Streaming's Continued Growth Defies Mathematical Trends; Is Alexa Good or Bad for Radio?; Spotify Hits 83 Million Premium Subs

In the first half of 2018, overall on-demand streaming increased 41.7 percent to reach 403.5 billion U.S. streams, according to Nielsen Music. That growth defies mathematical trends, which dictate that, as a base enlarges, it becomes harder to achieve a bigger percentage growth than in preceding time periods.

Since the Amazon Echo hit the scene a couple short years back, there’s been all sorts of speculation about whether the advent of these voice command devices will be a plus – or a minus – for broadcast radio

France is the latest major market to publish its recorded music sales numbers for the first half of 2018, with the headline news being that on-demand streaming grew 39% from the opening six months of 2017 and now makes up 56% of the total market.

Spotify largely hit expectations on all metrics for the second quarter of 2018, although the music-streaming giant said Europe's new sweeping privacy law impacted its revenue for the period.

Alexa Cast is like Google Cast, but for Amazon devices.

According to BTIG, Greg Maffei's SiriusXM "would like a deal to happen" – although Amazon and Spotify are also believed to be waiting in the wings…

If this is a revolution, it’s pretty quiet.

The constantly-evolving communication and tech habits of young Australians are a regular topic of conversation for older generations.

Following bilingual hits "Despacito" and "I Like It," music business veterans and contemporary artists alike weigh in on the potential of Latin music in the U.S. marketplace.

Spotify’s India launch has hit the roadblock as large record labels have refused to license their songs to the service for the market.

It's like an iPod Shuffle for your Spotify library, and it's never been priced this low. Plus: three bonus deals!