The video sharing app TikTok arrived in the U.S. only two years ago, but has already become one of the most popular social platforms in the country. According to figures shared by the company this week, more than 100 million Americans use TikTok every month—nearly a third of the population.
Source: TikTok claims nearly a third of Americans use the platform—but some observers are skeptical
Over the last decade or so, the music industry has been inspired, prompted or downright forced to find a wider range of revenue streams and alternative routes to fans. Tommy Stalknecht, the founder of Single Music, believes that Shopify should be right in the mix when it comes to reaching fans and delivering hits.
Source: How Single Music is giving artists control of their e-commerce and livestream ticketing
Epic Games won a partial victory in its legal battle with Apple when a federal judge barred the Silicon Valley titan from kneecapping the “Fortnite” maker’s trademark development tool. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers barred Apple from restricting access to the Unreal Engine in retaliation for Epic circumventing Apple’s App Store fees through its popular “Fortnite” game.
Source: Judge protects Epic Games’ Unreal Engine in legal battle with Apple
Today (Aug. 24), Good Folk Music Management founder Jordan Mattison and New York-based digital agency Coalesce announced the wide release of its new free royalty calculator Good Splits, which aims to simplify the calculation and distribution of song royalties for artists and creators.
Source: Good Splits Launches New Royalty Calculator For Artists and Creators
Los-Angeles based B2B music rights and licensing marketplace Songtradr has raised $30 million in a series C funding round, valuing the company at $165m. With this investment, Songtradr aims to accelerate its global expansion plans, product development and fund key acquisitions.
Source: Songtradr raises $30m in Series C round to fund global expansion
Global recording industry trade organization IFPI has worked with its German national group, BVMI, to take action against five leading websites in Germany which manipulate music streams in exchange for payment. Today (Aug. 24), the two groups announced that German courts have issued injunctions ordering each site’s operator to cease its service.
Source: Record Industry Groups Take Action Against Fake Music Streams in Germany
In a blog post on Monday, Google said the code was “unworkable” but admitted it would not be able to escape the code as it did in Spain – where the news feed was switched off – because the proposed code was so broadly defined. “If we show Australians any content from any ‘news publisher’ (defined to include any ‘website’) in the world, we must also show all news content of news businesses registered under the code,” Google said.
Source: Google protests ‘unworkable’ ACCC code for digital platforms to pay news media companies
Overall Twitch viewership shrank slightly in July, and streams of top games like League of Legends and Fortnite fell with it. But in other corners of Twitch, viewership is still growing: the platform’s “Just Chatting” category saw millions more hours watched, and there were increases in Twitch’s “Creative” and “Music & Performing Arts” categories, too.
Source: Twitch viewership dipped this month, unless you’re looking beyond games
TikTok sued the U.S. government on Monday, accusing the Trump administration of depriving it of due process when President Trump used his emergency economic powers to issue an executive order that will block the app from operating in the country. The suit is TikTok’s most direct challenge to the White House and escalates an increasingly bitter back-and-forth between the popular video app and American officials.
Audible has announced a new service being introduced in preview that will provide unlimited listening to a curated library of audio entertainment. Audible Plus will provide subscribers access to 68,000 hours of content from more than 11,000 original productions, audiobooks, and podcasts. The new offering will be available for $7.95 per month.
Source: Audible Launches New Unlimited Subscription Tier Audible Plus