Author: Stuart Dredge

Publishing innovation: ‘You can’t take a Ferrari engine and put it into a Model T!’

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

The publishing strand at last week’s NY:LON Connect conference included keynotes from Primary Wave’s Natalia Nastaskin and PopArabia / Reservoir’s Spek.
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Source: Music ally

Family in Music to launch MgNTa online music identifier

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

We’ve seen various attempts in recent years to improve the quality of metadata identifying the writers of songs and their splits. Session, for example, has created tools to encourage songwriters to start creating this metadata from the earliest stage of their working process. Another startup has emerged today with its own ideas. Family in Music […]
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Source: Music ally

UMG’s 10.22PM label is launching a Gorillaz-style NFT group

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

It’s a sign of the times when the world’s biggest major label has an imprint described as “a next-gen Web3 label that discovers and develops artists, intellectual property, brands and digital creators”.
The post UMG’s 10.22PM label is launching a Gorillaz-style NFT group appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Courtney Barnett trails new album with stem-mixing website

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

‘Things Take Time, Take Time’ according to the next album by Australian artist Courtney Barnett. What doesn’t take much time is messing about with some of the tracks on it, courtesy of a neat ‘Stem Mixer’ site launched in advance of the album.
It offers up three of the album’s tracks in their individual stems: drums, bass, various guitars, synths and vocals depending on the track.
The interaction involves dragging faders to turn the volume up or down on each stem, as well as muting or soloing them, with the ability to create a loop and set it running too.
Unsurprisingly you can’t save the results or share them, but the site points fans in the direction of pre-saving or pre-ordering the album itself to hear Barnett’s official mix  when it comes out.
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Source: Music ally

Coldplay and Amazon Music launch a two-day album installation

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

The big streaming services love a pop-up installation partnership with a major artist. The latest example is Amazon Music teaming up with Coldplay to launch ‘The Atmospheres’.
It’s an “intergalactic audio-visual experience” that will touch down in London, New York, Tokyo and Berlin (unsurprisingly, in the four countries that are Amazon Music’s biggest markets) for two days from 15 October, with fans able to book tickets for five-minute slots in the installation.
“Fans can create their own alien language messages, snap selfies in the augmented reality photobooth, and even help to power the experience through bespoke kinetic walkways,” is the promise. 
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Source: Music ally

Platoon is co-launching a lo-fi label called Arden Records

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

The rise of lo-fi hip-hop has been headed by YouTube channels like ChillHop Music and ChilledCow (recently rebranded as Lofi Girl). It’s interesting to see other players getting involved though, including Apple’s artist development subsidiary Platoon.
It’s a partner in the launch of Arden Records, a new label focusing on lo-fi music co-founded by Nepali artist and producer Sagun; Jordan Smith of S+ Mgmt, and Andrew Kwan of Romantic Music Group.
Its first release is an EP by Sagun, also called ‘Arden’.
“In the beginning of my career, I didn’t have a team and lacked music industry knowledge, but through starting Arden Records, I want to help artists achieve their goals by offering my guidance and providing the proper resources I never knew I needed,” he said.
The post Platoon is co-launching a lo-fi label called Arden Records appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Output revamps its Arcade music creation software

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Output is the company behind music-making software Arcade, and it is giving the tools a revamp.
Arcade 2.0 has launched this week as a free update for its subscribers. New features include adding ‘professional tier chromatic instruments’ to sit alongside its existing catalogue of samples; and a ‘Kit Generator’ that uses AI to turn audio into a kit of manipulated samples based on it.
The pitch is that it’s even more of an all-in-one tool for musicians. “What you can do in Arcade used to take a dozen different plugins. Now, you’ve got vocal chops, chords, melodies, basslines, loops, samples and one shots – all in a single place, all refreshed daily,” as CEO Gregg Lehrman put it.
The launch follows Output’s $45m Series A funding round in October 2020, at which point Arcade had been used by more than 420,000 musicians – around a third of whom were pros, but a quarter of whom were brand new to digital music making.
The post Output revamps its Arcade music creation software appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

HarbourView Equity Partners has $1bn to spend on rights

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Another company is entering the crowded market for music rights. Well, HarbourView Equity Partners has a wider focus than just music: it’s planning to invest in entertainment rights too, with a team that has experience in film, TV and sports alongside music.
In an interview with the New York Times, founder and CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares says that HarbourView has $1bn to spend, courtesy of backing from another investment firm Apollo Global Management, and that it will be looking for deals in areas that she thinks have been under the radar or undervalued by existing music rights investors.
“We want to invest differently, not coloured by preconceived notions. Just because something is in the R&B sector, or in the Latin sector, we don’t believe that it should have a discount,” said Clarke Soares, who previously founded and ran another investment firm, Tempo Music.
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Source: Music ally

TikTok wants to help brands license music to use on its app

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

The boundary between user-generated content and sponsored or branded content is important for music rightsholders, who feel strongly that if a video on a social app or video service is being paid for by a brand, it should be a proper sync.
But what about brands who want to use original music for their own content? One of those services, TikTok, is trying to help with its new ‘Sound Partners’ program.
The post TikTok wants to help brands license music to use on its app appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Spotify sells artist services site SoundBetter back to its founders

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

In September 2019, Spotify bought SoundBetter, a website helping musicians to find collaborators including songwriters, studio musicians, producers and mixing/mastering engineers, as well as studios to record in. Two years later, it has sold the business back to its founders.
“Together, Spotify and SoundBetter benefited from many synergies, but as SoundBetter continues to evolve, both parties agreed that the company is best positioned for the next stage of growth by returning to the founders that have been committed to shepherding it from the beginning,” said Dom Sanya, Spotify’s global head of creator marketing.
It’s very much an amicable parting of ways according to the statements.
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Source: Music ally

Opulous to sell ‘S-NFTs’ for artists Lil Pump and KSHMR

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

It will be working with artists Lil Pump and KSHMR to sell ‘S-NFTs’ – a term they’ve coined to describe NFTs sold as ‘securities’ under US financial regulations
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Source: Music ally

Deezer’s next livestreaming move: a stake in startup Driift

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

The Covid-19 pandemic isn’t over yet, but bigger fish in the worlds of live and streaming music are already circling the most promising startups in the livestreaming space.
We have seen Live Nation take a majority stake in Veeps, and (see below) Dice acquiring Boiler Room. Now Deezer is making its second livestreaming investment in a matter of months: acquiring a minority stake in livestreaming production and promotion firm Driift.
This follows Deezer’s similar move with livestreaming startup Dreamstage – the company founded by former Sony Music digital boss Thomas Hesse – in May. “Deezer will leverage its technology and expertise to actively support Driift’s future growth, including the roll-out of new products and offerings,” is how Deezer described the impact of its second deal.
The post Deezer’s next livestreaming move: a stake in startup Driift appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

RichCast promises ‘voice-driven’ interactive stories and podcasts

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Spotify likes to see itself as the on-demand audio platform that will kill off ‘linear radio’, but even its audio is still linear in the sense that you choose a track, playlist or podcast and listen to it.
However, the emergence of smart speakers and voice assistants has seen some experimentation around interactive audio, such as Choose Your Own Adventure-style branching narratives. Something that Netflix has also explored in the video space.
A British startup called Panivox is hoping to build on this with its own platform called RichCast, which is launching later this year.
The company describes its focus as “voice-driven interactive entertainment”, which will deliver stories, digital comics, factual shows and education via its own app for iOS, Android, PC and Mac.
The post RichCast promises ‘voice-driven’ interactive stories and podcasts appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Startup Files: Serenade offers another spin on music NFTs

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

In August, Serenade announced itself as the latest startup looking to help musicians and music brands create and sell NFTs.
It promised to be both accessible – fans could pay using regular debit and credit cards – and environmentally sustainable through its use of an ‘eco-friendly’ blockchain called Polygon.
Since then, Serenade has worked with artists including Super Furry Animals and Jungle, as well as music festival Strawberries & Creem. Upcoming drops include NFTs from Kaiser Chiefs, Ride, Alexis Taylor out of Hot Chip, The Game and Emeli Sandé.
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Source: Music ally

Instagram ‘pauses’ its plans to build Instagram Kids app

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Instagram was making a version of its app for children aged under 13. Now it’s not – at least not for the moment.
“We believe building Instagram Kids is the right thing to do, but we’re pausing the work,” wrote Instagram boss Adam Mosseri in a blog post yesterday.
“This will give us time to work with parents, experts, policymakers and regulators, to listen to their concerns, and to demonstrate the value and importance of this project for younger teens online today.”
The post Instagram ‘pauses’ its plans to build Instagram Kids app appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Single Music opens up its video streaming for Shopify stores

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Single Music is a startup that makes a ‘monetised video’ tool for ecommerce platform Shopify, so that artists using the latter to sell merch can also use it for ticketed livestreams.
The company says that it has sold nearly a million tickets and generated more than $22m of revenue for its clients since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It has been choosing which artists to work with – including Def Leppard, Smashing Pumpkins and Korn – but now it is opening up the tool so that it can be used by any artist on Shopify on a self-serve basis.
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Source: Music ally

