Music News

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a pivotal force reshaping numerous tasks, simplifying processes across various domains, including editing and copywriting. The tech sphere, in particular, has witnessed the burgeoning impact of AI, prompting industries to grapple with its multifaceted opportunities and ethical considerations. In this realm of AI evolution, creators, influencers, and entities within…

Spotify, the leading streaming music platform, is revamping its royalty model to keep up with the rapid increase in new music releases. These changes include introducing a minimum threshold for royalty qualification, penalties for streaming fraud, and restrictions on short "noise" tracks. The music industry is witnessing a seismic shift as technology-driven innovations, such as…

Around 10 percent of music streams may potentially be fraudulent, according to a recent report that delves into the state of the streaming industry. The report, written by Anna Nicolaou for The Financial Times, primarily explores Universal Music Group (UMG) and Deezer's "artist-centric music streaming model." UMG and Deezer intend to introduce this new model,…

Hip-hop celebrates its 50th birthday today (11 August 2023)! Hip-hop is a cultural movement that originated in the African American and Latinx communities in the South Bronx, New York City, during the early 1970s. It has since become a global phenomenon with a significant impact on music, dance, fashion, art, and social activism. The birth…

Is voice licensing for artists a new revenue stream in the era of AI? Enter VoiceSwap by DJ Fresh. AI voice cloning can re-create an artist’s voice using machine learning and hours of samples. Unauthorized mash-ups, such as the Drake and the Weeknd collaboration, gained popularity on social media and streaming platforms before being taken…

Here’s an interesting development to share… Until recently WAV files really did not display cover art anywhere. This was in spite of the fact that we were always able to embed covers for you properly into WAV files. Players simply did not show them. This is finally changing… Now, the MAC displays covers embedded in…

Spotify's dominant position in the streaming and social platforms has become a key indicator of success for artists in today's music industry. Spotify For Artists, the platform's own analytics tool, has proven to be a valuable resource for artists to understand their Spotify data. However, once artists have become proficient in using Spotify's analytics, there…

The major record labels, including Universal Music, Sony Music, and Warner Music, are losing market share on Spotify, according to recent reports. Spotify's latest annual investor report revealed that the combined market share of the major labels and Merlin, a global digital rights agency for independent labels, decreased from 87% in 2017 to 75% in…

For the First Time Ever, Annual Music Streams Top 1 Trillion — In the US Alone According to Luminate, a data firm that powers the Billboard charts, music streaming in the US alone surpassed one trillion streams in 2022. The top five songs in the US were: "As It Was" by Harry Styles "Heat Waves"…

Grammy Awards 2023: Winners Album of the year ABBA – Voyage Adele – 30 Bad Bunny – Un Verano Sin Ti Beyoncé – Renaissance Brandi Carlile – In These Silent Days Coldplay – Music of the Spheres Harry Styles – Harry’s House – WINNER Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers Lizzo –…

In the week leading up to Christmas 2021, a record 2.32 million vinyl albums were sold in the US, according to data from Luminate. This marked the highest number of vinyl album sales in a single week since electronic tracking began in 1991. Sales were boosted by holiday shopping, with 46.7% more vinyl albums sold…

For the First Time Ever, Annual Music Streams Top 1 Trillion — In the US Alone According to Luminate, a data firm that powers the Billboard charts, music streaming in the US alone surpassed one trillion streams in 2022. The top five songs in the US were: "As It Was" by Harry Styles "Heat Waves"…

Apple acquired artist services and music marketing agency Platoon in 2018 and has let it operate more or less independently since. Prior to being acquired by Apple, one of Platoon’s biggest claims to fame was working with Billie Eilish prior to her being signed by Interscope. The new iOs app presumably shares some of Platoon’s…

Album of the year Jon Batiste – We Are – WINNER Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga – Love for Sale Justin Bieber – Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe) Doja Cat – Planet Her (Deluxe) Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever HER – Back of My Mind Lil Nas X – Montero Olivia Rodrigo – Sour Taylor…

Adele Dominates 2022 Brit Awards: Full List of Winners Adele was the big winner at the 2022 Brit Awards, which were presented at the 02 arena in London on Tuesday (Feb. 8). She won artist of the year, Mastercard album of the year for 30 and song of the year for “Easy on Me.” She…

