Both are stand-alone, dominant streaming platforms in their respective arenas, with more than 100 million subscribers each. But Spotify and Netflix are ultimately similar fish swimming in very different ponds. What? You’re not subscribed to the Digit…
Author archives: Paul Resnikoff
Downtown’s $200 Million Buyout of CD Baby Only Included Digital — Now There’s a Physical Spin-off
Last week, Downtown Music dropped $200 million to purchase AVL Digital Group and its crown jewel, CD Baby. The deal also included other AVL-owned digital properties, including AdRev, DashGo and Soundrop. What the deal didn’t include were a slew of phy…
Breaking: Google/Alphabet Acquiring Spotify In $43.4 Billion Cash, Equity Deal
Google/Alphabet is announcing its acquisition of Spotify in a deal valued at $43.4 billion in cash and equity. The acquisition, first reported by the Wall Street Journal with additional details supplied by Bloomberg, gives Google/Alphabet a much strong…
Spotify Offers Struggling Songwriters Free 3-Month Subscriptions — ‘We Hear You’
After a contentious and ugly battle over royalty rates, Spotify has developed an unexpected plan to compensate songwriters. The streaming giant, now acquired by Google/Alphabet for $43.4 billion, is planning to mend its relationships with songwriters w…
Two Names Added to Spotify’s ‘Recommended Delivery Platforms’ List — EMS and IDOL
Spotify’s rarified circle of preferred distributors is now a teensy-bit bigger. Without a doubt, CD Baby’s ‘Preferred Artist Distributor’ status on Spotify made it easier for Downtown Music Holdings to green-light its $200 million acquisition deal. CD…
The Packaging for the Soundtrack to Netflix’s ‘Our Planet’ Will Use Recycled Algae
UMG’s Decca Records is hoping to make an eco-friendly statement with its Our Planet CD and vinyl releases. But is this just highlighting the problem? If you’re releasing the soundtrack to a documentary about environmental destruction, it’s best not to …
Downtown Music Acquires CD Baby Owner AVL Digital Group (Price Tag: $200 Million)
One of the music industry’s hottest distributors has been gobbled up. CD Baby parent AVL Holdings have just been acquired for roughly $200 million. The buyer, Downtown Music Holdings, gobbled the distributor and various associated AVL properties, inclu…
Major Publishers Request $26-48 Million Just to Start the MLC — With Annual Operating Costs Approaching $40 Million
Last week, two competing groups filed paperwork to run the Mechanical Licensing Collective, or MLC. Now, we’re learning more about what those proposals contain. How much does it cost to start and run a streaming mechanical licensing agency? According …
Let the Games Begin: Dueling MLC Submissions Filed With the U.S. Copyright Office
Competing submissions for the Music Modernization Act’s MLC were officially filed with the U.S. Copyright Office on Thursday night. Talk to National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) president David Israelite, and he’ll tell you this shouldn’t be a …
Bollywood Label T-Series Tops PewDiePie’s YouTube Subscriber Count — If Only for a Moment
Team Bollywood briefly beat out PewDiePie for YouTube supremacy today — only to hand back the lead moments later. In case there’s any doubt about the importance that music wields on YouTube… Earlier today, Indian label T-Series briefly re-claimed its t…