Issue #396: Warner Classics, IDAGIO Set Streaming Partnership; Blockchain? More Like Rockchain; 10 of the Best Music Podcasts

Warner Classics and IDAGIO Embark on Streaming Partnership — platformandstream.wordpress.com

Warner Classics has launched a new collaboration with IDAGIO​, in a partnership that will see the specialist classical music streaming service make the entire Warner Classics and Erato catalogue available to its users.

Blockchain? More like rockchain — adage.com
Music was the first industry the digital revolution decimated. Blockchain is a chance to reinvent ourselves, Jesse Kirshbaum writes.

Car Wars: Spotify Faces Stiff Competition as Music Streaming's Battle to Conquer the Road Heats Up — www.billboard.com
Streaming has helped the music industry dig itself out of nearly 20 years of economic decline — and with Spotify on the New York Stock Exchange, previously skeptical investors are now cashing in.

The day music discovery failed me — medium.com

The Manic Street Preachers released a new album, Resistance is Futile, on Friday. I didn’t find out about it until yesterday (Monday).

10 of the Best Music Podcasts — variety.com
With car dashboards eliminating CD inputs and relying more on smart displays and smartphones, podcasts — both music-related and others — are increasingly becoming big players for a captive mobile audience.

Congress is Poised to Modernize Music Copyright — variety.com
The Music Modernization Act, which combines key provisions of what were four separate legislative initiatives into a single bill that will update how music rates are set and how songwriters and artists are paid, was passed unanimously by a House Judiciary Committee earlier this month.

How MoviePass Plans To Expand Into The Music Industry — www.cinemablend.com
MoviePass is making another major movie, and this one will see it get into the music industry.

Radio's health is better than you think but prognosis mixed — adage.com
Radio is a medium with huge reach, but its cracks are showing. Fewer young people are listening and alternative media is stealing its thunder.

A Guide to the Music Industry's Capitol Hill Advocates — www.billboard.com
The movers and shakers among the policymakers.

MTN Music+ goes Int'l with Sony Music Entertainment — www.vanguardngr.com
Africa’s groundbreaking digital music service, MTN Music+ has added yet another ‘plus’ by signing a historic deal with Sony Music Entertainment.

How to Promote Your Music with Spotify Ads — medium.com
I’ve been looking for ways to boost my Spotify streams. What could be better than advertising directly on Spotify with an audio ad?

Gary Vaynerchuk Joins Forces With Guy Oseary for Digital Marketing Collaboration — www.billboard.com
One of the biggest managers in music is joining forces with one the best-known voices in branding, digital marketing and developing audiences through social media.

Blockchain Music Startup VEZT Adds All Star Advisors, CSO — www.hypebot.com
VEZT, the blockchain powered marketplace that lets fans share ownership with artists in their favorite songs, has announced an advisory board packed with music industry leaders and the hiring of Swedish producer and music tech investor Andreas Carlsson as Chief Strategy Officer.

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Warner Classics and IDAGIO Embark on Streaming Partnership

Warner Classics has launched a new collaboration with IDAGIO​, in a partnership that will see the specialist classical music streaming service make the entire Warner Classics and Erato catalogue available to its users.

The IDAGIO catalogue, which already comprises over 650,000 tracks, will encompass all new and recent releases from the Warner Classics and Erato labels, as well as the complete catalogue, including recordings originally issued on such iconic labels as EMI Classics and Teldec (now Warner Classics) and Virgin Classics (now Erato).

“Adding the complete Warner Classics catalogue will enable us to continue offering classical music lovers the streaming experience they want and deserve,” Till Janczukowicz, founder and CEO of IDAGIO​, said. “Warner Classics and Erato are labels that, under the inspired leadership of Alain Lanceron, continue to buck the industry trend with their ambition and commitment to visionary A&R. A perfect example is Erato’s recent award-winning recording of Berlioz’s Les Troyens.”

Issue #375: IDAGIO, Vienna Philharmonic in Streaming Partnership; YouTube to Overwhelm Heavy Music Users with Ads; INgrooves Up For Sale

IDAGIO, Vienna Philharmonic Announce Streaming Partnership — platformandstream.wordpress.com

Classical music lovers can now audio-stream live recordings of the Vienna Philharmonic’s famous subscription concerts at the Vienna Musikverein on IDAGIO.

