The National Music Publishers Association has signed an agreement with Spotify centered on songwriting royalties. The arrangement allows publishers to claim and receive royalties for certain compositions on the streaming platform where ownership details were not previously known. It also establishes a compensation fund and a path for finding rights holders who should receive royalties. Continue Reading
Here’s another collection of interesting items coming out of SXSW for the music, audio, and digital realms. Today’s stories center on programmatic advertising and unusual happenings at the Spotify House. Continue Reading
Spotify has hired Horacio Gutierrez as its new general counsel. He most recently held the same title at Microsoft, departing after 17 years with that company. He is scheduled to start with the streaming service in April. Continue Reading
Meerkat, the app which spearheaded into live video, is giving up its product model and shifting onto a new (as yet undisclosed) course, ceding competitive ground to Periscope and Facebook Live. In so doing, Meerkat illustrates the perils of sustaining an… Continue Reading
Spotify has added a former top VH1 exec to its top leadership. Tom Calderone, whose past posts included president of VH1, is now the streaming platform’s global head of content partnerships. Continue Reading
Facebook has added a Spotify tie-in to its Messenger app. It’s the first music platform to work with the social network’s messaging program. The updated version began rolling out to both iOS and Android this week. Continue Reading
Spotify has embarked on many efforts to provide music discovery to its audience, and the latest move in that direction is a playlist collection called Fresh Finds. The programming choices for these playlists will stem from both sides of the playlist creation coin: human curation and data-driven algorithms. Continue Reading
Investment firm TPG Capital is reportedly considering an investment in Spotify. Sky News said that TPG is in talks to provide financing of as much as $500 million in loan notes, which could lead to Spotify increasing the size of its offering to up to $1 billion. These alleged fundraising plans come as Pandora continues to voice its intention to build a competing on-demand music service. Continue Reading
In the wake of David Lowery’s lawsuit against Spotify, other streaming services are now allegedly moving to protect themselves against similar actions. Both Deezer and Rhapsody have reportedly made moves related to Lowery’s catalogs with the bands Camper van Beethoven and Cracker. Continue Reading
Spotify announced that it is switching the operation of its streaming music service to Google’s cloud computing platform. Its old system relied on a network of data centers, as well as some assistance from Amazon Web Services. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Spotify not that into exclusives; Pandora as disruptor; MMF seeks streaming equity stance from Universal; a look at musical crowdfunding success. Continue Reading
Spotify announced that it will revive the Spotify House at SXSW in Austin with the support of several business partners. Expect to see tie-ins with Chromecast, PlayStation, SoulCycle, and more at this year’s Spotify House. Continue Reading