“It is Spotify’s ambition to be the destination for all things audio both for listeners and creators,” Gustav Söderström, Spotify’s chief research and development officer, said in a statement. “The acquisition of Findaway will accelerate Spotify’s presence in the audiobook space and will help us more quickly meet that ambition.” Findaway will still be led by founder and CEO Mitch Kroll and remain headquartered in Ohio. Kroll will report to Spotify’s head of audiobooks, Nir Zicherman. “Together with Spotify we have the opportunity to innovate and democratize the audiobook ecosystem,” Kroll said. “We founded Findaway with the recognition of the power of the spoken word through audiobooks and the unique opportunity to empower storytellers and connect them with listeners. We look forward to co...
Spotify landed within prior guidance for the third quarter and reached the high end of expectations for revenue and monthly active users. In other words, the company met expectations and didn’t unveil the kinds of surprises investors hate. What’s more, the company raised its expectations for fourth quarter revenue and gross margin. That’s good news for both investors and anybody due to receive royalties. The fourth quarter is peak season for subscription services and no time to disappoint. Spotify added 11 million subscribers in each of the last two fourth quarters, almost double its average for the first through third quarters of both years. Appropriately, CEO Daniel Ek said during Wednesday’s earnings call, “We’re all hands on deck to make sure the positive trend continues.” What t...
Digital service providers Spotify, Apple Music, Google, and Pandora have submitted paperwork stating what they believe songwriters’ royalty rates should be for the years 2023 to 2027. The Copyright Act states that every five years Copyright Royalty Judges oversee discussions to determine what streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music pay as a mechanical royalty rate to songwriters and publishers. These platforms are notorious for incredibly low payout rates and “exploitative practices” when it comes to paying music creators. Spotify co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek. Magnus Höij/Wikimedia Commons The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) has fought for higher mechanical royalty rates for music publishers and songwriters. The organization’s president and...
Like a twisted game of limbo, songwriters and artists are constantly asked to go lower and lower, and only the streaming companies win. As Billboard reports, on October 21st, several major streamers filed to the US Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) proposing royalty rates for 2023-2027. Three of the biggest platforms — Spotify, Amazon, and Pandora — are recommending a significant reduction in royalty rates over the 2018–2022 period. These upcoming four years, 2023-2027, are known as CRB Phonorecords IV, denoting the fourth period of rate determination. It follows Phonorecords I for 2008–2012, Phonorecords II from 2013–2017, and Phonorecords III from 2018-2022. Phonorecords III represented an increase over the previous two periods, escalating over time and culminating in a r...
During her time at Spotify, Ong — the daughter of a Persian mother and a Chinese father who fled the Iranian revolution when she was a baby — has helped launch the streamer’s RADAR emerging artist program, which has spotlighted artists including Griff, Park Hye Jin, Joy Crookes and Young T & Bugsey. Prior to Spotify, Ong served as global vp and head of marketing at rival streaming service Deezer for two-and-a-half years, working directly with labels and content creators. She kicked off her music career in 2004, when she was hired as an international marketing manager, artist development at Sony BMG Music. She later worked in a variety of artist management and marketing roles at The Family Entertainment, Live Nation, Silver Horse Entertainment and app developer WholeWor...
During her time at Spotify, Ong — the daughter of a Persian mother and a Chinese father who fled the Iranian revolution when she was a baby — has helped launch the streamer’s RADAR emerging artist program, which has spotlighted artists including Griff, Park Hye Jin, Joy Crookes and Young T & Bugsey. Prior to Spotify, Ong served as global vp and head of marketing at rival streaming service Deezer for two-and-a-half years, working directly with labels and content creators. She kicked off her music career in 2004, when she was hired as an international marketing manager, artist development at Sony BMG Music. She later worked in a variety of artist management and marketing roles at The Family Entertainment, Live Nation, Silver Horse Entertainment and app developer WholeWor...
In an interview with Billboard, Camille Hearst, the head of Spotify for Artists, said the goal for that program is to provide “the information and resources that artists need to grow their fan bases and ultimately get paid for them,” and the Shopify partnership is the latest example of that. “As we think about what are all the ways we can help artists get paid, what are the ways we can help artists maximize additional revenue streams, merch is one of the things that comes top of mind,” Hearst says. “That’s why we are announcing this partnership with Shopify because we think it really is the next step in creating a holistic audience development platform.” “It’s just a natural fit for Spotify in many ways,” Hearst continues. “...
This is an opinion column. The thoughts and viewpoints expressed are those of the author, Richard James Burgess. Burgess, who is credited for coining the music genre terms “EDM” and “New Romantic,” is the CEO of the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM). On its face, Spotify’s Discovery Mode might seem like a boon for some artists. Agree to accept a reduced royalty rate and the platform’s algorithms will suggest that artist’s music to more users—in hopes of expanding their base of listeners. But the scheme will most likely generate more profit for Spotify while hurting the very people Discovery Mode is alleged to benefit: artists and listeners. Spotify’s Broken Promise to Listeners When Spotify launched, its premise was an exci...
Even after six years away from the spotlight, Adele remains the biggest name in music. Case in point: her comeback single “Easy on Me” has set the Spotify record for most streams in a single day. Adele bested a record previously held by BTS, whose song “Butter” received 20.9 million global streams on May 23rd. Here at Consequence, we named “Easy on Me” our Song of the Week. In her accompanying writeup, contributing editor Mary Siroky said of the song, “It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s Adele through and through, and that might just be best case scenario right now. Turn it on for a long, reflective drive. Pour a cup of coffee and sit by the window looking forlorn. Resist the urge to call your ex. Adele is here for all of us.” Advertisement Related Video “Easy on Me” serves as the first sing...