To Win Streaming Music Wars, Spotify Has Potential Edge in Its Appeal to Young Adults — morningconsult.com
The potential bright spot in the money-losing company’s outlook is its attractiveness to young people, according to Morning Consult polling.

YouTube To Overwhelm Heavy Music Users With Ads — www.hypebot.com
Heavy music users on YouTube are about to be deluged with ads in an effort to encourage them to switch to Google’s new paid music streaming service, according to YouTube Global Head Of Music Lyor Cohen.

INgrooves Up For Sale With $100M Price Tag: Sources — www.billboard.com
INgrooves, the digital distribution company majority owned by Shamrock Capital, is up on the block with the investment firm looking for a $100 million payday, according to sources.

Smart speakers set to dominate music streaming — www.m-magazine.co.uk

Smart speaker use is rising rapidly and may contribute towards a shift away from radio, according to the latest joint British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) report.

Pandora to Acquire Audio Ad Tech Firm AdsWizz — platformandstream.wordpress.com
Pandora will acquire AdsWizz, the global leader in digital audio ad technology. The addition of AdsWizz will upgrade Pandora’s ad tech capabilities, provide its advertisers with greater audience reach, and expand the company’s revenue opportunities.

Amazon Prime Music will tap into localised content for India growth — indianexpress.com
In an interview with Indianexpress.com, Sahas Malhotra, Director at Amazon Music India, says the company aims to deliver localised experience with its music streaming service.

SoundCloud Launches 'First on SoundCloud' Emerging Artist Campaign With Kehlani, Lorine Chia & More — www.billboard.com
SoundCloud announced on Wednesday its first-ever multi-platinum advertising campaign with what it’s calling “First On SoundCloud,” which aims to celebrate the stories of creators who got their start on the streaming site.

WSJ: Jimmy Iovine to step away from Apple Music in August — www.macworld.com
The famous music exec says he plans to spend more time with his family.

Spotify CEO eligible to sell up to $2 billion stake in public listing — uk.reuters.com

Daniel Ek is eligible to sell up to 15.8 million shares of the company worth up to $2 billion in its direct listing, the company disclosed in a filing on Tuesday.

How The Pirate Bay Helped Spotify Become a Success — torrentfreak.com
Without The Pirate Bay, Spotify may have never turned into the success it is today. Ten years ago record labels were so desperate to find an answer to the ever-growing piracy problem that they agreed to take a gamble.

Beatport Launches New Creative Services Division — www.billboard.com
Beatport’s new creative services division is the first major announcement since CEO Robb McDaniels took over in October 2017.

Enhancing the Impact of In-Store Music, Axis Partners with Leading Content Providers — platformandstream.wordpress.com
While in-store audio is well-established, the potential for music and audio in enhancing the retail customer experience and driving sales is still largely untapped.

Here's how long it takes Spotify subscribers to pay for all the music they heard as a free user — www.heraldtimesonline.com

Spotify CFO Barry McCarthy said that every new user who uses the music streaming service for free costs the company money, and it takes about a year for premium.

IDAGIO, Vienna Philharmonic Announce Streaming Partnership

Classical music lovers can now audio-stream live recordings of the Vienna Philharmonic’s famous subscription concerts at the Vienna Musikverein on IDAGIO.

For music lovers outside Vienna, it is virtually impossible to listen to the Vienna Philharmonic’s famous Philharmonic Subscription Concerts at the famous Golden Hall of the Musikverein. The hall, familiar world-wide from the Vienna Philharmonic’s annual New Year’s Concert, is renowned for its stunning acoustics; tickets for the Philharmonic Subscription Concerts, conducted by the world’s greatest conductors, are regularly sold out.

A new partnership between the Vienna Philharmonic and IDAGIO, the audio streaming service solely devoted to classical music, now makes selected concerts available for everybody.

Issue #340: Is 2018 the Year We Lose the Download? Deutsche Grammophon, IDAGIO Start Partnership

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, 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 Munich-based ECM label.

Will 2018 be the year the download officially dies? — www.techradar.com
It’s rumored that Apple could be about to dump downloads and create a streaming-only model of iTunes. Does it matter?

Tuma Basa Shares How Artists Can Get on the RapCaviar Playlist — www.xxlmag.com
Tuma Basa, global programming head of hip-hop at Spotify, is a guest on XXL’s Shot Callers podcast. Basa reveals how rappers can get their music on the RapCaviar playlist.

