Create, Add To Playlists With Voice On Amazon Music

Amazon Music users can now tell Alexa to create a new playlist or add a song to an existing playlist with just their voice. While listening to Amazon Music on an Alexa-enabled device users can now say: “Alexa, add this song to my playlist” “Alexa, add this to my playlist”…

CD Baby Launches Free DIY Musician Community App

CD Baby has launched a free DIY Musicians app to foster a community of musicians sharing questions, successes, tips and more. Registration is required, but users do not have to be a CD Baby customer to join. ______________________ A new DIY Musicians app from CD Baby is designed to allow…

Michelle Brook Of Sour Mash, Ignition Records Talks Industry, Marketing Strategies [INTERVIEW]

In this interview Michelle Brook, the digital manager at Ignition Records talks about her work in the industry, and share her opinions and experiences on the value of marketing using messenger bots, and where such types of technology might be headed in the future. _________________________ Guest post by Veselina Gerova…

Spotify Tests Free Pandora-Like ‘Stations’ Playlist App

Spotify is testing a free lean-back listening app on Google’s Android platform in Australia that offers unlimited access with skips to its 4500 official curated playlists. If Spotify goes wide with the "Stations By Spotify" app that it’s currently testing in beta, it could advance multiple goals for the music…

10 Best Social Media Management Tools

As the social media landscape continues to shift, promoting your events on social media, be it a tour or a merch sale, has grown increasingly difficult, particularly where organic reach is concerned. Here we look at ten of the best social media management tools that can help you up your…

Why Does Apple Want Shazam?

The recent acquisition of Shazam by Apple for a relatively modest 400 million has left many wondering what the tech giant could want with the music identification service. Given that Apple has had similar infrastructure for some time, it seems the purchase was likely motivated more by interest in Shazam’s…

DIY Booking Apps Pare and Special Guest Merge

North American D.I.Y. booking apps Pare Booking and special Special Guest have merged. The two will also combine the venues they are working with and add more in the coming months. "With complimentary talent buying networks and similar cultures, focused on helping talent find and book great opportunities, the joining…

Live Streaming Music App Spotlite Raises $10 Million

Spotlite, "a direct to fan app that caters to the artist," has raised $10 million in a round led by Sequoia Capital China and BlueRun Ventures. The free app is often described as,“American Idol meets musical.ly.” Spotlite’s nearest direct competitor is Smule, but artists don’t earn money on that platform….

Apple Has Acquired Shazam [OFFICIAL]

Apple has acquired Shazam, the company confirmed on Monday. The deal for the music and audio recognition app is reported to be worth $400 million. Shazam had been valued as high as $1 billion, had previously raised $143 million from investors including Kleiner Perkins and music groups Sony, Universal and…

4 Reasons You Should Use LinkedIn To Advance Your Music Career

While most musicians take the time to actively develop their presence on sites like Facebook and Instagram, many artists may not bother with what the perceive as the more ‘corporately oriented’ LinkedIn. This could be causing them to miss out on a number of beneficial connections, however. ______________________________ Guest post…