Holdout Warner Music has become the last of the major music group to sign a direct deal with Pandora. The deal paves the way for Pandora to launch a full service on demand streaming music service. _____________________________________ Two days after it announced direct deals with UMG, Sony, Merlin and 30…
Category archives: Streaming & Cloud
Universal, Sony Team To Launch Low Cost Streaming Music Service
Sony and Universal Music have quietly teamed to launch their own budget streaming music service. Extending the popular NOW music compilation brand, Now That’s What I Call Music+ will offer streams of hit songs at a budget price. __________________________________ Universal Music Group and Sony Entertainment have team to launch a…
Apple Kills Tidal Bailout Rumors
After financial filings that shows Tidal losses doubling to $28 million last year and hints that Jay Z’s music streamer was running out of cash, there were renewed rumors that Apple was in acquisition talks. _____________________________ A top Apple Music exec has denied that Apple is in talks to acquire…
Are New Cheap Tiers From Pandora, Amazon Worth $4.99?
$5 a month has often been touted as the magic monthly fee which will precipitate a massive surge in subscriber growth, a theory which looks as though it’s about to be tested, with both Amazon and Pandora announcing a lower priced tier. _______________________________ Guest Post by Bobby Owsinski on Music…
Pandora Rebrands $4.99 Service As Pandora Plus, Adds Offline Listening Alongside New Features For Free Tier
Pandora has rebranded its Premium ad free tier as Pandora Plus and added new features to both its paid and free services. Toady’s launch is phase one of a reboot, that will see Pandora launching a full on demand streaming service before the end of the year. ________________________________________________ Pandora has…
Spotify Paid Subscribers Grow 33% in 6 Months To 40 Million, But It’s A Dodgy Number
New numbers shared by Spotify CEO Daniel EK show the music streamer growing from 30 million paid subscribers 6 months ago to 40 million. The music streamer appears to be solidifying its dominate position, even as major competitors, including Pandora and Amazon, new ready services. __________________________________________ Spotify now has 40…
Tidal Losses Double To $28M, May Be Running Out Of Cash
Tidal losses doubled year over year to $28 million, according to new filings. The losses say a lot about about Jay Z’s model which emphasizes exclusives from top artists, as well as, the viability of the streaming business model even for a service with no free tier. ___________________________________ Tidal losses…
Revamped Apple Music, iTunes 12.5.1 Released
Apple released its promised revamp of Apple Music which puts data-driven music discovery front and center, alongside a new version of iTunes. Both add features that make Apple’s music services more competitive. _________________________________________ iTunes 12.5.1 is now available to download from the Mac App Store. It includes support for iOS…
Why People Pay For Subscription Entertainment Services
Here Karen Allen looks what makes a person willing (or unwilling) to pay for subscription entertainment, depending on whether the content they’re accessing is premium or non-premium. ______________________________ Guest Post by Karen Allen on Medium I’ve been giving a lot of thought to subscription entertainment services and why people will…
Pandora Signs Direct Deals With UMG, Sony, 30 Indies Paving Way For New Music Service – WMG Last Holdout
UPDATED: Early Tuesday morning Pandora announced most, but not all, of the deals it needs to launch an on demand subscription music service. With robust $5 and $10 tiers likely and unique features created to help artists reach their fans, Pandora is poised to offer a real alternative to Spotify…