MON. BRIEFING: Verizon Buys Yahoo • EBay Acquires Ticket Utils • Guvera CEO Exits • Deezer: 2 Yrs To Profitable? • More

MONDAY 7.25.16 Music Business News From Around The Web Summer is the season for acquisitions. Who’s next? Updated continuously under our More News tab

Pokemon Go: A Competitive Social Formula For The Music Industry? [George Howard]

Here George Howard looks at how the social, fun, and competitive formula which has made Pokemon Go the massive success that it is could potentially work in the music industry, and the hurdles it would have to overcome to do so. ________________________________ Guest post by George Howard I’ve long believed…

Could Beatport Save SFX? Bankrupt Co. Decides Not To Sell EDM Store Because It’s So Damn Successful

In a bid to raise much need cash, a bankrupt SFX first put EDM music service Beatport up for sale. Then they postponed the sale and gutted Beatport staff and services. Next it said the sale was on again, only to be withdraw it from the market last week. Yesterday…

Music Publishing News Roundup 7.22.16: Apple Streaming Royalty Proposal • SOCAN Buys Audiam • VKontakte Preps Streamer • More

Apple has proposed a streaming royalty rate with the Copyright Royalty Board as part of a preceding to set statutory rates for downloads and interactive streaming services. The proposed rate, intended to simplify the way on-demand streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify pay songwriters and publishers, is 9.1 cents…

Canadian Music PRO SOCAN Acquires Jeff Price’s Audiam "to finally fix the global industry problems"

In May, Canadian performing rights organization SOCAN acquired music and metadata delivery technology provider MediaNet. Late yesterday, they added Audiam, a digtal music licensing and royalty collection service, to their music tech portfolio. _______________________________________________ Canadian performing tights organization SOCAN has acquired Audiam. Founded in 2013 by TuneCore founder and former…

AM BRIEFING: SOCAN Acquires Jeff Price’s Audiam • KickassTorrents Seized • Did Apple Buy Omifone? • More

THURSDAY 7.12.16 Music Business News From Around The Web Now that SOCAN has acquire Audiam and MediaNet, what should ASCAP and BMI buy? Updated continuously under our More News tab

Indie Beggars Group (4AD, Matador, Rough Trade, XL) Was Hacked – Change Your Password Now

We’re sadly getting used to hearing about the big evil mega-corps getting hacked. But an as-cool-as-any-record-label-can-ever-be indie? Well, The Beggars Group has been been hacked and they are urging all U.S. fans of their roster of indie darlings to change their passwords asap. ___________________________________________ The Beggars Group, home to independent…

YouTube Music Launches Daring Ad Campaign Featuring A Cross Dressing Teen, Rapping Hijabi Muslim, More [VIDEO]

There are no reliable stats on how many people pay to use YouTube Music, but it clearly lags well behind Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal. In a move guaranteed to raise awareness, the Google owned music streamer has launched a brilliantly conceived, guaranteed-to-be-controversial ad campaign. _____________________________________________ "Music isn’t just what…

Rhapsody Users Rebel Over Shift To Napster

Last week, Rhapsody consolidated its branding under the single moniker Napster. With it came a supposedly improved interface and user experience, but judging from comments posted online, Rhapsody users are NOT happy with the change. ____________________________________________ Rhapsody users responded angrily to the shift to the Napster brand in comments on…

Deezer Enters Crowded U.S Streaming Music Market Without Free Tier

Better late than never? French based music streamer Deezer is finally entering the already crowded U.S. streaming music market. Until now, Deezer was only available to Cricket Wireless customers or on Sonos and Bose connected speaker systems. ____________________________________________ Deezer entered the U.S. market today with a standard $9.99 per month…