current state of affairs. He highlighted how much (or how little) artists can monetize on YouTube. Continue Reading
Deezer announced changes to its subscription options on Friday. The Paris-based streaming service said it will discontinue the desktop-only Premium plan for new users. Existing members with that plan will be able to continue using the Premium plan if they wish. Continue Reading
Amazon is reportedly negotiating with music labels about an Amazon-branded music service. According to Recode’s sources, the talks are not flying along because Amazon is asking for more favorable licensing terms than those negotiated by music-only services. Continue Reading