Downloads, Streaming See New Lows, New Highs

Although it is unlikely to surprise anyone, some new numbers which have recently come in have revealed milestones for both downloads and streaming, with the forming hitting an all time low, while the latter is growing faster than ever. ______________________________ Guest post by Glenn Peoples of Pandora These news items…

Neil Young Catalog Returns To Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Napster, Deezer, Others

[UPDATE 2] Neil Young has been one of the most vocal critics of music streaming, primarily because of audio quality. In April of 2015, he pulled all of his catalog off of most music streamers, making it available only on Tidal, which offers a hi-fi streaming option. At the time,…

"Go Cubs Go" Streams Spike Dramatically After World Series Win

After last night’s dramatic World Series 2016 win, streams of Steve Goodman’s "Go Cubs Go" spiked last night. Streams were up over 6500% on Spotify. LISTEN: Related articles SEO Keyword Research For Musicians Ukulele Basics For Beginners Marketing Yourself As An Artist Should I Write Original Music Or Music That…

Napster Partners With Sprint, EVEN and Lufthansa, Joins Music Industry Initiatives

Napster has been a little silent lately compared to competitors like Spotify and Apple Music. But that doesn’t mean the music streamer formerly know as Rhapsody has not been busy cutting deals to expand its reach. Music streamer Napster today announced several new mobile carrier, hardware, retail, and airline industry…

YouTube Red Has Just 1.5 Million Paid Subscribers [Report]

It’s not easy to get people to pay for something that they are used to using for free. That’s the man takeaway from a new report that YouTube’s paid service Red had just 1.5 million paid subscribers as of this summer. ___________________________________ YouTube Red had just 1.5 million paying subscribers…

A Major Shift For Music Streamer 8tracks In U.S.

Here 8tracks’ David Porter takes a moment to explain 8track’s shift in a new direction towards their 8tracks+ subscription model and the broader impact this alteration will have the 8tracks community as a whole. Along the way he provides some lessons for all music tech startups. __________________________ Guest post by…

Spotify Relaunches Artists Site As "How To" Guide, But Stops Sharing Per Stream Payment Rates

The Spotify Artists site has relaunched with an emphasis on "how to" be more successful on the music streamer. "The music industry’s still in the midst of a major transition – and we’re committed to making it work for everyone," wrote Spotify’s Troy Carter. But missing from the previous Artist…

Spotify’s Most Played and Viral Songs In The US, UK and Globally 11.2.16

A look at this past week’s most streamed and viral songs on Spotify in the US, UK and around the world. _____________________________________ Week of 11/2 The Spotify Weekly Charts highlight top artists by listener along with the past week’s most streamed and viral songs in the US, UK and around…

Should Spotify’s Daily Mix Be A Standalone Product?

After initially focusing more on human curation, the introduction of Spotify’s more algorithm-based Daily Mix feature was extremely well received by users. Many were frustrated at the inability to synch the playlist for offline listening however, suggesting that both Spotify and its consumers might benefit from the conversion of Daily…

What We’ve Lost In The Age Of Streaming Music

Here Paul Cantor laments the lost age of downloadable mix tapes, bootlegs, and artist catalogues as well as other forms of content no longer available on streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music, plus the the demise of the blogs which once contained them. ___________________________ Guest post by writer and…