Weekly update of key events in music, entertainment and technology compiled by Laura Montarroso, CORD Spain and edited by Anthony Vanger, MD CORD EMEA.
NERDY STUFF
Watch couscous snaps transforming Into Beautiful Patterns with the strum of a Bow
The patterns, called Chladni fugures, will tend to form dependent on which way the plate is struck with the bow and it’s all down to wave dynamics. A wonderful demonstration of something that we normally can only hear, not see.
BRAND PARTNERSHIPS + ADVERTISING
Soulja Boy’s $400 Million Deal Is With World Poker Fund Holdings
The 25-year-old Atlanta native will harness his sizeable social media following (15 million strong) to help promote World Poker’s gaming assets, which will soon include an “in-flight gaming” platform.
Taylor Swift Can Sell A Ton Of Music… Even When It’s Not Her Own
As part of her deal with Apple Music, the pop star has now been featured in a trio of ads that have focused on two things: her extremely likeable personality and the singles she has a real connection to, which have all benefited greatly. Swift has sparked a large uptick in domestic streams and sales for Drake, Future, The Darkness and Jimmy Eat World.
Why OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder Posed as a Budweiser Pitchman in a Faux Vintage Ad
Two 30-second spots will give viewers a first look at OneRepublic’s new video. The fabricated Budweiser poster is a cheeky product placement strategy and part of the band’s new partnership with the beer behemoth.
DIGITAL
Spotify’s own playlists are paying out $1m a day to the music business
Spotify has announced that its own playlists alone are now responsible for a billion streams every week – and revealed its top ten most popular brands.
SPOTIFY’S TOP 5 MOST POPULAR CURATED PLAYLISTS:
- Today’s Top Hits
- Rap Caviar
- Baila Reggaeton
- Hot Country
- TGIF
Despite the growing success of initiatives like this, he streaming service still continues to lose money, some €173 million this year.
Kobalt: New app is a ‘giant step’ towards transparency for songwriters
Kobalt has today launched a new app for its clients which allows them to view income in real time, broken down by individual works, type of rights or country. This is part of the publishing and technology company’s mission to reduce inefficiencies and increase transparency in the collection of music royalties.
Rhapsody Announces A Virtual Reality App That Brings You Right On Stage
The company has announced a new app at Google’s I/O event which aims to immerse listeners in a live setting as they listen along and watch. The idea is that you can practically be on stage with a band while they play.
Google’s role in music piracy is much bigger than it first appears
MUSO, a research and data firm focused on the global digital piracy market, estimates that just 14.2% of the world’s 9.65bn total music-related visits to torrent sites last year came via search engines. With Google’s search engine market share pegged at 64% by ComScore, that would mean the Alphabet company was directly responsible for approximately 8.1bn piracy visits globally in 2015!
Musicians, Check Out Instagram’s New Analytics…
Instagram is launching analytics for businesses and brands that use the platform. The new feature will be called ‘Insights’, and will provide information on the demographic of a users’ followers, including location, age, and gender. Musicians may find this information useful, as it provides the location of their fans.
MUSIC BUSINESS
Ticketmaster Settles a $400 Million Lawsuit… With Coupons
According to Billboard, Ticketmaster’s $400 million settlement will be paid by future discounts. Ticketmaster customers who purchased a ticket on the company’s website from October 21st, 1999 to February 27th, 2013 can collect on the settlement, and there are reportedly over 50 million class members.
One Billion People Will Be Paying For Music By 2021…
Spotify and Apple Music have been growing at unprecedented rates – adding on average 1 million paid users a month. Based upon the time that these streaming services have taken to reach their current number of paying subscribers, Digital Music News has made loose predictions on the number of paid subscribers they will have by the end of 2021.
Adele launches new video “Send my Love to Your New Lover” @ The Billboard Awards
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For more information please contact:
Anthony Vanger | anthony@cordww.com
Laura Montarroso | laura.montarroso@cordww.com