Quick Hits: Spotify’s royalties; Steve Albini on copyright; Deezer on Apple
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Billboard on Spotify payouts; Steve Albini talks copyright; Deezer not worried about Apple rivalry. Continue Reading
Spotify
Spotify adding 60,000 new users a week in Australia
Spotify said that it adds nearly 60,000 new users per week in Australia and about 20,000 new users a week in New Zealand. It also said that a quarter of Australian’s population has at least tried out the platform. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, 30% of Spotify’s Aussie users pay for the premium subscription. The streaming service has been active in the Australian market for three years. Continue Reading
Spotify to launch on Android Wear this summer
Spotify announced that it will launch a version for Android Wear. The smartwatch version will allow listeners to navigate through their playlists, select the tunes they want, and browse for other songs. The Android Wear app will roll out gradually over the month of June. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Mark Mulligan on Spotify’s updates; CNET on YouTube; Pandora on music therapy for cancer
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the Internet: Spotify’s new competitive strategy; YouTube and the music industry; finding therapeutic potential in Pandora’s Music Genome. Continue Reading
Editor’s Notebook: Spotify and YouTube cross into overlapping territory
When Spotify announced last week that it was adding video to its content catalog, it signaled a directional shift and a competitive thrust into YouTube’s territory. YouTube, meanwhile, is inching its Music Key subscription platform onto Spotify’s front lawn. Other brands like Deezer and SoundCloud are also blurring their lines of identity. It’s all about un-platforming … while trying to succeed as a platform. Continue Reading
Internet Radio Rewind #044: Podcasting gets funded; the new Spotify; MixRadio breaks loose
A weekly podcast from RAIN News
Sponsored by AudioBoom
The weekly update of the streaming audio industry, from RAIN News. THIS WEEK: Two podcast funding deals; the new Spotify; Pandora acquires more metrics; MixRadio breaks loose Continue Reading
Leaked Sony contract basis of Music Managers open letter
Yesterday, we briefly reported on the contract between Sony and Spotify that was leaked online earlier in the week. We learned today that the International Music Managers Forum used the contract lead as a catalyst for an open letter to the European Commission in an effort to demand more transparency in digital deals. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Sony’s contract with Spotify; more critiques of safe harbor laws
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Sony/Spotify contract leaked (then removed); another songwriting exec critiques safe harbor laws. Continue Reading
The new Spotify: Podcasts, video, smart running music, and a new start screen
At today’s Spotify Event, held in the company’s New York office, CEO Daniel Ek and other senior leaders announced and demonstrated new features that will roll out in updated apps starting today. There are three main parts of Spotify’s announcement. “Life with Spotify will never be the same,” CEO Daiel Ek said. Continue Reading
Spotify-Starbucks partnership brings rewards to fans of both companies
Starbucks, which has a long history as a music purveyor within its larger mission of caffeinating the world, today announced a partnership with on-demand music service Spotify. The alliance is trumpeted as a “First-of-its-kind music ecosystem.” Continue Reading
Editor’s Notebook: The Foolhardy Fight against Freemium
by Brad Hill
The role and value of free listening to on-demand services (freemium) has been under scrutiny for months. Industry finances might support the logic of arguments that freemium should be limited. But is that strategy near-sighted? Continue Reading
Rumor Fact(ory): Spotify to curtail freemium to three months?
Digital Music News is reporting that Spotify may place some restrictions on its freemium listening tier. Unnamed sources have told that site that the free, ad-supported access could be limited to just three months under a new proposal. This is the type of change that labels and publishers have been pressuring the streaming service to make, and the leaders at Universal and Sony seem to be the driving force behind the rumored proposal. Continue Reading