No problems for Spotify chair May 7, 2015 WHAT do you do when a hip-hop mogul tries to muscle in on your territory? If you’re Spotify chairman and co-founder Martin Lorentzon you hit them with a zippy one-liner. When asked what he would do about Jay-Z, given the rap king’s push into music streaming with his Tidal service, Lorentzon said: “I would say [...]
Spotify data identifies musical middle age and a musical mid-life crisis when you start listening to Taylor Swift April 27, 2015 Forget middle-aged spread – technology now brings with it the middle-aged stream. Your musical tastes, much like those for food, drink or a growing preference for a quiet night in, change over time. But thanks to the boffins at Spotify analysing the streaming habits of millions of users, we can officially pinpoint the time when [...]
Rise of Spotify positive for Taylor Swift and music industy as a whole April 14, 2015 The global music industry suffered a drop in sales in 2014, despite strong growth in digital sales and in particular the streaming market. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) annual report into the digital music industry paints a familiar tale record companies and artists struggling to transition to an increasingly digital-dominated world. [...]
Jay Z removes his album from rival as the tide turns on Spotify April 7, 2015 RAP MOGUL Jay Z yesterday yanked his first album from Spotify in the US, making it available instead on his new Tidal streaming music service. It is, however, still available on Spotify in the UK. Reasonable Doubt, Jay Z’s 1996 debut album, had been listed on Spotify as recently as Monday. Now, Spotify customers can [...]
Tidal wave as Jay Z’s debut album disappears from Spotify April 7, 2015 Is this the beginning of a Tidal wave of artists pulling out from Spotify? Jay Z fans this morning woke up to discover his classic debut album Reasonable Doubt was no longer available in the US and Canada. It's still available in the UK, however. So far, the rest of his back catalogue, including [...]
After Zayn Malik quit One Direction Spotify experienced a massive “spike of sadness” March 26, 2015 Other than people with ears who are aged over 20, the biggest single winner of a singer quitting the world' biggest boyband is Spotify, it turns out. While fans of One Direction weep over their posters, Spotify is providing what must be the 21st Century equivalent of the telephone helpline for when Robbie Williams left [...]
Jay Z’s deal for Spotify rivals Wimp and Tidal just got rejected by Aspiro shareholders March 4, 2015 Shareholder backing just became one of Jay Z’s 99 problems. The million-dollar music mogul’s bid for Spotify rivals Wimp and Tidal has been scuppered by shareholders who rejected the deal. The minority shareholders who hold a 10 per cent stake in Aspiro, the parent company of the Swedish music-streaming services, have failed to back the [...]
Jay Z bids £40m for Swedish music streaming Spotify rival Tidal January 30, 2015 Spotify could be about to become another issue to add to Jay-Z's list of 99 Problems: the US music mogul has bid half a billion krone, about £40m, for Aspiro, the parent company of Swedish streaming platform Tidal. The platform, which launched in the UK in October, focuses on high quality "lossless" music. At the [...]
Spotify hires Goldman Sachs in hopes of raising $500m January 29, 2015 Spotify is hoping to raise more cash and has hired the world's most famous investment bank Goldman Sachs to do it. The music streaming company has probably delayed its long-awaited public listing by pursuing this round of financing. Spotify has said it wants to raise $500m. The financing would value Spotify near $6bn people familiar [...]
Taylor Swift right to shake off Spotify: Why music streaming services are bad economics January 8, 2015 Did Taylor Swift make the right call when she withdrew her music from Spotify? A new report on the profitability of the music streaming industry suggests she was. Strategy Analytics, a technology advisory and consultancy firm, argues that despite the music streaming industry’s rapid growth, it will continue to struggle to provide adequate royalty [...]