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Spotify crosses 124 Million Premium Subscriptions, Plans to buy The Ringer

Spotify New Music Ads

Spotify, the world’s most popular streaming service, continues to grow at an unbelievable rate, and it has significant plans for expansion in 2020.

Spotify released its Q4 earnings report this week. The data tells us not only how the service performed at the end of 2019 but also provides a glimpse at the last year as a whole. The streaming giant is the market leader, and the latest numbers show the company is likely to remain ahead of the competition.

According to the report, Spotify now has more than 124 million premium monthly subscribers worldwide, up 29% year over year. The company gained more than 10 million subscribers in the last quarter, marking the fastest growth period in Spotify history. That success is attributed, at least in part, to an expansion of the platform’s famous “Three months for free” trial period that now includes family plans.

Ad-supported monthly Spotify users now total 153 million, up 32% on the year, and 9% on the quarter. The numbers confirm the Stockholm, Sweden-based company’s big lead over its two closest rivals – Apple Music had more than 60 million subscribers as of July 2019, and Amazon had over 55 million subscribers globally.

Revenue has risen to $2.05 billion (1.86 billion euros), up 24% from a year earlier. Analysts are predicting a slightly higher revenue for Q1 of 2020, but Spotify is trying to keep investor expectations relatively calm, estimating income relatively in line with Q4.

Spotify also announced this week that it plans to purchase Bill Simmons’ sports and pop-culture news organization The Ringer as part of its quest to claim podcast dominance. The company did not disclose what it would pay for The Ringer, which launched in 2016, but the deal is set to close in April 2020.

For more insight and analysis, let’s turn to Music Biz News host James Shotwell:

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YouTube has a plan to help your view counts

The only thing worse than not being able to listen to music all the time is having to stop the music you’re currently enjoying to find the next song you’ll play. Streaming services have traditionally solved this solved this problem by anchoring the music player to the bottom of the application or mobile app, but video platforms are another story. On most platforms, to move from one video to the next users must accept a playlist determined by algorithms or leave the clip they’re watching in search of whatever will follow. That action creates gaps in the listening experience, and in the case of views, the decision to leave a clip can mean the difference between whether or not your enjoyment of the track counts toward the total view count.

Google, who owns YouTube, found a solution to these gaps earlier this year when it introduced a ‘mini-player’ to the YouTube Android app. The update created a picture-in-picture experience that allows those with a  YouTube Premium subscription to continue watching their favorite videos while simultaneously searching for other content on the app. Now, that same functionality is being made available to desktop users.

Here’s how it works: 

Hover over the video player to see a new “mini player” button, which allows you to continue watching your video while you browse YouTube.

The video appears in the bottom right-hand section of the screen and cannot be moved around, but users are free to browse YouTube while watching the video. The mini-player also comes with controls when you hover over the miniaturized player. Users can click an ‘X’ on the player to close it.

Studies have shown that YouTube is one of the main reasons many music consumers refuse to pay for services such as Spotify and Apple Music. A report released in April of this year revealed that 55% of people claim to discover new music through YouTube or similar video platforms. The same report noted that 85% of YouTube users claim their primary reason for engaging with the platform was music consumption.

With the release of their mini-player, YouTube is actively working to increase video views for all creators. More views are good for everyone, and this tool will (hopefully) aide in discovery by giving people fewer reasons to click off something they might not initially enjoy.

We have more tips for navigating the world of YouTube in our archives. We also have additional content on the subject coming soon. Follow Haulix on Twitter and Facebook to ensure you never miss any valuable advice.

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Most Billboard Album Charts Now Include Streaming

The future is here, and it is changing what we consider a best-selling album. 

Years after updating the Billboard 200 chart to reflect both streaming and track sales, Billboard has announced it will now do the same for most of it’s other genre-based album charts as well.  The following charts now reflect the new measurement methodology starting this week:

Top Country Albums

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, plus:
-R&B Albums
-Rap Albums

Top Rock Albums, plus:
-Alternative Albums
-Hard Rock Albums
-Americana/Folk Albums

Top Latin Albums, plus:
-Latin Pop Albums
-Regional Mexican Albums
-Tropical Albums
-Latin Rhythm Albums

Top Dance/Electronic Albums

Top Gospel Albums

Top Christian Albums, plus:
-Christian/Gospel Albums

Soundtracks

Top Catalog Albums

Holiday Albums

The charts are still essentially based on sales, but 10 digital track sales from an album will equate to one equivalent album sale (TEA), and 1,500 on-demand song streams from an album will be equivalent to one album sale (SEA). Sales and streaming data is compiled by Nielsen Music. 

