YouTube TV Pulled From Roku

 

The dispute between Roku and YouTube has escalated.

On Friday morning, Roku said that the YouTube TV app has been removed from its platform, as the contract between the companies has expired. New subscriptions will not be possible until an agreement is reached between the companies.

That being said, the company says that existing YouTube TV subscribers will be able to continue using the service for the time being. YouTube TV is the multichannel video service that provides streaming access to traditional pay-TV channels. The regular YouTube app is not impacted.

"Old Town Road" Remains At #1

It's safe to say that Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" is the biggest hit of the year, and he recently showed off the streaming numbers to prove it. The hit song has five of the biggest streaming weeks in the U.S. this year.

The news comes as "Old Town Road," which features Billy Ray Cyrus, remains at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the sixth consecutive week. The song also returned to #1 on Digital Song Sales for a fourth week. 

Last month, it was revealed that "Old Town Road" broke Drake's streaming record. Drake previously held the record for 116.2 million streams for "In My Feelings," which Lil Nas X smashed with 143 million streams for the week of April 20.

Universal Music Group Shuts Down Apple Music Exclusives

(The Wrap-Up Magazine) Apple’s iTunes, Lucian Grainge, CEO of Universal Music Group and widely regarded as the most powerful executive in the music industry, has reportedly ordered the company’s labels to stop the practice of making “exclusive” distribution deals with streaming services.

According to Bob Lefsetz, author of an influential music industry newsletter, Grainge sent out a company-wide email on Monday. UMG, which boasted seven of 2015’s 10 best-selling albums and 38.5% of the year’s recorded-music sales, will be the first major label to ban the practice, which many feel has begun to diminish rather than enhance the way music is distributed and consumed.

The directive will affect dozens of bands under the UMG umbrella, including all five of this year’s album of the year Grammy nominees: Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, the Weeknd, Chris Stapleton and Alabama Shakes.

The practice of artists offering exclusives to competing streaming and download services, including Apple and Tidal, has been gaining traction this year. Both Beyoncé and Rihanna launched their recent albums through Tidal, the streaming service part-owned by Beyoncé’s husband, Jay Z.

HBO Max Launches Lower-Priced, Ad-Supported Subscription

 

HBO‘s HBO Max streaming platform has launched a lower-price, ad-supported subscription tier. Priced at $9.99 USD a month as opposed to $14.99 USD a month for a standard subscription, the new plan allows viewers to get into the HBO network for a lower price, but doesn’t boast all the features of its higher-priced counterpart.

US Senate Passes New Music Act

The Senate has passed legislation that aims to strengthen music copyright and improve royalty rates for artists in the streaming era. The upper chamber voted unanimously in favor of the bill, titled the Music Modernization Act.

Among the proposed changes, the legislation codifies producers and engineers as copyright holders, meaning both would receive digital royalties when songs are played on streaming services. Currently, producers are not included in copyright law and must negotiate their own payment deals.

For hip-hop producers, especially, the current setup often results in a flat-rate purchase fee, leaving the producer without any claim to future streaming revenue. When producers do negotiate royalty deals, they're typically taking a cut from the performer's own royalties.

The Music Modernization Act also creates a new music licensing organization, run by publishers and songwriters, that will identify a song's copyright holders and manage royalty payouts. That work is currently handled by digital platforms themselves, who have frequently been sued over unpaid royalties. The bill also extends copyright protections for pre-1972 recordings.

Must Have Songs to #Stream on your #SpotifyPlaylist

 

Whether you're a new user of the music streaming service or a playlist pro, these songs will sure catch your listeners ears. If you have an account on the world's biggest and best-known music streaming service, then don't miss out on these songs to add to your library.

Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming platforms right now, which lets you listen to your favorite songs and artists at home or on the go. With Spotify, you can listen to music and play millions of songs and podcasts for free.

Stream Your Music In Kuack Media Group

Learn about distributing your music to Kuack Media Group - the new streaming service offered to mobile providers in the Caribbeans. By adding your music to Kuack, you can get your music heard on millions of mobile devices across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Kuack powers the streaming services set up by some of the biggest mobile carriers and other big brands in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Digicel, Kolbi Costa Rica, Viva Bolivia, and Virgin Mobile Colombia, Peru and Dominican Republic.

They offer Premium and “Top Chart” subscription tiers, both with access to unlimited streaming, playlists, conditional downloads, and social networks. They also offer curated content with an emphasis on featuring independent and local artists.

