Spotify, Deezer Back Call to Regulate App Store Owners; Kobalt's Big Funding; Pandora Nabs $150 Million Investment

Spotify and Deezer were among the companies to sign a letter to the European Commission last week complaining about what they see as an abuse of power by the likes of Apple and Google in relation to their respective mobile operating systems and app stores.

Pandora Media said on Monday that KKR & Co LP has agreed to invest $150 million in the music streaming service, while the company explores strategic alternatives, including a sale.

We reached out to a bunch of podcast production companies about data security following the Netflix breach. Their silence spoke volumes.

Spotify has added Spotify Codes in order to make sharing music (with strangers or friends) much easier, or more complex, depending on how you look at it.

The company, which focuses on publishing and neighboring rights, now has plenty of cash to burn through.

With CD sales on the decline in an age of ever-expanding music streaming, some recording labels in Japan are groping to create new businesses, such as holding fitness events featuring popular animation music or even starting an investment firm specializing in entertainment projects.

In the smartphone era, many music fans are abandoning downloads and even broadcast radio in favor of subscription-based streaming services.

With billions of dollars of being poured into the development of VR technology, live music is regarded as one of the key markets for the sector.

Social media music company Smule has raised $54 million in a financing round led by Chinese technology giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, which it will use to fuel international growth, the company said on Monday.

There is growing worry and resentment among music performers around the world about the low level of their remuneration and the fact that they are mostly missing their share of the internet music streaming pie, according to speakers at an event held at the World Intellectual Property Organization this week. Performers need a change in international rules, in particular a right to remuneration, they said.