NEXTUNE Brings SESAC Music to Its Streaming Business Music App

NEXTUNE Music, based in Bellevue, Washington, now features SESAC music in its licensed music service for businesses. NEXTUNE Music, available in the Apple App Store since July, featured ASCAP-, BMI- and GMR-licensed music for restaurants, retail shops and many other public background music systems.

Beginning in October, NEXTUNE’s music service will include music from SESAC’s more than 30,000 songwriters such as Adele, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond and other popular artists. NEXTUNE’s iOS App offers business owners the best way to get the music they want without having to obtain separate public performance licenses from ASCAP, BMI, GMR, SOCAN and SESAC.

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Atlantic Podcasts Debuts ‘Inside the Album’

Atlantic Podcasts has announced the launch of an exclusive new documentary series. ‘Inside the Album’ will offer an unprecedented look into how great albums get made, revealing the extraordinary process behind records spanning Atlantic Records’ current artists and legendary catalog.

Hosted by veteran producer/author Jesse Cannon (The Cure, Animal Collective, “Weird Al” Yankovic), ‘Inside the Album’ will explore all aspects of the creative process, from inception to release, via interviews with the key players behind the music – songwriters, musicians, producers, label executives, industry professionals, friends, family members, and more.

Deutsche Grammophon and IDAGIO Start New Partnership

Deutsche Grammophon, the world’s oldest classical music label, and IDAGIO, a leading classical music streaming service available in over 70 countries, have today announced an extensive partnership agreement.

The IDAGIO catalogue, which already comprises more than half a million tracks, will now include the complete catalogues of Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Philips Classics and all classical music productions released by the acclaimed Munich-based ECM label.

Currently 15,000 tracks in lossless audio quality are being added to IDAGIO every week.

IDAGIO will feature custom created playlists curated by Deutsche Grammophon and its artists, and will be supported by additional marketing and promotional initiatives as part of the partnership.

Rightsify Provides a New Way for Businesses to License and Play Music

Rightsify is providing a new way for businesses to license and play music. Rightsify helps businesses save money on music while providing them with custom and expertly designed playlists for their brand, all while ensuring that artists get paid every time their music is played.

Traditionally, the way businesses license music has come from collection societies/performing rights organizations (PROs) or background music service providers. Rightsify is simplifying this by providing businesses with a one-stop license and expertly curated music service so they can save money and be sure that they don’t have to pay any additional third-parties.

TIDAL and Sonos Launch “Sound Tracks” Series, Deliver Direct Control

TIDAL, along with leading home sound system, Sonos, today launched “Sound Tracks,” an original interview series filmed in the Sonos Store in New York. Hosted by veteran music journalist, Joe Levy, the series will feature in-depth interviews with famed producers, engineers, A&R execs, managers and more discussing the moment of discovery, when they first heard an artist that would go on to become a superstar or when they first discovered the perfect sound that would go on to define a style of music. The series launches alongside the availability of TIDAL direct control with Sonos.

Music fans can now enjoy exclusive music and expertly curated playlists from TIDAL on the Sonos home sound system directly through the TIDAL app. For a limited time, Sonos customers will be able to take advantage of a special 3-month trial of TIDAL HiFi through the partnership.

Dolphins Become First NFL Team Partner For Deezer

Deezer today has announced a new strategic partnership as the official music partner of the Miami Dolphins.

The partnership will give Miami Dolphins fans access to a channel dedicated entirely to their favorite team, containing the official playlists of the Miami Dolphins team, the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders and mascot T.D. For those fans wondering how Miami Dolphins players get fired up each week, the channel also will feature Game Day and Warm-Up playlists.

Dolphins fans also will be able to enter sweepstakes during the season to win VIP experiences at Hard Rock Stadium, along with Deezer Premium accounts, which offer access to unlimited music from the world’s most diverse music catalogue.

LiveXLive Media to Acquire Snap Interactive

LiveXLive Media announced today that it has entered into a merger agreement to acquire SNAP Interactive, a leading provider of live video social networking and interactive dating applications.

“We are building a unique, highly differentiated destination for music fans globally and are excited to add SNAP’s robust live video expertise and technology, intellectual property and user base to the LiveXLive family,” said LiveXLive’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, Robert Ellin. “LiveXLive is committed to becoming a live social music network with experiential tools and features from SNAP to power our video content and live streams for music lovers,” continued Mr. Ellin.

LiveXLive’s Parent Company, Loton, Corp., Files Registration Statement for Proposed Public Offering

LiveXLive, Corp. announced today that its parent company, Loton, Corp., has publicly filed a Registration Statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed underwritten public offering of Loton’s shares of common stock.

LiveXLive is one of the world’s only premium internet networks devoted to live music and music-related video content. The LXL platform has featured performances and content from some of the most popular artists in various music genres, including Rihanna, Radiohead, Metallica, Duran Duran, Chance The Rapper, Bruce Springsteen and Maroon 5.

The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. BMO Capital Markets Corp. is acting as the sole book-running manager for the proposed offering.

Spotify and Universal Strike Right Chord

Cue the singing angels. After interminable wrangling, the world’s biggest music label and the world’s biggest streaming service have agreed on new contract.

That Vivendi’s Universal Music Group and Spotify Ltd. overcame the acrimony bodes well for both.

The deal includes key compromises on both sides: Universal Music has agreed to accept a lower royalty rate for each song than it received under the old contract, but only if Spotify hits certain targets on increasing its paying subscriber base.

Neither company disclosed exact figures, but suffice it to say that if Spotify lures more customers it will pay less than the current rate of roughly 55 percent.

Read Article: Bloomberg Gadfly

Daniel Ek’s ‘Brilliant Minds’ Conference is Back

Daniel Ek’s Brilliant Minds conference will return to Sweden on June 8—9 as part of Symposium Stockholm.

The event claims to gather the world’s “edgiest creators and purposeful leaders”. It was launched in 2015 by Ek and Ash Pournouri, then-manager of Avicii and CEO and founder of At Night Management (pictured).

Although select individuals ‘who are leaders in their fields’ received an invitation that year, those with less ‘brilliant minds’ could buy a ticket to the inaugural event for $2,900.

Read Article: Music Business Worldwide

The Changing Landscape and Model of Music Streaming Platforms

It’s no surprise the music industry hasn’t provided a successful or revolutionary solution to the dissolving revenue streams and profit margins as consumers change their consumption patterns. Why would they be any different to the media and news companies, telco or transportation services (i.e. Uber) where users continue to go over the top direct to the utility they wish to consume?

Music streaming services today operate in a very noisy market that lacks differentiation. The formula to date has been relatively straight forward: secure licensing for songs, build a platform through which people can access songs, after which they are either served advertising during the content (lite version) or choose to pay a monthly fee (premium) to remove ads and have a clean content consumption experience.

Read Article: AdNews

Who Might be in Line to Buy SoundCloud?

Audio self-publishing service SoundCloud is at the centre of a rumour frenzy after reports surfaced that it has been struggling to raise the $100 million it needs to survive.

Investors value the brand in the region of $700 million – a $70 million cash injection from Twitter last year pegs it at the same amount – however the team will apparently listen to offers which exceed the total amount investment raised to date; a mere $250 million.

Although the economics of the business are murky for the moment, the brand does offer potential for organizations which want to play in the content arena. The team state SoundCloud has 175 million monthly unique users, though this number hasn’t been updated since 2014.

Read Article: Telecoms.com