Last month’s Gimlet was a watershed moment for podcasting. Spotify acquired the network for a reported $230 million, in a pricey bid to get serious about the format. But what of all the folks employed by Gimlet? It’s tough to know how these deals will shake out for those not involved in the closed door […]
View More After being acquired by Spotify, Gimlet’s staff looks to unionizeCategory: Spotify
Spotify files complaint against Apple over ‘unfair’ App Store rules
Music streaming service Spotify has filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission over App Store rules that give Apple an “unfair advantage at every turn,” the company CEO Daniel Ek announced in a blog post Wednesday.
In the post, Ek claims that Apple’s App Store rules make it hard for Spotify to compete with Apple’s own Apple Music on a level playing field.
“Apple requires that Spotify and other digital services pay a 30% tax on purchases made through Apple’s payment system, including upgrading from our Free to our Premium service. If we pay this tax, it would force us to artificially inflate the price of our Premium membership well above the price of Apple Music,” writes Ek. Read more…
More about Apple, Spotify, Europe, Eu, and European Commission
View More Spotify files complaint against Apple over ‘unfair’ App Store rulesHulu and Spotify launch an even more steeply discounted bundle of $9.99 per month
Hulu and Spotify today announced an expansion of their partnership on discounted streaming bundles, which lowers the price of Hulu’s ad-supported service to, well… nothing. Starting today, Spotify Premium subscribers can basically tack on a Hulu subscription for free on top of their existing $9.99 per month streaming music plan. In other words, for the […]
View More Hulu and Spotify launch an even more steeply discounted bundle of $9.99 per monthSamsung’s very good Galaxy S10 is now on sale
The Galaxy S10’s pre-sales were, by all accounts, quite brisk. In fact, the company ran out of the free Galaxy Buds its was bundling with the handset. That’s good news all around for Samsung, after sales for the S9 were reported to be fairly light. For those waiting for the reviews — or simple wanting […]
View More Samsung’s very good Galaxy S10 is now on saleDaily Crunch: Spotify launches in India
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here. 1. Spotify launches its streaming service in India Just for India, Spotify users who do not pay for a subscription can play […]
View More Daily Crunch: Spotify launches in IndiaSpotify reportedly launches in India
Spotify has reportedly launched for some users in India today, with plans to officially launch on Wednesday to everyone, Variety, citing sources with knowledge of Spotify’s plans, reports. For the first 30 days, Spotify’s premium service will be free and then cost 119 rupees (about $1.67) per month. There are also single-day, weekly, monthly, three-month, […]
View More Spotify reportedly launches in IndiaDipsea raises $5.5M for short-form, sexy audio stories
Dipsea, a mobile platform for erotic audio stories, is backed by Bedrock Capital and Thrive Capital
View More Dipsea raises $5.5M for short-form, sexy audio storiesThree major music labels make $19 million a day from streaming while artists count their pocket change
Streaming services are now paying out big money to the music industry’s gatekeepers.
According to a new report by industry news outlet Music Business Worldwide, the three major music labels made $6.93 billion combined from streaming in 2018. The publication poured through recent investor filings from Universal Music Group’s parent company Vivendi, Sony, and Warner and found that the companies are totaling $19 million in daily streaming revenue.
Broken down even further, the trio of labels generate nearly $800,000 per hour just from music streaming services.
As Rolling Stone points out, when looking at the combined revenue for the three labels across all formats and commercial endeavors — $13.14 billion — streaming revenue accounts for more than half of that. That’s more than a 10 percent jump when compared to how much streaming revenue accounted for in 2017. Read more…
More about Sony, Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, and Music Streaming
Podcasting startup WaitWhat raises $4.3M as interest in audio content explodes
The production business behind Reid Hoffman’s ‘Masters of Scale’ podcast raised the funds from Hoffman himself, plus Cue Ball Capital, Burda Principal Investments and more.
View More Podcasting startup WaitWhat raises $4.3M as interest in audio content explodesSpotify says it paid $340M to buy Gimlet and Anchor
Spotify doubled down on podcasts last week with a double deal to buy podcast networks Gimlet and Anchor. Those acquisitions were initially undisclosed, but Spotify has quietly confirmed that it spent €300 million, just shy of $340 million, to capture the companies. That’s according to an SEC filing — hat tip Recode’s Peter Kafka — which deals the […]
View More Spotify says it paid $340M to buy Gimlet and AnchorPeltarion raises $20M for its AI platform
Peltarion, a Swedish startup founded by former execs from companies like Spotify, Skype, King, TrueCaller and Google, today announced that it has raised a $20 million Series A funding round led by Euclidean Capital, the family office for hedge fund billionaire James Simons. Previous investors FAM and EQT Ventures also participated, and this round brings […]
View More Peltarion raises $20M for its AI platformStartups Weekly: Spotify gets acquisitive and Instacart screws up
This week in startups: Turvo takes center stage, a mental health unicorn emerges and Reddit rakes in cash.
View More Startups Weekly: Spotify gets acquisitive and Instacart screws up