Song Sleuth seeks out user-uploaded live music recordings

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

There are several ways labels can scan video and social services for use of their recordings, including the tools of those platforms and third-party startups.
What about recordings of live music performances though? That’s a trickier task, but startups are trying to tackle that too. Song Sleuth is one example.
It uses AI and machine learning to scan social platforms to identify live recordings, then has a human team of moderators to check them, before submitting monetisation claims. The company says it works on an artist-by-artist or label-by-label basis.
Its executive team includes CEO Jordan Gross, the former CEO of karaoke service Sing King, and COO Lucas Bleeg, formerly of The Orchard and Studio71.
Armed with a “finding the unfindable” slogan, it will be hoping to carve out a niche for itself alongside established startups like Pex, which says its own ‘attribution engine’ is also capable of detecting live versions of tracks.
The post Song Sleuth seeks out user-uploaded live music recordings appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

BT and Paul Oakenfold put blockchain at the heart of new albums

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Since the earliest days of blockchain hype in the music industry, electronic music artists have often been the first to experiment with the technology: particularly those that are most tech-savvy and who control their rights.
There are two new examples this week. First, trance legend BT is releasing what’s being described as “the world’s first programmatic album… designed from the ground up for the blockchain”.
It’s called ‘Metaversal’ and is being released as an NFT. The album plays differently if you listen to it in the day, at night or during a full moon, and there’s a cryptographic treasure hunt built in for fans. It follows BT’s ‘Genesis.Json’ project in May, which was also sold as an NFT (for the ether equivalent of $217.2k).
The post BT and Paul Oakenfold put blockchain at the heart of new albums appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

NMPA and Roblox reach a deal to dismiss $200m lawsuit

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

To co-opt the old adage about buses… you wait ages for a rancorous music publishing / tech dispute to be put to rest with an agreement that isn’t a licensing deal in itself, but paves the way for such deals… then two come along at once!
Yes, less than a week after the US National Music Publishers Association buried the hatchet with Twitch, it has now reached an agreement with Roblox – the gaming company it was suing for $200m alleging “unabashed exploitation of music without proper licences”.
As with the Twitch news, this is not a platform-wide licensing deal covering the NMPA’s members, but rather a bridging agreement that will give Roblox the time and space to reach its own deals with those publishers.
The post NMPA and Roblox reach a deal to dismiss $200m lawsuit appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

WMG and Epic Games invest in music licensing startup Lickd

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

UK firm Lickd is one of the startups trying to make it easier for YouTubers and other online creators to license commercial music to use in their videos.
Now it has raised £5.1m of funding from some very interesting investors: Warner Music Group, Fortnite publisher (and Apple nemesis) Epic Games, and the investment firm of Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, which led the round.
The WMG investment follows the major label’s licensing deal with Lickd in August 2020, which itself came a few months after the startup signed a similar agreement with Universal Music Group.
Lickd says it will use the funding to continue growing its library of tracks, developing its technology and expanding internationally.
The company first emerged in 2017, initially called Hookd before changing its name to Lickd later that year. It joined the Abbey Road Red incubator in early 2018, was a finalist in the Midemlab startups contest that year, and then raised £1.7m of funding in early 2019.
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Source: Music ally

Poppy is the first artist to hold a listening party on Roblox

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Gaming platform Roblox has hosted a number of music performances over the last year, but now it has launched another way for artists and labels to work with it: listening parties. Poppy (and her label, Sumerian Records) were the first to take advantage this past weekend. Unlike the concerts, this isn’t about an artist creating […]
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Source: Music ally

Quality Control and Empire invest in social music app Riff

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Riff is a cross between livestreaming apps and (with its ‘rooms’ structure) Clubhouse. The app is also the recipient of a $4m funding round from investors including three music companies.
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Source: Music ally

UK research on music creators’ digital earnings is out today

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Earlier this week, the British government said that the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) would soon be publishing its report on music creator’s earnings in the digital era. How soon? It’s out this morning!
To be clear: this is very much an exercise in gathering and presenting data, rather than coming down on one side or the other in the ever-heated debate about artists and streaming royalties. It’s a report that aims to inform that debate rather than to lambast major labels, tear a strip off streaming services, or say that everything’s fine and musicians should stop moaning.
“Our main objective is to provide evidence that might contribute to a more informed debate about matters of public concern concerning music creators’ earnings,” as the authors put it.
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Source: Music ally

More than 40m Apple Music listeners have tried spatial audio

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

The launch of Apple’s iOS 15 software this week has brought with it some new features for Apple Music, including ‘dynamic headtracking’.
What’s that? A feature that reorients Apple’s spatial audio around the movements of the listener’s head, if they’re using the company’s AirPods Pro and AirPods Max ‘phones.
More than 40 million Apple Music listeners have already tried spatial audio on the service, with Apple having promoted the feature to them energetically since its launch earlier this year.
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Source: Music ally

UK government refers major labels to competition regulator

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

The UK is one step closer to a full-blown competition investigation into the three major labels.
The British government has accepted one of the recommendations of the recent UK parliamentary inquiry into music-streaming economics: to make a referral to regulator the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
We say ‘one step closer’ because the CMA is an independent body: the government can’t order it to investigate a particular sector or company, it can only make referrals to it. The CMA will now decide whether to launch a probe into “the economic impact of dominance by the major music groups”.
It is already in the second phase of an investigation of Sony Music’s acquisition of AWAL, having concluded in the first phase that the deal raised competition concerns.
We covered the report from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee that held the recent inquiry in July: you can read our analysis of its recommendations here, and if you’re really keen, you can read our free ebook gathering our coverage of the entire inquiry and the wider debates about artists and streaming.
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Source: Music ally

TikTok’s sister app Douyin limits children’s usage in China

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Douyin is the Chinese version of TikTok, and like other apps that are popular with young people in China, it’s facing pressure to limit the time they spend on its service.
Cue what Douyin described in a blog post as “the most stringent youth protection measures in the history of the platform” – a ‘youth mode’ for people under the age of 14 that will limit their daily usage to 40 minutes.
Douyin is also going to be upping the educational content for anyone in youth mode: “novel and interesting popular science experiments, exhibitions in museums and galleries, beautiful scenery across the country, explanations of historical knowledge, and so on”.
The post TikTok’s sister app Douyin limits children’s usage in China appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Audio analysis startup Musicube plans US expansion after funding

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

German startup Musicube is the latest company touting AI-powered technology to analyse and tag catalogues of music.
The company has just raised $560k of funding to continue developing its audio analysis product, which is already being used by clients including Sony Music and Budde Music Publishing.
Musicube has been developing its technology for use by labels, publishers and streaming service, while also showcasing it in a free-to-use playlist generator tool on its website. Based on the disco playlist we had it whip up to accompany our news writing this morning, it has potential.
“Our research shows that a healthy percentage – that is, 40 percent – of younger listeners would install a playlist generator app, and that is one reason why Musicube now eyes the U.S. market,” said CEO David Hoga.
Musicube joins an increasingly crowded audio analysis and tagging sector, alongside the likes of Musiio, Cyanite, MyPart and Aims API.
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Source: Music ally

Stageverse raises $7.5m and launches Muse virtual concert

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

In August 2020, we reported on Muse’s plans to launch a ‘Simulation Theory: Virtual Experience’ with virtual reality startup Stageverse. It was originally due to launch that autumn, but just over a year later, the full show is now ready for its debut. Now called ‘Muse: Enter The Simulation’, it will be available through Stageverse’s iOS, Android and […]
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Source: Music ally

Gaana narrows losses, but its revenue growth has slowed down

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

As one of the biggest streaming services in India, Gaana is a useful bellwether for the market as a whole.
New figures show that in its last financial year, which ended in March 2021, the company’s operating revenue grew by just 2.6% to 1.23bn rupees (around $16.7m) while its losses fell by 7% – but were still 3.27bn rupees ($44.4m).
The figures come from Billboard’s profile of the Indian market, honing in on its continued struggle to persuade people to pay for music subscriptions.
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Source: Music ally

Universal Music goes public and soars beyond initial valuation of $39bn

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

The question of how much Universal Music Group is worth has been a hot topic in recent years. Escalating estimates from Goldman Sachs, for example, which valued UMG at $23.3bn in 2017, rising to $53bn in April 2021.
Or, more conservatively, with the €30bn (around $36.4bn at the time) valuation of UMG when a consortium led by Tencent upped its stake in the major label to 20% early this year.
From today, we’ll have an official – if changeable according to the whims of the market – valuation of the company, as it goes public on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange. The spin-off from parent company Vivendi has been a long time coming – not to mention buffeted by a global pandemic, and a late attempt at a SPAC-based investment that fell foul of regulators.
Still, it’s public listing day for UMG, and the reference price is €18.50 per share, which means an initial valuation of €33.5bn (just over $39bn) for the company. First day trading being what it is, we could see a few lumps and bumps for the share price before it settles down.
At the time of writing, the price has soared to €25.25, and thus a valuation of €46.3bn (around $54.3bn, which makes that latest Goldman Sachs figure look on the money for now).
The bigger picture here is partly one of investors’ bullishness about the music industry and music rights – a trend that extends past trading in public companies to include the continued frenzy of catalogue buyouts.
Also, with a growing number of the industry’s biggest players now public, and thus sharing more detailed figures on their businesses every quarter, we’ll have more insight into the mechanics of the streaming-era industry. Something that will influence the ups and downs of these companies’ share prices, but also the ongoing debate about how the streaming pie is shared out.
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Source: Music ally

CTS Eventim expands its live entertainment business to Asia

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Live firm CTS Eventim is expanding into Asia with a new subsidiary, Eventim Live Asia. Led by former Live Nation exec Jason Miller, the division will be based in Singapore, with a focus on markets including China, Japan, South Korea and various other south east Asian countries. In its announcement, the company stressed Miller’s credentials, […]
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Source: Music ally