Apple Music Is Now Using Shazam Technology To Identify Tracks In Dj Mixes So That Rightsholders Get Paid Apple has announced the creation of a process to properly identify and compensate individual creators involved in making DJ mixes that are streamed on Apple Music. The process reportedly uses technology from Shazam, and Apple is working…

Last month, Apple announced it would soon add lossless audio streaming and Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos to its Apple Music subscription at no extra charge. That upgrade has now gone live, Apple announced this morning — though many noticed the additions actually rolled out yesterday, following the WWDC keynote. The entire Apple…

Album of the year WINNER: Folklore - Taylor Swift Chilombo - Jhené Aiko Black Pumas - Black Pumas Everyday Life - Coldplay Djesse vol. 3 - Jacob Collier Women in Music Pt. III - Haim Future Nostalgia - Dua Lipa Hollywood's Bleeding - Post Malone Record of the year WINNER: Everything I Wanted - Billie…

British lawmakers have stated that artists are hesitant to participate in the ongoing investigation into streaming royalties for artists, musicians, bands. “Because they ALL fear action may be taken against them” if they do so. The House of Commons’ Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS Committee) has just announced recently the high-profile probe into…

Artist of the Year: Taylor Swift New Artist of the Year: Doja Cat Collaboration of the Year: Dan + Shay with Justin Bieber “10,000 Hours” Favorite Social Artist: BTS Favorite Music Video: Taylor Swift “cardigan” Favorite Male Artist – Pop/Rock: Justin Bieber Favorite Female Artist – Pop/Rock: Taylor Swift Favorite Duo of Group – Pop/Rock:…

Spotify has announced that it would soon be testing a controversial new tool called ‘Discovery Mode’ that will allow artists and record labels to influence the algorithm that selects what music is played when users use the streaming platform’s auto-play or personalised radio functionality. Artists and labels aren’t required to pay anything up front for…

Last week BMG has announced that it is eliminating the so-called "controlled composition clause" from its record deals in America. The decision will affect both new deals and those relating to catalogue, a lot of which BMG acquired from other record companies. This standard US record industry practice forces artists who are also songwriters to…

With the Covid-19 situation worldwide, online performances have erupted and the music industry is starting to see how profitable a livestreamed performance can be. Artists around the world have taken to the internet to stream to their fans and connect in spite of the lockdowns, quarantines, and other obstacles this year. It’s proving to be…

How Much Does Spotify Pay Per Stream? Here’s the Latest Data The following information – sourced from Spotify royalty data shared directly with Digital Music News – will help you find out if your compensation is comparatively fair or not. Spotify pays most artists between $.003 and $.005 (one-third of a penny to one-half of…

According to the midyear Nielsen Music/MRC Data report, the U.S. music industry posted a 9.4% increase with 361.2 million album audio consumption units (330.3 million by half time 2019), despite having to overcome a bigger-than-expected drop in physical music formats due to the COVID-19 economic downturn. Within that, audio on-demand streaming continues to enjoy robust…

ASCAP announced over the weekend that they have released a COVID-19 resource center called "MUSIC UNITES US." Their press release reads as follows: "We're all experiencing major changes to our normal routines these days as we work to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It's been especially hard on the many of us in the…

ASCAP LAUNCHES COVID-19 RESOURCE CENTER FOR MUSICIANS On December 13th Billboard announced that official video plays will be included into their weekly album chart, the Billboard 200 The signature chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on several factors: traditional album sales, track sales equivalent albums, and streaming equivalent albums. Now, Billboard…

This month Amazon has launched Amazon Music HD, an upgraded tier for Amazon Music Unlimited that features both lossless CD-quality streams for over 50 million tracks, and millions of better-than-CD, hi-res quality tracks. Amazon’s new service is similar to Tidal’s HiFi subscription tier but with one very big difference: Amazon is only charging $12.99 per…

Nirvana, Aretha Franklin, Tupac, Elton John and hundreds more legendary artists lost masters in a 2008 Universal Music fire, a disaster dubbed “The Day the Music Burned." Previously, Universal Music Group had refused to disclose any list detailing its losses in the 2008 Universal Studios fire. Now, the New York Times is releasing it for…

