CD Baby, Tunecore Add China For DIY Music Distribution

Tunecore and CD Baby have each just added China’s largest streaming music service – Tencent Music, its subsidiaries and partners – to their indie and d.i.y. music distribution networks. When users deliver their music to Tencent, they will be available on: QQ Music – A leading online music service with…

Tencent Puts Select Music Behind Paywall, Promises More

Chinese music streaming giant Tencent Music Entertainment is experimenting with driving revenue by making some content exclusive and unavailable to its ad-supported users. It’s a practice once popular in label circles but vehemently opposed by streaming leader Spotify. According to Music Business Worldwide’s Tim Ingham, Tencent Music Entertainment has introduced…

Shazam Added 78 Million Users Last Year

Shazam finished 2018 with 478 million users, up 78 million from the previous year. The stat came as part of a UK financial filing that also showed that revenue fell 23% to just $38 million USD last year. But the drop didn’t really matter since Shazam was acquired by Apple…

Music Tectonics Trading Cards Capture Seismic Shifts Reshaping Music Industry [EXCLUSIVE]

Dmitri Vietze and the team behind the new LA music technology conference, Music Tectonics, is launching a set of thought-provoking music industry-related “Seismic Shifts” trading cards. Each card pairs an illustration alongside a transformative theme and short explanation. Hypebot is debuting the first four cards today. The cards are the…

Apple Music To Emphasize Live Music Programming say Execs Zane Lowe, Oliver Schusser

Live radio-like shows have always been the cornerstone of Apple Beats 1 programming, including artist-driven shows from the likes of Nicki Minaj. But that’s jist the beginning of Apple Music’s growing emphasis on live appointment-worthy music programming. Apple won’t share how many people actually listen to Beats 1, but Lowe…

Spotify Updates Video Targeting Apple On Same Day As Siri Integration: ‘It’s time to play fair’

[UPDATED] Instead of using yesterday’s announcement that Siri now included voice control of Spotify to make nice with Apple, the streamer seemingly doubled down on criticism of its much larger tech rival. "Apple comes between you and the music you love to listen to" "We love Apple. But we don’t…

Apple Wants To Offer A Discount Music, TV Bundle and Record Labels Are NOT Happy

Apple is set to launch Apple TV+ on November 1st, priced at $4.99 (£4.99) per month. Bundling Apple Music with Apple TV+ and perhaps other Apple services at a discount would make marketing sense for Apple. Customers who purchase a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch starting…

Labels ‘nervous’ about Apple Music & TV+ subscription bundle plan – report

The FT reports that bundle talks are at an early stage
The post Labels ‘nervous’ about Apple Music & TV+ subscription bundle plan – report appeared first on Music Business Worldwide.

50 Year After Abbey Road: Two Worlds Of Music Listening

With the Beatle’s Abbey Road near the top of the charts 50 years after release, MIDiA analyst Mark Mulligan explores how older, physical-focused music fans remain the quickest route to high-value, large-scale revenue, as well as, much and how little has changed in the music industry. __________________________ By Mark Mulligan…

RIAA Releases “Notorious” Copyright Offenders List

Copyright violation remains an ever-present issue in the music business, affecting not only an artist’s ability to make money, but also that of labels. Consequently, the RIAA annually drops a list of the top offenders. Here we look at who this year’s guilty parties are. _________________________ Guest post by Bobby…