Two positive TikTok studies… and a third that’s less so

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

TikTok has commissioned and published two new studies to trumpet its impact on music and culture, although a third study also published yesterday – an investigation of its recommendation algorithm’s workings by the Wall Street Journal – offers a considerably less sunny outlook on the social app’s impact. On the sunny side, MRC Data authored a study of TikTok and […]
The post Two positive TikTok studies… and a third that’s less so appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Sony Music sues fitness brand Gymshark over music usage

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Major labels are very keen to strike licensing deals with fitness tech startups, but they’re equally unkeen about the idea of other kinds of fitness brands using their music without the necessary agreements. Witness Sony Music’s new copyright infringement lawsuit against Gymshark, which makes a popular range of fitness clothing and kit. As MBW reported, […]
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Source: Music ally

Anne-Marie debuts her new album as a series of TikTok clips

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

We’ve seen artists debut tracks as clips on TikTok ahead of their official release, but Anne-Marie is going a step further and making her entire new album available for TikTokers to use. Yesterday, clips of all the tracks from the album were released on TikTok, ahead of its launch on Friday. Meanwhile, Anne-Marie will be […]
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Source: Music ally

YouTube’s latest tipping feature focuses on individual videos

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

YouTube viewers already have three ways to support their favourite creators by paying: Super Chat, Super Stickers, and channel subscriptions. Now there’s a fourth, Super Thanks, and unlike the first two above, it isn’t restricted to being used during livestreams. This feature has actually been in testing since February this year, initially under the name […]
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Source: Music ally

Apple Arcade set to launch music-themed Tetris Beat game

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Mention of Tetris and music will set an almighty earworm going for many readers – and if it doesn’t, we can help with that! But yes, the latest Tetris game will have a musical focus, including licensed tracks. It’s called Tetris Beat, and will be exclusive to the Apple Arcade games service when it launches in the […]
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Source: Music ally

Chartmetric report explores gender pronouns for artists

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Analytics firm Chartmetric has published its trends report for the first half of 2021, analysing the fastest growing artists on various streaming services and social platforms. Spoiler: Olivia Rodrigo had a decent six months! There’s some good stuff on tracks ranked by their TikTok growth, including the tale of a 1960 track called ‘Bongo Cha Cha […]
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Source: Music ally

Spotify’s new artist, genre and decade-based mixes go live

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

During its recent ‘Stream On’ event Spotify revealed plans to launch a new suite of personalised playlists as an expansion to its ‘Daily Mix’ family. They’d be based on artists, genres and decades. Now the new mixes are rolling out to free and premium listeners globally, sitting within Spotify’s ‘Made For You’ hub alongside its other […]
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Source: Music ally

Bandsintown publishes findings from new livestreaming survey

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Bandsintown has been talking to artists and fans again about their livestreaming views and habits. Its latest survey canvassed 7,688 people, and found that 86% of fans have watched at least one music livestream within the past 12 months, while 31% have streamed seven or more. 62% have paid for a livestream, while 55% say […]
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Source: Music ally

Apple leads $50m funding round for distributor UnitedMasters

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Remember when Spotify invested in distributor DistroKid back in October 2018? Now its biggest rival is making a similar move. Yesterday, Apple led a $50m Series B funding round for UnitedMasters, alongside Alphabet (yes, Apple and Google’s parent company investing together) and Andreessen Horowitz. Apple isn’t just opening its wallet: the deal includes a strategic partnership which […]
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Source: Music ally

OurSouls takes on Clubhouse with NFT-minted live audio debates

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

2021 is the year audio startup Clubhouse became a $1bn unicorn, but it’s facing plenty of competition.
Twitter and Facebook already have Clubhouse-like features in testing, Spotify just bought Locker Room, and startup OurSouls is launching out of stealth mode this morning with an iPhone app, and funding led by VC firm Looflirpa Fund.
Silicon Valley veteran Hillman Hunter, fresh from a lucrative exit for his ephemeral payday-loans startup CashFlow·io, says it can take on the established live-audio competition.
“Our strength will be our community: literal OurSouls who are creators and consumers of compelling audio content,” he said.
The post OurSouls takes on Clubhouse with NFT-minted live audio debates appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Dapper Labs capitalises on NFT fever with $305m funding round

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

NFTs may be all the rage in 2021, but startup Dapper Labs was one of the first companies to explore blockchain-powered digital goods with its CryptoKitties game in 2017. It has since gone on to have another big hit with its NBA Top Shot basketball partnership, and also took investment from Warner Music Group in September 2019. […]
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Source: Music ally

Video requests startup Cameo raises $100m funding round

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

We recently reported on video requests startup Cameo’s growth in 2020, when it sold 1.3m videos of its celebrity community, generating revenues of $100m. Now the company has raised a Series C funding round, also of $100m, which sees Cameo graduate to ‘unicorn’ status with a valuation of just over $1bn. SoftBank, GV, Lightspeed, Kleiner Perkins, Spark […]
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Source: Music ally

Report explores the (pre-Covid) carbon footprint of touring DJs

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

“Last Night a DJ Took a Flight” is an excellent name for a report, even if many DJs’ touring has been grounded for more than a year by Covid-19. But the report, from Clean Scene, is an important analysis of the environmental impact of the electronic music industry before Covid struck, with thoughts on how […]
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Source: Music ally

T-Series finally joins Indian collecting society IPRS

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

India’s collecting society IPRS now has a full set of major music companies from the country, after T-Series joined the likes of Saregama and Times Music (plus the local subsidiaries of Sony and UMG) as a member. “With IPRS now representing the T-Series music publishing catalogue, it will improve the ease of doing business, with […]
The post T-Series finally joins Indian collecting society IPRS appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

YouTube trumpets hip-hop growth in push for more advertising

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

One particular hip-hop video may be giving YouTube some internal ructions (see earlier story) but the service is keen to talk up the wider importance of the genre – particularly for advertisers. “Of the top three genres on YouTube in the U.S. — hip-hop, rock and pop — hip-hop is the fastest growing,” wrote YouTube’s […]
The post YouTube trumpets hip-hop growth in push for more advertising appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

UK study questions majors/indies split on streaming playlists

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Do independent labels get a fair share of slots on music streaming services’ playlists? It’s a complicated question, with the answer having varied, historically, depending on which playlists you’re talking about (all of them, or just the big ones?), how you define independent (do major-distributed tracks count?) and other factors. The latest attempt to get […]
The post UK study questions majors/indies split on streaming playlists appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

TuneIn loses appeal in UK copyright infringement case

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Radio aggregator TuneIn has lost its appeal in a copyright infringement case brought against the company in the UK by Sony Music and Warner Music. The original ruling, in November 2019, was mixed with the High Court ruling that TuneIn wasn’t infringing with its live streams of radio stations already licensed in the UK, but […]
The post TuneIn loses appeal in UK copyright infringement case appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Barcelona gig had 5,000 fans with masks but no distancing

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Aware that some countries that have Covid-19 under control already have concerts and festivals up and running, we’re trying not to generalise about live music. However, for those countries still awaiting a musical reopening, this weekend’s concert in Barcelona for indie band Love of Lesbian will be an encouraging sight. It was an experiment for […]
The post Barcelona gig had 5,000 fans with masks but no distancing appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

NFTs explosion: Crypto.com, The Weeknd, Gorillaz, Lindsay Lohan…

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Say what you like about non-fungible tokens (NFTS) – and right now, everyone appears to be doing exactly that on Twitter – but it’s undeniable that there is a gold rush of musicians towards the idea. In the past few days alone, there has been a mini-blizzard of announcements and on-sales, with some prominent artists. Start with […]
The post NFTs explosion: Crypto.com, The Weeknd, Gorillaz, Lindsay Lohan… appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Research firms highlight growth in wellness and fitness apps

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Sensor Tower and App Annie are the two most high-profile research firms tracking the apps market. By a quirk of fate, both published some new stats yesterday around wellness and fitness apps – a current area of hot interest from the music industry. Sensor Tower predicted that ‘mental wellness’ apps will be downloaded more than 1bn times […]
The post Research firms highlight growth in wellness and fitness apps appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Music bodies slam Twitter for ‘rampant theft of creative works’

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Yesterday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (and his *sigh* bitcoin clock) made an appearance before a US House hearing about online extremism and misinformation. Copyright wasn’t the matter at hand, but a group of music industry bodies took the opportunity anyway to criticise Twitter for its attitude towards music licensing. The letter, sent by a group including the […]
The post Music bodies slam Twitter for ‘rampant theft of creative works’ appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

The NFTs boom is still sparking praise and scepticism

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Well, that’s a headline we could probably run every single day for the next few months. But with the music industry still buzzing with questions about non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and their potential, it’s worth keeping abreast of the latest debates. Start today with the “long-ass blog post” by artist Rev Dan Catt, which is an […]
The post The NFTs boom is still sparking praise and scepticism appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

The next Roblox? Gaming platform Rec Room raises $100m

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

The growth of Roblox and its use by labels and artists – not to mention Warner Music Group’s investment in it – has sparked interest within the music industry about other games platforms and microverses that might be worth investigating. We’d suggest Rec Room should be one of the first ports of call. The Seattle-based startup has just […]
The post The next Roblox? Gaming platform Rec Room raises $100m appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Matador launches ‘Revisionist History’ podcast using Anchor

