Spotify has settled the $1.6 billion lawsuit filed by music publisher Wixen Music Publishing in December 2017. The publisher, which represented artists like Tom Petty, Missy Elliot, Stevie Nicks and Neil Young, alleged copyright infringement, saying that Spotify was using tens of thousands of songs without a proper license. The financial terms of the settlement were not […]
View More Spotify settles the $1.6B copyright lawsuit filed by music publisher WixenCategory: music industry
Spotify just released 2018’s most streamed artists and yup, it’s all dudes
If you want to be one of the most streamed artists on the planet, there’s one thing in particular that you apparently need. That thing is a penis.
Every holiday season, Spotify releases its end-of-year stats, and we get to have a good look at b…
How to build STEM toys
On chilly Saturday mornings my father would fire up the kerosene heater and get the back of our garage warm. He’d turn on the old radio, constantly tuned to the local public radio station, and Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me or Harry Shearer would come on, clearing away the static like a gust of wind […]
View More How to build STEM toysMusic payments startup Exactuals debuts R.AI, a “Palantir for music royalties”
Exactuals, a software service offering payments management for the music industry, is debuting R.AI, a new tool that it’s dubbed the “Palantir for music”. It’s a service that can track songwriting information and rights across different platforms to ensure attribution for music distributors. As companies like Apple and Spotify demand better information from labels about the […]
View More Music payments startup Exactuals debuts R.AI, a “Palantir for music royalties”SongTrust has inked deals with over 150,000 songwriters for royalties management
The music industry is finally seeing some daylight after years of sales declines and revenue attrition. As industry organizations announce year-on-year growth, songwriters are turning to royalty management organizations like SongTrust in increasing numbers. In just under a year SongTrust added 50,000 songwriters, 5,000 publishers, and now holds 1 million copyrights. The company said that […]
View More SongTrust has inked deals with over 150,000 songwriters for royalties managementICO services: Lots of barnacles but no whales
Nearly every aspect of the current ICO market is pay-for-play or otherwise tainted. I do not paint the industry with such a broad brush lightly but this sort of chicanery hasn’t existed since the heyday of print media when journalists – myself included – took long, convoluted trips to distant headquarters where they enjoyed, as […]
View More ICO services: Lots of barnacles but no whalesWant to talk about the future? Join me on Technotopia
Technotopia is a podcast about the future. It assumes the world won’t fall into a dystopia and therefore is optimistic about our chances for human success. I’m looking for cool people to talk to and I’d like for you to join me. I love guests who are are excited about the future and technology but […]
View More Want to talk about the future? Join me on TechnotopiaThe Eminem AR show
With the debut of his Eminem Augmented app at Coachella last night, hip hop’s not-so-merry prankster took the (somewhat revolutionary) step of embracing the machine that so many musicians have raged against — by building an experience that actually enhances the way modern fans see live music. Rather than fighting the mobile phone phenomena, which has […]
View More The Eminem AR showSee you tonight in New York
A reminder that I’m going to have Paul Vigna and Michael Casey, authors of The Truth Machine, onstage with me next week at Knotel, a co-working and event space in Manhattan. I’ll see you there tonight. RSVPs are closed. It starts at 7pm and will feature a 35-minute talk with two of the top writers in crypto. These guys literally wrote the book on bitcoin and their new book is about… Read More
Pop star turned entrepreneur Starshell raises $1 million for her Birthday Girl World
For the singer-songwriter Starshell, a one-time protege of Mary J. Blige, success comes in many guises — and the latest is startup entrepreneur.
Her song “Birthday Girl“, resonated so strongly with fans, says the singer born LaNeah Menzies, that it became something of an anthem. And Menzies has turned that anthem into a business.
Her site, Birthday Girl World, saw 208,740… Read More
Equity podcast: Spotify’s impending debut, Uber’s done deal, and Nasdaq 7,000
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.
This episode, the first of 2018, saw our own Katie Roof and your humble servant (Alex) joined by Atish Davda, CEO and founder of EquityZen. Matthew Lynley is off this week.
(Davda’s firm put together a landing page for Equity, which we thought was… Read More
A conversation with Dean Kamen on the myth of “Eureka!”
“I think invention is maybe like love,” says Dean Kamen. “Everybody wants to have it. Nobody knows what it is.” Read More