ARTIST AWARDS Top Artist: Cardi B Drake -- WINNER Ariana Grande Post Malone Travis Scott Top New Artist: Bazzi Juice WRLD -- WINNER Lil Baby Dua Lipa Ella Mai Billboard Chart Achievement Award: Dan + Shay Drake Ariana Grande -- WINNER Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper Dua Lipa Top Male Artist: Drake -- WINNER Post…

Here Is the Complete List of Winners From the 2019 Grammy Music Awards GENERAL FIELD Record Of The Year “I Like It” — Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin “The Joke” — Brandi Carlile X — “This Is America” — Childish Gambino “God’s Plan” — Drake “Shallow” — Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper “All…

Independent artists worldwide are generating serious money for the music industry. According to last numbers provided by MIDiA Research, the total revenue generated by ‘self-releasing’ artists in 2018 was $643 million, with $171 millin more than in 2017. Indie distributor and publisher CD Baby announced this week that its member artists had earned "well over"…

Claim your money! There is a published list of performers, who have been credited royalties for covered sound recordings, to a fund called the AFM & SAG-AFTRA IPRD Fund. However, the fund is simply missing contact information to pay out these royalties. Make sure you are not missing out on your money by searching for…

The U.S. record industry – which is only just beginning to recover from a dismal two-decade slide – continues to be on the upswing. In the first half of 2018, total consumption in both streams and sales grew 18 percent, according to Nielsen’s mid-year report. The business is, as described by Nielsen Music general manager…

Spotify (SPOT) is experiencing a surge in price estimations on Wall Street ahead of its second-quarter results. Wall Street expected to see $1.4 billion in revenue in Q1 2018. Instead, the music streaming company only reported $1.36 billion. In fact, since Spotify’s outrageously successful public offering, valuations continue to rise. So far, there’s no profitability…

Spotify Technology rescinded a short-lived policy that penalised artists for misconduct, bowing to pressure from irate musicians and record labels. The policy, which was implemented in May, saw the streaming service remove singer R Kelly’s and rapper XXXTentacion music from their playlist in response to respective abuse allegations made against them. In a statement released…

After years of struggle, music producers and sound engineers can finally get federal copyright protection under US copyright law. And legally required payments. The news was delivered via the Recording Academy (the group that heads the Grammys). The bill, called the Allocation of Music Producers Act (AMP), will be the first to seek rights legislation…

Here Is the Complete List of Winners From the 2018 Grammy Music Awards GENERAL FIELD Album of the Year: "Awaken, My Love!" — Childish Gambino 4:44 — Jay-Z DAMN. — Kendrick Lamar Melodrama — Lorde 24K Magic — Bruno Mars -- WINNER Record of the Year: "Redbone" — Childish Gambino "Despacito" — Luis Fonsi &…

Universal Music Group has licensed music to the social network so that its users can add song to their videos and share them. This also applies to Facebook’s Instagram and its virtual reality arm Oculus. The deal, described as “unprecedented” in a statement from Universal, will license the content for video and “other social experiences”.…

While streaming may be the dominant form of music consumption, vinyl is seeing an impressive renaissance among music consumers. Sales of vinyl in 2016 reached a 25-year high as consumers young and old have once again embraced physical formats of music. The numbers for 2017 are even better. Nielsen Music reported that sales of vinyl…

The RIAA (the Recording Industry Association of America) released its look at how the U.S. music industry is doing at the six-month mark recently, and the major takeaway from the report is that streaming is bigger—and more valuable—than ever before. Revenue from recorded music accelerated in the first half of 2017 in the U.S. as…

According to several sources interviewed by Digital Music News, free music streaming across Spotify and YouTube may come to an end in the near future. The sources say the big three major labels (Sony/BMG, Universal, and Warner) may make moves to kill free music streaming if a pre-determined paid streaming threshold is reached. That level…

The site Information Is Beautiful updated its infographic for streaming royalties. What can be seen there: Napster ($0.0167 per play) and Tidal ($0.0110) come out well; Apple Music ($0.0064), Google Play Music ($0.0059) and Deezer ($0.0056) are around the same mark; and Spotify comes out at $0.0038 per play.A ll these figures represents the artist…

Spotify Vice President Brian Benedik revealed in a blog post last Thursday that the streaming service has reached 140 million monthly active users. The figure represents a 40m climb on the figure Daniel Ek announced this time last year – and is up by a very impressive 100m people compared to May 2014. The streaming…

