Hypebot - November 3, 2017
One of the most prominent uses of artificial intelligence is in voice recognition, which is used in both Google Home and Amazon Echo. Because of these advancements there are four ways that AI could be used for musicians, labels and streaming. Using AI in production and studies would help streamline the musical process, playlist creation and control could utilize voice control for users, lyric translation and content creation via spoken word. While AI would certainly enhance the music business, integrating this tech is still in the early stages of development.
Billboard – November 3, 2017 Robert Lynch joined Pandora on Sept. 18 as the new CEO and was stuck with the task of pulling Pandora out of the disastrous situation it was in. While quarterly revenue is up, year-end revenue is expected to decrease. In addition to subscription growth, ad revenue is also up. The improvements made to ad tech have made a substantial difference for Pandora according to Lynch. However, with all of this positivity, they have yet to report a profitable quarter which could certainly impact the future of Pandora.
The Next Web – November 4, 2017
SoundCloud recently announced their newest feature, which is the addition of increased playlist statistics for artists. While this development will certainly help SoundCloud stay relevant among artists, there is still one area that they lack relevancy in: the business model. SoundCloud lacks an effective way to monetize off of their business. Perhaps, the simple solution is to encourage audience members to buy from content creators.
Noisey – November 7, 2017
The streaming age has turned the music industry into a musical buffet of sorts. The ability to stream millions and millions of songs and albums has changed music into “a kind of public utility” and the overall definition of a musician. On Spotify, artists must rely on luck if they hope to be featured on a playlist due to the algorithms that curate those lists (such algorithms have not been shared by Spotify.)
Music Industry Blog – November 10, 2017
Chinese company Jinri Toutiao bought the lip syncing app Musical.ly for between $800 million and $1 billion. Musical.ly was able to capture the interest of Gen Z in addition to developing the concept of a 15 second song, so what exactly went wrong? Well, it wasn’t that the app wasn’t loved by their target audience, teen and tween females, it was that Snapchat and Instagram also did a great job at targeting this target. Musical.ly couldn’t figure out how to branch away from this target and develop themselves as more of a social company.
