Digital Music News – studio recording, publishing, streaming, live concerts, talent development

The latest music news from Digital Music News, affecting recording industry, music publishing, mp3 streaming, concert industry, talent development, venture capital, and music technology, with reporting on artists new releases and where to get new mp3 songs.

1. One Solid Earnings Report Later, Spotify’s Market Cap Is Now $23 Billion Larger Than Universal Music’s

   With Spotify stock (NYSE: SPOT) riding high – and with Universal Music shares struggling – the streaming giant’s market cap is now about $23 billion larger than that of today’s biggest music company. The sizable valuation discrepancy was set in motion this week, when Spotify posted solid Q2 operating income and (despite missing MAUs guidance) […]

2. Let the Selloff Begin: Spotify Insiders Have Sold Over $139 Million in Company Stock Following Strong Q2 Financials

   Why let a good rally go to waste? As Spotify shares (NYSE: SPOT) continue to hover well above $300 apiece following a positive Q2 earnings report, execs are selling off millions in stock. The sizable selloffs came to light in a series of regulatory filings, each dated July 23rd (when the second-quarter financials released) or […]

3. Justin Timberlake Was ‘Not Intoxicated’ Despite DUI Arrest, Attorney Argues

   Justin Timberlake’s arraignment takes place next week on a misdemeanor drunk driving charge, but his attorney argues he was ‘not intoxicated.’ After he was arrested back in June for driving while intoxicated in a waterfront village outside of New York City, pop star Justin Timberlake will appear virtually for a hearing next week while he […]

4. Beyoncé’s ‘Freedom’ Jumps 1,300% as Harris Campaign Latches Onto the Song

   Beyoncé’s ‘Freedom’ sees a massive surge in streams after its feature during Harris’ first appearance as the Democratic presidential candidate. Beyoncé’s 2016 track “Freedom” is seeing a significant surge in streaming traffic after Vice President Kamala Harris walked out to the tune during her first official appearance as the leading Democratic candidate for the upcoming […]

5. Thnks fr th Mmrs: Hipgnosis Officially Getting Delisted from the London Stock Exchange As $1.6B Blackstone Acquisition Finalizes

   As the $1.6 billion acquisition by Blackstone finalizes, the Hipgnosis Songs Fund will delist from the London Stock Exchange on July 30. Here’s the latest. A bidding war over Hipgnosis Songs Fund earlier this year saw Blackstone emerge victorious, after Concord bowed out. Hipgnosis shareholders voted in favor of the $1.6 billion acquisition bid for […]

6. Sonos CEO Apologizes for Bumpy App Redesign Amid User Uproar Online

   Sonos updated its app in May, much to the chagrin of long-time customers who complained of missing features. Part of the negative feedback is the app redesign took away several longstanding features—leaving Sonos users with broken routines. After the update, a megathread on reddit highlighted many of the issues people were having with the new […]

7. Apple Music for Artists Adds Radio Monitoring—Track Spins For Over 40,000 Stations Worldwide

   Apple Music for Artists can now track radio spins from more than 40,000 radio stations across the globe. Here’s a peek at the new feature. Apple says it offers radio monitoring for 40,000 radio stations from more than 200 countries and regions. Radio Spins data is integrated throughout the Apple Music for Artists experience so […]

8. Deezer Taps Longtime E-Commerce Exec As New CEO — ‘His Leadership Will Propel the Company to New Levels of Success’

   Deezer has officially named longtime e-commerce exec Alexis Lanternier as its new CEO. The Access Industries-owned streaming platform just recently announced the appointment, with Lanternier poised to take the reins from interim CEO Stu Bergen on September 2nd. Bergen, who’s expected to remain on Deezer’s board after stepping down, replaced now-former CEO Jeronimo Folgueira in […]

9. Universal Music Stock Plummets More Than 23% Over Streaming ‘Deceleration’ Concerns

   Universal Music Group (UMG) has seen its stock value plummet by nearly 24% after disclosing a streaming-growth “deceleration” for 2024’s second quarter. The largest of the major labels acknowledged the relative streaming-expansion plateau in its earnings report and call for Q2, when revenue hit $3.18 billion (€2.93 billion). That figure represents a roughly 8.7% year-over-year […]

10. Apple Music is Toying with AI-Generated Artwork, Code Snippets Suggest

    Apple Music introduced a library of artwork for users to choose from to customize a playlist, and now AI-generated images appear to be on the horizon. Apple’s iOS 17.1 update saw the introduction of a library of artwork from which users can select an image to customize a playlist in Apple Music. Now, 9to5Mac has […]

11. Live Nation Blasts DOJ for ‘Naked Attempt’ to Shift Legal Venues and Re-Litigate Its 2010 Merger Approval

    Live Nation is pushing to move the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit to Washington DC, amidst its efforts to have portions of the case dismissed outright. Live Nation is blasting the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against it, pushing to see the case moved to Washington DC as it continually fights to have many portions of the […]

12. Spotify Expands Countdown Pages to Artists with 5,000 Active Listeners

    Spotify expands its Countdown Pages to artists with 5,000 active listeners, more than a year after unveiling the feature. It’s been over a year since Spotify unveiled its Countdown Pages feature in March 2023 — individual pages for upcoming albums allowing fans to pre-save, watch video clips, browse tracklists, pre-order merch, and more. Initially, the […]

13. New Music Releases Tracker—Will Smith, Sabrina Carpenter, Polo G, Ice Spice, Mustard Releases Imminently On Tap

    Find it hard to keep track of the hottest new music releases? Check out this shortlist of some of the summer’s hottest music drops with Digital Music News’ new music releases tracker. Want to go even more in-depth for historical data? Check out the DMN Pro music releases database. DMN Pro subscribers get access to […]

14. Downtown Neighbouring Rights Sign Lady Blackbird

    Downtown Neighbouring Rights sign an international deal with Lady Blackbird who joins a roster including Jon Batiste, Justin Bieber, One Republic, and the estates of Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, and Meat Loaf. Downtown Neighbouring Rights (DNR) has announced a global deal with American Psychedelic Soul singer-songwriter Lady Blackbird. As part of the deal, DNR will […]

15. What Major Label Litigation? AI Music Upstart Udio Launches ‘Audio-to-Audio’ Remixing

    As the major label battle with generative AI music start-ups Suno and Udio heat up, the latter has released a new model with audio-to-audio remixing. Here’s the latest. Lawsuits filed by Sony Music, Warner Music, and Universal Music claim that Udio and Suno have unlawfully copied the label’s recordings to train their music generation models. […]