Spotify, Sony Music Reach Deal; Fixing SoundCloud; 2017: The Year of Music Streaming

After months of negotiations, Sony Music Entertainment has reached a licensing agreement with Spotify, sources tell Billboard, becoming the second major label to do so this year and paving the way for the streaming service to go public.

SoundCloud is in dire straits. Some ideas to fix its broken business model by renewing its focus on independent artists.

On-demand audio streams have reached more than 184 billion so far in 2017, a considerable 62.4% increase over the same period last year.

The growth of online music streaming has contributed to Spotify's success. However, some commentators are circumspect about Spotify's valuation.

As Deezer announces its first-ever Family Plan offer in the US, VP of Marketing Deborah Jourdan discusses key stats and findings to discuss the broader context off how the music industry is changing and how music streaming in particularly has changed the landscape for artists of today and yesteryear.

Google Play Music seems to have received a new interface for streaming music via Chromecast. A Reddit user has revealed the same on a new thread.

Yandex, "the Russian Google," has introduced restrictions on user-generated content of its music service amidst piracy concerns, although the company has denied a connection.

Is just one speaker enough for movies and music?

Fender Play is a new 4K video subscription service designed to teach guitar in bite-sized, song-based tutorials that put YouTube lessons to shame.

In the audio streaming business, one single factor stands above the others: Discoverability. SoundCloud’s recent high-profile stumbles are tied to it.