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Don’t worry, independent label Matador isn’t launching a podcast claiming that President Kennedy was actually killed by alien assassins, or that the medieval plague was started by a time-travelling Bill Gates practising for Covid-19. The history being revised in the label’s new podcast is strictly its own: a chance for artists to talk about their […]
The post Matador launches ‘Revisionist History’ podcast using Anchor appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Sony Music’s 4th Floor Creative debuts Mood Playlist creator

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Spotify is a dab hand at curating playlists for a wide range of moods and contexts, but labels are keen to get into that game too. Witness the latest project from the 4th Floor Creative team within Sony Music UK, which has launched a site for music fans called ‘Mood Playlist‘. The pitch: “Instantly make […]
The post Sony Music’s 4th Floor Creative debuts Mood Playlist creator appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Spotify beta tests new marquee management tool in the US

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Marquee is Spotify’s marketing tool for promoting an artist’s new album to people who’ve listened to them – the full-screen pop-ups that appear over its mobile homescreen. Now Spotify is beta testing a new campaign management tool for marquee in the US, which will make these ads (well, ‘sponsored recommendations’) self-service. The tool will take the form […]
The post Spotify beta tests new marquee management tool in the US appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Beggars Group and Gary Numan clarify streaming payouts comments

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Recently, artist Gary Numan gave an interview to Sky News during which he talked about streaming royalties, and specifically about a small cheque he’d received.
“I had a statement a while back and one of my songs had had over a million plays, million streams, and it was £37. I got £37 from a million streams,” said Numan. The story has since been widely shared.
The label Numan is most associated with is Beggars Banquet, but this week Beggars Group founder Martin Mills got in touch with Music Ally with a joint statement from the label group and Gary Numan, clarifying that it was not the label involved.
You can read the full statement below: including some interesting data on what Numan is actually earning from streams of the music he recorded for Beggars Banquet.
The post Beggars Group and Gary Numan clarify streaming payouts comments appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Don’t freak out! Nile Rodgers gets a ‘voice-interactive portrait

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Does anyone in the music industry have better anecdotes than Nile Rodgers? Now he can deliver them in virtual form, which may save him repeating the best ones over and over. Rodgers has been turned into “the world’s first voice-interactive portrait” through a partnership between the UK’s National Portrait Gallery, Universal Music and Abbey Road […]
The post Don’t freak out! Nile Rodgers gets a ‘voice-interactive portrait appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

NFT trends include 50/50 split for musicians and visual artists

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Music NFTs must be big business. Look, the Wall Street Journal is writing about them! And it’s a good summary of the current activity (and hype) around non-fungible tokens in the music space. That includes stats: journalist Cherie Hu’s calculation that since June last year around 29,800 NFTs involving artists have generated $42.5m in primary sales. […]
The post NFT trends include 50/50 split for musicians and visual artists appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

SoundCloud launches new artist accelerator with nine musicians

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

SoundCloud is adding a new string to its artist-partnerships bow with the launch of First on SoundCloud. it’s billed as an accelerator program for artists, starting with nine independent musicians: Charmaine, Ela Minus, Kid Quill, Lourdiz, Otis Kane, Pa Salieu, Payday, Sofia Mills and SoFaygo. ‘First on SoundCloud’ is actually an existing program for promoting […]
The post SoundCloud launches new artist accelerator with nine musicians appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Early blockchain music startup Jaak has shut down

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

British startup Jaak was part of the first wave of firms trying to put blockchain technology to use in the music industry. It was part of the first Techstars Music accelerator in 2017, and launched a pilot with partners including WMG, Warner/Chappell, BMG and Global Music Rights the following year. Founder and CEO Vaughn McKenzie-Landell was also part of the […]
The post Early blockchain music startup Jaak has shut down appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Secretly Group workers announce plans to unionise

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Employees from independent music company Secretly Group and its subsidiaries have announced plans to form a union. “Our goal is to spotlight the rights of our staff and the health of our workplace,” they explained on the Secretly Group Union website. “Working in the music industry is not an easy way to support oneself for the […]
The post Secretly Group workers announce plans to unionise appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Impala rejects ER but says labels should pay fair digital rates

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Impala, which represents independent music companies in Europe, is the latest organisation to step in to the debate about the music streaming economy and how to reform it. “Our aim is to make streaming fairer and provide a dynamic, compelling and responsible future for creators and for fans,” was how Impala introduced its 10-point plan. The […]
The post Impala rejects ER but says labels should pay fair digital rates appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

IFPI report reveals 7.4% growth in global recorded music revenues

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Global recorded music revenues grew by 7.4% to $21.6bn in 2020, according to industry body the IFPI, which has published its annual Global Music Report today.
That’s a deceleration compared to 2019, when the market grew by 8.2%, but with 2020 being the year of Covid-19, labels will see the latest figures as a success nonetheless.
It’s the sixth consecutive year of growth, and the highest annual total since 2002, when global revenues were $22.1bn.
Streaming was the driver for last year’s growth. Streaming revenues for labels grew by 19.9% to $13.4bn, accounting for 62.1% of the total.
The post IFPI report reveals 7.4% growth in global recorded music revenues appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Ministers give their views at the UK’s music streaming inquiry

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Yesterday saw the final hearing in the UK’s parliamentary inquiry into the economics of music streaming, but rather than music industry or tech executives being questioned, it was ministers and civil servants.
Caroline Dineage MP, minister for digital and culture at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Amanda Solloway MP, minister for science, research and innovation at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) were the ministers, and they were accompanied by Robert Specterman-Green, director of media and creative industries at the DCMS, and Tim Moss, chief executive of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO).
Here’s Music Ally’s topline takeaway from the session, and the inquiry more widely. The committee of MPs conducting the inquiry seem to be leaning towards the Broken Record campaign’s view of streaming: that most artists are struggling; that major labels are market-dominating villains; and that ‘equitable remuneration’ (and perhaps user-centric payouts) could be a good thing. Oh, and that YouTube is a wrong ‘un, and safe harbour needs to be reformed.
The post Ministers give their views at the UK’s music streaming inquiry appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Yubo social app is a hit with Gen-Z – more than 45m of them

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Parents are apparently getting in a bit of a flap about Yubo, because as tech site Protocol explains: “the app very openly wants young people to make new friends with strangers on the internet”. With a user base focused around 13-25 year-olds, Yubo is proving popular though: the piece claims that the social app has signed […]
The post Yubo social app is a hit with Gen-Z – more than 45m of them appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Lo-fi hip-hop brand ChilledCow rebrands as Lofi Girl

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

ChilledCow is one of the most well-known lo-fi hip-hop brands that have grown on YouTube and streaming services with their mixes for studying, working and/or relaxing to. But the most recognisable aspect of ChilledCow wasn’t, in fact, a cow – it was the animated girl studying in its YouTube videos while her cat lazed on a […]
The post Lo-fi hip-hop brand ChilledCow rebrands as Lofi Girl appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Stevie Nicks reportedly blocks use of ‘Dreams’ for an NFT

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Well, of course that guy on the skateboard who made that Fleetwood Mac song go viral on TikTok is now selling that video as a non-fungible token. Nathan Apodaca is hoping to trouser at least $500k from the NFT sale of his 23-second video, although there’s one wrinkle: it won’t include ‘Dreams’. Apodaca’s representative told showbiz site […]
The post Stevie Nicks reportedly blocks use of ‘Dreams’ for an NFT appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Apple expands its ‘Up Next’ program for emerging artists

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Thus far, Apple Music’s ‘Up Next’ program has picked emerging artists from across the world for promotion on the streaming service, with a global focus. Now it’s going local too. Apple is expanding the program for individual regions, kicking off with the US, UK, Japan, France, Germany, Mexico, Russia, India, Canada, Australia, South Africa and […]
The post Apple expands its ‘Up Next’ program for emerging artists appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Surprise! YouTube is the most popular music streaming service

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Alright, this will come as no surprise at all to the majority of Music Ally readers. YouTube is the biggest music streaming service in the world, with its scale – both in terms of its overall users and the more than two billion people who specifically consume music on it. However, if you’re in the market for […]
The post Surprise! YouTube is the most popular music streaming service appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Spotify’s new website promises ‘more clarity’ on streaming economy

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Did you know that the top 500 artists on Spotify last year generated around $1.85bn in royalties from the streaming service – 37% of its overall payouts?
Or did you know that the 286,000 DIY artists releasing through distributors generated $1.17bn of Spotify royalties last year – around 23.5% of the total?
You do now. These are just a couple of the calculations that people (alright, digital music nerds like us) are going to be doing today, following the launch of Spotify’s new website Loud & Clear.
The company isn’t explicitly describing it as a defence of music streaming, but given the recent upsurge in debate about musicians and streaming royalties – not to mention the UK’s parliamentary inquiry focusing on the streaming economy – the timing is no accident.
“We absolutely think that artists deserve to have more clarity on how the music streaming economy is working,” is how Charlie Hellman, VP and head of marketplace at Spotify, explained it to Music Ally in an interview ahead of the site’s launch today.
The post Spotify’s new website promises ‘more clarity’ on streaming economy appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Yungblud re-releases ‘Parents’ with a fan after TikTok duet

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Artist Yungblud is re-releasing a track from 2019 due to TikTok, but no, this isn’t because someone went viral singing along to it on a skateboard. Instead, Yungblud ran a duet contest on TikTok inviting fans to freestyle their own verse over his track ‘Parents’. One of the most impressive entries was from a young singer-songwriter […]
The post Yungblud re-releases ‘Parents’ with a fan after TikTok duet appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Chilean music downloads store PortalDisc moves into streaming

