1. Exclusive: Merlin Unveils the Numbers Behind its Labels' Streaming Growth

    May 16, 2013 5:50 AM EDT Member labels of independent rights organization Merlin saw growth in both streaming and download revenue in 2012, according to numbers released by the organization Thursday. But the labels are doing the best at streaming services.   Over 92% of ...

  2. Business Matters: First Look at Google Music Play All Access

    May 15, 2013 6:19 PM EDT 8 8 30 0 0 Google's new on-demand subscription service, given the unfortunate name Google Play Music All Access, could one day be something special, but on launch day only does the bare minimum. The $9.99-per-month service -- $7.99 for a limited time ...

  3. Google's Vice President of Content, Jamie Rosenberg, Talks All Access: Q&A

    May 15, 2013 5:48 PM EDT 1 1 9 1 0 Google, which on Wednesday unveiled its All Access music streaming service as part of its I/O conference for developers, continues to expand its music offerings, in spite of heavy competition. The service, initially available only in the U.S., o ...

  4. Sony's Music Unlimited Service Expands to Brazil

    May 15, 2013 3:30 PM EDT Sony Network Entertainment International’s Music Unlimited service is live in Brazil, according to a statement released today by the company. The cloud-based digital music subscription service is now available in 19 countries worldwide. The on-d ...

  5. FlashFWD Awards To Honor Songza, V Squared Labs, Instagram

    May 15, 2013 2:39 PM EDT The fourth annual FlashFWD Awards will take place May 22 at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City. The event, presented by SoundCTRL and 'stache media, will include special performances by Glassnote-signed EDM artist Robert DeLong, up-and-c ...

  6. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis 'Hold' Atop Hot 100, Selena Gomez 'Get's First Top 10

    May 15, 2013 1:39 PM EDT Macklemore & Ryan Lewis'  "Can't Hold Us," featuring Ray Dalton, logs a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Selena Gomez scores her first top 10 with "Come & Get It" and Mariah Carey debuts at No. ...

  7. Google Launches 'All Access' Music Streaming Service [Updated]

    May 15, 2013 1:07 PM EDT 3 45 42 0 0 Google Inc. jumped into the increasingly crowded music subscription business Wednesday, announcing an on-demand service that’s “uniquely Google.” Dubbed All Access, the service debuts Wednesday in the U.S. at $9.99 a month, with a 30-day free ...

  8. Manatt Launches Digital Media Investment Fund

    May 15, 2013 8:00 AM EDT Entertainment law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips on Wednesday announced it is launching a digital media practice and an investment fund aimed at early stage start-ups. Manatt, whose legal clients include Sugarland, the Eagles, INgrooves and ...

  9. Google’s Streaming Service Likely to Premiere Today at Software Developers' Conference

    May 15, 2013 7:43 AM EDT Google is expected to use its annual software developers' conference to showcase the latest mobile devices running on its Android software, while also unveiling other features in its evolving product line-up. And there’s talk that Google’s ...

  10. Exclusive: Pandora's Plan to Share More Streaming Data With Artists

    May 14, 2013 7:59 PM EDT 2 14 17 3 0 Stung by accusations that it doesn’t pay enough royalties to artists, Pandora Media has been quietly working on a tool that would demonstrate the company's value by giving artists more information on how their songs perform on its Interne ...

  11. Google Signs Universal, Sony for On-Demand Music Service

    May 14, 2013 6:50 PM EDT Google Inc. has landed licensing deals with Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group to introduce an on-demand music streaming service that would compete with Spotify, Rhapsody and others, according to executives knowledgeable with the ...

  12. Business Matters: House Judiciary to Hold Copyright Hearing on May 16

    May 13, 2013 7:49 PM EDT The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet will hold a hearing on May 16 titled “A Case Study for Consensus Building: The Copyright Principles Project.” The hearing, at 2 p.m. eastern, is the second in Hou ...

  13. Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter, Columbia's Rob Stringer On the Making of 'Random Access Memories'

    May 13, 2013 2:45 PM EDT This in-depth story on Daft Punk's "Random Access Memories" is from the May 18th edition of Billboard featuring a cover package on the Billboard Music Awards (airing Sunday, May 19 at 8:00 p.m ET on ABC) hosted by cover subject Tr ...

