Category archives: Music Tech

Blockchain Powered Utopia Music Acquires ISPY Group

Utopia Music, a blockchain powered music tracking platform has acquired technology development company ISPY Group. The acquisition will help Utopia Music scale and expand. ISPY Group is expected to be fully incorporated into Utopia Music AG by the end of the year. Utopia’s head office will continue to run out…

Kanye West, Kid Rock To Join Trump Today For Music Modernization Act Signing

President Trump is expected to sign the Music Modernization Act at 11:45 ET today, Thursday October 11th. Kanye West, who has been confirmed for lunch at The White House today, will be joined by Kid Rock for the signing, according to multiple sources. Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow…

New Pay To Play? SoundCloud Expands Artists Payments To Paid Members Only

SoundCloud announced today that its dropping its invite-only monetization policy and opening SoundCloud Premier artist payments to all SoundCloud Pro or Pro Unlimited subscribers. While many more creators will now get paid, the change effectively means that artists must pay to be members before they can monetize their music on…

T.I. Teams Up With Beat Fever to Launch Dime Trap Virtual Listening Party

Launching an album, garnering streams and engaging music fans is a feat in today’s day and age. Especially when you’re competing with dozens of other album launches, radio time and the coveted banners on streaming services. The following article comes …

TUE. BRIEF: Facebook Gets Hard(ware) • Kanye + Trump • Sentric Adds Dance Pub. • Swift Backlash • More

TUESDAY 10.9.18
Music Business News From Around The Web
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Online Backlash Mars Facebook Portal Smart Speaker Launch with Spotify, Pandora, iHeart

UPDATED: Facebook has launched its own line of smart speakers. Free Facebook Messenger video calls are at the center of the Portal From Facebook hardware offering, but like most smart speakers, music is also a core feature. The backlash online was immediate. Backlash Facebook fans and foes wondered online if…

Tencent Music: A Different Kind Of Streamer [Mark Mulligan]

Tencent Music (TME), touted as China’s largest music streaming service, has filed for a $2 billion U.S. IPO. But an analysis by Mark Mulligan of MIDiA shows that TME is only partially a music service. It’s really a series of related social entertainment platforms that could offer lessons which Spotify…

GigRev: White Label Solution To Build A Mobile Fan Club

Kevin Brown from GigRev joins Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert on the Music Biz Weekly podcast to talk about their white label solution for building a mobile fan club that easily allows bands to monetize their fans online. Artists can connect with fans like nowhere else and generate income from…

$400M Apple Shazam Acquisition, 200K Verified Spotify Artists, More Stats Shaping Today’s Music Business

[UPDATED] A look at some key music business numbers that are shaping the direction of the industry, including Apple’s 400 million dollar acquisition of Shazam, 200,000 verified users on Spotify for Artists and more. _________________________ Guest post by Brant David for Midem As autumn starts to glow, so do exciting…