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Apple Music and Amazon Music are far from the only streaming services whose origin stories involve music download stores. PortalDisc is the biggest downloads store in Chile, but it is now moving into streaming with its new service PortalDisc App. Billed as “the first 100% Chilean music streaming service”, it’s a partnership with B2B digital music […]
The post Chilean music downloads store PortalDisc moves into streaming appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

New label Offmeta will explore the music and esports crossover

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

The latest company looking to forge more links between the music and esports industries is Offmeta, which launches today. It’s a label that plans to sign artists and seek out licensing deals and partnerships for them in the games and esports worlds. Canadian artist bbno$ is its first signing, and his new single ‘Bad to the […]
The post New label Offmeta will explore the music and esports crossover appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

BPI set for ’10 x 10: Ten Trends for the Next Ten Years’ event

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

British industry body the BPI has announced its next ‘Insight Session’ online event, and once again Music Ally is the partner co-presenting it. ’10 x 10: Ten Trends for the Next Ten Years’ takes place on 15 April, and will involve 10-minute presentations on a range of future trends for the music industry. Among those […]
The post BPI set for ’10 x 10: Ten Trends for the Next Ten Years’ event appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Netflix has calculated the carbon footprint of video streaming

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

How bad for the environment is streaming? It’s one of the questions we’re still seeking answers to. In the video streaming world, Netflix is playing its part. The company has been working with researchers at the University of Bristol to calculate the carbon footprint of watching its service. Wired has the details: “Netflix claims that one […]
The post Netflix has calculated the carbon footprint of video streaming appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

YouTube launches ‘Checks’ tool to check videos for copyright

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Content ID is well established as YouTube’s system for identifying copyrighted music in user-uploaded videos, and giving rightsholders the option to take them down, claim their ad revenues or leave them be. Now YouTube is launching a new tool that gives uploaders more control over whether their content falls in to Content ID in the first place. […]
The post YouTube launches ‘Checks’ tool to check videos for copyright appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Ditto Music adds NFTs to its Bluebox blockchain platform

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Distributor Ditto Music is moving into NFTs, but its plans will enable fans to acquire shares in songs, rather than just digital artwork. The company has launched an ‘NFT exchange’ as part of its Bluebox royalties platform, and is working with artists Big Zuu and Taylor Bennett on its first sales. Both will be auctioning […]
The post Ditto Music adds NFTs to its Bluebox blockchain platform appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Google reduces its app sales cut for small developers

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Apple’s 30% “app tax” (as critics like to call it) isn’t always 30%. It’s 15% for subscriptions once a subscriber has been paying for a year, and since November 2020 it has also been 15% for smaller developers and businesses who make less than $1m a year. A change clearly made in part due to the pressure […]
The post Google reduces its app sales cut for small developers appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

OnlyFans launches creative fund with £20k grants for musicians

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

We first wrote about OnlyFans in August 2020, when Cardi B launched a $4.99-a-month subscription on the crowdfunding site previously better known for being used by adult entertainment stars. In December, the company said it was paying out $200m a month (!) to its community of creators, as it made its pitch for more mainstream celebrities to use it. […]
The post OnlyFans launches creative fund with £20k grants for musicians appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Concert streaming site MySongbird seeks $5m in crowdfunding

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

New rules on equity crowdfunding in the US will allow startups to raise up to $5m a year from ‘non-accredited’ investors (i.e. the general public). Expect a wave of startups testing it out, including music firms. Early out of the blocks is MySongbird, a streaming service for live performances and music documentaries, which is seeking $5m […]
The post Concert streaming site MySongbird seeks $5m in crowdfunding appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Async to launch ‘programmable music’ through stems and NFTs

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Async is a startup focused on ‘programmable art’ that is capable of changing over time. Oh, and it’s also part of the blockchain wave, with that art able to be bought, resold and interacted with. It has generated more than $1m in sales for digital artists since its launch in February 2020. Now the company is […]
The post Async to launch ‘programmable music’ through stems and NFTs appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Downtown’s Joe Conyers III joins Crypto·com to work on NFTs

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Artists piling onto the NFTs bandwagon is one thing, but prominent music industry executives leaving their jobs for it is quite another. Joe Conyers III, of Downtown Music Holdings, has left for a new EVP role at cryptocurrency firm Crypto.com, where he will be in charge of its new “invite-only NFT platform that will feature […]
The post Downtown’s Joe Conyers III joins Crypto·com to work on NFTs appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Africa expansion for UMG/Boomplay and for Freeme Digital

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

From DSP launches to label expansions to [waves enormous plug] new education initiatives for the industry, there is plenty of exciting activity happening around Africa’s music ecosystem. There are two more examples to report on this morning. First, Universal Music Group has extended its licensing deal with streaming service Boomplay from seven countries in Africa to […]
The post Africa expansion for UMG/Boomplay and for Freeme Digital appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Marc Geiger: ‘We’re going into a post-Spotify earning era’

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Yesterday was the first day of SXSW 2021’s online conference, including a chat between former WME music chief Marc Geiger and Pandora founder Tim Westergren – now working on their new ventures, venue network Savelive and livestreaming firm Sessions. The topic was timely: the explosion of ways for artists to connect with fans and to try […]
The post Marc Geiger: ‘We’re going into a post-Spotify earning era’ appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Clubhouse launches its first ‘creator accelerator program’

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Every social media platform has its community of ‘creators’ and now Clubhouse wants one too. The audio startup is launching a “creator accelerator program” that it says will “support and equip 20 creators with resources they need to bring their ideas and creativity to life”. Which hopefully means people who won’t just be wanging on about bitcoin […]
The post Clubhouse launches its first ‘creator accelerator program’ appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Spotify launches ‘African Heat’ and Daft Punk campaigns

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Fresh from launching in a number of African countries, Spotify is giving its flagship ‘African Heat’ playlist a new marketing push. That includes launching an #africanheatchallenge dance challenge on social media, billboards in New York and Toronto, and embedded video clips from artists including Focalistic, Fuse ODG, Olamide and Moonchild Sanelly. “For me, African Heat […]
The post Spotify launches ‘African Heat’ and Daft Punk campaigns appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Tim Burgess is selling earphones to raise money for venues

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Thankfully for fans of British music of a certain era and geographic origin, Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess hasn’t spent the Covid-19 lockdown spouting conspiracy-theory claptrap. Instead, he launched Tim’s Twitter Listening Party to bring cheer to a growing community of music fans. Now he’s building on that to raise money to support independent venues by… selling earphones! […]
The post Tim Burgess is selling earphones to raise money for venues appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Ian Brown protests after Spotify removes anti-lockdown track

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

It’s been an awkward few months if you’re a Stone Roses fan who thinks lockdown is necessary, wants to get vaccinated, and doesn’t believe the Covid-19 pandemic is one big plot by The Authorities. Because frontman Ian Brown has… different views. And he has used his social media profiles and his music to express that […]
The post Ian Brown protests after Spotify removes anti-lockdown track appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Apple stops making original HomePod to focus on HomePod Mini

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Apple’s HomePod is dead, long live the HomePod Mini! Except we’re talking more about a retirement: Apple will carry on selling its first smart speaker until stock runs out, and will still be providing software updates for it. However, the company’s smart speakers strategy is pivoting firmly to its smaller, cheaper model. “HomePod mini has […]
The post Apple stops making original HomePod to focus on HomePod Mini appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

BPI boss talks artists, streaming and equitable remuneration

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Throughout the current UK parliamentary inquiry into the economics of music streaming, and indeed, throughout the history of streaming itself, Music Ally has worked hard to report fairly the full range of views in the debates about how streaming pays off for musicians.
That’s why we’ve reported at length on the key sessions at the inquiry, taking in artists, labels, industry bodies and streaming services. It’s also why, back in May 2020, we invited Tom Gray, a key figure in the Broken Record campaign that sparked the inquiry, onto our Music Ally TV Show to set out his views.
Now it’s also the reason why we extended a similar invitation to Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI, Brit Awards and Mercury Prize. Like Gray, he gave evidence during the inquiry, speaking on behalf of the BPI’s major and independent label membership.
You can watch the full episode – it’s embedded below – but in keeping with our past coverage, we’ve also turned it into a written report, which follows.
The post BPI boss talks artists, streaming and equitable remuneration appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

iManage Africa and Music Ally’s Music Business Academy for Africa

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

We’re delighted to announce our new joint venture with iManage Africa, the Music Business Academy for Africa. We’ll be working together to provide fully localised vocational education for aspiring creative entrepreneurs across the continent. It’s the brainchild of Godwin Tom (iManage Africa), a Nigerian talent manager and exec who’s worked with the likes of Wizkid […]
The post iManage Africa and Music Ally’s Music Business Academy for Africa appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Belgian collecting society Sabam joins the Ice core in Europe

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

European licensing hub Ice was founded by three collecting societies: PRS for Music, Stim and Gema. However, its ‘Ice Core’ also licenses repertoire from other entities: Imro, BMI and independent publishers including Downtown and Concord. Now the latter group has grown with the addition of Belgian PRO Sabam. “We pursued an exceptionally thorough process to […]
The post Belgian collecting society Sabam joins the Ice core in Europe appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Spanish collecting society SGAE rejoins Cisac after reforms

