Streaming
TikTok Launches First ‘Discover List’ to Highlight Top Creators
In the icon category, which TikTok defined as creators who are “well-known up and down the [for you page] and outside of TikTok,” features names like Bella Poarch, Tabitha Brown, Brittany Broski, Boman Martinez-Reid, Leo Gonzalez, Challan Trishann and Christina “Tinx” Najjar. Innovators, defined as those who are “pioneers in their fields” and are “constantly pushing boundaries,” featured talent like Wisdom Kaye, Devon Rodriguez and Parker Locke. The foodie category, meant to highlight TikTokers adding a “creative spin” to food-focused videos, honored Joanne Molinaro (a.k.a. @thekoreanvegan) and Ana Regalado (@saltycocina), among others. TikTok’s change maker creators, advocates and educators who “speak up and speak out,” included Taylor Jones, the Valentine Brothers and Ebony and Deni...
UK Music Streaming Sector Faces Probe From Competition Watchdog
The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee raised concerns about how the dominance of Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music was “distorting the market” and that the benefits of the music streaming boom were not being passed on to musicians. In the U.K., the three majors make up 75% of the recorded music market, with independents accounting for the remaining 25%, according to the Association of Independent Music (AIM). Streaming now accounts for four-fifths (80.6%) of all music consumption in the U.K., according to labels trade body BPI. “The U.K. has a love affair with music and is home to many of the world’s most popular artists. We want to do everything we can to ensure that this sector is competitive, thriving and works in the interests of musi...
Courtney Barnett Drops Harriet the Spy Theme Song “Smile Real Nice”: Stream
I spy with my little eye…a new Courtney Barnett single! Today, the indie rock singer unveiled “Smile Real Nice,” the theme song for Apple TV+’s new animated adaptation of Harriet the Spy. On the defiant track, Barnett croons, “I don’t wanna be/ You don’t wanna be/ We don’t wanna be/ Told what to do/ No, I won’t cut my hair/ And I’ll wear whatever I like/ It when I get to be myself” over raucous drums and dueling electric guitars. As mentioned, “Smile Real Nice” serves as the opening theme for Harriet the Spy, which is set to premiere on Apple’s streaming service on November 19th. An illustrated update on the 1964 children’s novel by Louise Fitzhugh, the series stars Beanie Feldstein as the voice of the titular spy alongside Jane Lynch as Ole Golly and Lacey Chabert as Marion Hawthorne.&nbs...
Netflix Acquires Rights to Original Cowboy Bebop Anime Series
Next month, Netflix will premiere their live-action adaptation of the massively popular space Western anime, Cowboy Bebop. Now, the streaming platform has officially acquired the rights to the original series, with all 26 episodes arriving on October 21st. Watch the announcement trailer below. Cowboy Bebop first came to the US via Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim in 2001, quickly becoming a favorite of anime junkies. Directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, it follows bounty hunters Spike Spiegel (Kôichi Yamadera), Faye Valentine (Megumi Hayashibara), and Jet Black (Unshô Ishizuka) as they track down criminals around the solar system in their spaceship, Bebop. Screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane, and composer Yoko Kanno also worked o...
Latin Music Streaming Soars, US Market Share Hits 5.8% at Mid-Year: RIAA
Latin music now represents a 5.8% share of the overall U.S. market with revenues hitting $407 million in the first half of 2021 — 96% of which came from streaming for $393 million. The genre’s growth has been rapid over the past few years: The genre’s revenue for the first half of 2019 was $250 million, and then jumped to $298 in the first half of 2020. Paid streaming subscriptions grew 41% to $279 million, while ad-supported on-demand streaming revenue increased 30% to $77 million. Revenues from digital and custom radio services also rebounded, growing 24% to $37 million after a slight decline in 2020. “It’s incredible to see continued double-digit growth in Latin music — outpacing the already strong performance we’ve seen across other music segments and catego...
Facebook, Instagram Unveil New Controls for Kids
The new controls were outlined on Sunday by Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president for global affairs, who made the rounds on various Sunday news shows including CNN’s “State of the Union” and ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” where he was grilled about Facebook’s use of algorithms as well as its role in spreading harmful misinformation ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. “We are constantly iterating in order to improve our products,” Clegg told Dana Bash on “State of the Union” Sunday. “We cannot, with a wave of the wand, make everyone’s life perfect. What we can do is improve our products, so that our products are as safe and as enjoyable to use.” Clegg said that Facebook has invested $13 billion over the past few years in making sure to keep the platform safe and that the compa...