(CLICK HERE) TO JOIN AND SUBMIT YOUR MUSIC

Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ Is No. 1 Album of 2020

 

The eighth album by Taylor Swift, “Folklore,” has gone down as the No. 1 album of 2020, finishing the year with 2.3 million album units. It pulled ahead in the end over Lil Baby’s star-making sophomore effort, “My Turn,” which came in second with 2.1 million in the album-equivalent-unit derby.

The results come via Rolling Stone, which broke down the year’s music consumption data into several different year-end charts, with the differences providing some interesting points of comparison. For instance: Swift also tops the list of the year’s biggest sellers — and Lil Baby is nowhere to be found in that particular top 10. On the other hand, Lil Baby easily landed atop a ranking of the year’s biggest streamers — and Swift is absent from that top 10.

On the overall list of the top 100 albums of 2020 — which represents a combination of streaming and sales data — the Swift and Lil Baby albums were followed in the top 10 by efforts from Pop Smoke, the Weeknd, Juice WRLD, Post Malone, Roddy Ricch, Luke Combs, Harry Styles and, getting its shot at No. 10 for the year, the “Hamilton” cast album.

Cardi B Talk Country Music Dominating Streaming Platforms

 

Cardi B took to Instagram to speak about country music surpassing rap music on the streaming platforms. Cardi pointed out that hip-hop is no longer dominating streaming platforms, which she says is due to people in middle America, who used to buy CDs, are now downloading songs from Digital Service Providers, or DSPs. 

Roku Streaming Service Now Challenging Amazon Prime

Roku just unveiled new streaming TV changes that sound a lot like what Apple is planning. The change gives Roku's media partners a chance to include ad content inside of the Roku app instead of leaving it inside separate apps where fewer viewers can see the ads.

The Roku Channel, a separate section of the Roku user interface on TVs with Roku software and Roku products, will soon let users subscribe to paid content from Showtime, EPIX, Starz and a handful of other, lesser-known networks. Customers will be able to see all of the shows and movies available on those platforms before they subscribe, and can access the movies and TV shows from other devices, such as phones and tablets. They'll also be able to pay for all the services through one bill paid to Roku, instead of a separate bill for each service.

But there's a lot of missing content in Roku's new offering. HBO, Hulu and Netflix aren't available. Those apps are still available outside of "The Roku Channel," but users will need to navigate to the home screen and away from "The Roku Channel," which is clearly where Roku is going to try to keep its users' eyeballs.

The move also sounds similar to what Apple is planning. CNBC reported in October that Apple will mix its free original content with subscription channels inside of the TV app , which is available on iPhones and iPads. Apple may introduce its service as soon as this year.

Source

Spotify Shuts Down Its Uploading Program

Spotify is shutting down its direct upload program, which allowed artists to upload music to the streaming service without getting a third party involved.

Migos Breaks Streaming Record

Migos has done it again! After dominating the airwaves with top hits from their first album, Culture, such as “T-Shirt” and “Bad and Boujee,” the Atlanta rap trio continues their domination as their follow-up album, Culture II, receives one billion streams on multiple streaming platforms.

SiriusXM Acquires Pandora

SiriusXM is acquiring Pandora in an all-stock deal. The move comes as radio grapples with digital competition from streaming music, apps and podcasts. SiriusXM and Pandora have announced acquisition plans before the stock market opens.

SiriusXM, which previously invested $480 million in the music streaming service, is now acquiring it outright in an all-stock deal worth $3.5 billion. The satellite radio company says it intends to maintain the Pandora service and brand.

On-demand audio continues to shake up the radio business as SiriusXM said it reached a deal.

Mariah Carey Now Has the Longest-Running Holiday No. 1 Hit Songs

 

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is on top of the Hot 100 yet again, becoming the longest-running holiday No. 1 song ever. Earlier this month, she previously tied “The Chipmunk Song,” the only other holiday No. 1, which ran for four weeks beginning in 1958; Taylor Swift’s “willow” knocked Carey down to second last week before her return to the top spot. 

“All I Want for Christmas” first hit No. 1 in 2019, 25 years after its release, thanks largely to a dedicated buying and streaming push from fans. That seems to have been the case this time, too, after Carey’s song broke Spotify’s single-day streaming record on Christmas. Since Billboard forward-dates its charts, “All I Want for Christmas” will be No. 1 on the January 2, 2021 chart, giving Carey the honor of being our first top song of the New Year — an honor she also nabbed last year with the same song. Always a step ahead, that woman.

Kobalt Collects $75M In Artist Royalties

Kobalt, the European startup that has built technology and a platform to collect music royalties by tracking when even a sample of a song is played across multiple platforms, has raised another $75 million in funding.

