Analysis News Confirmed: From next year, tracks on Spotify will have to be played 1,000 times before they start earning money Sources close to Spotify's conversations with rightsholders confirm more information about the service's new royalty model
Analysis Talking ‘garbage’: How can Spotify and co sort the dregs of the music business from the hidden treasures? On Sir Lucian Grainge's bluntness, Believe's rebellion, and why a careful balance is required to find a true 'artist-centric' formula
News Morgan Stanley is investing more than $700m to buy music copyrights in partnership with Kobalt Deal represents a return to managing investment for outside capital for Kobalt, which sold $1.4 billion in portfolios in past few years
Analysis News Deezer’s ‘artist-centric’ model now has a new ‘user-centric’ element which, despite not really being ‘user-centric’, is quite a clever idea. MBW Explains: Digging into what Deezer's latest addition to 'artist-centric' really means
News BMG, following ‘more efficient and more effective’ strategy under new CEO Thomas Coesfeld, reorganizes structure; around 40 staff cut MBW obtains internal note that confirms a range of changes at Bertelsmann-owned company
Analysis Hipgnosis Songs Fund has been left concussed by ‘discontinuation’. But with a seemingly rock solid ‘call option’, Merck Mercuriadis still holds all the cards. On: Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the all important 'call option', Blackstone, and the most likely outcome of this week's mess
News Daniel Ek just banked $64M selling Spotify shares – three months after he banked $100M doing the same thing Ek offloads 400,000 shares the day after his company's latest quarterly earnings in the US
News Paul Burger and Andrew Wilkinson resign as Hipgnosis Songs Fund non-exec directors ahead of tomorrow’s continuation vote The comes in the same month that HSF confirmed the Chairman of its current board, Andrew Sutch, will step down from his role
Analysis Spotify is embracing elements of Universal Music Group’s ‘artist-centric’ royalties model – following a new multi-year licensing deal between UMG and Daniel Ek’s platform Spotify's plans fit with the broad hopes of Sir Lucian Grainge's wishes as outlined at the start of 2023
News Spotify is changing its royalty model to crush streaming fraud and introduce a minimum payment threshold. Its plan? To shift $1 billion in payouts towards ‘working artists’ over the next 5 years. Exclusive: Music Business Worldwide has learned of Spotify's plan to introduce a number of new measures in Q1 2024 – and shift $1 billion away from bad actors
News Blackstone-backed $440m acquisition offer for Hipgnosis Songs Fund assets sees off rival interest Process clears the way for Thursday's shareholder vote from Hipgnosis Songs Fund
Uncategorized Analyst that double-downgraded Universal Music Group over AI, streaming concerns earlier this year just upgraded firm’s stock William Packer at BNP Paribas Exane has been impressed by UMG's Deezer deal and its work with AI companies
News Hipgnosis Songs Fund confirms that Merck Mercuriadis has an option to buy all of its rights if his investment advisory company is terminated Hipgnosis Songs Fund board announces Strategic Review of company, while confirming its investment advisor's key contractual clause
Analysis News BMI will pay songwriters and publishers a smaller portion of its revenues as a for-profit company – while upping its own margin from 10% to 15% of collections. Will its members tolerate this change? New revelations from Michael O'Neill shows that BMI is planning to increase its retained revenues by a third
News Citrin Cooperman reduces CRB III royalties windfall estimate for Hipgnosis Songs Fund by $11.8m, causing HSF board to halt October’s interim dividend Reduction in calculation leaves HSF investors without an interim dividend, which was due to be paid on October 27