TikTok Passes 120M Montlhy Users In India As Label Talks, Streaming Plans Continue

TikTok now has 200 million registered users, with 120 million using the short video app every month. The milestone comes as the company is in talks with major labels and publishers to launch a music streaming service. ByteDance, the Chinese conglomerate that owns TikTok, could launch its Spotify competitor as…

SoundCloud Promotes Michael Weissman To President

SoundCloud has promoted Michael Weissman to President. He will report to Chief Executive Officer, Kerry Trainor. Weissman previously served as SoundCloud Chief Operating Officer. Weissman was has been a key player in SoundCloud’s strategic partnerships and acquisitions including its ad sales partnership with Pandora in the U.S., several exclusive international…

DistroKid Links With Audible Magic To Verify Music Authenticity, Launches DistroLock

DistroKid has joined a growing list of music distributors and services using Audible Magic to fight unauthorized content by verifying the authenticity of both tracks and artists before it is distributed. CD Baby and The Orchard, both of whom have been tagged by Spotify and Apple Music as preferred partners…

Spotify Exec Shane Tobin Exits For Sofar Sounds

Spotify Head of Partnerships for Content & Creator, Shane Tobin, is leaving the streamer to become Sofar Sounds VP of Partnerships and Entertainment Relations, Hypebot has confirmed. Sofar Sounds recently announced $25 million in new funding led by Battery Ventures and Union Square Venture. Three months ago, former Spotify and…

Spotify Launches Your Daily Drive Music + News Playlist

Spotify has added Your Daily Drive, a playlist that combines personalized music with news and short features. At launch, the Wall Street Journal, NPR and PRI are providing non-music content. The music mixes old and new based on the user’s previous listening habits. Your Daily Drive has launched for all…

5 Trends That Make Gen Z The Streaming Generation

The Culture Next Trends report commissioned by Spotify and research agency Culture Co-Op looks into the empowered, multinational, cross-cultural, socially aware, and informed group of 15- to 24-year-olds dubbed Generation Z. “We’re bold, fearless, careless, creative, and intriguing,” says Addy, a study participant from North Carolina. Powering this sentiment is…

Siri To Control Spotify, Pandora, Other Streaming Apps

Apple has included Siri support for Spotify, Pandora and other third-party music and media apps in the upcoming iOS 13. A new developer tool, SiriKit for Audio, now makes it possible for iOS audio app developers to integrate Siri’s search and play feature. Apple currently puts severe limits on Siri’s…

Revenue Per User To Fall 25% Even As Streaming Grows In Popularity says Goldman Sachs Study

The global recorded music business brought in $19.1 billion in revenue in 2018, according the IFPI. By 2030, that number will grow to $45 billion, with streaming expected to represent $27.5 billion of the total, according to a new Goldman Sachs analysis. The total number of paid music-streaming subscriptions worldwide…

Chartmetric Offers Artist Cross-Platform Performance Ranking

In this in-depth article from Chartmetric, Josh Hayes provides a detailed breakdown of how to utilize the website’s data warehouse to instantaneously compare and analyze the general performance of artists across platforms. ____________________________ Guest post by Josh Hayes of Chartmetric The biggest challenge to understanding artist performance is contextualizing different…

Streaming Video Updates From YouTube, Instagram

If you’re a band or artist, chances are you have either an Instagram or YouTube presence, if not both. Here we break down a couple of important updates to both platforms when it comes to video streaming. ______________________________ Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0 Not everyone has a…