  14. SoundCloud to Open New York Office

    May 13, 2013 1:18 PM EDT SoundCloud will open a New York office in the coming months and has hired a former Pandora employee to help build its presence in the city. Dan Gerber, formerly the National Director of Strategic Partnerships at Pandora, will help be SoundCloud& ...

  15. iHeartRadio Surpasses 30 Million Registered Users, Still Well Behind Pandora

    May 13, 2013 12:13 PM EDT Clear Channel’s iHeartRadio has surpassed 30 million registered users less than two years after the launch of its current version. The milestone puts iHeartRadio at roughly 15% of Pandora’s 200 million registered users in the United States, Aust ...

  16. Billboard Music Awards Kick-Off Sunday With Prince, Madonna, Lil Wayne, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, More

    May 11, 2013 4:03 PM EDT 46 31 1 0 There is nothing small about this Sunday night’s Billboard Music Awards at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena airing live on ABC at 8 ET hosted by “30 Rock”’s Tracy Morgan. Just consider for a moment the sheer star power of  those appearing: li ...

  17. Jack Conte’s Patreon: Anyone Can Be a Patron of the Arts

    May 10, 2013 9:00 PM EDT You don’t have to be a scion of the Medici or Guggenheim family to be a patron of the arts. Jack Conte’s Patreon site will let anyone become a benefactor for as little as $1. Tapping into an ancient human instinct to support culture, Conte is le ...

  18. Business Matters: Market Is Ready for YouTube Subscription Channels

    May 10, 2013 4:41 PM EDT Questions popped up as soon as YouTube unveiled its paid subscription channels Thursday. Will people pay a monthly fee to watch videos on YouTube? What will the impact be on cable TV? Can YouTube compete with Netflix? YouTube has been an adverti ...

  19. Chart Moves: Selena Gomez 'Get's First Hot Digital Songs Top 10; Arianna Drives Onto Hot 100; Florida Georgia Line Dominates Country Airplay

    May 10, 2013 3:47 PM EDT As previously reported , Macklemore & Ryan Lewis log an historic No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, as "Can't Hold Us" (featuring Ray Dalton) follows their "Thrift Shop" (featuring Wanz) to the top, making the ...

  20. Bubbling Under: Mr. Little Jeans Gets Bigger

    May 10, 2013 12:40 PM EDT Each Friday, Billboard presents "Bubbling Under," a weekly look at new and noteworthy acts making their way toward Billboard chart success. Up this week: Mr. Little Jeans, Wild Feathers, Morgan Frazier and A$AP Ferg. Mr. Little Jeans W ...

  21. Chart Moves: Fleetwood Mac Returns After 10 Years, Lindsey Stirling Hits New Chart High

    May 10, 2013 8:30 AM EDT 1 13 25 0 0 This week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Kenny Chesney roped his seventh No. 1, as "Life on a Rock" arrived atop the list with 153,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It was one of just two debuts in the top 10 this week, a ...

  22. Apple, Universal Music Group Reach Agreement for iRadio Service: Report

    May 09, 2013 10:14 PM EDT Universal Music Group has agreed to license its songs to Apple Inc.'s proposed iRadio streaming service, according to the Financial Times.  With the largest record company in the bag, the Cupertino, California, hardware company now only nee ...

  23. What's Next for Randy Jackson After 'American Idol'? (Analysis)

    May 09, 2013 9:19 PM EDT 1 3 11 0 0 The goal of “American Idol,” a dozen seasons ago when it started, was to create stars out of unknowns. It did so for Simon Cowell, perhaps the most famous A&R man on the planet, who has surrounded himself with television and music projects ...

  24. Business Matters: What An Audio-Streaming Device and 3D Smartphone from Amazon Could Mean to the Music Biz

    May 09, 2013 8:46 PM EDT Amazon is developing a range of hardware products including an audio-only streaming device and a smartphone with 3D capabilities that does not require special glasses, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The development of another ...

  25. Selena Gomez and PSY Rebound on Social 50 Chart

    May 09, 2013 6:40 PM EDT The Social 50 ranks the most popular artists on YouTube, Vevo, Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud, Wikipedia, Myspace and Instagram. The chart's methodology blends weekly additions of friends/fans/followers along with artist pageviews, song play ...

