Spotify, Tencent Music May Team Up Via Stock Swap; Neil Young’s Massive Online Archive Is Open

Today we arrive at issue #300. I want to say a quick ‘thanks’ to my friends and readers for your support. I am very appreciative and honored that you take a few minutes out of your busy day to have a look at my curated digest of news from the exciting world of music streaming.

Spotify and Tencent Music May Team Up Via Stock Swap — variety.com 
 Spotify is in talks with Tencent Music for a stock swap, which would also come with a significant capital injection for the music service.

Neil Young’s Massive Online Archive Is Open — pitchfork.com 
 “Don’t forget to have a good time, and try not to get lost”

Why live streaming is not a solution for orchestras in a digital world — medium.com 
 In the twentieth century, people went to concert halls to hear the greatest classical music performed by orchestras like the New York Philharmonic or Boston Symphony.

Biggest tracks could be main losers from user-centric streaming payouts — musically.com 
 Research being conducted in Finland into a ‘user-centric’ payments model for music-streaming suggests that the biggest tracks may be the main losers.

The music industry should be dreaming of a white Christmas — www.economist.com

Weather and daylight hours affect the consumption of festive songs.

Kobalt inks licensing deal in China with NetEase Cloud Music — www.musicbusinessworldwide.com

Unlike the three major music companies (Universal, Sony and Warner), Kobalt has taken a different path in the key emerging territory. The company’s publishing division and its AWAL recorded music operation have signed a deal with NetEase Cloud Music to license and distribute its music catalogue.

What does Chris Stapleton have in common with Etta James, Van Morrison, and Otis Redding? Plenty. — medium.com

“Tennessee Whiskey” plays well with songs in the country, Americana, singer-songwriters, rock, R&B, and soul genres. • Stapleton’s music has a close relation to Etta James and other R&B/soul…

iHeartMedia Promotes John Ivey to President of Top 40 Programming Strategy — www.billboard.com 
 iHeartMedia’s national programming group has promoted 40-year veteran programmer John Ivey to the position of president of CHR Programming Strategy, effective immediately.

A Colorado Company who Sued Netflix and others is now Targeting Apple’s Streaming Products like Apple Music, iTunes & more — www.patentlyapple.com

Realtime Adaptive Streaming has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple in the District Court of Colorado. The company had previously sued Cisco, Netflix and Hulu and yesterday the company filed a six count lawsuit against Apple.

Rights clearance startup Dubset partners with indie distribution label Merlin — www.theverge.com 
 Merlin’s members include Sub Pop, Warp, and Mad Decent

Spotify Premium gets discounted to $99 for a year — www.theverge.com 
 The same price as Apple Music