Music streaming platform, Tidal, connects its users to a vast amount of entertainment and musical content. Suffocated by bots and legal complications, the company seems to have drowned in a sea of competition. Fortunately, Sprint has tossed the company a life ring, offering Sprint users a mega bundle of goods including a subscription to Tidal. Perhaps, the influx of users will stir a rise in publicity and generate much needed momentum.
What do Taylor Swift, One Direction, and Justin Bieber all have in common? Of course, it must be their record hits, their massive fan bases and unimaginable fame. However, they all lack something that the rising stars from BTS have… “Fake Plays.” According to BuzzFeed News, the up-and-coming group, BTS have their immense, dedicated fanbase to thank for their rapid claim to fame. The plan was to help BTS reach number one on Spotify and Billboard charts using numerous amounts of fabricated Spotify accounts. The fans, also referred to as the BTS Army, used various social media platforms to recruit as many users as possible and then dispersed account login information via the platforms for other users to access through VPNs all over the globe. The plan worked. The group had a few tracks hit no. 1 on Billboard’s top hits. However, the tactic has caused streaming services and outlets, such as Billboard, the headache of trying to decipher fake plays from genuine plays. How does one decide which plays are true and which are false? The article suggests that this tactic probably won’t influence well established artists, yet it should cause one to be more critical of top hit rankings.
Ready, player one? VR has become one of the most intriguing forms of emerging technology. Although, VR has made quite an impression on video gaming, creators are finding alternate ways of apply this technology to other industries such as the medical field, tourism, film and much more. However, the current challenge is to develop ways to incorporate VR into the live music industry. It would be amazing for an audience member to experience a concert in the comfort of their own home, without the need to travel out of town and stay at a pricey hotel. It sounds like a wonderful idea, yet companies like Sony and Oculus are struggling to entice an audience to buy into the experience. Many users have been conditioned to free video viewing via YouTube or are able to experience a plethora of television programs/films through Netflix for a low monthly rate. However, it is difficult to entice customers to purchase the VR set and then make a payment for a one time show. Perhaps, the VR hype extinguished the flame before it turned into fire.
Comcast and Ticketmaster are combining forces to offer customers the unique ability to purchase concert tickets via the comcast voice assistant. The feature is being released alongside promotion for Kelly Clarkson’s tour. Customers with Comcast’s X1 subscription can simply say “Kelly Clarkson Tour” into their voice assistant which will then direct the customers to a page where then can have a code sent to their phone where they can purchase the tickets. Ticketmaster is using this service as a way to connect to more fans on broader platforms. Although, the feature is new and flashy, this article suggests that it is rather unnecessary. If customers are going to be prompted to buy tickets online from their phone anyways, then why wouldn’t they just purchase them without the voice assistant? Just because you can, does not mean you should. Ultimately, the service is not so much a matter of convenience for the customer, but rather a new promotional tactic for Ticketmaster.
