Digital Music News – September 11, 2017
According to financial projections, SoundCloud is going to have a rough few years ahead of themselves if they wish to remain profitable. The company has had to use $170 million in emergency funding to make up for ventures that have been less than profitable. Perhaps the most troubling about their situation is that they have decided to direct all efforts to enhancing SoundCloud premium “Go” program, which has also not been nearly as successful as many other streaming platforms premium packages.
Music Business Worldwide – September 12, 2017
At Apple’s annual keynote presentation, they not only revealed three new IPhones, but they announced the Apple Watch Series 3 which offers LTE connectivity. Because of this, it will allow users, for the first time, to access Apple Music directly from their watch and listen via Bluetooth headphones or straight from the device. According to Apple CFO Jeff Williams, the “best device for staying active has all the music you need to stay motivated.”
Hypebot – September 13, 2017
After the RIAA lawsuit that forced Youtube-MP3 offline, music industry professionals are starting to ask why Google had not tried to shut it down sooner. YouTube stream ripping was the #1 source of music piracy, but it took many years for anyone to do anything about this. Had it not been from legal action taken by record labels, Youtube-MP3 would have still been up and running.
Complete Music Update – September 14, 2017
It hasn’t been an easy week for Spotify, to say the least. In addition to a multitude of other court submissions, they are facing another lawsuit. While artists were getting their performing royalties from Spotify, millions of artists weren’t getting their mechanical royalty money. The lawsuit is still open and under investigation.
Billboard – September 15, 2017
Pandora has announced plans to release Pandora Premium, which is aimed precisely at music listeners. While the Plus and Premium editions will share many similarities, such as listening offline, the Premium edition looks to target users by their recommendations. Pandora Premium is expected to be released in the first part of 2018.