Spotify has reportedly reached a licensing agreement with Sony Music Entertainment. Unnamed sources told Billboard that the streaming service has inked its second major label deal this year, after announcing an agreement with Universal Music Group in April. Representatives for both Spotify and Sony have declined to comment thus far on the rumored development. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Spotify is with the “banned”. Exclusivity window (sort of) ends for 4:44, but the album won’t be on Billboard charts yet. Continue Reading
Digital audio companies leanStream and Media Sales Lab announced that they have merged into a single entity. The company will combine the audio ad network of Media Sales Lab with leanStream’s global audio streaming network of more than 400 radio stations. The merger is effective as of June 1 and the new business will retain the name leanStream, which will be responsible for producing the inaugural Digital Audio Advertising North Summit in Canada. Continue Reading
Podtrac’s podcast publisher rankings don’t usually show much variance from month to month, but June 2017 marked the arrival of two new companies. ESPN debuted at No. 5 on the list with an audience of 3.5 million uniques in the U.S. Wondery also marked its debit, with an audience of 2.6 million U.S. uniques propelling it No. 7 on the chart. Continue Reading
James Cridland’s Future of Radio is a column by the Australia-based radio futurologist. THIS WEEK: Several cases of the dreaded lazy Buggles headlines, countered by many reassurances that radio is not, in fact, dead. Continue Reading
Spotify appears to be testing out a new driving mode, designed for listeners who are behind the wheel. A few of the people with access to the feature posted about their experience on Reddit. Several streaming platforms and music specialists have explored the idea of special modes for car usage. Continue Reading
India-focused streaming service Saavn is projecting that it could turn a profit by the end of 2018. Co-founder and CEO Rishi Malhotra said that the company is slated to reach revenue between $18 million and $20 million this year. With just 22 million monthly active users, the platform has pursued a combination of niche content and geographic tiers that appears to be delivering success. Continue Reading
The BBC has released its annual plan for 2017-2018. The broadcaster’s budget includes a large investment in children’s programming. It is putting £34 million ($44 million) into BBC Children over the next three years. That money will fund several projects for young audience members, including an enhanced online program with new forms of content and interactivity. Continue Reading
Stream-ripping is the top form of piracy in the UK, with a new report echoing other research into the prevalence of this activity. PRS for Music and the UK’s Intellectual Property Office published a report that pointed to stream-ripping as the top form of piracy. Continue Reading
At WWDC last month, Apple did announce plans to add a new social layer to its streaming music platform. The company’s previous efforts to add connection features in the app have been shaky at best. But Apple Insider has posted some screenshots from the beta of iOS 11 showing the social tools in action, and so far it seems like a more manageable and less obtrusive implementation. Continue Reading
Barely a week has gone by this year without some development from SoundCloud. Today, the news strikes a somber tone. Founder Alex Ljung posted to the SoundCloud blog announcing that the company has cut 173 jobs. Continue Reading
Nielsen has published its mid-year report analyzing music consumption for the first six months of 2017. The report traced many of the same trends as other major industry organizations, including a continued rise in the performance for streaming while sales numbers keep declining. Continue Reading