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

One of Spain’s collecting societies, SGAE, is coming in from the cold and being readmitted to global PROs organisation Cisac, after reforms that the latter say “have transformed the society and its operations”. SGAE was temporarily booted out of Cisac in May 2019, after well-documented controversies around how it was run, and particularly ‘The Wheel’, a […]
The post Spanish collecting society SGAE rejoins Cisac after reforms appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

SoundCloud clarifies revenue share from ‘fan-powered royalties’

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Earlier this week we reported on a SoundCloud interview with Vice that suggested the company would be taking a 45% cut from its new ‘fan-powered royalties’ (user-centric) system. The company has since revealed that the interview misinterpreted its policies, and that its share is actually lower. A spokesperson told Music Ally that SoundCloud is not keeping 45%, […]
The post SoundCloud clarifies revenue share from ‘fan-powered royalties’ appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Spotify gets its missing K-Pop music back with new Kakao deal

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Spotify’s catalogue of K-Pop music is returning to its former glory, after the company managed to end its high-profile dispute with South Korean firm Kakao Entertainment. The new agreement is global, including South Korea, with the separation of the two having been one of the sticking points that led to Kakao’s catalogue being removed from […]
The post Spotify gets its missing K-Pop music back with new Kakao deal appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Amazon Music adds merchandise features to its mobile app

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Amazon Music’s app is steadily adding more features beyond basic audio streaming. Having integrated livestreams last year, now the app is getting merchandise features. As of this week, artists who are taking part will have their merch shown on their profile pages, with Billboard reporting that most of it will be available with Prime shipping for Amazon […]
The post Amazon Music adds merchandise features to its mobile app appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

First day of Roblox trading valued games firm at $38.3bn

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Games firm Roblox is now a public company, having successfully seen through its direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Its first day of trading yesterday saw the company’s share price close at $69.50, valuing Roblox at $38.26bn. That is certainly good news for Roblox’s investors, who include Warner Music Group, since when the company raised […]
The post First day of Roblox trading valued games firm at $38.3bn appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Courtney Barnett launches online archive of live performances

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Australian artist Courtney Barnett is excellent live – we have the ‘bought in post-gig over-excited state’ official Courtney Barnett bright-red socks to prove it. Now she’s showing off some of her best live performances in a new archives website. It’s a combination of footage from concerts, radio sessions and other live appearances since the early days of […]
The post Courtney Barnett launches online archive of live performances appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Women in Radio report identifies sexism and career barriers

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

A new report in the UK has explored some of the barriers that women face when trying to develop their careers in the radio industry. Published by Radio Silence and Women In Ctrl, the report is based on interviews and surveys with more than 100 women working in the British radio industry. The findings aren’t […]
The post Women in Radio report identifies sexism and career barriers appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

IFPI says The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ was 2020’s top track

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Look away now, Grammy Awards organisers: the most controversial omission from this year’s nominations has just been anointed as the biggest ‘global digital single’ of 2020 by industry body the IFPI. It says that The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ generated 2.72bn ‘subscription stream equivalents’ globally last year, ahead of second-ranked ‘Dance Monkey’ by Tones and I […]
The post IFPI says The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ was 2020’s top track appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Startup Sona launches ‘music therapy’ app for stress relief

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

If you want our tip for making life instantly 78% less stressful, mute the words ‘Harry’, ‘Meghan’ and ‘Piers Morgan’ on all your social apps. But if that fails, perhaps a new app called Sona is worth a try. Developed by a US startup of the same name, it’s a ‘music therapy’ app offering a catalogue of […]
The post Startup Sona launches ‘music therapy’ app for stress relief appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Songclip raises $11m to help license more music to social apps

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Ensuring that the music clips used in social apps are properly licensed has been a key focus for rightsholders in recent years, and deals with Facebook/Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and others have offered encouragement. Now one of the startups hoping to be a middleman in even more of these deals has announced an $11m funding round. […]
The post Songclip raises $11m to help license more music to social apps appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Verzuz switches Apple Music for Triller following acquisition

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

It’s just under nine months since Instagram livestreams brand Verzuz signed an exclusive deal with Apple Music. However, that deal is now at an end according to Variety, after Verzuz was acquired by Triller’s parent company Triller Network. The deal will see Verzuz founders Swizz Beatz and Timbaland getting shares in Triller Network, a portion of which […]
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Source: Music ally

After extension, the Kings of Leon NFTs generated $2m of sales

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

We reported the other day on the Kings of Leon NFT sale being extended after four of its ‘golden ticket’ NFTs failed to meet their reserve prices. So it’s only fair to also report on the final performance of the sale, which reached more than $2m according to Billboard – a figure that came from the band’s […]
The post After extension, the Kings of Leon NFTs generated $2m of sales appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

TikTok’s new ‘music hub’ highlights trending tracks and artists

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

TikTok is launching a new feature described as its ‘music hub’ in the UK, which it says will help people to see which tracks, artists and playlists are currently trending on the service. It will be accessed from TikTok’s ‘Discover’ screen, and people will also be pointed in its direction if they search for music […]
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Source: Music ally

Techstars Music reveals the 11 startups in its 2021 cohort

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Last year, startups accelerator Techstars Music announced plans to run its 2021 program virtually, while promising that 50% of the startups’ CEOs would be diverse. It also revealed that Amazon Music had joined its ‘member companies’ from the music industry, supporting the accelerator including investment in its startups. Concord is also chipping in extra seed and follow-in […]
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Source: Music ally

Ticketing and livestreams app Dice gets into merchandise

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Dice started as a mobile ticketing app, before swiftly expanding into livestreams as Covid-19 lockdowns hit physical concerts. Now it’s expanding again: into merchandise.
Its new ‘Merch On Dice’ feature will enable artists to create limited-edition ‘product drops’ that fans will be able to order for pickup at venues (once concerts are running again) or have delivered to their homes. The idea is that the merchandise will only be available to fans who buy tickets for an artist’s shows or livestreams.
“We’re not doing the creative or the actual physical production and fulfilment, but we’re doing all of the steps for the fan experience,” Dice CEO Phil Hutcheon told Music Ally. Fans will be able to browse and order merch within the Dice app, and get updates on deliveries.
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Source: Music ally

Blockchain ticketing firm Big Neon is shutting down

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Anyone looking for a reminder not to get too carried away with the NFTs bonanza would do worse to look at the fate of some of the blockchain music companies from a few years ago that had big ambitions. Big Neon for example, whose founding team included Ticketfly co-founder Dan Teree and cryptocurrency expert Riccardo […]
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Source: Music ally

Kings of Leon NFT auction extended as some listings fall short

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

We wrote last week about plans to launch a series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for the new Kings of Leon album. So how is that going? Well, the auction for the NFTs has been extended until 8pm EST today (8 March), which doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going brilliantly. The six ‘golden ticket’ NFTs, which include front-row seats […]
The post Kings of Leon NFT auction extended as some listings fall short appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Recording Academy commissions study of women’s representation

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

It’s International Women’s Day today, which means an inbox full of related press releases, many of which are simply new spins on things that were announced last year or the year before. Which neatly illustrates the challenge being tackled: the music industry is good at saying the right things (and sending out press releases about […]
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Source: Music ally

Apple predictions: VR/AR headset in 2022, AR glasses in 2025

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Oh, and don’t forget AR contact lenses sometime after 2030. By which time nobody will remember the prediction or the predictor enough to check whether it was right. In fairness, Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities, is one of the Cupertino-focused crystal-ball gazers who has earned respect with accurate predictions about what Apple […]
The post Apple predictions: VR/AR headset in 2022, AR glasses in 2025 appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

MMF Unite returns with ‘Black Women Mean Business’ panel

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

The UK’s Music Managers Forum (MMF) is bringing back its MMF Unite series of virtual events focusing on race, racism and injustice. They’re kicking off next week with ‘Black Women Mean Business’, an online panel on 9 March featuring Nike Durosaro (Big Drum Entertainment), Shikayla Nadine (SNM Management) and Shauni Caballero (The Go 2 Agency), […]
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Source: Music ally

Ever wanted Gucci Mane to read you Beowulf or Little Women?

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

That’s a rhetorical question: of COURSE you have. Unless you’d prefer the trap veteran’s dulcet tones to read you Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes or Peter Pan, of course. No, Gucci hasn’t taken a surprising career leap into audiobooks narration. Instead, this is something called Project Gucciberg created by a […]
The post Ever wanted Gucci Mane to read you Beowulf or Little Women? appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

TuneCore launches educational ‘Rewards’ program for artists

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

We’re familiar with loyalty schemes for supermarkets, but for music distributors? That’s a new one. TuneCore is trying it with its new TuneCore Rewards program for artists, which has just launched in beta. It’s based around a series of educational videos – ‘master classes’ – covering topics including promotion, social media and release planning. Doing the classes earns artists […]
The post TuneCore launches educational ‘Rewards’ program for artists appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Spotify and Apple Music reveal latest emerging artist picks

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

The major streaming services are continuing to choose emerging artists for their respective promotion schemes. Spotify and Apple Music announced their latest picks yesterday. Spotify has gone with Norwegian artist Girl In Red as its latest ‘Radar’ artist in the US. She’ll be getting the full playlisting / Spotify Single / mini-documentary / billboard ads treatment, ahead […]
The post Spotify and Apple Music reveal latest emerging artist picks appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Universal Music Group’s revenues grew by 3.8% in 2020

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Universal Music is the latest major label to publish financial results showing that its business rode out the Covid-19 storm in 2020. UMG’s revenues for the year grew by 3.8% to €7.43bn (around $8.95bn) – or by 4.7% when calculated as ‘organic growth’. Within that, UMG’s recorded music revenues grew by 5.9% to €5.97bn, although that increase […]
The post Universal Music Group’s revenues grew by 3.8% in 2020 appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Music NFTs fever heats up with 3LAU and Kings of Leon

