From Azoff To Slipknot, Music Biz Condemns Spotify, Google Attack On Songwriter Rates Increase

Late last week Spotify, Pandora, Google and Amazon announced they were teaming appeal the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board ruling increasing streaming payouts to songwriters by 44%. The four will file a action with the D.C. Court of Appeals. Now, artists and the industry are reacting, condemning the tech giants and…

REWIND: The New Music Industry’s Week In Review

As we sift back through a busy week in the music business, we revisit Spotify’s scheme to pre-load phones with itself, Apple Music’s stand as the only major streaming not vying to cut songwriter royalties, Amazon and Ticketmaster’s new partnership, and more! Spotify To Come Pre-Loaded In Millions Of Samsung…

Amazon Unveils Ticketmaster Functionality in Alexa-Enabled Devices — Including Seat Selection

“Alexa, where are my Ticketmaster tickets?” Yesterday, Amazon unveiled a new feature – Song ID. Prime Music and Music Unlimited subscribers in the US can now easily identify a song’s title and artist. Users can simply activate and deactivate the featur…

Publishers, Songwriters Respond To ‘Tech Bullies’ Spotify, Pandora, Google, Amazon Appeal Of Royalty Increase

National Music Publisher President & CEO David Israelite and Nashville Songwriters Association International Executive Director Bart Herbison have issued responses to Spotify, Google, Pandora and Amazon’s decision to fight the royalty increase granted to songwriters by the US Copyright Royalty Board. The NMPA, who has sad they will file their…

Spotify, Pandora, Google and Amazon Join To Fight Higher Royalties For Songwriters

Spotify, Pandora, Google and Amazon are teaming to appeal the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board ruling that would increase streaming payouts to songwriters by 44%. The four plan to file an action with the D.C. Court of Appeals. Spotify, Google, Pandora issued a joint statement: "The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), in…

Ticketmaster, Amazon Partner: ‘Hey Alexa, Who Bought All The Good Seats?’

Live Nation’s Ticketmaster has announced that it was partnering with e-commerce titan Amazon to sell tickets via Alexa, Amazon’s cloud-based voice service. The partnership will allow fans to discover events and buy tickets directly from Alexa-enabled devices, such as Amazon Echo and Echo Dot via voice commands Would-be ticket buyers…

Spotify and Amazon ‘sue songwriters’ with appeal against 44% royalty rise in the United States

“These big tech bullies do not respect or value the songwriters who make their businesses possible.”
The post Spotify and Amazon ‘sue songwriters’ with appeal against 44% royalty rise in the United States appeared first on Music Business Wo…

Amazon Unveils Song ID, Telling Users What Song is Playing, But Only for US Echo Devices

Amazon has made a brand-new innovative feature – Song ID – available only for Prime Music/Unlimited subscribers. At the Mobile World Congress (MBW) in Barcelona, Universal Music Group (UMG) CEO and Chairman Lucian Grainge shared some good advice to all…

Streaming Revenue Impressive, But Can It Ever Make Up For Lost Physical Sales?

With streaming revenue showing a massive increase in comparison to previous years, the major three record labels are rejoicing at their annual haul. A big part of this income still draws from physical sales however, and as these old-school revenue streams continue to thin to a trickle, will streaming be…

Symphonic Distribution Expands To China

Independent music distributor Symphonic has expanded its reach to China via partnershipd with Tencent, NetEase and soon, says the company Alibaba.The new deals were spearheaded by indie rights powerhouse MERLIN. Content can be placed on Chinese music serives NetEase Cloud Music, Xiami (Alibaba), QQ Music, Kugou and Kuwo (Tencent Music…