Top Artist: Adele Beyonce Justin Bieber The Chainsmokers Drake - WINNER Ariana Grande Shawn Mendes Rihanna Twenty One Pilots The Weeknd Top New Artist: Alessia Cara Desiigner Lil Uzi Vert Lukas Graham Zayn - WINNER Billboard Chart Achievement Award Presented by Xfinity: Luke Bryan Nicki Minaj The Chainsmokers The Weeknd Twenty One Pilots - WINNER…

U.S. recorded music sales grew 11.4 percent from $6.9 billion in 2015 to $7.7 billion in 2016. The primary driver of that growth was a doubling of paid streaming music subscriptions which helped the American music business experience its biggest gain since 1998. Back then, the industry enjoyed revenue of $13.7 billion. The revenues from…

The huge growth in streaming and subscription services again helped Universal Music Group offset steep declines in physical and download sales during 2016. Under Vivendi ownership, UMG posted their best financial performance thus far. UMG’s overall revenues rose to $5.57 billion, which is 4.4% more than 2015’s $5.41 billion. The label group's earnings before interest,…

Facebook is working to develop a copyright identification system - similar to YouTube's Content ID - that would find and remove videos containing copyrighted music. In a recent snapshot search of 33 of today’s top songs, the National Music Publisher’s Association identified 887 videos using those songs with over 619 million views, which amounts to…

A four month free trial subscription – this is the offer from Google Play Music for the 'Cyber Week', which began last Friday (November 24). The trial is available in the US and UK, and when it ends, the subscribers will be asked to pay $/£ 9.99 per month for their unlimited access to the…

An ongoing royalty dispute that reaches back to 2009 has kept music videos off YouTube. A new deal with German collecting society GEMA will finally change that. GEMA and YouTube have reached a deal that makes sure GEMA members get paid for video streams. Also, YouTube users in Germany will no longer see a blocking…

After almost 20 years of constant decline caused by piracy and falling prices, the music business is enjoying a weak recovery thanks to the growth of paid streaming services. The U.S. music industry experienced an 8.1 percent growth in overall revenue during the first half of this year, the Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA)…

Amazon.com and Pandora Media are planning to launch new versions of their streaming music services in coming weeks, the New York Times reported. The music streaming business has become a rather aggressive one, especially after Apple joined in. But pricing for monthly subscription hasn’t substantially changed among the very few major players in that market.…

Last month Apple proposed a radical change to the way musicians are paid when their music is streamed online, and the suggestion could hurt rivals like Spotify and YouTube which are offering free streaming. Right now it is not very clear how royalties are calculated. Every streaming company negotiates its own secret deals with rightsholders.…

Apple Proposes Simplified Royalty Scheme for Music Last month Apple proposed a radical change to the way musicians are paid when their music is streamed online, and the suggestion could hurt rivals like Spotify and YouTube which are offering free streaming. Right now it is not very clear how royalties are calculated. Every streaming company…

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers projected figures shared with Digital Music News, revenue from physical formats is falling at a (compound annual) rate of —12.3%. That’s a drop from $1.8 billion in 2015 to just under $1 billion in 2020. But that’s nothing compared to paid download: according to the forecasted figures, paid music downloads will fall…

Twitter will now let you listen to Spotify music clips right from your timeline. The social media first launched audio cards in 2014 with iTunes previews and later worked with SoundCloud, but Spotify's music wasn't included till now. The new partnership between Twitter and Spotify allows any tweet that contains a link to a song…

Apple launched a new plan to boost subscribers to its streaming music service and competitor to Spotify, SoundCloud, Tidal and others. It's introducing an Apple Music student plan which will discount the service by 50 percent for those who are enrolled in an eligible college or university. The new plan costs $4.99 a month, which…

A federal judge has ruled that the music publishing company that has been collecting royalties for the song 'Happy Birthday to You' for decades does not hold a valid copyright to the popular celebratory song. U.S. District Judge George H. King ruled that the copyright originally filed by the Clayton F. Summy Co. in 1935…

No one will argue, that there are many artificial things in the music industry. What is presented to us from the musicians on and off the stage is so fabricated, that we can’t help but feel like that’s not who they truly are. The camera and the online world show similar picture - inauthenticity is…

