The Fight For A Straight Count: Does Streaming Accounting Costing More Than Royalites

When it comes to tracking and accounting songs and recordings, the systems currently in place are both expensive and complex and the royalties paid out are minuscule, this is leading many to advocate for a switch to a simpler method of reporting. ___________________________ Guest post by Chris Castle of Music…

Indie Artists Can’t Afford To Skip Streaming: A Look At The Numbers

In this illuminating look at a year in streaming, CD Baby CEO Tracy Maddux examines how indie artists are beginning to see appreciable payouts from online streaming services, although other revenue sources still remain important and valuable. ___________________________ Guest post by Tracy Maddux, CEO of CD Baby It was a…

Pandora Not For Sale, Will Be Profitable This Year, Says Pandora CEO As Stock Falls [VIDEO]

Pandora founder and CEO Tom Westergren made some bold claims during a CNBC appearance Monday. Wall Street was unimpressed, pushing the stock -6.3% to $11.60 by midday Tuesday. __________________________________________ "We intend to be profitable this year," Pandora CEO Tim Westergren declared on CNBC’s "Squawk Alley" Monday. The bold claim came…

Ed Sheeran Broke The Charts [Mark Mulligan]

Ed Sheeran is hugely popular; and while no one wants to demean his success (OK, maybe some do…), when one person occupies for 9 of the UK top 10 singles and all 16 tracks from his new album are in the top 20, something is broken. _________________________________ By Mark Mulligan…

Songkick Announces Shazam Integration, New Stats

Songkick is now integrated within the hugely popular Shazam app. Songkick’s database of million concerts and events is being rolled out today to Shazam users worldwide. ____________________________ Teased late last year, the new Songkick integration allows Shazam users to access concert dates as part of the app’s recently launched “Discover”…

SoundCloud Responds To Cash Crunch, Fire-Sale Report

Reports of a SoundCloud cash crunch and sell-off at 40% below investor valuation surfaced yesterday, even as the music streamer expanded its Premier Platform. Now SoundCloud is pushing back, saying that news of its pending demise are greatly exaggerated. __________________________________ In a statement released later yesterday SoundCloud disputed reports that…

DJs, Producers Can Now Join SoundCloud Premier And Get Paid

We’ve been skeptical of the speed at which SoundCloud has on-ramped artists to its Premier program that allows creators to share in revenue generated ON SoundCloud. Today, the financially challenged music service added DJs and Producers those who can join, though the criteria for acceptance still remains a mystery. ___________________________…

SoundCloud Cash Crunch Continues, 40% Of Valuation Fire-Sale Seen Likely [NEW REPORT]

New reports confirm what we’ve been reporting for several months: SoundCloud needs a lot of cash or it needs a buyer; and it needs one of them fast. So far, attempts at monetization have not been able to turn around the money losing music service. ________________________________ Since last summer, SoundCloud…

Pandora Premium $9.99 On Demand Streaming To Launch Wednesday

[UPDATED] Pandora (NYSE: P) announced today that its $9.99 Spotify-like on-demand streaming tier, Pandora Premium, will launch this week. Invites for a free trial will be sent to select users this Wednesday; and an option to upgrade will be available to all listeners over the coming weeks. ____________________________ Rolling out…

How One Artist Got Millions Of Spotify Streams Without Being Signed

As an unsigned artist, you may be struggling to work past the <1000 play count on Spotify. Luckily there’s plenty you can do to grow your following on the streaming service. In this interview, unsigned Norwegian rapper Endless shares how he grew a massive following on Spotify, sans label. ______________________________…