Spotify Hits 96M Paid Users, Buys 2 Podcast Startups; Fine Young Cannibals, Dean Martin See Post-Super Bowl Streaming Gains
Spotify Hits 96 Million Paid Users, Scores First Operating Profit in Fourth Quarter — www.billboard.com
Spotify announced on Wednesday that it ended 2018 with double-digit revenue growth and 96 million paid subscribers, as well as a major, previously elusive milestone: the company’s first operating profit to date.
Spotify Buys Podcast Startups Gimlet Media and Anchor, Plans Up to $500M in Acquisitions in 2019 — variety.com
Spotify is best known as a music-streaming service — but it’s placing a big new bet on building a podcasting empire.
Nas, Mass Appeal and LiveXLive Partner to Create Original Urban Content — www.billboard.com
Hip-hop mogul Nas is building his urban lifestyle empire through a new partnership with LiveXLive Media, the West Hollywood-based streaming specialist and Slacker Radio operator.
Eric Carmen, Fine Young Cannibals & Dean Martin See Post-Super Bowl Streaming Gains Thanks to T-Mobile Ad — www.billboard.com
The gains come following reports of similarly sizable digital downloads gains for the music.
Swizz Beatz on streaming: ‘The creatives should be 50/50’ — musically.com
Producer and artist Swizz Beatz has called for artists to get a bigger share of streaming royalties.
There are 66m smart speakers in the US — and 70% are Echos — musically.com
Research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) has issued its latest estimates on the smart-speaker market in the US. It claims the number of speakers in use grew from 37m at the end of 2017 to 66m at the end of 2018, including 13m bought in the fourth quarter of the year
A 44% streaming royalty rise is now locked in for US songwriters — so long as the likes of Spotify don’t ‘declare war’ — www.musicbusinessworldwide.com
Streaming companies will ‘declare war on songwriters’ if they appeal the streaming royalty rise, says David Israelite
Sonos outdoor, in-wall and in-ceiling speakers spread streaming music — www.slashgear.com
Music through your Sonos system can now follow you outside, with the arrival of new Sonos by Sonance speakers that include an outdoor version of the streaming
Paid Streaming Will Surpass Free This Year — www.hypebot.com
Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and other paid music streaming services hare doing a better job of converting free users to paid, according to new figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA).
Songwriters, publishers unveil bid to run nation’s music licensing — www.tennessean.com
The Mechanical Licensing Collective will be overseen by professional songwriters and publishers, including several from Nashville.
10 Reasons Why CDs Are Still Awesome (Especially for Radio) — www.radiosurvivor.com
Quite a lot of shade is getting thrown at CDs in the press these days.