Apple has launched an official Android app for its Apple Music streaming service, just over four months after its debut on iOS. The new app is available for download here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apple.android.music&hl=en The Spotify rival's core features have survived the translation, including its "For You" playlist and album recommendations, Beats 1 radio station and Connect social network.…

Bandcamp, probably the best-known independent music streaming website, has made its artist subscription service available to all its users. In November 2014 the concept was first revealed, and the function was launched as a beta in early 2015. With the service, artists can charge their fans an annual or monthly fee of any price, giving…

"Here's the last song you can sell," Bon Jovi sings on Burning Bridges - his farewell song to Mercury Records, who he's been with for 32 years (one of the longest label marriages in music history). The title track of Burning Bridges, is a sing-along directed at Mercury Records with some pretty harsh lines: "After…

David Byrne has been a strong critic of the insignificant royalties artists receive from both streaming platforms like Spotify and commercial radio broadcasts. In a new op-ed for The New York Times, he's calling for transparency in how streaming revenues are divided. Byrne's piece, titled "Open the Music Industry's Black Box", outlines that no one…

How much money will a single stream of your song generate? It depends on the service, but in any scenario many different parties end up splitting fractions of a penny. Below you will find the data from Spotify and Pandora, two of the most popular music streaming services in the United States. Spotify has upped…

Apple has stepped into the music streaming world, with the unveiling of its long-awaited streaming service at WWDC 2015 this Monday. Apple Music, as it’s known, was built by the team behind the Beats Music service that Apple acquired in 2014. “We love music, and the new Apple Music service puts an incredible experience at…

The 2015 Billboard Music Awards took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 17. The show was hosted by Ludacris and Chrissy Teigen with Taylor Swift, Sam Smith and Iggy Azalea amongst the biggest winners. Taylor Swift won eight out of her 14 nominations, including top artist, top female artist…

Last month some of the biggest names in music joined Jay Z for the launch of his premium music streaming service Tidal. Here are some facts about it. Tidal is membership-based streaming service, similar to Spotify, which offers music and exclusive video content. Tidal currently has more than 25 million songs and 75,000 music videos…

Last month the revenue from streaming services had surpassed CD sales for the first time in history. Now, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that after securing $400 million in fresh funding, Spotify is now valued for $8.4 billion and worth more than the entire US recorded music industry. The nearest competitor – Pandora, sits…

Starting this summer, the new music will be released on same day of the week worldwide. The music industry has decided to streamline the process by making Friday the global release day for new records. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPA) posted on their website: “Release days currently vary from one country to…

According to Billboard, indie labels have fears about some of the recent changes to the Apple's download store. One of these changes is in the carrousels at the top of pages. (These are the sections with rotating graphics that cycle through a half-dozen artists or albums.) Previously chosen by editorial iTunes staff, what is featured…

Year 2014 has gone and we can say that streaming music is taking over the world. Is this good or bad for the music industry? The final numbers show that last year Americans streamed 164 billion songs. Yes, billion. This equals half a billion per day. The growth of streaming music is 54% and it…

The end of year 2014 is almost here and Spotify reveals the most popular songs and artists across its more than 50 million global users. No.1 streamed artist is Ed Sheeran with more than 860 million listens, followed by Eminem and Coldplay. The most streamed track in the world for 2014 is Pharrell Williams’ single…

The data created by music streaming, sharing and buying is gathered by the music industry and then carefully analyzed, to be used for creation of music and discovering the next “big hits”. Applications like the ancient Shazam, are the industry best tools for predicting the new hit songs and future stars. Shazam’s searches, as opposed…

This year vinyl record sales will hit 18-year high in UK, and the rise is matching the US sales also. Are the vinyl records back? Here are some stats – more than 1 million records are sold in UK so far this year, and it is expected that number to hit 1.2 million. This will…

The latest album of Taylor Swift – 1989, sold an astonishing 1.287 million copies last week, making it the biggest debut of the year and her third album to sell more than a million copies in its first week. That crown is still worn by Britney Spears, who sold 1.319 million. 1989 hasn’t been available…

A group of music creators join to call for fairer rules and greater transparency in the distribution of royalties by digital music services - asking for 80% of streaming services' gross revenues to be paid to rights holders. The International Council of Creators of Music (CIAM) released a report called "Fair Compensation for Music Creators…

