Every Monday, we’re sharing the latest news and information for the music industry and technology worldwide.
Get your learn on and stay in the know with Symphonic’s Music Biz Monday!
Meet SoundCloud rival Audius, free & anti-takedowns
“It was SoundCloud’s opportunity to lose and now it’s ours,” says Audius CEO Roneil Rumburg. Plenty of musicians and fans are sick of SoundCloud’s expensive hosting costs, haphazard content takedowns and lagging user experience as the site’s status withers. Audius wants to be the opposite, and offer a new home for artists where they’ll eventually earn 90% of revenue earned and the startup itself can’t remove songs.
Today Audius launches its music streaming and free hosting service backed by DJs like deadmau5 and Zed’s Dead, plus $5.5 million in A-list venture capital. Music makers can upload their songs at no cost, and users can browse, follow and get listening recommendations. The catalog is small to start, with just a few hundred artists, but Audius has big plans for how to lure artists choosing between other SoundCloud alternatives, from Mixcloud to YouTube.
\\ Read more on Tech Crunch //
YouTube Music will now come preinstalled on Android devices
YouTube Music is the latest Google app that will come bundled as part of Android. The company has announced that the subscription music service will be preinstalled on all devices that run Android 10 out of the box — and it’ll take the place of Google Play Music.
Until now, YouTube Music has required a separate download from Google Play, but not anymore. The app will also come preloaded on new devices that ship with Android 9 Pie in the future.
\\ Read more on The Verge //
Brandon Hixon Named Head of Symphonic Distribution’s New Black Music Division
Artist management veteran Brandon Hixon (De La Soul) has been appointed head of Symphonic Distribution’s newly-created black music division. Based out of the Brooklyn, New York office of the global distribution and artist marketing firm, Hixon will report to chief client officer/GM Nick Gordon.
In a release announcing Hixon’s appointment, Symphonic founder/CEO Jorge Brea stated, “Brandon’s entrepreneurial DNA, exceptional taste and 360-degree vision of the artist experience make him the ideal person to lead Symphonic’s black music division. Our mission is to build our services around the needs of the modern artist, so hiring a manager provides us with a perspective much broader than a traditional label or distributor.”
\\ Read more on Billboard //
Move Over Radio, Spotify Lets You Add Podcasts To Playlists
Spotify now allows users to add podcasts to new or existing playlists. The new feature, which appropriately launches on International Podcast Day, allows users to curate their own streams of music, automatically updated podcasts and other audio-content and share it with others.
“With this new feature, users have the ability to add podcasts to playlists,” says Spotify. “Build a place where your motivational podcasts can live with your most motivational tracks (Normani, anyone?). Or where meditation podcasts can hang out with your chilliest tracks. Now you have multiple playlist options: create a music-only list, mix music and podcasts, or curate a list of just your favorite podcasts. The world of audio is yours to discover and share.”
\\ Read more on Hypebot //
Spotify Hopes To Make Money From Artists With SoundBetter Acquisition
In an an effort to appease shareholders and pull down a little more cash for its aritst, streaming giant Spotify recently acquired SoundBetter, a company which helps book musicians and producers while taking a commission for the service. Whether the gamble will pay off, however, remains to be seen.
\\ Read more on Hypebot //
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