A suspect royalty payout scheme outlined in the Music Modernization Act is now getting extra scrutiny. Last week, critics of the Music Modernization Act pointed Digital Music News to a rather suspect royalty payout scheme buried within the Music Modern…
Category archives: Feature Story
Just Days Before Announcing Its ‘Hate Conduct Policy,’ Spotify Added Chris Brown to Several Top Playlists
In May alone, Spotify added Chris Brown to several highly-ranked playlists, including ‘Get Turnt,’ ‘Most Necessary,’ and ‘Signed XOXO’. All of these occurred within days of Spotify’s announcement of its&#…
Latest Industry: Troy Carter, Sony Music, Spotify, Apple Music, Concord Music, U2, The BBC, More…
Will Troy Carter leave Spotify? Following the company’s decision to stop promoting music from R. Kelly and XXXTentacion, multiple sources have told Variety that Troy Carter may exit Spotify. He has reportedly pushed back against the company…
Tool Absolutely, Positively Confirms Their Upcoming Album
Tool is releasing a new album after 12 years. Now, we know more details. Its been awhile — 12 years to be exact — since Tool released their last album. But a new album is definitely coming soon, a development that was reaff…
Digital Audio Advertising Surged 39% In 2017 — a $500 Million Increase
For years, digital audio advertising has been an underperforming mess. Looks like that’s changing fast. Digital audio advertising has been a bastard stepchild for years. Except now the sector is actually exploding. Last year, th…
Merlin Just Cashed 100% of Its Spotify Shares — And Is Giving 100% to Its Members
Guess it pays to stay indie! According to Merlin CEO Charles Caldas, the independent has cashed all of its Spotify shares, with all of it passing through to its members. Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group have liquidated more than a …
Now There’s a Free Competitor to CD Baby, Tunecore, and Distrokid
With Level Music, Warner Music Group gets ahead of CD Baby and Distrokid by offering a ‘free’ digital distribution platform. But, how much will it really cost artists? Warner Music Group has quietly launched its alternative to establi…
Latest Industry: Cisco, YouTube, Warner, Metallica, Vivendi, Prince, Apple Music, Pandora, TIDAL, More…
Cisco pulls ads from YouTube. Over a fear of sensitive content appearing right after its ads, Cisco has pulled all of its online ads from YouTube. Taking a veiled swipe at the video platform’s past controversies over sensitive content, Cisc…
Tidal Will Debut a Brand-New Prince Album In 2019 — That Is, if Tidal Exists In 2019
The battle is over between The Prince Estate and Tidal. Now, the only thing Tidal needs to do is survive. Good news for fans of Prince! The Prince Estate and Tidal have jointly announced the exclusive debut an unreleased album by The Artist in 20…
R. Kelly Banned from Playlists on Apple Music, Pandora, and Spotify
R. Kelly’s is now getting pulled from curated playlists on Apple Music, Pandora, and Spotify. But don’t call it censorship… R. Kelly has been accused — though never convicted — of a raft of horrifying…