African Music Going Global; Proton Helps Labels Monetize DJ Mixes; Apple Music Lyrics Smarten Up…

African music is going global and Spotify — like everyone else — wants in — qz.com Spotify is late to the party, but it’s making a grand…

African music is going global and Spotify — like everyone else — wants in — qz.com 
 Spotify is late to the party, but it’s making a grand entrance.

DJ Mixes On Spotify + Apple Music? Proton Is Helping Labels Monetize Mixes — djtechtools.com

Proton — a label and distribution platform run by the cofounder of Crates.co — is launching a new endeavor to get more DJ mixes on streaming services.

Apple Music Lyrics Smarten Up With Genius — www.wsj.com 
 Apple Music will now display lyrics from popular online music encyclopedia Genius, and will become its exclusive Web player, in a deal that could help drive more subscribers to the service.

Trump Signs Music Modernization Act — variety.com 
 President Donald Trump signed bipartisan music licensing and royalty legislation on Thursday at a White House ceremony.

‘Ethical Pool’ idea could let fans choose user-centric royalties — musically.com 
 Industry blog Music Tech Solutions has been thinking about the debate around ‘user-centric’ streaming royalties.

Drake, Ed Sheeran and Rihanna Dominate Spotify’s All-Time Streaming Lists — www.billboard.com 
 It’s official: Drake is the most-streamed artist of all time on Spotify.

Albums in the streaming era: ‘Think of it as a blank canvas for telling stories’ — musically.com 
 Streaming is a world of tracks and playlists rather than albums, right? An event last night promised to explore the role of the album in the streaming era.

MUSO launches Piracy by Industry Dashboard — musically.com 
 Anti-piracy-tools firm Muso has made its name with research on the scale of online piracy of music and other content, as well as with its partnership with UK indie trade-body AIM to help its labels tackle piracy of their music.

Rich Asian investors turn to music after betting on soccer craze — www.business-standard.com 
 Read more about Rich Asian investors turn to music after betting on soccer craze on Business Standard. Swiss-Asia Holding, which previously marketed soccer-linked notes to clients, aims to raise $100 million for securities linked to royalties generated from song rights

SoundCloud Expands Program for Helping Artists Monetize Directly — www.billboard.com 
 Today, it announces an expansion of its SoundCloud Premier program, a direct monetization platform aimed at making it easier for fans to support artists and empower its musician users.

London firm to launch music streaming platform with Universal Music Group — www.cityam.com 
 London-listed music technology firm 7digital will today reveal a partnership with Universal Music Group, the record label behind artists such as Taylor