SGAE Fined $3.3 Million Over ‘Abusive’ Anti-Competitive Behavior

Things haven’t exactly gone well for SGAE as of late. Following years of corruption, embezzlement, poor management, and a flat-out refusal to change its business model, the Spanish collecting society received the boot last week from CISAC. For one year…

Booting Non-‘Top Performing’ Artists, Digital Distribution Platform Stem Unveils ‘Stem Direct’

Stem has confirmed a major change to its existing business model, infuriating indie musicians in the process. The Los Angeles-based startup, which purportedly ‘focuses’ on an artist-centered approach that allows musicians to directly upload their music…

Fleeing to Indonesia, Russell Simmons Denies Ever Raping a Woman Following a Rap Concert

Having fled the U.S. over allegations of sexual misconduct, Russell Simmons quickly sold multiple assets last summer – including his home in West Hollywood. Not exactly a picture of innocence, is it? He currently lives in Indonesia. For over a year, th…

Spotify May Soon Launch Another New Feature — Social Listening

Taking its popular Connect to the next level, Spotify has reportedly prepared to unveil a brand-new social feature. Well-known data miner Jane Manchun Wong, who previously uncovered multiple now-revealed Facebook and Instagram features, made a new disc…

Prosecutors Charge R. Kelly With 11 New Sex Crime Felonies

Prosecutors in Cook County, Illinois, have charged R. Kelly with even more serious sex crimes. The embattled R&B singer was hit with 11 new felony sex assault charges yesterday.  These include four counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, thre…

Musicwatch Says Music Piracy and Stream-Ripping Are on the Rise, Contradicting Muso’s Findings

According to a new study, music piracy rose 13% in the United States last year. That’s according to MusicWatch, a marketing research company. In a blog post slamming stream-ripping as a “scourge,” MusicWatch tracked 17 million users downloading their m…

With Just a Single ‘Smart Plug-In Device,’ British Music Tech Startup Audoo Hopes to ‘Create a Fairer Industry for All’

As with almost every music startup, British music tech company Audoo says the music industry has a serious problem. Thanks in part to the rise of music streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music, artists are having a difficult time tracking…

After Battling PewDiePie’s Racist Rants, T-Series Becomes the First YouTube Channel to Surpass 100 Million Subscribers

After a bitter war with Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellberg and his racist rants, T-Series has just made history. Earlier this morning, Guinness World Records recognized the major Indian record label as the first to surpass 100 million subscribers on YouTube. …

Following Refusal to Implement Much-Needed Changes, CISAC Suspends Corrupt Spanish Collecting Society SGAE’s Membership

Top music industry executives and music organizations don’t think too fondly of fraudulent Spanish collecting society, SGAE. That’s putting it lightly. First, between 2003 and 2007, top SGAE executives illegally misappropriated millions of euros.  Auth…

Apple’s New Music and TV Apps Leaked in New Screenshots

Several weeks ago, ahead of macOS version 10.15’s official debut, data miners revealed a rather interesting surprise. Instead of actually breaking up iTunes into standalone Music, Podcast, and Video apps – as previously reported – the famous software w…