Shazam is the latest music feature to be integrated directly into Instagram Stories, thanks to a new partnership with the Facebook-owned app. Instagram users can share now identified songs and post them to Instagram Stories. The integration officially…
Category archives: Feature Story
In Full Panic Mode, YouTube’s Lyor Cohen Warns Article 13 Will Have “Severe Unintended Consequences”
Lyor Cohen continues YouTube’s path of promoting baseless arguments to defeat Article 13. Last week, Susan Wojcicki made a heartfelt plea to YouTube’s neglected creator community. With the Copyright Directive set to the pass in the European Union – eff…
Fierce Bidding Erupts for Ownership of Big Machine Label Group – and Taylor Swift’s Masters
So, who will Taylor Swift’s catalog ultimately end up with? UMG or Macquarie? Several years ago, then-unknown Big Machine Label Group (BMLG) signed a fresh-faced 16-year-old country singer. After releasing her self-titled debut album, Taylor Swift we…
To Attract Subscribers, Spotify Gives Away a Google Home Mini
Spotify offers Premium for Family users a ‘gift’ to forget about a possible forced GPS verification feature. Last month, Spotify scared a substantial amount of its Premium for Family into signing up for an individual account. With losses mounting and A…
Teddy Bautista, SGAE’s Corrupt President, Ousted After Record Low Turnout
SGAE’s beleaguered President just didn’t want to give up making easy money. But, with its recently elected board favoring the Spanish collecting society’s previous scam, will things really get better? Things haven’t gone fairly well over at SGAE in th…
Kobalt-Owned AMRA Is Aggressively Expanding In Europe. Old School PROs Should Be Taking Notice.
Kobalt-owned AMRA is making some serious expansion moves in Europe, with the transparency flag waving high. PROs have always had a mixed reputation in the music business — to put it mildly. But 2018 has plunged things to new lows. Just recently, Spain…
Sixteen Tech Companies – Including Spotify – Slam Proposed Digital Services Tax
Digital revenue keeps growing around the world. Now, the European Union wants in. Last March, Pierre Moscovi, the Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, along with Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, had an i…
Pharrell Williams Threatens to Sue President Donald Trump
Pharrell Williams isn’t too ‘Happy’ with President Donald Trump. At an Indiana rally just hours after the fatal mass shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, President Donald Trump played ‘Happy.’ Now, clearly upset, Pharrell Williams has sent a cease-a…
Spotify Briefly Scrapes $131 In Tuesday Trading; Goldman Sachs Says Buy!
Spotify’s stock price has been scraping newfound lows, but longtime investor Goldman Sachs says the stock is a buy at this price. And so are many other market watchers. SPOT briefly hit a low of $131 during today’s trading before bouncing back to $141…
Federal Judge Denies’ Cox’s Request for Venue Change in Upcoming Battle Against the Music Industry
Cox Communications may have shot itself in the foot settling with BMG. Several months ago, a group of major record labels – led by Sony Music – filed a piracy liability lawsuit against Cox Communications. Echoing BMG’s arguments, the labels argue the A…