youtube music
Can YouTube Catch Spotify to Become Music’s Top Royalty Stream?
Spotify is the king of music streaming — but its lead is dwindling. YouTube generated over $6 billion to the music industry in the 12 months ended June 2022, the company announced Tuesday (Sept. 13). That was a 50% increase from the last figure YouTube reported, $4 billion over a 12-month period, in June 2020. Reaching the $6 billion milestone raises the question of when — if at all — YouTube might surpass Spotify in terms of value to rights holders and creators. “We want our twin engine of ads and subscriptions to be the #1 contributor of revenue to the industry by 2025,” wrote Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s global head of music, in a blog post on Tuesday. That won’t be easy, but it isn’t impossible. Consider how fast YouTube has grown since Cohen joined the company from Warner Music Group (where ...
HONOR Magic4 Pro Arrives in South Africa
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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 ...
Google Doodle celebrates the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth
In celebration of the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth, Google has produced a video Doodle set to the first verse of the poem “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often called “The Black National Anthem.” It’s a 90 second piece of rousing animation that honors the end of slavery in the US. The video features art from artist Loveis Wise, music produced by Elijah Jamal, and the poem is read by LeVar Burton. Although slavery officially ended with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, it wasn’t until June 19th, 1865 that the federal order reached Galveston, Texas on the western edge of the Confederacy. Juneteenth is shorthand for “June Nineteenth.” “This is an American story about freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and I hope that in these brown faces many Americans can see themselves,” s...
YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Pledge Support for Blackout Tuesday
Image by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images YouTube Music, Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Music have all pledged in support of Blackout Tuesday – a campaign calling for the music industry to put normal day-to-day operations on ‘pause’ and “and instead spend time reflecting on how to support the black community.” According to The Verge, this movement is “aimed at protesting police violence and racism as well as honouring George Floyd, whose death at the hands of police has sparked universal outcry and demonstrations in US cities and around the world.” The global music streaming platforms have each attempted to do just this through social media blackouts, specially dedicated and curated playlists as well as moments of silence. “June 2nd is Black Out Tuesday, a day of collective disconnect from w...
Here’s What Streaming Services Are Doing for Black Out Tuesday and Beyond
Spotify, Bandcamp, SiriusXM and more are meeting the moment with a range of initiatives. As protests sparked by the death of 46-year-old Minneapolis resident George Floyd heated up this weekend, music companies began making statements in support of the movement to end police brutality against black Americans. On Friday, a number of companies and artists began sharing a statement posted under the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused, which calls for “a day to disconnect from work and reconnect with our community” and “an urgent step of action to provoke accountability and change.” Started by Atlantic Records marketing executives Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas, who are both black, the call for a day of action — which is now being called “Black Out Tuesday” — sparked other compa...
Get a Move On: Google Play Gets Busy Migrating Users to YouTube Music
As Google looks to phase out its music streaming service Google Play by the end of the year, it has begun the process of migrating users over to the Google-owned YouTube Music. Starting today (May 12), Google Play users can expect an email instructing them on how to easily transfer their music libraries, listening histories and playlists to YouTube Music. All users’ Google Play podcast subscriptions, on the other hand, will be moved over to the company’s free Google Podcasts app. Google says in a press release that users will continue to have access to both services until it officially kicks Google Play to the curb later this year. Paying Google Music subscribers will be automatically granted the equivalent tier on YouTube Music, at the same price. As it retires Google Play, th...
