Florida State prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against rapper YNW Melly for double homicide. The rapper’s lawyer, Jason Roger Williams, says the prosecution has indicated it would seek the death penalty since the beginning of the case. The pr…
Author archives: Ashley King
Philadelphia Flyers Officially Remove Kate Smith Statue After Racist Songs Surface
The Philadelphia Flyers have removed a statue of Kate Smith and will no longer play the singer’s rendition of ‘God Bless America’ at games. The move comes after racially insensitive songs performed by the singer more than 90 years ago resurfaced. The P…
‘Piracy Is the Most Successful Form of Distribution,’ Top Documentary Producer Says
Movie industry veteran Werner Herzog says piracy “has been the most successful form of distribution worldwide.” Over the weekend, legendary film director Werner Herzog was honored with a lifetime achievement award. But at the Visions du Réel Film Fest…
Slowly But Surely, Sonos Integrates Apple Music Support
Certain varieties of Sonos smart speaker can now stream Apple Music with the help of Amazon’s Alexa. Amazon’s Echo speakers officially got Apple Music support in December of last year. With that, many people wondered when third-party devices would be a…
Spotify Zombie App Alert: Android Installs Cross a Record 500 Million
Spotify has surpassed 500 million downloads on Android, despite having only 207 million monthly active users. How many ‘zombie apps’ does Spotify have? According to the latest Google Play Store counts, Android devices alone have 500 million total Spot…
The Latest Music Industry Gigs: Warner/Chappell, Sony/ATV, Monotone, Paradigm, More
Here’s a wrap on the latest music industry hirings, firings, and promotions. If you have a job listing to share, we’re all ears. Send us a note to news@digitalmusicnews.com. If you’d like to post a job on our Job Board, just send us a request at noah@d…
YouTube Music Is Now Free on Google Home Speakers
YouTube Music is available for free on all Google Home speakers — right out of the box, starting today. Google made the announcement on the official YouTube blog, offering a free ad-supported experience for its smart speakers. Users can ask for a speci…
Fresh Off Its $230 MM CD Baby Acquisition, Downtown Ties With Cowboys & Pirates
Downtown Music Publishing has entered into a joint venture with Cowboys & Pirates, an independent publisher. DMP says the collaboration will focus on developing new songwriters and producers within the hip-hop community. As part of the joint ventur…
Universal Music Group and Wondery to Jointly Develop and Produce Podcasts
Universal Music Group and Wondery have established a new agreement to develop premium original podcast content. Podcasts produced under the new agreement will be available globally on any platform where Wondery content is available. Universal says the …
Beyoncé ‘Homecoming’ Documentary Comes With a Streaming Music Surprise
Beyoncé released her new Homecoming documentary on Netflix in the early hours of this morning, alongside a surprise. Beyoncé fans have come to expect that extra touch after the singer’s first secret album dropped in 2013. She’s had a knack for keeping …