Controversial Twitch Leak Highlights Gap In Compensation Between Streamers and Musicians
A massive leak in confidential data from Twitch is highlighting the disparity between the take-home pay of the platform’s top gamers versus artists. The breach, which was confirmed by Twitch on October 6th, reportedly amounted to over 100GB of crucial data stolen, according to BBC News. At the time of writing, Twitch’s analysis of how it all happened is still ongoing. In the meantime, the internet has been feverishly dissecting the documents, some of which contain sensitive information related to compensation. For the music industry, there’s at least one key takeaway: there is a wide gulf between the earnings of top gaming personalities versus the platform’s top musicians. The top earning musician on Twitch from August 2019 to October 2021 is prolif...
R. Kelly’s Music Sees Major Spike in Streaming and Sales Following Guilty Verdict
R. Kelly may have been found guilty last month in his federal sex crimes trial, but the news seems to have caused a major spike in his sales and streaming numbers. According to streaming data provided by Billboard, the disgraced artist’s catalog experienced a 14% rise in streaming during the week of his September 27th conviction, as well as a 55% rise in radio play across the country. However, the real impact came in the week immediately following the guilty verdict. A report by Rolling Stone points out R. Kelly’s music received a 500% surge in sales, while his streaming numbers also rose by another 22% from the week prior. Advertisement Related Video Interestingly, a comparable bump came back in January 2019 when Lifetime first began airing its bombshell documentary series Surviving R. Ke...
Twitch Claims “Server Configuration Change” Allowed Hackers To Gain Access Private Information
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Anadolu Agency / Getty Following a massive hack, Twitch has released an update on the situation. Here is what you need to know. It’s been a lousy month for technology. First, Facebook and its family of social media apps suffered a massive outage due to a mistake on their end. Now, Twitch has confirmed in a tweet that it was indeed the victim of a massive data breach which resulted in its source code and other private information leaking out. The Twitch spokesperson revealed a hacker gained access to the company’s servers due to a misconfiguration change. “We can confirm a breach has taken place,” the tweet reads, “Our teams are working with urgency to understand the extent of this. We will update the community as soon as additional information is availabl...
R. Kelly’s YouTube Channels Are Terminated
The Alphabet-owned streaming giant terminated the channels based on its creator responsibility guidelines which, in 2018, were updated to penalize creators for behavior off the platform. Per those guidelines, the tech giant can terminate a creator’s channels if they’re accused of a very egregious crime and if the content is closely related to the crimes, or should the creator be convicted or plead guilty. And based on its “repeat infringer” policies, R. Kelly (full name Robert Sylvester Kelly) will be banned from using, owning, or creating any other YouTube channels going forward. “We can confirm that we have terminated two channels linked to R. Kelly in accordance with our creator responsibility guidelines,” reads a YouTube statement, provided to Billboard. Kelly failed those guidel...
Pandora Is Shutting Down Next Big Sound
The post characterizes the platform’s closure as “the final step of a multi-year transition,” adding that the Next Big Sound team “is excited to focus on improving and expanding” Pandora’s Artist Marketing Platform (AMP), which provides artists with streaming data around their music on the service. The AMP tools have been a focus for Next Big Sound since shortly after Pandora’s acquisition of the company in 2015. Moving forward, AMP will continue sharing Pandora streaming data with Next Big Sound partners including Billboard, MRC Data and Chartmetric. Next Big Sound adds it is working to ensure that the integration process “is as seamless as possible for all of our users and partners,” noting that full track-level reporting is already available in Pandora’s AMP dashboard. That said, ...
Electronic Livestream Mainstay Boiler Room Acquired by Ticketing Platform Dice
The company plans to work with Boiler Room on enhancing its programming and creating additional revenue for artists, rights holders, collectives, festivals and clubs. U.K.-based ticketing platform Dice has acquired the long-running electronic livestream series Boiler Room. According to a statement from Dice, the company plans to work with Boiler Room on enhancing its programming and creating additional revenue for artists, rights holders, collectives, festivals and clubs. The news comes just a week after Dice announced that it would use its newly-acquired $122 million in Series C funding to grow its team, reach new artists and venues and expand its livestream offerings. Founded in 2014, Dice is a discovery and events app that works with over 3,600 venues, festivals and promoters ...
