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Spotify Is Raising At A Stunning $3.5 Billion Valuation, Multiple VCs Say
Ellis Hamburger, Business Insider All-you-can eat music service Spotify is raising another big round of funding, and it is asking investors to value the company somewhere around $3.5 billion, multiple Silicon Valley investors tell us. Sources say firms are reluctant to do the deal at such a high valuation, given that Spotify does not own the content its users pay to access, and that it does not have exclusive rights to that content either.The record labels are in bed with Spotify, and now they’ll be in its app tray too. Tomorrow morning Spotify launches its second round of apps — 12 new ones from labels like Warner Music Group, Def Jam, and indie favorite Matador. There’s also more ways to discover and rate songs with apps like TweetVine that charts popular songs from Twitter, and Filtr that generates playlists based on your Facebook Event guests.
Warner Music, Def Jam Record Labels Among Spotify’s 12 New Apps | TechCrunch
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Grooveshark Mobile Music
BRITISH shoe manufacturer Clarks has teamed with reggae label Trojan Records to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its Originals Desert Trek brand and its role in Jamaican culture, according to a statement from Clarks. The statement said Clarks will use the song Let Your Yeah Be Yeah by ska group, the Pioneers as part of its official campaign. Trojan, established in Britain during the mid-1960s by Jamaican Lee Gopthal, owns rights to the song. Four disc jockeys and producers — Tokimonsta, Mighty Crown, Riva Starr and Toddla T — have been commissioned by Clarks to produce songs exclusively for download on its Originals Desert Trek in July.
Clarks teams up with reggae label Trojan Records - Entertainment
music innovation | Scoop.it
Sure, you probably skip the credits at the end of a movie - in fact, most people leave the theater right when they start! But the credits - for every last contributor - scroll after every film, without exception. And top-level contributors are always included during the opening minutes of a film. So why is it that this level of crediting is almost always missing from iTunes, Pandora, Spotify, Amazon, Rdio, and almost every other music service, with little exception? That's the basis for a metadata movement being spearheaded by producer, mixer and engineer Count (aka Mikael Eldridge), whose 'credits' include artists like DJ Shadow, Radiohead, The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, New Order, No Doubt, Galactic, Zoe Keating, and Tycho.
From UMG and Netbiscuits press release: UMG will leverage Netbiscuits’ market-leading B2B web software platform to launch mobile websites and services for UMG ‘s broad array of chart-topping artists. By doing so, UMG will be opening up even more channels of content discovery and delivery to music fans everywhere. Through these artist-branded mobile websites, UMG will offer fans the ability to interact with other fans and to make purchases directly from their handset. Based on the mobile websites, Netbiscuits enables UMG to set up smart hybrid apps for all major platforms, including the iPhone, Android, and Windows Mobile devices.
The Daily Swarm - UMG Gets Innovative, Makes Artist Websites...
The Daily Swarm - Update: Layoffs at Universal Music Group...
UPDATE #2: Via Billboard : Sources say about half the layoffs are at the company’s distribution arms, Universal Music Group Distribution and Fontana. Also confirmed as being cut: Jim Flammia, VP artist and media relations at Lost Highway Records, and Interscope publicist Jennie Boddy.
Anyone who still remembers the basic principle of Economics 101 understands, on a gut level, one big problem with recorded music: It costs too much . The price of music has everything to do with supply — in that the major labels and music stores set the price of music — and little to do with how much the consumer is willing to pay — in that they either buy at those set prices, get their music for free, or throw up their hands and buy an iPhone app or Blu-Ray disc instead. During the dawn of digital music distribution , some experts thought that free alternatives, fierce competition for entertainment dollars, and the declining cost of distribution would drive music prices down, but online stores like iTunes have never offered much of a discount compared to the CD, which must be manufactured and delivered in trucks rather than zinged ( nearly ) weightlessly around the internet.
Labels: Lower Music Prices And Increase Your Profits, Study Says
Last Wednesday, veteran rapper Busta Rhymes appeared at the launch of Google Music to support his partnership with the newly launched platform -- an announcement that came in confluence with his surprise signing to Cash Money Records , revealed the same day. The former Universal Motown recording artist, whose career-long manager Chris Lighty broke the news of his departure from the shingle in May 2011, has been plotting the alliance since splitting with his former label home. The deal, which Lighty describes as an "outside the box" venture, is a four-album contract with Cash Money, which will handle all physical distribution, as well as a one-off digital distribution agreement with Google Music, which holds exclusive online sales rights for Busta's next album, "E.L.E. 2: End of the World" (due first quarter of 2012).
Exclusive: Inside Busta Rhymes' 'Outside the Box' Deal With Cash Money and Google Music | Billboard.biz
Google Music is Here
Yesterday, Google Music announced that their service is opening up to a broader audience and that it will integrate with the music store on Android Market to make music discovery, purchase, and sharing easy and fast. The app syncs with your Google Music account in the cloud, so there is no need to stream from a computer or download songs to the TV. Simply download the Google Music app for Google TV from Android Market, login with your account, and enjoy your entire music library through your HDTV and home theater system. Google Music for Google TV plays in the background while you enjoy other apps on your Google TV.