After two years of negotiations, Spotify has broken through with a major label deal. The two companies had been operating on a month-to-month basis while working out a longer-term arrangement. They have been in on-again-off-again negotiations, but now they reportedly just need the sign-off from both CEOs to become official. Continue Reading
Universal Music Group posted its financial results for 2016. The company reported total revenue of nearly €5.27 billion ($5.83 billion) and total recorded music revenue of €4.19 billion ($4.63 billion). Streaming revenue outpaced physical music sales for the first time at UMG. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Andy Bowers talks podcasting’s future. Alex Da Kid discusses independent music companies. Continue Reading
Prince’s catalog from Warner Bros is confirmed for release to streaming services on Sunday. NPR received word of the date from Napster, and the songs are expected to be available on most other streaming platforms as well. iHeartRadio has some purple plans for celebration. Universal has secured rights to manage the rest of Prince’s catalog. Continue Reading
Music Ally’s NY:LON Connect conference yesterday gathered experts and leaders from the music business to discuss some of the industry’s top topics. One session debated the prices for streaming music access and asked whether a lower monthly rate would help bring in more paying listeners. Another session focused on labels and how they can address the large share of media consumption given to video. This included a presentation by Charles Caldas, CEO of indie label network Merlin. Continue Reading
Universal Music Group leads the labels in volume of audio streams distributed in the U.S. during 2016, according to Music Business Worldwide. The major was responsible for 84.03 billion audio streams, about a third of the total market. Continue Reading
Universal Music Group has made more than $1 billion in streaming revenue so far this year. The label released its financial results for the first nine months of 2016, and revenue from streaming and subscription services hit €1.03 billion ($1.1 billion). Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Interview with Universal’s top lawyer; show cancellation at Gimlet sparks questions. Continue Reading
Pricing options are turning into one of the more interesting trends in streaming music, and now labels are also getting in on the act. Universal and Sony have collaborated on a limited access music app called NOW Music+. Continue Reading
Universal Music Group’s first-half results showed continued growth and dominance for streaming as a revenue source. Total recorded music revenue in the half was €1.83 billion ($2.07 billion) and streaming was responsible for 36% of it. Continue Reading
Universal Music UK has introduced a new brand focused on playlists and compilations. Universal Music On Demand is a response to the importance of playlists in the streaming music economy and could look to protect the role of professional curators. Continue Reading
In an important agreement that replaces music piracy with music industry revenue, Universal has inked a deal that will legally add its music to the Russian streaming music platform vKontakte. The agreement means that all of the major labels are working with the platform. Continue Reading