  26. Primary Wave Nabs $125 Million Financial Partnership

    May 09, 2013 5:55 PM EDT 1 0 9 0 0 Primary Wave Music has announced a new financial partnership with Credit Suisse and SunTrust Bank that's valued at $125 million and expands the music company's seven-year relationship with the two banks. Primary Wave's current man ...

  27. Around the 55th Annual NARM 'Music Biz' Convention

    May 09, 2013 4:43 PM EDT The U.S. music industry's sales, retail, distribution and marketing mavens descended on the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza for NARM's annual "Music Biz" convention. In his opening speech, NARM president Jim Donio termed the meet ...

  28. YouTube Launches Paid Subscription Channels

    May 09, 2013 3:00 PM EDT 7 39 123 6 0 YouTube on Thursday unveiled its subscription model, allowing channels to charge monthly fees to viewers who want to access their videos. The move represents a significant departure from the free, ad-supported model that has thus far propelle ...

  29. Exclusive: Clear Channel Working on Song-Swapping Technology

    May 09, 2013 1:38 PM EDT Clear Channel is working on a technology that would replace songs in streamed content with a different song while accounting for the different in song lengths, according to a patent application recently filed with the U.S. Patent Office. Clear C ...

  30. Who Will Pay For YouTube Videos? Alchemy Networks Has One Answer

    May 09, 2013 1:23 PM EDT Who will pay the monthly subscription fee to access a YouTube channel? Peter Griffith, Chief Executive of Alchemy Networks, believes he has one good answer to that question: afficionados of rap battles, an urban art form dating back to the 1970s ...

  31. The Eagles Catalog Joins Rdio -- Then Disappears

    May 09, 2013 2:12 AM EDT The Eagles catalog became available for streaming at Rdio on Wednesday after being a longtime holdout from subscription services. No other subscription service in the U.S. had nabbed the Eagles catalog. A check at Deezer's U.K. site turned ...

  32. Business Matters: Pandora Email to Artists Ruffles Feathers

    May 08, 2013 8:11 PM EDT Digital royalties are back in the news after being a continuously hot topic in 2013. An email exchange between artist and label owner Blake Morgan and Pandora founder Tim Westergren was seen in an article at the Huffington Post. Morgan told the ...

  33. Slacker Redesign Helped Drive 100K New Subscribers

    May 08, 2013 6:45 PM EDT In February, San Diego-based Slacker broke away from catering just to core music fans and changing its service with mainstream consumers in mind, giving the service more visual elements, adding more personalized recommendations in order to appea ...

  34. The Connected Car: Can It Drive the Industry Forward?

    May 08, 2013 3:37 PM EDT 1 0 18 0 0 Imagine a day when you can sidle into your car, tell it where to go and, as the car drives itself to your chosen destination,  catch up on your Facebook feeds as you  enjoy a playlist that's personalized for whatever mood you happen to be ...

  35. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' 'Can't Hold Us' Tops Hot 100, Sets Chart Record

    May 08, 2013 1:15 PM EDT The act becomes the first duo in the chart's five-decade history to send its first two singles to No. 1. Plus, Florida Georgia Line's 'Cruise' sails back into the top 10 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis'  "Can't Hol ...

  36. Liberty Media's First-Quarter Results Rise Dramatically Following Sirius XM Inclusion

    May 08, 2013 11:31 AM EDT John Malone's Liberty Media on Wednesday posted higher first-quarter results after the inclusion of Sirius XM Radio in its financials and the separation of Starz, which was spun off into a separate company. Liberty reported quarterly earnin ...

  37. Glassnote Founder Daniel Glass Feted at Musexpo in L.A.

    May 07, 2013 10:12 PM EDT 1 0 12 0 0 “One of the great minds and great guys in the music business” is how talk show host Jimmy Kimmel introduced Glassnote Entertainment founder and fearless label leader Daniel Glass at the Hollywood Roosevelt on Tuesday morning (May 7). The occasi ...

  38. Panelists Dive Into Album Credit Ecosystem at NARM's Music Biz 2013

    May 07, 2013 9:47 PM EDT Panel: The Album Credit Ecosystem Moderator: Maureen Droney, The Recording Academy Panelists: Alison Booth, Sony Nashville Jon Maples, Rhapsody International Ivy Skoff, Recording and Soundtrack Music Production Coordinator Shane Tobin, The Echo ...

