FLO Revives Music Streaming Through Fandom; BTS Announce Livestream, Netflix Doc
2316 | Your Daily Dose of Music Streaming News
Radio 6 Music plans indie brand extension with 24-hour stream on BBC Sounds
The retro-themed 6 Music spin-off will be dedicated to indie rock and pop from the 1980s to the 2010s.
FLO CEO Lee Ki-young Revives Music Streaming Through Fandom
Korean pop music is sweeping the globe, but the presence of domestic music services has not matched this success. According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, YouTube Music (37.6%) was the top music streaming service in the domestic market last year. Amid this landscape, Dreamus Company, which operates FLO, is once again aiming to revive domestic music streaming services.
Yes, iTunes Is Still a Big Deal to Record Labels in the Streaming Era
Apple Music and Spotify may reign supreme in terms of sheer numbers, but iTunes and other downloads-focused platforms still have a place of their own.
BTS Announce Special Livestream, Netflix Documentary
BTS the Comeback Live | Arirang will be broadcast from Gwanghwamun, Seoul, on March 21st at 7am ET in celebration of their forthcoming album, Arirang. That performance will be followed by a documentary directed by Bao Nguyen exploring the making of the band’s new record.
B2B music streamer Soundtrack acquires Ambie and Tunify, expanding presence in UK and Benelux
Both companies will adopt the Soundtrack brand while retaining their local teams.
Checkout.com Announces Strategic Partnership With Spotify to Power Efficient, Scalable Payments Globally
The integration of Checkout.com’s capabilities with Spotify’s vast global subscriber base underscores a critical shift in the subscription economy: the battle for superior payment performance is now being fought with artificial intelligence.
The Detection Arms Race Just Went Commercial
Without detection, the system collapses. Streaming platforms cannot accurately allocate payments if they can’t distinguish between human-made, AI-assisted, and fully synthetic content. The royalty pool becomes a free-for-all where volume wins over creativity.
Are Transparent Pitching Tools Like JioSaavn ArtistOne Changing Indie Music Discovery in India?
India’s independent music landscape is expanding quickly, with a growing volume of releases competing for attention each week. As discovery becomes harder to secure and less predictable to influence, creators are increasingly experimenting with new ways to understand how their music moves through streaming ecosystems.
LALAL.AI’s First VST Plug-in Brings Stem Splitting Power to Popular Music Creation Software
Thanks to LALAL.AI’s new VST, the company’s first, music makers can use industry-leading stem-splitting models right in their DAWs. They can stop tab jumping and repetitive uploading and stick to what they’re there for: making music.
A2IM CEO Ian Harrison on challenges for the independent label model in 2026
“The continued success of independent labels at the GRAMMY Awards is not a trend, it’s a reflection of how today’s music ecosystem truly works,” said Harrison. “Independent companies are building successful careers globally while preserving creative freedom and long-term artist development. We are proud to celebrate the independent community whose work is shaping the future of recorded music.”
Beatport Launches New Sub-Genre: Psy-Techno
Beatport expands its Techno (Peak Time / Driving) category with the addition of the Psy-Techno sub-genre, improving discovery and curation across the ecosystem.
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The FLO story is really intriguing - trying to compete with YouTube Music's 37.6% market share by focusing on fandom engagement is a smart differentiator. I've noticed similar dynamics in other regional markets where global platforms dominate but leave gaps for localized experiances. The key question is whether fandom-driven features can generate enough stickiness to overcome network effects. Really curious to see if Dreamus can execute on that positioning consistently.