Woman Dies While Using Facebook

A young Arkansas mother died while she was live-streaming on Facebook. Thousands were watching on Facebook as a Camden, Arkansas, woman suddenly died.

KingPen Slim (@kingpenslim) & Lambo Anlo (@LamboAnlo) - "Ain't Nothin" (Freestyle)

Lambo Anlo and KingPen Slim play Snoop and Dre for a day in the remake of their classic video/song "Nuthin But A G Thang". Off Slim's upcoming freestyle tape entitled “TBT”. Lambo Anlo's debut EP powered by Rostrum Records is available on all streaming services now. Slim’s tape "Trapper’s Delight" is available on all streaming services now as well.

Square adds Jay-Z on Board of Directors

 

Square Inc. disclosed late Friday that it has officially added Shawn Carter as a board member of the credit-card payments processing company after closing a deal with the music-streaming service Tidal.

Jay-Z is co-founder and majority owner of entertainment company Roc Nation LLC, from which Square will sublease nearly 16,000 square feet of office space in New York City for $1.5 million a year, with an option to extend the sublease for two additional six-month terms, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Roc Nation and Square also reached a marketing agreement between Square and Carter that will lead to a $200,000 commission for Roc Nation.

Will Jack Dorsey Purchase Tidal?

 

Since purchasing Tidal for $56 million back in 2015, Jay-Z has made the streaming service a big contender in the music industry. But it could be that Jay-Z is considering handing-off a majority stake in the company. The rapper has reportedly been in talks to sell the site to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and his Square Inc. payment company.

As reported by Bloomberg, Square Inc. is looking to “diversify” their assets with the purchase of Tidal. The streaming service hasn’t publicly released their year-end figures since reporting they had 3 million paying customers back in 2016, but Jay-Z’s move to put his music back on Spotify has led some to question the longevity of the platform.

Investors Put $2.4 Billion Into Music

In the 57 investment deals totaling over $2.4 billion tracked by Billboard, nearly 9 in 10 dollars invested went to a traditional music company, an EDM concert promoter or a company that streams music. Most of the investments were made in small, digital startups. Some are trying to improve how people discover concerts. A handful of them are changing how people create music.

A similar company hoping to disrupt the recorded music market is Beats Music, a subscription service that launched Jan. 21. An offshoot of Beats Electronics, the maker of the popular Beats By Dr. Dre headphones, Beats Music raised $60 million from Access Industries, the owner of Warner Music Group. (A year earlier, Access placed $130 million in Deezer, a competitor of Spotify and Beats Music.)

Warner Music Group’s acquisition of Parlophone Label Group was the biggest single investment in music in 2013. The $765 million deal, representing nearly a third of the year’s music investments, gave Warner not only Parlophone and Chrysalis but EMI’s operations in a handful of European countries. Also in this category was the acquisition of Nettwerk Music Group for $10.3 million in April.

Investors in streaming music were attracted to scale, potential and momentum rather than profitability. Services that provide on-demand streaming either audio or video raised $406.5 million. The largest deal was a $250 million investment in Spotify, an unprofitable company that’s a category leader and has 24 million active users — not all of them paying customers — across 55 countries.

SFX Entertainment accounted for the next-largest bucket, concert promotion, worth $480 million. The EDM-focused company’s initial public stock offering in October raised $260 million. It also acquired three EDM promoters: ID&T for $130 million, i-Motion for $21 million and Totem OneLove Group for $69.1 million.

In spite of a reputation for difficult business models and costly licensing fees, services that use licensed music attracted $838.8 million, or 49% of all investments. Four deals landed by Internet radio companies raised $443.3 million. Following Pandora’s $393.3-million secondary stock offering were smaller venture capital rounds by TuneIn ($25 million), DeliRadio ($9.4 million) and Songza ($4.7 million). There is a catch: TuneIn is merely an aggregator of Internet radio streams and doesn’t itself pay any royalties.

Investors backed numerous companies that help consumers find music they like. The smallest investment was $100,000 in Bop.fm, an online tool that aggregates songs from various digital music services. Two other startups that offer aggregation tools, Songdrop and MFiveLabs, received funding. Investors also backed numerous companies that help people discovery music or concerts. Most such deals were small, but music identification app Shazam received a $40-million investment from the world’s richest man, Carlos Slim.

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• 2013 Saw $2.4 Billion Go To Investing In Music
• Warner Music Buys Parlophone [Cold Play, Pink Floyd, David Guetta] For $765 Million
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