Spotify Hits 113 Million Paying Subscribers Worldwide — Says They’re Crushing Apple Music and Amazon

Spotify posted better-than-expected quarterly results this morning, but will that ease doubts on Wall Street? In a bold and bullish quarterly announcement this morning, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and his lieutenants were trumpeting some better-than-expected…

Neil Young’s Archive Has 25,000 Subscribers, Each Paying $1.99 a Month

Neil Young’s Pono player was a high-profile disaster.  But he’s bouncing back with a low-profile success story. Instead of grousing about the wretched state of artist compensation, rock legend Neil Young is trying to do something about it. …

Want a Juicy Promotion on Spotify? Now You Can Pay for That.

Want your latest song or album promoted to millions of users on Spotify?  Now, you can pay for that. Profitability — or lack thereof — is now forcing Spotify to charge for promotional placements. Just this morning, the streaming platform announced that…

SiriusXM Inks a Major Podcasting Deal With Marvel — Wolverine, Hawkeye, Black Widow Series Ahead

SiriusXM Radio — not Spotify — has just inked the biggest podcasting content deal of the year. SiriusXM finally got the podcasting memo this year — and that’s bad news for Spotify’s ambitious ramp-up. Just this morning. SiriusXM tied a majo…

Mixcloud Boosted Its Annual Revenues by 45% — But Losses Tripled

British streaming service Mixcloud released its 2018 financial results.  There was both good news and bad news. While Mixcloud reported strong revenue growth, it came at a cost. For the year, Mixcloud earned around £2.4 million (about $3.1 million), wh…

YouTube Layers Merch and Vinyl Alongside Official Music Videos

YouTube has announced a partnership with Merchbar to showcase official artist merchandise and vinyls. The merch will appear alongside official artist videos on the platform. Merchbar carries over one million items from 35,000 artists. It is one of the …

Wizkid Is Launching a Streaming Service so Artists Can “Actually Get Revenue Into Their Pockets”

Wizkid, a popular Nigerian singer and songwriter, is planning to launch a music streaming service in cooperation with  United Bank for Africa. In a recent interview with Robert Bruce on British radio station Capital Xtra, Wizkid expressed his intention…

Artist Activist David Lowery Quits the Mechanical Licensing Collective After Just 4 Months

David Lowery, a longtime champion for artists and outspoken critic of major streaming platforms, has abruptly departed the Mechanical Licensing Collective’s Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee. The news comes as the paint is still drying on t…

Zacks Investment Research Drastically Downgrades Spotify from ‘Strong Buy’ to ‘Hold’

Spotify became a less-certain bet on Wall Street this morning, thanks to a pronounced downgrade by Zacks Investment Research. Shares of Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) have recovered somewhat over the past few days, though nagging profitability concerns are dragg…

Deezer Might Have an IPO In the Next 12-15 Months, CEO Says

Hans-Holger Albrecht, who is the CEO of the music streaming service Deezer, once again signaled his plans for an IPO. He says that the company will go public sometime in the next 12-18 months, with the exact time being dependent on market conditions. I…