With the company’s market cap on a downward trend despite strong growth metrics, Ek might find himself having to play up the disruption narrative more boldly and more quickly than he’d planned. Investors are betting on a Netflix-like disruptor for the music industry, rather than a junior distribution partner for the labels. And this is where things gets messy.
Source: Spotify ‘doing a Netflix’: is Daniel Ek’s platform already too big for the labels to stop it?
BMG has also committed to extend its relationship with GEMA to license through ARESA, which first started in 2012, until 2021. The ARESA structure is designed to optimize payments to BMG writers as well as simplifying licensing for music users. ARESA licensees include Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Deezer, YouTube and Facebook.
Source: BMG extends digital licensing deal with GEMA to 48 more territories
The European Commission said on Friday that it had approved Sony Corporation of America’s move to take full control of EMI Music Publishing, saying the deal raises no competition concerns. The Commission said it had cleared the transaction without conditions.
Source: Sony Cleared by EU to Take Full Control of EMI Music Publishing
As long as record stores have existed, data in some form has always played an important role in music marketing and promotion campaigns. But over the last five years, major labels and streaming platforms have been pouncing on data partnerships and startup acquisitions at an unprecedented rate, with the hopes of using algorithms to discover – and predict – the next big pop star.
Source: A&R ‘Moneyball’ is hotter than ever. But will it actually improve the music business?
Battle games are coming to blockchain, with a video game industry veteran launching a new title where players own, mutate, and battle digital crabs with unique attributes. Crabs can be mutated ahead of battles, and every triumph is duly recorded on the blockchain.
Source: Crab War on Blockchain: Long-Time Developer Launches Its First Crypto Game
An artwork made by an artificial intelligence program sold at a Christie’s auction for $432,500, nearly 45 times its high estimate. Portrait of Edmond Belamy, a painting created by a Paris-based art collective called Obvious, was generated by using an algorithm and a data set of 15,000 portraits painted between the 14th and 20th centuries.
Source: Painting Made by Artificial Intelligence Sells for $432,500
Warner Music isn’t the only major label investing money in music tech. Universal Music Investments has made 31 investments to date in companies like Pex, Roli, VerveandDoppler Labs, its Abbey Road Red serves as an incubator for a number of companies in its 6 month program, and Capitol Records has also launched a new Innovation Center incubator program as well.
Source: Warner Music Group Launches WMG Boost To Invest In Music Tech Startups
The likes of Sony (which sold a tranche of Spotify shares in April for around $750m) and Warner, which sold all of its shares for around $500m before the end of June, looked in danger of kicking themselves. That eventuality never came to be. A $200 share price was never reached. Since that late July peak, Spotify’s share price has tumbled dramatically – falling by circa 25%, amid a sore time for tech stocks in general.
Source: Spotify has lost $9bn in market cap value in less than three months
According to several estimates, in the next decade, between 20% and 30% of the top 40 singles will be written partially or totally with machine-learning software. Today, recording pros can use A.I.-powered programs to cue an array of instrumentation (from full orchestral arrangements to hip-hop beats), then alter it by mood, tempo, or genre (from heavy metal to bluegrass).
Will blockchain revolutionize the art market? The growing number of arttech startups aiming to bring greater transparency and transactional security to the industry as well as the adoption of the technology among the top players definitely indicates so!