Current Music Biz Needs New Breed of Executive — variety.com
The music business’ brave new world requires executives to have an understanding of analytics, consumer behavior and emerging genres.

Why the World’s Biggest Social Network is Finally Clearing Song Rights — www.synchblog.com
Having secured deals with some of the industry’s biggest players, Facebook is gearing up for a serious push into music. But what does this mean for rightsholders?

The coolest music gadgets at NAMM 2018 — www.theverge.com
Anaheim’s National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show featured plenty of traditional instruments, but as always, there was also a lot of cool music tech.

China's big streaming shift: Paying instead of pirating — money.cnn.com
In a massive change from the recent past, a growing number of Chinese consumers are spending money to watch videos and listen to music online.

CRB Outlines Plans to Implement Simplified, Higher Royalty Rates From Streaming — www.billboard.com
In a follow-up to the announcement over the weekend of how rates will be determined for on-demand subscription services, the Copyright Royalty Board has put up a short notice on its website explaining how the rate increases would be implemented.

Spotify is about to change pretty dramatically over the coming months — www.joe.ie

Spotify have announced that new ‘visual elements’ will be added to their app.

Songwriters’ Court Win Isn’t Music To Ears Of Streaming Companies — www.barrons.com
The impact on digital streaming in general is worth monitoring: the U.S. is the world’s largest market, and global revenue from streaming soared 60% in 2016, fueling a 5.9% increase in music sales for the year.

Spotify’s Bertozzi Fast-Forwards From Playlists To ‘Multi-Sensory’ Music — www.beet.tv

When Spotify was growing up, its founder Daniel Ek often talked at length about the gravitational force of the playlist.

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.

Issue #302: Idagio Raises €8 Million; Last.fm: The Only Music Social Network That Made Sense

Classical Music Streaming Service Idagio Raises €8 Million

Idagio, a classical music streaming service, has raised €8 million in a Series A round from Tengelmann Ventures, Mülheim/Ruhr, btov Partners, and a number of angel investors.

Classical music is not well-served in the current digital streaming landscape, said Till Janczukowicz, CEO of the German company.

Ten Predictions for Digital Media in 2018 — techcrunch.com

4. Spotify will go public at a lofty valuation, but those numbers and overall investor confidence will decline throughout the year, together with Pandora’s, as these two pure-play global streaming music leaders find it increasingly difficult to compete against “big box” behemoths Apple, Amazon and Google/YouTube

Last.fm Was the Only Music Social Network That Made Sense — noisey.vice.com
Inside the rise and fall of Last.fm, the social network that understood how online music worked and that resembled bits of Facebook, Songkick, Blogspot, and Spotify.

'How to Avoid Copyright on YouTube' Video Sparked a Decades-Old Debate That Refuses to Be Resolved — www.billboard.com
A video posted in 2013 titled “How to Avoid Copyright on YouTube” has set off a fiery debate four years later among some of the most powerful decision-makers in the music industry.

Publishers see traction in branded podcasts — digiday.com

Branded content renewals are generally a tough sell, with renewal rates historically hovering below 40 percent. But branded podcasts appear to be bucking that trend, as advertisers continue to hunt for ways to spend uninterrupted time with audiences.

Blockchain music: rights, artists and 'the big spreadsheet in the sky' — musically.com
Jaak is one of the startups exploring the potential that blockchain technology has for the music industry. The company is working on a number of pilot sche

Music Sustainability: The State Of Streaming — www.hypebot.com
As streaming’s dominance in the music business to grow, we’re taking a moment to look at the current state of streaming, as well as where it might be headed in the near future.

Spotify investor favors spring listing — www.cnbc.com
Venture capital firm Northzone is one of the largest stakeholders in Spotify.

Samsung TV to start streaming Amazon Music — www.financialexpress.com
As Samsung gears up to stay ahead in the electronics and IT game, the brand has announced that its TV range will include Amazon Music through the Smart Hub.

Rightsify Provides a New Way for Businesses to License and Play Music — platformandstream.com
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.

Warner Music Reports 2017 Results: Revenue Strong But Losses Soar — variety.com
For 2017 Warner Music Group reported strong growth in revenue and digital revenue, but a big jump in losses from 2016.