Is Something Big Happening At Pandora? Board Nominations Extended As Stock Continues To Struggle

Pandora stock has been struggling over the last two weeks after its only known suitor, Liberty Media Corporation, poured cold water on takeover rumors and questioned if Pandora was worth its $3 billion market capitalization. ________________________________ Pandora stock continued to struggle on Monday, closing at $12.47 down another 2.2%. The…

Infinite Dial Report 2017 From Edison Research, Triton To Be Released This Thurs. [FREE WEBINAR]

Edison Research and Triton Digital present the latest edition of The Infinite Dial survey of consumer media habits and behaviors associated with digital and offline media in the United States. This study, the 25th in a series, will examine in detail the state of consumer media usage in 2017, including…

Mass Appeal Lands $6 Million Investment From Universal Music, Usher, Nas, Others

Last year, Universal Music Group began investing in music focused films; and today they expanded their content interests with a big bet on NYC based graffiti/hip hop culture and lifestyle media company Mass Appeal. _________________________________________ Universal Music Group (UMG) led a $6 million funding round for Mass Appeal, the New…

YouTube Stats That Will Blow You Mind

YouTube is currently the streaming service that the music industry loves to hate. But for almost everyone, it is also unthinkable to go without the video behemoth as a marketing channel. After all, YouTube now has over a billion users – almost one-third of all people on the internet. More…

Ed Sheeran Smashes Spotify Streaming Records

Following the Friday release of Ed Sheeran’s new album ÷ (‘divide’), he smashed streaming records and stormed the global charts, including almost doubling the previous first day Spotify album streams for an artist. Sheeran is currently the most streamed artist there, with over 45.5m monthly listeners. More stats: ____________________________ Spotify…

Apple Claims To Be Leading Way On Song Metadata To "Ensure Songwriters Get Paid"

Often known for it’s progressive behavior in the tech industry, Apple is taking steps to encourage artists to get their music’s copyright registered with one of several relevant publishing organizations although one organization, the U.S. Copyright Office is conspicuously absent from this list. ______________________ Guest post by Chris Castle of…

OFFICIAL: Spotify Has 50 Million Paid Subscribers

Spotify yesterday confirmed that it now has more than 50 million paid subscribers to its Premium streaming music service. That’s up 25% from the 4o million announced 7 months ago in September of 2016. Spotify took to Twitter to make today’s announcement. Thank you to our 50 million subscribers. #Spotify50…

Spotify Preps Launch Of Hi-FI Music Tier

[UPDATED] Hi – Fi, Hi-Rez or Lossless. Whatever you want to call it, higher quality music streaming offers a new revenue opportunity for both streamers and rightholders. A new public test signals that Spotify is about to join Tidal in offering a premium hi-fi music tier. _________________________________ Spotify is openly…

Richard Conlon Joins SoundExchange To Head Industry Relations, Public Policy

SoundExchange has named Richard Conlon as Chief External Affairs Officer. He will oversee industry relations, corporate communications and public policy efforts. The appointment comes at a time when SoundExchange is facing increased pressure from direct licensing deals. Richard Conlon Prior to joining SoundExchange, Conlon spent three years as a senior…

Spotify Launches #SXSW Fan Hub, Curated Playlists

Spotify has teamed with SXSW to share the festival’s music experience with those unable to travel to Austin. Users can access Spotify SXSW genre-specific curated playlists on the SXSW 2017 hub on Spotify and within the SXSW GO app. For those able to experience live some of the 2,200 artists…