Billboard will also continue to publish pure album sales charts for the above genres using Nielsen’s sales data exclusively. 

Several on-demand subscription streaming services provide data for the charts, including Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music, Soundcloud, Slacker, Napster, Google Play, Groove Music and Medianet. 

How this change will impact who ranks where remains to be seen, but it stands to reason that artists with viral hits – such as Migos’ with their hit “Bad and Boujee” – could see big first week numbers once streams for their singles are factored into the equation. 

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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announces 2016 inductees

The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame has announced its five inductees for 2016. The ceremony to welcome them will take place on Friday, April 8, 2016 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the second time. HBO will broadcast the ceremony in spring 2016.

Each act on the list spent decades developing their place in music, and that is one of the requirements for inclusion consideration. An act has to be in business for at least 25 years after the release of its first album to be nominated, but they do not have to be active that entire time. If the group comes out, releases an album or two and breaks up they are still able to be considered for placement in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.

Of the nominees considered this year, N.W.A, Cheap Trick, Deep Purple, Steve Miller, and Chicago are the ones who were selected to be added to the pantheon of all things rock. Most of the artists chosen have been around for upwards of 40 years, but some have only recently become eligible for nomination (N.W.A). 

A group of more than 600 artists and music professionals vote on the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inductions every year. For five years, the Rock Hall has allowed fans to vote, too. But their top pick counts as a single vote. In 2015, Chicago was the band with the most votes, as the 37-million ballots cast with their name on it accounted for 23% of the total votes for the year.

Dozens of iconic artists who recently became eligible for Rock Hall consideration did not make the cut. Listing them all would take far too long, but a few serious contenders were The Smiths, Nine Inch Nails, The Cars, Chic, Janet Jackson, The J.B.’s, Chaka Khan, Los Lobos, The Spinners, and Yes. It’s a little bit of a surprise that Janet did not make the cut, as women are not represented in any of the newly inducted acts, but perhaps next year will be her year. 

To celebrate the artists chosen for induction, please join us in revisiting some of those bands’ biggest singles…

N.W.A

Cheap Trick 

Deep Purple 

Steve Miller 

Chicago

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Apple Changes Royalty Plan Following Taylor Swift’s Open Letter: Will Pay Labels During Free Trial

Whether you’re an artists working in pop, country, rock, rap, hip-hop, black metal, doom, grindcore, folk instrumentalism, post-modern opera, or some obscure combination of everything in between, everyone in music owes Taylor Swift a bit of thanks for speaking up against Apple’s new royalty plan for the launch of Apple Music over the weekend. Her open letter, which called the plan to not pay artists during the company’s three-month trial launch ‘disappointing,’ went viral just jours before senior vice president of internet services and software Eddy Cue tweeted that Apple would, in fact, pay artists during the 90-day period. 

In an interview with Billboard, Cue elaborated that it was Swift’s letter that turned him around on the issue. “When I woke up this morning and saw what Taylor had written, it really solidified that we needed a change. And so that’s why we decide we will now pay artists during the trial period.”

Everyone expected the tech giant to respond to Swift’s letter, but the seemingly immediate change of policy came as a surprise to many, including Swift herself. “I am elated and relieved,” she tweeted after the new broke. “Thank you for your words of support today. They listened to us.”

Some in the music community, while happy about the news, were concerned that it took an artist as big as Swift to complain before action was taken. As you may recall, we ran a story early last week that shared the concerns from numerous people in the indie music community. Those same concerns were shared on countless blogs and news outlets, but it seems Apple didn’t think to respond until Taylor Swift made it a point to get involved. To his credit, Cue told Billboard he had heard “concern from a lot of artists” before hearing from Swift. You can draw your own conclusions as to whether or not that had the same impact.

Apple will be eating the cost of the royalty payout, as the company intends to not charge any consumer for using the service during its first 90-days of existence.  That will no doubt be a big bill to pay, but considering the company is expected to be valued at $1 trillion by 2016 it seems like a tab they will be able to cover.

Apple Music is set to launch on June 30, and we are planning to run an editorial with our initial impressions not long after. For now, spread the word of the new royalty plan so artists make a it a point to claim their Apple Music Connect profile as soon as possible.

James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.

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