Nielsen's Music 360° 2014 survey (an annual study of consumer habits and spending) reveals that music is the top form of entertainment for hundreds of millions of Americans. 93% of the people in U.S. listen to music more than 25 hours each week, the survey says. The study also shows that the top platform for…

The singer Barbara Streisand has made a history in US chart with her latest album – Partners. After selling 196,000 copies and topped the Billboard rundown, she became the first artist which has number one albums in each of the last six decades. 50 years ago, in October 1964, the 72-year-old star has her first…

Great news for the music lovers! Last month T-Mobile announced that customers owning the latest T-Mobile phones and tablets will not have to worry about going over their data when streaming music. Users will be able to use apps like Pandora, Slacker Radio, iHeart Radio and Spotify whenever and wherever they want. This is really…

Pandora, the pioneer in Internet radio services, have signed a partnership agreement with Merlin, the rights agency that represents many independent record companies, in its first direct deal with music labels. There are likely be some really good benefits from this deal: The artists will have customized channels, where they can communicate with their fans…

The second biggest streaming music service after YouTube – SoundCloud, hasn’t paid royalties to the creators and rightsholders of the music for their plays on its site and apps yet. The benefits of the artists were that they can build audience of fans and gather data how and where their tracks are being listened to.…

The business side of the music seems to be very complicated these days. The royalties aren’t derived just from music sales, but depend on how the music is consumed - physical sales or digital downloads, through traditional or online radio, or through streaming services. How the royalties are determined? Who monitors these revenue streams? Every…

A recent research showed that bandwidth consumed by illegal video streaming grew 470% between 2010 and 2012. Under current copyright law, illegal streaming is classed as a “public performance” and is not treated as a felony, but as a misdemeanor. In order to protect the copyright owners, Congress is moving to create a legislation establishing…

During the course of recent years, sales of albums have been going down, dominated by streamed tracks and playlists. What the stats are showing is that in 2013 in UK there were 30 million fewer albums sold than in 2009, while UK fans streamed an estimated 7.4 billion songs. There are 1.5 billion playlists just…

A copy of a contract offered by Google's YouTube to music labels for participation in an upcoming streaming music service was leaked online this week, aggravating independent labels who claim the terms are highly unfavorable to them. Posted in its entirety by Digital Music News and summarized by Billboard, the contract includes clauses that could…

Streaming services from Nokia, Google and Microsoft pay artists the highest royalty rates per stream, according to a data set obtained by The Trichordest, a website which aims to protect artist rights in the digital age. The information was provided by an anonymous independent label with a catalogue of roughly 1,500 songs, and is based…

The independent music community lashed out at YouTube over proposals for a subscription music streaming service, which the Silicon Valley giant is expected to launch soon. It appears that in an attempt to dominate the audio streaming market in the future, YouTube is now using its near-monopoly in the video streaming space to force down…

Spotify has announced that it has reached 10 million premium subscribers. The music streaming company, now the world's largest, also has 40 million monthly active users in 56 countries. Three-quarters use the free service rather than a premium or paid-for subscription, which costs $9.99 a month and gives ad-free music. "We've had an amazing year,…

First, register your album on this form: https://forms.gle/rXbK16dqRVcGWhxB6. Here you will have to enter the UPC/EAN Code of your album, label details, and release information. You will notice that the fields “Label:” and “Distribution Company:” are marked as required. We have spoken to Luminate’s SoundScan about the fact that many of our independent artists do NOT…

What is Luminate’s SoundScan and why does it matter? Luminate’s SoundScan is a tracking system operated by the Luminate, that tracks sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada. Any music product that carries a barcode or ISRC code is eligible to be tracked by Luminate’s SoundScan. According to their…

Spotify, the on-demand music streaming service, has launched a new Spotify Artists page which explains its business model and how royalties are distributed in extreme detail. Spotify has paid out $500 million in royalties to rights holders so far in 2013 and $1 billion total since 2009, about 70 percent of its total revenue. These…

For the first time since the iTunes store opened its doors, the U.S. music industry finished the year with a decrease in digital music sales. Here are the facts for the full year 2013, according to Nielsen SoundScan: Digital track sales fell 5.7% from 1.34 billion units to 1.26 billion units Digital album sales fell…