Streaming
Sony Music Beefs Up Podcasting Strategy by Acquiring Major UK Producer
Outside of podcasting, Somethin’ Else’s TV and social media business will be integrated into Sony Music U.K.’s 4th Floor Creative division, broadening the company’s ability to provide creative and commercial opportunities for its artists, labels and partners. In a statement, Kooker said that Sony Music’s podcast division “is key to our plans for a fast-paced expansion in the market, diversifying our creative abilities and providing a home for exciting content that will benefit millions of podcast-lovers around the world.” Since first getting into business together, Sony Music and Somethin’ Else have partnered on podcasts including David Tennant Does A Podcast With…, Power: The Maxwells, The Fault Line: Bush, Blair & Iraq and Cheat!. “Having collaborated with Somethin’ Else on a number ...
Music Discovery Is Entering New Age, With Streaming at the Helm (Guest Column)
MusicWatch’s latest project on music discovery surveyed 1000 music listeners in the US, covering their music listening habits and topics around the discovery experience. For generations, radio, retail and recommendations drove music discovery. These “3 R’s” helped to create awareness of new music; curated by DJ’s, record store staff and our closest friends. By the late aughts the discovery scene began to shift, with digital downloads and nascent streaming models taking a greater role, CD sales waning, and increasing emphasis on re-discovery of catalog music. Fifteen years ago MusicWatch collaborated with MusicBiz (then NARM) on a comprehensive study devoted to understanding music discovery. Broadcast radio was the top source of music discovery. We implored ret...
Amazon Music Launches “DJ Mode” Experience With Debut Takeover From Billie Eilish
In a possible bid to compete with competitive hosted listening services such as Apple Music’s Apple Music One, Amazon Music’s newly launched “DJ Mode” function finds a balance between the modalities of yesteryear’s radio and today’s on demand streaming. “DJ Mode” has launched with an offering of four curated listening experiences, each led by DJs, artists, and music commentators. This most notably includes an artist takeover channel piloted by none other than the barnstorming Billie Eilish. Titled “The Billie Eilish Takeover,” the playlist—curated by the Grammy-winning pop star herself—brings listeners closer to her music than ever before. Eilish shares her favorite songs, stories, and influences behind her music during a...
High-Profile Music Publishers Have Filed a Lawsuit Against Roblox for Copyright Infringement
A new battleground is coming into focus in the ongoing clash between emerging tech companies and established music rights holders. Roblox has been hit with a hefty nine-figure lawsuit filed on behalf of a large collective of music publishers. Plaintiffs in the suit include one of the largest independent music publishers, Downtown Music Publishing, as well as Sony’s Kobalt Music Group, Universal Music Publishing, and high-profile artists such as deadmau5. The suit alleges that Roblox enabled its users to illegally stream copyrighted music across its platform. According to the $200 million complaint, Roblox sells players virtual boomboxes which effectively allow players to stream copyrighted, unlicensed music in the game. The gear has been available since 2015, but it was s...
Tuca and Bertie Season 2 Is Beaker and Better Than Ever: Review
The Pitch: Birdtown’s most endearingly dysfunctional duo is back, and they haven’t really changed that much. Toucan Tuca (Tiffany Haddish) is the same boisterous, ebullient, troublingly irresponsible thirtysomething she always was; same with Bertie (Ali Wong), a neurotic songbird wrestling with deep-seated impostor syndrome and a stable, if unexciting, relationship with longtime live-in boyfriend Speckle (Steven Yeun). Bertie’s shopping around for the right therapist to figure out her myriad personal issues, including reeling from the sexual harassment she experienced at the hands of a celebrity chef she worked under last season. Tuca, for her part, wrestles with her neediness and insomnia, and the sudden responsibilities thrust upon her by a rapidly passing sense of adulthood. Togeth...
Rolling Stones, Tom Jones, Other Big U.K. Musicians Join Campaign For Larger Streaming Share
The letter’s signatories are calling for a government referral of the multinational corporations that wield “extraordinary power” over the music business to the U.K. competition enforcer, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which can act against businesses engaging in anti-competitive behavior. The U.K. Parliamentary probe has seen major labels’ dominance of the market emerge as a central issue. The first stage of the inquiry concluded with government minister Caroline Dinenage saying she would support a referral of the three biggest music companies — Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music — to the CMA. The committee expects to publish their report next month before Parliament breaks for its summer recess, although a date has not been announced. Ministers will then have eigh...
