Still Ripping After All These Years; 18% of Americans Own a Smart Speaker; Deutsche Bank Claims…

Still Ripping After All These Years — www.palisadeshudson.com

Still Ripping After All These Years — www.palisadeshudson.com

Given the explosion in subscription and ad-supported music streaming services, I thought the old war between the music industry and sites specializing in music piracy was pretty much over. Maybe you did too.

Music Streaming Has Ended the CD’s 30-Year Reign in Germany — www.billboard.com 
 Audio streaming now represents nearly half of revenues and has replaced CDs as the largest sales segment on the German record market, reported Florian Drücke, CEO of the German Music Industry Association (BVMI) today in Berlin.

Now 18% of Americans Own a Smart Speaker — www.billboard.com 
 According to the most recent installment of a recurring study conducted by NPR and Edison, roughly 48 million Americans above the age of 18 — or 18 percent of the population — now own smart speakers.

Deutsche Bank claims major-label unrest over Spotify playlists — musically.com 
 Analysts from Deutsche Bank have suggested that major labels are unhappy with their share of slots on Spotify’s curated and algorithmic playlists.

Tunecore Adds Facebook, Instagram Monetization — www.hypebot.com 
 DIY distributor TuneCore has added a new opportunity — Facebook and Instagram monetization.

U.S. Senate Proposes Sending Emergency Alerts Through Streaming Services — www.digitalmusicnews.com 
 Users of music streaming services such as Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music could soon find something different on their playlists.

Netflix to Launch Comedy Radio Channel on SiriusXM — variety.com 
 Netflix is getting into the radio biz: The streamer has entered into a pact with SiriusXM to launch a 24-hour comedy channel set to debut by January 2019.

Endlesss.fm wants to be the next platform for music-making — musically.com 
 From app ecosystems like Smule to tools like Soundtrap (bought by Spotify), Splice (with its $35m funding round last December) and BandLab (with its numerous acquisitions), there’s been plenty of activity around platforms for music-making in recent times.

Ed Sheeran documentary ‘Songwriter’ to debut exclusively on Apple Music next month — 9to5mac.com

Earlier this year, Apple obtained world rights to the Ed Sheeran documentary “Songwriter.” Now, Sheeran has announced on his Instagram that the film will be available exclusively on Apple Music beginning next month…

Gender, Pregnancy Bias Suit Against Jay-Z’s Streaming Music Service Clears Hurdle, But Is Pared Down — www.law.com 
 Lisette Paulson sued Tidal Jay-Z’s entertainment company Roc Nation and a number of individual Tidal managers in 2016 claiming seven federal and state sex and pregnancy violations after being fired the previous year.

Radio Needs A Prime Day — jacobsmedia.com

A reminder that radio brands need special event programming to keep brands interesting and vital.