Spotify Acquires Blockchain Innovators Mediachain Labs

In what appears to be an acquire-hire, the team from blockchain startup Mediachain will be joining Spotify in New York City to help the music streamer create "a more fair, transparent and rewarding music industry for creators and rights owners." ___________________________________________ Details of Spotify’s acquisition of Mediachain Labs were not…

Key To Widespread Artist Adoption Of Blockchain Could Be Via Esoteric Copyright Law [George Howard]

Blockchain technology has been embraced by many smaller independent artists, but widespread adoption has been slowed by a lack of participation from major labels and publishers, although an ancient copyright clause could provide a solution. ______________________ Guest post by George Howard on Forbes After having written at length over the…

Hospital Records’ Romy Harber On Industry Trends [INTERVIEW]

In this interview, Romy Harber, Manager and Head of Digital at Hospital Records weighs in the importance of direct-to-customer marketing for labels, his experience with the music industry and where he sees it headed moving forward. _________________________ Guest post by David Riley of Midemblog midemblog: What are the best things…

WED. BRIEF: UMG Valued At $22B • Songwriters Push For Reform • Twitter +9M Users • National Concert Day • More

Wednesday 4.26.17 Music Business News From Around The Web 5 years ago many thought major labels were headed for extinction, today UMG is valued at $22 billion. Updated continuously under our More News tab

New Survey Says Millennials Pay For Streaming Services And Use Pirate Streams When Content Isn’t Legally Available

In a further sign of change coming to the music industry, a new survey has revealed that millennials, and those younger, while willing and happy to pay for streaming services, are also more than happy to access the content they want on pirate streaming sites should it be unavailable elsewhere….

24 Best Music Tech Conferences: FREE Ebook from PR Firm Rock Paper Scissors

Music Tech Conferences: A Guide for Startups is available for free. This 31-page guide will help anyone – from startups to seasoned veterans – navigate the many music and tech industry conferences. _____________________________________ Music Tech Conferences: A Guide for Startups includes informative articles that provide help in evaluating how these…

iHeartMedia Stock Fell 24% Monday As Radio, Streaming Giant Flirts With Bankrupcy

iHeartMedia stock fell 23.64% to $2.04 Monday after the company admitted to shareholders that it might not survive the year. ____________________________________ iHeartMedia stock dropped $23.64% Monday, after the company shared that its next quarterly report to investors will include a warning “as to our ability to continue as a going…

TUE. BRIEF: Twitch Pays Live Streamers • Streams Propel Latin Music • FCC Net Neutrality Rules Wed. • More

Tuesday 4.25.17 Music Business News From Around The Web Amazon owned Twitch is helping live streamers monetize their efforts much as YouTube does for musicians, vloggers. Updated under our More News tab.

Spotify Is Planning Its Own Music Hardware, Voice Control

[UPDATED] Two jobs listings point to a major expansions of Spotify’s ambitions to include music hardware with voice control. While details are scarce, they hint at a wearable device "akin to Pebble Watch, Amazon Echo, and Snap Spectacles." ___________________________________ Snapchat is building eyewear, Facebook is building 360 cameras, and now…

Neil Young Announces Xsteam ”Adaptive" Streaming Music Service

Neil Young is pivoting his hi-res and high cost Pono Music download service to streaming. The as yet unlaunched subscription service will be called Xstream. _________________________ Neil Young is pivoting his efforts to bring higher quality audio to the masses from downloads to streaming. In a post to users of…