Spotify Cracks Down on ‘Premium for Student’ Plan Abusers

No, the ‘five year plan’ doesn’t quite work on Spotify.  Now, the streaming platform is taking renewed steps to crack down on discount student plan subscribers. At first glance, Spotify appears to be doing very, very well. The streaming music giant now…

Amazon Prime Music vs. Amazon Music Unlimited: What’s the Difference?

If you don’t know the difference between Amazon Prime Music and Amazon Music Unlimited, then you’re in the right place. Analyst project that music streaming revenues will rise to $5.11 billion by 2021.  Amazon, ever the opportunist, has responded by in…

Longtime BBC DJ Charlie Sloth Is Leaving After 10 Years — for Apple Music

Longtime BBC hip hop deejay Charlie Sloth is ditching the British broadcaster, and heading towards Apple Music. Looks like Apple Music has poached another high-profile personality from across the Atlantic.  Just this morning, the BBC confirmed that lon…

Spotify Is Now Expanding Its Services for Podcasters — Introducing ‘Spotify for Podcasters’ (Updated)

Last month, Spotify started allowing select indie artists to upload directly to the service through Spotify for Artists.  But why stop there? Correction (Oct. 4th): Yesterday, we mistakenly reported that Spotify was offering direct uploads of podcasts,…

SoundCloud Signs Advertising Pacts With Pandora and DAX

Will the new deals help solidify SoundCloud as a viable sales advertising platform? Over in the UK, SoundCloud has expanded its partnership. The company has revealed a re-upped deal with DAX, an advanced audio sales platform.  DAX has worked exclusivel…

Federal Judge Denies Spotify’s Request to Toss a $321 Million Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

Mechanical licensing issues come back to haunt Spotify — despite the Music Modernization Act’s pending passage. A federal court in Tennessee has denied Spotify’s bid to dismiss a massive copyright infringement lawsuit.  The company had sought to …

Steven Van Zandt: ‘Streaming Is a Disaster for Artists. A Disaster.’

Legendary musician, rock n’ roll curator, and actor Steven Van Zandt says the rise of streaming has been seriously detrimental to artists. The rise of streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, and Pandora has worsened…

How to Fix Your Overlapping YouTube Music and Google Play Music Subscriptions

Google’s premium music streaming offering has been a bit of a mess.   Here’s how to untangle your overlapping Google Play Music and YouTube subscriptions. Both services offer the ability to sign up and receive the benefits of the other, whi…

Google Directly Integrates Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play Music Into Maps

Google Maps continues to be one of the best mapping platforms for mobile users, but it’s annoying to juggle apps to get to your music. Maybe this solves that problem — and improves safety in the process.  A new update for Google Maps is bringing …

Pandora Opens Up Artist Metrics to Next Big Sound Users

Now, you can view key metrics on just about any Pandora artist on Next Big Sound.  But, is it too little too late for the digital radio service? Before, only artists, managers, and record labels could measure the success of a musician on Pandora throug…