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Haven’t you launched an NFT yet? What are you waiting for? Grab an audio doodle from your studio outtakes, commission some terrible fantasy or sci-fi novel cover-artwork* and/or a GIF of a funny animal – cats are a saturated market by the way, so we suggest pivoting towards penguins, bonobos or blobfish – and STONKTASTIC RICHES […]
The post Music NFTs fever heats up with 3LAU and Kings of Leon appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Abbey Road holds Equalise International Women’s Day festival

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Ahead of International Women’s Day next week, Abbey Road Studios is holding an ‘Equalise’ festival online, with a focus on responding to the fact that fewer than 5% of music producers and engineers are women. The event is a mixture of masterclasses, panels and mentoring sessions, and runs until Monday. Sessions still to come include: Becoming […]
The post Abbey Road holds Equalise International Women’s Day festival appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Twitch transparency report focuses on safety, not copyright

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

When we saw headlines about Twitch publishing its first ever transparency report, our news antenna started pinging. Would this be a chance to get data on how many copyright takedowns the service has been hit by from music rightsholders? When other tech firms have published similar reports, they have included takedowns in the data. Unfortunately, […]
The post Twitch transparency report focuses on safety, not copyright appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Joox seizes its opportunity to stress its K-Pop credentials

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Tencent-owned music streaming service Joox is one of Spotify’s key rivals in south east Asia, and that’s a region where K-Pop is enormously popular. Credit the company for being quick off the mark, then, following the recent news that Spotify has lost a big chunk of its K-Pop catalogue due to a breakdown in licensing negotiations with […]
The post Joox seizes its opportunity to stress its K-Pop credentials appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Songtrust trumpets growth with 3m songs and 350k songwriters

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Songtrust has revealed some new stats showing the growth of its business, both in terms of the songs that it collects royalties for, and the songwriters who it’s paying those royalties out to. The new numbers: 3m songs and 350,000 songwriters, up from 2m songs and 300,000 clients in December 2019. The company also says that its royalty […]
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Source: Music ally

New funding for livestreaming startups Maestro and Looped

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

If you’re a livestreaming startup, now is the time to be raising funding (or if you’re Veeps, getting bought by Live Nation). Two of the companies trying to help musicians perform live online for their fans have announced new funding rounds this week. Maestro, whose clients have included Billie Eilish and Erykah Badu, has raised […]
The post New funding for livestreaming startups Maestro and Looped appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Spotify could overtake Apple for US podcast listeners this year

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Spotify is pushing hard in podcasts, and research firm eMarketer has predicted that this will pay off in 2020 with the company overtaking Apple for US podcast listeners. “This year 28.2 million people will listen to podcasts on Spotify at least monthly, while 28.0 million will listen via Apple Podcasts,” claimed its report. eMarketer thinks the gap […]
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Source: Music ally

Anghami reportedly set for public listing through Spac merger

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Middle Eastern streaming service Anghami may be going public soon, via a special purpose acquisition company (Spac) in the US. Bloomberg reported that Anghami is “close to being listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York” in a move that could value the company at nearly $300m. The report added that the move could be announced […]
The post Anghami reportedly set for public listing through Spac merger appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

SoundCloud goes user-centric with its ‘fan-powered royalties’

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Rumours that SoundCloud would become the first big music streaming service to adopt user-centric payouts were correct. The company has just announced plans for what it’s calling ‘fan-powered royalties’.
The system won’t apply to the entire catalogue of music that is available on SoundCloud, but just to the tracks uploaded by independent artists directly to the platform: specifically the nearly 100,000 who use the company’s SoundCloud Premier, Repost by SoundCloud or Repost Select features.
The switch will happen on 1 April 2021, and SoundCloud has launched a website explaining how the new system will work, and encouraging artists to “tell your fans” about it to drive listening (and thus royalties) once it’s up and running.
The site includes some examples modelling out how the new system will work. One independent artist called Vincent, with 124,000 followers on SoundCloud, is cited as earning $120 a month under the existing ‘pro-rata’ model of streaming royalties, but the company says this could increase to $600 a month under the new system.
The post SoundCloud goes user-centric with its ‘fan-powered royalties’ appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

UMG and Gameloft launch Queen: Rock Tour mobile game

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

After a fan-made music videos contest and the band’s official TikTok debut, the latest stage in Queen’s digital strategy has been revealed: a mobile game. It’s called ‘Queen: Rock Tour’, and launched today for Android and iOS. Universal Music is keeping it in the family too: the Vivendi family, since the game is by Gameloft, the games publishing subsidiary of UMG’s […]
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Source: Music ally

Apple Music launches ‘Behind the Songs’ songwriters section

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Apple Music has a new hub focusing on songwriters, producers and session musicians. It’s called ‘Behind the Songs‘ and launched on Friday as a home for related playlists like ‘Songbook’ and ‘Behind the Boards’, as well as Apple Music Radio shows including Nile Rodgers’ ‘Deep Hidden Meaning’. There will also be original video series including […]
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Source: Music ally

Facebook’s NPE Team launches a new music app called Bars

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Facebook’s experimental studio NPE Team has launched its second music product: a video-sharing app called Bars, for rappers. It comes 10 months after the studio launched music-making app Collab. Available in the US App Store with an invitation-only closed beta, Bars offers a catalogue of pre-created beats for people to rap over, with lyrical features including rhyme […]
The post Facebook’s NPE Team launches a new music app called Bars appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Spotify faces K-Pop conundrum after loss of Kakao M catalogue

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Spotify is excited about having finally launched in South Korea, but the company will be rather less excited about losing a significant chunk of its K-Pop catalogue globally. After licensing negotiations broke down with one of South Korea’s biggest distributors, Kakao M, the latter’s music has been removed from the streaming service. The fact that […]
The post Spotify faces K-Pop conundrum after loss of Kakao M catalogue appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

US recorded music revenues grew 9.2% in 2020 despite Covid-19

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

The bottom dropped out of the live music industry in 2020 due to Covid-19, but it’s becoming clear that the recorded music industry weathered the storm thanks to streaming subscription revenues, whose growth continued. US industry body the RIAA’s annual figures for 2020 are the latest evidence, revealing that the retail value of recorded music revenues […]
The post US recorded music revenues grew 9.2% in 2020 despite Covid-19 appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

DistroKid will fast-track artists to Twitch affiliate status

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Anyone can join Twitch, but you can’t start making decent money from it until you have ‘affiliate’ status, which unlocks features like channel subscriptions, bits and ad revenue sharing. DistroKid is the latest distributor to sign a partnership with Twitch to fast-track musicians to affiliate status, hopping over the stage where they have to stream […]
The post DistroKid will fast-track artists to Twitch affiliate status appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Deezer launches a global channel for Japanese music

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

If K-Pop can take over the global music world, what price J-Pop achieving similar success? It’s not happened yet, but Deezer sees an international appetite for Japanese music, and the streaming service is launching a new channel to test it. Called ‘Japanese Music‘, it will offer a range of playlists, from J-Pop, City Pop and […]
The post Deezer launches a global channel for Japanese music appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

TuneCore opens South Africa and Nigeria offices for Africa launch

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

It’s quite the week for the rapidly-evolving streaming ecosystem across Africa, with Spotify launching in a number of countries there, and now distributor TuneCore getting up and running in the region too. The distributor has hired two executives for its Africa launch: Jade Leaf as head of TuneCore for Southern Africa, and Chioma Onuchukwu as […]
The post TuneCore opens South Africa and Nigeria offices for Africa launch appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

BMG says it has offset more than 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Our recent Music Ally TV Show sustainability episode offered plenty of encouragement for music companies thinking about cutting their emissions. Now BMG has been talking about its efforts on this front. The company says it has offset the more than 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide produced by its activities in 2019, including offsetting its emissions […]
The post BMG says it has offset more than 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Spotify $1.3bn debt funding is ‘for general corporate purposes’

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Spotify’s management team talked about a lot of things in the company’s ‘Stream On’ event earlier this week, but one announcement was saved for later. Yesterday the streaming services announced plans for an ‘exchangeable senior notes offering‘ from its US subsidiary to raise $1.3bn. It’s debt funding, essentially. “The notes will be senior, unsecured obligations […]
The post Spotify $1.3bn debt funding is ‘for general corporate purposes’ appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Global Citizen reveals its ‘recovery plan for the world’

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

This isn’t a music story, specifically, but there are some high-profile musicians involved. Global Citizen is the organisation behind several high-profile livestreamed music events last year, as part of its wider mission to tackle global poverty, inequity and the climate emergency. Yesterday, it published what it’s describing as a ‘recovery plan for the world… to […]
The post Global Citizen reveals its ‘recovery plan for the world’ appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Moving The Needle launches for women in the UK music industry

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

There’s a new group in the UK that aims to support women entering the music industry. It’s called Moving The Needle, and is launching ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March. The group is planning to offer a mixture of mentorship, training, events and networking to young women “of all backgrounds, ethnicities and personality types”. […]
The post Moving The Needle launches for women in the UK music industry appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Vampr raises $790k and plans to add livestreaming features

