Spotify
Spotify Scraps Greenroom Creator Fund Amid Live Audio Rebrand
Spotify has shuttered its fund for live audio creators less than a year after the funding program was first unveiled, a company spokesperson confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. Originally, live audio creators using Spotify Greenroom — which has since been renamed Spotify Live — would have been able to participate in the fund to receive payouts for their work. Spotify never disclosed how exactly the funding would be determined, but the company said in its initial announcement last June that a creator’s audience size and how their content was consumed would factor into the payments. But the creator fund never ultimately launched last summer, as Spotify said it would at the time, and a Spotify spokesperson said on Tuesday that the funding will be shifted to...
Swedish House Mafia Make History With First-Ever Spotify Livestream at Coachella Afterparty
The dance music mega-group Swedish House Mafia made history early Saturday (April 16) when the trio became the first artists to be livestreamed by Spotify as part of the streaming platform’s new Spotify Live offering. Axwell highlighted the news while the Swedes performed at a private Coachella afterparty hosted by Spotify to celebrate the release of Swedish House Mafia’s first studio album, Paradise Again. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The group performed for over two hours at a highly curated event at a private mansion near the Coachella festival grounds with a faux lake and beach, where a bevy of VIP influencers, the DJ Alesso, the pop star Anitta and Euphoria actress Chloe Cherry also made appearances. They played many of the...
Swedish House Mafia Are Performing the First-Ever Real-Time DJ Set On Spotify
What a week it’s been for Swedish House Mafia. After last night’s release of their long-awaited debut album, Paradise Again, the legendary electronic music trio have another first in the works: the first-ever real-time DJ set hosted on Spotify. The streaming giant is reportedly hosting an exclusive Coachella event tonight, April 15th, live from the Indio desert. Fans will be able to tune into a live DJ set by Swedish House Mafia directly on the band’s Spotify artist page. “We’re excited to partner with Spotify for a special album release celebration with our fans on Friday, April 15, as we release Paradise Again and return to the stage after so long this weekend,” Swedish House Mafia said in a joint statement, per Digital Music News. “It’...
Apple CEO Says Regulating App Store Could Threaten Users’ Privacy
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Spotify Podcast and Editorial Exec Courtney Holt Exits
Courtney Holt, Spotify’s head of talk partnerships, editorial and global markets, will transition to an advisory role next month as the audio giant prepares to divide his responsibilities across multiple executives, a person familiar with the matter told The Hollywood Reporter. Holt is expected to stay on as advisor for a year. In the meantime, his duties will be taken over by a team primarily led by Julie McNamara, Spotify’s head of U.S. studios and video, and Max Cutler, the head of new content initiatives and the founder of Parcast Studios. The transition has been underway for a few weeks, according to the person, and Spotify is not hiring a replacement for Holt’s position. “I want to give thanks to the incredible teams at @Spotify I was [lucky] enough to lead and interact with,” Holt t...
Open Letter From Congress Rips Spotify’s Controversial Discovery Mode, Seeks Financial Transparency
Congressional leaders representing the Caucus on Multicultural Media are taking issue with a perceived lack of financial transparency on the part of Spotify. In a recent letter dated March 26th and signed by Democrat Representatives Tony Cardenas, Yvette D. Clarke, and Judy Chu, the caucus raised concerns that the streaming giant’s controversial Discovery Mode presents artists with a “prisoner’s dilemma,” when it comes to their ability to monetize on the platform. Discovery Mode, unveiled in November of 2020, is a relatively new feature on the Spotify platform which allows artists the option to boost the visibility of their songs on the platform in exchange for a lower promotional royalty rate. As the letter identifies, however, there is the cha...
The Ledger: For Streamers, Does Catalog Size Matter?
