Spotify has launched a new personalized playlist feature, Release Radar, which appears in every user’s Browse section. Release Radar is Spotify’s first expansion of the technology which powers Discover Weekly, an unquestionable hit with users and a triumph of algorithmic music curation. RAIN’s Anna Washenko and Brad Hill take Release Radar for a spin, and share their impressions. Continue Reading
We’d heard rumors that Apple was considering a purchase of Tidal, and at least one person is adamant about making that idea a reality. On Saturday, Kanye West posted a series of tweets pushing for an end to “beef” between the two music services. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Amazon Q2 results stay strong; Apple’s Services revenue on the rise; Apple vs Spotify. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Deezer targeting profitability in two years; podcasts as networking resource; Spotify’s Kevin Brown says the charts are not boring Continue Reading
Spotify has lured yet another team member away from the BBC. This time, it’s Austin Daboh, who is departing BBC Radio 1Xtra to take on the role of Senior Editor, Content Programming UK. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Crunching the numbers on a Spotify IPO, and Musixmatch adds lyrics translations. Continue Reading
Spotify, which has assertively strengthened and promoted the advertising opportunity of its free-listening service over the past year, today announced the expansion and official launch of programmatic buying across the company’s 59 markets, serving 70-million listeners. Continue Reading
Apple has proposed a new royalty structure for streaming music, one that would be simpler but could create a financial pinch for freemium services. In a proposal to the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board, Apple recommended a system where all on-demand streaming services would pay songwriters a statutory rate of 9.1 cents per 100 plays. Continue Reading
Spotify For Brands, the company’s outreach division which promotes the free-listening service to advertisers, has released a new trove of data focused on brand awareness and listener profiling in the U.K. It is part of an ongoing The New Audio series, with survey work commissioned from TNS. Continue Reading
Spotify is a hit with Mexican listeners, according to data from The Competitive Intelligence Unit. More than 60% of Mexicans who use streaming platforms listen to Spotify. The next closest service is Google Play at just 12.3%. Continue Reading
The National Music Publishers’ Association said that a large number of its members have signed on to participate in the $30 million settlement with Spotify over publishing royalties. “The vast majority of our members have opted into our settlement,” President and CEO David Israelite said of the arrangement. Continue Reading
Mobile game Pokemon Go has taken the world by storm. Spotify announced today that the game has triggered a spike in listening too, with more than triple the streams of Pokemon songs logged in the past week. Continue Reading