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Startup Vampr is describing itself as a “LinkedIn for Creatives” nowadays, and the company has just raised more funding to continue developing its service. The money is $790k, taking it to $2.6m raised so far – with a Series A funding round to follow. Vampr says it will use the new funding to launch a […]
The post Vampr raises $790k and plans to add livestreaming features appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Big Hit Entertainment revenues grew 36% to $716.7m in 2020

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

K-Pop giant Big Hit Entertainment had an excellent 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Its financial results, published yesterday, revealed that the company behind BTS’s revenues grew by 36% last year to KRW 796.3bn (around $716.7m). The breakdown is very interesting too. Concert revenues dropped off a cliff, unsurprisingly: down 98% to KRW 3.4bn. However, album sales […]
The post Big Hit Entertainment revenues grew 36% to $716.7m in 2020 appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Major labels talk user-centric payouts and equitable remuneration

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music had their say at the UK’s streaming economics inquiry yesterday: if you missed it last night, here’s our report on their session. But yesterday the parliamentary committee holding the inquiry also published the latest written evidence from the three major labels, in response to some specific questions from the politicians […]
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Source: Music ally

Spotify, Apple and Amazon at the UK streaming economics inquiry

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Reporting on a two-and-a-half hour parliamentary inquiry session the day after liveblogging a two-hour Spotify event plus associated interviews? That’s living alright! It’s a busy week for anyone involved with the music streaming world.
Today’s hearing in the UK’s streaming economics inquiry was the long-awaited appearance of Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music to field questions from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee.
The results were… well, there weren’t many fireworks, and neither Spotify’s Horacio Gutierrez, Apple’s Elena Segal nor Amazon’s Paul Firth roused the ire of the MPs like Universal Music’s David Joseph or YouTube’s Katherine Oyama had in previous hearings.
There were some strong signals about where the committee is heading in terms of its likely recommendations though, and some interesting signs of willingness on the part of the DSPs to engage with them.
The post Spotify, Apple and Amazon at the UK streaming economics inquiry appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek talks Bollywood, creators and battling radio with live features

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

“I believe 100% that we’re going to see a rise of Bollywood and new types of Indian music making it into the global scene in the very near future.”
Not the first prediction of this kind, but it carries extra weight given that the person making it was Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. He was talking to Music Ally after the company’s ‘Stream On’ event yesterday, in response to a question about Spotify’s expansion to 80 more countries.
“The easy answer is, obviously, if we want to be a global service and we want to be the number one audio service in the world, we have to be everywhere. This [week’s expansion] allows us to get to more than a billion new potential users,” said Ek.
“But it also means there will be millions of new creators that will have the opportunity to now have a platform to be heard on,” he continued, citing a stat from the earlier presentation that 80% of creators – the catch-all term Spotify is using for musicians and podcasters – on its service are listened to outside their home country.
The post Spotify CEO Daniel Ek talks Bollywood, creators and battling radio with live features appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Liveblog: Spotify ‘Stream On’ event

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Spotify is holding an online ‘Stream On’ event today, to announce… well, we’re not quite sure what the company is announcing, but we’re expecting some new product features; updates on how its tools for artists and ‘two-sided marketplace’ is evolving; plenty of podcasts talk and… well, we’ll find out.
Stick with us, and you will too (and you can watch along via the embedded video below). We’ll be updating this post in reverse-chronological order during the event, then flipping it back to chronological afterwards.
The post Liveblog: Spotify ‘Stream On’ event appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Podcast update: Acast buys RadioPublic and Podimo raises €11.2m

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Spotify’s big podcasting moves get lots of attention in the music industry, but the company’s aggressive push into podcasts has had a bigger ripple effect. From Amazon Music buying production firm Wondery to iHeartMedia’s recent acquisition of ad-tech firm Triton Digital, lots of big players are making big moves at the moment to position themselves […]
The post Podcast update: Acast buys RadioPublic and Podimo raises €11.2m appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Twitter isn’t buying Indian TikTok rival Moj – but it might have

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

‘Company X not buying Company Y’ may seem like a pointless news story: we may as well tell you that Music Ally isn’t buying Spotify, right? But news that Twitter was in talks about a potential acquisition of Indian tech company ShareChat *is* interesting, even if the deal appears to have run into the rocks. TechCrunch claimed […]
The post Twitter isn’t buying Indian TikTok rival Moj – but it might have appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Sony Music-backed The Coda Collection debuts on Amazon Prime

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

We spend a lot of time writing about short-form music videos, but long-form content is also finding new audiences through a variety of digital platforms. Including a new one that’s just debuted on Amazon Prime in the US, called The Coda Collection. It’s a streaming video channel with a catalogue of more than 150 music documentaries […]
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Source: Music ally

DIY artists released 9.5m tracks in 2020 – 8x the major labels

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

There are plenty of interesting stats in Will Page’s latest article for the Financial Times, as you’d expect from a former Spotify chief economist. One that stood out for us showed the current scale of DIY artists operating outside the label system. “As lockdown took hold, major labels released 1.2m songs in 2020; DIY artists released […]
The post DIY artists released 9.5m tracks in 2020 – 8x the major labels appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Splice raises $55m funding round valuing company at $500m

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Having become one of the key services (and communities) for music makers, Splice is raising money again. The company has raised a $55m funding round from investors Goldman Sachs and Music – the latter being the investment company of Songs Music Publishing founder Matt Pincus. According to Bloomberg, the round valued Splice at nearly $500m, and took its […]
The post Splice raises $55m funding round valuing company at $500m appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Big Tech and Big News continue their uneasy frenemyship

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

We’ve followed the music deals and clashes of Facebook, Google and other big tech companies with diligence, but we keep a watching eye on how these firms are interacting with other creative and media industries. Two stories today reflect the deals and, yes, the clashes with the news publishing world. News Corporation’s senior executives have […]
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Source: Music ally

Glass Animals make a Minecraft splash with fan’s ‘house flip’

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

A number of artists and festivals have experimented with the game Minecraft in recent years. One of the still-powerful things about it is the community of YouTubers and Twitch streamers making Minecraft videos, which reach big audiences. As part of what’s already been a really inventive (and long-lasting) campaign for the band, Glass Animals have […]
The post Glass Animals make a Minecraft splash with fan’s ‘house flip’ appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Axel Mansoor sets off on a virtual tour… of Clubhouse rooms

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

We’ve been writing about live-audio startup Clubhouse and thinking about the potential it might hold for musicians. Some artists are already diving right in to explore though. One example is Axel Mansoor, who’s already been one of the users to have their faces used as Clubhouse’s app icon. Since the end of 2020 he has […]
The post Axel Mansoor sets off on a virtual tour… of Clubhouse rooms appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

A&R startup Andrson offers a new spin on Spotify Wrapped

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Spotify’s annual year-end Wrapped campaign packages up people’s listening in best-of playlists, but now it’s being given a remix by AI-powered A&R startup Andrson. It has launched something called ReWrapped, which people can sign in to using their Spotify accounts. Andrson then puts its audio analysis engine to work on comparing their favourite tracks from 2020 […]
The post A&R startup Andrson offers a new spin on Spotify Wrapped appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Triller now claims it’s worth $10bn even with half the users

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

We may be reaching the point where someone needs to take Triller’s shovel away and gently remind it of the merits of stopping digging. Earlier this week, the company was the focus of a Billboard report claiming it had half the monthly active users [MAUs] that it claimed last year, rebutting that by claiming there was […]
The post Triller now claims it’s worth $10bn even with half the users appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

Your Music Your Future teaches creators about copyright buyouts

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Copyright buyouts, where composers and other musicians creating music for film and TV give up their future royalty rights and accept a one-off fee instead, are currently a very sensitive subject in music circles. Now collecting societies body Cisac has teamed up with US organisation Your Music Your Future to expand the latter’s educational campaign around buyouts […]
The post Your Music Your Future teaches creators about copyright buyouts appeared first on Music Ally.
Source: Music ally

BPI says exports are a £1bn opportunity for British music

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

As British artists continue to bemoan the Brexit balls-up that threatens their ability to tour Europe, industry body the BPI is offering the British government a timely reminder of the potential value of music exports. It has published a report claiming that this value could grow to more than £1bn (around $1.39bn) with a key caveat: “if […]
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Source: Music ally

South Korean video services protest at increased music rates

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

A group of video streaming services in South Korea are protesting at plans to increase the royalties they pay for music used in the content on their platforms. The Korea Herald has the story, which explains that the Korea Music Copyright Association (Komca) proposed an increase in rates for Korean video services from 0.625% of […]
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Source: Music ally

Spotify, Apple and Amazon set for UK streaming inquiry hearing

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

When YouTube, SoundCloud and Twitch took part in a DSPs hearing at the UK’s streaming economics inquiry recently – well, Twitch’s rep didn’t get to speak – we knew there’d be another session for the big guns of the audio streaming world. Now it has been confirmed for next week: Tuesday 23 February. Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music […]
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Source: Music ally

Landr launches Sessions video calling app made for musicians

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Having started life as an AI-powered mastering tool, Landr has expanded a lot in recent years: into distribution, for example. Its latest new service is called Sessions, not to be confused with the livestreaming startup of the same name. Landr Sessions is essentially Zoom but made for musicians, including the ability to stream high-quality audio […]
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Source: Music ally

Ditto Music launches Industry Access diversity initiative

Posted on by Stuart Dredge

Distributor Ditto Music is the latest company trying to widen access to the music industry. It has launched a new scheme called Industry Access aimed at people from minority and working-class backgrounds. It will include a training programme for up to 100 people aged 16 and over, as well as a music industry fair and […]
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Source: Music ally