Quick Hits: Pitchfork’s year in streaming; Spotify’s content plans
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: The year in streaming by Pitchfork; interview with Spotify’s head of content partnerships. Continue Reading
Spotify
Spotify reportedly testing on-demand elements in freemium
Spotify is reportedly testing a new feature that would, according to The Verge, introduce select on-demand features to its free tier. The feature is called Jump and it would let freemium listeners choose the songs they want to hear on select playlists. Currently, free-tier playlists work only in shuffle mode. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Music for older ears; Deezer angling for original talk shows
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: New site makes Spotify accessible for listeners over 50; Deezer planning to launch original talk shows. Continue Reading
Rumor Fact(ory): Spotify drops negotiations to buy SoundCloud
Spotify has been rumored as a buyer for SoundCloud for month, but it seems that the takeover is a no-go. At least for now. TechCrunch reports that it spoke to a source at Spotify who said the potential acquisition went cold last week. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Radio still lives, Starboy stats, and women in music
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: The radio star lives on; The Weeknd smashes Spotify record; Billboard’s Women in Music 2016. Continue Reading
Spotify launches two original music shows
Original programming is the latest trend when it comes to streaming video, but streaming audio is also getting in on the act. Spotify is launching two new programs focused on sharing original musical recordings. Continue Reading
Spotify highlights unusual listener data in new marketing campaign
Spotify is putting listener data to use in a more explicit way than usual in its new global marketing campaign. This push is the largest yet for the streaming company, covering 14 territories, and was developed in house. The ads present data points that showcase listener habits in reaction to key cultural moments from the year. Continue Reading
Spotify integrated into Starz mobile app
The mobile app for boutique television network Starz has integrated Spotify into the platform. This deal allows Starz app subscribers to access Spotify music from its TV shows and movies. Continue Reading
Rubicon and Adform team up for new programmatic ad option on Spotify
Rubicon Project has entered into a partnership with ad-tech company Adform for programmatic audio advertisements. As a result, Adform’s clients will be able to buy 15- or 30-second ads on Spotify programmatically through Rubicon’s platform. Continue Reading
Changes of heart: Metallica is on Napster, Radiohead is on Spotify
Metallica is out with a new album and the band has gone an unusual route with distribution. Hardwired… To Self Destruct has been released on most of the usual digital outlets, but it is also on YouTube in its entirety. Metallica’s adoption of streaming distribution contradicts the band’s earlier resistence, and contains some irony. Then there is Radiohead, once a hold-out, which is now streaming on Spotify. Continue Reading
Spotify loses a top Echo Nest data scientist
Brian Whitman has departed Spotify. He joined the streaming company as a co-founder and CTO of The Echo Nest, which Spotify acquired in 2014. Continue Reading
Spotify amps up live music suggestions with Ticketmaster deal
Spotify is embarking on a new addition to its live music tie-ins. The streaming music service will begin emailing users with concert recommendations based on their listening preferences. Continue Reading