Downtown Music Holdings-owned B2B distributor FUGA has formed a new alliance with specialist classical music company, Naxos Music Group, which distributes more than 90,000 titles. Under the deal, FUGA will provide its services including digital distribution, marketing, royalty accounting and trends and analytics platform to Naxos, the companies said Wednesday (November 2).
Source: FUGA strikes partnership with classical music company Naxos
Amazon Music VP Steve Boom shed light upon his company’s pricing plans in a recent appearance on Decoder, after the ecommerce giant’s music-streaming platform made its entire song catalog available to Prime members in shuffle mode. For reference, Amazon Music Unlimited, the namesake service’s ad-free subscription option, currently costs $8.99 per month for Prime members and $9.99 per month for non-members.
Source: Amazon Music Is Staying Put On Pricing — At Least for Now
In 2021, music copyright was worth $39.6bn – considerably more than the $25.9bn reported in the same year’s IFPI Global Music Report (GMR), and up 18 percent from 2020. The post-pandemic fallout has seen consumer subscriptions and ad-funded streaming continue to soar, whereas business-to-business licensing by CMOs has only partially recovered.
A judge blocked the largest publisher in the country from absorbing a rival, thwarting further consolidation in an industry that has been deeply reshaped by mergers in recent years. But the decision brought little clarity about what lies ahead for the companies involved, or for the publishing world.
Source: A Big Publishing Merger Was Blocked, but Brought the Industry Little Clarity
Amazon is expanding its music offering, opening up its full catalog of 100 million songs in Amazon Music to Prime subscribers at no extra charge. The company is also offering many of its in-house podcasts and a selection of others, ad-free, in the app. You’ll still need a separate subscription if you want Amazon Music to really rival Spotify and Apple Music, but Amazon’s service is becoming a seriously compelling (sort of) free option.
Source: Amazon Music’s entire library is now free for Prime subscribers
Source: Subscriptions Could Be Key to Social-Media Companies’ Futures
A new study reveals how purchasing a Kodi-powered streaming box changed the Internet and media consumption habits of US households. The researchers use these boxes as a piracy proxy, as they were often loaded with third-party piracy apps. Interestingly, their data show that the use of these boxes led to increased legal consumption through on-demand services such as Netflix and YouTube.
Source: ‘Pirate’ Streaming Boxes Boosted Netflix Viewership, Research Finds * TorrentFreak
CNN is pulling back on production of the original series and films that have been a staple of its programming over the past decade. “Our long-term plan will no longer rely on commissioned projects with outside partners,” said Chris Licht, chairman and CEO of CNN in a note to employees Friday. “This was a very difficult decision to make, and it was based, in large part, on the ever-increasing cost of commissioning third-party premium content.
Deezer has raised its premium price to $10.99 per month for individual users located in the United States following Apple Music’s increases. The stateside price increase of Access Industries’ Deezer has largely flown under the radar thus far. Predictably, Deezer execs didn’t issue a formal release (or even pen a social media post) pertaining to the price jump. But a quick glance at Reddit posts from ticked-off subscribers shows that Deezer has been raising the cost of its premium option in select markets throughout 2022.
Source: Deezer Premium Price Increases to $10.99 Per Month In the U.S.
TikTok announces the official launch of StemDrop on the platform in collaboration with Syco Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Republic Records, and Samsung, as well as five-time Grammy-winner Max Martin. StemDrop is billed as a new step in global music collaboration and discovery that enables artists and creators to showcase their talent and collaborate easily.