Apple buying Beats could radically transform the digital music business
Apple’s plan to spend $3.2 billion for Beats will have ramifications for everyone from Spotify and Rhapsody to Amazon and Google.
AT&T wants to sell Muve Music, but how much is it really worth?
Muve Music has two million paying subscribers, making it one of the most successful subscription music services. But how many would stick around after a sale?
Rhapsody invests in DJ startup, will it feature mixes soon?
Rhapsody has made a strategic investment in a company that specializes in monetizing DJ mix sets. Maybe we will get to hear some of them on Rhapsody soon?
With domestic profitability in reach, Pandora looks to expand internationally
One day, Pandora wants to serve billions of people worldwide. To make that happen, it has started to hire people who know a thing or two about international expansion.
Spotify is reportedly zeroing in on 10 million paying subscribers
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/25/spotify-itunes-apple-europe-streaming-music
Spotify is getting close to having 10 million paying subscribers worldwide, according to a Guardian report that cites unnamed music industry sources with the estimate that the music subscription service will hit that milestone “in the next few months.” Spotify last shared subscriber numbers a year ago, when it had six million paying and 24 million active users. A Spotify representative also told the paper that it added more than one million active users in the last four months.
Rdio partners with Shaw to grow subscriber base in Canada
Streaming music service Rdio has teamed up with Canadian broadband provider Shaw to grow its subscriber base in the country, both companies announced Thursday. The partnership includes a strategic investment by Shaw as well as yet-unannounced “marketing, content and promotional” initiatives. Rdio recently struck a similar agreement with a big media group in Brazil, and teamed up with terrestrial radio network Cumulus in the U.S. last summer. Thursday’s release comes with the interesting tidbit that Canada is Rdio’s second-biggest market, with Brazil ranking third, and the company is apparently getting some traction in Australia and Mexico as well.
Samsung takes one more step towards making music subscriptions free
Europeans who buy a new Samsung Galaxy S5 phone will get 6 months of free music with it, courtesy of Deezer. Its just the latest move to give premium music services away.
Pandora competitor Raditaz reemerges as CÜR Media, raises $9.6 million
Music service Raditaz shut down late last year, promising to relaunch in 2014 with a new product. With a new name and $9.6 million in the bank, it now wants to follow through on that promise.
As expected, Last.fm is shutting down its radio service
Last.fm, the CBS-owned (S CBS) digital music outlet, will close down its streaming radio product by the end of April (hat tip to Engadget). Last.fm announced in its forums Tuesday that it wants to concentrate on “scrobbling”, meaning music recognition and recommendation, going forward, and that it will rely on YouTube (S GOOG) and Spotify for its music player. The move was widely expected after Last.fm rolled out a YouTube-based radio player in January.
Fan videos make labels more money than official music videos
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2014/03/18/recording_industry_earns_more_from_fan_videos_than_from_official_music_videos.html
Well this is interesting: Lip sync videos and other fan adaptations of pop hits make record labels more money that the official music videos produced by the labels themselves, according to a report by the Toronto Star (hat tip to hypebot). The paper quotes Universal’s global head of digital business saying calling fan videos a massive growth area, and adding: “We’re very excited about the creativity of consumers using our repertoire and creating their own versions of our videos.” The flow of money is largely due to the fact that YouTube gives record labels the option to monetize third-party videos that use their music, instead of taking them down.