U.S. Congress Casts Doubt on Spotify’s Controversial “Discovery Mode” Feature
The controversy surrounding Spotify’s divisive “Discovery Mode” has not subsided since the streaming giant announced the initiative in late 2020. The feature offers some artists and record labels a chance to boost the rankings of their music in the platform’s playlisting algorithm—a crucial tool for exposure—in exchange for a reduced royalty rate. Considering the notion that royalties are already extremely low—fractions of one penny per stream, to be exact—the contentious “Discovery Mode” feature seems to make things even more difficult for artists hoping to get their music in front of as many people possible while earning fair compensation for their works. “Discovery Mode” has now come to the attention of Representative Jerrold Nadler (chair...
Carrie Underwood, Mickey Guyton & More Join ‘Cameo Goes Country’ Charitable Campaign
Proceeds will be distributed to ACM Lifting Lives’ COVID-19 Response Fund. Cameo, the app and tech company that allows users to pay celebrities for personalized videos, has struck a charitable partnership with ACM Lifting Lives, the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Country Music. The resulting campaign, “Cameo Goes Country,” will benefit ACM Lifting Lives’ COVID-19 Response Fund and music therapy programs for both physical and mental health-related issues. Going live today and running through June 30, “Cameo Goes Country” allows fans to book personalized messages and purchase virtual meet-and-greet tickets in support of the charitable campaign. Participating country artists, who will donate 100% of their proceeds to the cause, include Carrie Underwood, Chrissy Metz, Deana Carter, ...
This Social Audio App Is Driving Millions of Streams With Unofficial Listening Parties
So when 400,000 total BTS fans joined a May 25 “Butter” streaming party on Stationhead hosted by user @BTSCHARTDATA, Stationhead says they drove 5.4 million streams of the song during the session. Then, they did it again — and again — with marathon streaming parties all week from users like @lifeofbts and @purplehourradio. “Butter” topped the chart due to a number of factors including 18.1 million radio airplay audience impressions and 242,800 download sales in the tracking week, according to MRC data, and the streaming figure provided by Stationhead wasn’t U.S.-specific or audited by the streaming services. Still, the Stationhead parties no doubt contributed to the 32.2 million ...
Anthrax Detail 40th Anniversary Livestream Concert
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-06-03T14:00:15+00:00“>June 3, 2021 | 10:00am ET After announcing a series of virtual happenings in celebration of their 40th anniversary, thrash metal legends Anthrax have now detailed the main event. The band’s 40th anniversary livestream concert will launch at 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET on July 16th and will be viewable on demand until July 25th at 11:59 p.m. ET. Anthrax have been counting down to the livestream show in recent weeks, sharing testimonials from friends and heavy metal luminaries, including Slayer’s Kerry King, Slash, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, and many more, via a series of chronological YouTube episodes. Considering the importance of Anthrax — a member of the Big Fo...
Moodagent Arrives In Australia as Global Rollout Ramps-Up
He’s joined at the Sydney office by director of music and editorial Toni Pipicelli and regional marketing director Bushra Abel. The mood-based listening platform will come online in NZ “shortly,” reads a statement. Moodagent confidently claims a personal and interactive user experience, based on its back-end blend of machine learning, audio analysis and “tens of thousands of hours” of human musicology. The service’s interactive playlists, or “moodagents,” are activated by mood sliders for Sensual, Tender, Happy, Angry and Tempo. Feel angry? The listener can let that out, and the playlists stay in your lane. The app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play, with its premium tier priced at A$11.99 ($9.30) per month. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, Moodagent was ...
Could the Friends Reunion Special *Be* Any More Nostalgic?: Review
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-26T19:02:54+00:00“>May 26, 2021 | 3:02pm ET The Pitch: Seventeen years after Ross (David Schwimmer), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Monica (Courtney Cox), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) walked out of their New York City apartments and off the air in 2004, the six are finally back together for a one-off reunion special on HBO Max. But where most networks are dusting off their old properties for decades-late revivals, Friends: The Reunion is content to simply be a look back at the show that took the world by storm for a solid decade, and launched its cast into movie stardom. The One With the Origin Story: Let’s get this out of the...
