Quick Hits: Sonos updates and a Spotify hack?
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Sonos gets Prime Music in EU; Spotify denies hack, despite weirdness. Continue Reading
Spotify
Game of Thrones meets Spotify with new widget
Winter is coming to Spotify. With the upcoming premiere of the sixth season for Game of Thrones, the streaming service has created a tool to match your listening habits to one of the show’s many characters. Continue Reading
Billboard teams with Spotify for chart playback
Billboard has named Spotify as its official streaming partner for 2016. With this new deal, Spotify will power playback on more than 75 charts from the music organization. It will also supply tunes for a New Music Fridays editorial and for three new Spotify-centric charts. Continue Reading
David Lowery’s lawyers want details on Spotify/NMPA royalty settlement
The lawsuit filed by David Lowery against Spotify has gotten a new wrinkle today. Lowery’s legal team has filed a request to see all the correspondence sent by the streaming service to potential participants in the class action suit related to Spotify’s recent settlement with the National Music Publishers Association. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Midem, vinyl sales, Spotify millennials, and a Kanye lawsuit
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Pandora CEO at Midem; some context on the vinyl resurgence; Spotify’s millennial listeners; Kanye and Tidal sued over “exclusivity.” Continue Reading
Spotify helps prep listeners for any post-election moves to Canada
Spotify often has a healthy sense of humor in how it engages with listeners. The latest example is for anybody concerned about the outcome of the U.S. election in November. Welcome to Canadify. Continue Reading
PlayStation/Spotify collaboration app hits 5M streams
Sony’s PlayStation consoles rolled out a new music feature, powered by Spotify, last March. The partnership kicked off strong, with an impressive 785 million tracks streamed on the PlayStation 4, the company’s latest gaming hardware, in less than three months. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Missing kidcasts; Kanye might be a genius; data is good for musicians
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Is Kanye West a tactical genius? Should there be more podcasts for kids? Can musicians benefit from streaming data? Continue Reading
Mark Mulligan: Spotify’s Billion Dollar Challenge
by Mark Mulligan
Spotify just changed the rules of the game, raising an unprecedented $1 billion in convertible debt. Guest columnist Mark Mulligan analyzes — what is Spotify’s strategy, and where will growth come from. One key: “The 9.99 subscription model is incredibly difficult (perhaps impossible) to run profitably at scale.” Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Closer looks at iHeartMedia, SoundCloud, audio advertising, and suing Spotify
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Will iHeartMedia Survive? To SoundCloud, Love Dave. Audio advertising changing the tune for advertisers. David Lowery talks streaming, royalties, and solutions. Continue Reading
Spotify raises $1-billion in debt offering keyed to IPO
Spotify has increased its war chest of cash, taking one-billion dollars in a debt offering to institutional investors that points explicitly to a future Initial Public Offering (IPO). The deal rewards investors with discounted pricing in the event of a Spotify IPO, and Spotify is punished if the public offering is delayed. Continue Reading
Spotify focuses on musical stories with its new ad campaign
Spotify has released a new advertising campaign with a series of three quirky video clips. The spots are meant to capture the idea of a story behind each of the songs we listen to, according to agency Wieden+Kennedy New York. Continue Reading