music streaming
Chronicling how music streaming services work, and reactions to them
Tony Lashley and
music streaming
“Today musicians only keep 8% of streaming revenues, but AI will squeeze them further. Four years from now, musicians will only receive 6.4% of streaming revenues (Source: CISAC).” | Source
Gen AI for music has captured ~$300M in funding so far this year across several high-profile deals, the majority of which either focus on rights management and attribution (Musical AI, Vermillio, BRIA AI) or emphasize B2B partnerships (Music AI, ElevenLabs).
This suggests that industry alignment, rather than disruption, is the thesis that investors
Source: Water & Music, H1 2025: THE YEAR SO FAR IN MUSIC TECH DEALS
In 1926, the year before The Jazz Singer popularized pre-recorded sound to cinema, theater pits employed 22,000 musicians in the United States; by 1934, there were only 4,100. Fewer musicians’ salaries meant lower ticket prices and more daily showings, and attendance almost doubled. New York City’s Local 802 organized picket lines outside theaters... See more
Worker’s Song | Franz Nicolay
Do!!You!!! World!
doyou.world
Tunes tunes tunes
What Does Music Mean to Spotify? An Essay on Musical Significance in the Era of Digital Curation
Asher T Chodosacademia.edu
Abstract: The growing field of “critical algorithm studies” often addresses the cultural consequences of machine learning, but it has ignored music. Te result is that we inhabit a musical culture intimately bound up with various forms of algorithmic mediation, personalization, and “surveillance capitalism” that has largely escaped critical attention. But the issue of algorithmic mediation in music should matter to us, if music matters to us at all. This article lays the groundwork for such critical attention by looking at one major musical application of machine learning: Spotify’s automated music recommendation system. In particular, it takes for granted that any musical recommendation – whether made by a person or an algorithm – must necessarily imply a tacit theory of musical meaning. In the case of Spotify, we can make certain claims about that theory, but there are also limits to what we can know about it. Both things – the deductions and the limitations – prove valuable for a critique of automated music curation in general."
The music streaming industry is at a critical juncture . While revenues are at an all-time high, driven by 800 million premium subscribers and a global market worth c. $22 billion, market developments threaten to create and entrench a two-tier system that disadvantages independent music stakeholders. This report evaluates industry changes through... See more
Dan Fowler • Combating the Emergence of a Two-Tier Music Streaming Market: Analysis and recommendations to support a future industry of innovation, inclusivity, and sustainable growth
Warmer. Very warm. Stratification here we come.
What if that user base was steadfastly fixed to their own platform? If we could build a unified lobby of artists and fans, we would hold a much stronger hand in negotiation, and consequently may see more favorable deals negotiated in the use of sampled material and other roadblocks prior platforms have experienced. Legacy industry need association... See more
Mat Dryhurst • SoundCrowd: Tokenizing & Collectivizing Soundcloud
Close.
A month earlier, according to Music Business Worldwide, UMG acquired the remaining 51% of PIAS, Europe’s largest independent music company. These acquisitions illustrate Universal’s recognition that this is where the revenue growth in the music industry is happening.
Kristin Westcott Grant • Catalogs, Indies, And Emerging Markets: The Strategic Acquisitions Of 2024
And “indie,” in the current day, doesn’t necessarily mean “small”: the big-tent Beggars Group (4AD, Matador, Rough Trade, XL, and Young Turks) is inarguably a major business. North Carolina’s Merge Records has had multiple Billboard top tens, and is distributed by a NASDAQ-listed public company that counts among other clients Walmart, Target,... See more