The Verge – October 20, 2017
Starting in 2018, Billboard announced that they will begin counting “hybrid paid/ad-supported platforms” such as Spotify and Apple Music the same as total ad platforms such as YouTube. As of today, Billboard counts all streaming music the same as “on-demand” streams. With this change to counting it means that artists and their labels are more likely to encourage fans to use online streaming options. All in all, it will be a win-win situation for streaming and content creators alike.
Hypebot – October 24, 2017
According to a MIDiA research study, Amazon is now the third largest subscription music service with a 10% market share, trailing right behind Spotify and Apple Music. As of June, of 2016, Amazon had over 16 million subscribers which has aided in their ability to become competitive once again with Apple and Spotify. By developing a strategy that will help them invest in their long-term future and selecting a target audience that everyone else seemed to forget about, Amazon has earned a spot among the best.
Music Business Worldwide – October 25, 2017
The UK based virtual reality music startup, MelodyVR, raised over $20 million. Many of the funds were raised due to investing efforts and while the company’s app has not launched, the extra capital has helped to solidify licensing deals with Warner Music, Sony Music and Universal Music. MelodyVR has also mentioned their plans to expand into the US market to “further develop our capabilities and infrastructure within the country.”
TechCrunch – October 26, 2017
With an innovative redesign, SoundShare created a new feature called “Party Mode”, which allows friends to play songs through their own device like a collaborative party mix. The songs can also be streamed through YouTube to Apple TV, by AirPlay. The major benefit of using SoundShare is that friends don’t have to all use the same service to create a collaborative mix of songs. The user can also sync the app up with their own music search engine and browse that library, instead of the default library, YouTube. SoundShare is a socially adept app that also gives individual users a unique music experience.
Billboard – October 26, 2017
The Apple Watch Series 3 has been out for a little while now and it’s time to see what users really think about the watch and its advancements. It appears that the watch’s enhancements were made with a specific target in mind: fitness lovers. The streaming feature on the watch tends to be a bit redundant and it is painstakingly obvious that much of the improvements were made to “increase the Watch’s fitness and activity apps and functions.”
