TIDAL Tests Africa Expansion

TIDAL is struggling to gain traction the US and Europe, but the Jay-Z led music streamer is set to launch in Uganda via a partnership with local telecom MTN. TIDAL previously launched in South Africa, where rival Spotify already has a foothold. The deal will provide MTN Uganda customers a…

You Can Now Change Your Profile Photo On Apple Music

Apple Music is slowly but surely making its free Apple Music For Artists more useful. The latest updated allows musicians and their teams to upload and change the bio and profile photos on their artist page on both Apple Music and iTunes. It’s a feature that Spotify For Artists and…

These Overpaid Law Professors Hate Seeing Musicians Paid, But Love Billionaires [Op-Ed]

Here David Lowery delves into what possible reason forty-two IP law professors could have for wanting to prevent the closure of the pre-1972 copyright loophole which has allowed a select few to profit while artists suffer. ____________________________________ Guest post by David C. Lowery of The Trichordist By “copyright holders” Prof…

Apple To Win Unconditional EU Nod To Acquire Shazam

Apple is set to win unconditional European Union antitrust commision approval for its acquisition of popular music identification and discovery app Shazam, according to multiple sources. Announced in December, the deal will be a boost to Apple Music as it competes with Spotify. It could also prove a problem for…

Ariana Grande Breaks Spotify Female Streaming Record

Move over Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande just broke the Spotify debut week streaming record for a female artist only five days after the release of ‘Sweetener’. Grande’s new album had more than 109 million global Spotify streams, according to Chart Data. Ariana Grande’s ‘Sweetener’ has broken the global Spotify record…

Spotify Secret Genius Award Nominees 2018 [Full List]

Spotify’s second annual Secret Genius Awards designed to the people behind the music – songwriters, producers, engineers and even beat makers – will be hosted by NE-YO on November 16 at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles Mix Engineers. 2017’s first Spotify Secret Genius Awards honored Rick…

Kanye West Tweet Leads To Class Action Lawsuit

A Kanye West tweet has led to a class action lawsuit. In February, 2016, West tweeted that his album Life of Pablo would be available on Tidal, and “never never never” be available on iTunes. Six week later the album was available on iTunes and Spotify. Meanwhile, Tidal subscriptions climbed…

Amazon Music Launches Ad Campaign w/ Ariana Grande, Kendrick Lamar, SZA, More [VIDEO]

As anticipated, Amazon Music has launched its biggest marketing campaign to date, It’s part of an effort to claim the growing streamer’s status alongside Spotify and Apple Music. This new campaign focuses on voice music search with Alexa under the slogan and hashtag #AVoiceIsAllYouNeed. Featured in Amazon Music’s new ad…

Spotify, Other Streamers Losing Revenue To Ad-Blockers

Ad-blockers increasingly mean lost revenue for Spotify. musicians and record labels. Spotify and some other music streaming services support their free tier with advertising. But sophisticated ad-blockers are allowing millions of users to listen to music without any ads. Ahead of its IPO, Spotify admitted that an estimated 2 million…

Dear Spotify, Tencent’s Struggles Offer Cautionary Tale

As Chinese internet giant Tencent struggles with profitability and maintaining a strong stock market valuation, Spotify, which owns a significant stake in Tencent Music (and visa versa), should pay attention to avoid a similar misfortune. _________________________ Guest post by Chris Castle of Music Tech Solutions If you’ve ever asked yourself…