When streaming first emerged, artists were worried it would not pay them enough; then the debate moved on to whether too much value lay with the biggest artists and labels; now with the superstar artist production line stuttering, the majors want a new royalty system to protect their income. Meanwhile, Spotify still struggles to generate a consistent profit.
Source: The music industry’s tipping point is Right Here, Right Now
TikTok Music has launched as a premium-only music subscription service in Indonesia and Brazil, and it is licensed by, and includes the catalogs of all three major record companies: Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music. In September, Sony Music’s catalog was pulled from ByteDance‘s other music streaming app, Resso, but according to TikTok, the company’s catalog is available again on Resso, and now on TikTok Music, as of Thursday, July 6.
Spotify is cutting off existing App Store subscribers as the platform no longer accepts Apple’s billing service as a valid form of payment. In recent emails to those subscribers, Spotify said, their account will “automatically switch to our Free, ad-supported service” and that customers who wish to keep their Premium subscription will need to re-subscribe using one of the payment methods Spotify accepts, including credit cards and PayPal.
Source: Spotify Cuts Off Existing App Store Subs As Apple Feud Continues
In a statement, IATSE, a labor union which represents over 160,000 technicians, artisans and craftspersons in the entertainment industry, said, “Our approach as a union must be comprehensive, focused on research, collaboration, education, political and legislative advocacy, organizing, and collective bargaining.” The statement comes at a time when AI remains an important topic in SAG-AFTRA and WGA negotiations.
Source: IATSE Announces Core Principles for the Application of AI Technology in Entertainment
An important deadline just passed for the biggest tech platform companies in the world to notify the European Union (EU) that they are gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Seven companies have officially acknowledged they meet the criteria: Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, ByteDance (TikTok), Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp), Microsoft, and Samsung.
Source: Seven big tech companies say they’re platform gatekeepers under EU law
In February, in the United States, Spotify counted 44.4 million paying subscribers. This figure was revealed at the annual meeting of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) in New York last month by NMPA CEO and President, David Israelite. Israelite explained at the June 14 event that, for the first time, the NMPA was able to determine the number of subscribers each platform achieved in the States.
Source: Spotify had 44.4m US subscribers in February, Apple Music had 32.6m, according to new data
The company has already radically changed the way books are discovered online. And while ByteDance has said little publicly about its publishing plans, which are at an early stage, it is clear the company has the potential to sell a vast quantity of books. ByteDance can reach an audience that is enormous, and growing. In the past year, videos with the #BookTok hashtag have been viewed more than 91 billion times.
Source: TikTok Sells a Lot of Books. Now, Its Owner Wants to Publish Them, Too.
While Bored Ape prices have plunged hard, other NFT projects are feeling the bitter breeze of an increasingly chilly market for profile pictures (PFPs) and collectibles. As collectors recalibrate, enthusiasm for NFTs appears to be dampening broadly, weighing on established projects as sour sentiments spread.
Source: Bored Ape Yacht Club Prices Crash to Two-Year Low, Down 88% From Peak – Decrypt
Spotify is currently in discussions to introduce full-length music videos to its app, challenging YouTube and TikTok in the highly competitive video streaming market. The said talks were reported by Bloomberg on Saturday (July 1), citing people familiar with the plan. The sources reportedly revealed that Spotify has initiated conversations with potential partners about incorporating the new video feature into its platform.
Source: Watch out YouTube, Spotify’s considering adding full-length music videos to its app (report)
Negotiations have been underway since June 7, and the two sides have exchanged proposals and had lengthy meetings in the last few days. But sources have said they remain far apart on several key issues. SAG-AFTRA is seeking extensive AI protections and a streaming residual formula that would pay a bonus for top-performing shows. The guild is also looking to shore up its pension and health plans, which were forced to dramatically raise eligibility requirements during the pandemic.