Global music subscriber base continues to grow, led by Spotify

MIDiA Research has released its data on the global market shares held by streaming services at the midway point of 2018. Overall, music subscribers totaled 229.5 million in H1 2018, an increase of 16% from the end of 2017 and up 38% over the year-ago period. Revenue generated by those subscribers in the first half of 2018 reached $3.498 billion. Continue Reading

Pandora/Rdio media round-up: Best reading on both companies and the streaming economy

Monday’s news that Rdio had declared bankruptcy, with Pandora purchasing the company’s remaining assets and making big future plans, turned the tech, business, and music media on its head. The major consolidation in the streaming music space sparked lots of features and think pieces. Here, we’ve collected some of the more useful and insightful writing on the subject. Continue Reading

Taylor Swift’s “1989” album won’t be on Apple Music at launch

Taylor Swift made waves in the music industry when she opted to remove her entire catalog from Spotify. She explained at the time that she didn’t want to support “the perception that music has no value and should be free.” So it’s a bit of a surprise to learn that her latest album won’t be available on Apple Music. Both Apple and Swift’s label told BuzzFeed News that her popular “1989” album won’t be available at the launch of the new streaming service. Continue Reading