  39. How Inconsistent Metadata Impedes Music Industry Growth at NARM's Music Biz 2013

    May 07, 2013 4:49 PM EDT Panel: Building Efficiency & Transparency In Royalty Reporting Moderator: Mark Isherwood, Rightscomm Panelists: Matt DeFilippis, ASCAP Larry Miller, MediaNet Daniel Susla, TouchTunes Les Watkins, Music Reports Inc. Rob Weitzner, Consolidated ...

  40. Rhapsody To Offer Digital Liner Notes

    May 07, 2013 2:13 PM EDT Subscription music service Rhapsody has signed on to assist The Recording Academy's push for the availability of digital liner notes. Last year the Academy launched the "Give Fans the Credit" campaign that is designed to give musi ...

  41. Pandora's Cap on Mobile Listening Causes Drop in Streams

    May 07, 2013 8:00 AM EDT Pandora’s monthly listening caps pulled down listener hours in April without resulting in a corresponding fall in unique listeners, the company's CFO revealed Monday evening.   The Internet radio business' listener hours dropped 12% to ...

  42. Business Matters: How Netflix Reduces Piracy

    May 06, 2013 5:15 PM EDT There has long been three opinions about how to beat piracy; through legislation and enforcement, through better legal services, or both. Although piracy continues to exist as numerous new music services have launched, there’s no doubt consumers ...

  43. Music Executives Tackle Metadata's 'Toothbrush Syndrome' at Music Biz 2013

    May 06, 2013 4:44 PM EDT 4 0 0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false Metadata is not one of those sexy topics you bring up at a cocktail party -- unless, perhaps, it’s directly tied to your livelihood and how much money you stand to earn. That was one conclusion from a pa ...

  44. Sean Glass' WIN Re-Examines the Role of the Label for Upcoming Electronic Artists

    May 06, 2013 4:27 PM EDT This story -- on Sean Glass and his WIN Records reboot -- is from the May 11 edition of Billboard and featues a cover package on the passing of the late, great country legend George Jones as well as looks at Anheuser-Busch's massive spendin ...

  45. YouTube Subscription's Split with Content Creators Likely to be Less than 30%

    May 06, 2013 3:51 PM EDT Content creators will likely receive less than 30% of any subscription dollars flowing to YouTube via a subscription plan that the Silicon Valley company will launch in the coming weeks, according to an executive familiar with the product. YouTu ...

  46. YouTube Close to Launching Paid Channel Subscriptions (Report)

    May 06, 2013 11:28 AM EDT The new a la carte subscription plans for some of its professional video channels could be announced as early as this week, the Financial Times has reported. Charging subscription fees will allow the online video provider to add a second revenue ...

  47. News Genius: Can Rap Genius Successfully Move Toward Its Original Vision?

    May 03, 2013 5:32 PM EDT Rap Genius, the lyric-annotation site, has announced a move toward its founders’ original vision of annotating everything on the Internet with the announcement earlier this week of News Genius, designed to break down breaking news stories. A big ...

  48. Pitbull Drives Into Top Five on Social 50 Chart

    May 03, 2013 3:22 PM EDT Pitbull and Justin Timberlake make vaults into the top 10 on Billboard's Social 50 chart, following busy weeks for each star, while affinity for the late George Jones results in his making the survey for the first time.   The Social 50 rank ...

  49. How Trey Songz's Fan Club App Earns More Than $50K a Month

    May 03, 2013 2:01 PM EDT 9 94 219 3 0 This story on Trey Songz "Reinventing The Fan Club" is from the May 11 edition of Billboard and featues a cover package on the passing of the late, great country legend George Jones as well as looks at Anheuser-Busch's massive ...

  50. Chart Moves: PSY Tumbles On Hot 100; Sara Bareilles Previews New Album; George Jones Back On Hot Country Songs

    May 03, 2013 12:47 PM EDT As previously reported , P!nk's "Just Give Me a Reason," featuring fun.'s Nate Ruess, spends a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Who else makes noteworthy moves on the Hot 100 and other song charts this week?   -- ...

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