Music Streamer Gaana Raises $115M Round Led By Tencent

Gaana has raised $115 million, as the music streamer’s home market of India continues to attract new competitors. Leading the round is Chinese internet giant Tencent, who has become a steady supporter of streaming music globally. Like Spotify, Gaana offers users both free and paid streaming tiers. The startup has…

Why Congress Should Pass The Classics Act: Artists Speak

Here notable artists Mary Wilson and Darlene Love make a powerful case in favor of shutting the massive loophole which currently allows digital music services to artists and rights owners attached to music recorded before 1972. ____________________ Guest post by William Glanz of SoundExchange Artists themselves make the most powerful…

How Are Listeners Finding New Independent Music?

While methods of music discovery vary drastically from person to person, we here look at few avenues which avid music consumers commonly turn to in their search for fresh tunes, depending on the demographic in question. ________________________ Guest post by Rich Nardo of the TuneCore Blog [Editors Note: This article…

Video Game Music: An Art And Business In Its Own Right

While musicians have been cozy with the video game industry for some time as another supplementary source of revenue, but some indicators suggest that game music could be growing into an entire business all its own. _________________________ Guest post by Cherie Hu of Forbes Musicians have been drawing inspiration from…

Music Manager, Marketer Timothy Collins Talks Strategy

In this interview Swedish twenty-two year old manager and digital strategist Timothy Collins discusses his company UNLTD, the importance of innovation, and the challenge of breaking through the social media landscape. _______________________ Guest post by Veselina Gerova of The Message Behind The Artist is a Q&A style interview series featuring…

Symphonic Adds Former Beatport Exec Peter Wohelski

Symphonic Distribution has hired industry veteran Peter Wohelski as its Content Development Specialist. Wohelski had been the Senior Label Manager at Beatport after stints as Director of A&R at Astralwerks and General Manager at Planet E Communications. Peter Wohelski The hire comes after the digital music distributor secured a $4…

Producer Matt Squire On SoundExchange Letters Of Direction

Here producer and SoundExchange member Matt Squire talks about the important role the company plays in the producer’s careers via their Letters of Direction. ___________________________ Guest post from SoundExchange Producers play an important role in the careers of recording artists and rights owners. And SoundExchange plays an important role in…

Discs To Digital: The Strange History Of Music Formats

While streaming has become the dominant form of music consumption, the road to get here was a complex and varied one. Here we look at the history of the physical music formats, dating back as far as the 1870s, and how it led us to where we are now. __________________________…

Spotify Announces Major Streaming Stats Calculation Shakeup

In a bit of good news for artists, Spotify recently announced that it will be altering the way in which it tallies streams of remixes, meaning both artists and remixers will both receive more recognition and exposure for their efforts. _____________________ Guest post by Josh Hannen of frtyfve Spotify have…

Trump’s FCC Pats Itself On Back For Historically Stupid Year

As anyone vaguely aware of industry news over the past year has no doubt noticed, Trump’s FCC, led by Ajit Pai, hasn’t been particularly beneficial to either the internet or the average consumers. I has, however, helped to sooth frightened media monopolies. _____________________________ Guest post by Karl Bode from Techdirt…