Spotify’s interest in acquiring The Ringer, a sports and popular culture website and podcast network, came as a surprise to many—including Ringer employees, who learned of the news just like everyone else did: through a report published by The Wall Str…
Category archives: Feature Story
Netflix Says They’ll Never Have Ads, CEO Explains Why
As music streaming services welcome ads, Netflix’s CEO backs the paid-only model. As music-streaming services (and certain video-streaming platforms) continue to embrace ads, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has doubled down on his pro-subscription, anti-adve…
Downtown Music Is Going’ Full Stack’ — Acquires Amsterdam-Based FUGA
Downtown Music Publishing’s AVL Digital Group has acquired FUGA, an Amsterdam-based digital-music distributor and service provider. The purchase, which was announced publicly this morning (January 22nd), is the latest in a series of aggressive, g…
Sonos Will Stop Updating Older Hardware in May — Even Though 92% of Its Speakers Are ‘Still In Use’
Sonos will stop updating its older speakers and hardware in May, the company has announced. Sonos says it is retiring old products because “they have been stretched to their technical limits in terms of memory and processing power.” The cha…
Meet the Artist Who Is Literally Saving His Fans’ Lives — Our Latest Podcast
Lucidious is an independent rapper with more than 100 million Spotify streams and a steady income. He’s also a guy helping his fans deal with serious issues of depression and suicide. What? You’re not subscribed to the Digital Music News Podcast…
Fired Grammy Awards CEO Fires Back With Sexual Harassment, Discrimination Claim Against Recording Academy
In the wake of her abrupt ouster last week, former Recording Academy president and CEO Deborah Dugan is filing a former discrimination and sexual harassment complaint. The Grammy Awards are just five days away. Last week, the Grammy Awards fired their…
Grammy Awards Interim Chief Alleges Massive Extortion Plot by Ex-CEO — Here’s His Letter to Academy Members
Days before the Grammy Awards are slated to air, Recording Academy interim chief Harvey Mason is now slamming just-fired CEO Deborah Dugan for attempting to extort the organization. Last week, the Recording Academy abruptly placed its CEO, Deborah Duga…
AirPods Pro Firmware Update 2C54 May Make Noise Cancellation Worse
AirPods are a massive market for Apple, but firmware updates may be ruining their noise-cancellation feature. Apple’s firmware update 2C54 is the most commonly cited firmware with issues. Many anecdotal reports began popping up on the internet sh…
Recording Academy CEO Placed on ‘Administrative Leave’ — Just 10 Days Before the Grammys
Recording Academy chief Deborah Dugan has been abruptly placed on ‘administrative leave’ over a ‘formal allegation of misconduct.’ The 62nd annual Grammy Awards, which the Recording Academy oversees, is slated to begin January …
The Week’s Top U.S. Festivals & Tours, Presented by SeatGeek
The most popular concert tickets, tour stops, and artists around the country, based on SeatGeek data through Wednesday, January 15th. Welcome to our weekly report on the world of live music, based on exclusive data from SeatGeek, a ticketing platform t…