How Fans Are Building A Vibrant Gimme Radio Community

In this piece, Jon Maples explains how the principles and process behind the unique radio streaming app Gimme Radio have given rise to a successful listening platform, home to a vibrant social community. __________________________ By Jon Maples of Gimme Radio from Medium Slack was on fire. Our emergency channel, the…

Spotify Condemns Apple’s New "App Tax," But Could It Be A Cover For A Price Hike?

Spotify is up in arms over the 30% cut Apple is charging developers for the privilege of being part of its app store, going so far as to lodge an anti-trust complaint, as well as threatening to raise its price in order to cover the cost. Such actions, however, could…

Tools For Managing Music Merch

Being an artist is hard enough without having to manage the mini-department store that is your merch – luckily there are a number of tools out there designed to lessen the headache of keeping up with orders and streamlining sales. _____________________________ Guest post by Tarryn Meyers of Symphonic If you’re…

XITE, Music Video Streaming App, Makes US Debut

A free app already popular on the international scene, XCITE has officially been rolled out in the US, and may be the first streaming service solely dedicated to music videos. ________________________________ Guest post by James Shotwell of Haulix Finally, a streaming service solely focused on music videos has debuted in…

Napster Turns A Profit, Partners With Univision

The latest financial filings from Napster proves that music streaming – at least, the all paid variety – can be profitable. From 2017 to 2018, Napster moved from a net loss of $13.1 million to a net profit of $10.3 million. But parent company RealNetworks still warned that “for Napster…

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s Statement On EU Anti-Competition Complaint Against Apple [FULL TEXT]

Spotify it has filed an anti-trust complaint against Apple with the European Commission. The complaint centers on the 30% Apple charges for app store subscriptions and purchases and polices that Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says,"deliberately disadvantage other app developers." The full text of Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s statement: My goal…

Move Over Spotify, YouTube Has A Major Samsung Deal Too

Samsung Galaxy customers will a free limited YouTube Premium! subscription which includes ad-free access to both YouTube and Google’s latest streaming service, YouTube Music. The news came on the same day that Spotify announced that it will come pre-loaded on millions of Samsung phones and other devices. Samsung Galaxy S10…

Spotify To Come Pre-Loaded In Millions Of Samsung Phones

Spotify and Samsung are expanding their partnership. Starting today, Spotify will be pre-installed on millions of new Samsung mobile devices globally. In addition, new Spotify users in the U.S. with select Samsung Galaxy mobiles will qualify for six months of free Spotify Premium, redeemable in app. In August 2018, Spotify…

Fortnite Hosts Weezer-Themed Island

Marshmello isn’t the only artist to capitalize on the popularity of Epic Games’ Fortnite. Now Weezer has pulled their own digital promo stunt with the launch of their own band themed island in the popular game to accompany Weezer’s new album release. ___________________________ Guest post by James Shotwell of Haulix…

Truth: The Next Big Data Opportunity

As the reality of data harvesting settles in among consumers, music tech companies are forced to choose where they in the coming privacy war, a where in which honesty and transparency could provide the greatest competitive advantage. ___________________________ In this recent post to MusicThinkTank, Annabel Youens explores how honesty could…