7digital’s CEO and CFO Exit as Dire Financial Situation Continues

7digital CEO John Aalbers has stepped down as director and CEO of 7digital. He joined the B2B digital music platform less than four months ago. CFO Julia Hubbard is also departing the company, effective immediately.  The move was cited as a cost-cuttin…

Five Months After Launching in India, Spotify Barely Has Over 2 Million Local Users

Shifting the global music streaming race, Spotify recently rolled out its ‘Lite’ app in over 36 countries. The move comes after a year of testing the 15 MB app in small countries, including Brazil. So, what makes the ‘Lite’ app so unique?  Spotify allo…

Spotify Launches a Dedicated ‘Disney Hub’ Featuring Classic TV and Movie Songs

On the video side, Disney is taking on the market with a dedicated SVOD platform. That’s not the case with music, however. The Walt Disney Corporation has unveiled a partnership with Spotify.  The music streaming giant will now feature a “prominent spo…

Apple Decides to Invest In Original Podcasts — Putting a Big Buzzkill on Spotify’s Expansion

Looks like Spotify rattled Apple’s podcast cage one too many times. Now, after spending hundreds of millions on its podcast expansion, Spotify has a potentially serious problem ahead.  Earlier today (Tuesday), Wall Street reacted to news that Apple had…

Is Classical Music Finally Making a Comeback? Warner Music Group Revamps Its Age-Old ‘Classics’ Imprint

Warner Classics & Erato has revamped its website, with classical aficionados the target. For starters, Warner Classics has embedded a custom-built streaming player into its upgraded site.  That’s right: crusty classical fans actually know how to st…

Alibaba’s Xiami Music Partners with MQA to Offer Lossless Audio Streaming in China

British audio tech startup MQA has been quietly building partnerships in the music industry. Several months ago, Jay-Z’s music streaming service, TIDAL, rolled out MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) streaming on iOS and Android devices. Rhapsody Intern…

US-Based Streaming Music Revenues Slated to Reach $8.4 Billion This Year

  U.S. music streaming revenues are slated to jump another 33% in 2019 at least according to this report. Despite signs of a streaming slowdown, total revenues are still increasing dramatically.  According to the Consumer Technology Association’s U.S. …

Amazon Music Unlimited and Prime Music Have a Combined 32 Million Subscribers — And a 70% Yearly Growth Rate

Several weeks ago, Apple Music casually announced that it had reached 60 million subscribers. This milestone comes after just four years on the market and includes paying and trial users.  After nearly eleven years in the market, Spotify quietly confir…

BTS Powerhouse Big Hit Is Reportedly Building Its Own Streaming Service

Why play by Spotify’s rules, when you can make your own? Thanks in large part to Korean boy band group BTS, Big Hit Entertainment unveiled a major milestone last month.  The Korean entertainment agency representing the K-Pop group, among many others, n…

Apple Music Now Offers College Students a 6-Month Trial — But Only Until September

Apple Music is helping out students – and hoping to perk its subscription numbers along the way. Having recently reached 60 million subscribers, the music streaming service has drastically expanded its discount plan. As part of its Back-to-School speci…