Quick Hits: High-def streaming preferences; Spotify’s Diversify hackathon
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: What high-def streamers are listening to; Spotify hosts diversity-centric hackathon. Continue Reading
Spotify
Spotify partners with Pixels for local Hong Kong advertising
In the latest of a string of announcements related to Spotify’s brand marketing opportunities, the global music service has partnered with Hong Kong-based Pixels, a multi-faceted advertising solutions company. The company intends this alliance to further Spotify’s penetration in the local Hong Kong digital ad market. Continue Reading
Mark Mulligan: What Spotify’s December Growth Tells Us About Pricing
by Mark Mulligan
Guest contributor Mark Mulligan examines Spotify’s recent subscriber reports (15-million paying users), and recommends pricing elasticity for subscription services. Continue Reading
Spotify releases Brand Impact study of streamer behavior
Spotify posted strong subscriber numbers to kick off 2015, and at the same time is building its ad-supported business in its free-listening service. The company sponsored a brand impact study by comScore to investigate the streaming consumer experience. The results portray the streaming audience as one that’s accessible and open to marketing and brand initiatives. Continue Reading
Spotify hits 60 million listeners, with a quarter paying Premium
Spotify announced that it kicked off 2015 with 60 million active users, including 15 million paying subscribers. The company also shared a short celebratory playlist on its blog in honor of the milestone. Continue Reading
Spotify reportedly won’t be joining new Google Cast service
In sharing the news of Google Cast from CES, we noted that the tech giant could face an uphill battle getting both streaming audio services and hardware companies to sign on to its vision for at-home listening. Less than a week after the announcement, Google Cast already has a major player that’s not interested: Spotify. Continue Reading
Philips Spotify speakers offer multi-room streaming
Philips announced the launch of multi-room speakers designed specifically to stream music from Spotify. The Philips Spotify speakers use Spotify Connect to control the music from within the Spotify app on a mobile device. Just press the Spotify button on any of the speakers and the stream should immediately transfer over. Continue Reading
This Is My Jam cofounder leaves for Spotify product team
Matthew Ogle, a co-founder for This Is My Jam, has joined Spotify to take on a product role. According to Ogle’s blog post announcing the change, he’ll be overseeing discovery and personalization features on the streaming music platform. Continue Reading
Taylor Swift added 819,000+ new YouTube subscribers in November
When Taylor Swift and her label chose to remove the pop singer’s latest album and back catalog from Spotify, they unintentionally sparked the emergence of some fascinating data about online music listening habits. First came Nielsen’s discovery that Swift’s YouTube streaming counts ballooned from the moment her audio streams dropped. Second, we now have data showing that she added the most subscribers on the video network during November. Continue Reading
How streaming created a hit before radio and without a record: Spotify study
Will Page, Director of Economics at Spotify, published a revealing analysis of how Meghan Trainor’s hit song “All About That Bass” became a charted hit, pushed more by streaming than by radio — and even before the track was available to purchase in the U.K. The cross-continental story raises questions about music distribution strategies in an era when online engagement can create hit without traditional levers. Continue Reading
Spotify enters deal with French telecom
France’s Bouygues Telecom has partnered with Spotify to include its streaming music in higher-end mobile plans, according to Telecompaper. The network has 10 million subscribers. Neither party has commented on the deal thus far. Continue Reading
Quick Hits: Mixcloud turns five; another Ek interview; China’s music and mobile mix
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Mixcloud’s anniversary data; Daniel Ek on misunderstood streaming; how China’s telecoms rule music. Continue Reading