Sony’s Q1 2018 – 100% Stake in EMI, Spotify Payday, and Surging Streaming Revenue

Streaming revenue continues to climb, while Sony Music confirms hefty Spotify payday and a 100% stake in EMI Music Publishing. Sony Corp. has released its fiscal Q1 / calendar Q2 2018 financial report. Sony Music’s streaming revenue for the first half …

Spotify Closes In on Pandora While SoundCloud Bottoms Out

Spotify has overtaken Pandora and Apple Music as the most listened-to streaming music app in the US, at least on Android.  And, SoundCloud has yet to find a way to engage its users. Last week, Spotify released its Q2 2018 financial results.  And, it wa…

Apple Music Wants to Widen Its U.S. Lead — Starting With This DJ Khaled Ad Campaign

Just moments after passing Spotify in the US, Apple has just released a high-budget ad campaign featuring DJ Khaled, Kevin Hart, and a little friend. Earlier this month, we broke the news that Apple Music had surpassed Spotify in terms of US-based subs…

Streaming Music Isn’t Killing Local Music In France — It’s Growing It

The popularity of music streaming is soaring in France this year.  And so are local artists. In the first half of 2018, music streaming services in the country grew 39% from the same period last year.   Also, streaming services now make up 56% of the t…

Spotify’s Q2 2018: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Yes, Spotify reached 83 million subscribers.  No, it still doesn’t have a plan to stop bleeding cash. Spotify has just published its second quarterly report of 2018.  And, just as with its first-quarter report, the news isn’t pretty.  Not for investors…

Top Analyst Downgrades Spotify to ‘HOLD,’ Citing Slower Consumer Interest

Last week, Spotify was upgraded to BUY by several analysts, all of whom predicted that the stock price would rise to above $200 ahead of the company’s next earnings report.  But not everyone is so bullish — especially as soggier news comes in. No…

So, Why is Spotify Losing the Streaming Wars in the US?

Family plans, student discounts, and even Hulu bundles.  No wonder Spotify has fallen to second place in the US. Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal published a very surprising report. According to the newspaper’s research, Apple Music would ove…

Drake Didn’t Kill the Album. It’s Way More Complicated Than That.

Drake didn’t even release a CD until week two.  And many of his fans have never even played a disc in their lives.  But does that mean the ‘album is dead?’ You can’t talk about the history of music without talking about albums. …

Spotify Is Officially Leasing ‘At Mateo,’ a 110,000 SF Space In LA’s Arts District

Spotify is officially moving its LA digs after successfully putting in a bid for 110,000 square feet of space in the arts district, in At Mateo. At Mateo is a multi-use complex designed to play host to offices for corporations, retail fronts, restauran…

Spotify Price Targets are Surging Past $200 Ahead of Earnings

Spotify (SPOT) is experiencing a surge in price estimations on Wall Street ahead of its second-quarter results. Q1 2018 was a big miss for the company, as Wall Street expected to see $1.4 billion in revenue.  Instead, the music streaming company only r…