The Ledger is a weekly newsletter about the economics of the music business sent to Billboard Pro subscribers. An abbreviated version of the newsletter is published online. If millions of songs are uploaded to streaming services yearly and no one listens, do they make a sound? Yes and no. Someone — but not many people — listens to most every track. But few tracks could be called popular by any definition. Spotify’s catalog grew from 70 million to 82 million tracks in 2021, according to the company’s last two annual reports. That works out to an average of 33,000 per day. Some of its competitors grew faster and further, according to figures in public reports and press releases. Apple Music shot up from 70 million in January 2021 to 90 million in November 2021. YouTube Music also took a big ...
Parcast Union Reaches Tentative Deal With Spotify, Management on First Contract
Seemingly averting a threatened strike, a union at Parcast has reached a tentative agreement with Spotify and Parcast management on a first contract covering the podcast studio’s content writers, fact-checkers, producers, researchers and other workers. The Parcast Union — which is affiliated with the Writers Guild of America, East — announced the deal on Wednesday night, their final day of bargaining with the music streaming giant and the Spotify-owned podcast studio, and are not yet disclosing terms of the tentative agreement. “After months of regular meetings, late-night emails, private calls, & full unit efforts, we’re proud to announce we have a deal,” the union tweeted on Wednesday night. “We couldn’t have done it without the consistent support of our colleagues. It’s been a worth...
Spotify’s Discovery Mode Under Scrutiny by Congress (Again)
Members of Congress are once again taking aim at Spotify’s controversial Discovery Mode feature, which allows artists and labels to receive a lower royalty rate on select tracks in exchange for higher priority in the platform’s algorithms. In a letter obtained by Billboard, dated March 29, 2022 and addressed to Spotify founder, CEO and chairman Daniel Ek, Reps. Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Judy Chu (D-CA) and Tony Cardenas (D-CA) – co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Multicultural Media – express concerns that Discovery Mode “lacks transparency” for both artists and consumers and ask the company to publish “on a monthly basis the name of every track enrolled in the program” and the agreed-upon discounted royalty rate for each. Variety first reported on the letter. “Choosing to accept...
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek to Be Deposed in Eminem Copyright Infringement Suit
A federal judge says Spotify CEO Daniel Ek must sit for depositions in a copyright lawsuit over Eminem’s music, rejecting the streamer’s arguments that he’s not personally involved in “day-to-day” licensing operations or that he’s too busy to participate in the case. Spotify claimed that Ek had little information to offer about the lawsuit and that Eight Mile Style was trying to drag him into a deposition simply to “harass and annoy” him. But U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffery S. Frensley ruled Thursday (March 31) that the executive would need to find the time. “Undoubtedly Mr. Ek has a full schedule [and] the Court credits Spotify’s assertion that he is very busy indeed,” Judge Frensley wrote. “Yet, the issue of proper licensing relationships with the artists whose work comprises the entirety ...
The Cloud-Based Recording Studio That’s Perfect For Collaboration
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, SPIN may receive an affiliate commission. It’s called Soundtrap by Spotify. It’s a way to turn your phone or mobile device into a virtual “everywhere studio.” Soundtrap allows people at all levels of experience and technical expertise to work together on music, podcasts, or anything else people listen to. Whatever you and your partners create is stored in the cloud, which means another crucial problem associated with creativity has been solved: storage. The free version of Soundtrap offers unlimited projects, plus access to more than 4,500 loops, more than 400 instruments, and more than 150,000 free sound effects sourced from freesounds.org. There are also paid tiers with even more features that are...
The Cloud-Based Recording Studio That’s Perfect For Collaboration
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, SPIN may receive an affiliate commission. It’s called Soundtrap by Spotify. It’s a way to turn your phone or mobile device into a virtual “everywhere studio.” Soundtrap allows people at all levels of experience and technical expertise to work together on music, podcasts, or anything else people listen to. Whatever you and your partners create is stored in the cloud, which means another crucial problem associated with creativity has been solved: storage. The free version of Soundtrap offers unlimited projects, plus access to more than 4,500 loops, more than 400 instruments, and more than 150,000 free sound effects sourced from freesounds.org. There are also paid tiers with even more features that are...
